Genuine Help Vs. Exploitation

A correspondent raises a very interesting question. Is there something inherently exploitative about selling a product or a service to individuals who are in a place of great need and few resources?

Interviewing Skills: Presentation of Your Work History

It may take you some time and self-exploration to identify it, but there are always some aspects of your work history that carry a positive spin. Don’t be afraid to dwell on your strong points no matter how unimpressive you fear your prior jobs may seem.

Job Interviews: Make An Application Cheat Sheet

It is so easy to sit down to complete an application and suddenly your mind blanks. You can’t remember dates or names or telephone numbers. If you have a varied work history, you can’t recall which job came first. If you have worked for the same employer for years, you forget when your duties changed or when you received a promotion.

Job Interviews: Prepare Questions In Advance

An interview almost invariably closes with the potential employer asking if you have any questions. Often an applicant will ask for clarification on benefits -insurance, vacation time, etc. While these are obviously important for you to know, they plant a seed in the interviewer’s mind that maybe you are more interested in what the job can do for you than in how you can help the employer.

Job Layoffs: Are We The Problem?

You know, we all talk a good game about keeping job positions in America and stemming the tide of illegal immigrants who pour through our borders at an alarming rate. But are we really willing to change our lifestyle, to put our money where our mouth is?

Unemployment Blues: Are We Pre-Programmed To Be Productive?

To feel productive seems to be an inherent human need. We feel good about ourselves when we are contributing — to our own independence, to our family, to our community. Many of the great discoveries, inventions, and explorations of history were made by individuals born to family wealth who had no need to ever lift a finger to ensure adequate self-support. Yet these individuals wanted to contribute to the world in some way and left their homes, worked through the night, and even died trying to be part of some enterprise.

Unemployment Blues: Life Changing Events

If we are unlucky enough to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, we experience a personal tsunami – a misfortune of devastating proportions that sweeps away our routine lifestyle and forever changes the world we know.

Unemployment Blues: Talk To Yourself

A most effective way to improve your mood and self-esteem is to create your own positive scripts for regular re-reading and study. On those days when you’re really down on yourself and think that you’re a failure, immersing yourself in a book crammed with notes about your qualities and accomplishments can restore your balance, brighten your spirits, and re-energize you for the rigors of the job hunt.