You may feel like shouting a triumphant ‘yes!’ when the recruiter offers you the job, but you need to play it cool.

Accepting a job offer is a triumphant moment for any job seeker. After all the work you’ve done researching, applying to jobs on Monster, and interviewing, you’ve finally been offered the position you’ve been aiming for. Go you! You’re understandably psyched. But don’t be so quick to jump on board right away. Knowing how to accept a job offer is a key skill every job seeker must master.

When an employer makes a job offer, they’re effectively laying their cards on the table and they want you to do the same—meaning they want you to also put your cards on the table and accept the position right then and there. Do that and you’re giving up your negotiation power. Bad move.

To understand how to accept a job offer the right way, follow these steps:

1. Express Your Appreciation for the Job Offer
Whether you’re communicating in person, on the phone, or via email, thank the person who made the offer and say how excited and grateful you are before you do anything else.

Whether you’re going to come back with a negotiation or accept the offer without changes, starting off this way sets a good tone for the conversation.

Keep up the enthusiasm as you move forward. Remember that the company is vulnerable—you might not accept their offer—so make them feel less so with your interest in the role. Using words like “excited” and “thrilled” will get the point across, without saying you’re accepting the position.

2. Ask to Get the Offer in Writing
Learning how to accept a job offer means you need to know exactly what you’re saying yes to. Once you’ve thanked the employer, request to have the offer put in writing. An official job offer letter should include, at the very least, the name of the position, a start date, a salary, and details about benefits.
This step does two things:

1. It makes the offer official.
2. It gives you a chance to review the details thoroughly to make sure you completely understand what you’re being offered.

Ask how long you have to give a final answer after receiving the letter. If the employer says they need an immediate answer, that’s a bad sign. Accepting a job offer properly requires due diligence, and a company is very much aware of this. Pressuring you doesn’t give the best impression and tends to be used as a scare tactic. A responsible employer wants prospective employees to have some time to think—usually a day or two—before accepting a job offer.

But if you want to negotiate the terms, respond by saying: “I’ve considered the offer and it’s a wonderful opportunity; I would want to discuss the details more carefully. When can we set up a time to speak or meet?”

Be prepared with the right questions to ask when negotiating salary, and remember that you should take a collaborative, not confrontational, tone in your negotiation. After all, both of you want the same thing—you in that job.

3. Know What to Say When Accepting a Job Offer
When you’re through negotiating and ready to accept, reiterate all the details as you understand them in your acceptance. You can say: “It is my understanding that I will be eligible for X days of vacation, Y amount of bonus payable on Z, the company covers 75% of my health care costs and matches my 401K contributions up to the first 3% of my salary.”

This is especially important if you’ve negotiated up from the initial offer. In fact, you should also ask to get the final, official offer in writing.

If the negotiations took longer than expected, acknowledge that in your acceptance. Negotiation is stressful for both sides and expressing appreciation for your new employer’s time and effort once you finally accept an offer shows you’re ready to move forward.

Finally, ask about the next steps. For example, is there any onboarding paperwork you should get started on after accepting a job offer? Will there be an orientation? And how can you prepare for your first day? This shows your interest, which will reaffirm to the company that they made the right choice in hiring you.

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Moving for a new job can be a scary prospect. But a recent survey shows that workers who take the plunge and change zip codes for a better position don’t really regret the decision.

In fact, there is a bevy of benefits to relocating for work—and at least three reasons you should consider making a move. According to The People Perspective on Relocation, the survey conducted by IMPACT Group, 3,078 employees report these relocation rewards:

New experiences. A whopping 71 percent of survey respondents said that moving to take a new job allowed them to enjoy new experiences, whether at work or outside the office.

Better career prospects. By relocating for a prime position, 55 percent of employees say they feel their career is on a better track, both today, in their current job, and in the future.

Better community. If you don’t love your community in the office or in your neighborhood, chances are you’ll find better ones when you move: 40 percent of respondents say they did.

And yet, we hear you: even these obvious benefits don’t make picking up and leaving your current ‘hood any easier. But with these tips, you might just find the chutzpah to pack up for a better position—and consequently, perhaps even a better life outside of the office, too.

1. Embrace change, and grieve the loss of your former home.
Maybe you’ve never moved for a job. Maybe you’ve never moved, period. No matter what, change is tough, and leaving a home can be sad. But Cynthia Bucy, career and transition coach at IMPACT Group, says allowing yourself to grieve will make the move much easier.

As she sympathizes, “You’re stepping away from what is familiar—perhaps a city you loved and a house you built. There will be challenges.” But, Bucy adds, it is recognizing challenges that will help you overcome them. You can face these challenges full-force by being open and honest about your feelings related to the move—the good and the bad—Bucy insists.

2. Make new friends.
New experiences will make relocating for work worth it—and we all like to experience new things with people we care about. So, when you move, try to “find ways to get to know your neighbors on a personal level,” Bucy recommends, adding you can get to know new people at work or in your apartment complex by asking simple questions, such as what dry cleaner to use. Once the conversation is started, “you’ll develop a meaningful relationship if you are intentional about going deeper than surface-level” with additional questions, Bucy says.

What’s more, you might want to try to invite coworkers, neighbors, and new friends over to your home. Hosting a BYOB-style dinner can be a low-pressure way to get to know people.

