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6 Strategies For Surviving In A Job You Hate

How do you survive in a job you hate? All of us have been there at some point. Out of necessity, you are stuck in a job that is unbearable - and as a result, you hate life. This is all-too-common in the U.S., where workers are often treated as commodities and liabilities, and get almost no real respect. QUIZ: Should You Quit Your Job? Unfortunately, under current conditions few have the luxury of simply quitting, so here are several strategies for coping in a job you just can't stomach.

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What To Avoid When Designing And Writing A Cover Letter

Sometimes, fixing the little things can offer the most benefit. Anyone writing a cover letter to a hiring rep should follow some golden rules before hitting start on the fax machine, licking that envelope shut, or hitting "Send" on that e-mail. Related: 7 Examples Of Fresh New Ways To Start Your Cover Letter Treat your cover letter like any piece of business correspondence. It should have a professional appearance, a professional tone, and possess accurate grammar and punctuation. Remember, you’re out to impress, not turn a job away. Your correspondence should command attention, and if it doesn’t, you’re virtually sabotaging the opportunities that took so long to uncover. Before sending, be sure to review your cover letter thoroughly. You’re looking for amateur mistakes; the kinds your competitors are making. Below is a list of errors to avoid:

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4 De-Stressing Tips For Your Job Search

Job seekers are spending long, grueling hours, hitting the job front from multiple angles, but the stress is becoming unbearable. So, I decided to build a list of de-stressing tips for your job search, which hopefully provide you with some relief. Related: 5 Ways To Manage Work Stress (And Have Fun Doing It!) Here are four tips:

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4 Ways To Take Your Resume From Good To Great

What really makes a great resume for today's job market? The use of a branding statement, a tag line or two, relevant keywords/key phrases, and a situation/action/results writing style can actually increase the return of your resume. Related: The Worst Resume Advice I’ve EVER Heard Let's review why each are increasingly important for job seekers competing in today's highly competitive job market. Including these can take your resume from good to great, and ultimately help you get the job you deserve.

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5 Tips That Ensure Your Resume Produces Top Results

A professionally written resume is an important component to any job search. The overall effectiveness of the document, however, depends on certain variables; such as how/how often the resume is used, the types of marketing/submission strategies, and the continued relevance of the resume’s content. Concentrating on these important aspects (and others) ensures the resume will produce the all-important interviews we strive for.

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Cover Letters = Candid Snapshot Of You To Potential Employers

In both your personal and business life, you only get one chance to make a first impression. We’ve all heard that before, right? So, why do so many job seekers screw up something so important? The cover letter is a chance to make a positive impression on a potential employer. Unlike a face-to-face meeting, where your nervousness or bad luck can turn a first impression into a disaster, a cover letter is a first impression you get to have complete control over. You decide exactly what you will say, without any time pressure or having to come up with something spontaneously, and you also get to “stage” your letter. You control what it looks like, what it sounds like, and how you come across. The key element to remember is, while you might easily spend two hours agonizing over every detail of your cover letter, the first person reading it is not going to invest even a small fraction of that time. Your letter will be scanned quickly the first time. Only if your resume or application jumps to the “short list” is it likely anyone will really take the time to read your letter word-for-word. So, you have a two-fold challenge: you must write a well-crafted cover letter that comes across well on a deep reading, and you must write a letter that favorably grabs the attention of the casual reader who is simply scanning. Your first impression makes a first impression itself – the envelope and paper you use for your cover letter will send an unmistakable signal to the person who receives it. What? You thought printed resumes and cover letters were dead? Not exactly. There are plenty of smaller companies that still welcome (some preferring) printed materials. In fact, go to a job fair and you’ll find paper resumes nervously gripped by anxious job seekers. When printing, does your cover letter arrive in a neatly-typed business envelope, laser-printed on heavy paper? Or, is it a blurry ink-jet printout on the lowest grade of bond paper, folded up double and stuffed into a small envelope? You can guess which of these two letters is going to make a positive impression. It’s worth investing a few dollars in the proper grade of paper and the right kind of matching envelope – you don’t need to spend a fortune, but you do need to print your letter on something other than the recycled dot-matrix paper you’ve been storing in the attic since 1984. If you don’t have a quality printer in your home office, then use the laser printers at Kinko’s or your local business center – even the library often has printers available for public use. But let’s look beyond old-school paper submissions. What about impressions resulting from job inquiries sent by e-mail? When applying for employment, do your email attachments open properly? Do your docs look crisp on screen? In making your first impression via the cover letter, you need to ensure the letter appears professional (whether sent via e-mail, fax, or mail), that the content is relevant and appropriate, and that your letter adds value to your application or resume. A phoned-in, cookie-cutter cover letter is better than no letter at all, sure, but a good letter can step your candidacy up a notch. Take every opportunity to improve your cover letter, so it opens a few more doors. Photo Credit: Shutterstock

5 Tips For A Safe Online Job Search

Think you're safe conducting a safe job search online? Think again. Conducting a job search using the Internet has definitely transformed how job seekers contact hiring companies. The availability of copying and pasting a text version resume into a form at a company’s website (or uploading a Word file) has laid the foundation for an easier and more convenient job search process. No longer does a job seeker need to spend hours with the traditional method of printing and mailing his resume to countless recipients. With the Internet’s convenience, a breeding ground for scam artists continues to grow each year as well. Identity thefts increased to an overwhelming 10 million cases in 2008 and another 11 million more for 2009. Many of these cases are the result of phishing — so not surprisingly, the employment industry is under attack as well. The FTC reports approximately 12% of total fraud involves employment fraud. Phishing is an attempt to extract personal information through what appears to be authentic e-mails. If you are job searching, an e-mail from a seemingly interested recruiter, for example, may not raise a red flag with you. You may think the contact person and company listed are legitimate. Yet, looks can be deceiving. Knowing what to look for and how to spot fraud (or potential for abuse) can be the best deterrent to ensuring you have a safe experience, while conducting your job search.

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What's Your Hook? Cover Letter Hook Examples

Have you heard of a hook? Individuals who write professionally (e.g., writers for press releases and sales letters) will be the first to tell you your material needs a hook. The complicated part of the process is no one can tell you what the hook should be because it’s different for each job seeker. A hook is something that draws readers in from the start, and entices them to continue reading. Since every cover letter will require a different hook, researching businesses will definitely be very advantageous for you. Your ultimate goal is to input uniqueness into each of your cover letters that others will overlook or not spend the time to address. Here are some tips:

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