Author:  Edward Khoo

Oh sure, you think you nailed that site architecture and that home page reads like pure poetry, right? After all, you wrote it. But that’s the problem. You wrote it. You designed the graphics. You created the keyword list based on those finely-honed intuitive instincts so it must be perfect. It’s your baby.

Fact: you aren’t always right. Fact: some of your ideas just aren’t practical. Fact: a second, third and even a fourth opinion improves even the best-thought-out plan – if you’re willing to listen and learn.

1. Just because you fall short doesn’t mean you failed.

Easy to say, but not necessarily easy to live with. No one likes criticism. No one likes to admit that there’s a better solution, but the fact is, there are always better solutions. Criticism is a tool. It provides different perspectives. It identifies steps that you missed during the first round.

Learn from others. Just because you get push-back from a new client doesn’t mean the client got it right and you got it wrong. It simply means the client has a different point of view – one from which you just might learn a thing or two.

2. Open mind, closed mouth.

This is going to come as a shock but you won’t get it right every time. Ok you’re good, but you aren’t perfect.

You also aren’t a mind reader. Be prepared to revise your thinking and to look at your professional and personal life from a different point of view. Keep an open mind when listening to criticism. And don’t defend your baby. There are a lot of ways to get it right. Acquiring knowledge from others is the best way to learn. It’s real-world, real-time learning, not something you picked up in a school classroom 10 years ago.

3. Become a stakeholder but don’t drive your stake through the heart.

You know, the only way to kill a vampire is to drive a wooden stake through the undead monster’s heart. And you may occasionally run in to a client or colleague that tries your patience to the point where driving a stake through the “idiot’s” heart sounds like a reasonable solution.

Okay, first, it’s not a solution. In fact, your negative reaction to criticism, regardless of the source, will only make a problem worse. It’s important to remember that things like site design, graphics and site text are 100% subjective and sometimes you won’t be 100% spot on.

Take a position. Become a stakeholder in any project or undertaking but don’t cling to your POV with your last breath. There are a million ways to get it right and listening to some constructive criticism from a client, a co-worker, family member or friend may actually move that undertaking in another direction. A better direction.

4. Consider the source.

Who’s criticizing? Does that person have authority? Is she better versed in the topic? Is he the one with the checkbook?

Clients want things done a certain way – even if you know they’re dead wrong in their approach. As a knowledgeable professional, you have an obligation to point out flaws in the client’s thinking. However, once you’ve pointed out the flaw and the client still wants it done his way, you’ve done your job. You provided the best consultation you could, you provided the road map to success, but if the guy with the checkbook wants black text against a black background – even after you’ve explained why that’s a problem – you’ve done your job.

5. Learn from anyone and everyone.

There will always be someone who disagrees with your point of view, your suggestions, your designs and your expertise. No problem.

Confident people learn from anyone simply by listening. You don’t have to accept the point of view. Your free will remains in tact. Your opinions remain unchanged.

The key is to have confidence in your abilities, professional and otherwise. With self-confidence, criticism isn’t a threat. It’s a useful tool.

Learn by listening. The more perspectives you see, the better equipped you become when similar circumstances come up next month or 10 years from now.

6. How’s your self-image doing?

Don’t take it personally.

Development is a process, a strategy, a goal or objective, but it’s not about you. Keep your self-image strong and you’ll keep you self-esteem in place.

Emotional intelligence (EQ) is an asset that’s often more important than intellectual intelligence (IQ). Accept criticism and learn from it. The result is a collaboration that delivers the positive outcomes from which all stakeholders benefit.

7. Not all criticism is constructive.

We’ve all met people, or have dealt with clients, who are mean-spirited – men and women who actually enjoy tearing your concepts to shreds. So be it.

Consider the source of the criticism. Consider the value of the criticism. Consider the benefits derived from the criticism. Never stop learning, even from those who are totally clueless. There may be a pearl of wisdom in what these mean-spirited people have to say.

Find those pearls and use them. Learn from them – even if the intent of their criticism is to undermine your efforts. Keeping silent in the face of criticism isn’t easy but it is beneficial to you, the client, the project, the objective.

Accept what you can’t change. It’ll save a lot of sleepless nights, hassles and headaches – especially when you realize that the source of the criticism doesn’t have the experience and knowledge you have.

8. Learn to let go.

You have an idea or concept, a design or strategy that you know is perfect. Okay, maybe it is, but don’t marry yourself to any one way of doing things. Learn to let go. Learn to keep an open mind.

