Saturday, 28 January 2017
Tuesday, 24 January 2017
Monday, 23 January 2017
Hoew to write Resume latest tips for success in 2017
Hoew to write Resume latest tips for success in 2017
Some people write a resume as if the purpose of the document was to land a job. As a result they end up with a really long and boring piece that makes them look like desperate job hunters. The objective of your resume is to land an interview, and the interview will land you the job (hopefully!).
2. Back up your qualities and strengths
Instead of creating a long (and boring) list with all your qualities (e.g., disciplined, creative, problem solver) try to connect them with real life and work experiences. In other words, you need to back these qualities and strengths up, else it will appear that you are just trying to inflate things.
3. Make sure to use the right keywords
Most companies (even smaller ones) are already using digital databases to search for candidates. This means that the HR department will run search queries based on specific keywords. Guess what, if your resume doesn’t have the keywords related to the job you are applying for, you will be out even before the game starts.
These keywords will usually be nouns. Check the job description and related job ads for a clue on what the employer might be looking for. You can read more about resume keywords on the article Tapping the Power of Keywords to Enhance Your Resume’s Effectiveness.
4. Use effective titles
Like it or not, employers will usually make a judgment about your resume in 5 seconds. Under this time frame the most important aspect will be the titles that you listed on the resume, so make sure they grab the attention. Try to be as descriptive as possible, giving the employer a good idea about the nature of your past work experiences. For example:
Bad title: Accounting
Good title: Management of A/R and A/P and Recordkeeping
5. Proofread it twice
It would be difficult to emphasize the importance of proofreading your resume. One small typo and your chances of getting hired could slip. Proofreading it once is not enough, so do it twice, three times or as many as necessary. If you don’t know how to proofread effectively, here are 8 tips that you can use.
6. Use bullet points
No employer will have the time (or patience) to read long paragraphs of text. Make sure, therefore, to use bullet points and short sentences to describe your experiences, educational background and professional objectives.
7. Where are you going?
Including professional goals can help you by giving employers an idea of where you are going, and how you want to arrive there. You don’t need to have a special section devoted to your professional objectives, but overall the resume must communicate it. The question of whether or not to highlight your career objectives on the resume is a polemic one among HR managers, so go with your feeling. If you decide to list them, make sure they are not generic.
8. Put the most important information first
This point is valid both to the overall order of your resume, as well as to the individual sections. Most of the times your previous work experience will be the most important part of the resume, so put it at the top. When describing your experiences or skills, list the most important ones first.
9. Attention to the typography
First of all make sure that your fonts are big enough. The smaller you should go is 11 points, but 12 is probably safer. Do not use capital letters all over the place, remember that your goal is to communicate a message as fast and as clearly as possible. Arial and Times are good choices.
10. Do not include “no kidding” information
There are many people that like to include statements like “Available for interview” or “References available upon request.” If you are sending a resume to a company, it should be a given that you are available for an interview and that you will provide references if requested. Just avoid items that will make the employer think “no kidding!”
11. Explain the benefits of your skills
Merely stating that you can do something will not catch the attention of the employer. If you manage to explain how it will benefit his company, and to connect it to tangible results, then you will greatly improve your chances.
12. Avoid negativity
Do not include information that might sound negative in the eyes of the employer. This is valid both to your resume and to interviews. You don’t need to include, for instance, things that you hated about your last company.
13. Achievements instead of responsibilities
Resumes that include a long list of “responsibilities included…” are plain boring, and not efficient in selling yourself. Instead of listing responsibilities, therefore, describe your professional achievements.
14. No pictures
Sure, we know that you are good looking, but unless you are applying for a job where the physical traits are very important (e.g., modeling, acting and so on), and unless the employer specifically requested it, you should avoid attaching your picture to the resume.
