#I got a list of prospective jobs from a job hunting service and they were all social media management and marketing positions

[humankarkat]

sends one professional email and throws up and throws up and throws up and thr

[pathparazzi]

Thoughts re: Job Hunting

Today, I received a rejection email from a prospective employer. What surprised me was that neither the chairman, whom I'd met several times, nor the AP director (APD) who would have been my immediate boss had reached out for follow-up before this email made its way to my inbox. All I got was a formulaic letter from HR telling me that they were considering other candidates.

I am at the end of my job hunt so I feel more at liberty to discuss my thoughts on this particular interview, several aspects of which have been anonymized. And before I go on, I'm going to go back in time to the beginning to give some context.

When I applied, I had not expected an interview from this institution for a couple of reasons:

First, they wanted someone with job experience. As I've seen on several academic job postings, they read something like "entry-level position, 5-10 years experience required", and this posting was essentially no different. Also, we are in a critical pathology shortage that will likely last for years to come and the application pool is largely fresh grads so...

Second, I learned not to expect anything from online job applications because in spite of the "booming job market" for pathologists and the wide net I'd cast, I barely heard back from anyone.

For instance, I applied for a job near the place I trained for residency, as they were in a hiring frenzy and I wanted to be close to the city. I submitted my application online and emailed their chair directly to express my interest in the position. Months passed, I heard nothing, and then the job postings vanished. A separate job posting close to family and friends took three months for a response, and this was after several attempts on my part, as well as my colleagues, to reach out. It has not been an easy journey by any means, so I'm grateful to be near the end of it all.

So, back to this job listing. I was pleasantly surprised to learn my director (whom I semi-jokingly call God) had spoken to the APD there who was a former colleague of his. God had given me a glowing recommendation, as had my previous director, so this APD opted to interview me to gauge compatibility and interest.

We met later over Zoom. The conversation was somewhat stilted - he was interviewing me while covering service - and our conversation ended after he got called away during a natural lull. While I had some reservations, I suppressed them mainly because he was just one person in what could potentially be a whole chain of people I could call my colleagues.

Next up was the chairman. He was loquacious and boastful of his department, the hospital system, and the city as well. One thing he liked to harp on was that they were flush with money and that they would not leave me wanting for anything. He talked up the specialties I'd be interested in and the fact that this city was great for single people (something he technically shouldn't have inquired about but I have no issue answering). I figured that this would be quite an opportunity and a whole new world if this all worked out.

Over the next few weeks, multiple emails were exchanged. They booked me a flight and a stay at a hotel. I won't go into the details of everything that transpired in between, so I'll skip ahead to the interview.

I was very impressed by how meticulously all of these logistics had been planned. There was a driver awaiting me at the airport, and the driving service had my number on hand. I was picked up, offered water, and driven to the hotel, which was much nicer than I anticipated. Because my flight arrived relatively late into the night, I quickly unpacked and went to bed.

The itinerary was spread out over 2 days and it was set up in such a way that I would meet with the chairman 3 separate times but nowhere was it on the schedule that I would meet with the APD at any point. (I would later find out he was out of town on scholarly business.) It only included attendings from one of the specialties I would be signing out.

Day one. I was picked up and driven to the hospital. I did not realize how big and sprawling this campus was until I arrived. Several hospitals existed under one academic umbrella over several city blocks and throughout my interview, I would be transported to several different locations as well as entirely different hospitals.

I had a very long first meeting with the chairman. Again, he was a talker, and I was mildly wishing that I could just move on to the other interviews.

The interviewers/my potential colleagues at this first hospital were...alright. I couldn't help but notice that something seemed off during our interactions, and I got the sense that I wouldn't particularly get along with them past a professional standpoint. They seemed somewhat overworked and rigid. There seemed to be no space for chit-chat, only shop talk. And I did not notice any camaraderie.

For the service I would be covering, I learned that they had 3 pathologists for what seemed to be an obstructively busy workload, and no one seemed happy with this arrangement. They all told me that it was "busy but doable" more or less and that I would have support.

Midday, I gave my job talk which I thought went rather well. Of course, the chairman seemed very excited at the topic and even decided to invite someone who specialized in that field to attend.

I had more interviews later on, some of which felt particularly irrelevant to my field, and then I was dropped off at the hotel to rest and await dinner with the chairman.

He picked me up in his car and he took me out to a somewhat upscale restaurant that he frequented, to the point that the waitstaff recognized him. Two others joined us, one of whom would be a potential colleague as well, and the four of us had a good time for the most part.

However great dinner was, I felt uncomfortable with the chairman bringing up politics and my home country, and then passing summary judgment on it as if he knew best. If you couldn't already tell, he's an older white man, and he felt that he knew my home country better than I did. I tried to explain the reality of it, but he did not seem to care. It lent a brief awkwardness to the conversation, and then I changed the topic as smoothly as I could.

Afterwards, I was dropped off at the hotel and then I went to bed.

Day two. I gave a slide session with the residents. Only 3 out of 29 showed up with a bunch joining virtually (and silently). I was not particularly impressed with them except for one who nailed these differentials better than the senior who was present.

The rest of the day, I interviewed the other half of the colleagues in my specialty, and they practiced at a separate hospital. The moment I arrived, I could tell that they were happier, and that they liked each other. Their doors were open, and two of them were just casually chatting away until I walked in.

I had a blast with these people, whom I sadly wouldn't even get to work with if I got the job, and what I found interesting was that they all preferred to be at this hospital, not the main academic building where I'd interviewed yesterday. Their workflow seemed flexible and there was backup, unlike the other hospital.

After lunch, I ended up meeting with the special guest the chairman had invited to my job talk. We met in his office, and I didn't expect for him to insult me or the group I'd worked with. I didn't quite know what to say and he didn't seem to want to hear it either, just that he had better stuff than we did and that it was more expensive. It’s like the rich kid shaming the poor kid for wearing Gap clothes while he’s wearing Armani. Cool story, brah, you missed the entire point of the talk.

My last meeting of the day was with the chairman and my goodness, the guy could talk. He left the ball in my court, telling me that if I wanted to continue pursuing this job, then he would generate an offer letter and the like, so on and so forth. I let him know that I still had interviews and that I would reach out after everything was done so as to not waste his time. He seemed vaguely disappointed with that answer and wanted me to give him an answer sooner rather than later.

Before long, I was whisked away to the airport and I didn't even get a chance to change out of my suit.

// The "Postmortem" //

So, I was a little surprised to find such an impersonal rejection letter. I expected someone to reach out in the time that followed to gauge interest, and there was nothing. I didn't hear from the chair or the APD in the weeks that followed. Granted, I also could have reached out but I was interviewing elsewhere and busy being on service and he knew that.

I really don't know what their team's impression of me was, but I thought it was generally positive. My impression, however, was littered with red flags  and these are the ones I can think of off the top of my head. :

One of the wonderfully competent admin I was with told me that only a few people had applied for this position and no one seemed to want it

The chairman. He himself was a giant red flag...

I learned that he didn't actually know what my job workflow would be like

The politics issue at dinner and the fact he'd asked if I were single or married more than once

He also insulted my talk somewhat

The constant mention of having money...but the hospital not seeming to know how to use it well

Boasting so much to the point he actually lied to me about certain facts

The lack of awareness that pathology as a whole is facing such a terrible predicament

The only people I didn't really vibe with were the people I would be working constantly with, and they seemed overworked and unhappy

The lack of contact and follow-up with the APD

It seemed that several attendings I talked to had to give something up in order to advance in their careers

The complete and utter lack of masking inside the hospital seemed alarming

Being insulted by a guy who didn't understand what my talk was about

As for the rejection, a friend suggested that perhaps they got their top pick (which seems unlikely given how few people applied), or that someone else answered sooner. Either way, I hope whoever they hired will be happy there.

[bltngames]

Review: Super Mario Sunshine

Super Mario Sunshine is a weird game for a lot of different reasons. It was among some of the first game reviews I ever wrote for the internet, for one, all the way back in 2005. I was proud enough of that review that when it came time to relaunch TSSZ News in 2008, it was one of five archived reviews I transplanted on to the site. It was also a strange case where I became convinced it was a game I’d never play, originally. I was 23 years old, with no job, no money, and no prospects. I was desperate to play the game that was being sold as the sequel to Super Mario 64, but I could not envision a future where that would ever be possible.

Eventually, I reached my breaking point. Earlier that same year, somebody had linked me to something called “Quake Done Quick.” It was attached to a relatively new site, called the “Speed Demos Archive”, a hub for videos of people finishing games as fast as possible. The site was small, updated manually, and featured a list of roughly 100 games -- maybe less. This was before Youtube, so these were downloadable video files, usually in AVI or MPG format. And it was here that they had a Super Mario Sunshine speedrun. Even on my fledgling broadband internet, it took a considerable amount of time to download. But, with nothing more than two hours of raw, unedited, uncommentated gameplay footage, I watched a user named “Dragorn” play through the entire game (his old run is still viewable on the Internet Archive). Watching a speedrunner flip, spin, and trick his way across levels, I became convinced that Sunshine was incredible.

A few months later, I was surprised by my brother with $200 for Christmas, stuffed inside a greeting card. He said it was for “all the Christmases he missed” since moving out, years ago. Combined with other money I’d received in gifts, I headed to a Gamestop and purchased a Gamecube with my own (used) copy of Super Mario Sunshine. In my mind, it did not matter that I had spoiled the entire game for myself only three months earlier with the speedrun video. Watching someone else play is no substitute for a controller in your own hands. I needed to play it for myself.

In the modern context, Super Mario Sunshine is one of the games attached to the recently released Super Mario 3D All-Stars collection. Full disclosure: I will not be buying this collection, and I have not played the version of Super Mario Sunshine it includes. It’s not that these games are bad, but even from the outside looking in, the collection looks underwhelming. It’s full of basic, bare-bones ports of games that deserve more. But it does mean that these games have been on my mind, particularly Super Mario Sunshine, which I finished replaying, separately, a little more than one year ago. It was the first time I’d finished the game since that fateful Christmas of 2004, and it provided a refresh in perspective.

The truth of the matter is, brushing aside everything else about it, Super Mario Sunshine is an easy game to hate. Nintendo was trying a lot of new things with the Gamecube, struggling to figure out what could be done with the leap in horsepower over the Nintendo 64. Their pitch was a Mario that was subtly more serious and realistic. Sunshine is a game with a surprisingly large number of cinematics, and a considerable amount of narrative setup. It sounds like a joke, but it’s true: the game opens with Mario taking a long-deserved vacation on a tropical island, only to be arrested and wrongfully accused of crimes he did not commit. He is sentenced to community service, forced to clean the island of a paint-like substance its residents claim he has used to vandalize their resort town. This is accomplished with the F.L.U.D.D., a backpack-mounted squirt gun perfect for washing down walls and floors. It was the first manual labor he’d been shown doing since the NES version of Wrecking Crew in 1985.

It’s odd territory for Mario, but it leads to the game’s first real problem: Plot. Sunshine is not a game that’s packed with story -- there aren’t a lot of named characters, and there aren’t a lot of genuine story arcs to get hooked in to, but it’s way more than you got in most Mario games. Regardless, the influence of a narrative structure is definitely felt within its levels. One of the benefits of Super Mario 64 is that there was no set order to anything; you might drop in to a level with a specific goal in mind, only to accidentally stumble on to something else. You were encouraged to follow your curiosity, collecting stars more through natural exploration. Even though it’s not always obvious on the surface, the objectives in Super Mario Sunshine are following a specific plotline, which means flat, rigid linearity.

So you might reach an amusement park area, but you can’t go inside until you finish the mission where you open the front gates. Even once you re-enter the level for the next mission inside the amusement park, exploring its various rides will be a moot point, as the game will want you to focus on a specific goal instead. Want to ride the rollercoaster? Too bad, the story dictates it’s not available yet. Though you still have that go-anywhere, do-anything world design from Super Mario 64, the current mission is the only thing that’s ever active. Another example: at the beginning of the game, you open up the first stage -- Bianco Hills. Even though you have a whole village and a sizable lake area to explore, there’s little to do out there, because your mission is about reaching the bottom of the windmill. The second mission, again, doesn’t involve the village or the lake, but now asks you to reach the top of the same windmill in order to fight the game’s first boss, Petey Piranha. And so it goes: big zones to explore, but most of it useless as Sunshine slowly trickles out objectives one at a time, following a barely-visible narrative that drags everything down.

Nintendo had other intentions for the game, too. The company was known for taking its time with game releases -- Super Mario World released in 1990, and it took six years for Super Mario 64 to follow it up. Even once a game was announced, there were often months or even years of delays as the game got pushed back, and back, and back, as with Ocarina of Time. Similarly long waits happened for many of Nintendo’s other flagship franchises (Super Mario Kart, Super Metroid, etc.), and the peanut gallery was getting restless. With the release of the Gamecube, Nintendo made a vow to explore other avenues to release more games, more quickly.

The problem was, all of those delays are exactly what lead to Nintendo’s extremely high bar of quality. Rushing these games out the door meant cutting corners and finding easy ways to tack on extra play time, skipping necessary fine tuning. In The Wind Waker, this notoriously led to the last fourth of the game, wherein you must find and decode maps to dredge up half a dozen pieces of the magical Triforce. For most, this meant hours of sailing out to random, completely featureless areas in the middle of the open ocean hoping to find a single golden tortilla chip. “Tedious” is putting it kindly, but it saved Nintendo from having to delay the game too many times in order to add more in-depth content.

In Super Mario Sunshine, this manifested in a degree of repetition that is difficult to ignore. In both Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Galaxy, most mission objectives are unique. There are occasional repeated missions, like finding 8 red coins, but by and large it's things like rescuing a baby penguin, opening a pyramid, assaulting an airship, or finding your way through a gravity-bending maze. There's enough variety that you don't notice as much when you're asked to do yet another one of Galaxy's purple coin comets.

Sunshine still has unique goals like that, but they are much fewer and farther between. Instead, the bulk of the game is filled with doing the same four or five missions over, and over, and over again. Finding fruit to hatch Yoshi or hunting red coins can be fun occasionally, but Sunshine often makes you do this stuff multiple times per level. Most bosses also must be faced at least twice, sometimes up to three times, and very little changes from fight to fight. And then there are the races -- a man named Piantissimo is waiting for you in most stages, looking to race you to an arbitrary landmark, and every single level has one penultimate mission where you must chase down the hero's evil doppelganger, Shadow Mario. It’s padding, basically, and thanks to a tenuous grip on narrative, there’s few ways to skip the things you don’t want to do.

This isn't even touching on the game's blue coins. They're one of Sunshine's rarer collectibles, and ten blue coins can be traded at the shop for a single Shine Sprite (the main item central to the story). The majority of blue coins can be found by hosing down graffiti found around the island. Spray a circle-shaped pattern on one wall, and a blue coin pops out of another circle-shaped pattern on the opposite side of the level, which you must run to and collect before it disappears. Then, the opposite: spray down the second pattern, and another blue coin will appear back where the first graffiti used to be. In a game full of rerun objectives, this is the worst offender. Rarely are these blue coin graffiti spots interesting or challenging; they primarily exist to fill space and fluff up the Shine counter.

The level concepts themselves also suffer from this repetition. In any other Mario game, “tropical island” would be one theme among many other level types, like deserts, volcanoes and frozen lakes. Sunshine tries to stretch its one theme out to last an entire game, and in practical terms, this means that even after 18 years and two complete playthroughs (three, if you count the speedrun video), I still can’t remember most areas in any kind of specific detail. I remember a couple stage names, maybe a few environmental traits (like the hotel at sunset or the amusement park), but anything beyond that and it all starts blurring into homogeneous beaches, docks, and villages. Even the music -- beyond the iconic acoustic guitar of the Delfino Plaza hub world song, absolutely nothing about Super Mario Sunshine’s soundtrack stands out as memorable in the slightest. Every part of this game plays, looks and sounds like every other part in the worst way possible.

And yet, through some miracle, Super Mario Sunshine does not come out the other end being a bad game. It’s not necessarily good, either, mind you. But when I finally managed to get my hands on this game back in 2004, it made me angry. Super Mario 64 was a tough act to follow, and rather than build on those concepts, Sunshine felt like a massive regression. Nowadays, it’s easier to see the bigger picture. Super Mario Sunshine was a stop-gap as Nintendo slowly pushed Mario back to a more linear, level-based structure. Super Mario Galaxy was another step in this direction, doing away with the open worlds in favor of traditional, straight-forward level design, something that would later be perfected in Super Mario 3D Land and Super Mario 3D World.

