Dissecting the Job Posting

Dissecting the Job PostingDissecting the Job PostingHow long do you spend analyzing a job posting to determine if you are qualified and interested in the job and company? Probably not long enough.According to a study by the job-posting site TheLadders called Shedding Light on the Job Search, 44 percent of job seekers said they spend between one and five minutes reviewing a job posting, and 19 percent said they spent between five and ten minutes reviewing a post. In reality, the eye-tracking study, which analyzed how job seekers read and evaluate job listings, found the time spent looking at a job posting only averaged 49.2 to 76.7 seconds.See 8 Things That Are More Productive Than Staring at a Job Board.Most job postings are broken into several sections a general overview of the company and the role a key responsibilities section, listing job duties a qualifications section, which includes educational requirements, certifications, years of experience and other skills. Heres how to th oroughly evaluate a job description before you decide to apply.Move past the job title. Job titles can be misleading. Skim through the entire job posting and pay attention to the years of experience the position requires. Years of experience usually equate to the level of position. One to three years is usually considered entry level, four to nine years is midlevel and over 10 years usually indicates a senior-level position. This should also help you determine if you are underqualified or overqualified. Applying for a job you are overqualified for is just as bad as applying for a job you are underqualified for. Also notenzeichen if the description asks for industry- or job-specific experience or whether relevant experience is acceptable.Review the general overview or summary section. Within this section, usually listed at the top of the posting, you can learn about the company and get basic information about the role. This helps you determine if its the type of job and company you m ight be interested in working for. Read every job responsibility. Review each job responsibility and highlight the things you have already done and want to continue doing. You should have experience with at least half of the listed responsibilities, and highlighting the list helps you assess how well you match. If you do determine this is a job you are interested in applying for, you will have to come back to this section later. See How to Follow Up on a Job Application Without Being Annoying.Review the requirements section. You will see educational requirements, general skills and experience in this section, which usually falls at the bottom of the job posting. Some requirements will be critical or nonnegotiable to the employer, some may be flexible, but you wont know the answer unless you speak with the hiring manager. Identify the requirements you are missing and write a reason why your other skills or experience compensate for those you lack. You may choose to use these answers in your titelbild letter to overcome your missing qualifications. If you are lucky enough to get an interview, you will need to provide these answers during your interview.Read between the lines. You may notice some job descriptions sound very generic. The lack of specific requirements shouldnt hurt your chances of hitting the mark. A business analyst job description might require that the candidate possess excellent communication skills. What this really means is that the job will require you to compile your research and analysis into a written summary. Rather than generically listing communication skills on your resume, use the words report writing or written analysis in your summary and in a bullet point under your work experience. The bullet point should be an actual example of a time you produced a written summary, for example Conducted industry research and wrote executive summary used to present analysis to senior leadership. Led to entry into new consumer market worth potent ially $5 mio in revenue. Read about the company and understand what they do. Once you decide the job is interesting, investigate the companys products or services, know who their customers are and read testimonials. You want to do your due diligence on the company before you apply by asking your network about the company, looking for articles written about the company and checking Glassdoor for employee reviews. Accentuate the rare skills. Many applicants will be tossing their hat into the ring for the same jobs you are interested in. You want to meet the requirements plus add information that will knock the employers socks off, or at least, get them to notice you. Is there a technology skill listed as optional that you possess? Be sure to include these sorts of things on your resume and call attention to them in your cover letter by explaining why the skills will be valuable to your future employer. See 8 Tacky Job Search Faux Pas.Include your findings in your resume and cover lett er. Researching the company and understanding the role will help you customize your resume and cover letter. Your resume must prove you have the specific experience and skills requested. It is important to revise your resume to match the responsibilities you highlighted in the responsibilities section of the job posting. You want your resume to include as many of the job responsibilities as possible, without exaggerating or lying. Your cover letter will connect the dots and show the reader not only that you are qualified, but you are well-versed on the company as well.

