This site called "How to Nail an Interview" has some ridiculous footage of interviewees saying some of the silliest things during an interview with a potential employer.
This video is my favorite. Who admits to stealing office chairs?!
In addition to these humorous videos, there are some great tips for interviewees!
Friday, April 17, 2009
279 Days to Overnight Success
In this free PDF, Chris outlines how to become your own SUCCESSFUL boss. His site, The Art of Nonconformity, also has some kick ass tips on living, traveling and working. I'd suggest giving it a read.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Budget? What budget?!
Check out this article from the New York Post for great tips on saving cash.
Three things I'm going to try:
Three things I'm going to try:
- Twitter, Twitter, Twitter. Meghan Udell of shoestringmag.com, suggests following feeds that alert you to great sales. Two faves: @cheapcheapcheap and @bearabledeals. P.S.: Their Twitter is @shoestring.
- BYO! Booze is always half the bill, says Post food writer Carla Spartos, so go to restaurants that let you bring your own, and remember how yummy $4 Boone's Farm is -- very yummy.
- Call and complain to a cellphone supervisor. If anything on your bill riles you up, call to bitch, but here's the key: Ask to talk to a supervisor, or even better a "customer retention specialist." They want to keep you, and most companies are willing to play ball. Spartos did this with T-Mobile on increased text messages, and the higher cost was reduced immediately.
(*NOTE - this works on credit card providers too - if you're looking to lower your interest rate, call and emphasize that you love the company and have been with them for years but a 15% interest rate is way too high . Emphasize that you're a faithful customer who'd hate to leave, but you're just going to HAVE TO if nothing can be done about the interest. You may need to talk to a supervisor but remember, you catch more flies with honey than vinegar, so play nice!)
Another thing that I've found helpful is to look at everything you might buy in terms of hours worked. If you make $10, how many hours will you need to work to afford those $80 shoes? 8 hours?!? That's a whole day of work! Do you really need them? Or, if you can't NOT have those shoes...try the Ramen diet!
Job Hunting. With a Stick.
That is how I feel. Like I'm on some prehistoric quest for sustenance, alongside about a million other people with similar sticks, a bunch with knifes, a couple with arrows, and maybe one or 
two with guns. All I can do is hope that my little sharpened stick will get lucky and pierce some sort of life line.I need an edge. I came across a few sites catering to the stick wielding, and found them pretty helpful.
two with guns. All I can do is hope that my little sharpened stick will get lucky and pierce some sort of life line.I need an edge. I came across a few sites catering to the stick wielding, and found them pretty helpful. - Brazen Careerist has really helpful features.
- Coachology is my fave
- Collegegrad.com has a gigantic job database, and markets itself on being the "#1 entry level job site." They have career resources also, the basics -> resume, cover letter, interview, etc.
- Vault is a great resource, and it's free through certain schools (goto career resources and click "vault" in the right hand column. )
They have company profiles, interview and resume help, and the Vault Online Career Library. The library is a database of Vault career and field guides can download for free. I bought one for 20$ a few days before I saw this. Sooo obnoxious.
I'm not sure about the rest of you, but I was completely unaware of the immense work and concentration that goes into each resume, cover letter, follow-up, interview, and thank you note. I envisioned mass emails, wielding my perfect resume, going out to periodicals across the country. The next day, an inbox bursting. I hope these sites offer a little help.
happy hunting,
p.s. Job hunting is stressful and can be depressing - I have a bag of Dove chocolates (the ones with little inspirations written inside the foil) I reward myself with after each resume I send out. Love yourself a little. <3
This is My Office Space
As I grow older with age (mind you, I'm 25) I find that High School Drama doesn't end in High School. It carries on through all walks of life, including adulthood and occurs your place of employment.
We have a "Boys Club," it's super exclusive which means you have to have a penis, huge muscles, a huge ego and no brain (or common sense) to be a member. They make all the decisions that go on here. So far, they've been lucky. But soon, I see that luck running out. Because with too much power, and the thought of relinquishing control (which was suggested by an expensive outsider) I see failure, and it's big.
I love my cubicle. It's in the front so I get to see everyone walking by and people stop and chat. It's nice. I've been sitting here for a year. I have my trusty sidekick who sits behind me and I would probably be bored to death with out her there.
Last Friday afternoon rolls around, I was called into Bitchglob's office and she tells me to sit down. Mind you, her baby was crawling around the building all day and she sat cooing at her in her office for 8 hours not doing a lick of work.
"I fight for your job EVERYDAY...everyday, everyday."
I had to stifle my laughter at her exclamation. She went on to explain that no one is safe yet from getting laid off, and that they want to move my cubicle to be closer to her office. She also added that it was brought to her attention that my sidekick and I "socialize" too much. And that upper management (The Boys Club) wants to separate us because they feel in upsets our work day. A B.S. excuse if you ask me, but I have no other choice right now.
Bringing me back to my earlier point, they are separating us like two chatty Kathy's in a classroom. But I'm about to graduate and move on to bigger and better.
Siyonara suckers.