That makes Sunshine more of a curious black sheep than anything else. It’s definitely not a game worth hating -- its biggest offense is simply being dull, and there are worse fates. For my replay, it became the sort of game I chipped away at, bit by bit, over the course of nearly three years. As it turns out, the best cure for repetition is to forget everything you were doing the last time you played. It’s even fitting on some level that a game about Mario taking a vacation is best served in lazy, slow, indifferent chunks. Make no mistake -- there are better, more polished, and more engaging platformers out there for you to play. It is in no way a stretch to call Super Mario Sunshine the worst 3D Mario game, but it speaks to the franchise’s high bar of quality that even the worst 3D Mario game really isn’t so bad.

[purplesurveys]

921

LOL was gone for a while to attempt doing that ridiculous 5000 survey myself again and I really thought I was going to breeze through it this time. 2 1/2 weeks and 2500 questions later, I need a fucking break. Need normal surveys plz.

What was the best thing to happen to you this week? Got to visit Gabie today! I brought Cooper as well so that she, her sisters, and their puppy Tofu could finally meet him. Fun day, but I am beat. The blackout yesterday also made me revisit painting, and that felt so good too.

Where do you put your keys when you get home? It always differs, idk why I never picked up a routine. Sometimes I set it on the dining table, other times on the decorative table in the living room, and other times I bring it up with me to my room.

Do you prefer hot coffee or iced coffee? I preferred hot (warm would be more accurate) for the longest time but once I went iced, I never wanted to go back. 

What's your phone background picture? I recently changed my lock screen to one of Audrey Hepburn. My home screen is still Hayley Williams.

If you could move to any country, what would it be? Anywhere with a clean and honest government sounds like heaven.

Have you ever seen a snake in the wild? No. Can’t say there’s a lot of them here in the city, and I’ve never seen any in my trip to provinces either.

What's your favourite movie from the 80s? Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

Do you have any posters, paintings or other artwork on your walls? I have at least one of each of these, yes.

What would your dream wedding be like? Huge. I’d want a long guest list, expansive food choices, and acts that can provide good music throughout the evening. I never really throw parties for myself, so I would want at least my own wedding to be big.

Would you ever take a trip to space if given the chance? Yesssssss.

How do you cope with anxiety? I'm lucky to have found different outlets, so that said I usually choose from taking surveys, watching a favorite channel on YouTube, turning to my dogs, going to social media to see dumb memes, or taking a nap altogether. Of course there’ll always be those days where none of these work out and I’ll have to just cry through the anxiety attacks until they’re over.

Are you expecting any phone calls or emails? I’m expecting an email from my college, yes. I’m currently applying for civil service eligibility and they’re asking for documents that only the college can provide, so I emailed them a couple of days ago asking for assistance, and that’s considering we’re still under a lockdown and most offices are still under skeleton staffing.

What's the weather like in your part of the world right now? LOVELY. I actually wear oversized sweaters to bed now and I even managed to wear a thick denim jacket out today. The rainy weather has settled beautifully, and I’m perfectly fine with 24ºC-28ºC everyday.

What was the last takeout food you ate? My mom bought me and my siblings a chicken sandwich and chicken nuggets each from McDonald’s last week.

Who makes you laugh the most? Definitely someone from my college barkada. I can’t decide whether it’s Aya, Kate, JM, or Jum; they’re all equally hilarious as fuck.

Do you know anyone with the same middle name as you? See these questions are always weird to me because my country has its own naming customs; it’s basically a mix of American and Spanish customs. We have two first names (where Westerners would understand their second ‘first’ name to be their middle name) and our actual legal middle name is our mother’s maiden surname (which I think doesn’t apply at all in the Western world). So to answer this I’ll go with our own customs and say that no, I don’t know of anyone who has the same middle name as me. It’s not a very common surname anyway.

What did you have done the last time you saw a dentist? Had a tooth removed. I don’t think it was a wisdom tooth; it was just a tooth at the back of my mouth that had been in pretty bad shape for years but was only discovered at that time.

What does a successful relationship look like to you? I believe the formula is different for every couple. Like I value constant communication and checkups, but others might not feel the need to be clingy or update their significant others all the time.

What do you like to put on your baked potato? Don’t really have these a lot, but I remember when my mom used to make baked potatoes with bacon and cheese and those were unbelievably good.

What field of science interests you the most? Biology. <3 I’m sure I would’ve taken up medicine if I only wasn’t so bad in the rest of the sciences.

What's the closest shop or restaurant to your house? There aren’t any nearby shops since I live in a gated community, but once you get out of the village’s main gate, the first thing to the left is a McDonald’s. To the right is a small complex with a hair salon, burger place, music school, and one of those boujee stores that sell hype clothing.

Do you have any family that live in another country? So many relatives. We’re Filipinos, man. We migrate everyfuckingwhere. As far as I know I have family living in the US, Canada, Vietnam, Japan, China, Australia, and New Zealand.

What colour is your couch? Gray.

Do you know how to care for plants and keep them alive? Not at all. Every single plant that I’ve been given as a gift or party giveaway has died on me.

What was the most memorable birthday you've had? 18th was awesome. Cruise trip, hotel stay with friends, Tiendesitas + noodle date with Gab. How I got away with three separate celebrations without my parents saying anything about it I’ll never know.

Would you rather go to the beach or the mountains? Beach. The area where I live is mountainous as it is; as someone who’s always lived and studied in the city, a trip to the beach in the province never gets old.

What do you do for work? I don’t have any yet but I’m waiting for openings for our national agency for either history, or culture and the arts. My plans have shifted recently and I’m now eyeing to work for either instead of rotting away while underpaid at a corporate agency.

Have you ever been to see the circus? No. I wouldn’t be interested either; they all just seem so harsh and unethical. 

Are there any words that you hate or make you cringe? Sure.

What is the best house you've ever lived in? The one we live in today has been the most comfortable; but I also hold a lot of nostalgia for my dad’s parents’ house in Tondo because of how raw Manila life was there. Life wasn’t pretty, but it did feel real.

What was the first CD you ever bought? The first CD I actively wanted my parents to buy for me was probably the High School Musical soundtrack, heheh.

Do you look in the mirror before you leave the house? Yeah, always. Wanna make sure my shirt is tucked in properly (if it is), or that my jeans aren’t cuffed funny or whatever else.

What's the most unusual thing you've ever eaten? I’ve mentioned this before but it was the Indian dessert gulab jamun. Really did not expect the flavor that came in when it hit my mouth.

Have you ever seen someone quit their job in a dramatic way? I’ve never had a legit job, but when Jeuel quit the org a couple of years ago because of ~irreconcilable differences~ between him and us officers in the executive board it did feel a tad bit dramatic and passive-aggressive.

What movie reminds you of your childhood? Shrek 2 or The Game Plan.

Do you know why your parents named you what they did? The singer named Robyn was really big then and they ended up being fans of the name.

Do you have any bills that need to be paid? None of my own. My parents usually pay the family bills immediately, so I don’t think we have any pending payments for now.

What do you like to dip your fries in? Mayonnaise.

Is your house clean or messy right now? It’s always clean as my mom is extremely tidy.

What was the last email you received? It’s one of the job-hunting websites I’ve signed up for, giving me job alerts for new openings in my chosen industries.

Do you know someone who speaks without a filter? Yeah and I know people who do it responsibly and those who just come off as tactless.

Are you in any social groups? We call our college group the Daydrinkers, since our friendship began when we started constantly hanging out at nearby bars at like 2 PM, during our breaks lol. I used to be in a barkada in high school but Angela and I broke apart from that since we couldn’t deal with Athenna’s toxicity anymore, though I still keep in touch with most of them, like Chelsea and Kaira. Since then Angela and I have formed our own group consisting mostly of Angela’s friends from architecture and Hans’ friends from Ateneo.

How many hours of sleep did you get last night? Sigh, around 4. I don’t know why it was so few, but it also means that I’m currently drowsy as all hell at 9:03 PM. I will most likely turn in for bed after this.

What's your favourite kind of museum? Those that cover history, so museums that have artifacts and fossils and shit.

Do you believe in alternate universes? I like the idea, and I love literature that explores the idea of alternate realities, multiple universes, pocket universes, etc. Whether or not I believe they exist...idk. I don’t think about it that much in literal terms. < Yeah pretty much. Gaby Dunn wrote an amazing piece on multiverses and that was what got me to find comfort in the idea.

Whose house did you last visit? I was at Gabie’s place this afternoon. We had burritos, talked about career prospects, and puppy-sat our babies.

What games do you play on your smart phone? I turn to 1010 when I’m bored or anxious. I have like 30 other games but I never touch them lol, but I do keep them should the time be right to whip them out.

Have you ever been to Los Angeles? I have not.

What was the first concert you ever went to? Paramore, February 2013. I was a late bloomer; kids my age started going to concerts at least three years before that.

Do you know anyone who is colourblind? I don’t think so.

What's your favourite season and why? The wet season, because it’s colder and I hate the heat during the dry season.

Are you the youngest, middle or eldest child in your family? I’m the eldest.

If you had to make something for a potluck, what would you make? I recently watched this phenomenal recipe for 48-hour chocolate chip cookies that looked absolutely bonkers when they were done baking. I’d for sure give those a try for dessert. If that fails I’d just buy the food so that what I bring is more guaranteed to be good.

What kinds of decorations do you put up at Halloween? My family has never cared much for Halloween. It’s not even a legit holiday, so as much as I love Halloween I don’t think I would spend for decorations myself to decorate my own place. The only instance I imagine doing so would be if I have kids of my own who may want to get into the Halloween ~spirit.

How many tabs do you have open right now? In my current window, eight.

What's something you've been meaning to do but keep putting off? Taking another online course, just because it’s great to learn new things and earn free certifications while at it. I haven’t been doing a good job at being consistent with them, though.

What's the first thing you check on your phone at the start of the day? Facebook since it’s my primary social media now. Literally never thought this day would come.

Have you ever flown a kite? Yeah but it’s been a while.

Who was your favourite music artist when you were 16? This was the time I was slowly moving away from my punk phase and inching closer to Athenna’s music tastes, so I was into acts like Hozier, Banks, Daya, Twenty One Pilots, etc.

What are three things you usually always have in your fridge? Water, bread, eggs.

[florence839]

Many small business owners will here hear the term'search engine optimisation' (or SEO) from friends in the business community or even competitions and may consider it as a path to increasing sales, but what's SEO? Alternatively, a business owner may have attempted'SEO solutions' previously and found it didn't work as well as expected or was working, but not as effective - this article explains what SEO is, and why'brand new' SEO is working better than ever. I've been working in search engine optimisation and ranking website marketplace, before it was even called SEO. Here are the modifications in SEO because the start of the new century and exactly what you ought to be searching for in the search engine optimization services your SEO Agency offers or supplies. We take a look back in SEO through the years and clarify what SEO is now and how best to utilise it for our website. SEO in 2000 Back at the beginning of the Millennium that the'large' search engines that many folks were using were Lycos and Excite. Websites were just one or 2 pages with basic information to permit them to load quickly (within 20 minutes ). Search engine optimization practices back then were to'hide' as many keywords on a page as you can, so the site was found for those searches without making the page look to spammy to people. Back in 2002 Google launched something called'AdWords' and it had been predicted to be the passing of SEO, as individuals could pay for prominence, on the now the number 1 website for beginning internet searches. Back in 2003, Yahoo purchased Inktomi, AltaVista and FAST, that was basically the end of all of the'smaller' search engines. Google began to stamp down on'spam' practices and websites. At precisely the exact same time Google realised that'AdWords' weren't going to kill SEO and that in fact the'natural listings' encouraged visitors back to their own search engine platform. Google started to recognise'specialist SEO' pros and encouraged good SEO instead of spamming SEO. 2004 saw the very first website'banned' from the internet as Google took actions against websites which were spamming them. In addition they took legal actions from the"SEO Company" responsible. To rank a website in 2006 you simply desired links back to your site and so purchasing links / link building has been the rage and many sites had a web page where they would list businesses and links to their own website (I'm still amazed how many sites continue this practice). Between 2004 and 2008 Google, was the only real"player" in the search engine world, started taking action against inferior linking practices and businesses and began tightening up on junk and purchasing links. The'Noughties" ended with all"gloomy" SEO practices being practically stamped out, as Google concentrated on rank sites based on their articles and it's significance to the research being carried out. SEO in 2010 Between 2010 and 2015 we started to find the search engines take notice of'Social Media' websites and soon the outcomes were full of Twitter'tweets' from the results. (I can still see the surface of one of my clients when searching Google for his business, and the first page of their search results were compiled of tweets of a Twitter conversation that two members of staff were having about how terrible the firm was!) Videos and images were also brought in to the research results with the Google'Caffeine' upgrade. Google introduced"search results" using all the sites shown in the search results based on your previous searches and sites you had seen previously. This caused a'bit of a stir' from the search engine optimization world as customers claimed their websites had been"high in Google" for any search they did related to their industry, simply because they had visited their own site many times previously, therefore Google naturally fed them back the website for all relevant searches. This may still be a bit of an issue until you show them the brand new'Google Incognito hunt'. The focus on rank websites was found for BIG key words. A'Plumber' in Bristol would want to rank for this search, so that has been the focus. Google'Panda' and'Penguin' updates killed off'link exchanges' with enormous penalties for websites who'd insignificant links pointing towards them. At precisely the same time Google introduced"no follow links" to allow websites to provide pertinent links to other sites and data without penalising both party. It was the beginning of"protected linking". Quality and appropriate content was now the key to rank in search engines. SEO 2020 and Onwards In ensuring that consumers got the ideal experience Google started rank mobile responsive or friendly sites (where the website automatically changes its size and format to fit the display ) higher in the rankings. The UK people were using their cellular phones for local searches, and local companies could gain an advantage over the big corporates or even'national' companies on the internet. The debut of'semantic search', where Google brings websites at the outcomes not based on the key words, but the articles onto a webpage, again altered the manner SEO agencies looked in working on websites. Position for its'Big' key words, for example'Plumber Bristol' became important, as net users became more informed with their searches. 'long-tail keywords', and as numerous as possible, started to grow website traffic and what's more, conversions. What is The SEO Process Now? It is probably correct to state that the procedures or practices associated with search engine optimisation have now out grown the word'SEO' In years gone by working the content and construction of a website was enough. Now, there is a whole lot more to do to not only rank a website in search engines, but to find customer involvement. An improved description of the service would be'digital marketing'. Old practices, as mentioned previously, supposed'big' key words were crucial to rank. A focus on a single keyword per page or perhaps for a whole website would rank the company and back then it was about'rankings'. Old way of doing SEO Today there are a number of elements to think about in regards to SEO. 'Semantic search' is the main driver and conversion the main goal, not rankings. A good instance of this is to choose the'Plumber Bristol' instance. A few years ago you'd have focused on rank the business for"Plumber Bristol","Plumber in Bristol" and perhaps"Emergency Plumber Bristol" - although this still holds true for companies offering a solution for'distress purchases' (where time plus an alternative outweigh the need for information and advice) better practice during a web site is to include content that offers advice and guidance and contains'long tail key words' (3 or 4 word searches) such as"Emergency plumber with free callout at Bristol" or"Reviews for an Emergency Plumber close me". Google needs the user to have the best experience and find the relevant information immediately, and semantic search achieves this. This is also sensible to get a company owner. Can you rather your website had been found by a searcher searching for"Plumber Bristol" where they might be after advice, looking to get a job, looking for a plumbing service which you might not provide, or for a particular and targeted search such as"best emergency Plumber near BS7″? Concerning keywords this is the greatest change Google have made and it is here to remain. SEO or digital marketing is no more about where you rank, but the number of different search phrases you can be found for their conversion in to paying customers. Website Content A couple of years back (and only 2 or 3 years back ) Google indicated to specialist SEO Agencies which 300 words on a webpage was adequate content. Every day I am asked to examine a web site by a prospective customer - and most of them have between 150 to 250 words onto a webpage. There are two ways to look at this. Either Google needs to change it's expectations as most sites don't satisfy their grade or a different way to look at that is as a simple way to jump the contest by simply adding content to your site. Can you think Google will reduce it's expectations or expect sites to improve to their own standard? Google published the'mobile friendly' update knowing that somewhere around 80 percent of websites would need to be upgraded - and they did it anyhow as it gained over 50 percent of there users. Quality articles impacts 100% of their customers. I recommend to our customer roughly 800 words each page. This is sufficient articles to be'semantic search' friendly, provide relevant content and not be too word heavy. Great practice would be to have: Page Title - state what the page is all about ('Big' Keyword if you must)Headline - asking a questionFirst paragraph describes briefly explains the articles / solutionPicture / or videoLonger description of the solutionTake our Emergency Plumber in Bristol, as an example: Page Title: Emergency Plumber Bristol Headline: Are you looking for the best emergency plumber near you in Bristol? First Paragraph: Smith Plumbing provide a 24 hour emergency plumbing service in Bristol. We don't charge a call out fee and may be with you in 20 minutes. That's why our customer reviews and feedback say we're the best emergency plumbing service in your region. Call now on... Image of the van or the Plumber looking skilled Longer description: What they could fix, common problems they solve, a few of the quotations from their clients etc.. This has a number of advantages. Firstly, those men and women who just need a Plumber will read the first paragraph, see the image of this van (build authority and professionalism) and telephone the Plumber. Other people would want to have more information that they may find further down the page. Is this cheating at SEO? Absolutely NOT. You are providing relevant information to the consumer and Google will love you for this. How content is organised and composed on a webpage is your"new" SEO. In the event that you have been a Plumber would you rather be seen for one enormous keyword or several relevant customer converting keywords? Old practices were to make site content to the search engines. Now you need to create content to give value for customers. This is a simpler process than you may think. What were the last 5 client enquiries to your small business? What was the problem they had been trying to resolve? Write about the problem and your solution. Link Building This year we've a very large company contact us about their SEO and they were horrified when we suggested they had to eliminate their 1.4 MILLION hyperlinks back to their own site as they had spent a fortune over the years purchasing the hyperlinks. Inbound links, and the more you have the more damaging it's, highlights to Google the irrelevance of your website - regardless of how important it might be. Nowadays, a couple of, relevant links is much superior than a Million hyperlinks back to your website. Nowadays, links have to be built through participating relationships. Taking our Plumber once more, a link back from the'Gas Safe enroll', a local pipes centre or toilet showroom, and a few local websites that enjoy his advice would be enough. Social Media Though we still get a some companies like this today, a few years back when we suggested businesses ought to be on Facebook I was normally told"Facebook - which is for teens is not it? That isn't our market". If done well, Facebook can induce more traffic and paying customers to your door compared to your site. Facebook's biggest user group is 25 to 34 year olds, second biggest is the 35 to 44 years old age category. Facebook Users UK era - courtesy of statista Facebook enables a company to build a brand, engage customers, get customer reviews and instant customer feedback. Unlike reviews on your site which potential customer may see should they visit your website, a review on Facebook is seen instantly by all the users friends and when their buddy'likes' the comment - all of their pals, buddies. Increasingly more of our customers are getting leads from Facebook. People are asking their friends for tips on businesses to use and getting heaps of ideas back - if you're on Facebook you are more likely to get a direct link to your contact info. What's next for'Social Media'? Live streaming! Twitter has purchased a company called'Periscope' which permits you to live stream video in the mobile phone. "What exactly?" I hear our 'emergency plumber' asking. If I had been a Plumber I would be live streaming my work since I fix a problem, together with the video going out live to all my followers and their buddies - my own television channel that is free-to-air across the entire world. Video Marketing There aren't any'old' SEO methods for video since it just didn't exist and when YouTube started out it had been for showing funny videos of cats and the like. Now that has changed. YouTube is the 2nd largest search engine in the world and is owned by Google. YouTube has over 1 BILLION users globally and every minute, 300 hours of videos are uploaded. It might take you about two years to watch all the videos which will be uploaded within the next hour. It might take you the rest of your life to see all the movies uploaded today. Google's own statistics state that by 2018 73% of searches put to an internet search engine is going to bring about the individual watching a movie. Consider it a different way, in a couple of years after 10 people hunt the internet to your product or service - 7 of these will watch a movie, two will go to a website. That is why I create videos to our clients as part of our'digital marketing service'.

