Dec 11, 2011

Important Interview Tips

Have you ever wondered that why some people always qualify for any interview they face? It is very well said that practice make a man perfect, similarly interviews can also be defined as a skill set requiring a perfect practice. Present scenario of recession, global meltdown, reduced job rates had made things even worse and more difficult.
A high rate of professionalism is what impresses an employer to a great extent. Moreover, all employers expect their employees to posses good communication skills, leadership qualities, intelligence ( intellectual and emotional ), competent, imaginative etc.
This list could be endless, so we land up in a confused state where what exactly is required is not always known to us. Thus leading to stressed and tensed moments before facing a interview. The key is to relax, stay clam and confident.
Important Interview Tips
Know your employer :
Research your employer, known their goals, what they are doing etc. You can do this by simply visiting their website or discussing with your friends who know the company or may have worked their before.
Know Yourself :
Remember in a interview you have to sell yourself. The employer knows only your resume, so always remember to highlight your performance at previous jobs, community services, school activities etc in such a manner that the interviewer develops an positive attitude about your personality.
Stay Confident:
Don’t get nervous, be confident. Confidence is reflected by your voice, body language and gestures. So always be cautious. Develop an habit of sitting with straight back, talking with strong and clear voice, avoid nervous signs( playing with hairs, playing with finger, shaking legs etc ) to win the race.
Dress to Impress:
Your attire helps to develop a first impression and always remembered, First Impression is the Last Impression. Be very cautious, be careful your are dressing for an interview, if you wish to be taken seriously you have to look serious. . In general for Mens , the minimum will be dress shirt, slacks, and dress shoes. A tie depends on the job position, but you can’t go wrong with one. For women, business casual, which is a collared shirt and dress pants or skirt, a light day makeup would be appropriated. Avoid using high heels or strong perfumes.
Prepare For Pointed question:
Pointed questions like What is your weakness, In which area do you need improvement are frequently asked. Don’t panic stay clam and confident and answer the questions diplomatically and smartly. For ex- Your weakness should e shown in such a manner that it becomes a strength for the organization.
Tips for the Interview:
- Reach half an hour before the interview timings.
- Offer a warm handshake.
- Sit straight.
- Make an eye contact.
- Always thank before sitting.
- Always wear a slight smile.
- Accept gracefully, if drink is offered.
- Don’t hassle, if you don’t know any answer say politely and respectfully you don’t know the answer. Illogical wrong answer will ruin your impression.
- Always thank before leaving.
- Aline your chair before leaving the interview room.
- Don’t bang the door. Close the door gently without making any noise .

Dec 7, 2011

How Social Skills Improve Interviews

If you’re wondering what you can to do improve interviews, think about how you handle your social skills and body language. Are you likable — that’s extremely important. A firm handshake of course, but are you aware if your body language is confident?
Body language reveals so much about you –it’s actually 55% of your communication. It has an impact that is more important than your words. And they will notice “the way” you say things. So if you are not smiling or your eyes do not look enthusiastic and happy, it won’t matter what you say. Show passion in the tone of your voice and with excitement when describing your accomplishments. Nervous habits such as pen clicking or constant foot tapping will also reduce your ability to appear confident.
Do not underestimate the impact of good social skills on your career. Seriously. In fact, across the board, in all types of fields and companies, people would rather work with someone who is likeable and incompetent than with someone who is skilled and obnoxious.
To be likeable you must come across as sincere and authentic by always presenting “the real you.” Also, don’t use jargony words, like, “multi-tasker.” Be specific. Instead of saying, “I’m a self-starter” and just leave it at that. You could say, “I was given a project without a lot of instruction and in the first 3 days I came up with a list of 10 people to seek advise from. I met with them all in the first week and received a number of great ideas – I am a self-starter.”
Another suggestion to show confidence is to offer your help on a trial basis. You might say, “I know I have the best skills for the job and I’m so confident I would take on a project for free.”
Depending on whether we like someone or not influences hiring decisions. So build rapport and make a strong connection through your body language. People who lack social competence end up looking like they lack other competencies, too. Don’t forget to keep smiling as you describe who you are.

