Those surveyed were asked, "What is the most unusual thing you have seen or heard of a job candidate doing to 'stand out from the crowd'?" Sample responses included:

"A job seeker sent a shoe with his resume and a note saying, 'I just want to get my foot in the door.'"
"One candidate came in barefoot."
"A job seeker included an 8-by-10 inch beauty-pageant photo of herself."
"A candidate put confetti in the resume package, which made a huge mess."
"One woman brought a poodle to the interview because she didn’t want to leave it in the car."
"An applicant sent his resume on a bottle of alcohol to the company's CEO."
"All of the important words were circled on the resume."
"Someone sent a packet of coffee with a note that said, 'Have a coffee on me.'"
"I was sent a piece of gum with the resume and asked to 'chew on the facts.'"
"An applicant came in dressed as a clown -- in a colorful, satin clown suit with red hair, a bright-red nose and big shoes."
"We received a giant cookie with writing on the package that said, 'I’d like to be a chip in your cookie.'"

READ: Executive Survey Yields Unusual Job-Hunting Tactics

10:31 AM 0 comments

CLICK:INdTV

12:52 PM 0 comments

Web search really is unique. It requires attacking many simultaneous world class technical problems. It has had a huge positive impact on how people work, play, and interact with computers while being provided as a free service. And it is a vastly successful business, generating the revenue needed to drive further investment and innovation. Our combined team has been working on search continuously since 1995 and we have many internet firsts to our names.

Right now we are focused on taking the state of the art in search engines to the next level. To do that we need to add folks to our team who are as excited about the search challenge as we are. If you have wrestled with really large challenging software problems, have a record of deployed commercial successes, work well in teams and are intrigued by the idea of working in a domain where we will need to invent the next generation of tools and techniques in our field simply to start our work, send us your resume!

READ: Yahoo! is hiring

8:19 AM 0 comments

Dear Staff !!!

Please be advised that there are NEW rules and regulations implemented to raise the efficiency of our firm.

Transportation: It is advised that you come to work driving a car according to your salary. If we see you driving a Honda, we assume you are doing well financially and therefore you do not need a raise. If you drive a 10 year old car or public transportation, we assume you must have lots of savings therefore you do not need a raise. If you drive a Pickup, you are right where you need to be and therefore you do not need a raise.

Annual Leave: Each employee will receive 52 Annual Leave days a year (Wooow!). They are called Sunday.

Sick Days: We will no longer accept a doctor Medical Cert as proof of sickness. If you are able to go to the doctor, you are able to come to work.

Toilet Usage: Entirely too much time is being spent in the toilets. There is now a strict 3-minute time limit in the cubicles. At the end of three minutes, an alarm will sound, the toilet paper roll will retract, the door will open and a picture will be taken. After your second offence, your picture will be posted on the company bulletin board under the "Chronic Offenders" category. Subsequent pictures will be sold at public auctions to raise money to pay your salary.

Surgery: As long as you are an employee here, you need all your organs. You should not consider removing anything. We hired you intact. To have something removed constitutes a breach of employment.

Internet Usage: All personal internet usage will be recorded and charges will be deducted from your bonus (if any) and if we decide not to give you any, charges will be deducted from your salary. Just for the record. 73% of the staff will not be entitled to any salary for the next 3 months as their internet charges have exceeded their 3 months salary. Thank you for your loyalty to our company. We are here to provide a positive employment experience. Therefore, all questions, comments, concerns, complaints, frustrations, irritations, aggravations, insinuations, allegations, accusations, contemplation, consternation and input should be directed elsewhere.

9:44 AM 0 comments

• See photo of interviewer's family on desk, point, start laughing uncontrollably.
• Ask if there is only one emergency exit, grin and say; 'Boy!, I bet this floor would be in trouble if someone barricaded that.'
• After detailing your greatest achievement, qualify with, 'Of course I was totally hammered at the time.'
• Inquire on office policy of friends staying over.
• Over-emphasize your ability to use a copier.
• Ask if it's O.K. that you sit on the floor.
• Allow that you would little impact on the overhead budget, because you swiped all the supplies from your other job.
• Mention your resume would have been stronger, but you didn't feel like making anything else up.
• Walk into interviewer's office because you are tired of waiting in the lobby.

9:36 AM 0 comments

READ: Some jobs are just killers, literally:

3:10 PM 0 comments

READ: The History of Labor Day

11:45 AM 0 comments

###

Tony Kinard wrote:

Hi all!

Just wanted to announce a little side project I’ve been working on. Over the years, I’ve garnered a bit of knowledge with regard to developing RFPs and proposals, especially for interactive and technology projects. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked my advice on how to write a good RFP (request for proposal). Not long ago I wrote a short article on it in response to requests for help about it on the AMA e-commerce listserv and the response was really positive.

After searching the web for a good source to point people to, I realized there was nothing available that was to my satisfaction. Seeing a need, I created www.howtowriteanrfp.com , where I’ve expanded and made available my complete document on how to write an RFP – free for anyone to download upon registration (if I’m giving away my intellectual capital, I’d at least like to have an idea of who is getting it).