[wickedbananas]

NEW On-Demand Crawl: Quick Insights for Sales, Prospecting, & Competitive Analysis

Posted by Dr-Pete

In June of 2017, Moz launched our entirely rebuilt Site Crawl, helping you dive deep into crawl issues and technical SEO problems, fix those issues in your Moz Pro Campaigns (tracked websites), and monitor weekly for new issues. Many times, though, you need quick insights outside of a Campaign context, whether you're analyzing a prospect site before a sales call or trying to assess the competition.

For years, Moz had a lab tool called Crawl Test. The bad news is that Crawl Test never made it to prime-time and suffered from some neglect. The good news is that I'm happy to announce the full launch (as of August 2018) of On-Demand Crawl, an entirely new crawl tool built on the engine that powers Site Crawl, but with a UI designed around quick insights for prospecting and competitive analysis.

While you don’t need a Campaign to run a crawl, you do need to be logged into your Moz Pro subscription. If you don’t have a subscription, you can sign-up for a free trial and give it a whirl.

How can you put On-Demand Crawl to work? Let's walk through a short example together.

All you need is a domain

Getting started is easy. From the "Moz Pro" menu, find "On-Demand Crawl" under "Research Tools":

Just enter a root domain or subdomain in the box at the top and click the blue button to kick off a crawl. While I don't want to pick on anyone, I've decided to use a real site. Our recent analysis of the August 1st Google update identified some sites that were hit hard, and I've picked one (lilluna.com) from that list.

Please note that Moz is not affiliated with Lil' Luna in any way. For the most part, it seems to be a decent site with reasonably good content. Let's pretend, just for this post, that you're looking to help this site out and determine if they'd be a good fit for your SEO services. You've got a call scheduled and need to spot-check for any major problems so that you can go into that call as informed as possible.

On-Demand Crawls aren't instantaneous (crawling is a big job), but they'll generally finish between a few minutes and an hour. We know these are time-sensitive situations. You'll soon receive an email that looks like this:

The email includes the number of URLs crawled (On-Demand will currently crawl up to 3,000 URLs), the total issues found, and a summary table of crawl issues by category. Click on the [View Report] link to dive into the full crawl data.

Assess critical issues quickly

We've designed On-Demand Crawl to assist your own human intelligence. You'll see some basic stats at the top, but then immediately move into a graph of your top issues by count. The graph only displays issues that occur at least once on your site – you can click "See More" to show all of the issues that On-Demand Crawl tracks (the top two bars have been truncated)...

Issues are also color-coded by category. Some items are warnings, and whether they matter depends a lot on context. Other issues, like "Critcal Errors" (in red) almost always demand attention. So, let's check out those 404 errors. Scroll down and you'll see a list of "Pages Crawled" with filters. You're going to select "4xx" in the "Status Codes" dropdown...

You can then pretty easily spot-check these URLs and find out that they do, in fact, seem to be returning 404 errors. Some appear to be legitimate content that has either internal or external links (or both). So, within a few minutes, you've already found something useful.

Let's look at those yellow "Meta Noindex" errors next. This is a tricky one, because you can't easily determine intent. An intentional Meta Noindex may be fine. An unintentional one (or hundreds of unintentional ones) could be blocking crawlers and causing serious harm. Here, you'll filter by issue type...

Like the top graph, issues appear in order of prevalence. You can also filter by all pages that have issues (any issues) or pages that have no issues. Here's a sample of what you get back (the full table also includes status code, issue count, and an option to view all issues)...

Notice the "?s=" common to all of these URLs. Clicking on a few, you can see that these are internal search pages. These URLs have no particular SEO value, and the Meta Noindex is likely intentional. Good technical SEO is also about avoiding false alarms because you lack internal knowledge of a site. On-Demand Crawl helps you semi-automate and summarize insights to put your human intelligence to work quickly.

Dive deeper with exports

Let's go back to those 404s. Ideally, you'd like to know where those URLs are showing up. We can't fit everything into one screen, but if you scroll up to the "All Issues" graph you'll see an "Export CSV" option...

The export will honor any filters set in the page list, so let's re-apply that "4xx" filter and pull the data. Your export should download almost immediately. The full export contains a wealth of information, but I've zeroed in on just what's critical for this particular case...

Now, you know not only what pages are missing, but exactly where they link from internally, and can easily pass along suggested fixes to the customer or prospect. Some of these turn out to be link-heavy pages that could probably benefit from some clean-up or updating (if newer recipes are a good fit).

Let's try another one. You've got 8 duplicate content errors. Potentially thin content could fit theories about the August 1st update, so this is worth digging into. If you filter by "Duplicate Content" issues, you'll see the following message...

The 8 duplicate issues actually represent 18 pages, and the table returns all 18 affected pages. In some cases, the duplicates will be obvious from the title and/or URL, but in this case there's a bit of mystery, so let's pull that export file. In this case, there's a column called "Duplicate Content Group," and sorting by it reveals something like the following (there's a lot more data in the original export file)...

I've renamed "Duplicate Content Group" to just "Group" and included the word count ("Words"), which could be useful for verifying true duplicates. Look at group #7 – it turns out that these "Weekly Menu Plan" pages are very image heavy and have a common block of text before any unique text. While not 100% duplicated, these otherwise valuable pages could easily look like thin content to Google and represent a broader problem.

Real insights in real-time

Not counting the time spent writing the blog post, running this crawl and diving in took less than an hour, and even that small amount of time spent uncovered more potential issues than what I could cover in this post. In less than an hour, you can walk into a client meeting or sales call with in-depth knowledge of any domain.

Keep in mind that many of these features also exist in our Site Crawl tool. If you're looking for long-term, campaign insights, use Site Crawl (if you just need to update your data, use our "Recrawl" feature). If you're looking for quick, one-time insights, check out On-Demand Crawl. Standard Pro users currently get 5 On-Demand Crawls per month (with limits increasing at higher tiers).

Your On-Demand Crawls are currently stored for 90 days. When you re-enter the feature, you'll see a table of all of your recent crawls (the image below has been truncated):

Click on any row to go back to see the crawl data for that domain. If you get the sale and decide to move forward, congratulations! You can port that domain directly into a Moz campaign.

We hope you'll try On-Demand Crawl out and let us know what you think. We'd love to hear your case studies, whether it's sales, competitive analysis, or just trying to solve the mysteries of a Google update.

Sign up for The Moz Top 10, a semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips, and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of stuff you don't have time to hunt down but want to read!

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[allenmendezsr]

Starting A Freelance Copywriting Guide

New Post has been published on https://autotraffixpro.app/allenmendezsr/starting-a-freelance-copywriting-guide/

Starting A Freelance Copywriting Guide

 Buy Now

    Get a Roadmap to Finding High Paying Clients, Working on Projects You Love, and Gaining the Freedom to Live Life On Your Terms

Dream of working from the beach on your laptop?

Becoming a freelance copywriter sounds like a dream job.

You get to work from home or from coffee shops…

You can set your own hours… 

Pick your own clients…

And you can earn a doctor’s salary tapping at a keyboard all day.

No doubt about it…

Compared to the normal working world of office politics, hours stuck in traffic, and being chained to a desk…

Becoming a freelance copywriter can be a dream come true.

BUT…

You’ve got a minefield of challenges to navigate to make that dream come true.

If you’ve no agency experience, no samples, and no previous clients, some of the challenges you’ll face include:

Developing copy skills clients will happily pay you for (and develop them FAST, rather than the years it takes many newbies).

Knowing where to find clients who’ll pay a FAIR rate for your services (you may be SHOCKED how fast your bank account will shrink when you no longer have a paycheck to feed into it). 

Working out how to create proposals that will get you selected ahead of the pack of other hungry copywriters they’ve contacted

Ensuring your invoices get paid and the client doesn’t go AWOL the moment you’ve sent them the final draft (there’s no shortage of sharks eager to feast on newbie copywriters who don’t know how to chase unpaid invoices)

Fail to overcome any of these challenges and your freelance copywriting dream can go up in smoke.

You may then face the terrible day when you have to swallow your pride and start hunting for a J.O.B.

Sadly, few of the books on copywriting or $5,000 courses guide you on how to successfully launch a copywriting career (I should know, as I’ve done a bunch of them).

Sure, they can teach you the mechanics.

But they don’t explain how to solve the challenges that decide if a copywriting business lives or dies in the critical first six months.

Even then, many newbie copywriters STRUGGLE for years to earn the bumper paychecks they were promised.

As many as two thirds of new businesses FAIL within six years.

Nearly HALF fail to make enough money to continue operating in the first year.

Because…

Having great copy skills is useless when you don’t understand the business side of becoming a freelance copywriter.

The reason I know all this is because I learned how to become a freelance copywriter the HARD way.

Shooting the breeze with Mr Drayton Bird – one of the world’s foremost direct marketers

My name’s Matt Ambrose. 

I first got started in copywriting in 2006.

But only after years of working in a soul sucking corporate job just to pay the bills.

Every week felt like rolling a boulder up a hill, only to see it crashing to the bottom by Monday morning.

And navigating the world of office politics was driving me nuts.

Bottom line – I was miserable and desperate to escape.

The good news is that I made a remarkable discovery.

On one of my trawls through job sites, I discovered this strange sounding profession called ‘copywriter’.

A few Google searches later and I couldn’t believe what I was reading… 

Businesses PAY people to write their emails, websites, and blog posts?

My simmering excitement then exploded when I saw HOW MUCH.

Recruitment agencies were offering $500 per day…

Salaries of $60,000 per year and up… 

for people willing to sit at a desk and WRITE ALL DAY!

It was like discovering a new world of possibilities.

A world I knew I had to enter as fast as possible.

But I had a problem…

While I had a degree in English and History and positive feedback on my ‘lucid’ writing style, I didn’t have a jot of copywriting experience.

But I knew…

I HAD to find a way of making my dream of becoming a copywriter come true.

So I leapt into building my copy chops with gusto.

I dedicated six months to studying everything I could find on copywriting…

I bought all the books on Amazon (which wasn’t half as many as there now)…

Created a portfolio of press releases, articles, and self made brochures…

And cobbled together a basic website on Dreamweaver (back then WordPress was purely for blogs about cats).

But having the (admittedly, basic) skills to write for businesses was one thing.

Finding businesses willing and able to pay for my services was another thing entirely.

Had I known then what I know now, I would have thought twice about quitting my corporate job so eagerly.

Because…

I struggled for YEARS until I was profitable.

Many times I’d wake at 3am and start to panic about where the next project and paycheck would come from…

And whether my friends had been right all along that “nobody is going to pay you to write for them.”

Would I have to swallow my pride, admit defeat, and go back to a dreary office job and monthly paycheck?

I desperately wished someone would guide me on what to do…

how to find quality clients…

how to get paid what I deserved…

and how to ensure projects kept coming in without endless cold emailing and getting shutdown by marketing agency secretaries.

But I managed to find enough work to keep going.

Sure, I continued to make a boatload of mistakes.

Mistakes that often cost me a lot of money from undercharging, missing out on projects, and not properly working out what the client wanted.

But I kept dusting myself down… learning from them… and struggling on the path I’d chosen.

Well, I’m pleased to say that all the pain and struggle was worth it.

Because for me…

The freelance copywriting dream is NOW a reality.

I’m now able to charge:

$200 per email

$1,000 for advertorials

$10,000+ for a video sales letter funnels

(Earnings disclaimer – You shouldn’t expect to earn this amount for a LONG time in your career. It takes years of training, practice, and getting results to earn the big bucks)

Not only that, but I’ve been able to:

-Grow a client list of 100+ companies including major B2B brands, like Siemens, Technicolor, Deutsche Post and Sage

-Generated $1m+ for clients in B2C markets, notably natural health

– Passed an audition to write for Clayton Makepeace (one of the world’s most successful copywriters alive today)

-Invited to appear on Copy Chief Radio, the Just Add Hustle podcast and interviewed for a series on Greatest Living Copywriters.

So I’m glad to say all the stress, night terrors, and struggle was worth it.

Even better, I now get to travel the world and work wherever I go…

enjoying what us senior laptop nomads call the ‘International Lifestyle’.

Hiking trip in Laos, one of many this year

So far I’ve lived in Malta, Chiang Mai, Berlin, Budapest, Prague, Krakow, Ho Chi Minh, Bangkok, Lisbon, The Canary Islands, and Kuala Lumpur… just to name a few.

But the only reason this became possible was because I was able to overcome all the challenges of the first few critical years of launching a new freelance copywriting business.

The good news is, you don’t have to go through all the same struggles I went through.

You don’t have to deal with the expensive trial and error…

The fear of not knowing where you’ll find your next client…

Or frustration when you find out you’ve been charging much less than you deserve.

Because I’ve written down everything I discovered on my journey and compiled it into a actionable guide.

Funnily enough, it’s called…

How to Start a Freelance Copywriting Business without Any Experience

Over 108 pages it reveals all the tactics, strategies and knowledge I developed when launching my own freelance copywriting career from scratch.

This includes:

Where to find clients who’ll pay you a fair rate for your skills (rather than fighting over sweatshop wages in freelance bidding sites)

How to RAPIDLY develop copy skills clients will eagerly pay you for (when you haven’t written a marketing press release, email, or article in your life, let alone a high converting sales letter) 

How to create a portfolio of red hot samples that get clients queuing up to hire you (while earning enough money to support yourself in the first critical 6 months)

The easy way to create a professional looking website that reflects the quality of your writing (without spending a fortune to a web developer or having to learn how to code)

How to turn small projects into long-term clients who continue hiring you for months, or even years (while saving you the time suck of endless prospecting)

How to submit proposals that get you selected ahead of the pack of other hungry copywriters your client has approached (and ensure you get hired based on VALUE and not the lowest rate)

What to do so you don’t get ripped off by the sharks who love to hire newbies and then vanish without paying

Quickstart guides to writing emails, landing pages, sales letters, and more (so you can be open for business as fast as possible).

