Slurred Speech

A modern job hunting campaign is by nature fairly complex. While the net has offered a variety of new channels, it also creates increased competition for choice jobs and potential challenges for job hunters.

Job hunting needs to be thought of as a personalized, highly targeted marketing operation where you are the product. Your resume is an ad. Your extended network is your inside source for information and job leads.

So where does the net fit in? At AA-Careers, we recently posted a job on Craigslist and got 600 plus responses in a calendar week. For a single opening. That’s increased competition for jobs.

Had the right person called us before we ran the ad, they could have secured the job before having all that competition. How? By knowing an employee at our office who became aware of the job prior to posting. Everyone was aware of the job for at least 14 days before it was posted. Who in your network might know of a job that’s coming available soon?

Be careful how you submit your application as well. When we did an analysis of the 650 resumes, we found a large number of errors. 63% of the applicants were easily removed with a fast triage process. How? The same way any HR professional would. By passing over resumes where the objective didn’t match our job description. By passing over candidates whose cover letters gave us causes not to hire them, like "I know I’m overqualified but I really need a job". By eliminating candidates whose documents that didn’t open properly. And by rejecting job hunters who didn’t bother to spell check their cover letter and/or resume.

So the great news is that job sites give you a feel of who is hiring, and for what kinds of jobs. But once those jobs are posted, the competition is intense. You can still try, if you have a well thought out resume, designed to appeal directly and clearly to the recruiter. And if you have practiced interviewing – so you don’t stumble at a critical point.

Another thing to be aware of is how quickly you can be checked out on the net. As we Googled several job hunters, we ran into some Facebook comments that were in questionable taste. Nothing larcenous, but enough to rock our thoughts about who to choose.

AA-Careers provides a broad set of services for Bay Area job seekers, providing our clients a personal career consultant, a managed job hunting campaign, modern tools like a personal website, video, highly targeted resume, and much more. Let us know if we can help you.

Be careful out there, and good hunting!

The summer holiday season is over in the northern hemisphere;
the days are shortening; and the nights getting longer and
cooler. While you cling on to any remnant of summer you can
find, through the odd warm day, the remaining summer flowers,
and the holiday snaps you are now having printed, the
remorseless progression into autumn and winter will continue.

For those of you who are overweight or borderline weight, you
are now entering the danger zone. Autumn spills into winter and
the winter holiday season, and the holiday season brings with it
a lure to binge on all the traditional foods of Thanksgiving,
Christmas, and New Year. So, as your outdoor activity is likely
to decline, and your indoor activity likely to include lifting a
lot of food and drink to your mouth, but not otherwise increase,
it is a period of the year when you will be in danger of tipping
your weight over the edge or up the scale.

If you are on, or should be on, a weight loss diet, or are on
the brink of needing one, then now is a great time to take stock
and plan ahead with fortitude. By being prepared for the diet
battle of the Christmas holiday season, it can be a battle you
will win with comfort. I do not say ease, because nothing comes
easily when it means resisting some of your favourite foods;
especially at a time when those around you are overindulging.

Once the summer holiday period is over, you have 3 months to get
ready for the winter holiday season. So, what can you do to
ensure you do not steadily put on weight during the autumn and
then put your weight gain into overdrive from Thanksgiving to
New Year? Here is the skeleton of a plan:

Prepare Your Mind For The Onslaught of Gluttony

Put against the perspective of the whole year, keeping to a
sensible diet through the holiday season should not seem so
difficult. Ask yourself, why on earth should you change so
drastically over a few short weeks, especially over the
Christmas holiday? Is it not possible to maintain a good diet
through the whole of the winter, without spoiling your
Christmas? Of course it is.

Much of any potential weakness will come from habit, peer
pressure, boredom and stress. All of those things can be dealt
with comfortably by a steady programme of meditation and
relaxation. Inevitably, you will not be so encouraged into
outdoor activities once the days cool down and the nights
lengthen. From September, plan a regular yoga session, or other
form of relaxation and meditation, that will help strengthen
your resolve, and set you apart from peers in terms of
individual mental strength. You will slowly assert your
individuality in a way that will help you sail through the
holiday season without succumbing to external pressures. You
will be asserting control, which you can then apply to anything.

During meditation sessions, give regular attention to your diet.
Not just your short term diet but long term, beyond Christmas.
See yourself happily on a healthy diet all year; not just
healthy, but a diet that you enjoy. Your Christmas diet can then
just merge into that; the holiday season can be similar to the
rest of the year without taking away from your enjoyment.

