Online Career Assessment TestsIf you’re a recent college graduate looking for a job, or you’re just beginning life in the business world you might think about taking an online career assessment test. Much can be learned about your eventual placement in the work environment by taking a career test.
Before you apply for your first job, or if you’re thinking of changing careers, it’s a good idea to find new employment or a career that matches your personality. With the help of these online career tests you can target hiring trends and potential career fields that are right for you.
Here are a couple of FREE career tests we like to recommend:
Take a Free Career Assessment Test and Discover Your Career Abilities. (ProjectCareer)
Career Assessment Get a free career assessment and be reruited by companies in your area.  (Climber) Mid-Life Job HuntingI recently read that a baby boomer turns 50 every 7 ½ seconds and will for years to come. Middle age is a moving target as we continue to hear that 50 is the new 40. One way or the other job seeking seems to change as you pass your 40th birthday which I must admit I was surprised to learn.
Starting a new career after 40 doesn’t have to be all that traumatic. Actually it’s only as traumatic as you allow it to be. Yes, it affects every member of your family when a career or job is abruptly terminated, but a loss of faith in one’s self is not the direction you need to head.
You obviously have a lot of experience and plenty to offer a prospective employer and that is the thought you must hold dearly to. Also know that these days the job hunters who are 35 and under frequently change jobs. While job hopping used to be frowned upon, more and more it is a sign of versatility and flexibility, traits that employers love. Keep this in mind as you feel the need to grab the first job offered you. If it’s not the right career move, don’t feel stuck. Just use your free time to find something more appropriate.
Few people over 40 who’ve recently lost a job go out and start a new business. Why? I suspect it’s out of fear because we all have spouses, children, and possibly parents to support. But it is certainly worth some thought. Even if it’s something you can start small (like say a website) as you learn the ins and outs and work at that full time job you feel you need. I urge you to let go of the fear and give it a try. Consulting is also a great home business to start with the years of experience you have. It, too, can be started in free time with very little money up front.
Let’s get back to the job search and specifically the interview process. If you’re much past 40, and for sure if you’re over 50, and looking for a new job or career the interview can be uncomfortable. If you are feeling less desirable than your younger counterparts it will show in an interview so you must leave that emotion at home. The truth is you will most likely have a lot more experience than the person interviewing you so you have to come across as experienced without being condescending. When talking to others about the mid-life job interview sometimes I remind them of what Eleanor Roosevelt once said “You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” Those righteous words will most likely apply to many situations in your life, and your next job interview may be one of them.
Embrace this change in your life as younger job seekers embrace the challenges of one new job after another. Your years of experience and specific skills can speak for themselves. You need to show your flexibility and your desire to learn new tricks. After all, there’s nothing old about you. Securing the Right Job - Tips for Hourly EmployeesWhen searching for a new part time or full time job you need to look at all your options. It’s helpful to combine all the resources at hand. Check your local newspaper for available positions, search the internet for jobs in your geographic location and talk to your friends, neighbors and, basically, everyone you meet each day.
Remember that not all jobs are advertised so you may need to hit the pavement to turn up the perfect job for you. If there’s a business near you that you want to work for don’t hesitate to walk in and ask if they have an available position.
Dress appropriately for the employment position you’re interested in and walk right in with your shoulders back and your spine straight and ask to speak to the owner or person in charge of hiring. Do not be put off if you have to wait a few minutes for an application and/or interview. Smile, keep your confident posture and, in most cases, the wait will be worth your while. Even if they don’t have a position open right now, they will remember the way you confidently walked in, asked for an application and patiently waited for an interview.
Full-time and part-time hourly workers are the backbone of our work force and society. You are desperately needed and shouldn’t underestimate the importance of your abilities. Whether you are 35 years old in need of an hourly job, 18 and looking for a summer or seasonal job, or retired and looking for a little extra income, YOUR SKILLS ARE NEEDED IN EVERY CITY EVERYDAY!
Be sure to visit our SnagAJob page for more information. Freelance and Contract Work OpportunitiesHow to Start a Freelance Career Work at Home and Earn an Excellent Income Imagine being able to work from your own home, doing a job you love, and getting paid handsomely for doing it. Wouldn't that be great?
Well, the good news is that this is not just a fantasy. It is a prospect that is well within your reach. Today, millions of people worldwide have established highly-successful careers as freelance professionals. Writers, designers, programmers and many other home-based consultants have discovered that freelancing offers the perfect combination of freedom, creativity, flexibility and profitability.
So do you need years of experience and fantastic qualifications to join these lucky people? Not at all. You just need a skill that you can offer to potential clients, and the willingness to learn how to run a home-based business.
Of course, the biggest challenge for new freelancers is finding enough work to justify giving up a day job. How can you be sure that you will keep yourself busy with lucrative work? This used to be a concern, but thanks to the advent of the Internet, things are now much easier.
Now there are a number of job sites dedicated to helping freelancers find work and stay busy. Freelance Work Exchange, for example, brings you hundreds of fresh freelance jobs like these:
Write for Discussion Boards: $1200 per week, plus bonus
A writer is needed for an ongoing writing project. You will need to write copy to stimulate others into joining the discussion board. The writer needs to actively encourage regular and meaningful debate on the relevant discussion board, with some moderating of the content. You must have solid writing skills and good ideas.