What to charge so you get paid what you’re worth and aren’t scrambling for change from low ball clients who don’t value or respect your work

How to maximise your chances of being profitable in the first couple of months before your ‘take off strip’ funds run out

The tactical way to raise your prices (so your existing clients aren’t just happy to pay it but are wondering why it took you so long)

Project management tips so you’re the ‘adult in the room’ clients are looking for and so you become more valuable to them than a simple wordsmith 

This is just a sample of what How to Start Freelance Copywriting Without Any Experience covers.

It’s the same advice I’ve given to university graduates, former journalists, and even fellow copywriters to jumpstart their copywriting careers.

Yet, more than that, it’s designed to…

Give you a roadmap for avoiding all the traps I fell into…

while gaining advice that can ACCELERATE the growth of your skills… EXPLODE your client base… and open up the money hose so fast you can be profitable in weeks, not months or years.

Heck, it reveals so many trade secrets I may just be creating competition for myself.

But there are millions of businesses in need of our services, and plenty of work for everyone.

Gain All This Insider Knowledge for a Fraction of What I’d Charge in Person

When you consider the years it took me to acquire all the knowledge my guide contains…

the weeks I spent working on How to Start a Freelance Copywriting Business without Any Experience…

and the fact it has the potential to fast track your progress at securing the big bucks…

I think $100 for this guide would be a fair investment.

It’s what I’d charge for a thirty minute consultation. 

Yet you’re getting TONS more info than I could ever cover in that time.

When you consider how its advice on pricing… getting paid… and finding high paying clients could generate thousands for you in the first year…

$100 is a drop in the ocean.

Yet, I’m going to make this investment in your skills and knowledge even MORE valuable to you.

Because if you order How to Start a Freelance Copywriting Business without Any Experience from this page, you also get…

4 FREE Bonuses

Copywriter Consulting Pack – $37 Value

Get the 3 VITAL documents every copywriter needs: A project contract with terms that give you legal protection, my onboarding process for new clients, and a client questionnaire for scoping out new projects.

Copywriter’s Crucible Big 33 – $37

Get 33 of my post popular posts from my award nominated blog on more advanced topics like positioning, pro level mindset hacks, and insider tactics for generating higher returns for clients.

47 Elite Email Marketing Tips – $17 value

7 Steps to Creating Quality Content – $17 value

Email may be old, yet it’s still the workhorse of internet marketing. Smart marketers also know that getting customers on an email list is essential to avoid their social media accounts getting shut down. In this report, you get 47 of my best email marketing tips and strategies, so you can instantly start offering email marketing services to clients.

Marketing can be like dating. Some prospects will be eager to buy the moment you make an offer. Others need to be coaxed with content that develops the relationship over time. In this report, you get my 7 step strategy for creating content that’s unique, compelling, and converts more prospects into buyers.

When you add the bonuses up (quick tip – this is called ‘value stacking’) they come to $108.

This raises the total value of How to Start a Freelance Copywriting Business Without Any Experience to:

$208

But I know that when starting out you don’t have tons of cash to throw around.

And I want How to Start a Freelance Copywriting Business Without Any Experience to be affordable, so as many new starters as possible can avoid the struggles I went through.

So from this page only, you can get How to Become a Freelance Copywriter Without Experience and all 4 bonuses for the small one time investment of…

$208 > $27

That’s right.

Just $27.

A mere fraction of the package’s total value and an amount you can recoup within the first month of putting its advice into action.

Here’s what one reader had to say about it…

“Being in the market for good copywriting knowledge, I checked this out. If the highly nauseating, cheesy, tiresome, cliched, paint-by-numbers copywriting style of the Warrior Forum, with the same templates with slightly different wording, such as ”Who Else Wants Their Own Cash Machine That Runs On Autopilot While You Drink Beer Watching The Game…”, or ”Here’s How To Get Your Own Slice Of The Facebook Money Pie Before Your Competition Does” doesn’t turn your stomach like it does mine, and you wish to replicate the same moronic pattern in your marketing, then this book is for you. If you want to write sophisticated, non-gimmicky, non-slimy persuasive copy that does everything it needs to to sell, but keeps your credibility and integrity intact, you probably can’t do much better than this guide I’ve been fortunate to stumble upon. I’ve checked out a lot of the best copywriting courses lately and this outshines all of them. On the Warrior Forum, the maxim is surely that bullshit hype sells. And to the idiots there (and some here) who consume that stuff relentlessly, it does. But in B2B, you’ll only turn off your readers. This book covers the fundamentals perfectly but gives in a brief, logical format to provide a great solid structure.” – underground906

And another buyer kindly had this to say in a LinkedIn chat:

Double Your Investment In 60 Days or Get Your Money Back

Does $27 sound fair for a guide that can pay for itself many times over with its advice on pricing and getting paid alone?

Or are you still on the fence?

If so, how about you download the guide and all it’s bonuses and and see what you think.

Then if you aren’t 100% satisfied I’ll give you a FULL refund.

Because How to Become a Freelance Copywriter Without Experience is supplied with a 100% risk free 60 day guarantee.

What this means is that if you’re not impressed with the quality of the content… it doesn’t answer your questions… or doesn’t help to fast track your success you can get a full refund.

All you need to do is contact Clickbank’s customer support team via the link in your receipt. They’ll then refund your purchase in full. No awkward questions or hoops to jump through.

What matters to me is that you’re able to give How to Become a Freelance Copywriter Without Experience a try.

And if it doesn’t help advance your career, I’d rather you get your money back to invest in other resources and we can part as friends.

Give Yourself a Better Launchpad to Freelance Copywriting Success

Let’s do a quick rundown of what we’ve covered…

If you’re just getting started in your freelance career you’ve got a minefield of challenges to get through.

You’re going to need to know how to create portfolio that convinces clients to hire you…

You need to know how to find high paying clients, so you can avoid the sweatshop rates on freelance bidding sites…

And you’ve got to ensure you’re charging what you deserve, so you don’t become a victim of the sharks who love to feed on newbie copywriters.

If you can’t solve these challenges, the freelance dream can soon turn into a nightmare.

But there’s no need to go through the painful process of learning from your mistakes that I went through.

Because…

How to Become a Freelance Copywriter Without Experience gives you all the answers at your fingertips

It eliminates the confusion on creating proposals… knowing where to find clients and how to convince them to hire you… and rubberstamps you’re getting paid what you’re worth.

In fact, its advice on pricing, how to turn one off projects into five figure retainers, and advice on writing emails, web pages and sales letters is worth hundreds of dollars alone.

Yet you’re getting the entire motherload for just $27.

Just $27 for a complete system that can take you from struggling amateur to highly paid professional in no time.

And without the stress, sleepless nights, and costly mistakes I went through.

Also remember, your investment is protected with a 60 day money back guarantee.

So what do you say?

Do we have a deal?

P.S. My guide How to Become a Freelance Copywriter Without Experience reveals all my insider secrets to launching a profitable freelance copywriting business without a portfolio, clients, or even a website. 

It’s packed with all the tactics, strategies and processes I’ve used to grow my own copywriting business to the point where I can work from my laptop and travel the world at the same time. 

It’s already helped fast track the progress of hundreds of struggling newbies to develop into professionally astute, highly paid copywriters

If it doesn’t help grow your career in the first 60 days, you can get a full refund. No questions asked.

FAQ

Will the advice in this book work for me?

How to Become a Freelance Copywriter Without Experience contains the exact same advice I wished I had when starting out. It’s also the same advice I’ve given to new graduates, former journalists, and countless other people who’ve contacted me for advice on getting started.

Rather than repeat the same advice over and over again, I decided to compile it all into this report.

Who is this book for?

How to Become a Freelance Copywriter Without Experience answers all the questions and challenges I faced when starting a freelance business.

Sure, new tactics for finding clients and what to charge come and go. But I believe the information in How to Become a Freelance Copywriter Without Experience on pricing, prospecting, proposals, getting paid, and more stands the test of time.

But I wouldn’t recommend How to Become a Freelance Copywriter Without Experience if you’re looking for advice on improving your skills.

While it does include a basic guide to writing articles, sales letters, and more, its focus is on the business side of copywriting. So if you’re looking for advice on improving your copywriting skills, there are plenty of courses I recommend instead. This includes Copyhour, John Carlton’s Simple Writing System, and AWAI’s Six Figure Copywriting Course.

What if I don’t find it helpful? Can I get my money back?

Absolutely.

What matters to me is that you give How to Become a Freelance Copywriter Without Experience a try. So if you’re unimpressed with the quality of the content, it doesn’t help advance your career, or you just don’t like the formatting, contact Clickbank’s customer support team and they’ll give you a full refund.

Earnings  Disclaimer – As with any business, your results may vary and will be based on your individual capacity, skills, expertise, and level of desire. There are no guarantees concerning the level of success you may experience from my guide and its bonuses. There is no guarantee that you will make any income at all and you accept the risk that the earnings and income statements made in this page may not reflect your own. The use of our information, products and services should be based on your own due diligence and you agree that The Copywriter’s Crucible Ltd is not liable for any success or failure of your business that is directly or indirectly related to the purchase and use of How to Become a Freelance Copywriter Without Experience.

ClickBank is the retailer of products on this site. CLICKBANK® is a registered trademark of Click Sales, Inc., a Delaware corporation located at 917 S. Lusk Street, Suite 200, Boise Idaho, 83706, USA and used by permission. ClickBank’s role as retailer does not constitute an endorsement, approval or review of these products or any claim, statement or opinion used in promotion of these products Copyright © 2009-2016, The Copywriter’s Crucible Ltd All Rights Reserved.

[adventuresinclientservice]

How to find a (first) job in advertising.

For veterans and newcomers alike, advertising always has been a competitive, winner-take-all contest, but recent college graduates still could find their way into entry-level jobs, assuming they were reasonably motivated and talented, with many getting their starts as assistant account executives or its equivalent at one of the thousands of shops around the country. If the grads were fortunate enough to matriculate to an agency like Ogilvy & Mather, they might find themselves being schooled by more experienced, capable veterans, the best of whom led training programs and provided other forms of guidance and mentorship.   

These days, in a Covid-19-decimated industry where thousands upon thousands upon thousands of jobs have evaporated, unlikely to return, training is mostly a memory.  Hiring has become a never ending, often discouraging quest for many a recent graduate. 

I heard from one such graduate a couple of weeks ago, who got in touch to say how useful he found The Art of Client Service, saying: 

“ I couldn't put your book down and finished it in two days. As someone who has been doing interviews for AAE and AE positions in current time, I found this book to have a lot of good reinforcements and ways of thinking that will help me in my career, as well as during these interviews. Thanks for the great read.” 

An exchange of email ensued; at some point a question emerged: “ What advice would you give someone looking to crack the advertising account management world in a time like now?” 

It would come as no surprise if that grad is searching for the proverbial magic-bullet solution; just about every job candidate wants to find a way to stand out, make an impression, and get hired.  If this describes your job-seeking self, you might as well cease reading, given I have no bullet to offer.  What I do have is a point-of-view, a methodology that, while hardly unknown to you, might at least bring a degree of focus to your approach.   

What follows is more than double what I customarily post, so if you prefer to skip to the end, here’s a summary of the four obvious-but-often-overlooked things to help find a job : 

Think of yourself as a client, not a candidate.

Write a Scope of Work for that client, focusing on a prioritized list of prospects you can approach not to ask for a job, but instead to ask for advice.

Follow this with a Creative Brief that will help you craft or improve a resume, a cover letter, an overture email, post-interview follow-up communication, or anything else that is evidence of your job-worthiness.

When an opportunity arises, do deep-dive homework on the company and the person(s) about to interview you, including a tightly edited, short list of questions that demonstrates your preparation and insight.  

If you’re inclined to read on, here’s an edited version of what I included in my email: 

I suspect most people go about searching for a job in a fairly ad hoc way, responding to this ad, getting in touch with that person, without thinking like the account person you trained to be and are trying to become.  My suggestion:  think less as an individual, and more as someone pursuing a new business opportunity, bringing to bear on this the same strategy, creativity, and executional skill you would try to deliver for a prospective client, only in this case, the prospective client is you. 

If I were searching for job these days, I would begin, by writing a short Scope of Work, outlining the tasks to be performed: 

The objective:  it might seem easy – find a job – but I would take some time thinking about not just a job that will pay the bills, but trying to envision what you’d like your career to look like. 

The prospects you can contact for counsel, who might be able to put in touch with others.  Think about other people in the business you know:  friends, friends of friends, family and relatives no matter how distant, fellow students, anybody who might be willing to help.  What about your professors?  Any of them work in the business, or used to?  

You want to think of your target list as a series of concentric circles, starting close in with the people you know really well, extending outward to others who might be willing to help.  And you want to think of these people as not necessarily offering you a job, but rather, as possibly offering you perspective and counsel, along with some additional people you can contact, in order to grow your network.  The reality is, it is easier to ask for advice than it is to ask for a job, so start there and see where it leads.  You might be surprised how this nets out. 

Job search is more about networking, and less about focusing on Job Boards and other public search options, but don’t ignore these.  Pursue parallel paths instead, working your contact list while not overlooking any possibility that surfaces “cold” on LinkedIn, ADWEEK, or any other source. 

The “deliverables” you need to create:  a customizable resume you can version, a kick-butt cover letter to go with it, an overture email you can use to make an initial approach, anything else that might support your case. 

A schedule to execute these tasks. 

If you need some additional perspective on how to create a Scope of Work, the latest edition of my book has a chapter devoted to it.  

Scope of Work complete, I’d then turn your attention to writing a Creative Brief that will drive the crafting of your resumes, cover letters, email overtures, and any other piece of material you need to create.  Again, the latest edition of my book has a four-chapter section devoted to Brief writing.  If you need guidance, it might help. 

The Creative Brief will drive the formulation of a resume, or assuming you already have one on hand, its re-formulation.  The outcome is a set of materials ready for use, which you can tailor to specific opportunities. 

Let’s say an opportunity surfaces – through a contact, perhaps via a Job Board – you now need to interview.  Given the country is under Covid-19 siege that is not likely to abate anytime soon, changes are that first interview will be by Zoom or some other video platform like GoToMeeting or Google Hangout.  You’ll need to prep for this, starting with doing research on the company considering you, formulating responses to questions they might ask you, crafting a short list of questions you get to ask, should an opportunity present itself.  You already know this, but getting ready for an interview is not something to approach cavalierly; think of it as you might a new business pitch, and prepare accordingly. 

So, to recap what I said earlier, here are the four suggestions: 

Think of yourself as a client, not a candidate.

Write a Scope of Work for that client, focusing on a prioritized list of prospects you can approach not to ask for a job, but instead to ask for advice.

Follow this with a Creative Brief that will help you craft or improve a resume, a cover letter, an overture email, post-interview follow-up communication, or anything else that is evidence of your job-worthiness.

When an opportunity arises, do deep-dive homework on the company and the person(s) about to interview you, including a tightly edited, short list of questions that demonstrates your preparation and insight.  

If you’re inclined to read on, here’s an edited version of what I included

Everything I’ve shared so far should be stuff you know.  What I’ve tried to do here is synthesize a process you can follow. 

Job hunting has always been a challenge, but these days, it is incredibly, incredibly hard.  I know you’re looking for things to help you gain an edge or stand out, but truth be told, I have no easy solutions to offer.  

Instead, what I can do is encourage you to be methodical, consistent, resilient, and unrelenting in your quest, knowing that if you stay after it, if you don’t quit, you will find that first job. 

[auburnfamilynews]

https://twitter.com/mtrigg_23/status/1234882720158842882

After signing 4 tight ends in the past 2 classes, Auburn is looking to add another talented prospect in the 2021 class.

Over the next 2 weeks 2-3ish weeks, we will be taking a position by position look at the top targets on Auburn’s 2021 board. This is a first pass at who might be looking at Auburn the hardest this early in the cycle and whom Auburn might have the most interest in. However, recruiting is fluid and these lists will likely change.

Ah the tight end position. The savior of Auburn’s offense for many message board fans. Though some of the obsession over the position I think is a little over done, the general belief that Auburn has under utilized the position in recent seasons is completely valid. In Gus Malzahn’s first 2 seasons at Auburn, CJ Uzomah caught 22 passes for 299 yards and 6 TDs. Over the following 5 seasons, Auburn tight ends caught a grand total of 8 passes for 59 yards and 4 TDs.

Seeing those stats, it seems difficult to see how Auburn could go out and sign top TE prospects but that’s exactly what has happened the last two cyles. In the 2019 class, Auburn signed Luke Deal and Tyler Fromm. They followed that class up with an even more impressive one in 2020 signing J.J. Pegues and Brandon Frazier. Now here we are in the 2021 cycle and Auburn has already offered 15 tight end prospects.

