When you are communicating your skills and abilities to a hiring manger, don’t be boring. Action words will help make the discussion much more interesting for you and the hiring manager. The best way to use powerful action words is to ensure that the action words are used throughout your entire presentation including your resume, cover letter,  application and interview.
Here a list of my favorite action words:

1, Communicated
2. Negotiated
3. Administered
4. Reduced
5. Formulated
6. Approved
7. Generated
8. Recommended
This is a very short list of words you should consider using throughout your resume, your cover letter and when discussing your skills and abilities during …read more

Your cover letter will open doors or close doors depending on how you write them. I personally believe that a good cover letter will open doors faster than a resume. I believe that if you have a well written cover letter, you will spark interest in the hiring manager or recruiter and they will want to read more about you – thus your resume.
If you just present a resume that looks like everyone else’s resume, you have about 4 seconds to make an impression and if you miss it the hiring manager or recruiter has moved on to the next …read more

“So, you’ve been laid off?” An interviewer asked this question of one of my readers. You might think, harmless question. Lots of people have been laid off in this economy. The problem is that this reader was not laid off. They were fired. So how do you suppose this reader should answer the question? Do you think she should correct the interviewer? Or should she just go along? Maybe you think it isn’t relevant. She is without a job and interviewer assumes she has been laid off, what’s the big deal?
Ok, I’ll agree with you for a moment. Long enough …read more

Stan Toler wrote a handy pocket book called Minute Motivators for Leaders. It is a good, quick easy read for anyone wanting to understand leadership principles. The book if full of quotes, short narratives and inspirational writing. According to Stan Toler “Leadership is about gaining enough knowledge and wisdom to move people and plans from obscurity to excellence.”
Here is a list of some of the principles Stan Toler outlines in his book:

Character – Leaders do the right thing
Affirmation – Leaders make everyone feel valuable.
Communication – Leaders are good communicators.
Insight – Leaders understand people.
Endurance – Leaders accept pain and disappointment in stride.
Movement …read more

Ever had a bad interview experience? How do you recover?
I recommend to my clients after every interview, to assess their performance and give themself feedback. You know how well you did when you come out of the interview. No one has to tell you, you already know.
Questions you can ask youself:
How did it feel over all?
What did you do well? Should list at least 3 things
What didn’t you do well? Should list at least 3 things
What would you do differently if given the opportunity to interview again?
Every question above is important don’t skip one. Understand that when you interview, some …read more

There has been some discussion today concerning my last two blog posts, Do You Dare Lie? and Don’t Be Too Honest?
Here is a comment from one of my readers:
I remember lying in an interview one time. The interviewer first told me that the company was a smoke-free environment and then asked would I have a problem with that? I said “no” because I did not smoke. (LIE) He looked at me a minute and then ended the interview nice and polite with “we will call you for another interview with the department manager” (LIE). He never called and it was …read more