Jobs in the Customer Service industry Â

Jobs in the Customer Service industry   by Amber Rolfe Looking for a role that’s customer-facing? Step one: always laugh at the customers jokes. Step two: find the right positionIf you enjoy working with people, and thrive on making others happy, a career in customer service could be exactly what you need to fulfil your ambitions.To give you an idea of what’s available (and to help you get there), here are five jobs in the customer service industry that you could be doing right now:  Account ManagerWhat they do: Oversee and manage a portfolio of client accounts to ensure their company is always delivering the best service possible. They could be based in a marketing or sales department, and their duties will generally involve managing projects, generating and maintaining client relationships, and dealing with any client complaints.What you need: An in depth understanding of your clients’ requirements is absolutely essential to becoming a good Account Manager. You’ll also need to be excellent at negotiating, managing budgets, and working under pressure.Although many vacancies are advertised as graduate roles, you’ll still able to break into the industry without a degree.What you can earn: New Account Managers will earn around £18,000, but your salary could increase to well in excess of £30,000 (including commission) once you’re experienced in the field.Perfect for: People who are good with relationships.Our advice: As marketing and sales is a highly competitive industry to break into, it’s always best to gain as many industry recognised qualifications (e.g. CAM) as you can and/or a degree in a relevant field (e.g. marketing, business management, or advertising) to help you stand out from the crowd.How to become an Account ManagerView all Account Manager jobsCustomer Service AdvisorWhat they do: Use their excellent communication skills to ensure their customers have the best possible experience when shopping for (or using) their company’s products or services. They can work in various settings, and could interact with customers over the phone, on the shop floor, or via email. Their role might also involve dealing with customer complaints.What you need: An approachable and personable nature, as well as an ability to communicate effectively with all types of people are key attributes for any successful Customer Service Advisor. You won’t need a degree to be considered, but a good level of education and/or previous experience in similar roles is likely to be beneficial.What you can earn: Salaries start at around £12,000, but could rise up to £20,000 with experience.Perfect for: People who like to help people.Our advice: Some Customer Service Advisor roles might suit you more than others, so tailor your experience to the direction you want to go in. If you’re interested in pursuing a career in retail, quantify your attributes with relevant experience, and if you’re looking to work in a more specialist field (e.g. finance or banking), think about gain ing tangible and/or specific qualifications â€" such as A Levels or GNVQs.How to become a Customer Service AdvisorView all Customer Service Advisor jobsTeam LeaderWhat they do: Supervise, manage, and motivate a team of customer-facing colleagues, to ensure the smooth running of the department. They could be based in retail, hospitality, an office, or in the public sector, and their role usually involves delegating tasks, sharing company goals and deadlines, and interacting with customers wherever needed.What you need: Aside from excellent leadership and interpersonal skills, you’ll also need to be able to make good business decisions and work well under pressure. There are no set qualifications to become a Team Leader, but relevant experience in a customer service and/or leadership role will usually be essential.What you can earn: Salaries start at around £15,000, but this can easily rise up to £25,000 with experience.Perfect for: People who are good at boosting morale.Our advic e: If you haven’t got any previous experience in a leadership position, don’t panic. Gaining some initial experience as a Customer Service Advisor will give you the knowledge and skills to quickly progress upwards within an organisation. Most companies will place focus on hiring from within when recruiting for Team Leader positions, so make sure your knowledge of the business and keen interest in career progression always shines through.View all Team Leader jobsTechnical Support AdvisorWhat they do: Monitor and maintain the computer systems within an organisation, acting as first port of call for any customers who need technical support. Whether it’s a forgotten password, a product problem, or an issue regarding connectivity, a Technical Support Advisor is there to help fix the problem. They could communicate over the phone, face-to-face, or via email, and their interactions will normally be logged, in order to help identify common issues.What you need: An ability to advise ot hers about technology in easy-to-understand language, whilst exhibiting patience at all times, is essential. You’ll also need to be a logical thinker and possess an analytical mind. You won’t need a degree to become a Technical Support Advisor, but good GCSE grades in at least the core subjects (Maths, English, and Science) will be beneficial.What