We have a "Boys Club," it's super exclusive which means you have to have a penis, huge muscles, a huge ego and no brain (or common sense) to be a member. They make all the decisions that go on here. So far, they've been lucky. But soon, I see that luck running out. Because with too much power, and the thought of relinquishing control (which was suggested by an expensive outsider) I see failure, and it's big.
I love my cubicle. It's in the front so I get to see everyone walking by and people stop and chat. It's nice. I've been sitting here for a year. I have my trusty sidekick who sits behind me and I would probably be bored to death with out her there.
Last Friday afternoon rolls around, I was called into Bitchglob's office and she tells me to sit down. Mind you, her baby was crawling around the building all day and she sat cooing at her in her office for 8 hours not doing a lick of work.
"I fight for your job EVERYDAY...everyday, everyday."
I had to stifle my laughter at her exclamation. She went on to explain that no one is safe yet from getting laid off, and that they want to move my cubicle to be closer to her office. She also added that it was brought to her attention that my sidekick and I "socialize" too much. And that upper management (The Boys Club) wants to separate us because they feel in upsets our work day. A B.S. excuse if you ask me, but I have no other choice right now.
Bringing me back to my earlier point, they are separating us like two chatty Kathy's in a classroom. But I'm about to graduate and move on to bigger and better.
Siyonara suckers.
Friday, April 3, 2009
A Lucky Break
I'm really needing a lucky break right now. I'm at that crossroads in my life where I can go in a few directions, none of which I am positive I will be happy travelling on. For the first time in my life, I have no idea what I want. I also don't have a plan. It also doesn't help that the job market is in the pooper either.
Like Chandler Bing once told Rachel on Friends, "You need the fear!" The quote refers to Rachel wanting to find a new job after she realizes she's a terrible waitress, Chandler convinces her to quit her job before finding a new one to instill fear that she will go after what she really wants.
Although I would love to have "the fear" I am also responsible in the fact that I can't quit my job when I have bills to pay. I noticed I fell into this slump when I moved back into my mother's house after my 6-year relationship ended. I lost my focus, my drive, my ability to do for myself.
I've always been an ambitious person, but lately I can't focus on what I really want. (Hence why I repeated myself...)
By weeks end (or beginning, depends on how you view your weekends) I will come up with a plan.
Like Chandler Bing once told Rachel on Friends, "You need the fear!" The quote refers to Rachel wanting to find a new job after she realizes she's a terrible waitress, Chandler convinces her to quit her job before finding a new one to instill fear that she will go after what she really wants.
Although I would love to have "the fear" I am also responsible in the fact that I can't quit my job when I have bills to pay. I noticed I fell into this slump when I moved back into my mother's house after my 6-year relationship ended. I lost my focus, my drive, my ability to do for myself.
I've always been an ambitious person, but lately I can't focus on what I really want. (Hence why I repeated myself...)
By weeks end (or beginning, depends on how you view your weekends) I will come up with a plan.
Monica: "Who am I kidding, I don't have a plan!"
Pheobe: "I don't even have a 'pla...'"
Pheobe: "I don't even have a 'pla...'"
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Free(lance) fallin'
I've always been a worker. Since I was old enough to understand that money makes the world go round (as does love, but love cannot buy you round trip tickets to Bora Bora), Ive tried my hardest to make as much as possible. As such, even with a 9-5er, I like to work on the side. Ideally, I'd like to bar tend a night or two a week but I don't want to throw my sleep schedule that out of whack.
So, I write freelance. This is kills two birds with one stone 1.) I make extra cash - not exactly a goldmine but it's something I'm good at and can do with minimal effort 2.)It gives me something to fill up my portfolio with besides aged clippings from my college newspaper. Keeps it fresh as it were.
One of the best tips I've ever received, from numerous sources, is to work for free. This may not make sense coming right after a paragraph where I profess my love of money. But when you're green under the gills, it can be difficult to get clients to pay you for work. They don't know what you can do. So, this post titled the "upside of working for free" has several good tips and justifications for working pro bono.
Once you've worked for free for a bit, you'll have more experience and samples and will be able to snag the freelance jobs that you want (and need!) and Bora Bora will be only a hop-skip and a few 1000-word articles away!
So, I write freelance. This is kills two birds with one stone 1.) I make extra cash - not exactly a goldmine but it's something I'm good at and can do with minimal effort 2.)It gives me something to fill up my portfolio with besides aged clippings from my college newspaper. Keeps it fresh as it were.
One of the best tips I've ever received, from numerous sources, is to work for free. This may not make sense coming right after a paragraph where I profess my love of money. But when you're green under the gills, it can be difficult to get clients to pay you for work. They don't know what you can do. So, this post titled the "upside of working for free" has several good tips and justifications for working pro bono.
Once you've worked for free for a bit, you'll have more experience and samples and will be able to snag the freelance jobs that you want (and need!) and Bora Bora will be only a hop-skip and a few 1000-word articles away!
Monday, March 30, 2009
Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar?
Who me? Nope.
And the subject that is M.I.A is coffee, not cookies. I'm not a huge coffee drinker, I prefer green tea, or chai's...maybe a latte if I'm desperate.
