Cool Beans SF

How to Excel at a Job Event

February 10th, 2010

Standing out at a Job Fair can make a difference in your job search. Job Faires are starting to pick up, and Dice is running some nice ones, called Targeted Job Fairs. At a Bay Area Career Faire in January, 10 companies as showing up, and a major job search company has 82 career faires scheduled for this year across the United States.

How do you get to the real interviews at a Job Fair? The contention can be significant, but you can help yourself stick out from the gang with early planning. At AA-Careers, we have a straight-forward 6-step process to get ready. Plan to go? Here’s how to prepare:

First, investigate the companies that are going and pick your objectives. Use the World Wide Web to check out the organizations that are there before you go. Go to their internet sites and see if they have their jobs listed. Pick a sensible number to go after, and get ready to spend an hour or more researching each one. It’s hard to do more than seven in a day, and three to five is a much more reasonable target. For each hiring organization, you want to know: recent news, key product lines, and exectuve names. Try to see if you know anyone at the target companies. You will end up with with a page or two of research for each company/job.

Second, if there are job postings on the web, read them to see what the company is looking for. Create a mapping of your accomplishments and skills to the requirements of the job. Make the nomenclature match. If the hiring company calls customers "clients", your resume should do the same thing. The achievements should be written in the style of the hiring organization.

Third, create a ‘short sales pitch’ for each likely company/position combination. Write down a 60 second ‘thumbnail’ that you can repeat verbally depicting why you are a fantastic prospect for that position. You’ll use this in your resume and when you meet the team from the company at the job kiosk.

Fourth, modify your resume for each position. The objective on your resume should exactly match the job you’re targeting. The executive summary should be a written form of your “mini sales pitch” for the job. Then choose the accomplishments and skills that most clearly match the job description. Especially at a Job Fair, the purpose of your resume is a sales tool for you – to get you on-site job interviews. It should be very easy to see that you’re a fit based on your resume.

Fifth, practice your ‘mini-sales-pitch’. Collect your research and the resume for each opportunity - bring a couple of copies for each – and put each in a clearly labeled folder. Keep them in a light briefcase or folio.

Finally, dress and prepare as if you’re doing on-site interviews. Dress nicely and be fittingly groomed. Avoid strong cologne or perfume…use any cologne or fragrance sparingly, if at all.

Remember to smile, and good hunting!

All about Freemasonry: How to Become a Member

January 10th, 2010

Many misunderstandings surround Freemasonry - oftentimes negative insinuations of an old boy network, or even greater heinous hints. Nevertheless, in reality Freemasonry is a wholesome cause advancing self-reformation and helping other individuals. As a brotherhood, Freemasonry offers a chance for gentlemen to gather and partake in cordial companionship. Self improvement is a fundamental facet of being a freemason. Freemasonry furthers aiding other individuals too, and charity is a real method in which Masons help people.

An important aspect of the Free Mason society’s traditions is not to solicit members. Nevertheless, any person ought to feel uninhibited to chat with any current member to get more information regarding the Free Mason society.

To be a member, you must be male, 18 years of age or older, and you should meet the requirements of reputation and character, should be of good moral character.

A male who desires to join a lodge must be advocated by 3 members of the lodge he wishes to join. He must realise that his reputation and character will be investigated. After approval by the members, he will be included as a candidate for membership in the Free Mason society.

Members oftentimes wear accessories such as Union Jack pin badges that casually identify themselves to other members and also convey the lodge they belong to.

Say Goodbye to Thinning Hair

January 7th, 2010

Girls loved stroking and pull my hair, I used to enjoy it. One morning, I was shocked to notice the first revealing signs of hair loss while brushing my teeth: hair was in the sink and noticed that the hair on top of my head was thinning and less full than the sides of my head. I never imagined that hair loss would occur to me: Most men in my family do not start losing hair until the age of 50. .