you can earn: Technical Support Advisors normally start on a salary of around £18,000, which could rise up to £47,000 if you decide to move up to a management position.Perfect for: People whose expertise go beyond ‘turning it off and on’.Our advice: If you’re finding it hard to break into the technical support side of the customer service industry, consider gaining some practical experience by taking on temporary roles in IT and tech support. Not only will learning about specialist subjects help give you the expertise to become a good Technical Support Advisor, your keen interest in the field will also help you stand out from a crowd of other applicants.View all Technical Support Advisor jobs  Waiting staffWhat they do: Serve customers in restaurants, cafés, bars and pubs, by taking orders, delivering food and drink, clearing tables, advising on specials and current offers, and generally ensuring all customers have a pleasant dining experience. They may also have the opportunity to gain extra skills to become Silver Service trained, or to become a specialist in wine waiting (AKA Sommelier).What you need: Excellent customer service and teamwork skills, combined with an ability to work well in a busy, fast-paced environment is essential to becoming a good Waiter/Waitress. There are no set prerequisites to become a member of the waiting staff, but relevant experience could improve your chances.What you can earn: Earning potential will vary dependent on the type of Waiter/Waitress you are, what hours you work, and whether you’re Silver Service trained. Full-time waiting staff can earn up to £13,000 when e xperienced. If you move up to a management position, your salary could rise to £17,000. Tips are also an added bonus.Perfect for: People who don’t drop things.  Our advice: When it comes to becoming a member of the waiting staff, it’s all about personality. Put a precedence on your friendliness and approachability on your CV and at the interview â€" and you’re bound to impress the employer. However, if you’re new to the field, and you feel like your lack of quantifiable work experience could be holding you back, it might be worth getting involved in another entry-level customer service based role (e.g. bar work) to start you off.View all Waiting staff jobs  Still searching for your perfect Customer Service position? View all available Customer Service jobs now.Find a job What Where Search JobsSign up for more Career AdviceSign up for moreCareer Advice Please enter a valid email addressmessage hereBy clicking Submit you agree to the terms and conditions applicable to our service and acknowledge that your personal data will be used in accordance with our privacy policy and you will receive emails and communications about jobs and career related topics. Career Development What job suits me?

Why Job Seekers Should Consider Preparing With Mock Interviews -

Why Job Seekers Should Consider Preparing With Mock Interviews - It’s no secret that women in the workforce, especially in tech, face a lot of challenges both in their day-to-day responsibilities and in their climbs up the leadership ladder. In competitive positions like product management, this rings especially true. The competition has created a demand for new tools and resources for job seeking product managers to practice for interviews to increase their chances of success. Interviews require a lot of thinking on your feet, answering unpredictable questions, all while “selling yourself” as the best option for the position. It’s essential to start practicing and preparing for a job interview as soon as possible, taking advantage of all the time available to get ready. Pramp is a platform that is providing this, through mock interviews, helping hundreds of job seekers prepare and find success in their technical and product management interviews. It’s a bi-directional exchange, where users perform both the role of the interviewer and the job candidate.   And, it doesnt cost anything but your time! Interviewing is intense With positions that receive hundreds of applicants and the oversaturation of talent in the job market, the interview process has become far more intense for all positions in tech and product management. Tech companies, start-ups, and those hiring product managers want to know that they are choosing the best talent available, which is why many interviews have several rounds of elimination before the final decision. You might have to spend hours proving yourself as the best possible choice, so getting a chance to rehearse your answers with a peer in the same industry is going to give yourself a competitive edge and help to make you stand out against the rest. Sure, it takes time to get ready for the interview, not to mention the homework you might ask to do, but the stakes are high, and the competition is fierce. Practice makes perfect Recent graduates who are new to the professional job market, or job seekers who have been in the same career for decades and haven’t had to interview, often forget that interviewing require a different skill set than the one needed for the actual job. Like a muscle that needs exercising, interviewing skills need to be worked on to strengthen. Brainstorming your answers to commonly asked interview questions, rehearsing and refining your responses, and checking your body