3. Enjoy a new beginning.
Whenever you feel alone or sad, remember that relocating for a job represents a new start, something fresh to be celebrated, Bucy instructs. “Many of the individuals I coach treat the relocation as a new beginning,” Bucy says. “They take the opportunity to do things they’ve always wanted to do but never made time for,” such as trying new foods or making friends.

As Bucy points out, when you try to view the experience of moving for work as a bold new adventure, you’ll feel excited for what lies ahead and willing to push through any negatives.

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More than ever before, many companies are asking their employees to work from home to remain safe and unaffected. As the coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to capture headlines in the news and spread rapidly, employees are struggling with finding a sense of calm and stability throughout the ever-changing updates and reality that this virus has become our new normal for the time being. So what does that mean for the employees who are fortunate enough to work remotely?

Although working from home has many benefits, some being flexibility, increased productivity, zero-commute, and more quality time with your loved ones, working remotely also could make it more difficult to power off and unplug from your workday, ultimately decreasing your work-life balance. Work-life balance, especially during uncertain times like COVID-19, is essential to employees’ growth and personal happiness and company retention. When employees are encouraged to find a positive work-life balance, they tend to be more motivated to produce great work.

Here are our 11 tips to achieve work-life balance when working remotely:

1. Set a structured work schedule.
To maximize your productivity and your workday while working remotely, it’s imperative to set a cohesive schedule for yourself to guide you through the day. Given that working from home can be more comfortable and a bit relaxing compared to being in the office, imposing a structure on your day will limit the distractions and keep you focused on the tasks at hand.

2. Make a to-do list to start your day productively.
In addition to crafting a specific structure for your day, curating to-do lists are helpful to ensure that you’re being productive and accomplishing what needs to be done in your role. Physically crossing tasks and projects off a to-do list can be gratifying – especially if you are questioning your productivity levels and progress.

3. Get grounded.
Try not to roll out of bed to start working right away. Instead, before firing up your laptop, attack your morning routine: shower, grab a bite too, meditate and yoga vinyasa flow (totally up to you!). Take the time you need before the workday starts to maximize success later in the day.

4. Set boundaries.
Living with roommates, a significant other, or children? Take your space when you can and communicate your needs, time restraints and work schedules clearly and ahead of time. Communication is key! Be mindful of proactively communicating your needs regarding your upcoming work schedule and commitments beforehand, so everyone is aware of various time restraints and your personal needs as you journey through your workday.

5. Hit your stride.
Develop a workspace cadence with your roommates to ensure that you’re all able to work from home comfortably and without any distractions. Although working from home tends to be more laid back than working from the office, it’s crucial to be professional at all times. Develop a workspace cadence with your roommates or significant other to limit potential issues, especially during video conference calls.

6. Designate a workspace.
Establish a dedicated workspace within your home to help you create a consistent routine for when it’s time to work. When it’s time to clock in, you’ll know to go to a specific area within your home, similar to being in the office.

7. Take breaks.
Stretch or take a walk to rest your eyes often from your computer screen in 10-15 minute intervals. To not get bogged down or overwhelmed with your workday, take some time to get up, stretch, and move around your home. Taking a break from staring at your computer screen will help you maintain productivity in the long run.

8. Claim your lunch hour for self-care.
The beauty of working from home is it truly is what you make of it. Get creative during your lunch hour by dedicating yourself to practice acts of self-care. Some ideas: a light stretch, yoga exercise, eating something healthy, a call with your therapist or a close friend, or guided breathing.

9. Get organized.
Use organizational tools like Google calendar, Asana, etc. to block off specific periods of your workday to amplify workflow. When working from home, teams usually pile on the conference calls to ensure that deadlines are being met and communication doesn’t falter. However, you can still leverage time gaps on your calendar to make sure that you’re being productive and getting your work done.

10. Transition out gracefully.
Don’t rush or cram to accomplish tasks that can be easily finished tomorrow. Instead, gently bow out of your workday by wrapping up current projects and prepping your to-do list for the next day.

11. Mark the end of the day.
Schedule some time to celebrate the end of your workday with your loved ones and/or roommates with 1-2 fun activities. You made it! It’s now the end of your workday and you’re feeling accomplished and capable. What better way to celebrate with loved ones or your roommates? Think of a bonding activity that you could do together to close out the day.

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The coronavirus pandemic has not only had a significant impact on the global economy but also your job search. It has caused stock market volatility and impacted various industries. If you have a current job, most likely you’re doing it from your home. Some small businesses have been forced to close temporarily, whereas large businesses have been affected by the strain of losing business and a disrupted supply chain. There are predictions that the unemployment rate in the U.S. could reach 20%, according to NBC News reporting.

Some companies have responded to the health crisis with layoffs, furloughs, cutting hours and overtime pay, and implementing hiring freezes. Other companies are actively hiring and posting new jobs daily. Right now, there’s a lot of uncertainty about what the national and global impact will be on hiring, but there are ways you can stay positive and proactive about job searching during this tumultuous time.

Engage your network

People understand that this is a difficult time and they want to help however they can. Let your friends and family know that you’re job searching and tell them about the types of jobs you’re looking for and your target companies so they’ll be on the lookout for openings. They’ll notify you if they hear of anything. Ask them if they would be willing to do an email intro to people who work at the company or, even better, the hiring manager. Those email intros, or having people in your network send your resume and cover letter on your behalf, can get your application to the top of the pile even if human resources isn’t done sorting through the applications that come in through the ATS.