Once I noticed the thinning strands, I felt my confidence shake. I was very self conscious, I no longer wanted to brush my hair and wore caps as much as possible. My partner and I weren’t as intimate as we were because I was anxious about her discovering the thinning patch on top of my head. My anxiety was through the roof and my work performance fell because of my increased stress levels and inability to focus.

Gratefully, I found Advanced Hair Studio. One of my mates told me about them over a few beers. As far as I recalled, he has been bald ever since I knew him. However, one day at the gym, I observed his hair looked full and fresh. He told me that Advanced Hair Studio was to thank.

I was convinced that it is the solution for me, I bought my first Advanced Hair Studio products and had them delivered overnight. The results were quick: my hair felt stronger and thicker in just a few days. A month later and the thinning patch that caused me to worry myself sick was full of hair. I’d never before trusted anti-balding products worked. However, after my experience with Advanced Hair Studio, I now know that there are products out there that can save men a lot of stress, grief, and worrying.

Curing My Hair Loss

November 5th, 2009

I never believed that I would suffer from hair loss, even though my dad had a receding hairline. I first noticed that my hairline was receding shortly before my 30th birthday. It was rough to think that I was losing my hair. I was also starting to lose hair on the back of my head.

Baldness has affected me, I felt that age has eventually caught up with me. I felt like the best years of my life were behind me. I even ceased seeing girls. My love life was nearly non-existent. There was one girl I had been dating nonchalantly and even though I liked her, I just stopped returning her calls. I realised that I hadn’t found the woman of my dreams with a full head of hair so there was no way I was going to find somebody with my growing bald spot. I was too demoralized to even try having a romantic kinship.

Hair loss turned me into a dismayed loner, I used to be a confident and extroverted person. I’ve I have never been one to just sit back and let problems overwhelm me. I tried lots of hair loss treatments that are available in the counter. Nothing I got from the drug store worked and believe me, I gave them all a go . After spend lots of money on products, I stopped trying for a while. It was a real low point in my life. I even stopped going out with my friends, I was so gloomy.

Fortuitously, one night a acquaintance dragged me out of the house for a few beverages. The first thing he noticed about me was my mood, he knew that the hair loss has affected how I felt. He told me about the hair loss studio in the city. My friend had gone there for hair loss treatments and had been impressed with the results. I was even more impressed. He had no sign of hair loss, he had a full head of hair. He made me promise to give them a shot and I agreed.

I could not have been happier with the hair loss studio recommended to me. After just a few hair loss treatments, I had a full head of hair again. Hair Loss Studio did not just give me my hair back. They gave me my self-assurance back.

Getting My Finances Back in Shape

October 18th, 2009

It can be very tough for any family unit to handle their monthly budget and making sure that their spending is in line with the household income. Not managing your finances can often lead to things getting out of hand. This is particularly true in rough economic times, when you are balancing a full time job and also trying to care for a family. It is a good idea to get help to help you in handling your budget more efficiently. How do I get my budget back in control? It’s all about spending sagely.

The importance of my budget

Most people do not understand the importance until it is too late, but having a budget and following the plan is the most important thing you can do. Lots of people question why their budget does not work in the long term. In short, if you don’t know where you are spending all your money, then you will have to deal with all the nightmare at month’s end. What each household need to do is to pay a visit to mybudget to get an expert opinion on their financial position. When I consider about my budget, I want it to be as organized as possible. As the head of the household, you owe it to yourself and to your family to be a dependable steward.

The challenges affiliated with organising my budget

As mentioned previously, devising a budget together is not an easy task. How much should we allot for food? What about emergency money for unseen expenses? These are questions that you have to answer and you need to think about all sorts of monthly costs. This is where building my budget can get so hard, and I’m sure it’s the same with you. With all of the stress affiliated with working a job, it can often be easy to let these things slip by the wayside. After all, how important is just one bill? It is obviously very important, and if you want your family’s finances to be in order, then you should most definitely use a solid programme like the one found at mybudget.