So what gives? Chad Morris does, that’s what.

Since Chad Morris became a collegiate coach in 2010, only once has his tight end had less yards in a single season than all of Auburn’s tight ends have combined for since 2015. That was in 2017 at SMU. Chances are very good that you will see more passes thrown to a tight end in the 2020 campaign than you have seen attempted over the past 5 years. It also means that Chad Morris wants that position well stocked moving forward with legitimate playmakers which is why you see the Tigers on the hunt for a big time tight end in the 2021 class.

4* Michael Trigg | 6’4” | 208 lbs | Seffner, FL

Recruitment

The nation’s #6 ranked tight end was on the Plains just before everything got shutdown. While on campus, he spent a lot of time with new Auburn offensive coordinator Chad Morris who broke down his plans for how he wants to use the tight end position moving forward. Once visiting restrictions are lifted, expect Trigg back on Auburn’s campus at some point. The team to beat though is likely Florida State but the Tigers are very much in this race.

Scouting Report

Trigg is an elite athlete capable of doing a little of everything. He’s got a long frame at 6’4” perfectly capable of adding 20+ lbs without losing any of his explosiveness. A natural hand catcher, Trigg shows outstanding body control and ball skills. While he’s not facing the stiffest of competition and is used more as a wide receiver than tight end, it’s very easy to see the tremendous upside. He’s a great fit for what Morris likes from his tight end, someone that can do a bit of everything from lining up in the H-Back role to splitting out wide.

4* Terrance Ferguson | 6’5” | 220 lbs | Littleton, CO

Recruitment

Ferguson was actually scheduled to take an official visit to the Plains before the pandemic. He reportedly plans on rescheduling his OV to Auburn at a later point and the Tigers appear to be firmly in the mix. Wisconsin and Oregon are also considered top contenders at this point and will get official visits. Until he actually makes it to Auburn though it’s hard to really know how good a chance the Tigers have at snagging the nation’s #12 tight end.

Scouting Report

Ferguson is a big kid with excellent quickness who has had a tremendously productive high school career. While he won’t likely win many track meets at the next level, Ferguson has enough top end speed to make plays after the catch. He’s got great strength and has the size/frame you expect to see from an SEC calibre tight end.

3* Lake McRee | 6’4” | 217 lbs | Austin, TX

Recruitment

With a name like Lake, you better be from Texas. The former Longhorn commit reopened his recruitment back in early February and has quickly become one of the most sought after TEs in this class. Auburn, Alabama, LSU, Washington and Penn State have all offered in recent months. He dropped a top 10 list last week that included the Tigers.

Scouting Report

McRee is another fluid athlete with the frame to put on the muscle needed to play tight end in the SEC. He’s a sharp route runner with great hands. Can line up anywhere on the field which is a must for Chad Morris. I fully expect McRee to be a consensus blue chip prospect before this cycle is over.

3* Trinity Bell | 6’7” | 256 lbs | Albertville, AL

Recruitment

Probably one of the more interesting prospects in this class, Trinity Bell is getting plenty of attention from SEC programs. Auburn and Tennessee are reportedly his top 2 schools with the Vols probably the team to beat at the moment. But if the Tigers decide to go all in on the Albertville product they will likely be tough to beat.

Scouting Report

What makes Bell so intriguing is that while he’s listed as a tight end, he’s got the frame to be an offensive tackle at the next level. An outstanding basketball player as well, Bell has apparently been given the green light by both Gus Malzahn and Bruce Pearl that he will be able to play both sports for the Tigers if he were to sign. It’s hard not to get excited about this kid’s upside but it will be interesting to see if teams try to convince him to make the move to offensive line or stick with him at tight end.

3* Elijah Arroyo | 6’4” | 210 lbs | Frisco, TX

Recruitment

Arroyo’s coming off a strong junior campaign where he caught 47 passes for 648 yards and 5 TDs. Plenty of major programs took notice as the Texan sports offers from the likes of Auburn, Alabama, Georgia, Texas, Texas A&M, Michigan and plenty of others. Auburn is reportedly very high on the Independence standout and will likely push hard to get an official visit this fall.

Scouting Report

Arroyo might be my favorite target on this list. You just don’t see many tight end prospects with his type of burst. An extremely gifted athlete, Arroyo is a playmaker from the tight end spot. He can line up in-line or split out wide at wideout. Flashing consistent hands, he’s a nightmare matchup in the redzone and has the athleticism to make plays after the catch. Very easy to see why he’s got such an impressive offer list.

Gunnar Helm | 6’5” | 225 lbs | Englewood, CO

Recruitment

He’s not ranked yet but that will likely change considering his offer list. Prospects that are getting attention from Auburn, Alabama, Georgia and LSU tend to see their stock rise in the eyes of recruiting services. Auburn though was one of the the first SEC teams to offer the Colorado native and are hoping to get him on campus as soon as possible. His family isn’t averse to sending him away considering his older sister is currently attending Alabama. We will see if Auburn can turn the Helm’s into a house divided this cycle.

Scouting Report

Helm was very clearly Cherry Creek’s redzone weapon last season. He turned 8 of his 25 catches into touchdowns and feasted inside the 20 yard line. A long athlete with great hands, Helm does an excellent job creating consistent separation with his routes and his big frame makes him an easy target for quarterbacks.

War Eagle!

from College and Magnolia - All Posts https://www.collegeandmagnolia.com/2020/4/8/21212526/2021-class-preview-tight-end-michael-trigg-terrance-ferguson-lake-mcree-elijah-arroyo-trinity-bell

[shirlleycoyle]

Why Are Résumés Still a Thing?

A version of this post originally appeared on Tedium, a twice-weekly newsletter that hunts for the end of the long tail.

Is there anything more nerve-wracking than having to sell yourself to a prospective employer?

They don’t know you. You don’t know them. And much of the pressure of making sure that connection makes sense too often falls on the individual rather than the potential employer.

At the center of this is the résumé, a document sent to potential employers, often with a customized cover letter, that explains who you are, what you’re doing, and the references you’ve gained over the years.

But where did this approach come from, and why are job applicants seemingly slaves to this dog and pony show?

Let’s look into the history of the résumé—and analyze whether they even make sense anymore.

“Having now sufficiently seen and considered the achievements of all those who count themselves masters and artificers of instruments of war, and having noted that the invention and performance of the said instruments is in no way different from that in common usage, I shall endeavour, while intending no discredit to anyone else, to make myself understood to Your Excellency for the purpose of unfolding to you my secrets, and thereafter offering them at your complete disposal, and when the time is right bringing into effective operation all those things which are in part briefly listed below.”

— Leonardo da Vinci, in a famous letter to Ludovico Sforza, then the duke of Milan and also known as Ludovico il Moro, offering his services to the Lord. This letter, featured in full on the excellent site Letters of Note, is often cited as the first résumé or cover letter. (Some, however, cite the letters sent to guilds in the Middle Ages.) While not as sharply structured as a modern résumé, it shares much in common with the application letter, a common structural element used for job applications hundreds of years later.

Typewriters, with their ability to indent, helped formalize the application letter. Image: Laura Chouette/Unsplash

Before the world of employment became obsessed with the résumé, we called them application letters

The business world is defined by its ever-changing terminology, and one sign of this is that we used to rely on a far more straightforward term to describe what a résumé effectively does.

For decades, we called them “letters of application,” or “application letters.” Written about in business correspondence books of different kinds throughout the late 19th and early 20th century, the documents slowly evolved in level of formality, and were reliant on recommendation letters from prior employers. In the 1883 book The Universal Self-Instructor, a general reference manual, it’s portrayed as serving a similar role to a simple cover letter. An example from the book, for an apprenticeship:

GEORGE S. GORDON, Esq.:

Sir :—

I beg to apply for the situation mentioned in the above advertisement, clipped from today’s Morning Post. I have been employed for the last four months in the foundry of Wheeler & Co., where I was bound apprentice. The recent failure of that concern and closing of the foundry has caused the canceling of my articles, and I am now anxious to obtain work elsewhere. I am permitted to refer to Mr. Charles Wheeler and Mr. Edwin Hoyt.

Hoping that you will be willing to take me on trial, I remain,

Very respectfully,

SAMUEL HENDERSON, 220 Main Street.

This type of letter would appear in books about “business correspondence,” which were a form of reference book for their day. While many books of this nature appeared throughout the first half of the 20th century, they were not written around the résumé, as many later books were.

This type of cover letter-like thing, once handwritten, eventually became more formalized with the addition of the typewriter, which allowed for some rudimentary organizing through the use of indents and tab stops. The approach became more rigid over time, the realm of bullet points and horizontal lines.

As the 1930 book A Course in English for Engineers puts it:

The application letter is essentially a sales letter. It is the means by which a person seeking employment attempts to market his training, his experience, and his personality. He who is successful in selling his services by letter is usually the one who has thoroughly analyzed every essential detail that goes into the writing of an application.

But the interesting thing is that the résumé, as the application letter came to be called, eventually evolved into a much more important form of business correspondence than anything else … at least for a while.

“While a résumé alone almost never earns a job for a person, a good one often serves as the deciding factor in obtaining the all-important interview.”

— Jill Smolowe, a The New York Times contributor, discussing the nature of the résumé in a 1979 article for the paper, written as part of a “Careers in the ’80s” insert, that in many ways seems to be written to introduce the concept to readers.

How the application letter evolved into the résumé

If you walk into any bookstore or library in the world, you’re going to see dozens, possibly even hundreds of books about how to write a good résumé, how to structure it in a way that maximizes what you do best—complete with a great cover letter and a minimal number of typos. Many will tell you to keep things under a page if you’re not above a certain age range; others will tell you that there’s nothing worse for making a first impression than a misplaced comma or repeated word.

But one thing that you likely will not find is a book that explains how to make a résumé that dates before 1970 or so. (Probably the first book on the topic with any long-lasting authority is Richard Bolles’ long-running What Color is Your Parachute? series, a self-help book that discourages the use of spray-and-pray tactics.) Most of them will date to 1980 or beyond, in fact.

While both the résumé and the curriculum vitae existed before then and were frequently asked for in want ads as early as the late 1940s in some professional fields, something appears to have changed in their role starting in the late 1970s and early 1980s—around the time when many service-oriented fields first gained prominence—in which the résumé, particularly in North America, turned into a de facto requirement when applying for most new jobs.

Companies started treating humans as resources around this time, and many workers traded in their blue collars for white ones. It was a big shift, and the résumé was in the middle of it.

Why the name change, though? There are a lot of reasons why “résumé” won out over “application letter,” but I think one of the biggest might come from the education field of the era. The U.S. Department of Education’s Education Resources Information Center launched in 1965, and early in its life, relied on the terminology “document resume” to refer to its bibliographic entries. This information reached schools through documents produced by the Education Department, and my theory is that the influence of this material on educators might just have touched the business world, too.

The shifting nature of work also made the need for more personalized applications more necessary. A 1962 book, Analyzing the Application for Employment, noted the overly complex nature of fill-in-the-blank application forms, and that they would often take hours for prospective employees to fill out. In the book, author Irwin Smalheiser of Personnel Associates highlights an example of one such person stuck dealing with complex application processes:

One man we know, who perpetually seems to be looking for work, has devised a neat system for coping with the application blanks he encounters. He has taken the time to complete a detailed summary of his work history which he carries in his wallet. When he is asked to fill out the company application form, he simply copies the pertinent dates and names of the companies for which he worked.

In many ways, a résumé solves this problem. While some level of modification comes with each specific job, you often can reuse it again and again without having to repeat your work—no need to repeat your references for every job opening, but a cover letter refresh might be helpful. Sure, job applications stuck around for lower-end jobs, like fast food, but the résumé stuck around nearly everywhere else.

In a slower world, it was the best tool we had for applying for a new job. The problem is, the world got faster—and the model began to show its flaws.

This 1995 book, from the Princeton Review, is a good example of a job search advice book.

Five factors that made the résumé a more prominent part of workplace life in the ’80s and ’90s

Culture. With a growing number of companies able to compete on a regional, national, or even global scale, this created additional complexity that facilitated the need for new types of hiring and employee management practices. Starting in the late 1970s, the field of personnel administration took on the name human resources management (HRM), and the role became a more significant element of many companies.

Regulations. The 1965 creation of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in the U.S.—part of a general movement against workplace discrimination—along with regulations on issues such as safety, created a need for a more objective approach to hiring. This played into the need for human resources departments to ensure that the company was an equal opportunity employer.

Technology. Sure, typewriters were nothing new, but access to them, along with the then-new computer and the growing ubiquity of the copying machine, made it easier for people to apply for multiple jobs at once. It was simply easier to apply for a job through the mail than it was to fill out an application form. (And when we got the internet, some of the earliest digital hubs, such as the free web host Tripod, offered résumé writing and job-hunting services to their users. And that was years before LinkedIn.) And when graphical interfaces and word processors became a thing, the first experience many people got with word processing software such as Microsoft Word was in modifying a cover letter template.

Economy. In many ways, the rise of the résumé reflected a shifting role of the employee in an economy built around white collar work. “Indeed—a point to be stressed—HRM in most companies was and is primarily concerned with managers and white-collar employees, not blue-collar workers,” George Strauss, of UC Berkeley’s Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, wrote in 1991. The résumé, for better or for worse, shifted the burden of hiring onto the employee in most cases, particularly during economic dry spells.

Publishing. I wouldn’t put it in the same category as “going viral,” but the business press had a major surge in presence during the 1980s and 1990s, with the nearly century-old Harvard Business Review being rethought for general audiences, old-guard magazines like BusinessWeek and Fortune reaching the peak of their influence, and newer players like Inc. and Fast Company gaining readership. Likewise, reference and resource books targeting business audiences—especially those about how to get a job—had a real moment around this time. The combined result likely helped reinforce the résumé’s role in the business world.

Does the résumé really work anymore? Maybe not.

When I wrote about my desire to research the history of the résumé on Twitter the other day, something interesting and surprising happened: The result attracted a few business types that complained about the ineffectiveness of this tool and the problems it surfaced along the way.

Initially, this bothered me, because it seemed like it was getting away from my main reason for researching this history. But having thought about it some, it makes sense—it hints at the fact that we’re stuck with this outdated research tool, that nobody seems to be happy with, because it fails in a lot of subtle ways.

For all its success in the 1980s and 1990s, the rise of the résumé creates brand new issues.

While they generally do not include photographs, they can allow for latent discrimination, as prospective employers can judge a worker’s eligibility not on the quality of their work or their potential for success, but their implied background. Even a name is enough to throw off a potential employer.

Then there’s the ease of being able to make stuff up, something that has caught up some big-name companies over the years—most famously Yahoo, who lost a CEO, Scott Thompson, after it was revealed he lied about his education.

There’s also the factor of investment: It's often a game of who has the most polished result, not who has the most qualifications. Around 1988, Reagan administration White House staffers ran to professional resume-writing firms to get a layer of slick polish to their job history in an effort to get hired on with then-President George H.W. Bush. Good for them, and anyone else who can pay a lot of money for a professional resume rewrite—but what about people who don’t have the resources to play that game?

And as with things like standardized testing, they put a focus on surface issues that will not correctly tell the story of a person’s true potential. In many ways, work experience matters less in a world where modern technical skills won’t stay the same even five years after the fact.

Too often, many experts note, they focus on the wrong things. Speaking to Fast Company, Carisa Miklusak of the algorithmic hiring firm tilr notes that prior experience matters far less than current abilities and skill set. As a result, results have been pushed off to the side quite often.

“Employers are interested in skills and the results someone can generate, rather than titles or previous employment,” Miklusak told the magazine. “Focusing on skills provides a fuller understanding of the candidate’s experience and capabilities, and opens up more opportunities.”

Some of the most recent startups in the employment space largely eschew the résumé approach entirely. Triplebyte, for example, offers a really challenging quiz intended to find the best technical employees out there for equally technical jobs, leaning on a skill-based referral over a good cover letter in helping to fill a potential dream job. Likewise, other parts of the tech economy are leaning on abilities over degrees.. Likewise, other parts of the tech economy are leaning on abilities over degrees.

Is that strategy going to play out long-term? Who knows. But let’s just say that the CV, or whatever you call it, is really starting to show its age.

Building a good résumé is often a challenge, because the rules keep changing.

As a designer, it was only one part of my portfolio, and I had to combine everything together, cover letter and all, while making it look well-designed and clever. That often meant it was a little less straightforward, because that was the field I was competing in. (No templates here.) As the web came into play, that portfolio needed a digital element. And it also needed to live in other contexts.

As a job seeker I had a pretty decent track record, barring that time I interviewed at a newspaper on the day Pope John Paul II died. (That’s not made up. It was an odd situation that probably cost me a job, but one I don’t blame on the newspaper itself. Plus, it earned me an opportunity at an equally good job a couple of months later.)