Don’t hesitate to reach out to former colleagues and bosses if you see openings at their companies. They’re more likely to hire you than the competition because they know your skills and work ethic. Even if they aren’t hiring, they can be references for your other applications. Since they’re in the industry, they may hear of other jobs through their own network and they can recommend you.

Practice phone and video job interviews

Now that many people are working remotely, job interviews are being done by phone and video instead of IRL. It can be more challenging to have a phone interview because it is harder to interpret someone’s reaction and have a conversation that flows naturally. It can be trickier to have a video interview because it can feel awkward to be on camera. You’ll stand out if you learn the ins-and-outs of phone and video job interviews. And we’ve got the phone job interview and video job interview tips and tricks you need to know.

Take on a temp or freelance gig

If you don’t currently have a job, apply to temp and freelance work to pay the bills. It could lead to a full-time job when you impress your co-workers. It’s also a great opportunity to gain some in-demand skills. If you’re currently working from home, remember that employers are looking for people who are self-disciplined enough to work from home, have the excellent written and verbal communication skills necessary to communicate with colleagues and clients remotely, and are organized and efficient.

Show off your transferrable skills

There’s so much competition for jobs, so it’s important to up your game right now. First, prioritize jobs that have been posted most recently because that’s a sign that the company has a current role that needs to be filled. If a posting has been up for weeks, it may be less of a priority for the company right now. Be confident when you’re reading job postings and remember that you can still get the job even if you don’t meet all of the job qualifications. Use your resume and cover letter to show you have transferrable skills employers are seeking.

Customize your application for each job

Spend more time on each cover letter and resume so your job application gets seen. It takes more time to modify them for each job application but it’s necessary. When you apply to a job online, your application often goes into an Applicant Tracking System (ATS), software that reviews your resume to determine how well you’d fit the requirements of the job posting. The secret to getting past the ATS is written right in the job posting—keywords such as the job title, responsibilities, and skills. Don’t copy everything word for word, but make sure a majority of the most important aspects of the job are in your resume and cover letter. Nearly 75% of resumes that go through an ATS are eliminated because they don’t meet the requirements the hiring manager specified, such as the right skills, education level, or job titles, according to Monster research so it is key to getting your resume in the hands of a hiring manager.

Stay up to date

With so much uncertainty in the world right now, it can be overwhelming to try to conduct a job search. Don’t get discouraged. Need help staying focused? Join Monster today and start getting weekly email updates with the latest expert advice on how to find a job, write a resume, and prep for an interview. You can also upload your resume so recruiters and hiring managers can find you and get in touch as soon as a new position gets posted. Think of this as the first step in finding the right fit.

The post How to find a job during the Coronavirus Pandemic appeared first on Résumé Writing and Career Services.

Before you accept a new job offer, make sure the company culture matches your expectations and needs. Let’s face it: There are a lot of people who don’t like their jobs.

A 2017 State of the American Workplace report by Gallup found that just 34 percent of “professional workers” were “engaged” with their work. If you’ve found yourself perusing job listings lately, you may be among the “actively disengaged.” So, how to avoid that fate with your next move? Step 1: Start researching other companies now. Yes, before you get an offer — maybe before you get an interview — and certainly before you accept another job. “It is your job to make sure it is the right fit for you,” says career coach Anna Runyan.

Read on to learn how.

• Investigate Your Potential Employer
• Start with the Vibe From HR
• Do a Background Check
• Give Yourself a Preview
• Comb Message Boards for Gossip
• Do A Once-Over of Staff Members
• Get a Word in Edgewise
• (Lightly) Grill Your Interviewer
• Decipher the Red Flags

START WITH THE VIBE FROM HR
Even before you meet your potential boss, you can learn a lot about how a company is run by its gatekeepers. These are people who you first come in contact with, from the human resources manager to a company’s receptionist. “If HR seem disorganized, distracted or not on the same page as you even about the job description, for example, this should raise a red flag,” says Runyan. “The company may also be generally disorganized.” If you’re reading between the lines: This may not be a sign of a happy work environment.

Still, if you’re getting a sub-par read on HR, don’t cancel your interview just yet. But when you meet with your potential boss, be sure to get a detailed description of the job and go over anything you were confused about when interacting with HR. Hopefully, this will clear up any misgivings.

DO A BACKGROUND CHECK
This is a win-win scenario. You not only look into the company to get a better grasp of their corporate culture, but you’re also helping to prep for the interview. “You have to prepare to sell yourself. To do this, you need to know your client: who they are, what they do, how they do it,” says Laura DeCarlo, president of Career Directors International in Melbourne, Florida.

This exercise also gives you a deeper understanding of a company’s corporate culture. “Visit their website and ask: Is the language of it formal or fun? Are the pictures ethnically diverse or focused on one particular culture of people or type of dress? Do they have a career center that talks about their benefits and who they are? How does their ‘About Us’ page read?”

DeCarlo also recommends the tried-and-true Google search. Read any press releases or other media information you pull up to learn how others perceive the company professionally. For example, if the company recently put out an announcement on their plans to restructure operations or has been in the news over a U.S. Justice Department settlement, it may not be the most stable place to work.