language are all things you should do several times before meeting with the hiring manager. Many tend to forget that you are not only being tested on your knowledge, and your ability to solve challenged and answer questions; you are also being tested on the way you perform in an interview and your cultural fit. You will be surprised to find out that even those aspects of the interview can be practiced. Eliminates Surprises Interviews now are much more than just an analysis of your personality and past work experience like in a behavioral interview. If you only practice your answers to questions like “why do you want to work here?” you’re going to be massively caught off guard when you sit down in the interview room with the hiring manager. In tech in general and product management interviews in particular, you could encounter: Case study interviews. These are highly involved and require a lot of planning and organizational skills. Getting a chance to rehearse how you approach and solve a problem that relates to a company product or the feature of a product is going to be a massive help for acing this part of the interaction when you’re meeting with the hiring manager. After all, even if the question is not the exact same one you practiced, you are already trained in this type of thinking. Analytical and cognitive skills interviews. From using results of A/B testing, analyzing user acquisition funnels, and other tasks that are going to test your cognitive skills, these interviews can be difficult if you haven’t had much practice or work experience. As a product manager, you are required to be highly analytical, and extremely data-driven. Make sure you are familiar with the professional terminology, and that you know how to “talk the talk.” Analyzing data sets, and practicing extraction of important data, would be a good place to start. Coding technical interviews. The role of a product manager varies from one company to another, based on the product, the company size, and the type of customers B2B or B2C. There’s a good chance the PM interview will include a technical phase, in which you will be asked to demonstrate your coding skills, for example. If you know that’s the case, consider practicing mock coding interviews as well. With that said, not all PM roles require technological skills, but they will necessarily require technological understanding and familiarity. While women have been entering tech and learning coding and other technical skills now more than ever, they still lag behind male counterparts. With new resources like Pramp for practicing coding for interviews, there are more ways to prepare and work on these skills in a realistic interview environment, helping women gain a foothold in the industry to be on the same level as male job seekers. Objectively, there is no good reason to maintain this gap, and the way to overcome the existing state is by providing women with the best possible tools to land the job they want. Reduce stress and increase your confidence While studies show that women are better at interviewing than men, it’s a type of conversation that can stress anyone out. With practice rounds, the experience becomes more familiar. Simulating it in a realistic environment is the best way to make sure you are fully prepared when you take it seriously, the real interaction is going to be much less stressful. You’ll have opportunities to get feedback on your current responses so you can improve them, as well as see the exchange from the other perspective, learning from the strengths and weaknesses of your partner. Have a female friend looking for a job in tech or product management? Tell them about Pramp for practicing for their interviews.

Best Planners for the New Year - Classy Career Girl

Best Planners for the New Year New planners for the new year! Using a daily planner helps to keep me organized and make my life easier.  If you don’t have a daily planner, I encourage you to get one. Heres a look at the best office planners: Sugar Paper Los Angeles   Sugar Paper is renowned for its design aesthetic, unparalleled taste, and perfectionism. Yes, its my favorite place to shop for beautiful office planners! I love their simple chic designs. Erin Condren    From classic to metallic to customized design, they have it all. From planners and books to paper and stickers, they have a great collection you will love. I love their Good to Go collection in Rose gold. Isnt it pretty? Poppin This is the place to go if youre looking for colorful shades or soft metallic covers. They have 21 colors and thoughtful details designed to reflect your individuality. kikki.K If leather is your thing, check out this gorgeous Perforated Leather Personal Planner from kikki-k thats perfect for taking with you on-the-go. Every planner is handmade using natural materials, which means no two Planners are the same. Your planner is specially handmade for you. Kate Spade A playful new print from Kate Spade is always something to love. Whats your favorite office planner? Let us know in the comment section below! [RELATED: Organization Tools For The Classy Career Girl]

A Lesson in Mobile Branding From Leading Expert Rick Mathieson - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

