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One of the most common refrains I hear from frustrated job seekers is that they spend tons of time applying to jobs, but never hear anything back.

What gives?

If you’re not getting the response you want in your job search—but have no idea what you’re doing wrong—it’s time to go back to the basics and make sure you’re not making the following classic mistakes.

1. You Don’t Have a Target Employer Strategy

You may think that because you’re submitting application after application online, you’re conducting an effective job search. Not true! Blindly applying to any and every position that you come across doesn’t usually yield good results.

The most effective way to find the right job for you is to target your ideal employers—the companies that interest you, align with your passion, and need your skills. Once you develop a list of dream companies, you can tailor your applications specifically to those organizations, which will give you a much better chance of getting noticed and landing the job.

2. Your Resume and Cover Letter Aren’t Targeted to the Employer

Even if you have a targeted job-search strategy, a generic resume and cover letter can quickly stall your efforts. One glance at your resume will tell an employer if you wrote it specifically for the company or if you created a one-size-fits-all document that you emailed to every business on your list.

Your search will be much more successful if you customize your cover letter and resume to specifically address the company’s business problems and your capacity to solve them.

3. You’re Wasting the Top Third of Your Resume

Because so many resumes are read online, through applicant tracking systems, or on mobile devices, the top third of your resume is prime marketing real estate. If a hiring manager doesn’t immediately see a compelling message in that portion, he or she will swipe to the next resume—meaning, as Heidi Klum would say on Project Runway, “You’re out.”

Start by keeping your personal information at the top short, sweet, and to the point. There’s no need to include a street address; simply list your name, one phone number, one email address, and your LinkedIn URL. That leaves you plenty of space to get to the meaty stuff within that top third.

If you have an objective statement, remove it. Instead, either include a professional summary statement or dive right in to your experience.

4. Your Resume Is Too Long

When I see a resume that’s multiple pages long, it usually indicates that the job seeker hasn’t tailored his resume to the specific job—and instead, included everything but the kitchen sink.

While you may think a longer resume allows you to show off more of your qualifications, in reality, it usually causes your reader to get bored, become confused about why you applied to the job, and then toss it aside.

A resume is not your whole life story. You simply want to provide enough applicable information to score an interview. To do that, lay out the most relevant aspects of your experience and why you’re qualified for that particular job. By doing that, you should be able to keep it to one page (or two, at the very most, if you have lots of meaty content that’s relevant to the job).

5. You Expect Others to Do the Math

Do you talk about your work in terms of tasks or accomplishments? In many resumes and cover letters, job seekers use sentences that describe activities, rather than outcomes. Explaining a task sounds like this: “In my current job, I oversaw the project to automate time cards.”

Now, I’m sure that’s good stuff. But if you don’t tell a potential manager what it means to him or her, it won’t mean anything. You have to do the math for the potential employer and specifically show how you’ll create value for the company.

To do this, ask yourself: What was the outcome I achieved and how is the organization better as a result? For instance, you could adjust that previous line to: “When I led the project to automate time cards, we were able to reduce payroll processing time by 20%, saving the company $15,000 per quarter.

Now that’s a powerful accomplishment.

6. You Don’t Take LinkedIn Seriously

Imagine that you’re in charge of hiring a candidate for an important position, and you’ve narrowed it down to two strong applicants. You look up both on LinkedIn. One has a profile packed with accomplishments, a great personal story, tons of connections, and samples of her work. The other has a couple of connections, no photo, and little to no content.

Who would you choose?

Companies are increasingly using LinkedIn as a component in their hiring practices—meaning that your profile is often the first place employers go to check you out.

If you don’t already have a profile, sign up for LinkedIn now—then use these 31 tips to make it as effective as possible.

7. Your Social Media Presence Scares Employers Away

Hiring is a big risk for employers, so they aim to use gather as much evidence as possible to either validate their choice or eliminate the bad applicants.

A whopping majority—93%—of hiring managers go online to research a candidate before they offer him or her a job. Worse, 55% have changed their minds about a candidate after getting a negative impression of him or her from social media.

So, clean up your social media. Comb through all your social profiles and ensure you’re comfortable with your privacy settings—i.e., what potential employers can see. Remove anything that could be perceived as offensive, including badmouthing former employers. No company wants to hire a problem. And if your social media content makes you look like a lawsuit waiting to happen, you’re a problem.
If you don’t pay close attention to these details, you could be losing opportunities to snag your perfect job. Nail the basics, and you’ll be on your way to a dream career.

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Like it or not, teams are a staple of the business world. There is a strong belief that groups of people working together can accomplish more than individuals on their own. Of course, the efficacy is wholly dependent on the quality and commitment of the players. Amazing team players can lift the performance of the entire group. If your teams seem lackluster, measure yourself against the qualities below and see if you can rise to the occasion

1. They focus more on the team than on the win.

Teams function best when moving in a coordinated fashion. If people work independently in a vacuum the productivity suffers. Amazing team players know the win is usually the by-product of the collective performance. Make group performance the priority so all can work at their best and most efficient.

2. No job is too small.

In theatre there is a saying: There are no small parts, just small actors. People who let their ego and need for accomplishment get in the way will hurt overall performance and lose respect for the team. Amazing team players take joy in their contribution to the whole no matter the size or scope. Find your primary joy in the journey and camaraderie.

3. They communicate openly and honestly.

Quiet politeness can kill a team quickly. Amazing team players know that constructive conflict is the only way to achieve peak performance and remove hazards before they derail the project. Work on telling the truth as much as possible without using blame or disrespect.