For a while, I would update my résumé and portfolio every year, even if I wasn’t looking for a new job, just to keep in the habit, because the ground is always changing. But increasingly, I sort of feel like the approach had grown out of date—it especially doesn’t hold up well to career changes. For the last job I legitimately applied for, roughly eight years ago, I sent over a design portfolio and a one-sheeter about a website I ran. My current position didn’t even have very much to do with graphic design, but it was what I had been doing, so that was what I sent along.

I feel challenged to explain what I do today in this form. I feel like, if you care, you’ll find me—because that’s what the “gig economy” is all about.

In a way, this philosophy isn’t all that far off from the thinking of one of the earliest innovators in resume writing, an English land surveyor named Ralph Agas. During the 16th and 17th centuries, he used a variety of methods to market his relevant skills to the public, and one of those was by creating flyers that told the public of his sizable skills as a surveyor. He was advertising at a time few other people were, and it stood out.

Often, this is cited as one of the first cover letters, but I think it’s something else: This might be the first Facebook Page, and he might be the first influence marketer, beating out Bob Vila by 400 years. (Sorry, Bob.)

Maybe that’s the problem: Getting a job means standing out—and because the résumé has gotten so old and staid, it’s not doing that anymore.

Why Are Résumés Still a Thing? syndicated from https://triviaqaweb.wordpress.com/feed/

[allianceinternational-blog]

Executive Recruitment Agency Chicago -Advantages To Business Of Flat Fee Recruiting

Author Name: Yogita Yadav

Address:104 Esplanade ave, 120 Pacific, CA 94044, USA

 Mobile No:+1-9176688461

 Good Executive Recruitment Agency Chicago 

Bill Ransic was the least bit apprentice. You could possibly recall that, prior to his appearance on the show, Ransic had owned a mail-order cigar corporation. He worked for Trump for many years and, influenced by his Web site, considers Trump a mentor. He's authored two books, "You're Hired" and "Beyond the Lemonade Standing." Bill and his wife, Guiliana, show up on their own A & E reality show. (The creative reputation? " Judging by it, he's involved in charity work and lately returned from your trip to Haiti. Most of his income comes from public speaking engagements. Much more to have around 10 each month.

You must learn how you can present yourself in a job interview. You ought to be outgoing and skills when Best Executive Recruitment Agency Chicago interviewing for the job. You need to create a sales pitch for employment interviews. It needn't be beyond 60 seconds and you must pick one be memorized in order that when you are be presented naturally of their mind.

For others of your life, you'll then feel as you never did complete nor accomplish what so many others have. I'm able to promise you that complete the work . will cling. I own my offer and, plainly didn't finish school, I'd personally regret this can. I thought relating to it at sessions. I'm glad I stuck through as process which I've done currently is part of who I am.

Sean Yazbeck won season five it's best remembered for winning the heart of Tammy, another season five nominee list. Both denied a relationship existed within finale. Yazbeck spent his apprenticeship overseeing a $500 million hotel development in Miami. Quick lives in Miami can also be director of economic development in your Recruitment Agency Chicago.

Image Source:https://www.123rf.com/photo_22793855_hr-human-resources-concept-in-tag-cloud-on-white-background.html

If have got not getting enough offers, how can we get new? More interviews, more job orders, more applicants, more cell phone calls or more contacts? Let's do something be contacting more clients or more applicants? Exactly how much time is going to be spent finding candidates? Exactly how much time is going to be spent finding job jobs?  Are we spending any time on applicant prospects? A candidate prospect can be a candidate who we contact just to establish goodwill and trust definitely not for a principal position. Shall we be held making enough contacts either via phone, email or conferences or association is effective? How much is plenty?

I'm not suggesting that shy faraway from new recruiters - noticed come across one with fire within the belly properly strong in order to succeed - but you need to stay on top of them create sure they know what tend to be qualified to do, this they function on account.

When recruiters and people looking for work aren't communicating openly and honestly, romantic relationship is clearly at a drawback. In the spirit of openness, Meet new friends to seek to clear up some in the misconceptions about recruiters that stem with the lack of communication. Being rude together with job seeker is indefensible, but tend to be many usually other reasons why recruiters don't interact with your concerns. Following are six things a recruiter will not say you r during the job hunt, but probably will need to.

These are basically 4 the hundreds of questions must yourself to begin living your thing. One of the keys to future success with anyone's career is knowing what you genuinely want and that you really are often. It all begins with simple questions about You, Your needs, your requests.

  Image Source:http://www.kohajone.com/2018/05/10/testi-pergjigju-4-pyetjeve-dhe-meso-profesionin-ideal/

Whether you're new towards job searching world or looking for the new job, networking is a high priority. Networking is a computer device that enables folks, like yourself, to become able to obtain the buzz out about delightful skills you possess in order to get the recognition you deserve along with the job of your dreams.

Speak with those you understand while searching for work. Figure out anyone are usually aware of knows for job leads that will need. Many people skip that step, but you should know to start here to be certain you're able stick in order to potential organisations.

Moving on the other side, how many offers are you getting? A person know on what many might be moving into any given period, one month, one quarter, one year? Do website visitor stays if a small position gets more action than other positions? Do you know cause? Do you determine if a particular industry becomes more action, a particular client? An individual know which client generates the most offers? Are you know which person in the client company generates the most offers?  Normally I would say offers translate into placements. Does your Recruitment Agency Chicago have the right offer to placement relation? What is a fine offer to placement facteur?

I am certain that the end of this story for Ted a few additional find him happier and other fulfilled than he has ever been in life when he found helps make this service him happy at the videos . of his being.

No. Can be one of the biggest myths about resume submitting. Actually, it is quite annoying to acquire cover letter because you need to scroll right down to see the applicant's keep on. When submitting a resume in order to a company, they are planning to expect it, so you should definitely do and. Improve your probability of having it read, perform the cover letter in bullet points.

And Parker isn't really a man who lost his wife, issue what he tells Michelle. He is living a double-life, deceiving people too, mainly Michelle together with his wife, Gina. He supplies Michelle with lavish gifts and says all the particular things support keep her in and around. When Michelle begs to meet his children, he has always an explanation for not letting that materialise. She's in at a real surprise when the truth is posted. Is that nauseous feeling end result of something she ate the previous night or luxury ? carrying his baby?

Finally, firmly know which don't know and that's the okay. Should you were alter majors, an individual think lowering the be quick cash person on the internet to accomplish that? Yes, try not to do it too much as it will cost a ton of money, but college must be fun. Finally, enjoy yourself.

 For More Information:https://www.alliancerecruitmentagency.com/

  Video Source:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgemlCuKWf8

[florence839]

Many small business owners will here listen to the term’search engine optimization’ (or SEO) from friends in the company community or perhaps competitions and might consider it as a path to increasing earnings, but what’s SEO? Alternately, a company owner might have attempted’SEO solutions‘ previously and found it didn’t do the job as well as anticipated or has been functioning, but not as successful – this report explains what SEO is, and also why’brand new’ SEO is operating better than everbefore.

I’ve been working in search engine optimization and ranking site marketplace, until it was called SEO. Here are the modifications in SEO because the beginning of the new century and exactly what you ought to be searching for at the search engine optimization services your SEO Agency provides or supplies.

We have a look back in SEO during the years and clarify what SEO is now and how to utilize it for our site.

SEO in 2000

Back at the beginning of the Millennium that the’large’ search engines that many folks were using were both Lycos and Excite.

Websites were just one or 2 pages with basic information to permit them to load fast (within 20 minutes ). Search engine optimization practices back then were to’conceal’ as many key words on a page as you can, so the site was found for all those hunts without making the page seem to spammy to people.

Back in 2002 Google found something called’AdWords’ and it had been called the passing of SEO, as individuals could cover prominence, on the today the number 1 site for beginning searches.

Google began to pin down on’junk’ clinics and sites. At precisely the exact same time Google realised the’AdWords’ weren’t likely to kill SEO and in fact the’natural listings’ invited people back to their own search engine stage. Google began to reevaluate’specialist SEO’ pros and encouraged great SEO instead of spamming SEO.

2004 saw the very first site’banned’ in the net as Google took actions against sites which were spamming them. In addition they took legal actions from the”SEO Company” accountable.

To rank a site in 2006 you simply desired links back to your own site and so purchasing links / link building has been the rage and many sites had a web page where they’d list businesses and links to their own site (I’m still amazed how many sites continue this practice).

Between 2004 and 2008 Google, was the sole”participant” in the search engine world, began taking action against inferior linking practices and businesses and began tightening up on junk and purchasing links. The’Noughties” finished with “gloomy” SEO practices being nearly made out, as Google focused on rank sites based on their articles and it’s significance to the research being completed.

SEO in 2010

Between 2010 and 2015 we began to find that the search engines take note of’Social Media’ websites and shortly the outcomes were full of Twitter’tweets’ from the outcomes. (I could still see the surface of one of my clients when searching Google for his small business, and the first page of their search results were published with tweets of a Twitter dialog that two members of staff were having about how awful the firm was!)

Videos and pictures were also brought into the research results using the Google’Caffeine’ upgrade.

Google introduced”search results” using all the sites shown from the search results according to your past searches and sites you’d seen previously. This triggered a’little stir’ from the search engine optimization world as clients claimed their sites had been”high in Google” for almost any search they did connected to their business, simply because they’d seen their particular site many times previously, therefore Google naturally fed them back the site for all applicable searches. This may still be a little bit of a problem until you show them the brand new’Google Incognito hunt’.

The concentrate on rank sites was found for BIG key words. A’Plumber’ in Bristol would need to rank for this hunt, so that has been the attention.

At precisely the exact same time Google introduced”no trace links” allowing sites to provide pertinent links to other sites and data without penalising both party. It was the beginning of”protected linking”. Quality and appropriate content has been now the secret to rank in search engines.

In ensuring that consumers got the ideal experience Google started rank mobile responsive or friendly sites (in which the site automatically changes its format and size to fit the display ) greater in the ranks.

The united kingdom people were using their cellular phones for local searches, and local businesses could gain an edge over the big corporates or even’national’ businesses online.

The debut of’semantic search’, in which Google brings websites at the outcomes not depending on the key words, but the articles onto a webpage, again altered the manner SEO agencies looked in working on sites. Position for its’Big’ key words, for example’Plumber Bristol’ became important, as net users became more informed with their hunts. ‘long-tail keywords’, as numerous as possible, began to grow website traffic and what’s more, conversions.

What’s the SEO Process Now?

It’s probably right to state that the procedures or practices associated with search engine optimization have out grown the word’SEO’

In years gone by functioning the material and construction of a site was sufficient. An improved description of this service could be’digital advertising’.

Old practices, as stated previously, supposed’large’ key words were crucial to rank. A focus on a single keyword each page or perhaps for a complete site would rank the company and back then it was about’positions’.

Old Method of doing SEO

Now there are a range of elements to think about in regards to SEO.

A good instance of this is to choose the’Plumber Bristol’ instance. A couple of years back you’d have focused on rank the company for”Plumber Bristol”,”Plumber at Bristol” and possibly”Emergency Plumber Bristol” – but this still is true for companies offering a remedy for’distress buys’ (where time plus an alternative outweigh the demand for advice and information ) better practice during a web site would be to include content that provides advice and guidance also contains’long tail key words’ (4 or 3 word searches) for example”Emergency plumber with free callout at Bristol” or”Reviews to an Emergency Plumber close me”. Google needs the consumer to have the very best experience and locate the relevant information immediately, and semantic search accomplishes this. Additionally, this is sensible to get a company owner. Can you rather your site had been found by a searcher searching for”Plumber Bristol” where they might be following advice, looking for a job, searching for a plumbing service which you might not provide, or to get a particular and targeted search such as”finest emergency Plumber nearby BS7″?

Concerning key words this is the greatest change Google have made and it’s here to remain. SEO or electronic marketing is no more about where you rank, however the number of different search phrases you’re able to be found for their conversion into paying clients.

Website Content

A couple of years back (and just two or three years back ) Google indicated to specialist SEO Agencies which 300 words onto a webpage was adequate content.

Every day I’m asked to examine a web site by a prospective client – and the majority of them have between 150 to 250 words onto a webpage. Either Google needs to alter it’s expectations because most sites don’t satisfy their tier or a different way to check at that is as a simple way to jump the contest simply by adding articles to your site. Can you think Google will reduce it is expectations or anticipate sites to enhance for their own standard? Google published the’mobile friendly’ update understanding that somewhere around 80 percent of sites would have to be updated – and they did it anyhow as it gained over 50 percent of users. Quality articles impacts 100 percent of the customers.

I suggest to our client roughly 800 words each page.

Great practice would be to have:

Page Title – state exactly what the page is all about (‘Big’ Keyword if you need to ) Headline – requesting a query Initial paragraph describes briefly explains the articles / alternative Picture / or movie Longer description of this answer Take our Emergency Plumber at Bristol, for instance:

That’s precisely why our client testimonials and opinions say we’re the very best emergency plumbing service in your region. Call today on… Picture of the van or the Plumber appearing skilled

Longer description: Things they could mend, common issues they solve, a few of the quotations from their clients etc.. This has a range of advantages.

Primarily, those men and women who only need a Plumber will read the first paragraph, then see the picture of this van (build professionalism and authority ) and telephone the Plumber. Other folks would want to have more information that they may find farther down the page. Is this cheating in SEO? Absolutely NOT. The content is organised and composed on a webpage is your”brand new” SEO.

In the event that you have been a Plumber could you rather be seen for one enormous keyword or several relevant customer converting key words?

Old practices were to make site content to the search engines. Now you need to create content to give value for clients. This is a simpler process than you may think.

What were the past 5 client enquiries to your small business? What was the difficulty they had been attempting to solve? Write about the issue and your solution.

Link Building

This season we’ve an extremely large firm contact us in their SEO and they were horrified when we proposed they had to eliminate their 1.4 MILLION hyperlinks back to their own site since they’d spent a lot of money over the years purchasing the hyperlinks. Inbound links, and the further you have the more damaging it’s, highlights to Google that the irrelevance of your site – no matter how important it may be.

Nowadays, a couple of, related links is much superior than a Million hyperlinks back to your site. Nowadays, links need to be constructed through participating relationships. Accepting our Plumber once again, a connection back from the’Gas Safe enroll’, a local pipes facility or toilet showroom, and a couple of regional sites which enjoy his advice would be sufficient.

Social Media

Though we still get some companies similar to this today, a couple of years back when we proposed companies ought to be on Facebook I had been generally told”Facebook – which is for teens is not it? That isn’t our economy”. If performed well, Facebook can induce more visitors and paying clients to your door compared to your site.

Facebook Users India Era

Unlike testimonials on your own site which prospective customer may see should they see your site, an overview on Facebook is viewed instantly by each the users buddies and when their buddy’enjoys’ the remark – all their pals, buddies. Increasingly more of our clients are receiving leads from Facebook. Folks are asking their friends for tips on companies to utilize and obtaining heaps of ideas back – if you’re on Facebook you’re more inclined to acquire a direct link for your contact info.

Live streaming! Twitter has bought a business called’Periscope’ that permits you to live stream video in the mobile phone. “What exactly?” I hear our Celtics ergency plumber’ inquiring. When I had been a Plumber I’d be live streaming my job since I fix a issue, together with the movie going out live to every one my buddies and their buddies – my own tv station that’s free-to-air across the entire world.

Video Marketing

There aren’t any’older’ SEO methods for video since it simply didn’t exist when YouTube started out it had been for displaying funny videos of cats and so on.

Now that’s changed. YouTube is the 2nd biggest search engine on the planet and can be owned by Google. YouTube has more than 1 BILLION users globally and each moment, 300 hours of movies have been uploaded. It might take you about two years to see all the movies which are going to be uploaded within another hour. Google’s own statistics state that by 2018 73 percent of searches put to an internet search engine is going to bring about the individual seeing a movie. Consider it a different way, in a few years after 10 people hunt the web to your goods or service – 7 of these will watch a movie, two will go to a web site. That’s the reason why I create videos to our clients as part of our’digital advertising service’.

[ourmrmel]

Mel Feller, MPA, MHR, looks at Best Home Based Online Opportunities.

Mel Feller, MPA, MHR, looks at Best Home Based Online Opportunities.

 Mel is the President/Founder of Mel Feller Seminars with Coaching for Success 360, Inc. and Mel Feller Coaching.  Mel Feller maintains offices in Texas and in Utah.

  Although the hardest part of getting started on the internet is finding the right business, every successful business owner starts with someone coming up with the right business idea at the right time. Therefore, you just have to be alert while finding one such business for you and the best home based business ideas to get success online.

  See that you select the opportunities on the internet that have reputation. After starting in the beginning, you can stick to what is working for your business owner. However, it is a good idea to test your business by doing some research and trying new strategies on your own for taking your business to higher earnings levels.

