Posts Tagged ‘employment’
Cover Letter Etiquette
Whether you?ve written one or one hundred cover letters in your lifetime, they can present enough challenges to make you dread the process each time. It?s for this reason that many people resort to the ?carbon copy? cover letter as opposed to creating an original one for each job application.
The ?carbon copy? cover letter is not recommended because it lacks authenticity. Even worse, it forces you to turn your back on cover letter etiquette. If you want to make sure that your cover letter is unique and appropriate, let?s take a look at some cover letter etiquette tips to consider.
Tip #1: Keep the Cover Letter Personal
The first tip to keep in mind when writing a cover letter is that you want to make sure that it?s personal. You may have read in a business writing book at some point that it?s common to address the reader as ?Dear Sir or Madam? or ?To Whom It May Concern.? While these terms can be appropriate when absolutely necessary, it?s better to track down the hiring manager at a company so that you may address him or her directly (ex. Dear Mr. Smith) in your salutation.
Tip #2: Focus on the Employer?s Needs
Another etiquette tip to keep in mind when creating your cover letter is focusing on the employer?s needs. This concept goes back to the ?carbon copy? cover letter that looks just like the last 15 you?ve written. It?s always important to keep in mind that no two jobs are exactly the same, which is why your cover letters shouldn?t be the same either. To honor these differences, it?s good to focus on the specific needs of the employer and afterward addressing your own strengths and how they can help the company achieve their desired success. This way, you can help the hiring manager more easily align the company?s goals with your qualifications, which in turn can increase your chances of being hired.
Tip #3: Dot Your I?s and Cross Your T?s
Another aspect of cover letter etiquette is making sure that you proofread every word, ensure all grammar is correct, and most importantly, make sure that every bit of information you offer is 100% honest. You don?t want the employer to run a background check only to find out you?ve lied on any of your documentation. So before submitting your cover letter, it?s important to ensure every I is dotted and every T is crossed.
Tip #4: Keep it Short and Sweet
The fourth tip to consider when writing your cover letter is length. If you become passionate about what you?re writing, you can easily say too much, which can frustrate the hiring manager who has many more to read. So in the writing process, your job is to explain why you?re qualified and why you want the job as concisely as possible. This way, the hiring manager won?t trash your cover letter before getting to all of those great qualifications that would have otherwise gotten you hired for the job. Now that you?ve learned a little about cover letter etiquette, it?s time to get started on your own. What are you waiting for? Your next job is just a great cover letter away.
Heather Eagar is a former professional resume writer and is passionate about providing working professionals with current, reliable and effective job search tools and information. Need a resume writing service? Compare the top ones in the industry at http://resumelines.com.
Oil Rig Employment: Three Things to Do Before You Start Job Hunting
As long as the world runs on oil, prospects for oil rig employment will remain bright. Whether for use as energy or in the chemical industry, there is still no replacement for oil despite billions of dollars of research. With the International Energy Agency projecting that oil companies worldwide will spend $20 trillion in the next 25 years on oil exploration, there will be plenty of oil rig jobs. Even if one company lets go of its workers, another will take up the slack. Keep your eyes and ears open and you will have no trouble finding offshore oil rig jobs.
1. Get Yourself Trained For Offshore Oil Rig Jobs
When you don’t have actual working experience, getting yourself trained is a good way to get ahead of all the other job seekers without experience. Too many people are reluctant to spend money on their own self-development, education and training. Instead, they expect handouts from the government and their employers. So this is a good way to stand out from the crowd.
Training can be expensive, but when you consider that the oil industry pays double the average salary of nearly every other industry, it is clearly a good investment. So how do you get this training?
Nowadays, community colleges and vocational colleges are partnering with companies in the oil industry to provide relevant training. In the USA, the Department of Labor has a program called JobCorps which subsidizes the vocational training for disadvantaged youths. In the UK, servicemen leaving active service also have subsidized training for the oil industry.
2. Clear All The Paperwork And Red Tape
Unfortunately, offshore oil rigs are subject to a lot of government red tape. Some of this is due to international treaties, and some due to the usual federal government interference. Then the state governments, the unions, lawyers and lobbyists also want a piece of the pie.
If you have previous offshore oil rig job experience, you probably already have some of the paperwork and certifications needed. If not, you may want to get your offshore survival certificate, helicopter underwater escape training certificate, first aid certification, firefighting certification, passport, vaccinations, medical fitness certificate, union membership, trade certifications (e.g. welding, mechanic, electrician, etc.).
Are all these pieces of paper really necessary? That depends on where you want to work.
3. Settle Your Personal Affairs
Once you get hired, you’ll want to start work immediately. So you should get all your personal affairs settled ahead of time. Arrange for your home mortgage, property taxes, utilities bills, phone bills, personal insurance and any other payments to be automatically deducted from your bank account. Check with an accountant or tax lawyer if there are any special claims you can make for your income tax. At one time, US citizens working overseas were tax-exempt. And remember to pack your bags ahead of time. It’s a hell of a thing to remember that you forgot your spare underwear when you are in the middle of the ocean.
If you are serious about looking for oil rig employment, then you’ll do whatever it takes to get hired. Settle your training requirements, legal paperwork and personal affairs ahead of time.
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What it Takes to Be a Nurse
Nurses are special professionals whom most people consider to be pillars of society, having the strength, compassion and skills to care for hundreds of sick or injured people everyday. Nurses come from all walks of life and there has always been a great deal of demand for them. If you are considering becoming a nurse, you may have many questions most importantly ‘Do I have what it takes to be a nurse?’ Read on to see what it takes to be a nurse in today’s world to see if you do.
The different levels of nursing and education. If you are considering nursing school, you may have already realized that there is a good deal of competition to get into the best programs. However, there is such a need for qualified nurses that you can get into a program and learn the skills you need to succeed. Before you do, one thing you may want to consider is what level of nursing you want to go for. Nursing care starts with a basic level (Certified Nurses Aid) to the more advanced nursing levels, (Registered Nurses and onward) each taking a required amount of time in coursework, clinicals and testing. What kind of patient population you want to work with determined the level of schooling you will need. So you must be able to commit to at least one to six years of education and costs. You will also be required to maintain any licenses you earn through continual training and courses if needed to keep up with advances and changes in medicine – can you do it?
Physical and emotional strength. If you are considering nursing as a career, at any age or skill level, you will need to be aware that nursing is a very physically and emotionally demanding job. You can expect to be standing, lifting and on your feet for up to 16 hours at a time. You also will be exposed not only to many illnesses, body fluids and different procedures, but you will also be dealing with patient families. There may be times when you will have to make decisions in a matter of seconds in order to provide life saving treatment to a patient. You may be asked to tell a patient or family member bad news and then have to stay focused to offer support to them while maintaining a high level of care regardless of the outcome. You may have to deal with very uncooperative patients or aggressive or dangerous people. Nursing is a demanding career both physically and emotionally and its up to you to stay strong and handle these roles – can you do it?
Nurses don’t expect thanks. If you are a nurse, you will probably encounter many times when you will not feel appreciated. You may be dealing with difficult patients all day, then a doctor who wants to remind you that you are not a doctor or worse yet, another nurse with more experience or rank than you – who makes sure you know that. Caring for patients can become a chore if you expect a thank you from them. Nurses are required to fulfill so many roles within the healthcare system that they often feel taken for granted or unrecognized. If you want to be a nurse, you will need to be able to deal with these things and rise above in order to be a great nurse. Can you?
If you read the above and you still think you would like to be a nurse, then by all means check out the many wonderful nursing programs available today. There are many opportunities awaiting you in nursing.
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