4. They share with others.

This is a basic kindergarten lesson: share. This includes time and resources, but also information on how something is done. Amazing team players take action for the good of the project and the team. Bring your resources to the table for all to benefit- and that includes information you may be selfishly holding back.

5. They stay positive.

Nothing kills team morale like negativity. Sure, times can get tough, but teams are often created to solve difficult problems. Amazing team players have a naturally positive attitude especially when the stakes are high. Worry less and solve more in order to guide the team through rough times.

6. They’re on time and prepared.

Someone who is late is subconsciously telling others, “My time is more important than yours.” Amazing team players know that punctuality and readiness communicates commitment and dependability. Show your team they are worth your consideration and effort by being ready and on schedule.

7. They adapt.

Any growing business big enough for teamwork is going to be abundant with change. Players may shift and goals may readjust, so amazing team players are ready for anything. They are disciplined and open-minded so they can adapt as necessary. Be flexible and diligent. Control the things you can control so you are more comfortable dealing with the things you can’t.

8. They go above and beyond what is asked.

If everyone on a team simply does what they are told it isn’t really much of a team, it’s just a bunch of robots. Amazing team players use team meetings as stimulus to do outside thinking and action that will support the effort. Of course, they keep communication open along the way to preserve alignment. Take a proactive approach to moving the team along farther and faster. The best team players are leaders even when they are not in charge of the team.

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A recent study of over 500 business leaders addressed what makes an employee stand out. The number one thing leaders said? It wasn’t how late someone stayed at the office. It wasn’t their skill set. It wasn’t their ability to liaise with clients.

It was personality.

But when leaders said “personality,” they didn’t mean whether someone is introverted or extroverted. They meant the deeper, underlying abilities the person demonstrated—their emotional intelligence.

They meant things like this:

1. You Don’t Wait to Be Asked

Instead of waiting to be told what to do, you take action. If you don’t know exactly what to do, you do what you think is best and then take responsibility. You’re proactive and willing to take risks. It’s more important to you to contribute than to wait for step-by-step instructions.

2. You Don’t Gossip

Regardless of how you feel about your boss or co-workers, you keep your opinion to yourself at work. If you need to vent or process, you do so with people outside the office. If you have a real issue with someone at your job (including your manager), you address it with him or directly. You don’t gossip; you communicate.

3. You Do What You Say You Will

You send the email you said you’d send. You follow up with the client you said you’d run point on. You meet deadlines.

If you don’t have the bandwidth for a project, you don’t take it on. You have a strong sense of what you can do in what timeframe, and you stand by that. You’re comfortable saying no because you know that leads to the bigger “yes”—integrity.

4. You Give Value

When people on your team do well, you tell them so. You’re vocal in your support of both of co-workers and superiors, and genuinely excited when someone else succeeds. People want to work with you because they feel uplifted being around you. You’re collaborative, not competitive.

5. You Offer Proposals, Not Suggestions

Instead of just criticizing or brainstorming, you give concrete alternatives. You don’t force your opinion, but rather offer well-researched proposals about what you think should be done. You have a sense of the overall scope of what a change would entail (beyond just your department) and how you can contribute. You’re committed to overall success of your organization, not just your own advancement.

Being exceptional at work isn’t something you’re born with—it’s something you grow into. You begin by taking stock and then taking action.

It’s never too late to start standing out.

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A job interview is all about presenting your best self—which is why answering “What’s your biggest weakness?” is pretty difficult. There’s no other question that feels like more of a trap.

If you’re too honest, you might scare the hiring manager and blow your chances of getting the position. But if you’re not honest enough, you’ll lose credibility.

Well, the first thing to keep in mind is why the question’s being asked—and it’s not to trip you up. Instead it’s to see if you’re self-aware enough to recognize a flaw, and then self-motivated enough to fix it. Today’s feedback on your weakness is tomorrow’s feedback on an important team project that’s not coming together.

So, to help you out, I’ve rounded up the most common, cliché, and fake-sounding “biggest weaknesses,” along with some suggestions for what to say instead.

1. Instead of “Perfectionism,” Say…

“I tend to get caught up in the little details, which can distract me from the ultimate goal.”

You might be a perfectionist, but your interviewer has heard this answer a billion times (and from plenty of people who aren’t actually perfectionists, I might add).

However, by presenting the symptoms, rather than just naming the affliction, you’ll sound much more sincere.

Follow this answer with an example, such as:

When I was a junior web designer at Harold’s Hats, I was asked to revamp our size guide and make it more fun and visually interesting. Unfortunately, I became so fixated on finding the perfect font that I missed the deadline.

Next, describe how you’re working to solve the issue. (Hint: This answer will work for almost every perfectionist.)

These days, I break each project down into mini-tasks, each with their own deadline. If I spend too long on an individual thing, I set it aside and move on to the next one. Usually, by the time I come back to the imperfect piece, I can be more objective about whether or not it needs more work.

2. Instead of “Overly High Standards,” Say…

“It can be difficult for me to gauge when the people I’m working with are overwhelmed or dissatisfied with their workloads.”

Saying that you expect too much from your team will score you an eye roll or two from your interviewer. Instead, explain how your delegation skills could be better.

After providing an example, say something along the lines of:

To ensure that I’m not asking too much or too little from my subordinates, we have weekly check-ins. I like to ask if they feel like they’re on top of their workload, how I could better support them, whether there’s anything they’d like to take on or get rid off, and if they’re engaged by what they’re doing. Even if the answer is “all good,” these meetings really lay the groundwork for a good and trusting relationship.