Dec 4, 2011

Simple Tips For Self Improvement

The following self improvement tips will aid you in your efforts to begin your personal development endeavours. You will find yourself achieving new levels of fulfillment by incorporating them into your daily life. If personal development and growth interests you, there is a good chance you are constantly looking for reliable techniques that will stimulate your progression. Any tactics that can kickstart your personal growth and show you fast results would be fondly looked upon.
After years of study in the self improvement arena, I have found the following strategies to be invaluable. Any chance I can give back to others that have that same thirst to better themselves, I consider it a privilege knowing that I was once in the exact same place.
Expect to Achieve
While many think that the majority of people who are successful in the world are smarter than they are, that simply is not the case. The real secret here is to expect to win before it has ever happened. I can't stress enough how important this is. Your mindset has a hugely powerful effect on whether or not you will attain your dreams and goals.
Note that I didn't say you need knowledge to win, because the fact of the matter is having a bold and determined expectancy goes a lot further than actually having the knowledge. The knowledge will come with conviction and persistence.
Keep a Daily Journal
You will be hardpressed to find an ultra successful person who doesn't adopt a personal daily journal. We can't keep track of everything that passes through our minds and this is when a journal comes in extremely handy. Whenever something strikes you as something you would like to do, accomplish or feel passionate about, get in the habit of writing it down. It will give you a sense of self-awareness and will skyrocket your confidence in yourself.
Meditation
Known to be a fabulous stress reliever not to mention the other health benefits like aiding in digestion and even slowing your heart rate, this is one of the most overlooked of the techniques even though it could very well be one of the most important. It drastically helps in avoiding worries and anxiety because it clears your mind of all the negative thoughts useless thoughts that we all feel from time to time. Your sleep will be more restful and it will help you make the most of the other techniques shared here.
Write Action Plans & Specific Goals
The simple act of putting pen to paper has a dramatic effect on clarifying your goals and aids with the expectancy I talked about earlier. This habit of writing down goals is mandatory if you want to actually achieve those goals. Dreaming is one thing, doing is quite another. All of these written goals should lead you to your ultimate long term goal and perfect life.
Daily Affirmations
Getting in the habit of reading aloud positive affirmations each and every day will lierally change your character, your personality and ultimately change the actions you take every day of your life. I have found that reading these out loud when I get up in the morning and before I go to bed at night to work very well. You can't help but change your inner self by doing this religiously every day.
Be Well Rounded
All areas of your life are affected by all other areas of your life. By that I mean, if you have bad relationships for example, your finances and even your health will suffer also. Problems in your relationships, your health or finances will zap the necessary energy to make the most out of all of these areas of your life. Personal development and success will become much more difficult as a result.
In order to accomplish great things, living a balanced life is so important, a life of great emotional fortitude, financial security and physical stamina. Be well rounded in all of these areas and you will inevitably reap the rewards.
To great success in your life!
If you enjoyed the information in this article, have a look at more great SelfImprovement Tips here. Also, help yourself to this FREE Report explaining How to Become Your Best Self.