  There are two categories in general: People who fail to make money on the internet and those who are successful. Most of the people fail because of the lack of planning and skills. Convenience is the primary reason why people are diverted towards surfing on the internet.

 Surveys show that the kind of the products that sell best on the internet are those that either increases knowledge or fulfill customer requirements.  Therefore, the success of your business will depend upon selection of the right product or service that will provide wanting benefits to the customers.

  Here are the best home based business ideas that can help you to fall into the category of successful people:

  Build a theme-oriented website having various business options for opportunity seekers in general.

  Find a niche and target markets where people are spending money.

  If you do not have your own product, join affiliate programs and sell other peoples product.

  Find the home based business entrepreneurs who have experience, so that you can use their recommendations efficiently.

   Write review of products including their benefits by creating pre selling web pages, as people go online searching for information before buying products.

  Add a sign up form to your pre selling web pages and promise to give freebies to those who will give their name and email addresses. This will help you to build your big list of subscribers.

  Provide useful online information to the visitors by writing articles. This will increase meaningful traffic to your website on a consistent basis.

  Dedicate more time to recruit prospects, as most of the people in your downline are not going to do anything. Only those that are serious will contact you.

  Help your downline to build their own system.

  Add multiple income streams to your website to ensure that your monthly income continue to grow.

  Unless you have, the best home based business ideas to know from where to start and how to dominate, it is difficult to set a good foundation for your business. If you are still searching for a good business on the internet, then pick up the right business for you without wasting time, depending on your passion.  

  However, others may want a more predictable and consistent paycheck.  They may not want to start a business on line but work for someone else using the web.

 Therefore, I went hunting for legitimate, full-time work-from-home job opportunities and some of them even offer benefits.

 Can You Really Work From Home Full Time?

  Many work-from-home jobs are available in the customer service realm.

 Large corporations often contract smaller companies to provide phone and online customer service, and these smaller companies specifically hire home workers. Typically, you will spend the day on the phone in front of your computer and will answer calls or respond to questions online.

 For example, an acquaintance worked as a home-based online support specialist for AFNI, which only rarely hires at-home workers, and some of its clients were appliance makers and sellers.

  They had many tasks; including helping customers order parts and find a service technician, both on the phone and online through a live chat service.

  Think back to all the times you have called a company for help or typed questions into an online help box. The people you dealt with could have been working at home, which gives you some idea of the kind of work you might be doing.

  How Much Could You Get Paid?

  Although these positions generally do not pay high wages, many do provide a regular paycheck and health insurance, among other benefits.

  For example, Convergys work-from-home jobs come with “a full benefit package with medical, dental and vision coverage.” The company offers a 401(k) plan, and reimburses employees for college tuition.

  As a Convergys agent, you take customer calls and provide other services for large corporations. The company has clients in industries like automotive, communications and media, financial services and many more.

  Companies That Often Offer Work-From-Home Customer Service Jobs

  If you are having trouble getting started on your work-from-home job search, these five companies often hire work-from-home employees.  If you want a particular type of work, ask about what you will be doing before accepting the job.

 SYKES Home

 Sykes hires agents to work from home throughout the United States and Canada. The company encourages you to “join the team of 6,000 agents across North America who accept inbound calls routed virtually to their homes.” Apply to work for the company here.

 Pay: Glassdoor shows wages ranging from $9.09 to $10.41 per hour. For U.S. employees, Sykes offers health care and 401(k) contributions.

    TeleTech

 Although TeleTech offers many customer service jobs at call centers across the U.S., the company also hires at-home workers. Just look for the listings with “work from home” or “Remote” under “Location.”

 Pay: Indeed shows wages varying by position, with a range from $9.05 to $12.84 per hour. Glassdoor lists health and dental plans and a 401(k) as some of TeleTech’s benefits.

  VIPdesk Connect

 Like many of these companies, VIPdesk Connect provides “outsourced customer service 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.”

 Pay: Glassdoor shows pay of about $10 per hour, and the company says it provides paid vacation days; performance incentives; and (for full-time workers) medical, dental and vision insurance.

  iQor

 You’ll find this statement on the iQor website: “You’ve got energy, enthusiasm, drive and determination. We’ve got benefits, flexible schedules, and a career path that rewards performance with growth and opportunity.” Is that you?

 Pay: Glassdoor says the average wage is about $10 an hour. Benefits listed on Glassdoor include performance bonuses, paid time off, health, and dental insurance.

  Convergys

 Convergys is consistently hiring work-from-home customer service representatives. If it’s not now, just keep an eye on its listings.

 Pay: What you will be paid depends largely on your location, but Glassdoor reports salaries in the $10 range.

  Other Work-From-Home Jobs

 Because you would work for a company that contracts services to a variety of clients, the work you do could change as clients fluctuate.

  You might spend months explaining to customers how to set up smart TVs, and then become a complaint handler when your employer gets a new client. You could even end up as a debt collector.

  However, if customer service just is not your jam, there are plenty of other work-from-home opportunities out there.

  Work-From-Home Job Sites

 Look at various job-search sites and do your own personalized searches. Also, keep an eye on The Penny Hoarder’s Work-From-Home Jobs Portal.

  You should also check out work-from-home jobs on ZipRecruiter, the country’s fastest-growing online job site. You can find work-from-home jobs based on your location.

  To begin with, find one that fits your talent and your budget. Know your audience and stick to it. The sooner you do, the sooner you will be on your way to get what you want in life.

 Mel Feller, MPA, MHR, is a well-known real estate, business consultant, personal development consultant and speaker, specializing in performance, productivity, and profits. Mel is the President/Founder of Mel Feller Seminars with Coaching For Success 360, Inc. and Mel Feller Coaching, a real estate and business specific coaching company. His three books for real estate professionals are systems on how to become an exceptional sales performer. His four books in Business and Government Grants are ways to leverage and increase your business Success in both time and money! His book on Personal Development “Lies that Will Sabotage Your Success”. Mel Feller is in Texas and In Utah.

[alliance-recruitment-agency-blog]

Agriculture Headhunters - Personal Agriculture Head Hunting Services

The point of the story is that, yes, you can have many other candidates involving stack of 500 cover letters and resumes that recruiting manager get for a person ad and a few will contain more experience and much better qualifications than you. You just need to to make it possible for your cover letter and resume shows off your strengths and experience better than the other guy.

Image Source:

Best Agriculture Headhunters - The Secrets To AGRICULTURE HEADHUNTERS 

But the considerably younger than Churchill was when he led will World to victory in World War II. You have still got a best alternative before you reach the age when Henry Ford hit pay dirt with his Model G. When he was nearly 40, James Michener, author of scores of books, including Tales with the South Pacific, was told that if he had not written a magazine by age 35, chances were he never would.

Image Source:

Hire Agriculture Headhunters - The Lazy Man's Guide To AGRICULTURE HEADHUNTERS

Neither they nor Young talked to Automotive News, but the publication states that The Detroit News is reporting that GM has hired an agriculture hedhunter firm to find Young's change.

Video Source:

Expert Agriculture Headhunters - 2 Things You Must Know About AGRICULTURE HEADHUNTERS

Here's a question we hear all time - I have better credentials yet they were given the job opportunity. How did they it? The solution is simple: They did their "homework" ahead electrical power. They positioned the time required into the job-hunting progress.

Agriculture Headhunter Services - Should Fixing AGRICULTURE HEADHUNTERS Take 60 Steps

There isn't any shame in NO job role. Tell everyone are familiar with as you broaden your search network. Everyone really does feel your pain and also to an individual. Unfortunately, few can or will if you don't find anybody with the ability of judgement. Join professional groups, search the Internet, in order to former professors and classmates you remember. Offer to work free if that would help to prove your worth to a prospective firm or do volunteer assist service agencies that are very connected. 

Yikes - I've regarding rapid transit but till now I've never heard of rapid and fast first impressions. There's speed dating, speed dialing, and keep in mind speed channel surfing along with your remote control in your family room. 

What: Emergency rally to save Market and Octavia bike lane. Demand the city stop its plan to clear out the bike lane on Market Street Require Agriculture Headhuntes at the Octavia 4 way stop. The Municipal Transportation Agency will be asking a judge remove a bike lane at one incredibly dangerous intersections in the city next few. "No Way!". Stop by and sign petition and lend your support. 

Consider other options. How can you be happy where a person? Can you enjoy your career goals include attained? Think about continuing Agriculture Headhunting Services function hard enough to sustain current position relative towards rest all over the world and to earn your earnings? Do you really want or need to be king from the mountain to relish career an effective outcome?

As President of a professional search firm, we are fiscally and morally required to be careful regarding the clients whom we achieve. If my firm leads to clients that nobody to be able to work for, is compensating well under market merely are not pleasant as individuals, it takes a great deal longer inside your the right applicant. 

There are many benefits doable ! derive from utilizing humor when talking. Keep in mind that these benefits only help you reach your ultimate purpose for since it is presentation. They are not purposes themselves unless, of course, you are just interested in entertaining.

Good agriculture hedhunter firms will expend significant time helping their clients reach clarity on why they need to have certain position, how that position helps their business, what it takes to carry out the role we have success often be concretely that takes place. At Quorum, we notice this simply because the foundation any kind of engagement. In course of any search assignment, quality search consultants will shift their focus to your candidates the they are seeking for in a career. Is actually at this point that on-line loan application Genie Questions gets answered. Our view would be the from an option side, we in small business of dreams, aspirations and ambitions.

What: Supervisor John Avalos from District 11 is actually going to formally starting a new campaign aid bridge the gap between the legislative branch of government and grass roots people. A brief warming party will be followed with a serious discussion about the next steps to consider as a community. There is actually snacks and refreshments.

They don't sense that they need training and in case they did, it may just be an admission that they've skills they desire to work on." In many organizations, attending training is considered as a sign of weakness. What's going on ? Just because someone attends training, they're weak? Shouldn't commitment to development remain visible as a stronger point? Apparently not. The actual leadership ranks in many organizations, this can a problem. Sad, but true. Arrogance and ego are robbing executives of development which need.

Interview the search firm as as an example if you have been hiring an executive assistant. Soon after all, a person going to be investing time with this search good. Don't forget, that in order to employing their reach to place your profile in front with the appropriate contacts for an interview and site. So, make certain it feels appropriate and fits for a degree of interest.

When you get too excited, the WSJ is reporting that market research of 100 venture capitalists from executive search firm Polachi Corporation. indicates that 53% analysts thought the market was broken. This list may have some bite because over 70% of those polled were managing partners. But the definition of broken differed among the respondents - with some seeing the as bust but fixable and others seeing no cure in view. VC's tend for you to become an optimistic lot by nature, so maybe this dose of pessimism means we've actually flattened and have nowhere to go but in. That's my take a lot of.

Author Name:- Shreya Mehta

Address:- 104 Esplanade ave 120, 

                  Pacifica, CA

Mobile No:- +1 917-668-8461

[socialjusticeartshare]

COVID-19 Cases at One Texas Immigration Detention Center Soared in a Matter of Days. Now, Town Leaders Want Answers.

Coronavirus infections continue to rise at migrant detention facilities in towns with limited resources. Some local governments want details on what’s being done to safeguard the public.

It was a historic occasion for the South Texas town of Pearsall when officials broke ground in 2004 on what would become one of the country’s largest immigration detention centers.

Not only would it help improve border security, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn said then, it would also bring employment to the small rural community, about 60 miles from San Antonio. Hundreds of good jobs for a region that desperately needed them.

But now, as the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread inside immigration detention centers, local leaders here in an extraordinary move have called on the company that runs the center, the GEO Group, to publicly explain itself. They say the company has not been transparent, and has failed to respond to emails and letters seeking answers to a simple question: What is the GEO Group doing to prevent the virus outbreak inside the privately owned facility from creeping into their community?

The leaders have invited company officials to attend the Frio County commissioners meeting Monday and sent a list of 20 detailed questions, ranging from what safeguards are in place to protect employees and detainees to how it can make the information more readily available to the community.

This story is part of a collaboration between ProPublica and the Texas Tribune. Learn more

“We did our part, we financed their construction. Now it’s time to hold them accountable, to help us,” said Jose Asuncion, a recently elected county commissioner who over the years has been pushing for more transparency in the for-profit detention industry.

“For many of us, this could be a matter of life and death,” a group of nine area elected officials and a candidate, including Asuncion, wrote in the open letter to the GEO Group on May 5.

The letter was drafted before the number of confirmed cases inside the South Texas ICE Processing Center jumped from seven to 31 detainees, as of Friday. Seven employees have also been infected.

ICE said there were 900 detainees in custody in Pearsall last week.

Outside the center, Frio County, with a population of about 19,000, reports only two confirmed COVID-19 cases.

“This is an example of how things can quickly get out of hand if the virus gets transported into our community,” Frio County Attorney Joseph Sindon said. “We were at zero cases two weeks ago.”

The GEO Group says that it has been in communication with local leaders, although it didn’t specify who, and that it has taken steps to mitigate the risks. “We take our responsibility to ensure the health and safety of all those in our care and our employees with the utmost seriousness,” the company said in a statement Friday, adding that it would continue to work with the federal government and local officials to develop COVID-19 emergency plans and testing policies and to procure supplies for staff and detainees.

Nationwide, there are nearly 800 confirmed cases inside immigration detention centers. More than 1 in 4 of those cases are in Texas.

But the number is likely higher as Immigration and Customs Enforcement has tested only about 5% of its detained population. More than half of those have tested positive.

Most detained migrants are held in privately owned facilities, which have come under fire for allegations of poor treatment and conditions. Among those owners is Florida-based GEO Group, which generated $2.4 billion in revenue in 2019 and has been a big donor to federal, state and local candidates, primarily Republicans, and GOP political action committees, records show.

In response to the pandemic, ICE says it’s taking steps to minimize the spread of the virus. It has limited some arrests, suspended social visits and released more than 900 detainees since March who might be vulnerable.

Transfers between immigration facilities and from local jails, many dealing with their own outbreaks, continue, though, contrary to CDC recommendations. Between March 1 and April 25, ICE reported more than 3,300 immigrants arrested by local law enforcement were then turned over to the federal agency, including some sent to Pearsall, according to detainees and lawyers.

Advocates, elected officials and medical professionals say what ICE is doing hasn’t been enough, and cite the agency’s poor track record containing infectious disease. They continue to call for the release of migrants in custody, especially those with underlying health conditions.

The first death due to COVID-19 inside an immigration detention center was reported Wednesday. The victim was a 57-year-old Salvadoran man held at the Otay Mesa Detention Center in California, where 139 detainees have so far tested positive, by far the largest cluster across the country.

Asuncion said he decided to make the letter to GEO public in response to constituents’ concerns that the county government was not giving them answers.

He expected to be the only leader to sign the letter, Asuncion said last week. “By the time I emailed the draft of the letter, everybody had a sense that the situation was only going to get worse, and they didn’t want to seem like they didn’t do or say anything early on.”

“We can no longer sit back and wait for tragedy to occur, action must be taken now! What we want is simple answers and to be proactive as a whole,” Ramiro Treviño, a candidate for the Frio County Commissioners Court, posted on Facebook May 6 after learning of 15 additional cases inside the center. “Please pray for each and every individual affected by this.”

His post was followed by an “Amen,” from Davina Treviño Rodriguez, a Pearsall City Council member, who offered her own prayer.

One of the Better Employers

When GEO’s predecessor, the Correctional Services Corporation, got the contract for the Pearsall center in 2004, officials sold it as a way to bring jobs. The 230,000-square-foot facility built on a former farm field would employ 300 people and have an annual payroll of about $6.2 million.

A prospective applicant needed only to be at least 21 and have a high school diploma or GED and no serious criminal record. Entry-level security wages would be in the $12-an-hour range, they said.

The center would also generate hundreds of thousands of tax dollars for the school district. Frio County issued a $49 million bond to finance construction, reported the local newspaper, the Frio-Nueces Current.

For the company, it meant annual revenues of about $21.7 million, according to news reports.

The center opened in 2005 with a capacity of about 1,000 men and women. A year later, it added 884 detainees and another $11.3 million annually in operating revenue.

Under a 2011 contract, GEO expected annual revenue of $45 million with a 75% occupancy guarantee from ICE, a news release from the company said.

Frio County is about 80% Hispanic and has a median household income of $42,000, about 30% below the national median, according to the U.S. Census. About 1 in 5 people live below the poverty level. Very few have a college degree. The economy revolves mostly around agribusiness, oil and hunting.

The South Texas ICE Processing Center became one of the better employers in the community, said Sindon, the Frio County attorney.

“You can hardly find a family that doesn’t have someone that works there,” he said.

Frio County, like many communities in Texas, is the type of place where prisons are seen as the solution “to most, if not all of our problems,” said Asuncion, 39, who lives in Dilley. That town also has a large detention center, run by CoreCivic, another giant in the for-profit detention business.

“We look at them for safety, we look at them as economic saviors,” he said.