A Lesson in Mobile Branding From Leading Expert Rick Mathieson - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Ive been very interested in mobile branding for the past year and got the chance to speak with Rick Mathieson about the topic today. He is extremely knowledgeable and passionate about mobile branding and I certainly learned a lot. Ive blogged about this topic a few times already. This interview serves as a great resource for you. How do you define mobile marketing? Mobile marketing is marketing via the most measurable, personal and direct link to consumers ever created: The mobile phone. But that description is just the beginning. In BRANDING UNBOUND, I put forth a concept I call mBranding â€" using the mobile medium to create differentiation, generate sales, and build customer loyalty as never before possible. It’s not just about delivering a commercial message through mobile phones. But it can also mean creating unique, branded experiences that engage consumers in amazing new ways â€" or that serve them anytime, everywhere. Unfortunately, there are a lot of misconceptions about mobile marketing. The first is that this idea that was popular early on, and seems to be reemerging as the iPhone and Android geo-location capabilities are getting more coverage. It’s this idea that we’ll soon be walking down the street and get pinged with an offer for 50-cents off our next latte at the nearest Starbucks. Forget about. We will never put up with that kind of intrusion. It sounds really cool when it’s Starbucks sending us a mobile coupon. But the moment you’re walking down the street and 20 different retailers ping you with offers, it’s going to get really old, really fast. The other misconception that just wont’ go away is that mobile’s new channel for delivering ads â€" this idea that borrowing banner ads from the Internet, or video commercials from TV. One word: Borrrring. As a marketer, I don’t view such a notion as very compelling. And as a consumer, it’s a snoozefest. A lot of companies are spending millions to prove me wrong â€" and they should, it’s worth the experimentation. But in my view, it’s completely missing the power of this new medium. Instead, I content that mobile is far more powerful when viewed as a response or interaction mechanism â€" a mechanism by which consumers can respond to commercial messages they experience in other media â€" in print, television, radio, outdoor, online, direct mail and more, right at the point of impression. Now, there is never again a reason for a consumer to try to remember an 800 number or a URL. Ads featuring short codes can link me directly to the offers or information I’m after, either through a text interaction, or by linking me to a mobile web site or for download. This will get even more interesting as camera phones enable us to simply point at a QR code and click any button to access these offers or information. It’s the ultimate consumer response mechanism. What advantages do companies and people have with mobile phones, as opposed to other communicate channels? In terms of marketing, the mobile phone is the first truly interactive device that everyone has, everywhere they go. Back at the dawn of the dot-com era, the Internet hype machine pitched the World Wide Web as a marketers dream come true. But it never really lived up to those two tenets that have been so central to the Internet’s promise. The first: Anywhere. The second: Anytime. Mobile changes that equation by enabling consumers to access their content, their communications, their transactions and their applications whenever, wherever, however they want using the device they always have at hand. As I just mentioned, that means mobile is a way for consumers to interact with, and engage with content and communications instantaneously. And brands like MTV, Yahoo, Nike, Warner Bros. and McDonald’s are embracing it to astonishing effect. In BRANDING UNBOUND the book and blog, I show readers how. Ive read reports citing that over 80% of Gen-Y has mobile phones. What is the best way for companies to market to this group? It really depends on the brand. For many brands, going into mobile may or may not make sense, even if it’s a Gen-Y demographic. Certain big-box retailers are heavily into mobile this back-to-school season. It may make sense â€" advertisers have to go where their audiences is. I just wonder if being in mobile is going to make some of these brands seem any cooler than having a web site did. I think we run this danger of everyone declaring “we’ve got to have a mobile strategy.” But mobile’s not a strategy. It’s a channel. It’s like saying “we need a television strategy.” Success today comes down to knowing who your customers are and how they use or don’t use a channel and then innovating ways to connect with them wherever it makes sense, in whatever ways it makes sense. Mobile may or may not be part of the equation. All of that said, for certain lifestyle brands in music, movies, television, and maybe fashion, it’s safe to say, given their consumer and their consumers use of mobile, that failure to keep up with the mobile revolution may mean risking total and absolute irrelevancy. What are your thoughts about the iPhone, Blackberry and upcoming Google Android? What is the future of marketing over these types of phones? Should every company have an iPhone app? The iPhone has obviously been the subject of an egregious amount of hype, and it is a