3. Instead of “Workaholism,” Say…

“I need to get much better at knowing the difference between working hard and working productively. It’s easy for me to fall into the trap of thinking that long hours in the office mean I’m getting a lot done. But unsurprisingly, I actually do my best work when I’m not super tired or stressed.”

Let’s face it: In today’s office, workaholics get pats on the back, not admonitions to take it easier. Claiming to be one (whether it’s true or not) sounds like you’re bragging.

Next, tell your interviewer about a time when you pushed yourself too hard and the results weren’t good.

Then, prove you’re managing the issue by saying:

I’m making a huge effort to work smarter, not longer. I’ve begun responding to emails in batches so I don’t waste hours every day sorting through my inbox. I write down five goals every morning so that I’m focused on the priorities. I try to take my meetings outside so that I get some fresh air and exercise while we talk. These productivity changes have helped me compress the amount of work I accomplish into fewer hours—which also means I can produce higher-quality work.

4. Instead of “Public Speaking,” Say…

“I’ve heard that more people are scared of public speaking than death. Well, I wouldn’t say my fear is that extreme, but I definitely find it challenging to present my ideas in front of a crowd. As you can imagine, this has proven to be a career obstacle.”

Public speaking didn’t used to be such a common answer, but it’s definitely getting more popular. You can still use it, but flesh out your answers with examples so that your interviewer knows you’re being truthful.

Then explain what you’re doing to get better, like so:

I recently joined the local Toastmasters club. We meet every Friday night, and it’s actually become one of the things I look forward to each week! In addition, I regularly volunteer to speak at team meetings. Even though they’re small, they’re definitely helping me feel more comfortable sharing my ideas. All of this experience has made it far easier to explain to a room that, say, we need to invest in big data software.

With these genuine alternatives to over-used answers, you’ll never have to fear the “biggest weakness” question again.

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What sets those who accomplish great things apart from those who fail to realize their ambitions? You might guess intelligence, appetite for risk, or even creativity. Those are all sensible-sounding suggestions, but that’s not what science has found.

According to work by pioneering Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck and others, the best predictor of success in life is none of these usual suspects—it’s your mindset. Those who achieve great things generally believe they can improve and grow as people. This is called a “growth mindset.” Those who are frustrated in their attempts to realize their dreams tend to believe their abilities and talents are static, a.k.a., they have a “fixed mindset.” (Read more about the science behind this insight here.)

All of which is fine and good, but raises one essential question. If up to now you’ve tended to view your abilities through the prism of the fixed mindset, is there anything you can do to change? Absolutely, according to a post on Dweck’s website, which lays out steps for fighting back and learning to view your abilities as works in progress. Here they are in brief to get you started.

1. Think of Your Mindset as a Voice

How does a mindset manifest itself? It controls the ways you talk to yourself in the privacy of your own head. Recognizing this fact is the first step to achieving a growth mindset. “As you approach a challenge, that voice might say to you, ‘Are you sure you can do it? Maybe you don’t have the talent’ or ‘What if you fail—you’ll be a failure,’” the post explains, adding that, “As you hit a setback, the voice might say, ‘This would have been a snap if you really had talent.’”

Pay attention to your thoughts and see if you frequently tell yourself anything similar. If so, you’ve spotted the fixed mindset at work, undermining your potential for success.

2. Choose Growth

Now that you know what you’re up against, the next step, according to Dweck, is recognizing that you aren’t stuck with the thoughts you currently have. “How you interpret challenges, setbacks, and criticism is your choice,” the post points out. “You can interpret them in a fixed mindset as signs that your fixed talents or abilities are lacking. Or you can interpret them in a growth mindset as signs that you need to ramp up your strategies and effort, stretch yourself, and expand your abilities.”

3. Talk Back

When it comes to that limiting voice in your head, feel free to be as sassy as you like in response. Tell that voice exactly what’s wrong with how it’s framing situations, and actively reformulate your approach to challenges and setbacks to reflect a belief in personal growth. The post offers examples:

  • The fixed mindset says, “Are you sure you can do it? Maybe you don’t have the talent.”
  • The growth mindset answers, “I’m not sure I can do it now, but I think I can learn to with time and effort.”
  • Fixed mindset: “What if you fail—you’ll be a failure.”
  • Growth mindset: “Most successful people had failures along the way.”

4. Act

Changing the script in your head is a huge step, but Dweck’s site ends with a healthy reminder that the whole point of doing so is to change not just your thoughts, but your actions as well. Don’t content yourself with a remodeled inner voice. Get out there and practice what you’re preaching to yourself.

5. Add This 3-Letter Word

For a bonus fifth idea for creating the mindset necessary for success, you can check out this video of Dweck posted on the Brainwaves YouTube channel and recently featured on New York Magazine’s Science of Us blog. In the video, Dweck suggests that just three little letters can have a huge impact on your mindset.

“We’ve found that putting in certain phrases, like ‘not yet’ or ‘yet,’ can really boost students’ motivation. So if a student says, ‘I’m not a math person—yet’ or ‘I can’t do this—yet,’” she explains, “it puts their fixed mindset statement into a growth mindset context of learning over time.”

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Skills are a form of currency in the working world. The more skills you have, the more valuable you are as an employee, which means you’ll be more attractive to more potential employers, you’ll be able to make more money, and you’ll be able to do more once you land your ideal position.

