“The humanitarian developers behind World of Warcraft have also discovered a way to bribe gamers into turning off their computers and going outside. If you log off for a few days, your character will be more 'rested' when you resume playing; a mode that temporarily speeds up your leveling.” - Clive Thompson Character references are your guardian angels when it comes to applying to jobs, that’s because they will vouch for you when the hiring manager calls them up and do a background research on you. Human Resources will find out whether or not you’re a person of good moral character, pers...

“A good game gives us meaningful accomplishment - clear achievement that we don't necessarily get from real life. In a game, you've beaten level four, the boss monster is dead, you have a badge, and now you have a super laser sword. Real life isn't like that, right?” -  Jesse Schell This is not only a rather difficult question to answer but also a hard decision to make. Earlier we’ve discussed whether or not it’s good to be friends with your boss; however, what if it was your long time friend whom you’ve known for 10 years or more that made you a job offer, would it be okay? To find out,...

“The point of the feminist movement wasn't simply to set our underwear on fire and muscle into small spaces in the male-dominated workplace, but to create a world where the contribution of both sexes was equally valued and no one's worth was judged on their take-home salary.” - Mariella Frostrup In case you’ve already been invited to your first ever job interview after graduating fresh from college, then this blog post should be a great read for you. The first thing you need to know about entry-level job positions is that most of the things in it are the basics in career development, ent...

“When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.” – Alexander Graham Bell Being an entry-level job seeker after graduating from college has the same feel and dynamics of enthusiasm to it just like when you first set foot in college. However, your dream job might be too far away from your reach at the moment; and you’ll need to work in small and unglamorous jobs for a while in order to bridge the gap. But there’s always hope for you and all you have to do is to follow these simple ...

“You only lack experience if they want it done the same old way.” - Robert Brault It doesn’t matter whether you’re a newly grad student or an accomplished professional, hiring managers will look for certain qualities in you as a job applicant in order to determine whether you’re a right fit for the job. You being a college or university graduate as well as your scholastic achievements may be a primer or a catalyst to get you accepted into the job, but ultimately it all comes down to your skills and abilities. And speaking of which, here are the top 3 qualities that hiring managers want f...

“Communication - the human connection - is the key to personal and career success.” - Paul J. Meyer How does one create an attention-grabbing cover letter? This question is not only important for newly grads and job seekers, but is also pervasive in terms of putting the pressure on them to stand out from the rest. Now it is understandable that proper use of English grammar (for predominantly English countries and countries that use it as a prime communication tool) is an absolute when writing a cover letter. However, that’s not all that you’ll be needing to get you noticed by the hiring ...

"If you fail to plan, you plan to fail" How many times have you switched careers in your life? What caused you to make those decisions? How was your professional and personal life affected by the decisions that you’ve made? Are you happy with your career choices? Did you have any regrets? I know these may seem uncomfortable questions to answer, but they nail the issue hard on its head and quite frankly you shouldn’t make life choices that will only cause problems later on in your life. It’s understandable that we can’t control all things in our life, but the least that we can do is manage the...

“A good boss makes his men realize they have more ability than they think they have so that they consistently do better work than they thought they could.” - Charles Erwin Wilson The Concept Up until the mid 1990s the relationship between employer and employee was the usual “boss - subordinate” type of predictable atmosphere. But at the turn of the millennium new changes had emerged in the way professional relationships work in the office and suddenly managers want more proactive employees who has the courage to contribute to the company’s progress. The late Steve Jobs pioneered this ...

“Emphasize your strengths on your resume, in your cover letters and in your interviews. It may sound obvious, but you'd be surprised how many people simply list everything they've ever done. Convey your passion and link your strengths to measurable results. Employers and interviewers love concrete data.” - Marcus Buckingham If you’ve started working on part time or fulltime jobs, then most likely you may already have written a resume and cover letters. Cover letters are like movie passes while resumes are your ID and you need both to get into a theatre playing an R-18 movie, which in...

Not being employed in a company for a year or more can cause serious problems to your career, that’s because employers have a tendency to be cynical about job applicants that match certain profiles or stereotypes. But never fear because if you’re clever, you can actually get yourself back into employment. Here are a few tips: Upskill Obviously by now your skills are corroded and the right move is to gain new ones, but first you need to know the right kind of skills that the company you’re applying a job in requires. So, do a bit of research and enrol in at least 2 skills to upgrade yo...