You’ll be a better person for your efforts. Even better, you’ll learn to be a quality service provider when you can let go of that perfect concept and follow a different path. There are lots of ways to achieve success.

9. Recognize your own limitations.

Each of us has different strengths. Each of us has different limitations (weaknesses). Take pride in your strengths and use them to your advantage and to the advantage of your clients, your family and friends.

Accept your limitations and learn from others to lessen the negative impact personal limitations have on your professional career or the growth of your client base.

10. A closed mind never welcomes criticism.

Too bad. If you close your mind to new ideas, differing opinions or points of view, you don’t grow. You don’t get better. You don’t learn.

Criticism is about managing your emotions. It’s also about learning how people think, determining their needs and meeting those needs. Always put the needs of others before your own needs. It makes you a better human being and a better business owner, whether you’re a one-man company working out of a spare room at home or the CEO of a multi-national conglomerate.

Welcome criticism. Even mean-spirited criticism. In the end, you’ll learn. You’ll become a better human being and a better service provider. Think of criticism as a lesson from which you can become better at whatever it is you do.

The development of emotional intelligence isn’t something that’s taught in school. It’s something we learn by living, working with a variety of personalities and adapting to the needs of others.

To grow your business or to grow as a human being, recognize criticism as a positive, not a negative, in your daily routine.

In the end, you come out ahead. In the end, your business prospers.

In the end, you win.

1. SEND A HARD-COPY LETTER, NOT AN E-MAIL
2. BE PROMPT
3. KEEP YOUR LANGUAGE SIMPLE, NOT STILTED
4. GIVE THE READER VISUAL BREAKS
5. PERSONALIZE—AND PERSONALIZE SOME MORE
6. KEEP YOUR PROMISES REASONABLE
7. INCLUDE A HAND WRITTEN P.S.

Read the full article here http://bit.ly/bf4Hy9

Your heart is pounding. Sweat build on your forehead. Your mind is racing…..

It’s a job interview.

While it’s no secret that job interviews can be pretty nerve-racking, a lot of job seekers spend a significant amount of time worrying about what they will say during their interview, only to blow it all with their body language.

The saying “It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it,” is very accurate even if you’re not talking. You need to effectively communicate your professionalism both verbally and non-verbally.

Delivering appropriate answers and expressing your enthusiasm at once can be difficult when you’re nervous,

So here’s a guide:

Grab em’ at “hello”

Before you walk into the interview, it’s assumed that you will have done the following: prepared yourself by reading up on the company and recent company news; practiced what you’ll say to some of the more common interview questions; and followed the “what to wear on your interview” advice. So you’re ready, right?

Some hiring managers claim they can spot a possible candidate for a job within 30 seconds or less, and while a lot of that has to do with the way you look, it’s also in your body language. Don’t walk in pulling up your pantyhose or readjusting your tie; pull yourself together before you stand up to greet the hiring manager or enter their office. Avoid a “dead fish” handshake and confidently — but not too firmly — grasp your interviewer’s hand and make eye contact while saying hello.

Shake your hand, watch yourself

If you are rocking back in your chair, shaking your foot, drumming your fingers or scratching your… anything, you’re going to look like your going to look the type of future employee who wouldn’t be able to stay focused, if even for a few minutes. It’s a not a game of charades, it’s a job interview. Here’s what to do (and not do):

Don’t:

• Rub the back of your head or neck. Even if you really do just have a cramp in your neck, these gestures make you look disinterested.
• Rub or touch your nose. This suggests that you’re not being completely honest, and it’s gross.
• Sit with your armed folded across your chest. You’ll appear unfriendly and disengaged.
• Cross your legs and idly shake one over the other. It’s distracting and shows how uncomfortable you are.
• Lean your body towards the door. You’ll appear ready to make a mad dash for the door.
• Slouch back in your seat. This will make you appear disinterested and unprepared.
• Stare back blankly. This is a look people naturally adapt when they are trying to distance themselves.

Do:

• Sit up straight, and lean slightly forward in your chair. In addition to projecting interest and engagement in the interaction, aligning your body’s position to that of the interviewer’s shows admiration and agreement.
• Show your enthusiasm by keeping an interested expression. Nod and make positive gestures in moderation to avoid looking like a bobblehead.
• Establish a comfortable amount of personal space between you and the interviewer. Invading personal space (anything more than 20 inches) could make the interviewer feel uncomfortable and take the focus away from your conversation.
• Limit your application of colognes and perfumes. Invading aromas can arouse allergies. Being the candidate that gave the interviewer a headache isn’t going to do anything in your favor.
• If you have more than one person interviewing you at once, make sure you briefly address both people with your gaze (without looking like a tennis spectator) and return your attention to the person who has asked you a question.
• Interruptions can happen. If they do, refrain from staring at your interviewer while they address their immediate business and motion your willingness to leave if they need privacy.
• Stand up and smile even if you are on a phone interview. Standing increases your level of alertness and allows you to become more engaged in the conversation.