GIVE YOURSELF A PREVIEW
“Do not wait until interview day to know who you are dressing for, behaving for and presenting to,” advises DeCarlo. She recommends a discreet visit to the company’s building before the day of your meeting. “Do a driveby, but not on a Friday when people may dress more casually. You can easily get a look at how people dress and act when coming and going to work.” Then use this information to your advantage. It’ll show you how to dress accordingly on the day of your interview — and if you’re prepared to match how formal, cutting-edge or frumpy they are if you take the job.

COMB MESSAGE BOARDS FOR GOSSIP
Stealthily explore how employees view your prospective employer without getting near their water cooler. Websites exist that offer employees an anonymous forum to dish about their companies. Try LinkedIn and Vault. “Glassdoor.com is a great site to give you an inside look,” adds Runyan. “But I wouldn’t completely trust all online information though.” Since it’s anonymous, you won’t be able to know 100 percent if the information is true or just a single disgruntled employee stating the same points over and over.

Use this information gingerly as you suss out a corporate culture. See many complaints about the long weekend hours, for example, and you’re not keen on it either? Ask the hiring manager to describe the hours of a typical work week to see if this rumor matches up to reality.

DO A ONCE-OVER OF STAFF MEMBERS
On the day of your interview, after all the background prep, size up your possible future colleagues quickly as you make your way around the office, suggests Nicole Williams, career expert at Works By Nicole Williams.

“Take notice of the atmosphere. Is the silence deafening or is there some chatter and collaboration occurring? Chances are this is indicative of what you can expect of a typical day,” says Williams. Later, you’ll use this info to assess what dynamic you need to thrive. “Some people cherish quiet and others need the stimulation of a more verbal office.”

Williams also recommends you look at their desks. Are personal items displayed? The lack of photos, for example, may suggest that employees are not comfortable in the work environment. Are the desks organized and neat or a hot mess? “If everyone has loose papers and seem disheveled it might mean that the employees are overworked and possibly understaffed.”

GET A WORD IN EDGEWISE
Whether it is the HR director or your possible future boss, do you find you’re doing most of the listening? Do they spend most of their time talking and not listening? If the person you meet asks all the questions and seems to control the interview, this may be a glimpse into the day-to-day operations at the company. “It may mean that the boss is controlling and doesn’t give other people on the team a say,” warns Runyan. Again, this could be a warning sign of a frustrating place to work.

(LIGHTLY) GRILL YOUR INTERVIEWER
Yes, you can turn the tables to learn more about the corporate culture. But remember, this isn’t an interrogation, but a subtler tactic. Arlene Barro, a behavioral educational psychologist and founder and CEO of Barro Global Search, an executive search firm in Los Angeles, has advice. There are two kinds of questions to pose: open-ended (what Barro dubs “divergent-thinking”) questions and closed (or “convergent-thinking”) questions.

The open-ended answers may not be right or wrong, but will give you insight into the expectations of the job. Examples include: In the next five years, what new directions will your company take to generate more revenue? In the next year, what are the benchmarks of achievement for this position that I’m interviewing for? What are the growth opportunities here for my skill set?

Closed questions are designed to really have one answer to them. They’ll leave you with black-and-white information that you can weigh against your needs. Examples include: What date do you ideally want to fill this position? How many direct reports would I have? Is this a new position or are you refilling an existing one?

Says Barro: “These questions are the keys to the kingdom. The answers are important to help you whether this position and company are the right fit for you.”

DECIPHER THE RED FLAGS
So what do you do with all this homework you’ve done on the corporation you’ve been meeting with? Much of this information is personal. Whether you prefer a job with flexible hours or one that expects a lot of travel time is up to you. You should know what you need to be happy, and be careful about compromising too much. For example, if you value autonomy and your job requires you to have hourly check ins or work under the nose of your boss, you will be miserable, says DeCarlo. Or if you are a salesperson motivated by incentives, you shouldn’t join a company that expects to pay your colleagues the same regardless of their performance.

A job seeker needs to know what her core values and motivators are. “Your job is your second home,” reminds DeCarlo. “You will typically spend more daylight hours there than you do with friends and family, so you want to fit in, be happy and not be filled with stress or misery. Make sure you are a fit for the company, and you will both be winners.”

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“Whitening the Resume.” That is what the headline of a 2009 New York Times article read. A gripping, three-word phrase that described the tactic of candidates altering elements of their resumes to appear less ethnically diverse: changing a name from “Tahani Tompkins” to “T. S. Tompkins”, scrubbing mentions of HBCUs or historically black colleges and universities, deleting professional organizations or racially-specific clubs from the bottom of a resume.

However, this strategy was nothing new.

In 1963, sociologist Erving Goffman coined the term “covering” to describe how individuals with known stigmatized identities made a “great effort” to alter those identities to be accepted by the mainstream. Fifty years later a Deloitte University study revealed eighty-three percent of LGBTQ individuals, 79 percent of Blacks, 67 percent of women of color, 66 percent of women, and 63 percent of Hispanics admitted to covering. Surprisingly the study exposed that 45 percent of straight White men — who have not been the focus of most inclusion efforts — reported covering.