All in all, budgeting is a serious challenge and it’s something that can make you want to pull your hair out. With the resources at your disposal today, you can put your family’s finances into an coordinated plan and you can follow through with that plan totally. It’s helped with my budget, and it should do the same for yours.

How to Oversee Your Monthly Budget

July 27th, 2009

While handling your budget can be stressful, not overseeing your monthly budget can can put you in to further in debt if you are not cautious. Managing your budget properly has many gains including saving you money and help relief some of your tension over debt. Always keep in mind that a budget is mainly a program for your monthly expenditure. Your budget, like any plan, demands some degree of management to make it work for you. The way I oversee my budget, for instance, is by concentrating on keeping info coordinated and controlling my expenditure.

My main focus is on organizing the info in my budget. For example, I keep an eye on recurring expenses like utilities, car and loan payments, insurance, and the like. Consider that without monitoring my budget, I can very easily lose track of my spending. By knowing what expenditures repeat every month, I have an instant hold on the minimum amount of money I have to set aside each month before I spend on other things I can control a little more such as entertainment, apparel, and holidays.

To make a financial progression, I make sure that I moderate my spending in my budget. A genuine measure of advancement is placing money into a savings account or paying down debt. However, if I over spend, the contrary is true because rather than saving money I will use debt to help me cover the monthly expenditure in my budget. Distinctly, giving in to the tensions of budgeting can have expensive consequences for my finances, particularly if I am not able to pay down my debt.

There are two gains for controlling and organising my budget: First, I save money by avoiding unnecessary expenses. Second, my finances are headed at reaching financial goals. Fundamentally, by not buying things I do not need, I am actually freeing up money that I can either use for something else or save. The spare money can also be useful in paying off debt or saving it for a holiday. In addition to having extra money, I am able to yield longer term financial goals like saving and investing for retirement or paying off my mortgage or student loans. With my budget being coordinated and controlled, not only does my financial position become more stable but successfully overseeing my budget reduces the stress that often comes with being in debt.

Enjoy Your Greatest Expectations with the Dallas Singles and Matchmaking Service

June 19th, 2009

You guys know I bottle things up inside, ’cause without a date, I get pretty lonely. I finally bottomed out, last night I ate a whole bag of Oreos. During my birthday party of datelessness, duh! Yeah, I did it. What does this mean? Honestly, it’s when I initially looked into singles events with Great Expectations.

Nothing that can’t be fixed. I can mix up my social life with a professional dating service, Denver Great Expectations. That turned out to be my golden ticket. Here’s a story. When I was a little tipsy at little Brent’s Easter egg hunt in Denver last week, Richard wanted to know if I’ve bumped into a special lady. They always bring this up, every year. Anyway, I looked up at them and yelled, “I’m eating here, and no.”

Can you believe that even Gramps kept pressing me on the topic of true relationships. I said to the family gang: “Hey look, you would bring that up.”

Can you believe this? No one knew what I was talking about, as usual. Shortly after, I emailed my astrologist in hopes this loneliness would all go away. What a waste of time! I can’t imagine what I was thinking there. My cousin, who wrote to me from Egypt, recommended that I meet singles at Great Expectations. I said, “That’s what I was going to do.” I have some good friends. I am truly grateful for the Denver Singles Events at Great Expectations.

Early on, dating events were new as I am a simple guy. I was a bit nervous at first, that my hands started sweating. That slip up could not stop us from enjoying ourselves. The night was full of crazy-fun mingling. The truth is I’ll never forget all the other members, some who are my new friends.

I started going to these glorious Great Expectations Dallas singles events and mixers, I got in touch with some great people that obviously feel the same way I do for how dating should be done. I really shouldn’t allow so many people get on my back about being single. Awesomely enough, dating with Great Expectations is a good time and care-free social experience.