15. Use numbers
This tip is a complement to the 13th one. If you are going to describe your past professional achievements, it would be a good idea to make them as solid as possible. Numbers are your friends here. Don’t merely mention that you increased the annual revenues of your division, say that you increased them by $100,000, by 78%, and so on.
16. One resume for each employer
One of the most common mistakes that people make is to create a standard resume and send it to all the job openings that they can find. Sure it will save you time, but it will also greatly decrease the chances of landing an interview (so in reality it could even represent a waste of time). Tailor your resume for each employer. The same point applies to your cover letters.
17. Identify the problems of the employer
A good starting point to tailor your resume for a specific employer is to identify what possible problems he might have at hand. Try to understand the market of the company you are applying for a job, and identify what kind of difficulties they might be going through. After that illustrate on your resume how you and your skills would help to solve those problems.
18. Avoid age discrimination
It is illegal to discriminate people because of their age, but some employers do these considerations nonetheless. Why risk the trouble? Unless specifically requested, do not include your age on your resume.
19. You don’t need to list all your work experiences
If you have job experiences that you are not proud of, or that are not relevant to the current opportunity, you should just omit them. Mentioning that you used to sell hamburgers when you were 17 is probably not going to help you land that executive position.
20. Go with what you got
If you never had any real working experience, just include your summer jobs or volunteer work. If you don’t have a degree yet, mention the title and the estimated date for completion. As long as those points are relevant to the job in question, it does not matter if they are official or not.
21. Sell your fish
Remember that you are trying to sell yourself. As long as you don’t go over the edge, all the marketing efforts that you can put in your resume (in its content, design, delivery method and so on) will give you an advantage over the other candidates.
22. Don’t include irrelevant information
Irrelevant information such as political affiliation, religion and sexual preference will not help you. In fact it might even hurt your chances of landing an interview. Just skip it.
23. Use Mr. and Ms. if appropriate
If you have a gender neutral name like Alex or Ryan make sure to include the Mr. or Ms. prefix, so that employers will not get confused about your gender.
24. No lies, please
Seems like a no brainer, but you would be amused to discover the amount of people that lie in their resumes. Even small lies should be avoided. Apart from being wrong, most HR departments do background checks these days, and if you are buster it might ruin your credibility for good.
25. Keep the salary in mind
The image you will create with your resume must match the salary and responsibility level that you are aiming for.
26. Analyze job ads
You will find plenty of useful information on job ads. Analyze no only the ad that you will be applying for, but also those from companies on the same segment or offering related positions. You should be able to identify what profile they are looking for and how the information should be presented.
27. Get someone else to review your resume
Even if you think you resume is looking kinky, it would be a good idea to get a second and third opinion about it. We usually become blind to our own mistakes or way of reasoning, so another people will be in a good position to evaluate the overall quality of your resume and make appropriate suggestions.
28. One or two pages
The ideal length for a resume is a polemic subject. Most employers and recruiting specialists, however, say that it should contain one or two pages at maximum. Just keep in mind that, provided all the necessary information is there, the shorter your resume, the better.
29. Use action verbs
A very common advice to job seekers is to use action verbs. But what are they? Action verbs are basically verbs that will get noticed more easily, and that will clearly communicate what your experience or achievement were. Examples include managed, coached, enforced and planned. Here you can find a complete list of action verbs divided by skill category.
30. Use a good printer
If you are going to use a paper version of your resume, make sure to use a decent printer. Laser printers usually get the job done. Plain white paper is the preferred one as well.
31. No hobbies
Unless you are 100% sure that some of your hobbies will support you candidacy, avoid mentioning them. I know you are proud of your swimming team, but share it with your friends and not with potential employers.
32. Update your resume regularly
It is a good idea to update your resume on a regular basis. Add all the new information that you think is relevant, as well as courses, training programs and other academic qualifications that you might receive along the way. This is the best way to keep track of everything and to make sure that you will not end up sending an obsolete document to the employer.