As the NYTimes article had explored, “whitening” or “covering” had become commonplace among a new generation in the workplace. Some would argue that it is still a must-do for ethnic job seekers. Various studies have confirmed that Black candidates have a harder time than whites. A study published in The American Economic Review titled “Are Emily and Greg More Employable than Lakisha and Jamal?” found that applicants with Black-sounding names received 50 percent fewer callbacks than those with white-sounding names. Another study looking just at academic science jobs found that application materials from female candidates received lower rankings and lower starting salaries than male candidates, even when a job application reviewer was female.

However, despite this implicit bias, industry experts contend that employers want job seekers to bring their entire selves to the job. From Glassdoor to GitHub, Pinterest to Proctor & Gamble, creating a diverse company culture has become a top priority. And for Salesforce, it’s not just about diversity—the goal is true equality.

“The word equality really sends a bigger message. We define equality in terms of four pillars: equal pay, equal opportunity, equal advancement and equal rights,” says Cindy Robbins, Executive Vice President of Global Employee Success at Salesforce. “Every leader in the company, every employee, is accountable for diversity and equality at Salesforce.”

The bottom line: As employers seek to find new ways of recruiting and engaging employees, the focus has turned to women and Millennials. With women at half the U.S. population and millennials about one-quarter, addressing the needs of a more diverse workforce is essential for all employers.

With that, how do you best represent your full self in a job application? Here are some things to consider:

1. Don’t Shy Away From Your Diversity

“If you have a foreign-sounding name, don’t assume that this is going to work against you,” advises Elizabeth Garone, a contributor to the Wall Street Journal. “Employers are keen to hire minorities in order to satisfy federal requirements and employ a diverse workforce. Business Mentors’ Al Stewart says he encourages his clients to ‘play up’ foreign surnames or maiden names in order to attract more employers. He recently worked with a Latin American client with a very American-sounding married name. Her résumé reflected that name, and she was seeing very little activity in the job market. Stewart encouraged her to include her maiden name. Once she did, her interview activity increased substantially, he says.”

2. Culture Fit Is Not Exclusive

“Don’t get so caught up in tailoring your resume to fit a job posting that you forget to communicate what makes you special,” says Anish Majumdar, CEO of ResumeOrbit.com. “Yes, you should probably have most of the ‘must have’ qualifications mentioned in a job posting to be competitive. But once that’s established, it’s all about winning people over through your unique perspective and value-added skills. If you’re an amazing coach/mentor, or write an influential industry blog, or regularly volunteer your time to help out in the community, highlight them within the resume! It’s this x-factor that can mean the difference between ‘Thanks for coming in’ and ‘When can you start?’”

3. Lying Doesn’t Pay Off

Immigration status and the job search are stressful enough, but lying on an application or resume can spell trouble in the long run. According to the Center for International Education at Loyola University New Orleans, a job seeker should never lie on a resume or application. “Your visa status should not be included on your resume. Your educational background and work history will display that you are an international student. Hiring managers will ask the appropriate questions during the recruitment process.” However, they point out one caveat. “If your name ‘sounds’ international and you are a green card holder or U.S. citizen, you may want to include your visa status on your resume to indicate that you are already legally authorized to work in the U.S.”

4. Include Professional Affiliations and Cultural Organizations

While explicitly listing age, sexual orientation or race on an application may be tricky, you should recognize that companies are excited and encouraged by applications from diverse candidates. Are you a member of a civil rights organization or a volunteer group? “Don’t be shy! Let employers know where your leadership and passions lie,” advises career counselor Shira Concool. “Do you volunteer at your Korean Church or translate Spanish to English at a health clinic? Put that into your Leadership Experience section. Perhaps as a first-generation American, you travel back to visit your grandparents in Nigeria every year. You can add that as an international travel experience.”

5. Social Media Posts & Photos Matter

With more recruiters and hiring managers browsing Facebook or the social media accounts of applicants, there is a temptation to scrub or sanitize photos that show your identity, sexuality, religion or race. However, there’s a difference between taking down a party pic and hiding who you are. Wardah Khalid, a foreign policy analyst regularly consulted on Middle East issues told Fast Company, “Putting myself out there as a result of wearing the hijab has definitely made me more confident in who I am. Like it or not, when I put it on, I represent a lot of different things. The best thing to do is to own that.” That goes for when you land the job as well. “Walking into the halls of Congress, it’s very white-male dominated. I definitely felt that I stood out,” she said. But over time those feelings of unease were replaced with confidence. “Once I open my mouth, show that I’m competent, and know what I’m talking about,” she explained, “any issues I might have go away.”

6. Highlight The Skills Only You Possess

While protected by law, people with disabilities can face a lot of barriers to employment. However, they can also have skills that able-bodied candidates do not. “Rather than focusing on what you cannot do, focus on what you can do. You learn so many valuable skills from being disabled such as communication, logistics, and adaptability to setbacks,” says visually-impaired Newton Nguyen, Climate Modeling Research Assistant at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. “Use these unique skills to your advantage, and do not let your disability be your defining characteristic. Rather, you are a multidimensional person with diverse abilities. You are unique, you have experienced things many people are deathly afraid of and you came out on top. Remember that.”

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Q. You’ve just graduated from college and are entering a tough job market. What kind of interview preparation will help you stand out?

A. Research the company and the industry, says Adrien Fraise, founder of Modern Guild, which provides online career coaching to college students and high school seniors. “Know the major industry trends and news,” he says, and be able to talk about how they could affect the company.