Ted

Loneliness is Temporary

Hints on the How to of “Inspirational writing”

May 8th, 2008

Many sites that feature articles are now posting and putting up
articles on the holidays. I wanted to write an article on
“Thanksgiving”. Thinking to myself “you can do it, go ahead”,
with this, I thought and thought. “What about the holidays”?
“Was there one that stands out in my mind”? As I pondered, I
actually wrote another article on an entirely different subject.
Then I posted it around on the ezine articles and on my site. As
I re-read it this article, I could sense the warmth of a memory
coming back. You know those don’t you? When you settle back and
then all of a sudden a warm memory strikes you. It starts at the
back of your mind and works it way out. That’s the way memories
do at times. They get stuck in the back of your mind, shelved
for some reason or another. Maybe you are too busy, wham; you
end up pushing that memory back because there’s no time for it
now.

This memory came up like a lump in my throat and a tear
stinging in my eye. It actually brought me back to a time in my
life during junior high. Out of this inspiration I wrote “Tears,
Thanksgiving, and Mom”. You see, many people operate on this
kind of inspiration. Others write out of boundless research they
have done. After this the author puts all the material into
concise and proper order. I have written both of these ways for
years. The best method for me is to research a topic. For
instance, I write a lot about biblical topics relevant to
today’s society. When doing this I first write the main sentence
about what I am writing. For instance, I might want to write
about “The courtroom of God”. Then I immediately go to my bible
study software. I have a number of these, which I recommend to
have on hand. Theophilos is a good one. I take the noun, in this
case God, and put in other nouns referring to the courtroom.
This would be God judge and search for it in the software search
engine. Perhaps I would put judge in and follow all the search
items for this. I do this when searching a topic, then putting
the information into order following a outline. Moreover, this
method works for virtually anything you want to write about. If
you were writing on Thanksgivings in the south, for instance,
your search item would be southern thanksgiving. Now for this
search we would search the internet, encyclopedias, and even
southern cooking magazines.

In following this method, I like to have inspiration to go with
my research. This inspiration usually comes quickly as I follow
a line of investigation. Sometimes I end up in places where I
did not think it would lead. That is the fun of it. When the
inspiration is flowing, I have literally written thousands and
thousands of words until I am finished. Then when I am done, I
save it and wait for a day or two. By doing that, I allow all
preconceived ideas about the article to lapse somewhat. Then, I
go and review it. After this I rewrite and correct, then repeat
the procedure.

For articles on the internet I publish to my own site
http://wingswatchman.org and also to my blog at
http://wingswatchman.org/WordPress . I then have a number of
article websites where I put the finished product. I do
recommend, though, that you find a good article submission site.
These can be very helpful to you as they automatically have the
connections to thousands of other people that would be
interested in your article.

You want people to read your article. By getting people
interested in your article, you can have thousands of back links
from your articles that are posted on other sites. This is
helpful in the google page rank system. It also gets your
article into the hands of editors that would actually pay you
for your work. The doors can also be opened for free lance work
as more people come to know you and how you write.

The last thing I must say, if you want to be a writer, then
write and write some more. Do this on a daily basis by putting
down your thoughts on paper if nothing else comes to mind.

Yes, Virginia, There Is a Secret for Happiness

April 24th, 2008

Do I believe there is a secret to happiness? I’ll bet you expect me to say “NO, there is just no simple secret.” While it is true that there are many factors that affect our happiness, I believe there is one secret that determines whether those factors will work for you, and that is the secret to happiness.

But first, allow me to share a some history. In 2001, I published the first edition of Climb Your Stairway to Heaven: the 9 habits of maximum happiness. I did all the things authors do, right up to getting myself some media interviews. Being an old hand at media relations (actually, Canada’s send-most-quoted consumer advocate at the time), you would think I would have been superbly prepared for the question that almost every journalist would ask me:

“So, which of the 9 habits is most important?”