I’m in the process of writing part two: “How to manage the vendor selection process”, which will soon be posted as well. If all goes well, then I might make a series out of it with articles on how to manage certain interactive projects and so forth.

What do I get out of it? Exposure, I guess. Perhaps a lead or two.

The site was literally just launched today. Please feel free to pass along to anyone you feel this might help. Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

~ Tony

——————————————————————
Tony Kinard
Senior Consultant
Spunlogic
tony.kinard@spunlogic.com
www.spunlogic.com

2:33 PM 1 comments

READ: Employer Hot Buttons

5:00 PM 0 comments

* Cover letters -- It's simple to cut and paste a copy of the same letter to different hiring managers, but make sure you proof your changes to avoid silly mistakes.

* Direct communication -- It may feel like you are communicating directly with a hiring manager, but he or she likely is receiving hundreds of resumes each day, so don't be too familiar in your greeting.

* E-mail addresses -- Make sure the address you use is professional. "If your address is 'partyguy@hotmail.com,' consider opening a new e-mail account," Mr. Lee says.

READ: CareerJournal.com Identifies Top Internet Job-Hunting Blunders

2:20 PM 0 comments

Create a "hot list" of companies within a 10 mile radius of your home to apply to.

In an interview, "Don't oversell, don't oversell."

If you're missing some critical credentials or training, consider going back to school.

Don't waste time applying for jobs you're not qualified for.

If you need to take a "bridge job" to pay the bills, do so, but keep looking for a more ideal position. Don't settle for "low hanging fruit."

After an interview, follow up. Send out hand-written thank you notes to everyone you interviewed with.

Anticipate being asked difficult interview questions and prepare the answers in advance.

Create a 30-second "elevator speech" to highlight your achievements and skills.

Click here for the rest of the list and refer to it often.

2:17 PM 0 comments

So he dipped into his savings and paid a $12,500 fee to sign up with Bernard Haldane Associates, a job-placement franchise with offices throughout the United States. Binks says recruiters at Haldane assured him they could help double his earnings through their exclusive job listings.

"They entice you by saying they had access to high-paying jobs, access to job markets no one else has access to [and] an exclusive set of headhunters," says Binks. "None of it turned out to be true. In terms of them providing me with leads, nothing. Zero."

READ: Bum Job Leads

Thanks to Vanguard Nexus for this article lead.

9:36 AM 0 comments

READ: J.P. Morgan Chase to take back 4,000 employees from IBM

10:29 AM 0 comments

''Women have been hit over the head with the idea that if they talk about themselves, people won't like them,'' said Klaus. ''But if you don't talk about your accomplishments, who will?''

Klaus, president of Klaus & Associates, a leadership consulting firm in Berkeley, Calif., has been delivering that message around the country for about a year. She says her coaching sessions are designed to teach professionals and executives to boast about themselves without appearing cocky, egotistical, or obnoxious. READ: Bragging rights:

5:27 PM 0 comments

I found out about from a write up here. To quote:

"At Wannado City, a "retail entertainment concept" outside Fort Lauderdale, kids pay $25 each to find out what it's like to be a pilot for Spirit Airlines, a checkout clerk for Publix or a bottler for Coca-Cola, reports Allison Fass in Forbes (9/20/04). Their parents can come along too, but they pay $16. Interesting pricing. But even more interesting is the concept that kids between the ages of four and 11 hanker after opportunities to play at work, and that big brands will pay big bucks to sponsor the experience of working for them. "When you see that bank counter as a child, you dream of the day you can talk to the lady on the other side," explains Luis Javier Laresgoiti, who came up with this idea."

1:23 PM 0 comments

What Shoaf, 26, of Indianapolis, doesn't have is a college degree, the consequences of which became apparent when he began job hunting after a heart condition forced him to leave the military earlier this year.

'I found out there was no work,' Shoaf said. 'Without this program, I wouldn't have this job today.

The program is called Helmets to Hardhats and today Indiana became the first state to have all its trade unions come together to give military veterans first crack at slots in apprenticeship training programs that also lead to associate degrees at Ivy Tech State College." READ: Veterans get chance to learn trades:

11:18 AM 0 comments

Do you know your credit score?

5:02 PM 0 comments

When the government polled households in July for its regular labor report, 629,000 people said they had just started work. But when the Labor Department asked companies how many people were added to payrolls in that month, the numbers revealed only 32,000. What are those other 597,000 people doing, selling burritos on the street? mowing lawns?

"I can't tell you," said Tom Nardone, head of the Labor Department's Division of Labor Force Statistics. "We just don't know why there is a difference between the surveys."

The most obvious reason for the disparity is that contract workers and those who own their own business often get missed by the count of new jobs created, even though they may be working and drawing an income. Beyond that, the guesses are purely a matter of politics, particularly in a presidential election year. Bush administration officials contend that the numbers of people reporting that they are working are the more accurate assessment of job creation and evidence that the economy is strong. Supporters of John Kerry, on the other hand, argue that the President's staff is "trying to muddy the waters" with misleading numbers. READ: Diverse definitions plague job reports

5:42 PM 0 comments

READ: Advice for landing that first job

6:04 PM 0 comments