Nov 30, 2011

Tips For To Be a Good Speaker


Being a good speaker requires planning, clarity of thought and a well constructed beginning, middle and end to your speech. It is important to avoid creating confusion or leaving your listeners feeling that you have wasted their time. Follow these steps and people will appreciate what you have to say.
Steps
Have a point and stick to it.
In some settings you must speak on a certain subject. Even in casual conversation, though, it is important to focus on a limited set of related ideas. If you drift from one tangentially related idea to the next your speech becomes a sort of bad poetry or misplaced filibuster that may quickly bore the listener.
Speak clearly.
It may be tempting to say, "El whooziwhatsit fonctionne bien in thinger teh other day." It may also not be worth the listener's time to try to figure out what you mean.
Adjust your speech for your audience.
A technical audience will appreciate your use of jargon and acronyms. If your audience has trouble grasping the concepts you are relating, it may be necessary to speak slowly and offer generally familiar examples.
Don't patronize.
When people are treated like idiots or little children they may become hostile and ignore what you're saying. You sound patronizing when you use sing-song tones in your speech or sigh loudly.
Be interesting.
Speak up.
People have to hear what you are saying even if they are sitting in the back row or there is a lot of noise.
Be honest.
Remember the story of the boy who cried, "Wolf!"
Organize what you're saying.
If there are several ideas or details related to your main point, speak about each one in a deliberate fashion. If you are trying to convey large amounts of information, you may need to outline what you will say at the outset and then summarize what you've said at the conclusion.
Be an important person.
Have a lot of initials after your name. Be famous. Be beautiful. Work in a job where you wear a uniform and people are expected to listen to you.
Be polite, follow social conventions and be rational.
Obviously there are many speakers that do not follow this step and yet have large and dotting audiences. You probably aren't one of those speakers.
Tips
Avoid monotony. Monotony is really a form of disorganization where the important information is not distinguished in any way from the unimportant information.
Politicians follow many if not all of these steps and you may want to emulate them.
Warnings
It is easy to get carried away when you speak up. If you find yourself yelling a lot or using all-caps text frequently, it is likely you are skipping many of the other steps listed.
It is also easy to get carried away when you're being important. If you neglect many of the other steps and rely on your importance to command the audience's attention, the audience may become resentful. The audience may even work to undermine your authority.
The worst speaker is the bore. Don't be a bore! Typically the bore fails at being interesting and overestimates the attention span of his audience.
Using incendiary language and making analogies to WWII situations and figures (especially Hitler, facism, communism and Stalin) usually causes people to focus on the individual offensive statement or the character of your speech rather than the content of the speech.

Nov 26, 2011

Simple Communication Help You Set Up Respectful Global Relationships


If you haven’t communicated with a client or colleague in another country recently, chances are you will do so soon. Technology and our global economy have shrunk our geographical boundaries. Developing a global customer-centered approach to communication is essential for establishing respectful and productive working relationships.
This can be particularly challenging for those in the United States, where we are so used to seeing ourselves as the center of the world that we don’t even realize we have that attitude.
If you are from the United States (or any country), here are eight simple things you can do in your initial communications with clients and colleagues in other countries to demonstrate you have a customer-centered viewpoint.
Spell words the way your client does. You can look up spelling differences on the Internet (e.g. American English and British English differences). Or you can watch how your client spells words. In the UK, words ending in “ize” are spelled “ise,” words with the letter “z” are usually spelled with “s,” and words ending in “or” are spelled “our” (e.g. organisation, recognise, analyse, flavour, and colour).
Use at least some words in your client’s language. You can easily look up how to translate “Good Day” into any language and it is much appreciated by your client.
Use your client’s colloquialisms. When using English, pay attention to your client’s use of the language. For example, when communicating with colleagues in the UK, try using “brilliant” instead of “wonderful” or “great.”
End your communication with “Kind Regards” or “Best Regards.” In the United States, we tend to be more informal, ending with “Thanks” and sometimes no valediction at all. Wait to make sure your client is comfortable with the informal endings before using them.
Set meeting times using your client’s time zone. If your client is in Madrid, you can use a time zone converter to find out what 7:00 am your time is in Madrid. Set your meeting using Madrid time, not your own. Don’t expect your client to have to do the work to convert to your time zone.
Format times the way your client does. Many countries use a 24 hour clock. If so, set a 2:00 pm conference call with a client for 14:00.
Format dates the way your client does. Many countries format the calendar with the date before the month. For example: 21 August 2011
Offer to schedule conference calls at times most convenient for your client. You might need to get up at 5:00 am, but you will score big points with them.
In the long run, the true test will be the quality of your ongoing interactions. But these simple and easy to do things go a long way to demonstrate you are adapting to your client, rather than expecting them to adapt to you, and help you set the stage for developing strong, productive relationships within the global workplace.