What?! Which one is most important? Why, they are all important, of course. That’s why I wrote about them all. I was obviously too close to the forest to see the trees. Or, in this case, the tree.

After being asked this question a few times, I was forced to think, and think hard. And out of nowhere, I had an “Aha!” moment that stands the test of time five years later.

One of the 9 habits I wrote about is more important than the others. One of my 9 habits activates all the others. One of my habits is the secret to happiness. It starts on page 83 of the second edition.

“Count Your Blessings”

It sounds so simple, and so, well, almost corny. But let me give you a concrete example of how this works.

Count Your Blessings for Happiness

Have you ever bought a new car? Remember the pride you felt and the excitement when you made the choice? When you signed the papers? When you drove it off the lot? Do you remember that “new car smell”?

Then something happened. Where is that pride today? Where is that excitement now? What happened to that “new car smell”?

Simple. You stopped counting your blessings. When you bought the car, it was a step up. Perhaps it was a better car. Or a bigger car. Or simply a car that would spend less days on the hoist. You were grateful. You were appreciative. You were counting this blessing.

It does not take long for a new blessing to be taken for granted. And the new car becomes just another thing in your life that you take for granted. Consider this incredible set of statistics:

- 99% of people in the developed world take shelter for granted.
- 99% of people in the developed world take breakfast for granted.
- 99% of people in the developed world take lunch for granted.
- 99% of people in the developed world take dinner for granted.
- 99% of people in the developed world take clothing for granted.

At the risk of sounding trite or glib, most people in the developed world take cars, televisions, computers, vacations, toasters, freedom of speech, paper clips and thousands of other conveniences for granted. In fact, a TV remote control that requires a battery change or a web page that takes more than five seconds to load are considered serious irritations.

Who is happier, the person grateful to be able to change those batteries and wait for that web page? Or the person grumbling about the time it takes and the inconvenience and the bother and why can’t things work better? (Why don’t they make things like they used to? Why does the lineup have to be so long? Why is it so cold outside? Why do I have to go to work today?)

Of course you have every right to complain any time you choose. Nobody wants to take away your right to be unhappy. But I would love to take away your unhappiness, if you are willing to take action.

Arithmetic is not all that easy

This is where “counting your blessings”, simple and even corny, is not as easy as it sounds. Our knee-jerk reaction is to complain, to grumble, to be frustrated, to feel almost offended when things don’t work out “perfectly”, just the way we want them to. Imagine poor God, sifting through the millions of prayers he receives daily. Despite the cornucopia of blessings we receive, I am willing to bet that he receives ten times more “Gimmee” prayers than “Thank you” prayers.

Counting our blessings in this day and age of entitlement is not as simple as it sounds, and it sure is not easy to do. In fact, billions of dollars of advertising conspire to reinforce the belief that whatever we have is not good enough and that we deserve better. Who is there to tell us we have enough? Who can help us feel happy with what we have?

You. Only you. Are you ready to give up your own natural knee-jerk reaction and choose to be happy?

You can have all the confidence in the world, but if you do not actively feel grateful for the fruits of your confidence, it will not bring you happiness. You can have immaculate health, but if you do not think about how wonderful that is, it will not bring you happiness. You can smile, build friendships, achieve success, win the lottery, or do whatever you desire, but if you are not saying every day, “Wow! This is wonderful. This is grand. I am the luckiest man (or woman) alive because of this,” don’t expect it to bring you happiness.

Yes, there is a secret to happiness. The secret is gratitude. The secret is appreciation. Or, as I call it in Climb Your Stairway to Heaven: the 9 habits of maximum happiness, the secret is to count your blessings.

This is an excerpt from 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life. David Leonhardt is a freelance writer from Ottawa, Canada and also runs a happiness personal growth website.

David Leonhardt - EzineArticles Expert Author

A Great Life? How to Score Your Life

April 7th, 2008

Is your life really the life you want?

Quickly determine how great your life is by answering “Yes” or “No” to the following questions.