Get To Know Your Favourite Diet Foods

Being on a diet does not mean all enjoyable foods are out; that
is just not so. It will depend of course what sort of diet you
are on, but even if you are calorie counting, as the weeks pass
you can prepare in your mind, or even on paper, all the treats
that are a normal part of Christmas festivities yet very
healthy. Here are some that come to mind:

1. That Christmas turkey is not off the menu in most cases; lean
white meat is likely to be acceptable. And is turkey not the
symbol of Christmas lunch in some countries?

2. All the vegetables that go with the turkey can be delicious
if you buy good quality and cook them well. Why not set your
mind on organic vegetables only for the holiday season? That may
seem an indulgence cost wise, but better to indulge in that than
junk foods.

3. Fresh salmon is great for special occasions; how about fresh
Scottish salmon delivered to your door. A treat, but one that
should not damage your diet.

4. In the months leading up to Christmas, experiment with your
own salad dressings, and try different olive oils. Salads with a
difference can be healthy but still a treat.

5. Aim to have plenty of fruits around the house during the
Christmas period. Want to indulge as it’s Christmas? What about
your favourite fruits, something you regard as a treat? Can they
not be fitted in to the Christmas spread?

6. There are a variety of nuts which make delightful snacks. In
fact, my favourite food of all, and always a Christmas treat in
England, is cashew nuts. Are you a cashew addict too? Keep lots
of nuts around the home too over the holiday period.

7. As the evenings get darker, try finding some recipes for
snacks that are within your calorie range but a little bit
different, so they are special for Christmas. Select the best,
and have them on hand over the holiday.

Really, there is an enormous amount of scope to make your
holiday food a treat for you and those around you, without
overflowing the tables with fattening foods. Mix in your mental
preparations with the food selection, and over the next couple
of months you will have a vision of a non-gluttonous,
non-fattening Christmas indulgence. There is no need to indulge
in quantity; just in the variety and quality.

Keep Up Summer Activity Levels

Without thinking about it, you have probably been more active
physically in the summer months than you would normally be in
the winter. Be aware of that fact, and plan regular exercise
sessions throughout the winter. Visiting the gym twice a week
would be great, but you can also build walking and swimming into
your routines. Walking part of the way to and from work, or to
the local stores, or taking the dogs on longer walks; all these
things can contribute to your weight control, and make you feel
better. If you feel better, coupled with your mental strength,
keeping your weight down over Christmas will not be as difficult
as you might have thought.

If you want to gain more muscle, it’s important you get enough
rest. I’ve found it’s necessary to take a week off to rest after
8 to 10 weeks of heavy, intense training.

Weight lifting can be intense and stressful to your body. In
order for your body to respond with muscle gains, you have to
first recover from those workouts.

After all, you grow when you’re resting, not when you’re
training in the gym. Too many people think they have to work out
as hard as possible, as often as possible, in order to make
gains. But those that have large, muscular physiques have
learned that the key to success is heavy, intense training,
followed by adequate rest.

By taking a week off after every few months, you allow your body
the chance to completely recover from the heavy demands you
placed on it. This time is a recovery time, in which muscle
growth will be the main goal. So you want to make sure you get
proper nutrition, including keeping your protein intake high.

This rest period is every bit as important for muscle gains as
is your training. Without this rest, you’re going to overtrain
and all your muscle gains will stall.

One of the biggest problems I see with young people is that they
think the more they do, the better results they get. They don’t
buy into the law of diminishing returns, which states that
you’ll keep making gains, up to a point, unless you do certain
things. And these things are recovery, rest, and nutrition.

Many people can’t stand to be out of the gym for a week, fearing
that they’ll lose what they’ve gained. The opposite is actually
what happens. After a week off, you’ll come back bigger and
stronger.

You’ll also be more focused and psychologically rested. You’ll
be ready to hit the weights again with newfound energy and
intensity.

So if you’re feeling tired, worn out, sluggish, or just plain
sore, take some time off and recover. If you’re at a plateau, a
week off is usually all that’s needed to break out of that
plateau.

The way to keep making gains is to learn how to listen to your
body. Know when it needs rest and time off. If you don’t allow
your body to recover, you can’t keep making muscle gains. If you
don’t eat enough and sleep enough, your gains will suffer as
well.

So, understand the importance of rest and start taking a week
off after each 8 to 10 weeks of training. I guarantee, once you
start doing that, your muscle gains will happen a lot faster.