10 Things Job-Seekers Must Do to Get a Better Job

... rather than complaining, take some advice from Jim Rohn: “Things will get better for you, when you get better.”

Given this state of the economy, the best thing any job-seeker can do to get a better job is to be more thorough, more savvy and more aggressive. The following are some basic guidelines for the thorough and savvy parts. These are not optional. Neither is the aggressive part, but I’ll leave that up to you.

Some Big Ideas Job-seekers Must Follow if They Want to Get a Meaningful Job

1. Applying directly to job postings should represent no more than 20% of what you do. Getting referred to a job is 5-10X more effective than applying directly. If you’re going to apply, only apply to jobs when you’re a perfect fit for the skills and experience listed on the job description.
2. Leverage your understanding of the recruiter’s role. Many recruiters are gatekeepers who don’t know the job and will just box-check your skills and experiences. Others are extremely talented, who want to work with the best people to craft great career moves. You must avoid the former and seek out the latter.
3. Implement a 20/20/60 job-hunting plan. A job hunting plan requires a performance-based resume, an understanding of how recruiters find candidates, and applying through the backdoor. Networking is the key to the backdoor. It must represent 60% of what you need to do.
4. Focus on the job, not the money. It’s better to be underpaid than overpaid. Getting promoted or obtaining a big compensation increase will only occur after you’ve demonstrated great performance. You need to put yourself into these situations. Ignore anyone who says otherwise.
5. Present your strengths and weaknesses via short stories. No one believes general statements. You must validate each of your strengths with a specific example of how it was used in a real job situation. In addition, you need to demonstrate how you’ve turned your weaknesses into strengths. Never say you don’t have any weaknesses! It means you’ve stopped growing.
6. Divide and conquer by asking the universal question. Very early in the interview, or phone screen, you must ask the interviewer to describe the focus of the job, some of the big challenges, and how the new person’s performance will be measured. Pick at least two from this list. Then prove each is a core strength using the SAFW response below.
7. Practice the universal answer to any question. You need to be able to prove every strength with a specific example. Form your answer using the SAFW two-minute response: Say A Few Words – Statement – Amplify – few Examples – Wrap-up.
8. Weave the 10 Best Predictors of Job Success into Your SAFW Response.  Make sure you have an example proving you possess at least three or four of these strengths. Then during the interview ask if these traits are important for on-the-job success. Of course they will be. Then give your example. Note: this is a slam dunk!
9. Use the phone screen to minimize the impact of a weak first impression. Even if you make a good first impression, it’s important to ask the universal question (see above) early in the phone screen. Answering it correctly will increase the likelihood you’ll be invited to an onsite interview. This will help focus the actual interview on your past performance, instead of box-checking your skills and experience, or judging you on first impressions.
10. Uncover any concerns before the end of the interview. To determine where you stand, ask the interviewer about next steps. If they’re not specific, you probably won’t be called back. In this case, ask the interviewer what’s the biggest concern he/she has about your background. Then ask how the skill, trait or factor mentioned is used on the job. To overcome the concern, you’ll need to use the SAFW two-minute response to prove you can handle the requirement.

Getting a job is no fun. It’s hard work. But working hard on the wrong things is a waste of time. So rather than complaining, take some advice from Jim Rohn: “Things will get better for you, when you get better.” Learning the ten techniques above is a great way to start.

Lou Adler

Kwara State University to be renamed 'Abubakar Sola Saraki University'

Kwara State House of Assembly has passed a bill seeking to change the name of Kwara State University, KWASU to Abubakar Sola Saraki University, ASSU.

The speaker said: With the commencement of this law, KWASU shall be Abubakar Sola Saraki University, ASSU, wherever it occurs in the University law and the law may be cited as Kwara State University Amendment Law.”

The bill, read for the third time before its passage yesterday had been subjected to public hearing after it scaled first and second reading.

The report of the House Committee on Education and Human Capital Development claimed that only five (5) of the stakeholders were against the proposed Bill… on the ground that State and Local Government resources would be used to fund the university hence, KWASU should not be renamed after Sola Saraki. The committee said 35 of the stakeholders were of the view that KWASU be renamed after the late Political Icon due to his socio-economic and political contributions to the development of Kwara State in particular and Nigeria in general.

The report added that 40 stakeholders made both oral and written submissions.
The house, however, endorsed the recommendations of the committee and approved the renaming of the university after Saraki.

KANYE WEST FIRES BACK AT RAY J "You're Lame and You Know It!"

Kanye West decided it's finally time to destroy Ray J -- and last night he blasted his wife's sex tape partner on national TV ... going straight after Ray's manhood. 