transformative device when it comes to the way consumers use mobile. But in my view, the iPhone only shined the spotlight on a revolution that’s going to happen whether or not the iPhone was ever invented. All of these devices, including Android, signify the evolution of mobile, and all will bring their unique capabilities to bear. But do we really need Android’s vaunted geo-awareness and user targeting capabilities? For way-finding, sure. For advertising based on where you happen to be standing at any point in time, no. Does every company need to have an iPhone app? It depends on the brand. It’s like asking does every company need a widget or MySpace page or a virtual storefront in Second Life. As an example, marketing executives at Unilever would never ask that question â€" at least not that way. Whether you’re talking about Dove â€" which won the first ever Cannes Grand Prix-winning television, web and mobile initiatives for the “What is Beautiful” campaign â€" or Axe deodorant â€" which is known for racy viral videos and advergames â€" Unilever would never think first about tactics. They’d think about consumer insights. They would know exactly how their customers engage with digital media and would build out programs to reach them in powerful, brand-appropriate ways. If your customer base is comprised of Mac-addicted iPhone users who download a certain number of apps per month, and you’ve got a fantastic idea for an app that you think they’ll love (or that they said they’d love through focus groups), an iPhone app it should be. Not a lot of brands can say that today. When it comes to reputation management, what effects will mobile phones have on people? For instance, I can Google you on my iPhone before I interview you for a position or I can snap a picture of you stealing candy from a baby, upload it to YouTube and send it to 1,000 people in 6 minutes. Should we be worried? Certainly that’s an issue. Just ask Michael Richards. Had there not been audience members with mobile phones at the ready during his stand-up comedy act, he might not have faced such bad publicity. As for everyday folks, I don’t see it as that much of an issue â€" at least as long as you aren’t stealing candy from a baby. If you’re interviewing someone, you’ve long been able to Google them, so simply being able to do it through another device means very little. But for marketers, as things like the Android Scanner get hacked, reputation management takes on new meaning. In BRANDING UNBOUND, I interview Howard Rheingold, author of “Smart Mobs.” He poses the question, when everyone can walk into a store and aim their phone at your product’s barcode and instantly access not just comparative pricing information, but user reviews, defective product lawsuits, political contributions and more, and suddenly reputation management takes on real-time, real-world urgency. How has Warner Bros. used mobile marketing to dramatically boost the effectiveness of their print, broadcast, online, and in-store promotions? That’s too broad a question for answering succinctly. I think you’re referring to a blurb about how a number of brands â€" including Warner â€" have done these things. In BRANDING UNBOUND, I look at how in the run-up to a new release from Madonna, Warner used mobile as a call to action on Internet banners â€" enabling fans to send a message to a short code in able to receive a secret phone number to hear tracks before they ever aired or were available for download. Over a one-month period, fans sent 30,000 of the messages, and 62.1% dialed in toe hear the songs â€" generating fan enthusiasm that contributed to over 650,000 sales. I look at how Duncan Donuts used short codes in print and broadcast advertising, and how the campaign boosted sales at participating locations by 20% with 9% directly attributable to mobile. I look at how Pepsi used in-store and bottle-cap advertising with mobile calls to action to actually be able to boost purchases and even be able to send specific offers to specific users based on observed purchase behavior. I look at how History Channel used mobile to send 00,000 text messages promoting an upcoming show to people who’d asked to receive such messages. Eighty-eight percent read the message, 18% watched the show, and 12% even forwarded the message to a friend. It goes on and on. And it’s what BRANDING UNBOUND the book â€" and the blog are all about. What are 3 of your top secrets of mobile marketing? Not in any particular order: No pushing allowed: This goes back to my comments about extending Internet ad banners or TV ads to mobile phones. Mobile phones are very personal devices. It’s important for consumers to be the ones to initiate interactions (pull), not just receive commercial messages in the form of text messages or banner ads or video pre-rolls (push). From the consumer’s standpoint, it’s pretty simple: “Don’t call us. We’ll call you.” Integration is the name of the game: Mobile works best as part of an integrated multimedia campaign that combines any combination of print, outdoor, and/or broadcast advertising. Brands shouldn’t just do mobile marketing just for the sake of mobile marketing. They should work with their agencies to understand the opportunities and determine if it makes sense as part of the overall marketing mix. Location is (sometimes) where it’s at: