Tell Me About Yourself - 7 Key Strategies to Sell Yourself in an Interview and Land That Job!

So you have landed an interview for a job and want to sell yourself well. When attending an interview be aware of these 7 key strategies so as to deliver a great interview and land that job. Preparing for an interview can be hard, however it is advisable that you put in the time and effort if you want to stand out.

1: Do not digress from the question asked. Keep it brief and relevant
When asked a 'Tell me about yourself' question, the tendency is to oversell ourselves however be aware of not talking too long or digressing from the question. What the employer wants to know is how useful and suitable are you for the role not the ins and outs of your daily life or personal history from way back, so keep your answer 'short and sweet' or else the interviewee will lose interest and become bored.

2: Good eye contact
If faced with one interviewer or a panel remember to give eye contact to all members it demonstrates confidence and creates a good impression.

3: Over gesticulation
During an interview gesticulation is sometimes needed but be aware of not using it to cover up nerves or over emphasizing a point. It can be annoying to the interviewer when an interviewee is constantly over gesticulating.

4: Prepare for the interview
What do I mean by 'Prepare for the interview?' Re-read the job description and specification and ask yourself what sort of person is required for this role. If it is a customer facing role sell all the skills you have which show that you are a people person, that you can build a rapport with customers, and that the customer is valued and important. This requires you to read in between the lines of the job description and have your answer tailored to it.

5: Show keenness and motivation
When asking interview questions show keenness to learn new skills and where you may be inexperienced in a particular area demonstrate how your transferable skills fit in with the role. Demonstrate that you are willing to learn, can adapt quickly and complete what's asked of you. Do not forget, you will be one in a number of people being interviewed for that role so show spark.

6: Self belief, all round skills and experience
Self belief is so important as well as all round skills. What do I mean by this? An individual who has a Degree may not be hired over a person who has none. This is because experience is sometimes placed higher than qualifications as employers want someone who can demonstrate a 'Can do' practical attitude. So when asked 'Tell me about yourself' sell your experiences whether paid or unpaid, as well as relevant work experiences carried out at home/personal life.

7: Reach out
So you have applied for a job and were fortunate to have secured an interview. Great! Now you are concerned about your lack of relevant experience of that role and believe you won't get it. Yes, it is annoying to get selected for an interview then later find out that your transferable skills will not work for that particular interview so what you should do is to speak to someone working in that firm who can tell you not only about the role you're going for but can answer the questions that are on the personal specification. Their time may be limited however, so let them know you appreciate their time and help. Also, read up about the firm for which you have applied for and make sure you get an all round grasp of what the role entails on a day to day basis. Yes, it is a lot of research but it'll pay off.

This article has been written by Samantha Elutilo - Qualified & Accredited Career and Confidence Life Coach. If you have found this article useful then please visit http://www.positive-vision.co.uk for an array of useful career and confidence articles, newsletters and e-books that will guide you in your career. If using this article, the author must be credited and acknowledged together with her website.

Online Careers Employment Centers - A Friendly Resource to Get Yourself Hired

Career Employment Centers are scattered across the countries in aiding people to find suitable jobs for their qualifications. There are many reasons why people are visiting online these service oriented centers and usually it is to find a fast and reliable resource of job opening in a preferred area or field.

You can be a fresh graduate just barely out form the halls of university or a laid-off white-collar worker due to the economic crisis a few years back. After endless days of waiting for the pension or insurance check to make your ends meet, you finally decided to get a new job or at least gain income by working in a decent open job position. Whatever the reason, a job is what you are looking for in coming to a Career Employment Center. They also have some career tools that can determine your strengths and weaknesses or deciding on a career choice.

This type of service center does not necessarily mean an office that people can go to and refer job references. This is usually an online program that is free of charge, usually funded by employers all over the states to find the right candidate for their open job position. All you need is a log in unit, an email address, an upload ready resume file, and a short email message to get hired. These centers usually have friendly user interface and easy navigation buttons to help guide the job seeker in looking for the right link and tabs. They also have chat support or hot line numbers for you to contact just in case you have a question.

Job seekers usually upload their resume online on these centers that gets stored in the center's central database. The system allows filters for employers to seek out the qualifications for a certain position. Gone are the days of actual office visits to companies seeking workers or professionals and handing personally their portfolio or resumes. With Career Employment services, your uploaded resume will reach potential databases of companies looking for your qualifications. Certain qualifications are being filtered until the right candidates will be shortlisted and contacted by the human resources of hiring companies.

Notifications of considerations for the job position is usually sent via email and so you should check your inbox regularly to know if a company is interested in getting an interview with you. Usually, an initial email is sent to state a possible interview or further demand of qualifications for a certain position. You must reply concisely and honestly if you would want to take a job or not. Keep track of the companies you have been applying for or have contacted you so that you will know who to respond to when the time comes for correspondence.

Getting yourself hired is much convenient and easier today with the use of these online centers job database platforms. Many websites host online job resources without fee. You should optimize its use so that you can find the right job meant for you.

Employment Opportunities And Careers In Medicine

The future of alternative medicine is bright. In a developing country like India, alternative therapeutic systems have a definite role to play in alleviating sickness - both chronic and acute. The cost-effectiveness, efficacy, low toxicity, ease of administration and relative safety (few adverse effects) renders them invaluable as viable alternatives to conventional medicine.

In fact, WHO has assessed the total world market for alternative medicine at a whopping Rs. 51,210 crore. The market for herbal remedies alone is pegged at $5 trillion with an annual growth of 11 per cent.