Dont Believe These 8 Job Search Myths

Dont Believe These 8 Job Search MythsDont Believe These 8 Job Search MythsIf you are tired of the job search rat race, then stop doing what you are doing. While you are at it, dismiss all the assumptions youve made about how jobs get filled. People hire people, not rsums. Lets debunk your beliefs and myths associated with job searchingMYTH You will find your next job by applying online. You may believe that if you apply to enough jobs, youll eventually beat the odds and land one. While applying to jobs may make you feel productive, a recentCareerXroads survey shows thatonly 15 percent of positions were filled through job boards.Most jobs are either filled internally or through referrals. When you spend all your time and energy scoping out jobs and applying, youre hurting your chances.So what else should you be doing? Try a combination of things. Successful job seekers use a variety of tactics, such as contacting industry-specific recruiting agencies or third-party recruiters, meeting one-on-one with past colleagues, attending professional association meetings, volunteering and meeting new people every day. If this sounds daunting or almost impossible, remember More than 70 percent of people land jobs through networking. MYTH You should expect to hear a response soon after you apply.After you have taken time to research a company, modify yourrsumand go through the application process, youassume youll hear something. The reality is you may not hear back from the company. Expect this to be the norm and take proactive steps. Plan to follow up with someone in menschengerecht resources after you have submitted your application. Ask what the time frame is for filling the job, and then ask if your application was received. Always end every conversation by asking when you should follow up next and with whom. The really eager job seekers will make that call the same day the application is submitted. The less assertive job seekers wait about a week. MYTH Your cover letter willalwaysbe read in full.You cant make someone read your cover letter. In reality, some people will never read a cover letter, and others wont look at yourrsumuntil after reading your cover letter. And there are varying preferences in between. The bottom line is that you should always include a customized cover letter that explains specifically why you are interested in and qualified for the job and shares something about the company to show you are a fit. If you dont take the time to do this, then why should the company take time to review your qualifications for the job?MYTH You should network with human resources.One of the many roles human resources serves is to fill open job requisitions. Often, there are numerous requisitions in the pipeline, and the No. 1 priority is to fill these jobs. Requesting to network with human resources is not in your best interest nor in the best interest of the busy human resources professional. He or she probably doesnt know about future opening s or department-level plans. And and even if he or she did, the advice you get would be to wait until you see something posted.Invest your time reaching out to peer-level employees inside a company. Learn how these employees landed the job, what the company culture is like and the skills and responsibilities required in the job. MYTH The best time to network is after the job has been posted.You see the perfect job posted and believe youre a match. With great excitement, you reach out to someone inside the company only to get ignored or brushed off. Youre doing the right thing, so why isnt it working? Youre too late to the party. That job has probably been circulating inside the company for weeks. The person you are contacting may even be in the running for the job.The best time to network is in advance of job opportunities being posted. In fact, networking after a job has been posted really isnt networking its tracking down a job. Thats not badin fact, its recommended butits not tru ly networking. Startidentifying companies you would like to work for, and begin networking before jobs are posted. MYTH You will be granted an vorstellungsgesprch for every job you apply to.If youve purposely submitted a vague or generalrsumwith the hope that a recruiter will call for more details, thinkagain. Most of the time, you will not receive a call. Recruiters, human resources staff and the hiring manager only call you if you are a good match for the job. If your application andrsumdont show how you are a perfect match for the job, the recruiter has very little interest in speaking with you. MYTH Your references are contacted before or during the interview process.Every company has a different policy regarding reference checking. Seldom will your references get checked whilersums are being reviewed or during the interview process. It costs time and money to verify references, and if there are multiple candidates applying and interviewing,this can be a costly investment.On the other hand, a quick Internet search can often reveal information, so some recruiters may be checking you out online. Carefully select the people you want to serve as references, and prepare them to provide the most relevant and important details about you. MYTH Yourrsumis the most important job search tool.It is important to have a well-writtenrsum. However, how many hours do you spend updating, modifying, tweaking andadapting it? Too many. The numerous hours you spend hiding behind a computer screen means you arent spending time on the phone reaching out to people or attending one-on-one networking meetings.Invest your time wisely. How many people will actually take the time to thoroughly review yourrsumand ask you questions about each job you held? Much ofthe detail you obsess over is irrelevant to hiring professionals or will be overlooked in haste.Hannah Morganwrites and speaks on career topics and job search trends on her blogCareer Sherpa. She co-authored Social Networking fo r Business Success, and has developed and delivered programs to help job seekers understand how to look for work better.