33. Mention who you worked with
If you have reported or worked with someone that is well known in your industry, it could be a good idea to mention it on the resume. The same thing applies to presidents and CEOs. If you reported to or worked directly with highly ranked executives, add it to the resume.
34. No scattered information
Your resume must have a clear focus. If would cause a negative impression if you mentioned that one year you were studying drama, and the next you were working as an accountant. Make sure that all the information you will include will work towards a unified image. Employers like decided people.
35. Make the design flow with white space
Do not jam your resume with text. Sure we said that you should make your resume as short and concise as possible, but that refers to the overall amount of information and not to how much text you can pack in a single sheet of paper. White space between the words, lines and paragraphs can improve the legibility of your resume.
36. Lists all your positions
If you have worked a long time for the same company (over 10 years) it could be a good idea to list all the different positions and roles that you had during this time separately. You probably had different responsibilities and developed different skills on each role, so the employer will like to know it.
37. No jargon or slang
It should be common sense, but believe me, it is not. Slang should never be present in a resume. As for technical jargon, do not assume that the employer will know what you are talking about. Even if you are sending your resume to a company in the same segment, the person who will read it for the first time might not have any technical expertise.
38. Careful with sample resume templates
There are many websites that offer free resume templates. While they can help you to get an idea of what you are looking for, do not just copy and paste one of the most used ones. You certainly don’t want to look just like any other candidate, do you?
39. Create an email proof formatting
It is very likely that you will end up sending your resume via email to most companies. Apart from having a Word document ready to go as an attachment, you should also have a text version of your resume that does not look disfigured in the body of the email or in online forms. Attachments might get blocked by spam filters, and many people just prefer having the resume on the body of the email itself.
40. Remove your older work experiences
If you have been working for 20 years or more, there is no need to have 2 pages of your resume listing all your work experiences, starting with the job at the local coffee shop at the age of 17! Most experts agree that the last 15 years of your career are enough.
41. No fancy design details
Do not use a colored background, fancy fonts or images on your resume. Sure, you might think that the little flowers will cheer up the document, but other people might just throw it away at the sight.
42. No pronouns
You resume should not contain the pronouns “I” or “me.” That is how we normally structure sentences, but since your resume is a document about your person, using these pronouns is actually redundant.
43. Don’t forget the basics
The first thing on your resume should be your name. It should be bold and with a larger font than the rest of the text. Make sure that your contact details are clearly listed. Secondly, both the name and contact details should be included on all the pages of the resume (if you have more than one).
44. Consider getting professional help
If you are having a hard time to create your resume, or if you are receiving no response whatsoever from companies, you could consider hiring a professional resume writing service. There are both local and online options are available, and usually the investment will be worth the money.
Complete Information of How to Make Money Freelance Writing Online
http://www.tripleclicks.com/16584755
Until 15 years ago or so becoming a freelance writer was not an easy task. You had to get in touch with print magazines and newspapers, and you had to convince the editor that you were the right person for the job. The number of applications for each job was quite high, because the number of publications was limited. As a result, the chances of actually landing the job were quite low.
The Internet and the Web changed all that, for the better!
Today we have tens of thousands of online publications, from small blogs to online magazines and news sites, covering virtually any niche and topic you can imagine! Each of those online publications need fresh content, so the demand for freelance writers is higher than ever, and landing a job can be as simple as reaching out via email.
If you like to write and want to start making some money freelancing online, this guide will provide all the information you need to get started.
1. Prerequisites
Contrary to what many people believe, you don’t need to be a talented writer to make money freelance writing online. You need to be talented if you want to write fiction, poetry, or if you want to write for TV sitcoms, for example. As long as you can write clear, correct English, you are qualified for most online writing jobs, as those only require clear and direct prose.
On the technical side, all you need is basic computer and Internet skills. This includes using a word processor, sending and receiving emails, searching on Google efficiently and so on. If you need to brush up on your technical skills, the Goodwill Community Foundation has a free Internet Basics course.