Find out who runs the company and how they got there. “Look at their profiles on LinkedIn and see if you find a common bond,” says David Lewis, the chief executive of OperationsInc., a human resources outsourcing and consulting firm in Norwalk, Conn. “If you are able to say, ‘I went to the same college as you’ or ‘I also majored in psychology,’ that demonstrates you really did your homework.”

Familiarize yourself with the company’s products or services and look for ways, even small ones, to possibly expand or add value. Note the positives, then talk about opportunities you see, says Moses Lee, C.E.O. of Seelio, a platform that lets students and recent college graduates post samples of their work and search for jobs.

“Let’s say you are talking about a recent marketing campaign,” he says. “You could say, ‘I enjoyed that campaign and if I had the opportunity to work on it, I might frame it so it resonated with millennials, too.’ ”

Q. What questions can you expect, and how can you prepare to answer them?

A. You may be asked to walk the interviewer through your résumé, so prepare concise, articulate anecdotes to illustrate what you did or learned in each experience you’ve listed, Mr. Fraise says. Highlight what you achieved and the skills you used – and how you want to keep using them. “Rehearse in front of the mirror and then in front of others,” he says. “Be so comfortable with it, it doesn’t sound scripted.”

Interviewers often ask questions like “Can you give me an example of when you had to work as part of a team or learned something new quickly?” Mr. Lewis says your examples might come from experiences in a club, fraternity or sorority. “Did you organize a membership push? Plan events? Do recruiting?” he says.

If you’re asked a question like “Why did you choose your college major?” be complete in your answer. “Don’t just say ‘because I really like psychology,’ “ Mr. Lewis advises. Instead, note from a business perspective why you liked the subject. “Maybe you found the classes to be informative about human behavior, which is a key to success in anyone’s business,” he says.

Take along samples of your work – whether from an internship, a class or an extracurricular activity – in a folder or on a laptop computer or tablet.

And always prepare questions to ask at the end of the interview, says Alexa Hamill, American campus recruiting leader for PricewaterhouseCoopers in Philadelphia. Questions on the interviewer’s own career progress are a way to conclude, she says: “What opportunities have been presented to them? How were they trained and developed? This shows you are looking at the job as something potentially long term.”

Q. You want to exude confidence and maturity. What are some ways to bolster your confidence before an interview?

A. Develop a personal elevator pitch – a 30-second to one-minute summary of your academic career, your interests and what you did outside school – and correlate that to the job you want, Ms. Hamill says. PricewaterhouseCoopers offers a free tool on its site to help think through those questions, she says.

Q. What are some basic interview etiquette rules, in terms of dress and behavior?

A. Turn off your cellphone before walking into the company’s offices, and don’t take it out during your interview. “Don’t remind me you’re a 22-year-old,” Mr. Lewis says. “Have a firm handshake, maintain eye contact and don’t fidget.”

Remember not to talk about inappropriate topics like a recent fraternity party or something you saw on Facebook, Ms. Hamill says. When speaking to interviewers, “face them with your knees pointing toward them, sit up straight and stay engaged,” she says. After the interview, send a thank-you e-mail and include a link to your online portfolio or Web site if you have one.

Unless the company recommends dressing casually or informally for the interview, men should wear a suit and tie and women should wear a suit or skirt and blouse, Mr. Lewis says. You may be the only one in the office dressed that way, he says, but it’s usually better not “to walk into an interview dressed as if you are already part of the team.”

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Whether you’re in college and starting to think about your career path or considering a career change to a new field, you might be asking yourself, “What do I want to be?”

But a more important question to think about may be: “Am I marketable to a variety of positions?”

Truthfully, no matter what you’re interested in, there are a few key skills that will serve you well across industries and roles. Plus, if you build and master multiple skill sets, you’ll be a desirable candidate for many types of jobs, even if your career interests change over time.

After surveying employees from industry giants like Google, Amazon, and Facebook, as well as small to mid-size companies like Castlight, Room77, and Prezi, about what they look for in new hires, we found a lot of unpredictable answers (for example, being considered “smart” was low on the list). But fortunately, the top skills they’re looking for are all things you can learn, no matter who you are or what you want to do.

Prepare yourself for career success by becoming fluent in these five business skills.

1. Quantitative Analysis

Data is the backbone of many organizations, and your ability to organize, analyze, interpret, and present that data is important whether you’re creating an app or looking for ways to attract new customers. Specifically, employers said they value an ability to review organized data and create an action plan based on it. So, if you’re able to dig into the numbers and emerge with real insights, you’ll have a leg up on the competition. (Hint: In an interview, bring up a project in which you worked with data, and share how it informed your next steps.)

Get the Skill

MOOCs (or Massive Open Online Courses) are a great resource for learning data analysis (or anything, really). Check out Udacity’s Exploratory Data Analysis course, or find others from Udemy or EdX.

2. Excel

What’s the most important tool in your quantitative analysis arsenal? Excel. While you can learn how to use it on the job, many jobs don’t want (or don’t have time) to teach employees how to do it. So, if you come in knowing how to proficiently use Excel – and I mean really use it – you’ll save your employer tons of time and be much more marketable as a new hire.

Get the Skill

You can find a number of in-person Excel courses in your area (check Yelp for reviews before you enroll), or try the free training videos from Microsoft.