I talked earlier about how location-aware mobile marketing isn’t very interesting. But place-based marketing via the mobile channel is another thing all together. In-stadium offerings at concerts and sporting events enable attendees to take part in polling and promotions while they participate in the game or show. And Nike’s electronic billboard in Times Square enabled passersby to design their own running shoes â€" including colors and designs â€" using their mobile phones, all displayed in real time on the billboard for everyone to see. Nike then sent each participate a text message connected to a website, where pictures of the customized shoes can be viewed and purchased. That’s what location- or place-based marketing should be. If readers are interested, they can read an excerpt on my rules that ran in ADWEEK, BRANDWEEK and MEDIAWEEK starting here: http://www.brandingunbound.com/oa-2.htm. For a fuller explanation, you’ll have to pick up the book. What does Tom Peters have to say about the mobile marketing phenomenon? Don’t take it from me. Read this excerpt at 800-CEO-Read.com. I’ve interviewed Tom many times over the years â€" he’s always energetic and entertaining, and he’s been a huge influence on my thinking, particularly in the area of innovation. In this particular interview, one of my favorite comments rings true for all of us. When I asked how he thought the emergence of mobile technologies can best be put to use, he responded with his usual, cantankerous gusto: “The most important thing I can say is, I don’t know. And anybody who says they do know is an idiot, and you may quote me on that.” I think that’s probably the perfect thought to end on. Rick Mathieson is an award-winning writer, author, speaker and frequent media commentator on the converging worlds of marketing, media and technology. His insights on postmodern marketing have been featured in ADWEEK, Advertising Age, E-Business and on CBS Radio and NPR. His book BRANDING UNBOUND was a #1 new business fundamentals release at Barnes Noble.com; has ranked in Amazon.com’s top-selling books on advertising; and was rated “one of the best marketing books of the year” by Midwest Book Review. And it has been selected for inclusion at the business school libraries of UC Berkeley, Stanford, Georgetown and Harvard.

6 Things Every Millennial Should Know About Working for Fortune 500 Companies CareerMetis.com

6 Things Every Millennial Should Know About Working for Fortune 500 Companies â€" CareerMetis.com Many people, and especially millennials striving to prove themselves as valuable members of the workforce, are attracted to opportunities at Fortune 500 companies. They view working for a large, recognizable brand as a badge of honor, a career-making opportunity that will allow them to be able to compete for any job they might want in the future.The “millennials want to work for Fortune 500 companies” narrative is no false stereotype. Just look at the annual Millennial Career Survey from the National Society of High School Scholars In 2016, the survey’s ranking of the top 25 companies that millennials want to work for was dotted with Fortune 500ers, including companies such as 3M, Google, Disney, Apple, and Amazon.If you’re a millennial job seeker and you are thinking about pursuing opportunities with Fortune 500 companies, good for you. There’s nothing wrong with being ambitious and shooting for big jobs with big brands right out of the gate.However, before you start work, it’s a good idea to calibrate your expectations so that they match with the reality of working at a Fortune 500 company. Here are six things to know before you start applying.1) You will face stiff competitionIf you click on the link to the NSHSS list above, you’ll realize that your dream employer is probably the dream employer for countless other millennials. Of course, the entire job market is competitiveâ€"especially for young people just entering the workforce.However, you will likely face the fiercest competition for Fortune 500 jobs. If you decide to shoot for the Fortune 500 route, be prepared for a longer job search.2) The interview process might be longerEveryone interviews differently and Fortune 500 companies are no exception. There is no general rule that can be applied to the hiring process for every company on the Fortune 500 list. However, because of the steep competition for these jobs, the interview processes are often longer and more in-depth than you would ex pect from smaller businesses.Your interview process could take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months According to a recent CareerBuilder survey, 72% of employers now run background checks on every employee they hire. Expect to have to go through a background check no matter where you apply. However, Fortune 500 companies tend to be particularly vigilant about vetting their new employees, because doing so is such an important step to avoid negligence, liability, and bad press.If you are hoping to find a job at a Fortune 500 company, you should go in expecting a thorough background check processâ€"one that includes criminal history checks, employment confirmations, education verifications, drug testing, and more. The bottom line, you’re probably not going to get away with adding inaccurate or misleading information to your resume. You have to tell the