2. Improving Your Writing Skills
If you need to improve your writing skills, here are some tips:
- Practice is the best way to improve your writing skills, so write every day, as much as possible.
- Read sites that offer grammar, spelling and punctuation tips like this one.
- Read books about grammar and writing. We reviewed many in the past.
- Get friends and family to read your material and provide feedback.
- Consider joining a writing group to get feedback from fellow writers.
- Edit the work of other people.
3. Becoming a prolific writer
If you want to make money writing, the amount of content you can produce per day will directly affect your income. In other words, it’s essential to become an efficient and prolific writer. Here are some strategies that can help with you that:
- Understand that writing and editing are two different things, and that you should do these tasks separately.
- Practically speaking, first you should write down all you need (perhaps more than you need), and only then you should edit it.
- Stop the habit of editing sentences as you write them, or of going back to read each paragraph once you finish it.
- One exercise you can use to practice this is to turn your computer monitor off (or to cover it in case of a notebook) while you write.
- Consider using a full screen editor like Dark Room to reduce distractions.
- Develop a writing routine, allocating some time slots in your day for writing.
4. Building an online presence with a website
If you want to make money writing online, having a strong online presence is essential, because that is how many clients will find you. Having a website should be the cornerstone of your online strategy, as it’s the best way to showcase your expertise, portfolio, and it allows potential customers to quickly contact you.
The first step here is to decide on the domain name you are going to use. Aim for something that is easy to spell, easy to remember, and not too long. For example:
- JohnWrites.com
- PunchingWords.com
- LiveProse.com
- WordsByMary.com
You can also go with a .net or .org extension if you can’t find a good domain with a .com.
Use the InstantDomainSearch.com tool to check whether or not the domains you want are available (but don’t register one yet!).
Once you choose the domain name you want to use, it will be time to get a hosting plan, and most hosting companies will give you a free domain name registration (you just need to inform the domain while signing up).
We use and recommend HostGator.com, as they have some very affordable prices, and both the service and customer support quality are top notch.
Finally, refer to this tutorial to install WordPress on your site. WordPress is the most popular publishing software around. It’s free, and easy to use, so you can’t go wrong with it.
5. Promoting your website
The first thing you should do after installing WordPress is to choose a template (there are thousands of free ones available from your Dashboard -> Appearance). Customize it a bit if you want and you should be ready to go.
Now you need visitors to your website!
There are two building blocks to bring visitors: content and backlinks (also called links).
Content refers to the articles you’ll post on your website. Aim to provide valuable content to people looking for specific information (e.g., like this post provides information for aspiring freelance writers), and try to publish new content regularly (e.g., two or three times per week at least).
Backlinks refer to getting other websites to mention and link to your own. Google considers each link from another website as a vote of trust for the quality of your website and its content. Guess what, the more links/votes you have, the higher your articles will rank on the search engine, and the more visitors you’ll get.
Here are some strategies to gain links from other sites:
- Create a profile on all social networks, and include a link back to your site.
- Email bloggers and site owners and propose a partnership.
- Run interviews with site owners, and ask them to link to the interview.
- Write great content and email it to site owners, asking them to help to spread the word.
- Write a guest post for one these blogs.
Finally, don’t forget to have a “Hire Me” page on your site, so that visitors will promptly know that you offer freelance writing services.
6. Leveraging social media
Literally billions of people use social media sites these days, so you need to have a profile on the most popular sites to strengthen your online presence and possibly land new clients.
The most popular social media sites today are:
- YouTube
I recommend creating an account on all of them and regularly sharing content there. YouTube is a special case because you would need to upload videos there. It’s worth the trouble, but consider doing it later on, as you will probably need to learn how to create those videos.
You can share articles you write, interesting content from around the web, and occasionally you can promote your freelance writing services.