West made a surprise appearance on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" to perform his hit "Bound 2" -- but during the song, he changed some of the lyrics to attack Ray: 

"Brandy’s little sister lame man he know it now ... When a real brother hold you down, you ‘sposed to drown."

We're guessing Kanye is finally responding to Ray's song, "I Hit It First" ... in which Ray bragged about bangin' Kim Kardashian before Kanye did. 

But the best part of Kanye's attack ... the legendary Charlie Wilson punctuating the venomous lyrics with a "shabadabaweeeeeee"

It's awesome.

 


Source:TMZ

Open Nigerian bisexual Yemisi Ilesanmi speaks out, says gays have a right

Well, she's open about her sexuality because she's not based here. Hehe. UK-based bisexual, Yemisi Ilesanmi, a single mother and an atheist, who has been fighting for the rights of gays for many years, recently granted an exclusive interview to TELL magazine where she spoke on issues surrounding homosexuality and its perception here in Nigeria.

Yemisi tells TELL: (tells Tell - lol)

Whether Nigerians accept it or not, LGBT rights are recognised human rights. Unless, you can prove that Lesbians, gays, biséxuals and transséxuals are not human beings, well, you have no reason to deny them their fundamental human rights. Unfortunately many Nigerians believe in the concept of sin. First, we must understand that sin is a religious concept. Not every Nigerian is religious. Your religion is also a personal matter, why drag other people into your personal relationship with Jesus, Mohamed or Obatala?

When I am told that homoséxuality is a sin, I just tell them their religion is not my law. The Bible or Quran is not my constitution, so why is that even coming up?

Yemisi Ilesanmi continues...

The very first thing we need to understand is that homosexuality, bisexuality, asexuality are all as natural as heterosexuality. Our sexual orientation differs; we are born with an innate ability to be emotionally or sexually attracted or not be sexually or emotionally attracted to same sex or opposite sex. Unfortunately, many African societies do not provide enabling environments to discuss sexual orientation. Sexual orientation does not harm anyone. A person who is attracted to opposite sex does not harm anyone so far it is a consensual adult relationship.

It is absurd when Christian gay bashers gleefully quote Leviticus 18:22 to justify why they want to jail and stone gays. Anyone who wants to quote from Leviticus should at least read the book to make sure they are not guilty of any of the things condemned in the book. Leviticus also says you should not shave, you should not interact with a woman in hermenstrual cycle, thou shall not eat shrimps or shell fish, Lev. 11:10,11:6-8 thou shall not touch the skin of a dead pig (therefore touching football without wearing gloves makes you unclean!) So, when Christians throw Leviticus at me, I simply throw Leviticus right back in their face.

My immediate family knows my sexual orientation, my father is late, and my mother is accepting of whom I am and has shown me love and support. To continue to be an important part of my life, you cannot be homophobic, biphobic or transphobic.

My atheism has nothing to do with my biséxuality. Atheism is simply a non-belief in God. My bisexuality is my sexual orientation, no connection. However, I must say, my atheism has helped me to stand up against religious bullies, who use the Bible and the Quran to justify their hate for gays, lesbians, transsexual and bisexuals.

Religion carries a lot of unwarranted weight in Nigeria and Africa generally. This should not be so. In fact, this is one reason the African continent is still very backward. When religion carried so much weight in Europe during middle Ages, it was wrought with wars, jihads,killings and ethnic cleansing.

Many religious Africans now use the ‘holy’ books to justify the oppression of members of their own society. Even when the original owners of the religion inform them that the book has been updated and some parts are no longer applicable, Africans still insist that it is must be applicable because it says so in the book they were given. How pathetic!

20 Motivational Business Quotes to Read Every Morning

Like most entrepreneurs, my office is cluttered with motivational books, approaches and quotes. Some of these quotes are taped to my desk, while others are hanging on the wall to review every hour or so.

Not a day goes by that I don't review the following quotes. It inspires me to focus on what's most important to accomplish during that particular day, and to not get sidetracked by email, tasks or clutter that don't grow the business.

Here are 20 of my favorite quotes. I hope they inspire you as much as they inspire me.