truth.Photo Credit â€" Pexels.com4) You’ll have to work extremely hardMany Fortune 500 companies are notorious for their long w ork hours and high expectations. In a 2015 profile published by Fortune, one Amazon employee said that the company “will work you to death: either you’ll be gone after two years, or you stay forever because you love working that hard.” Another described the Amazon workplace as “a culture of self-driven workaholics.” These descriptors are hardly unique to Amazonâ€"especially on the tech side of the equation.Some millennials love the idea of tough, hard-working company culture, but if you’re after something with a little more work-life balance, you might look outside of the Fortune 500.5) You won’t always feel like you’re making an impactâ€"especially right awayevalOne of the best things about working for a smaller company is the feeling that you are making an impact. In Fortune 500 jobsâ€"particularly the entry-level positions that most millennials will be competing forâ€"it’s easy to feel like you are just another cog in the machine.Getting lost in the hugeness of the company you work for isn’t ideal for the average young worker, who wants to learn, develop new talents and skills, and climb the ladder to higher positions. None of that is impossible at a Fortune 500 company, but it might be harder to come by than with a smaller organization.6) You’ll build a huge networkIf you work for a Fortune 500 company and find that it isn’t right for you, the good news is that you will grow your professional network considerably. Not only does a good job at a Fortune 500 company look good on a resume, but it can also get your foot in the door with many employers.Most Fortune 500 companies have sizable alumni groups on LinkedIn that you might be able to tap for future job opportunities, and former managers and colleagues can make for killer references. Bottom line, if you are going to work for a Fortune 500 company, make a concentrated effort to build connections. If you don’t end up staying, those connections will serve as your springboard to a n ew job.Fortune 500 jobs can be high pressure, grueling, and tough, but they can also be engaging, eye-opening, and perfect for resume building.If you decide to pursue a Fortune 500 job as your entry into the workforce or as your next big step in the professional world, keep the six things discussed above in mind.Each point is only general, and none of them will apply to every Fortune 500 employer, but they will help you adjust your expectations and weigh the pros and cons of working for a big company.

Laborless Day, Where have all the Good Jobs Gone - CareerAlley

Laborless Day, Where have all the Good Jobs Gone - CareerAlley We may receive compensation when you click on links to products from our partners. Come my little friends, As we all sing a happy little working song Amy Adams Imagine youve got an interview (finally) for your dream job. Youve been out of work for awhile, but have been working 8+ hours a day in your job hunt. Youve had other interviews and leads, but none have lead to a job. Today is the day, you are ready for your interview and off you go. You arrive at Big Company for your interview and are led into the interview room. The first 15 minutes of the interview are great, you are giving the right answers and asking the right questions. Then, Mr. Interviewer asks a strange question I see Mr. Unemployed, that youve been out of work for several months now, what have you been doing? What have I been doing? you think. Ive been spending every waking hour looking for a job, what do you think Ive been doing? This is not funny, nor is it meant to be. This has happened to many people that Ive spoken with. Typically, it is when you hit that magic 3 months unemployed mark, but not always. Today is Laborless Day in the US (well, not technically Laborless Day, but it feels like it for some), Labor Day would be the politically correct name. For many (9.7% to be exact for the US), today is laborless day (and not just in the US). Even if you are out of work, there are other things you can and should do while you are looking for work. The longer you are out of work, the more difficult it is to explain what youve been doing. Of course, looking for a job is the right answer, but there is an expectation that youve done more than that. Sounds crazy but its true. So what else can you do while looking for a job? Staying current and staying productively busy are a few of the things you should be doing. So how do you stay current and productive while you are looking for a job (as if looking for a job is not productive)? Ive listed a few ideas below which are be supported by my usual list of links. Consulting Even if youve never consulted before, there are many consulting firms that are looking for individuals who can leverage their subject matter expertise (SME is the industry acronym). This can be done on many levels. There are pure consultants, where you give specific advice or provide a specialized service and there are those who provide professional short-term services (like accounting or engineering). Following are a few links: Have you thought about consulting? This is an older post that provides some background on consulting, links to a few consulting firms as well as links to sites that help you with consulting