7. Finding clients
Over time, as you spread your online presence, expand your network and become known as a freelance writer, clients will come to you spontaneously.
In the beginning, however, don’t count on this happening. Instead, you’ll need to literally hunt jobs down. Here’s some strategies you can use:
1. Create a profile and browse freelance marketplaces
The above marketplaces connect companies and freelancers, providing a platform where people can post job requirements and freelancers can bid for those jobs. They all have sections dedicated to freelance writing jobs, so it’s worth to create an account and browse the new jobs regularly.
2. Contact sites that pay writers
There are many websites that make available the guidelines for writing for them and getting paid for it. Payment varies, but depending on the niche you can get as much as $200 per article.
You can find lists of such sites here. Browse and list filtering the sites you believe are a good match for your style and skills, and then contact all of them. On some cases you can pitch your article right away, and they will get back to you stating if your article was accepted or not.
3. Browse boards with job listings
There are several job boards that are completely dedicated or have special sections for freelance writing jobs. Some are updated regularly, even daily. Problogger Jobs and Freelance Writing Jobs are two examples.
Browsing those job boards and contacting the job listings is a great way to land new gigs and eventually clients that will require your services on a regular basis.
4. Contact websites you like
Even if a certain website is not publicly asking for new writers, it doesn’t mean that they are not willing to hire one, should the right person show up. Guess what, be that right person!
Get in touch via email or via the contact form on the website, and explain why you want to write for them, why you believe your style will match the audience of the site and so on. Better yet, send along some sample articles written specifically for that website. If they like what they see, there are good chances that they will hire you at least for a trial period.
8. How Much to Charge
Figuring out how much to charge is not easy. If you charge too little you’ll be leaving money at the table. If you charge too much, you might scare away clients and lose job opportunities.
On top of that there are differences that arise from the type of content you are producing, the niche you will be writing for and so on, which means that it’s virtually impossible to say how much you should charge.
If you want ballpark numbers, consider that for short articles or blog posts (around 400 words) the low end is $15 per post and the high end is $100 per post. For longer and more structured pieces (i.e., feature articles or tutorials with 1000+ words) the low end is $50 and the high end $200 per article.
You can start at the low end and gradually increase your rates as you gain new clients and establish a network of companies and websites who hire you on a regular basis.
9. Billing clients
If you want to make money freelance writing online, getting paid will be an important part of the equation!
The first tool you need to have is PayPal. Most companies and clients will prefer to pay you using PayPal, so having and account there and familiarizing yourself with how it works is essential. Make sure to verify your account, and learn how to send invoices (you can find this under “Tools”).
Another very useful tool is FreshBooks, which allows you to create beautiful invoices (that can be integrated with your PayPal account). With FreshBooks you will be able to manage all your work and clients from a single platform.
Remember that people are not always honest online, so avoid delivering a lot of work without being sure that the client will pay you. When in doubt, require at least part of the payment upfront.
10. Delivering your work
The easiest way to deliver your work is to email it as an attachment to your client.
Another tool you can use to produce and share your work with clients is Google Docs. Once you create an account you will be able to work on your articles from any computer, as they will always be saved and synchronized on Google’s servers. Once the article is ready to be delivered you just need to share it with your client (using his email address).
Good luck!
Monday, 16 January 2017
The great Orange Cake Recipe
The great Orange Cake Recipe
Orange Cake | |
View Recipe on Website | |
INGREDIENTS | |
| |
COOKING DIRECTIONS | |
| Sift flour, baking powder and salt together. Set aside. Beat the eggs, orange zest and vanilla until it doubles in size. Add sugar, orange juice then oil and beat until it becomes creamy in texture. Add the flour and mix on the lowest speed. Don''t mix more than 15 - 20 seconds. Pour the mixture in a greased baking pan. Put it in a pre-heated oven at 350° and bake for 40 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean from the cake | |
Super 6 Simple Tips to Reduce Bounce Rate
Super 6 Simple Tips to Reduce Bounce Rate
Hello, folks. Today, we will share with you simple tips to reduce your website’s bounce rate. Some of them will even improve your conversion rate and other metrics.