3. Creative Thinking

This is a hard skill to teach or learn, but the ability to think creatively can make a huge difference in the way a hiring manager views you. With the business world changing faster than ever, employers are excited by innovators and those who look beyond the status quo. They want people who can think outside the box, share new ideas, and improve upon current systems – from day 1.

Get the Skill

While there’s no real “how-to” guide for creativity, you can boost your ability to think innovatively with resources like the virtual Design Thinking Class from the Stanford d.school or Creative Confidence by Tom Kelley and David Kelley.

4. Communication Skills

Employers are looking for strong communication skills from the get-go. They want to know that you will effectively represent the company when communicating with colleagues and clients in emails, phone calls, meetings, presentations, and day-to-day work. Most importantly, they want to see that you’re able to clearly share your point of view in a concise and professional way. The good news? You can easily show this off during the hiring process when emailing potential employers or speaking in an interview.

Get the Skill

Communication skills take practice, and one of the best ways to grow is by getting feedback. Check out the Beyond Business summer program, which combines the practice of marketable skills with feedback from professionals and mentors.

5. Humility

This answer may seem surprising, but employers were quick to point out that it’s an in-demand skill. Sure, companies want you to come in confident and excited, but they also value flexibility and a willingness to learn, especially in new hires. While you shouldn’t feel that you have to hold back when it comes to sharing your thoughts and ideas, you should get comfortable being wrong and learning from it. Ask questions, spend time getting to know about the position and company, and don’t come into a job assuming you know more than your boss.

Get the Skill

The best way to gain this skill? As Nike said, just do it. Be gracious, humble, and eager, and demonstrate your flexibility by not only being open to feedback, but incorporating that feedback into your work.

The post 5 Skills That Will Impress Every Hiring Manager appeared first on Résumé Writing and Career Services.

Do you need to include every job you ever had on a job application? What if there’s not enough room to list them all? How about when some of the jobs you have held aren’t relevant to the positions that you are applying for now?

When job applications are online, there may be space to list an unlimited number of past positions. On other applications, you may only be able to list a certain number of jobs. How many positions should you list? And, what’s more important: quality or quantity?

Which Jobs to Include on a Job Application

There are strategic reasons to include – or exclude – certain past jobs. As a general guideline, you should focus on crafting your work history to best support the specific position you are applying to.

If you have an extensive work history, it will be more difficult to represent your experience in an easily digestible form. At the same time, you’ll have more options as to which positions you choose to include. Candidates with limited experience will not have as much leeway since they’ll need to present at least some evidence of past employment.

The exact number of jobs to include on your applications will depend on your personal situation, but here are some suggestions to help you to decide on how to best represent your unique work history in a job application.

Tips for Deciding How Many Jobs to Include on Job Applications

Read the directions very carefully. Look for indications of whether employers make statements like “list all past jobs.” In these cases, you will be limited to following directions and should include all positions that fit within the available space. Leaving out jobs, particularly during your recent work history, could be grounds for rejecting your application.

In the case where you have many jobs in your distant past that are not relevant to the job for which you are applying, you could summarize your employment during that period.

Example: For positions more than 10 – 15 years in the past you could say, “Worked in a variety of retail services positions from 1990 – 1995, details available upon request.”

Some applications will specify that you list all positions for a certain time frame, like the past 5 or 10 years. In a case like this, you should cover all positions in that segment of time, but you can be selective about what you include in years prior. Regardless, make sure you find a way to incorporate all jobs that show evidence of critical skills or knowledge bases.

Example: If you’ve left out jobs that you had outside of the employer’s timeframe and that are irrelevant to the current position, you can write something like, “Highlights of additional employment provided below. Complete work history available upon request.” if there is a place on the online application for additional information or notes.

3. Keep it short. Be brief when describing irrelevant jobs that you are forced to include, or jobs that are from the very distant past. Instead of detailing duties that aren’t impressive, make other points.

Example: If you held an evening job at a restaurant, you might say “Worked extra hours to expedite the repayment of college loans.” If applicable, you should also highlight promotions, awards or key successes. That way, even if the work isn’t relevant, you can at least make a point about other aspects of your candidacy.

4. Pick and choose which jobs to include. If you aren’t directed to provide your entire work history or all positions within a certain time period, limit the number of positions to those jobs most relevant to the position you’re applying for. However, be sure that you aren’t creating gaps in your work history.

5. You can list more than your work history. Applicants with a limited number of non-related experiences should try to incorporate volunteer and co-curricular roles. If the employer doesn’t have a special category on their application for volunteer experiences or activities, then include these experiences within the employment section. Label them appropriately, so it is clear that the positions were unpaid.

Example: You could list volunteer activity as “Volunteer Event Coordinator, PTA” or “Fundraising Volunteer, American Cancer Society.”

6. Don’t create an employment gap. Some candidates are reluctant to leave off less pertinent positions because it would create gaps in employment, but don’t want to include less impressive jobs. In this situation, one option is to leave these jobs off and use the comments or additional information section to provide an explanation.

This approach will make the most sense if you have an easily understandable rationale for taking time away from your career or downshifting to a less relevant, or impressive position. Perhaps you were taking courses, raising a child, or caring for a family member. Keep in mind that your cover letter might also be a place where you can account for any disturbances in your work history.

