Networking: How much is too much?

Whether you are a business development professional, CEO, owner of a small business or simply laying the groundwork for a prosperous career, you had better be networking. "It’s as simple as that."

There is no such thing as too much networking - so long as you have a plan and a goal.

Keep in mind the primary reason for networking.  Ultimately, what you are looking to do is create a pool of reliable and diverse professionals with whom you can share information, bounce ideas/issues off, and with whom you can build long-term professional relationships. The key here is in the wording: a reliable and diverse network of professionals. If this might be useful, see the article here.

Top five personality traits employers hire most.

Perhaps I know you:  you’ve made looking for your next job, well… your job. You’ve scoured your resume of clichéd buzzwords, brushed up on body language and even gotten a handle on the dreaded video interview.

But all that might be for naught if you just don’t have the personality your dream employer is looking for. New research shows that the vast majority of employers (88%) are looking for a “cultural fit” over skills in their next hire as more and more companies focus on attrition rates. Lucky for you, we’ve drilled down into data from 1,200 of the world’s leading employers (think General Electric, P&G and Accenture) to find precisely the personalities big business is looking for.

Click here to view the valuable insight that could make a difference on obtaining your dream job!  Note:  the advertisement disappears in 15 seconds.

Tips for attention-getting resumes

Employers nowadays are generally so overwhelmed with applications for a position that they can't devote much time to each potential candidate. How can your résumé spark their interest enough to garner more than just a passing glance? Here, experts offer suggestions on gaining precious seconds of "look" time.

Make it visually attractive. The adage that you should not judge a book by its cover may be worthy advice, but throw the saying out the window when submitting an application. The last thing you want your résumé to do is look sloppy or disorganized among a stack of stellar submissions.

"The design aspect of your résumé has to come across in a clean, refreshing, simple way," says J. Patrick Gorman, co-founder of iFind Group, a Manhattan-based executive search firm. "In other words, have proper alignment, spacing, grammar, same-size fonts, clear fonts (not fancy), full-looking sentences after your bullet points, no abbreviations and good flow of the information presented."

Know how to catch a reader's eye is the ultimately tool for job seekers. For more info on how to do it, click here.

Salary Negotiation

Before you start talking pay (and salary negotiations) with a prospective employer, you need to find out how much the job (and you) are worth. You will need to take the time to research salaries. That way you will be prepared to get what you're worth and to get a job offer that's realistic and reasonable.
For more details and strategies on the following

• Salary Negotiation
•  Salary and Paycheck Calculator
• Negotiating a Raise

Set the full article here.

Cover Letter Tips and Tricks

Your cover letter should be only one page long. Any longer and you’re giving too much information, taking up too much of a recruiter’s time, and demonstrating that you can’t summarize using a clear, concise writing style.

The following topics characterize the elements of a cover letter.

• Keeping it simple
• Spacing is in
• Making style count
• Spelling mistakes - Ooops!
• Using the right language
• Handwriting doesn’t pay
• Focusing on the employer
• Keeping your salary a secret 

If you are interested in the details of these topics, see the complete article here..