Unfortunately, many workers immediately zero in on niche skill sets that are only useful for their specific area of expertise—for example, a coder might learn techniques for dozens of different programming languages. This is good, as it makes you a better fit for those specific positions, but there are some general skills that are far more important.

These seven skills serve as fundamental pillars for any individual in any position. Employers look for these as a foundation more important than any niche skill set, and employees with these skills almost always do better than their counterparts.

1. Effective Communication

No matter who you are, where you work, or what line of work you’re in, communication will be a critical factor in your ultimate success. It might be communicating information to a client, communicating your needs to a supervisor, or collaborating with your peers. It might be mostly phone-based, mostly written, or mostly face-to-face. In today’s world, the forms of communication are practically limitless, but the baseline skills responsible for ensuring that communication’s success are fundamental. Say what you want to say concisely, accurately, and appropriately, and try to maximize the effectiveness of your messages by choosing the proper mediums for them.

2. Organization and Management

Organization skills help you better handle the responsibilities before you and ensure they are executed properly. Being organized means you’ll be more likely to get to work on time, more likely to prioritize your tasks effectively, and more likely to seek proactive solutions to problems before they even become problems. Management skills are also useful in any position, even when you aren’t directly managing other people. For example, you’ll be able to better manage your resources, better manage your time, and better manage your workload. Without organization and management skills, even the most capable workers often fall behind or make critical mistakes.

3. Negotiation

Negotiation, as a skill, comes from equal parts persuasion and confidence (which I’ll touch on later). It’s a useful tool to have in almost any position, and having it during the job interview process can also guarantee you get the best position possible—for example, if you negotiate strongly, you could earn yourself a higher salary or more competitive benefits. In the context of a job, you can use negotiation skills for obvious purposes like securing new clients or striking deals with potential partners, but it’s also useful in getting last-minute help, decreasing potential points of resistance, and lowering total costs of operation.

4. Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is a process of problem solving that allows you to find and address potential weaknesses or fault points in a given environment. It allows for more creative solutions to potential problems, faster assessment of bad situations, and greater pattern recognition in large systems, and its applications are practically infinite. Critical thinkers are capable of acknowledging, analyzing, and solving problems without much—if any—outside influence, and they’re always looking for possible improvements to add to the system.

5. Teamwork and Delegation

While some positions rely on collaboration more than others, you’ll always have some level of teamwork to manage in the workplace. When you first start off, that might mean working with your supervisors and a few of your peers, but in your future, it could mean delegating work to your subordinates. Knowing how to work with others effectively and how to play to individuals’ strengths is a key skill necessary for success in this area. The better you know how to work in groups, the better you’ll be able to collectively perform. Without teamwork skills, you’ll end up slowing the operation down.

6. Research and Analysis

Research and analysis skills come into play for nearly every conceivable position. Marketers need to research and analyze their campaigns for possible effectiveness. Salespeople need to research and analyze their potential leads. Engineers need to research and analyze potential new technologies. Even personal assistants need to research and analyze various travel plans. Being able to quickly find information, review that information, and recognize key patterns is essential for practically any job function.

7. Confidence

Confidence might seem like a trait, but it can be gained, honed, and developed just like a skill. You can increase your confidence in some areas through sheer practice; the more often you do something, the more confident you’ll be in doing it. In other areas, confidence can be a product of your practiced habits. For example, if you work on improving your body language, improving your elocution, and thinking positive thoughts, you’ll naturally come across as a more confident person, and you’ll feel more confident in your regular actions. Confidence leads to greater respect, greater precision, and greater efficiency all around.

Some of these skills develop naturally over time as you gain experience in the professional world, but for the most part, you’ll need to seek them, acquire them, and hone them like you would with any other skill. Dedicate yourself to improving each of these individual areas, and maximize your chances of getting hired and succeeding in your position

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1. Your Heart Disease Risk Is High
Did your doctor tell you you’re at risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) at your last checkup? You may want to look beyond revamping your diet and take a look at your work situation, too. Burnout, defined by Tel Aviv University researchers as a state of “emotional exhaustion, physical fatigue, and cognitive weariness” due to your job, is also linked closely to incidences of CHD when compared to the health of people who didn’t have these experiences on the job.

2. You Can’t Shake the Blues
If you’ve been feeling down and just can’t seem to snap out of it, you may find that your job is at least partially to blame. When researchers from City College of New York examined the mental states of more than 5,500 teachers who felt high stress from their jobs, they learned that a whopping 90 percent of the subjects also met the diagnostic criteria for clinical depression — suggesting a strong connection between work burnout and depression.

3. You’re More Spontaneous
Have a problem recently with impulsive behavior? Throwing caution to the wind just may be a sign that your job is doing you in, say University of Surrey researchers who presented their findings at the British Psychological Society’s annual conference in 2015. When work is taking a toll on your mental health, the study authors found, you’re more likely to make spontaneous, risky, and irrational decisions.

4. Your Clothes Feel Tight
While weight gain isn’t inherently negative, if you gain weight often, rather than maintain a steady number on the scale over time, you may want to take a look at your work situation. Job-related demands were the top reason for weight changes when controlling for other factors in a Harvard Medical School study of 1,355 men and women.

5. Your Commute Is Intolerable
If you’ve tried to find ways to make your commute more productive but it’s still driving you mad, you may want to consider finding a job closer to home if you can’t afford to move closer, caution University of Montreal researchers. Of 1,942 study subjects, those who spent as little as 20 minutes in harried conditions (think: bumper-to-bumper highway traffic or packed subways) were more likely to feel stress and burnout at work.