Mentally strong How to become with secrets from neuroscience

Mentally strong How to become with secrets from neuroscienceMentally strong How to become with secrets from neuroscienceEver get to the point where your brain is just pooped? The ol grey matter is waving the white flag. Youre exhausted. You cant go on. Youve got no mora mental energyWell, sorry, but thats just notlage true.In fact, you know its not true. When the deadline is in 5 hours, you can work for five hours straight. But when the deadline is next week, suddenly you cant work for 20 minutes before your eyes are glazing over. What gives?Oddly enough, we can find an answer in cutting edge research coming out of Would you believe me if I said professional sports? Seriously.A sprinter breaks a record. The commentators are saying how that competitor gave it his or her all Really? Did the sprinter use every bit of energy they had? Then why didnt they die? Im serious.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moreWhy didnt their heart stop beating because it had no energy? Why didnt their brain stop functioning from lack of calories? Why didnt their thighs muscles snap?But youve never seen an athlete just die from exhaustion, have you? Why not? Something flipped the tired switch before their heart, brain or muscles gave out. Long before.And that thing is your governor. No, were not talking about politics. Were talking Central Governor Theory. Something in your brain that regulates energy use in your body - and your mind.At the end of a grueling event have you ever seen an athlete kick it into high gear? They were wiped, but suddenly the finish line is visible and the afterburners kick in. If they were really out of gas, how could they kick it up a notch in the final moments?Because they werent out of gas. Their governor told them they were tired. But with the end in sight, wily old G stopped holding them back.From Endure Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of philanthropisch PerformanceBut when I asked Noakes for the single most convincing piece of evidence in favor of his theory, he said, without hesitation, the end spurt. How could the runners at Comrades, after pushing themselves through 56 miles of hell, summon a finishing sprint to beat the 12-hour limit? Conventional physiology suggests that you get progressively more fatigued over the course of a run, as muscle fibers fail and fuel stores are emptied. But then, when the end is in sight, you speed up. Clearly your muscles were capable of going faster in the preceding miles so why didnt they?Your brain doesnt want your gas tank to ever get anywhere close to zero. It doesnt want you to blow ligaments or tear muscles. And it also knows that its quite the energy hog itself, with your neurons burning as many as 20% of your daily calories.So its a miser. The governor errs on the side of being conservative. And your body and your mind feel tired long before youve gotten anywhere near empt y.But can we trick that governor into easing up a bit so we can increase our mental stamina? Sure we can. The answer lies at the intersection of sports science and neuroscience. And its not nearly as difficult as you think.Lets get to it 1) Cheer upWant to be mentally tougher? Want the challenges ahead to seem easier? Try this esoteric technique called smiling.From Endure Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance known as the facial feedback hypothesis, an idea that can be traced back to Charles Darwin just as emotions trigger a physical response, that physical response can amplify or perhaps even create the corresponding emotion. Related experiments have extended this finding to clusters of related mental states smiling, for instance, makes you happier, but it also enhances feelings of safety and- intriguingly- cognitive ease, a concept intimately tied to effort.You get exhausted and you grimace. But when you grimace you make yourself tired. The feedback loo p works both ways. So smile. You can trick your governor into thinking things are easy.Across the board, feeling good increases endurance. Optimism increases grit. Looking at cute animals reduces stress. And thats not only true in the lab What do people with the highest levels of mental and physical endurance say? When I interviewed Army Ranger Joe Asher he said this was the attitude that got him through his incredibly difficult trainingIf I can laugh once a day, every day Im in Ranger School, Ill make it through.Navy SEAL Platoon Commander James Waters told me the saatkorn thingYouve got to have fun and be able to laugh laugh at yourself and laugh at what youre doing. My best friend and I laughed our way through BUD/S.If you want to be able to endure, be positive. Smile. Laugh. It helps people keep going during the toughest moments in life, including combat and severe illness.From Resilience The Science of Mastering Lifes Greatest ChallengesSubstantial evidence exists for the effec tiveness of humor as a coping mechanism. Studies involving combat veterans (Hendin Haas, 1984), cancer patients (Carver, 1993), and surgical patients (Culver et al., 2002) have found that when humor is used to reduce the threatening nature of stressful situations, it is associated with resilience and the capacity to tolerate stress (Martin, 2003).