on your own (versus through another firm) Consulting Career, Job and Training Information This is an in depth article by Careeroverview.com that provides quite a bit of information on consulting. The article leads with a great overview, followed by skills required and how to approach consulting. There is also background on the industry. This is a good place to start. Jobs in Consulting This is an great link that provides interesting background information and some leads. Provided by Fisher College of Business at Ohio State University, this article provides skills required, key job areas, salaries trends and a full list of consulting firms (towards the bottom of the article). Some of the links are old, but many work and this article is worth a read. Contract work So what is contract work? Contract work is where you agree to work for someone (or a company) on a limited basis (usually based on a time period). Sometimes you are hired through a contractor and sub-contracted and many times you contract directly with the company. There are many pros and cons to this type of work, but it does keep you current and does provide some needed cash. Additionally, these roles sometimes lead to permanent employment. Following are some links to companies. Contract Jobs This article, from About.com, includes all the links to information you need for contract jobs. The links include salary guides, background information, a large list of companies that hire contract help as well as guides and specific industry information. Definitely worth a read. How to get contract work in three easy steps Another article on contract work (this one a how to), this one is from Sitepoint.com. This article provides key information as to the How, Where and What. While the article is more Tech focused, the techniques should work for all industries. Temporary Employment Not much of an explanation is needed here, it is basically a job that will give you both a current status as well as a few $ in the bank. Similar to consulting and contracting, some temp jobs do lead to full time employment. Not as much background information is needed here, other than where to look. Ive listed a few temporary help firms as a kick-start. Kelly Services Kelly Services is a global company that a wide range of temporary help. From professional to staffing solutions, Kelly is a recognized name in many countries. Their main site has several tabs at the top, but you will be interested in the Careers tab (top left hand side) or Find a Job (bottom left hand side). Click on Careers, enter your country on the next page followed by the additional filters that fit your needs and you are on your way. Robert Half International RHI is another global temporary help (professionals) company. Their careers page has links on the left hand side for Job Search (with additional categories to narrow your search). Click through the various options to see what interests you. This should get you started with staying active while you actively look for a job. Good luck in your search.

What Is An Actuary Resume?

What Is An Actuary Resume?You may have tried to do some research on the Internet to try and figure out what it is that an Actuary Resume can bring to your application. After a lot of time and research you will understand that it really is not as complicated as you may have originally thought it was.So what are the qualifications for becoming an Actuary? Well there are really three things that you need to have in order to become an Actuary. First you must be a licensed professional engineer.Secondly you need to have a minimum age of twenty-five years old. Thirdly, you must have at least two years of professional experience within an engineering profession.There are many different types of industry professions where the career of an Actuary is sought after by employers. These are various fields such as oil exploration, power generation, water management, automobile, aviation, aerospace, aerospace manufacturing, chemical processing, coal mining, and construction.At such industries the s tatistics and numbers make it an advantage to have someone with a background in statistics and actuarial science. As long as you have a high school diploma or GED and you are licensed to practice actuarial science then it does not matter how much education you had in your math and science courses. However if you have studied for many years then you may find that actuarial science is a subject that you may want to concentrate in your future.The next thing that an Actuary Resume can bring to your application is that you need to have a computer. Having a computer and having a basic knowledge of computers is a great starting point to gaining some form of industry employment.Another requirement for the job of an Actuary is that you need to be very well trained and have excellent analytical skills. All Actuaries are usually required to have some formal education in statistics, statistics analysis, mathematical probability, probability theory, and some form of mathematics. You may also nee d to have a degree in engineering or a Master's Degree in Engineering Science.Finally as an Actuary you should ideally have experience of about five years in actuarial science and hopefully you will have a lot of it. This will give you a good idea of the type of job that you are looking for.