Credit : dailyworth.com

When you interview for a new position, much of the conversation focuses on you and how you’d fill the given role and meet the expected qualifications. As a result, you spend a lot of time selling yourself and your skills.

But choosing to take a new job isn’t just about what you will do for the company— it’s also about whether the company is a good fit for your professional goals and day-to-day happiness. You’ll spend roughly 40 hours a week at work, so you need to make sure this job is one in which you’ll flourish.

To find out if a company or role is the right fit, ask these 10 questions.

1. What Are Your Expectations for This Role?

You need to get a sense of what you’re in for with this new position, particularly what will be expected of you during the first three months on the job. “Asking about quarterly goals for the position is key to setting yourself up for success before you even accept an offer,” says Lindsay Shoemake, founder of career lifestyle site That Working Girl. “If your interviewer or potential manager doesn’t seem to provide a clear answer, that might be a red flag that they haven’t set clear expectations for the position.”

A related follow-up: “What is the biggest challenge I would face in this position?”

“Many interviewers will respond to this question by providing you with an honest overview of company politics that will help you to evaluate whether you can succeed,” says Joe Weinlick, senior vice president of marketing for Beyond.com. “If the answer is, ‘You won’t have any challenges,’ beware! There are always challenges, and you may want to dig deeper before accepting a position.”

2. What Personalities Flourish Here?

This question is a must. Most managers can easily identify the type of person who would be successful in their organizations. Their answer will give you a better sense of whether you would be a good fit within the organization, says Jenn DeWall, a certified career and life coach. “It’s best to know this early on versus fighting to fit in and be the type of personality you’re not,” she says.

3. What Personal or Professional Development Opportunities Exist?

Learning about a company’s commitment to development can signal how much the organization values its employees, says Maria Katrien Heslin, founder of Business Boostcamp. “For example, there are some organizations that do not provide training or time off for professional development. Some have overly strict policies on employees being able to attend conferences,” she explains. “Organizations like this most often are pretty old-school in their management approach.”

4. What’s the Typical Career Path for This Position?

“For those who are goal oriented, it’s important to know up front what you’re working toward,” DeWall says. “If you are eager to climb the corporate ladder and develop your resume and an employer indicates there aren’t career advancement opportunities, the position may be a dead end for you and your career goals.”

Definitely something you’d want to know before taking a position that could lead you nowhere—and back on the job hunt in a couple of years.

5. What’s the Company Culture Like?

Whether you’re interested in a job that allows for flex time or you’d like to be able to bring your dog into the office, you need to find out what the company culture is like before you’re hired. DeWall advises asking about the organization’s take on work-life balance and what a typical workday looks like.

Of course, you don’t want to come off as unprofessional, so you might not want to ask straight up about working remotely and whether you’re allowed to dress casually in your first interview, but these key elements might be important to find out if you have an offer in hand.

“By asking about office culture you should get the answers to your questions,” says Erik Bowitz, senior resume expert at Resume Genius. “The ability to dress down and work remotely are valuable benefits for today’s graduates entering the workforce,” and companies are trying to entice the best and brightest with more modern policies.

6. Do You Have a Bonus Program?

“Don’t be bashful about asking about compensation,” Bowitz says. He advises job hunters to get all the details on their pay—from base salary to bonus programs and equity—before accepting an offer, even unofficially or verbally. “Remember you both are bringing value to the table, and so you should never feel lower or disadvantaged being the interviewee.”

Joseph Terach, founder and CEO of Resume Deli, also advises not being shy when asking about benefits, especially how much you’ll have to contribute to medical and dental coverage per month and how the 401(k) vesting and matching programs work. At the end of the day, you’re working to get paid, so you need to be sure the compensation is adequate.

7. Why Do You Like Working Here?

The answer to this question can be quite telling. “This is a good question to ask the interviewer because it’s unexpected and the response can be revealing,” says career consultant Melissa Cooley, founder of The Job Quest. “While most folks will pause before answering because they aren’t anticipating the question—which is a normal reaction—others may stumble all over their words. If an interviewer has a challenging time forming an answer, that’s worth noting.”

Some interviewers may give a boilerplate response when asked about company culture, says Weinlick says. But with this question, you’ll get an immediate emotional and verbal reaction. “If the response tells you the person isn’t excited to go to work, then ask yourself if you are likely to be any different,” he adds. “Ideally, the interviewer will paint a picture of why you would want to work at the company.”

8. What Values Are Important to Your Company?

Getting a sense of the company’s values is extremely important, says Ethan Austin, co-founder of GiveForward: You want to find out whether there’s a common mission or goal that employees collectively work toward—and whether it matches your own values. “If different interviewers give different answers to this question, it’s a red flag to the interviewee that the company is not aligned around a clear mission,” he explains.

John Fleischauer, senior talent attraction manager for Halogen Software, agrees. “What you’re looking for is a response where the interviewer can explicitly communicate, with examples, how the organizational culture is intentionally reinforced across the employee life cycle,” he says. “In other words, if exceptional customer service is a cultural value, the importance of wanting to help or serve clients and meet their needs should be included in all job descriptions as a core competency.”

9. What Do You Think Are the Top 5 Assets of This Company?

This is a bit of a trick question, but the answer will give you further insight about what it might be like to work at the organization and how the company values its personnel.

“One of the responses should be, ‘Employees,’” Cooley says. “If the people who make the products or provide the service are mentioned as an afterthought, or not at all, a candidate should really wonder how that would impact the way the company treats them.”