(To learn more about the science of a successful life, check out my bestselling book here.)Now if that was all it took, high school cheerleaders would win all the Nobel Prizes in physics and go on to be Navy SEALs. So what else does it take to build mental endurance?2) Train your brainYour brain is a muscle. Its cliche, I know. But even when we want to get mentally stronger we sure dont put that metaphor into action.If you wanted bigger biceps, youd increase the weight at the gym. And if you want more brain stamina, you need to systematically increase how long you make it work.From Endure Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Hum an Performance long years of training help the mind adapt to resist mental fatigue, just as the body adapts to resist physical fatigue.You might say, work gets boring. But thats not you talking thats your governor. Its sneaky, making you feel bored or tired so you never get anywhere close to your capacity - or your potential.Every time youre doing some serious brain work, try and go a little longer without a break.From Endure Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human PerformanceBeing boring is an important characteristic for inducing mental fatigue and, therefore, a brain training effect, he replied. Just do a longer session of one test at a time.Georgetown professor and author of the bestseller Deep Work, Cal Newport, recommends the exact same thing. Doing a little more each day is a simple method for increasing your brains stamina.(To learn the seven-step morning ritual that will make you happy all day, click here.)Dont stop reading now - dont give in to your governo r. Just one more left 3) Perception beats realityIf it was all about how much gas you have in the tank, then your energy levels would always determine your performance. And you know thats not the case.Ever work longer and harder because theres a looming deadline? Ever suddenly feel tired because you look at the clock and realize youve been at it for hours? So its not about how depleted you actually are - its about how exhausted you think you are.Researchers call this perceived exertion. Your brain relies on cues from your body and environment to determine when you should feel exhausted - and when the governor should kick in.Researchers at Canterbury Christ Church University in Britain gave cyclists konserves of caffeine before a series of time trials - but they didnt tell them exactly how much. The subjects that believed they had been given a moderate dose rode 1.3 percent faster. If they thought they had taken a high dose they were 3.1 percent faster. And those who thought they got the placebo rode 1.4 percent slower. But guess what?They had all been given the placebo. Their performance differences were completely due to their beliefs, not how much energy they really had. So we need to trick that governor.What makes you feel like youve been working hard? Do you eye the clock and say, Jeez, Ive been at this for hours? Do you look at the work youve completed and say, Whoa. Thats a lot?Reduce how much effort your governor perceives and youll reduce how tired you feel. And whats the best way to do that? Make any mental effort into a game.Work challenges you, frustrates you and takes hours. And you get tired. Video games challenge you, frustrate you and can take hours. And theyre addicting. Its all about perception.When you see things as a game, you dont perceive effort the same way. And so you keep going.Whats one of the things people who live through disaster scenarios have in common? They make survival a game.Happiness expert Shawn Achor said the best way to deal with stress is to see problems as challenges, not threats.Kids do better in school when its treated like a game.And Navy SEALJames Waters said the same thing about getting through his trainingMany people dont recognize that what theyre doing at BUD/S is assessing your ability to handle a difficult circumstance and keep going. Its a game. If you want to be a Navy SEAL, youve got to play that game. Youve got to have fun with it and youve got to keep your eye on the bigger picture.So how do you make things into a game? Challenge yourself. Set a goal. Get feedback. Score yourself. And try to do better. Can I accomplish this faster than I did last time? Can I cut this from 5 pages to 4 and still get my point across?(To learn more about how to increase mental toughness - from Navy SEALs and Olympians, click here.)Okay, weve learned a lot. Lets round it all up and find out why everyones favorite mental stamina booster - caffeine - is proof that these tips can help Sum UpThis is ho w to become mentally strongCheer up Smile. Be optimistic. Laugh. They improve endurance and grit. (Side effects may include happiness and enjoying life.)Train your brain Push that mental muscle and it will grow. Work a little longer each time and youll be able to work a lot longer over time.Perceptions beats reality Reduce the signals that make you think things are tiring and they wont be as tiring. Make it a game instead of a chore.Caffeine gives you more energy, right? Wrong. Caffeine doesnt give you more of anything.Adenosine is a chemical in your body that tells your brain youre tired. And caffeine blocks adenosine. The tired message never reaches the governor, and so the governor doesnt hit the brakes. Caffeine works via that same principle we talked about above - it reduces perception of effort.And that, dearie, is what keeps coffee-guzzling bloggers blogging.From Endure Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance caffeines ability to shut down receptors in the brain that detect the presence of adenosine, a neuromodulator molecule associated with mental fatigue. Warding off mental fatigue, in turn, keeps your sense of effort lower, allowing you to exert yourself harder and longer.So you dont need more energy. You need to act like a giant caffeine molecule and hide cues in your environment that remind you how tired you should be.Throw in a few laughs and smiles. Build your endurance over time by extending your bouts of work a little each time. And, most of all, keep the Central Governor Theory in mind. You can always do more than you think.Remember how The Little Engine That Could kept going? Well, that tiny train didnt read as much science as you do, so youre one step ahead of him. She said, I think I can.You know you can.This article first appeared at Barking Up the Wrong Tree.