It all started on my trip to Florida, when my BFF made me the most delicious coffee I had ever tasted in my life everyday that I was vacationing there. I could never reproduce said deliciousness so I gave up trying.
A few months later, now in present day, my co-worker noticed I was having a supremely bad day and made me a cup of coffee. The greatest taste was recreated! Heavens to Betsey! Since that day I had had at least one cup of sweet goodness a day. To the shagrin of my body, I kept it up. Until today.
My trusty sidekick and I walked into the break room for an afternoon jolt. We opened the drawer and *gasp!*
"WHERE'S THE COFFEE?" We both ran out and asked our Receptionist, she said she didn't know, but we weren't the first to report the missing coffee. We had ample coffee left that morning when I checked but opted for my green tea instead.
A few months back, there was a rumor circulating that our company was making budget cuts and the expensive coffee machine was gonna go. Thinking it was a silly rumor, and that there were other ways to trim the fat, so to speak, I wrote it off (and prayed for my job in the meantime). Now, I'm starting to think the rumors were true.
We're supposed to get another shipment in of coffee tomorrow. If we don't, heads will roll.
And the subject that is M.I.A is coffee, not cookies. I'm not a huge coffee drinker, I prefer green tea, or chai's...maybe a latte if I'm desperate.
It all started on my trip to Florida, when my BFF made me the most delicious coffee I had ever tasted in my life everyday that I was vacationing there. I could never reproduce said deliciousness so I gave up trying.
A few months later, now in present day, my co-worker noticed I was having a supremely bad day and made me a cup of coffee. The greatest taste was recreated! Heavens to Betsey! Since that day I had had at least one cup of sweet goodness a day. To the shagrin of my body, I kept it up. Until today.
My trusty sidekick and I walked into the break room for an afternoon jolt. We opened the drawer and *gasp!*
"WHERE'S THE COFFEE?" We both ran out and asked our Receptionist, she said she didn't know, but we weren't the first to report the missing coffee. We had ample coffee left that morning when I checked but opted for my green tea instead.
A few months back, there was a rumor circulating that our company was making budget cuts and the expensive coffee machine was gonna go. Thinking it was a silly rumor, and that there were other ways to trim the fat, so to speak, I wrote it off (and prayed for my job in the meantime). Now, I'm starting to think the rumors were true.
We're supposed to get another shipment in of coffee tomorrow. If we don't, heads will roll.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Dating a Work-a-holic, ie. Me
Me: Was my life this busy when I was [in a long-term relationship] with Bob?
B: Yes and no.
B: You didn't have the added business of dating. Which is a full time job.
B: Yes and no.
B: You didn't have the added business of dating. Which is a full time job.
I'm fresh out of a long ass relationship. Which, in many aspects, I considered work. And as far back as I can remember, I've always had 2+ jobs. I like to work, I like my work and I like to make money. I also have a shopping problem, but I'll save that for my therapist.
My ex never supported my work decisions, I thrive off of working/writing. I freelance for a bunch of places and I also work in promotions in my spare time where I can make my own schedule. The past four months, however, I feel like I haven't let myself stop. I always say, I should take some time off or I should sleep in. I feel like it's a waste of a day.
As Liv Tyler's character says in Empire Records,
"There are 24 usable hours in every day."
Besides being confused about my emotions, I also have no time to really think about them. I have let a few relationship prospects go to poo because of my work schedule. It could also be a sign that I'm not ready, and I'm OK with not being ready. For a man to really capture me during this time they have to make me stop. Not stop me reaching for my goals and dreams, but stop the merry-go-round that I've put myself on. I need someone who's just as ambitious as I am, and extremely understanding.
He's out there. Hopefully I can fit him into my schedule.
Friday, March 20, 2009
It's Spring! Time for a new purse!
New season, new accessories. I'm in search of the perfect Spring/Summer '09 purse that is versatile enough to be used for all daytime activities including work, lunches with friends and can be used dressed up or down. Not too pastel, not too much white and not too much shimmer...but a color that can go with practically anything. If it can also be transformed into a "night" purse then I'm sold.
I am partial to to the following brands: Coach, LV, Cole Haan, Juicy, Marc Jacobs...you get the idea. Although I am open to any and all suggestions. Price matters but I'm looking at this as an investment. Especially if it's designer.
It needs to hold all my crap. Crap, equalling my planner, my notebook for "things," my wallet (hopefully it will match by new bag), my phone, my mase, my keys, my digital camera, chap stick, eye drops and lip gloss. Possibly a hair brush/comb but I haven't had one in my purse since H.S.
The kicker? I can't buy it until Easter.
I am partial to to the following brands: Coach, LV, Cole Haan, Juicy, Marc Jacobs...you get the idea. Although I am open to any and all suggestions. Price matters but I'm looking at this as an investment. Especially if it's designer.
It needs to hold all my crap. Crap, equalling my planner, my notebook for "things," my wallet (hopefully it will match by new bag), my phone, my mase, my keys, my digital camera, chap stick, eye drops and lip gloss. Possibly a hair brush/comb but I haven't had one in my purse since H.S.
The kicker? I can't buy it until Easter.
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