10. Where Will I Sit?

It might sound silly, but literally seeing the office or cubicle in which you’d spend five days each week is very important for assessing your quality of life at the company. “It’s a mistake not to ask to see where you’ll be sitting: Imagine taking a job only to find out on day one that you’re in a windowless basement,” Terach says. Not the kind of surprise you want, right?

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You’ve applied for enough jobs to know some of most common interview questions that hiring managers ask (e.g., What are your current work duties? Why are you looking to leave your current job? What are your professional goals?).

You also know that toward the end of the interview, it’ll be your turn to ask anything you’re wondering about when it comes to the role or the company.

Some people struggle with this portion, especially if they feel like their questions have already been answered. But, that’s exactly why you should always have a few ready that are nearly impossible for the hiring manager to cover before you bring them up.

One simple strategy to making sure you have a few of those surefire options ready is to turn the spotlight back on the interviewer: Ask him the same questions he asked you.

Want to see it in action? Here you go:

1. Why Are You Interested in Working for This Organization?

The hiring manager wants to know your motivation behind applying for the job, and what you’re hoping to get out of working there. This question probes into your ability to research the organization, its history, its mission, the industry, and what sets it apart from the competition. However, it’s not just a test to see if you did your homework; it’s about learning if you’re more excited about the day-to-day tasks, changing sectors, rather than the on-site gym and free lunches. You can see how to better answer this here.

Question You Should Ask Back: What Made You Decide to Work Here?

Take the opportunity to gain a better understanding of why the interviewer came on board; and more importantly, what has influenced her to stay. You’ll want to work somewhere where people are motivated and driven by the mission. If the person who’s already at the company doesn’t seem passionate about her work, it’s a red flag.

2. Where Do You See Yourself in Five Years?

The hiring manager’s seeking a better understanding of your long-term goals. While you don’t have to pledge that you’ll be at the company five years from then (and please don’t say, “In your job!”); you can ease the hiring manager’s worries of just passing time until your big break at a company you’re really excited about comes through. You can see more on answering that here.

Question You Should Ask Back: Where Do You See the Organization in the Next Five Years?

Does the hiring manager seem optimistic and discuss growth? Does he foresee any major changes in the industry? Is he sharing shifts for the department or the company as a whole? Or, does he seem pretty disconnected and stunned by your question or even somewhat unsure where the company where the company will be?

3. Can You Walk Me Through Your Typical Workday?

Hiring managers are probing for two things. First, they want to know how your current workday relates to the job you’re applying for. Second, they’re judging your ability to communicate effectively when asked for a rundown of your duties. Shine in your interview by giving a clear play-by-play, being sure to discuss any tasks you lead. This demonstrates that you’ll be a great ambassador for the prospective organization, too.

Question You Should Ask Back: How Do You Envision a Typical Day in This Role?

This is an opportunity for you to learn about daily life in the position you’re applying for. If the hiring manager rattles off the job description verbatim, it’s a sign that she might not have it all figured out yet, which could affect your first few weeks on the job.

4. Can You Tell Me About a Time When You Had to Deal With a Difficult Person?

The interviewer wants to learn how you resolve conflicts. Not only is he looking for a (brief) explanation of the problem; but above all, he’s looking for a glimpse into your resolution process. If you can demonstrate good use of soft skills, it’ll make a much stronger impression that blaming someone else.

Question You Should Ask Back: Can You Tell Me How You Resolve Conflict on Your Team?

This is a question to pass right back to the hiring manager. If you’re interviewing your prospective supervisor, you’ll learn about his management style, specifically how he addresses people and teams when things go awry. So, take particular note of the details that this person provides: What kind of example does he give? How would you respond to that approach if you were part of a similar conflict?

5. Why Should I Hire You?

The hiring manager wants to you to identify how your skills intersect with the demands and priorities of the role, as well as how they’ll contribute to the organization as a whole. Come prepared with concrete reasons why you can do the job, as well as a big dose of confidence. Make it clear how your unique skill set and background will allow you to succeed in this role.

Question You Should Ask Back: Do You Have Any Hesitations About My Qualifications?

Translation: Why do you think you should hire me (or, is there something holding you back)?

This is the time to find out if the hiring manager has any concerns about your candidacy. And if she shares any, be sure to address them! This shows that you aren’t afraid to ask tough questions, that you’re confident in yourself, and that you don’t mind constructive criticism.

When the time comes, you should always have a list of questions ready. Strive to ask them in a way that welcomes honest, meaningful dialogue between you and the hiring manager. It’ll demonstrate curiosity about the job, and help you gain insights into what working at the company is really like.