Say Goodbye Gracefully

After a few well-thought-out questions and answers with your interviewer, it’s almost over, but don’t lose your cool just yet. Make sure your goodbye handshake is just as confident now as it was going in. Keep that going while you walk through the office building, into the elevator and onto the street. Once safely in your car, a cab or some other measurable safe distance from the scene of your interview, it’s safe to let go. You may have aced it, but the last thing you want is some elaborate end-zone dance type of routine killing all your hard work at the last moment.

Published by Careerbuilder

A well-presented resumé is an essential job search tool. An effective resumé will assist prospective employer in searching through the information in an effective way.

If the information is promoting your strengths and the benefits that your experience has to offer, it will drastically increase the odds of you progressing to the next stage of the recruitment process.

Following are some tips that will help you create an effective, professional resumé that will enhance your chances of employment. (A poorly written resumé will do the opposite).

Do:

Try to keep your resumé to 2-5 pages depending on length of employment (If your employment history is long and varied, try to focus on the positions that are relevant to the position you are applying for)

List qualifications and written references on resumé and keep all original documents in a portfolio. These can then be used for verification purposes at interview.

Use bullet points, refrain from the use of jargon and minimise the use of pronouns such as ‘I’ and ‘we’

Don’t:

Do not exaggerate, (or worse – lie) this can be embarrassing when the recruiter verifies your information.

Do not use different fonts and colours unless you are applying for a graphic designer’s position or similar.

Layout:

The following order of details is what most recruiters expect and will enable them to access your information a familiar and effective fashion.

First page

Personal Details:

Name

Date of Birth

Nationality (If non-Australian, include visa class)

Address

Phone Details

Email Address

Education:

Tertiary Qualifications and/or current studying details

Last year of High School, name of school

Further Training and skills:

IT Skills

Relevant Certificate Courses

Language skills (other than English)

Objective:

Your personal career objective and how it will benefit the prospective employer.

Subsequent pages

Career History in reverse chronological order by starting with the most recent position first:

Date started and date finished (month and year only)

Company name, Location

Your job title

Briefly summarise your duties, responsibilities & Achievements (Milestones)

Last Page:

List referees in order of relevance.

Remember to ask your referees permission, before including them.

Include referee’s name, title, name of company and the his/hers relationship to you as well as contact telephone and email

The employment market is not really great at the moment and a lot of people having trouble staying positive as you may had some good job interviews at different companies, but no job offers.

Don’t allow yourself to get sucked into the negativity of the current job market. You may not be doing anything wrong! It’s a highly competitive job market right now; that’s a fact. A normal result of an aggressive job search is going to be rejection with some people even suggest that “if you are not getting rejected enough, you’re not working hard enough.”

In reality, the fact that you are going on interviews is a great signal that you ARE doing something right.

First, it means your cover letter and resume are sparking attention, which is exactly what they’re supposed to do. If you on the other hand not getting any response, it could be a sign that you are “casting your net to wide” or in other words aiming for positions that do not fit good with your resume.

One of the most valuable exercises you can do is to stay focused and extremely organized with your job search activities. Practice your organizational skills NOW by developing a log of all the companies you are sending your resume to, the date you send it, the contact person, the job title, etc. .

It’s also helpful to conduct your own post-interview evaluation. As soon as you can, take a few minutes to do a quick rewind and assess how you did. Did you answer the questions with confidence? Did you make a good first impression? Where is there room for improvement?

During your interview, be specific in your answers. This is how you will differentiate yourself so you don’t become a blur in the sea of candidates. Be able to communicate in 30 seconds what you are about and how you can add value. In today’s competitive job market, there is no time for lengthy, over generalized answers.

Stick to the facts. Think before you respond. You’ve got one chance to convince the interviewer.

Always come prepared with questions. When the interviewer asks, “Do you have any questions for me?” If you answer, “No” you can be quite confident that you won’t get called back for a second interview!

Send thank you short thank you notes after every interview. Thank the interviewer for their time and mention a couple of highlights of the conversation. Send the note within 24 hours.

Remember to be patient and don’t get down on yourself. Take time to re-energize often and be good to yourself. Look for the best moment of every day – even something small – and be confident in who you are, your talents, skills and ability to contribute and make a difference.