Keep it Honest

It’s important to portray your employment history in the best possible manner. If you can closely match your experience to the employer’s requirements, you’ll have the best chance of getting hired.

However, it’s even more important to keep your job applications honest. When you sign (on paper or online) a job application, you are attesting to the fact that what you have listed is accurate and truthful. Employers can, and do, verify the information that job applicants give them. If your application isn’t honest, it can cost you a job – either now or at any point in the future.

The post Do You Have to Include All Jobs on a Job Application? appeared first on Résumé Writing and Career Services.

If you’re paying attention to the epochal shift were sitting through right now, you’ll know that the so-called taboo on job hopping is exactly that: imaginary. At least, it is to anyone under 40 right now.

In the last decade, Western and post-industrial countries have witnessed a large inception-like shift to knowledge economies and there’s a new “creative class” burgeoning, according to thinkers like Richard Florida. The workplace landscape is experiencing a fault zone where the twin tectonic plates of technology and business are colliding more fervently than ever before.

Well, those are the broader winds. On an individual level, what does this mean for the millennial today? Is job-hopping a career killer? One has to make one’s own way through this Brave New World that consists of multiple iterations and versions of the creative jobs fueled by the technocrats of Silicon Valley, a morning’s catch worth of fresh opportunities and yet fierce competition among 20- and 30-year-olds today.

Instead of viewing job-hopping as an occupational hazard of the young and halfway-experienced, a liability that mimics the short attention spans social media seems to promote, millennials instead re-frame job-hopping as the linchpin in securing meaningful and fulfilling work, the very thing, in fact, that gives them a competitive edge.

Breadth vs. Depth

The number one casualty of job-hopping, ironically, is not the millennial herself, it’s the seeming sacrifice of depth in favor of breadth.

Conventional thinking would have us believe that the two are mutually exclusive because of the logical and essential limits of time. In a short span of 50 solid working years, one can either build mastery (a popular idea, underscored by writer’s like Malcolm Gladwell or experience a range of diverse situations — but not both.

Except that those who read breadth vs. depth in job-hopping as a kind of zero-sum game are forgetting a very key presence: technology. It might not have been possible to move laterally as well as horizontally in a company. Yet millennials who move jobs today are not only shifting vertically, they’re also moving horizontally, between industries.

Think of it like the difference between starting as an intern and ending up as the CEO versus stepping into the role of community manager in a fitness company and moving to social media manager, which might encompass many of the same duties, in a fashion publication.

The Project Economy

There is a sense that millennials are an impatient and entitled group. That they simply lack the patience to put in the hours required to prove loyalty to a company or make a move up.

Yet much of the workplace ecosystem has been fragmented into several types of workers including virtual assistants, remote and contract workers, one-time project managers and sub-contractors.

Part of the allure of working as a remote worker or a contractor or a freelancer is, of course, functioning independently. But, of course, it started out as a necessity for many millennials who were crushed by student debt, walking into an economic collapse and recession.

But, for millennials, job-hopping often means not moving from company to company but from project to project, which fits into their economic needs as well as their career needs.

Experience counts

It all started (arguably) with the “unpaid internship.” At the outset, in the late ’80s, this was more of an “informal apprenticeship.” Fast forward 4 decades and it’s a staple, a precursor to any job worth having and a necessary gatekeeper that keeps young people honest and “paying their dues.”

Yet experience counts more than ever before. Journalism, marketing and even business grads are finding, more than ever before, it is one’s own initiative to get one’s foot in the door as well as a stellar portfolio that makes a candidate viable.

In fact, many companies such as Shopify openly state that qualifications are not as interesting to them as a well-rounded and experienced candidate. So is job-hopping a career killer in this case? Not so much.

Specialization through multiple jobs

Instead of asking, “Is job-hopping a career killer,” millennials today are asking, “can job-hopping help me narrow in and niche down in a focused way?”

The truth is that holding down multiple jobs can actually produce a diverse skill set in a specific niche. This means that individuals who frequently switch jobs can experience all aspects of a particular industry and build knowledge while still maintaining a focus.

The popular term for this is going “full-stack,” which connotes the breadth of expertise one gains while specializing in a discipline such as marketing, programming or filmmaking.

Building a Narrative

While job-hopping can be incredibly beneficial, then, one thing that millennials do have be prepared for is crafting a narrative around their movements, whether physical or proverbial. While it is certainly true that HR departments are now filling up fast with 20- and 30-year-olds in charge of the hiring process, and so questions are not framed as viewing job-hopping as a liability, candidates still need to be able to explain good reasons for their moves.

Essentially, what job-hopping requires is not a justification, per se, but rather a purpose and an indication that moves were made by the candidate with intention and strategically.

Being able to switch jobs after a short period of time can actually help build the seemingly elusive “unicorn” candidate every company seems to be looking for. If you’re ever in doubt, take time to reflect upon where the choice to move is coming from.

If you’re ever coming against the trifecta of boredom, avoiding challenges or pursuing money, those are red flags and they’ll certainly come up as such in any recruiter’s eyes. If you can demonstrate continuity between multiple jobs in a short period of time, chances are, you’ll be even more invaluable than the “loyal” employee.

The post Is Job-Hopping A Career Killer? Ask Any Successful Millennial. appeared first on Résumé Writing and Career Services.