Reading Challenge

The other day I saw an interesting post written on one of my friends Facebook wall. The post said:

It’s national book week: Grab the closest book to you, turn to page 52, post the 5th sentence as your status. Don’t mention the title. 

Now I would like to turn this into challenge for all you readers out there. Share your findings as a comment to this post.

For my part the book says: "He kissed the blade"

How to pass a job interview

hr vetting

Have you ever got out form a job interview wondering what was wrong? What has happened in that room that cost you your future job? What did you do wrong? Why haven’t they accepted you? Was it something you said or omitted to say?

Well the answer is pretty simple: you were probably just being too honest about yourself and your experience.

From what I have learned here are three rules that will get you your dream job (what you do after is up to you): 

1. Lie – There is no harm in telling lies and putting yourself on the limelight. Brag about what you have accomplished in terms of education. How hard it was to get into the university you have followed. How many classes you have attended. How good your grades were.
2. Lie. Tell you interviewers how indispensable you were at your previous job. How they cried when you left (Here you mustn't be too dramatic). How they have doubled your salary in just a few months because that good you were. What important contracts your previous employees signed because of you or how has your insight solved the company's most dreadful problem in years.
3. Lie. Make sure you praise the job you have applied. Tell them that is your dream job. That you have wanted all your life to work in such an environment and be surrounded with such experienced people. When they ask you where do you see yourself in 3 years – the only possible answer (that will get you the job) is: in a company like yours working myself out, giving my best to make things work

To sum up what the HR people expect from you is hear what they want. You cannot always match your CV with the job requirements. So, for the job interview to be a zero sum game you need to provide them with all sorts of LIES. Good luck to you all!

Princess Kate Photo Scandal

Source: Wikipedia.org

The latest photos of princes Kate published in the French magazine Closer made me hate scandalous press even more. What the hell is wrong with this world!!!

The pictures reveal the Duchess removing her bikini top while she was sunbathing at a private home in the South of France three weeks ago.

Shot from a distance, the blurry photos triggered the royal house indignation reminding everyone of the unfortunate event that took place 15 years ago in the same country: Princess Diana's death.

"Their Royal Highnesses had every expectation of privacy in the remote house. It is unthinkable that anyone should take such photographs, let alone publish them,” said a St. James’ Palace official. He added “The incident is reminiscent of the worst excesses of the press and paparazzi during the life of Diana, Princess of Wales, and all the more upsetting to the Duke and Duchess for being so.”

The photographers have clearly crossed every thinkable line possible.
What is your opinion?

Tips on advertising a contractor’s business

There are many ways for independent contractors to successfully market themselves and their services such as print ads, Yellow Pages or billboards. However, the best way today is a website that provides potential customers with all sorts of interesting information.

First and foremost, you should be very specific why your company or service is far superior to what most contractors have to offer. Point out your qualities: years of experience and/or education, well trained staff, pick-up and delivery services, rapidity in fulfilling the contracts. This is the section where you can openly boast.

Photographs are a viable way to describe what you do. For example, if you offer custom framing, take some pictures of your most unique work and place them on your website. Potential customers are always stimulated by visual aids.

If you’re not selling products appropriate for photographs, don’t worry you can use "props" to make your website design more interesting. Remember, in the end your goal is to capture their attention before other contractors do it.

Through your website, make sure you maintain a high level of quality regarding your products or services. Steer away from anything negative at all cost and never mock the business of other contractors. Such an approach will definitely not be appreciated by your customers.

Keeping your website simple and easy to navigate is the key. A FAQ section is a must for explaining most asked questions. For example, how much are the charges for working hours or for shipping.

When dealing with customers through a website, keep in mind that the customer is always right even if he or she will bring into discussion the services of other contractors. It’s important that you remain diplomat and aware that in the end your place among contractors will be determined by your customers.

Tips on parenting teens

Parenting teens is a difficult task and if you read this article then you know it best. If you want your teen to trust and listen to you and most importantly to respect you then you need to know that parenting teens effectively requires learning some fundamental skills. These skills are not difficult and they’re something you’re probably already familiar with. However, skipping or not applying them appropriately will only push your teen further away from you.

If you want your teenager to listen to you, you must first listen to him. This is common knowledge for everyone, isn’t it? The question is: are you doing it.

Respect is an earned quality and nowhere is this saying more valid than when parenting teens. Forget about your cell phone or newspaper and concentrate on what your child wants to say to you. If you won't listen to your teen, why in the world should he “really” listen to you? Teens are very good at knowing when someone is on their side or when they are being merely accommodated.

When parenting teens, you need to play the role of a leader. Look at your own life and ask yourself if “you” are interested in following “you”. Your answers will give you an insight on how your teen looks at you and what you need to do to get your child to confide in you.

Everyone who is parenting teens need to be skilled at listening and gaining respect.

When it comes to parenting teens, there are no magic formulas that bring guaranteed success. However it is very important to focus on your teen’s needs and show that they are important to you. You’ll see that in no time he’ll be telling you more than whom he thinks will win the football match this weekend.

How to choose a name for your business

Naming your business is a very important task that shouldn’t be left to chance. The name you choose should be easy to pronounce, easy to remember and easy to spell. You don’t want your customers to beat their brains out when talking about your company or recommending you business to someone.

 

To avoid that here are three ways in which you can name your business 

1. Acronyms. I know it sounds tacky but acronyms are an effective way to name your company. Each letter can represent a value that your business stands for or something that relates to you personally. Bringing your personality and beliefs into your business will make your activity more appealing to your potential clients. In the end besides the quality of the products or services you are going to offer your customers will often feel the need to relate with the values you promote
2. Friends and family. When naming your new business consulting your loved ones is important as they will give you constructive feedback regarding the path that you should or shouldn’t follow. Don’t be discouraged if they agree or disagree with all your ideas keep nagging them until you receive the answer that you are looking for.
3. Present the business and start an online campaign calling everyone on your network to pitch in with an idea. When choosing the right name for your company more important than family and friends are your future customers’ opinions. In the end they will have the final word. Present your business on the social network platforms you most frequently use (like Twitter or Facebook) and start a name my company campaign. This way you get two birds in one stone throw. First you will get an objective opinion regarding the name of your business and second you get to present your business to your target clients. You can add a price to your campaign: the winner of the best name can get one of your service or product for free.