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  1. Life has already begun. There is no interlude. Nor is there a trial version. Your every decision matters.
  2. Your online friends are fake friends. Unfortunately, it’s true. Most of them do not care about you and will not come in your hour of need.
  3. If you fall in love, be ready to get your heart broken. It is tough and it hurts.
  4. Your studying career does not end after prom. Knowledge is crucial. If you are not willing to be left behind, keep studying.
  5. Your family members are the most important people in your life. They are the only ones who care about you. Treat them well and appreciate them.
  6. Your weaknesses do not matter. Learn to accept this. The only things that matter are your strengths. Improve them.
  7. Everything worth doing takes years. Do not expect to reach your goals too quickly. It will probably take much longer than you imagine.
  8. All the opportunities for growth are beyond your comfort zone. Make leaving it a habit. Find your discomfort zone. Enter it.
  9. Broken relationships are not worth staying in. Do not waste your time on things you cannot fix anymore. Let them go and move ahead.
  10. The world is full of injustice. There are plenty of unjust things you are likely to face within your lifetime. Be ready!
  11. Luck comes to those who work hard. Good things do not come to those who wait. Persistence and hard work are the only prerequisites for luck.
  12. There is no perfect moment to start. If you want to start doing something, act now. Do not wait for a better moment. It will never come.
  13. You cannot be everywhere and have everything. Learn to make the right choices and commit to the things that matter most.
  14. Every person in your life should be appreciated. Do not take people for granted.
  15. Experience and emotions are your best investments. The traditional measures of success — fancy cars and houses — are no longer relevant. Emotions, memories, experience, knowledge. These are the things that matter.
  16. Later often means never. Do not postpone anything. Live now!
  17. Success equals perseverance. Do not give up. Stay dedicated to your dreams. Chasing them is difficult, but it’s worth the struggle.
  18. Regular workouts are crucial. Take care of your health and body. Exercise regularly and make sure you are in a good shape.
  19. Your failures do not matter. Only wins count. Therefore, do not be afraid to fail.
  20. Nobody will help you. You have to help yourself.

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1. Understand the why
First of all, start to understand the why. If you have a clear understanding of why you have to or wish to do certain things, it will increase your willpower and keep you motivated until you achieve your goals.

2. Eliminate distractions
In order to increase your concentration, you have to eliminate everything that keeps distracting you.

  • Set a dedicated time for uninterrupted work (you could start with one to two hours).
  • Unplug: Give yourself a hand and turn off all notifications that might interrupt you.
  • Keep a distraction list. Write down everything that bothers you or things that pop up in your mind while you should actually work. Dedicate your time to those things once you’re done or while taking a break.
  • Communicate to others; let others know when you don’t want to be interrupted. Put a sign on the door or tell your friends or colleagues so they can help you.
  • Listen to background music. Use a background noise generator like Noisli to block out any annoying sounds.
  • Stop multitasking. If you do two things simultaneously, you’re splitting your attention and thus not giving 100 percent of your focus to either task.
  • Avoid visual distractions. People who continuously pass by are equally as distracting as notifications. Avoid these places and find a less busy work spot.

3. Maximize your potential
We’re not made to sit eight hours in front of a computer or paper and work. We need breaks, and we also need a healthy lifestyle in order to use our full potential.

The obvious ones:

  • Sleep: If you’re sleep deprived, you will find it difficult to concentrate on whatever you have to do.
  • Eat healthy: A healthy diet will give your body the nutrients and vitamins it needs to perform best when you need it.
  • Exercise: It can reduce the declining memory process, and if you’re taking small breaks it will boost hyper-oxygenation in your brain, giving you energy and increasing your efficiency.

The not-so-obvious ones:

  • Find your prime time: Your mind is generally more focused at certain times of the day. Schedule your uninterrupted work during those times.
  • Chew gum. It will increase the flow of oxygen and help you to maintain longer periods of focus.
  • Smell some herbs. Peppermint can boost energy and enhances clear thinking.
  • Drink coffee when your natural cortisol level drops.

4. Motivate yourself
There are different hacks you can employ to keep yourself motivated.

  • Find a mentor; having somebody to look up to is encouraging.
  • Begin work on big and difficult tasks for just five minutes. You will see that starting was the hardest part.
  • Plan rewards! Having something to look forward to will give you the right motivational boost.

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How can we define the essential things in our lives when everything in 2016 feels essential?

Staying ahead of the curve, leading, and excelling in our jobs means we all must increase efficiencies.

Here are the seven things that hyper-efficient people do differently.

1. They Learn—Efficiently

They listen to audiobooks—but do it at double speed. I’ve discussed my obsession with audiobooks here before. When you’re learning, you’re growing. When you’re growing, you’re bringing new opportunities to yourself and to those around you. A simple efficiency hack is to increase the speed of your audiobook to 1X or 2X. Or install iTalkFast—a sexy audio-utility app that allows the user to speed up audio content up to 2.5X.

2. They’re Mindful

Creating space in our lives is difficult. Time for meditation, yoga, or simply being aware of our breathing can all have a profound effect on our productivity. Deirdre Breakenridge, author of Social Media and Public Relations: Eight New Practices for the PR Professional, takes things a step further. She told me, “As much as possible, when I’m in meetings, I remove unnecessary technology. At times, this means no smartwatch, smartphone, or laptop in front of me.” She went on to share that, “When you listen to what people are saying, you eliminate the time-consuming guesswork that occurs after the meeting. Listening carefully allows you to move forward with clear direction, purpose, and high efficiency.”

3. They Exercise and Get Enough Sleep

By now, we all know that exercise and sufficient sleep are important. But for some, they feel unrealistic. Bill Arzt, co-founder of the hot startup FitReserve, offers a shortcut that’s helped him. He suggests you “replace networking with sweatworking. Combine your meetings with workouts.”

4. They Don’t Waste Time With Emotional Battles That Don’t Matter

Alex Baydin, founder and CEO of PerformLine, told me, “I have found it very helpful to mentally assign the emotional battles of running a startup to one of two buckets. Bucket A—the stuff that matters bucket. Bucket B—the doesn’t matter bucket. Every time I am faced with an issue, my first course of action is to decide Bucket A or B.” He confessed that, “The vast majority will fall into Bucket B. The few issues that truly matter I then deal with head-on.”

