The One Trait Hiring Mangers Seek Most

Think it's a technical skill? Think again.  If you're looking for a job and wondering how to stand out in a sea of applicants, being boring is unproductive. In a recent survey, 76% of hiring managers believe that being interesting is an important component of hiring decisions, with 22% believing that being interesting is very important.

The survey also found that being well-read and well-informed were among the top traits of interesting people, ranking higher than being well-educated, curious, or innovative. If you’re looking for a new job, or if you’re interested in expanding your career, this data suggests that reading more is the perfect place to start.

There are four ways to leverage your unique traits and experiences during the job search process.

Want more insight about being more interesting in your upcoming job interviews, click here.

Gracefully Quit Your Job

Follow these eight steps to gracefully exit your job without burning bridges.

• Assess your reasons
• Decide when to quit
• Give enough advance notice
• Tell your boss
• Anticipate a counteroffer
• Provide constructive feedback
• Tie up loose ends
• Finish strong

For more insight of the best ways to quit your job, click here.

Want to Be Happier at Work?

Whatever your current situation, you too can be happier at work simply by mastering your mindset. 
Work "happiness" is a difficult thing to obtain. Everyone wants it, yet so few people seem to get it.
The truth is pretty simple: The people who are happiest at work work at it. They just understand some basic truths about the nature of work, and they've leveraged that wisdom for their own benefit.

Whatever your current situation, you too can be happier at work simply by mastering your mindset. Here are some key concepts to consider.

• No Job Is Perfect
• Everything Is Temporary
• Work Is a Choice
• Fake It to Make It
• You Career Is a Lifelong Endeavor

Your happiness shouldn't rely on anyone – or anything – outside of yourself.

For more info, click here.

Showcase your unpaid work

You've probably done unpaid work at some point in your life. Featuring your volunteer work can show a potential employer you're dedicated to helping others.If you've graduated within the last five to 10 years, you should definitely include your volunteer work in the local community and internships on your resume. These should go in the body of your resume if you have a significant amount of unpaid experience or it's at well-known organizations. Include a few bullets to describe what you did in each case and the purpose of your work.

Consider the following areas of unpaid work.

• Serving on a committee
• Leadership role in a student organization
• Mentorship of students
• Fraternity/sorority
• Internships
• Volunteering in the local community
• Outside of Work
• Taking Time Off
• Changing Careers to the nonprofit sector

For more info, click here.

Using Word Of Mouth Effectively In Your Job Search

Word of mouth (WOM) is the oldest form of advertising, public relations, and spreading information.  In today’s world, word of mouth has added great reach, deep dimension, and lightning speed like never before.

Most of the job and career sites confirm that 80% of jobs right now are not posted on job boards – they are only accessible through networking, or word of mouth. 

Here’s how to use word of mouth effectively in your job search.

• Use viral, real time news from social media.
• Be very careful what you say and how you say it.
• Build Relationships
• Lead with Results
• Get Referrals
• Get Recommendations around the buzz of people in the know.

For more info, click here.

Get a Good Job Without a Bachelor's Degree

“You must have a bachelor’s degree” is a common myth that needs to be debunked. For years, it has been said that, with the decline in manufacturing, the blue-collar job that required a high school degree or less was gone for good.

Not all good jobs for people with less than a bachelor’s degree have been eliminated. There are 30 million jobs in the U.S. that pay good wages without a B.A.: The median salary is $55,000 with an opportunity to move up the career ladder.

Job-seekers without a B.A. need to search beyond traditional blue-collar sectors and look to skilled-services industries. jobs in financial services, health services, information technology and other skilled-service industries. More discussion here.

Crush fears and get on with your search

A job search can produce a lot of anxiety. You may find that, your search efforts keep getting pushed to the bottom of your to-do list and the needle never moves.

You may chalk up the delay to lack of time, but is that really what’s going on? Could it be time to evaluate the mental roadblocks getting in the way? There are three top mental offenders that hamper a job search:

• Succumbing to fear
• Ignoring your strengths
• Being disorganized

Find hints on how to tackle each here.