TL;DR
- Improve your website’s speed.
- Make the visitor want to explore your website.
- Reduce the number of distractions.
- Have a simple and straightforward call to action.
- Improve the responsiveness of your website.
- Have a well set-up Google Analytics event tracker.
TO REDUCE YOUR WEBSITE’S BOUNCE RATE:
1. IMPROVE YOUR WEBSITE’S SPEED
The first and most important tip is to reduce your website’s loading times. Fourty-seven percent of internet users expect web pages to load in two seconds or less. We know that this is almost impossible to achieve with the newer and heavier layouts, but it does not mean that we should give up trying. A simple reduction of 500ms can do wonders for your bounce rate. You can reduce your website’s loading times by using a caching plugin, especially if you use WordPress. By the way, we recommend the WP Super Cache plugin. Alternatively, you can use a CDN (content delivery network) service. There are plenty out there. If you search “CDN” on Google, you will find many providers.
2. MAKE THE VISITOR NEED TO FURTHER EXPLORE YOUR WEBSITE
This is relevant and straightforward. By creating great content and inserting contextual links to other blog posts you have, you will create the urge for the visitor to check more pages. Let’s say that you are creating a blog post with simple tips to reduce bounce rate, but your visitor does not know what bounce rate is and how Google Analytics track it, but you have an excellent post about it. What do you do? You insert a link to that great blog post you wrote, like we did above. 
3. REDUCE THE AMOUNT OF DISTRACTION
How many times have you accessed a website and had a great feeling about their content, but then you got overwhelmed by ads, sidebar widgets, and lightboxes asking for your e-mail that you simply gave up and hit CTRL+W? Yes, that happens a lot! What you need here is to reduce the number of annoying ads. Trust me, you are not making more money with those sidebar widgets and other things that can make your visitor tired of your website. You should also make your content easy to eye-scan by structuring it well. Cleaner web pages allow your visitors to focus more on your content and urge them to explore your website further and, thus, lower your bounce rate. There is a great blog post on Crazyegg about this.
4. HAVE A SIMPLE AND STRAIGHTFORWARD CALL-TO-ACTION
People may think that having ten calls-to-action on a web page will generate more conversions than a single one. This is, 99% of the time, not accurate. Having a simple, single, and direct call to action is the best way to generate a conversion. Don’t annoy your visitor; keep him engaged.
5. IMPROVE YOUR MOBILE VERSION
More and more users are navigating the Web using mobile devices. Today, we have more surfers using mobile devices than desktops, so your website should work better and faster on mobile than on desktop if you want to succeed. The goal here is to have a beautiful and functional mobile version of all of your web pages. If you are a blogger or a newspaper webmaster, you should also invest time and money in creating an AMP (accelerated mobile page) version of your pages. Again, if you are running WordPress, there’s an easy and free plugin to generate them for you.
6. HAVE A WELL SET UP GOOGLE ANALYTICS INSTALLATION
It is crucial to make sure that your Google Analytics installation is correctly configured. Let’s say that you have a landing page where you just want the user to send you his or her email address. If someone accesses this page and gives you his or her e-mail address, this is not a bounce visit right? You reached your goal. In this scenario, you need to send an event hit to Google Analytics every time someone clicks on that “send” button on your web page. This way, Google Analytics will not track this visit as a bounce. The same goes for pages that answer a quick and simple question a user may have. If someone enters your web page and scrolls to the bottom in a 5-minute span, you can be sure that this was not a bounce visit. What you need to do in this scenario is to install a script to track scroll depth that sends an engagement event hit to Google Analytics every time a threshold is passed. This is a good idea.
That’s it for today, folks. If you have questions or post suggestions for us, please feel free to use the comments section below.
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