Asuncion was raised in Chicago and lived in Los Angeles before moving to Dilley to take care of his grandmother eight years ago. Immediately he became interested in the for-profit detention center visible from his home and started asking questions. He even did a short stint as a local reporter, and said he was stonewalled in his efforts to get information.

He said he’s tried reaching out to officials at the Pearsall facility directly about the outbreak, leaving messages and sending emails to the addresses he has. “But at a certain point you say I shouldn’t be chasing these guys down in this situation, I’m a commissioner.”

Other large ICE detention centers in the country are operated by LaSalle Corrections, Management & Training Corp. and Immigration Centers of America. Nine of the 10 facilities in Texas with positive cases of COVID-19 are owned by one of these corporations.

The GEO Group grew from a division of a private security firm to an international giant operating detention centers in several countries, including 67 in the United States with about 75,000 beds.

Over the years, these for-profit companies have given millions to candidates and groups that support them.

The GEO Group spent over $1.5 million on lobbying in 2019, according to lobbying disclosures. About a quarter of their business went to Ballard Partners, which continues to lobby the White House and the Department of Homeland Security on GEO’s behalf to promote the use of private prison and detention centers.

So far in the 2020 election cycle, the GEO Group’s PAC has given $100,000 to Trump Victory, a joint fundraising committee for the Trump campaign and other Republicans. Prior to the coronavirus outbreak, the number of immigrants in detention had reached an all-time high under President Donald Trump, who ran on an anti-immigration platform.

Texas politicians are also among the beneficiaries. During the current cycle, the GEO Group’s PAC has given $5,000 to Sen. Cornyn, a Texas Republican, and $9,700 to U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Democrat from Laredo.

While its last inspection in February by an ICE contractor found it to be in compliance, as with other detention centers across the country, the South Texas ICE Processing Center has had a checkered history.

Detainees have complained and sued after claiming that staff repeatedly placed them into isolation. Human rights reports have documented allegations of sexual abuse and cited the facility in reports documenting the high number of recent deaths inside ICE detention facilities.

On its website, the GEO Group emphasizes one of the company’s core values is that “every human being should be treated with dignity and that his or her basic human rights should be respected and preserved at all times.”

Hunger Strikes by Detainees. Confrontations with Guards.

As the coronavirus pandemic spread in March, so did confrontations between detainees and guards.

Inside the South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall, migrants clashed with guards over what they called unsafe conditions, demanding to be released. The unrest led to a standoff in which guards shot pepper spray at the detainees. Nine immigrants were held on disciplinary charges.

There weren’t any reported COVID-19 cases then, but soon they started trickling in and the more positives were reported inside the detention centers, the more detainees feared they would be next.

Over the last couple of months, half a dozen asylum seekers have told ProPublica/Texas Tribune about not having enough cleaning supplies, masks and gloves, their inability to stay the recommended six feet apart, holding those who test positive together in rooms with poor ventilation and hygiene they say have helped spread the virus.

Kathrine Russell, an attorney with the immigrant legal services group RAICES, said GEO has recently started to take additional steps at the South Texas center, including issuing detainees masks. “Measures that they should have taken from the beginning,” she said. “If they had, we might not be in the situation we are now.”

There have been at least five hunger strikes inside the Pearsall facility, detainees say — some to demand more information, others to call for more testing as migrants in their units came down with the virus.

In a city besieged, undocumented New Yorkers have been left outside public measures to help those impacted by the spread of the coronavirus. Instead, they weigh impossible choices: medical help and exposure, safety or sustenance.

A man who was transferred from the Bexar County jail said he believed the outbreak at Pearsall began with someone who had been taken there from the jail. More than 300 inmates and 55 staff members there have contracted the virus since March.

“My question to the officers is why did they keep bringing people from Bexar if they knew they were infected?” said one detainee, who asked that his name not be used fearing retaliation. Between March 1 and April 25, 174 people were transferred from Bexar County to ICE facilities.

Detainees in Pearsall said they at times were given false information about positive cases. On one occasion, staff had said they had nothing to worry about, before returning days later to confirm that one of the men in their unit had tested positive.

In an April earnings release, GEO’s CEO, George Zoley, said that his company has worked to procure safety supplies, do temperature checks and follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, and that all of its facilities have “access to regular hand-washing with clean water and soap, round-the-clock healthcare, and typically have approximately double the number of healthcare staff, compared to state correctional facilities.”

But this is contrary to what multiple detainees and their advocates from facilities across the country continue to report, including in lawsuits and complaints.

“It’s been horrible,” said Yanet Cabrera, whose 54-year-old mother was recently transferred from Pearsall to another detention center in Laredo. “I can’t stop thinking that she can get sick, that I can lose her in there and I have no way of helping her.”

There are no known cases in the center where her mother is now, but Cabrera said she wasn’t tested before leaving the South Texas facility.

Disappointment. Fear. Concern.

Even with claims of precautions in place, Pearsall and Frio County officials and residents say they remain concerned.

“Anybody following this and listening to experts knows large groups of people in close proximity creates the possibility for a firestorm of cases,” said Sindon, the county attorney.

He sighs when asked about the latest number of confirmed cases inside the Pearsall facility. He feels “disappointment, fear, concern for our community,” he said. “The detainees can’t leave, but the guards certainly can. We have to hope GEO is taking appropriate steps.”

The entire county only has three ventilators and 48 hospital beds. A model from researchers in the U.S. and Canada, including Traci Green, an epidemiologist at Brandeis University, estimated that the South Texas ICE Processing Center could have up to 1,345 detainees contract the virus over 90 days under the most optimistic scenario. In a yet to be published article in the Journal of Urban Health, a peer-reviewed publication that focuses on urban health and epidemiology, the group’s model projected that between 72% and nearly 100% of ICE detainees could contract the virus in a 90-day period given conditions inside the centers and average populations.

“The real challenge is that once it starts in a closed space, it’s likely to spread very quickly,” Green said, “and will advance where a certain portion of the population will need hospitalization and ICU admissions,” a local community hospital will need to accommodate.

The other county and city leaders who signed the letter didn’t return calls, emails or requests for comment via social media, including the mayor of Pearsall, where the center is located.

Frio County Judge Arnulfo Luna also wrote a letter to the GEO Group administrator who runs the Pearsall facility “to implore” him to keep workers and detainees safe, especially given the county’s inability to regulate the center’s employees and contractors.

“As you know the employees and contractors who work at your facility live in the surrounding Frio County communities of Pearsall, Dilley, Moore and Derby,” Luna wrote. “The citizens that make up these communities are increasingly concerned that the high risk of exposure to those inside of your facility will lead to an outbreak outside of it, and our communities will be put at greater risk.” As of Friday, county officials said they had not received a response.

GEO Group said it will provide a “comprehensive response to the county detailing the steps we have taken in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a responsible community partner, we make ourselves available to provide information to the communities we serve.”

“This is the first time I really ever noticed the city and county taking a critical view of the detention center,” said Russell, the attorney with clients in Pearsall. “Which I think in some ways is probably good.”

Article Source

[maritzaerwin]

Looking to Get into Tech? These Are the 5 Best Paying Jobs in IT (2020)

Look up the best paying jobs in information technology and you’ll get a variety of answers.

You can cherry-pick data to make lists of good paying IT jobs, and clickbait headlines will show you whopping salaries for specialty security architects with numbers skewed by geography or the big dollars offered at high-profile tech companies.

I take a more nuanced approach to show you how to make good career decisions that will lead you to a well-paying job that also suits your work style. Plus, I tap into how to build technology skills to make even more money. 

Find an IT Job that Suits Your Style

As CEO for Creating IT Futures, I’ve spent nearly a decade helping people find in-roads to IT, especially people who are under-represented in tech and individuals who are lacking in opportunity to prepare for, secure and be successful in information technology careers.

One tip I’ve learned — Find a job in technology you like to avoid burnout.

Finding the right role is especially essential in a technical field, according to the Career Metis advice in 10 Survival Tips for Introverted Leaders in Technical Fields. For people who are good at helping and problem-solving and want to start a career in technology, there are good-paying jobs at the entry-level in technology.

One of our students in our IT-Ready Technical Support program, Alexandrea Alvarado, was on her way to being a graphic designer but started to understand along the way that she didn’t like the illustration that much. Graphic design jobs seemed few and far between in her area of the U.S.

During her graphic design program at a local college, she realized it wasn’t the drawing she liked so much, but the computers. Alvarado started looking for training programs and found our program, where she got a chance to earn her CompTIA A+ certification and get her first job into the IT industry.

“I didn’t know how to start or where to start in technology and this program really helped me find the pathway to get to where I wanted to be from where I was before and I’m really grateful for that,” Alvarado said.

The thing is lots of jobs pay well in the technology industry. Whether you’re good at helping people, noticing suspicious activity or getting things to work, information technology has a good-paying job to fit your skills. Using data from the US Department of Labor, we found jobs that pay more than $40 an hour, well above the national average.

These are jobs you can get through training and certification, reliable jobs that will set you up for a solid financial future.

Alvarado found her IT-Ready Technical Support curriculum combined practical knowledge, technical expertise, and soft skills development and paired it with preparation for the respected CompTIA A+ certification.

That curriculum was wrapped with career guidance, resume building tips and interview prep, plus connecting graduates with employers looking for trained, qualified professionals.

Photo Credit – Pexels.com

Set Your Management Goals

Overall, careers based in information technology offer high salaries compared to other jobs, and where you work in the management ladder can also affect how much you make. Whether you want to keep it simple as a non-management IT pro or call the shots in the boardroom, there’s a wide range of good salaries in the tech industry.

Here are some salary ranges based on workforce data from across the world.

Non-Management IT Pros — The global average among non-management IT staff (such as network engineers, security analysts and programmers/developers) was $75,345.

Mid-Level IT Managers — Among mid-level professionals (positions like IT audit managers, security officers, IT project managers and other management/team lead roles), the global average came in at $85,761.

Senior IT Pros — Senior-level roles demonstrated a similar pattern in 2019. The global average of these positions (directors, chief security officers, senior engineers) came in at $109,689.

The C-Suite — The global average salary for IT executives (chief technical officers, chief information officers, chief executive officers) in 2019 was reported at $123,508, with North America at the top of the list at $160,474.

Develop Skills to Boost Your Pay

U.S. employment data shows IT pros earn 43 percent more than people working in other occupations, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

There are three ways to add to your salary according to the Global Knowledge 2019 IT Skills and Salary Report: promotions, job changes, and bonuses. Technology companies work hard to keep the best talent around, but they can’t always fight higher paychecks.

The research found that workers who left their company for the same or a similar position elsewhere earned 20 percent more.

Bonuses happen when you do your job well, and sometimes teams are rewarded for their work on big projects.

Around the world, about half of all IT staff received a bonus as well as 56 percent of IT decision-makers, which contributed to the overall increase in 2019. And about 15 percent of IT workers earned more money because of a promotion. Those who were promoted internally received a 14 percent increase in pay.

The real key is to stack your skills to watch your paycheck grow:

9% of IT professionals credit their salary bump to the addition of new skills to their toolbox, and

Those same IT pros earned nearly $12,000 more than last year.

If you plan on getting to some of the highest paying jobs in IT, you’ll need to develop your skills along the way. A popular path is going from the help desk to networking, then to security.

Here are some of the basic skills to build as you increase your potential in the IT industry — and skills that that are validated by earning a CompTIA A+ certification.

Networking — Understanding and being able to explain the different types of networks and connections and troubleshooting issues.  

Security — Identifying and protecting vulnerabilities devices and their network connections.

Operational Procedures — Following best practices for safety, environmental impacts, and communication and professionalism.

Operating Systems — Installing and supporting Windows, Linux and mobile operating systems.

Hardware — Identifying, using and connected hardware components and devices.

Software — Installing software and troubleshooting PC and mobile devices issues, including application and security.

Mobile Devices — Installing and configuring laptops and other mobile devices.

Virtualization and Cloud Computing — Comparing and contrasting cloud computing concepts and setting up client-side virtualization.

Get A Good Paying Start in Technology

If you want to break into the technology industry and make good money, set your sights on the help desk. It’s the easiest way to start in the technology industry and make $50,000 a year on average.

According to the most recent data available from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are more than 863,000 help desk positions throughout the United States. Every midsize and larger company — be it hospital or bank or utility or university — operates a help desk. And that number is expected to increase by 10% within the next year.  

Help desk employees need to have some understanding of technology and will be asked to make sure computer systems are up-to-date, secure and functioning properly.  Daily responsibilities include running diagnostics and troubleshooting systems; installing software; updating computer hardware; on-boarding new employees by setting up their computer systems, login information and access to a company’s cloud services; training employees in new technologies; and providing technical support over the phone or online.

CompTIA Tech Career Academy helped Alvarado connect her with her first job in technology, on the help desk. Five years ago, Alvarado thought she was stuck in graphic design with no job prospects.

“That’s what I was worried about and I did not know what route I wanted to take,” 

Alvarado said. Now, she’s focused on a job in cybersecurity and studying for CompTIA Network+ and CompTIA Security+.

 “That’s the path I want to go on, and it feels good that I know where I want to go. When I was in design, I had no idea where I wanted to go. Now it’s about building myself up to get to that goal and it’s exciting.” 

Help desk experience broadens tech know-how and helps people working in the business of technology identify what aspect of information technology appeals to them, whether it’s networking, cybersecurity, servers, cloud infrastructure or project management.

On the help desk, you can earn additional certifications to add more autonomy, authority, and cash to your life. 

Certification Sets You Apart

Source : Pixabay.com

Companies are using computerized hiring to eliminate bias and get the best people in technology careers. “Finding qualified people is time-consuming, but now some job hunting software analyzes millions of social profiles and spits out a list of the most qualified people for a position,” according to the Top 8 Workplace Technology Trends for 2020.

Computers don’t have the same biases as human recruiters, meaning highly qualified candidates won’t be overlooked due to personal preference, appearance or even personality, according to the article, and recruiters use software and websites like LinkedIn to sort by certification.

CIO.com spells out the best entry-level certifications to help you get a foot in the door for a tech job interview. Certification like CompTIA A+ on your resume tells them you’ve got broad-based foundational tech skills and can handle desktops, laptops, mobile phones, printers, and other devices.

More technical roles in cybersecurity often require several years of experience and earning a certification like CompTIA Security+ while working in these roles reinforces the experience you’re gaining and proves to employers you have the foundational knowledge to move forward in high-paying careers in information security.

Top-paying IT certifications can net you more than $100,000 per year, according to CompTIA.

Best Paying Jobs in IT

Working on the help desk led Alvarado to another discovery: She loves working in cybersecurity. Now she’s on her way to be an information security analyst, one of the top-paying jobs in the market. No matter how you get started in technology, you can find a path to one of these well-paying careers.

Based on information from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, these are the best paying jobs in IT.

1) Information Security Analysts

Information security analysts plan and carry out security measures to protect an organization’s computer networks and systems.

In this role, you’ll be identifying and protecting people from vulnerabilities related to devices and their network connections. Look for job titles like IT security specialist, software security engineer, security officer and IT security director and bring your creativity, problem-solving abilities, attention to detail, collaboration skills, research abilities. To land one of these cherry gigs, you’ll need training or experience with both computer systems and business practices. Certification like CompTIA IT Security+ is helpful.

Annual Salary for Information Security Analysts — $98,350

2) Network and Computer Systems Administrators

Network and computer systems administrators are responsible for the day-to-day operation of computer networks. Here, you’re working with the physical computer networks of a variety of organizations, which means job security in this day and age.

Annual Salary for Network and Computer Systems Administrators  — $82,050.

 3) Software Developers

Software developers create applications or systems that run on a computer or another device. Communication skills, attention to detail, adaptability and problem-solving abilities come in handy in this role. This applies to mobile app developers, too.

To get started, you’ll need training or apprenticeship experience that familiarizes you with programming languages.

Annual Salary for Software Developers — $103,620.

4) Computer Systems Analysts

Computer systems analysts study an organization’s current computer systems and find a solution that is more efficient and effective.

Bring your problem solving and communication skills to this career, and look for job titles like IT systems specialist, computer technician, and technology project manager.

Annual Salary for Computer Systems Analysts — $68,432.

5) Computer Network Architects

Computer network architects design and build data communication networks, including local area networks (LANs), wide area networks (WANs), and Intranets. This job is for minds that can understand networking and are able to explain the different types of networks and connections and troubleshooting issues. This is a job that takes commitment — most computer network architects work full time and some work more than 40 hours per week — in exchange for a six-figure salary.

Annual Salary for Computer Network Architects  —$109,020.

Conclusion

Whether you’re starting on the help desk or aiming high for an architect role, many IT jobs require some amount of experience or training.

Luckily the tech industry is more than willing to help you get the training you need.

If you have the desire and drive to get into tech, you’ll find a number of programs to help you.

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