5. They Prioritize Their Life

Greg McKeown, author of Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, speaks about the hyper-efficient in his book. He says such people know what they want, and they put their goals first. After all, he adds, “If you don’t prioritize your life, someone else will.”

6. They Live Simply, by Saying No

Living simply means knowing what it means to be productive versus active. The hyper-efficient are sculptors of their own lives. They take away instead of add.

Time management is emotional—we feel guilt. Understand that you are the problem. You’re saying “yes” to too much.

You want to help people, but when you say yes to one thing that doesn’t matter, you’re saying yes to the nonessential things that come along with it. So, start saying no more often.

7. They Throw Away To-Do Lists and Automate Menial Tasks

Efficient people don’t just determine how urgent something is (referring to how soon or significant it is). They also determine how long something matters. Meaning: What can they do today that will have the greatest impact down the line?

Success is no longer related to volume. Success is determined by the significance the task has in your life. You can then investigate ways to automate those important yet time-consuming actions.

I recently heard Rory Vaden, author of Procrastinate on Purpose: 5 Permissions to Multiply Your Time, share a profound idea. Rory said, “Automation is to your time as compound interest is to your money.”

So ask yourself, what can I do today that will positively change what I will be doing in two years?

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By this point, you know not to apply to any jobs with an email address that screams, “I created this in the eighth grade!” So, you’re no longer [email protected] as far as your prospective employers are concerned. You also know not to show up late for the interview. And you have a firm grasp on the importance of making eye contact and delivering a solid handshake.

But did you know that there are several other things that could negatively impact the impression you make with a hiring manager? I spoke to four career coaches to get the outside-the-box scoop on the truly unprofessional things that are bound to hurt you in your job search process. Read on so you can avoid them like you avoid crowds on Black Friday.

1. You’re Desperate—and You Show It

Laura Garnett, career coach and consultant, says that nothing makes you look more unprofessional than when “you feel desperate”. This is because, as the old cliché goes, “People can spot desperation from a mile away.” Garnett knows that it can be hard to mask if you’re actually feeling this way, but, nonetheless, “you have to ensure that you are confident, know the opportunity is a good fit for your strengths, and be able to speak to why and how you are right for the role and the organization.” She encourages job seekers to “be clear on what your career vision is and how this opportunity fits into that.”

Avoid “being a yes person,” she says, encouraging job seekers to “demonstrate curiosity and interest in the organization” and not just talk about yourself nonstop. Nary an interviewer is going to be interested in you if you don’t know when to give up the floor.

2. You Hide Who You Really Are

Garnett’s advice is worth its salt, that’s for sure, and so is career strategist, Rajiv Nathan’s, whose unexpected thoughts on the subject are worth remembering. His belief is that if you hide who you really are in interviews, you’re not doing yourself any favors. Nathan explains that he “frequently advises people to stop dividing work life from home life, and acknowledge that you’re one person at the end of the day. Share who you are as a person, don’t just share the role you think the company’s trying to cast for its ‘play.’”

To him, that “includes sharing the weird or potentially ‘unprofessional’ things you’re interested in.” Basically, in order not to appear unscrupulous, you’ve got to delve into the so-called unprofessional. Nathan has gone there, telling “interviewers within the first three minutes” that he loves WWE pro wrestling and that he’s a rapper. This kind of information is going to set the stage for a far more interesting, memorable conversation than if you pretend to be one-dimensional.

3. You Don’t Finish Your Homework

You’ve probably heard about the importance of researching a company (a.k.a., homework) before going into a job interview. You want to be able to talk intelligently, so you read the mission statement, do a Google search of the founders, and have a general understanding of their past and present standing.

But, cautions Adrian J. Hopkins, a Muse career coach, this isn’t homework you can half-ass. It’s not enough to spew off a couple of “top-line company facts.” If you want the job and wish to avoid looking unprofessional in any way, shape, or form, you’re going to have to “go above and beyond a basic understanding of the company.” Let the interviewer know how you plan to grow with the company and get him thinking that he can’t “believe” he hadn’t the good fortune of meeting you sooner.

Review Google News for references to the company, paying special attention to any statements that executives make about their strategic direction. If you’re familiar with where the leadership team wants it to go, it’s easier to make a case for why they should bring you on to help them get there. If the organization is smaller and not in the headlines, review its blog and social media, and prepare a new and thorough perspective on something that you’ve read.

4. You Blow it on Social Media

Has the incredible importance of your social media presence sunk in yet? This sounds super obvious, yet status faux pas are somehow still an issue—making it the most unexpected unprofessional behavior at this point. Career expert and coach Heidi Duss can’t stress this point enough: “Everyone needs to be very aware of what they are putting out.” She goes on to explain that “Hiring managers and recruiters will Google someone and find his or her online presence.”

To drive her point home, Duss shares an anecdote of her own:

I once had a college student apply for an internship in our finance department. The hiring manager came to me and noted that he had checked out her Twitter feed and she had horrible things to say about the university she was graduating from, as well as the professors she had. Every other word was derogatory. The hiring manager said, ‘If she talks about her school/teachers this way, what is she going to say about our company when something does not go her way?’

The hiring manager had made her point, and so, apparently, had the candidate.
When it comes to getting the job of your dreams and presenting yourself as a professional and desirable candidate, there’s more to it than simply having a typo-free resume and wearing a freshly pressed button-down. Before you pat yourself on the back for remembering to bring extra copies of your application materials to the interview, make sure you brush up on a few of the lesser-known ways that job seekers come across as unprofessional.

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