Administer a Web Business from Home: $4000 per month
A successful e-commerce venture is seeking a part-time virtual assistant to act as a home-based office manager. You will deal with email correspondence, update site content and deal with general admin issues. You should have your own computer and Internet access.
Transcribe Author's Notes: $80 per hour, flexible working
A publishing company is seeking a freelance with an eye for detail to transcribe authors' notes and recordings for a range of ongoing projects. You must have a good grasp of English, be able to edit content into readable form, and be able to submit work from home by email.
You can sign up for a trial subscription for just $2.95, and get instant access to all the projects in the jobs database. So if you would like to get started on the road to freelance success right now, click here to sign up today.
 Fast and Effective Resume Tips & TechniquesYour resume is all about promoting you in a document format with the hopes of landing a job interview and ultimately the perfect job. You don’t need to confess every minor change, or gap, in your work history in an apologetic manner. You’ll want to put your best foot forward and you can easily do so by showing how you performed in various work situations and predict how you will perform in a desirable future job. Add all your accomplishments and steer away from the standard “responsibilities included”. Use action words wherever possible, such as “redesigned”, “instituted”, “transformed”, and then explain how your actions improved functionality or saved your company thousands of hours, or better yet, dollars. Clearly state your future career goals, this is a crucial step. When deciding what to put in and what to leave off your resume goals, think about Need To Know vs. Nice To Know. If your goals are clear and include something potential employers NEED to know about you and your employment history, put it in. If it falls in the NICE to know category you may wish to leave it off. You can always share nice to know things about yourself during the actual interview. You don’t want to include statements that lack clear focus regarding your targeted job. No Experience?No problem, just get the experience you need and it doesn’t have to be years worth or extensive. A short amount of time (even as a volunteer) in a related field is evidence of experience that you can easily craft into your resume. Gaps in Work Experience?Explain any gaps in your employment history, chances are they were necessary and valuable even if you weren’t paid for them such as “2004-2007 Full-time parent” or, “Travel and community service” or “Full-time student”. Short-Term Job History ExplanationIf your resume makes you look like you’ve hopped from job to job you can easily explain it by describing chunks of time all together. Such as:
- “2003-2006 Waiter; Big Moo Steakhouse, Merl’s Coffee House, Burgers and More”
- “2003-2006 Secretary/Receptionist; Box Engineering, Inc, ABC Fax-o-rama, Dr. Joyce Jones”
Try to put plenty of problems that you solved in your resume. Explain problems you’ve been presented with in your various jobs and describe what you did to “fix” those problems and then how beneficial your insight was, listing the actual benefits (money saved, time saved, etc) where applicable. The Job TitleIf your job title doesn’t accurately describe what you did for your employers it will help to explain it using their job description and yours, as in “Secretary (Administrative Assistant)” or “Secretary (Office Manager)”. Worried about Age Discrimination?It’s perfectly okay to leave off work history from more than 10 – 15 years ago, unless it is relevant to your current job search. Simply describe your last 10 – 15 years of experience and then, if you would like, add a paragraph titled “Prior Work Experience” and add important work experience without mentioning any dates. If your best work employment is back farther than 15 years, by all means mention it in detail in your resume. Self-Employment and Your ResumeGive yourself an honest and accurate job title and list your self-employment like this:
- John’s Computer Service (Self-employed)
- Betsey’s Best Bookkeeping Service (Self-employed)
Also remember to add “References available upon request” and, of course, have a number of good references available to give to any one who inquires about them. Explaining Summer JobsStudents can make their resumes look better by simply listing seasonal work as “Summer 2003” rather than 6/03 – 8/03. Only Worked For One Employer Over 20 or so Years?In this case you will want to list each accomplishment within that employment situation to show how you progressively worked your way up the ladder and were given bigger and better jobs to tackle with each passing year. Last, but not least, if your name can belong to either a man or a woman (Pat) you will want to use a prefix such as Mr. or Ms. to lessen any confusion. DO NOT feel the need to list your hobbies unless they go hand-in-hand with your job experience and the position you are looking for. For example if you’re looking for a job in a pet store it might be nice to list that you breed and train dogs, or build birdhouses, as a hobby; however if you’re looking for a position as a waitress you can leave off your dog obedience and woodworking skills as they won’t apply. Finally use a nice white, or ivory, paper for your resume. Never use colored paper or paper with a border of pictures unless you are an artist and you’ve personally drawn the art on your paper. Other Helpful Resume TipsIf all this sounds like too much you might consider a professional resume writing service:
Pongo Resume - Great resumes lead to great jobs. Free trial or buy for $9.95 Once you have a Resume you’re proud of and would like to distribute it as widely as possible you might try these distribution services:
Post your resume on HotJobs.com today! ResumeRabbit.com - One-Stop Resume Posting to Over 75 Career Sites. Click Here ResumeZapper.com - E-Mail your Resume and Cover Letter to 1000's of Headhunters, Click Here Post Your Resume for FREE at HotResumes.com EmailMyResume.com - Click here to e-mail your resume and cover letter to 1000's of Top Employers and Recruiters!  
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