Even if you already know how great your life is, do you know what you can change to make it better?

Instructions:

Each question has a “Yes” or “No” answer.

“Yes” means you agree with the question. “No” means you disagree with the question.

Important: If you do not agree with the question completely, mark your answer “No.”

Questions:

Do you wake-up in the morning without an alarm?

Do you wake-up without hitting the snooze bar on your alarm, at least once?

Do you find that you are on time as often as you would like?

Is it rare for you to be mad or angry?

Is it rare for you to be overwhelmed or out of control?

Is it rare for you to be annoyed or frustrated?

Do you have enough time?

Do you have enough money?

Is your job the best job you could ever have?

Are you a great listener?

Are you amazed by the number of talented people you know?

Are you considerate of others when you are running late?
Do you have friends who trust and support you?

Do you have a fun life?

Are you living the life you want?

Scoring your results:

Each “Yes” is worth 1 point. Total the number of questions you agreed with, or answered “Yes” to.

15:

You are loving and living life.

Your friends love to spend time with you. Your someone who has strong and lasting relationships.

You are a success in business and life. You welcome each day and look forward to each new experience and the opportunity it brings.

Something you might ask yourself is; “am I making the contribution to others that I want to make?” or “How could I make a bigger difference with others in need?”

Your life looks like a “10″ and the idea of having your life be a “12″ never even occurred to you.

11 - 14:

Life is good for you. It could be better and still it could be much worse.

You are generally happy. You enjoy what you do and may be open to something new.

You have more friends than most and enjoy spending time with them.

You feel successful.

You may have a sense of incompleteness, despite your success. You might find yourself on occasion wondering what is missing, “how could I make my life a 10?”

7 - 10:

Life has it’s moments for you. You have had your 15 minutes of fame, probably more than once.

You do know what it feels like to be a success, although it doesn ‘t seem to last as long as you would like.

You have had your share of struggles, your 15 minutes of “SHAME!” Mistakes are not uncommon for you.

You don ‘t have as many friends as you would like and may not like to socialize to much.

You may have a strong opinion. Often finding yourself in a “right” or “wrong” struggle with others, something you and them could do without.

If you were to rate your life on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the best, you might say 7 or less.

You might be asking yourself “what can I do to change my life?” or “why doesn’t it workout like I planned?” or even “what am I missing?”

6 or less:

Relationships are a challenge for you.

You might feel like everyone is against you.

Work, if you are employed is not fun at all. It is just enough to pay the bills.

You might feel that all your choices are already made for you.

You might not have a question, instead you might constantly be thinking to yourself “That’s just the way it is!”

You might even be use to things not working, or going your way. You may think there is always a “winner” and a “loser” and you feel like you are the loser most of the time.

Your theme song might be, “Life is not fair!”

Final thoughts:

So, what did you find out, are you living a great life?

Yes, it is a simple quiz, and still are you happy with the results?

Is this where you thought you would be at this point and time in your life?

If you added 3 points to your score, how much better would your life be?

You have a choice, you have options, we all do. The first step is to recognize that you do have a choice. Then, if you are not happy with your results, change your score and you will change your life.

I show people “how” to change their score in life.

PS: Share this quiz with a friend or a significant other. Have fun and see what you learn…

Copyright © 2005 James Smith, All Rights Reserved

Please Note: The author of this article has authorized its distribution with the requirement that it be published in its entirety, without changes, including the author’s resource box.

Please notify the Author with a copy of your publication.

Your life doesn’t have to stay where it is, you can change course at any time it ’s your choice and you do have options and I can help.

Start changing the score of your life today:

Send email to lifescore0020007@alifeofpossibility.com with “Life Score” in the subject line.

Learn more about my “9 Key Strategies, for Taking Action Now!” The report is FREE!

Send email to 9keys0020007@alifeofpossibility.com with “9 Keys” in the subject line.