Nov 23, 2011

Strengthen Public Speaking Sklills

Public speaking skills are valuable both in your personal life and career. Even if you don't regularly engage in public speaking, developing skills in this area will increase your confidence and reduce anxiety about situations in which you may be called upon to speak in public. Below are some key skills held by good public speakers.
Public speaking skill #1: Stage Presence
Good public speakers appear confident, friendly, enthusiastic and energetic. Confidence comes from choosing a topic you like and researching it well. Friendliness can be conveyed simply by smiling at your audience. Enthusiasm and energy will naturally follow when you enjoy your topic
and are well prepared.
If you feel that your stage presence is lacking, take some time and view clips of speakers that you admire. Aim to imitate their style. If you are adequately prepared, there isn't any reason why you can't "fake it 'til you make it". In other words, act confident until you feel confident.
Public speaking skill #2: Voice Control
Your voice is the most important tool you will use as a public speaker. One key skill to improve the quality of your voice is to practice diaphragmatic breathing; breathing from your diaphragm instead of your chest. Doing so will reduce the feeling of breathlessness caused by speech anxiety. In addition, this type of breathing will allow you to better control the tone (quality), pitch (high or low) and volume of your voice.
Public speaking skill #3: Body Language
It is not enough to practice how you will speak to your audience. It is also important to consider your body language and the message that it conveys. In general, you should practice standing with a relaxed upright posture. Your hands should be at your sides or clasped in front of you, unless you are making a gesture to emphasize a point. Become aware of your facial expressions as well; they should match the message you are delivering.
Public speaking skill #4: Delivery
When it comes to public speaking, delivery is everything. Even if you have a great voice and good body language, your message will get lost if the audience can't easily follow what you say. Below are some tips for developing good delivery skills.
Speak slowly and deliberately; it should seem too slow to you.
Pause between ideas.
Carefully articulate and pronounce your words
Avoid filler sounds like "Um" and "ah"
Vary the pitch and volume of your voice to add interest
Public speaking skill #5: Audience Relations
Good public speakers are in tune with their audience. Public speaking is more than standing in front of a group and talking. Acknowledge your audience right away and begin talking as soon as all eyes are on you; similarly, if you need to set up equipment, converse with your audience at the same time to keep their attention. Make eye contact and watch for communication from the audience. Smiles and nodding are good; fidgeting or confused looks may mean that you need to adjust what you are doing.
What is the bottom line? Remember that the goal of public speaking is to deliver a message. In addition to the above skills, you need to be connected to your material. When you are knowledgeable and speak with passion, both you and the audience will have a more enjoyable experience.

Nov 21, 2011

Health And Wellness

There are many myths about the hearing aide that you may have heard before. These myths need to be cleared up because majority of them are not true and this is important to know if you are someone that needs to use a hearing device to help you hear well.
  Below are the myths and the reasons that they are not true.
 1: Using a hearing aid will help to cure your loss of hearing and will be able to restore your hearing back to normal.
  This is not true at all. The hearing device will help you hear well but it definitely will not do either one of these things. These devices are used for people that want to hear well but have no other treatments available to them due to their hearing problems or because the other options are just not affordable for them.
 2: Wearing and using a hearing device will resolve all of your communication problems.
  Again not true because the device is used to help you hear well but you will never hear like you used to when your hearing was normal. There will always be some type of problem to deal with unfortunately but hearing aids can definitely help make communication a little easier than it was when you couldn’t hear at all.
   3: If you use a hearing device this will destroy any residual hearing that you have.
  The hearing device is designed to help you hear well but definitely will not damage any hearing you still retain. If you take good care of your hearing aid and be sure that it fits right so you can wear it correctly then you don’t have to worry about this myth coming true.
 4: The smaller the hearing aid the better the technology will be.
  This is not true because there are many small and larger hearing devices that use cutting edge technology. The truth is that the degree of hearing loss you have will determine which hearing aid will be right for you to use.
  Don’t let the size of the hearing device determine which one is right for you because you have to first make sure that it will be effective for you degree of hearing loss. The size is the second consideration but remember that the larger devices are just as effective as the smaller ones.
  There are many other myths out there about the hearing aide that you need to learn about so you can see why most of the myths are just not true. To help you have peace of mind about using a hearing device it is always a good idea to do your homework so you know all you can about using a device like this.