“Out there in some garage is an entrepreneur who’s forging a bullet
with your company’s name on it.”
Gary Hamel, Business Writer

“If you don’t make mistakes, you aren’t really trying.”
Coleman Hawkins, Jazz Musician

“Patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable
combination for success.”
Napoleon Hill, Author

“There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that
which should not be done at all.”
Peter Drucker

“I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for
failure, which is: Try to please everybody.”
Herbert B. Swope, American Journalist

“If you have always done it that way, it is probably wrong.”
Charles Kettering, Engineer

“I am a man of fixed and unbending principles, the first of which is to be
flexible at all times.”
Everett Dirksen

“Without customers, you don’t have a business. You have a hobby.”
Don Peppers & Martha Rogers, Return on Customer

“Judge a man by his questions, not by his answers.”
Voltaire

“The minute you’re satisfied with where you are, you aren’t there anymore.”
Tony Gwynn, Hall of Fame Baseball player

“Speed is useful only if you are running in the right direction.”
Joel Barker, Future Edge

“They always say time changes things,
but you actually have to change them yourself.”
Andy Warhol

“An organization becomes bewildered rather than energized
when it’s asked to do too much at once.”
Michael Hammer & James Champy, Reengineering The Corporation

“If you try to do something and fail, you are vastly better off
than if you had tried nothing and succeeded.”
The Back of a Sugar Packet (Anonymous)

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
Phil 4:13

*****

Do you read motivational quotes as part of your work day? Do you have any particular sayings that have made a difference in your life?

Joe Pulizzi

Editorial: The 10 Most Irritating Phrases Ever! Don't Use Them

Whether you are at work or at home, with colleagues or friends, there are some words or phrases that can drive the people around you to complete insanity. Especially if you use them again, and again and again!

The trouble with these words is that they are not something we have carefully chosen to most eloquently make a point. No, they are just filler words that we got into the habit of using. They often don’t mean anything, they are just there to irritate.

In some people the use of these repetitive, nothing-saying, filler-words has reached epidemic proportions. I believe we need to cure this and stop using them. When I say stop using them I don’t mean completely. I don’t mind if someone uses them appropriately. I use most of them. What we have to stop is using them repeatedly and without meaning!

But then, maybe it’s just me? Maybe I am the only one that gets irritated by that? Or do you get annoyed and tired of hearing someone talk like this:

“To be honest, at the end of the day you are literally going get into trouble, seriously. I mean, you better be careful, if you know what I mean. I am just saying.”

Or this:

“Awesome! This is, like, I mean, totally seriously, like, the most epic band I have ever heard. You know what I’m saying. I am literally going to, like, die if I can’t go and see them.”

Some might argue it is just teenagers. No. I believe that every decade has their favorites. For me, the two examples show this nicely where the first one would typically come from someone a little older and the second from someone of a younger generation.

We seem to use these words to fill pauses in our conversations. My recommendation is to actually pause, instead of bombarding people with meaningless words that simply make it more difficult (and exhausting) to understand what someone is saying. Pauses are fine! Pauses are natural.

Here are my top ten most irritating filler phrases:

1. “At the end of the day” – What does that even mean? Does it mean later? Just leave it out!
2. “To be honest” – Why, are you normally not honest with me? What a crazy thing to say!
3. “If you know what I mean” – If I don’t know what you mean I would probably tell you. I don’t need a prompt.
4. “You know” – Is this a question or a statement?
5. “Having said that” – Yes, you have just said that. I was here, you have been speaking to me and I don’t need you to tell me that you have just said something to me!
6. “Like” – This is especially annoying if it is inserted a number of times into every single sentence. Why, oh, why?
7. “Literally” – Should mean ‘figuratively’ or exactly as you say. It makes so sense to ‘literally explode’ or to ‘literally die’.
8. “I am just saying’” – Yes, I have heard it. Should this make me feel better about the fact that you have just offended me or said something that didn’t make sense?
9. “Seriously” – Are you saying that you are telling me the truth or are you using it as a replacement for ‘yeah’ – I am, like, seriously confused!
10. "I mean" – Some people litter this phrase into every single sentence they say. It must be one of the most meaningless phrases of all.

So, is it just me? Or do these words drive you nuts too? No seriously, like, totally 'comment' on this post! I am just saying, if you know what I mean? Finally, feel free to add other phrases you find particularly infuriating into the comment field – let’s make it the most complete list, like, I mean, seriously, EVER!

Bernard Marr

Back to School: 9ice Gains Admission To Study Law

One time A-list artiste in Nigeria, Abolore Adigun well known as 9ice, has gained admission into the university to study law. The talented singer, who has been battling with a nose-diving music career, disclosed this to a national daily newspaper, Tribune in an interview. 

9ice told the paper that he is presently a student of Capella University, Minnesota, USA, studying Public Safety and Common Law. He however stated that he is running the school's online programme. 

According to him, "I am already in school studying Public Safety and Common Law at Capella University. It is an online programme. I can't think of any other course except Law."

The singer reportedly left the Lagos State University (LASU) in 2006, where he was then studying Law. It was at that time he gained fame with hit his hit song, 'Ganja' and later with 'Gongo Aso'.