Composure Resumes

Almost everyone is requiring criminal background checks on prospective employees these days. If you have a criminal history, particularly a felony, what does that mean for you? You probably already know. Having a blemish or two doesn’t have to mean the end of your career. For most employers, the exclusion criteria is minimal and job-specific. For retail, no theft. For work with machinery, no drugs. For work with children, no violence. For...

“Professionals re-entering the workforce after just three years lose approximately 16% of their earning power, and over a quarter report a decrease in their management responsibilities.” - Center for Work Life Policy

Returnship is a term trademarked in 2008 by Goldman Sachs, a leading global...

Organizational skills are crucial in nearly any position, especially with employees assuming additionall responsibilities as companies downsize. You must be able to adequately convey that you have systems in place to handle multiple types of information, priorities, and deadlines. These are things you need to think about before you interview so that you are prepared.

1. How do you prioritize your time?

Strategy: Describe what level you assign to v...

Here are 5 more interview questions, the strategy to use when answering, and an example answer for each question.

1. What skills do you have that make you a valuable member of a team?

Strategy: Think about your best strengths in a group setting. Are you an organizer good at keeping members on tasks, creative wonder, technologically savvy, good at negotiating among members for a compromise? What have been your historical team member strengths? Give...

Although every organization and interviewer has their own set of interview questions, there are five you are guaranteed to be asked at some point in your job search. Being prepared to answer them is a task that is part of standard interview preparation. A few general interview prep chores are listed below as well as the five most common interview questions and the strategy to use when answering.

Interview Preparation

• Know where you are going...

Behavioral interviewing is a relatively new interviewing method. It is designed to predict how you will behave in the future based on how you have handled situations in the past. The questions are not traditional interview questions that directly ask about your knowledge and experience. Traditional questions may be mixed with behavioral questions, but you must be prepared for behavioral questions with examples of how you have used your skills in the past and how organizations for which you ha...

With so many candidates in the applicant pool in the sluggish economy, employers have the pick of the litter. Therefore, you have to work extra hard to impress and prove that they need you. Frankly, they don’t care whether you are seeking a “growing company” or “opportunity for advancement”. What they are concerned with is their bottom line and whether you can enhance it. What you need to do is tailor your skills, experience, and education on your resume to make ...

More and more employers are relying on criminal histories of job candidates to determine whom to hire. The reason they use these is to look at the character of clients and compare what they see in the criminal history with who candidates portray themselves to be on paper and in interviews. The most common criminal offenses I see in job seekers are drug related: possession, driving under the influence, intent to distribute, and the like. All point to one flaw: addiction. Therefore, what you ne...

Maybe you took time out from your career to raise children. Maybe you resigned your last job to commit yourself full-time to your college studies. Perhaps you have been ill or caring for an ill parent who no longer needs your help. Whatever the reason, you’re now ready to throw yourself back into the working world but are not sure how to address the gap in your work history. If there is a gap, you must be prepared to discuss the reason with potential employers. They will definitely be w...