I worked with a graphic designer and team members from CosmoProf to manage the creation of monthly articles for a content partnership between CosmoProf’s shopping guide and Salon Magazine. The pages, which were dubbed ‘Salon Magazine Hi-Lites,’ feature products and promotions desired by the client in an editorial voice similar to Salon Magazine‘s.
It’s a cruel world out there and getting your dream job (or any job for that matter) requires cunning, strategy, and sometimes ruthlessness. You’re competing with others for your livelihood. That’s why it’s hard to take bad things that happen to you in the job search lightly. A rude HR person (plentiful, despite the fact that they are supposed to be “people” people), a candidate who talks about you behind your back, or a reference who screws you over are all things that can derail your employment plans. One thing you could do is retaliate, talk back or complain about what has happened. I highly recommend the complaining but only with close friends and professional confidants you can trust. Calling the HR person’s boss isn’t going to get you the job they may have unfairly denied you or change their personal bias. Bad mouthing another candidate will make you look petty no matter how subtle your insult is. Pissing off any reference can close a number of doors to you.
Tread lightly with all professionals relationships, vent when you need it and then just try to let things go. If you have been seriously wronged it is important to speak up, but you have to weigh first if it’s worth possibly losing future opportunities with that company. Unfortunately most of the time you just need to pick yourself up and forge ahead.
As an Assistant Editor at TalentEgg.ca I had the opportunity to write for related publications and have several stories picked up for publication by T.O. Night magazine and The Globe and Mail’s student education portal GlobeCampus.ca.
I also researched and wrote a small introduction about the current state of Fine and Performing Arts job prospects for The Globe and Mail’s annual University Report.
As an Assistant Editor at TalentEgg.ca, a career portal for students and recent graduates, I had the opportunity to pitch and write stories for a Gen-Y audience. This was a virtual internship where I was required to edit the work of my peers on a weekly basis and contribute the website’s comments and forum.
Below is a sampling of stories published between May to December of 2010.
Is A University Degree Worth $1 Million?
To Write A Resume Objective Or Not – Alternatives To The Objective
How to talk about your greatest personal accomplishment in a job interview
My LinkedIn Makeover: The Basics
My LinkedIn Makeover: The Final Touches
How To Hatch A Career In Accounting Without Accounting-Related Education
3 New Jobs In Internet Marketing And Sales, And How You Can Get One
The Top 5 Ways To Use Your Holiday Downtime To Find A Job
5 Questions You Shouldn’t Ask During Your Interview
Resume Help: How To Write A Resume Objective
This article was originally published on TalentEgg.ca on June 15th 2010.
It’s common for interviewers to ask you about your past accomplishments. Before your interview, you probably thought about tangible goals you reached in school or at your last job. However, have you thought about your greatest personal accomplishment?
I was recently thrown for a loop in an interview when asked this question, and now wish I had thought up an appropriate answer in advance, rather than the one I stumbled over.
Personal accomplishments are not work-related. If you need clarification as to what constitutes a personal success, you can always ask the interviewer. There isn’t a hard and fast rule about how to answer this question. Below are some possible experiences that may help if you’re ever asked.
If you helped an organization or even a single person through volunteering, explain what you did, how you did it, and why it felt good or how it affected your outlook on your life or your career. Corporate Social Responsibility is important to a lot of companies. Being the kind of person who likes to give back may increase your chances of being hired.
As a student or recent grad, it doesn’t hurt to discuss how hard you worked for that A+ in Finance. Just make sure you don’t turn your struggle with a subject into a weakness (i.e., “Despite the fact that I really sucked at math I managed to ___”).
Have you ever trained for a triathlon? Are you a yo-yo champion on the weekends? Describing how disciplined you had to be to reach a goal shows character and passion. Just make sure you don’t sound like your other interests are more important than the position itself. The interviewers don’t want to know your day job is only meant to finance your subscription to online role playing games or UFO hunting on the weekends.
Craft this answer carefully so it doesn’t sound like everyone else’s by focusing on the specific challenges you overcame in a new place and the success you achieved socially to show how easily you adapt to new settings (and new jobs). A lot of other students may also call on this example and you don’t want to sound generic.
When telling these stories, it’s important to focus on the steps you took and the solid facts that lead to the achievement (i.e., “I overcame my inexplicable fear of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches by _____”). If possible, feel free to make the story mildly entertaining to show off your personality.
Although it is an incredibly difficult and personal situation to describe, focusing on the problems you faced and how you dealt with them (without turning the story into a melodrama) will demonstrate that you are stoic and capable of doing what needs to be done during difficult times.
If you’ve ever saved a life, helped deliver a baby, or offered first aid, use these stories to high light your cool head and analytic mind during emergencies.
If you’ve managed to juggle your personal goals with career and/or educational ones, mention that too. Try to avoid obvious, clichéd answers, and using the phrase “I just believed in myself and I accomplished _____.” Briefly explain how you achieved your goals so that you can illustrate what a stellar candidate you are for the position.
I think this question is more or less meant to let the interviewers learn more interesting things about you, what you think is important, and the breadth of your experience. Just remember that honest answers, which truly mean something to you, will come across more sincerely than fake answers that sound impressive.
Professor Boutros brought up in our final lecture that we really hadn’t touched on Twitter very much during the course. I spent last summer investigating social media for the Ministry of Natural Resources, and would like to clear up some common conceptions about the social networking site.
If you're confused about all this tweeting nonsense, read on.
1. Twitter is a place for people and/or celebrities to tweet about their lives and is, therefore, a general waste of time Continue reading