Home to over 15,000 medicinal plants and one of the 12 leading bio-diverse countries of the world, India is sitting on a veritable green mine. Awakening to this tremendous potential, the government has announced a separate national policy for the Indian Systems of Medicine & Homeopathy (ISM&H) to boost and promote indigenous medicine. Plans are also afoot to modernise the hospitals specialising in Indian Systems of Medicine (ISM).

However, the lack of formulation and standardisation is a major problem that plagues this fledgling industry. There are as many as 4,000 recorded Ayurvedic formulations, combining different herbs and metals. These need to be identified and analysed and put through a series of tests before they can be released in the market. Extensive R&D is under way in this field currently.

What it takes

Like other forms of medicine, the minimum qualification for most courses in traditional medicine is 10+2 with PCB (Physics, Chemistry & Biology). However, for Unani, Siddha and Tibetan medicine, arts and humanities students can also apply. Additionally, for pursuing a course in Ayurveda, you need to be well versed in Sanskrit/ Hindi, while for Unani, some knowledge of Arabic/ Urdu is a must. Similarly for studying the Siddha system, you need knowledge of Tamil.

What you'll make

Alternative systems of medicine are beginning to offer decent career opportunities - in research as well as in practise. But like any other profession, success depends on a multitude of factors and the job scenario when you graduate.

While private practice is a popular choice for those specialising in these systems, homeopathic and Ayurvedic practitioners, for instance, can also seek employment under the Central Government Health Scheme and in state government and municipal hospitals and dispensaries all over the country. Starting salaries are in the range of Rs 8,000 plus perks.

If you are hesitant to start off on your own, working with an established practitioner or clinic for a while would help you gain the necessary confidence.

Combining two or more of these complimentary systems can also add to your repertoire. But be prepared to face competition from other systems of medicine, particularly allopathic.

Drug and pharmaceutical companies and research institutions also hire consultants and research scientists to work in their respective fields. With several recognised institutions offering full-fledged courses of study, there is considerable opportunity in the teaching and academic sector as well.

S.C. Mishra is a well-known Career Counsellor. His areas of expertise include such things as counseling in Careers in Medicine, Careers in IT, Careers in Beauty Therapy and much more. A professional all-rounder, he has written a book on Jobs in India [http://www.timesjobs.com] and a Blog - on Job Site.

Career Skills That Can Enhance Your Employment

Job candidates will be competing with other people for the best positions and they have to be ready to take on the challenge. This will require that they get more career skills under their belt. People must be both competent in their skills and willing to move forward with new ones. Getting stuck can cause them to fall behind. Making changes and adjustments is the key to being a part of the process.

Here are some career skills that are crucial to one's future employment anywhere in the world:

Don't stop learning. Just because you have a degree or multiples degrees under your belt, doesn't mean that you know everything. You will have to be willing and able to learn about different things on a continuous basis. Things are changing so fast, that it's important you are on the cutting edge of what's going on.

Take charge of your life. This is one of the career skills that can really make you marketable. Companies like to see people who have self-starter qualities. Nowadays, they don't want employees who need to be constantly micromanaged.

Companies want employees that can think for them. On the other side of the coin, they don't want them to be so aggressive that they alienate other people on the job.

Technology is constantly changing. What you may be doing now may not be in existence within the next year or two. You should get involved in taking computer classes and anything that relates to having marketable career skills. Make yourself productive so that you won't be behind the times.

Believe it or not, having career skills also includes being able to prioritize well. You need to know what is most important to do now and what can wait. If you are unable to prioritize your jobs, you will be wasting time trying to figure out what you should do first, second, etc. You must be able to determine what is the most important thing on the list and work your way down.

These career skills are important to have because they can take you a long way in life no matter what your actual field. Employers are constantly on the lookout for those who can increase their bottom dollar. Having these skills can make all the difference in the world for you as a job candidate.

Tony Jacowski is a quality analyst for The MBA Journal. Aveta Solutions - Six Sigma Online (http://www.sixsigmaonline.org) offers online six sigma training and certification classes for lean six sigma, black belts, green belts, and yellow belts.

The Careers Giving Employment Advice

Companies often seek employment advice from an outside source because they need to get an objective and unbiased opinion. The management team may not be creative in their thinking about things that can be done for improvement. It is common to call a consultant to fix issues and help give an opinion on a problem. Some consultants will stick with a business throughout the entire duration of a project until completion.

Revamping technology is a big reason why companies call a consultant for employment advice. They might not have an information technology department or the management wants to be sure the job gets done because of legality issues and to ensure no data is lost. Some technology departments work off of home build software programs and need something new to manage their systems. A consultant will come in and look at the requirements of the business and find a new software package or build one that will work and meet the needs of the company.

Employment advice is also sought after from a consultant when a company needs to cut costs. It is common for departments to fudge a little on their spending. However, sometimes overspending is not recognized because of the types of things that are being purchased. A consultant can help you use resources that you currently own so you don't have to buy more. They can find areas where costs can be cut and the business can operate more comfortably.

Performance improvement is asked of consultants all of the time. Many companies seek employment advice because it appears there is a bottleneck causing a slow down of production on the line or processes with projects seem to run way to slowly for the customers. There are careers that you can provide advice on how to improve performance and make things run more efficiently. Improving processes can be done in most companies.

Employment advice is asked for by many companies in almost every industry. Providing consulting services can be a big career for people who are certified in things like Six Sigma and business strategy. Companies want to make improvements by cutting costs, improving performance, and getting maximum productivity. You might consider a career in consulting if you are capable of providing assistance to a business on improving these types of issues.