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Got a Great Offer? What NOT to do Next!
I was just reading an article about a journalism student who landed his dream job – and got fired before he started. Ouch! I’m sure this kind of thing doesn’t happen often, but with everyone – and I mean everyone – on social media, these unfortunate events could easily become commonplace. Don’t let it be you in the news! We’ve…
Job Requirements: How Important Are They Really?
Through my work with Artisan, I read a lot of job descriptions. Chances are – if you’re here reading this blog – you probably do, too. Some of those job descriptions are in my areas of expertise and some are not, but they all have one thing in common: the job requirements often sound incredibly hard to meet! In my…
Artisan Desk Pilates: Move #1
If you’re like most – you probably spend most of your time each week sitting at your desk working. Some days you’re lucky to even get out of the office to grab lunch! Maybe you get out one or two days a week to exercise – but wouldn’t it be nice if you could somehow build your workout into your…
Resumes: You Have 6 Seconds…Go!
In recent days, the internet has been a buzz about recruiters taking only 6 seconds to look at resumes before deciding whether to toss it or read more. 6 seconds. That is definitely a bit depressing, right? My career coach says it takes 80 hours of work to perfect a resume and, even then, you have to tweak it every…
Tax Tips for Freelancers—For Next Year!
Although you still have until midnight tonight to file your taxes (or an extension), it is never too early to think about how to handle your taxes better next year. As we are neither tax professionals nor claim to be so, but rather a community of freelancers and freelance placement specialists – we can only recommend the following tips to…
Ever Have One of “Those Days” – At Work?
We’ve all had them, right? It’s those days when everything goes wrong from the very start and you find yourself at work and angry at the universe? You spilled coffee on your new outfit, you’re stuck in what must be the world’s worst traffic, you didn’t get the business you were expecting and/or your boss is not disappointed in…
What Type of Interviewer Do You Have – and What to Do When You Figure It Out!
I came across an article written by Doug Hardy of Monster.com about the “6 Types of Interviewers” and thought you might be interested in Artisan’s take on how to handle them. Of course, the secret is figuring out what kind of interviewer you have as quickly as possible by assessing their body language – so that you can tailor your…
Top Tips for Starting your Management Career Right
We’ve talked before about what to do when you think it’s time to quit your job and even how to handle difficult managers, but what about being a manager yourself? I was asked recently where I wanted to be in five years and my answer was “Managing a team.” It would be so rewarding, I think, to focus strategically…
Top 10 Interview Preparation Tips
A job seeker going to a job interview without preparing and practicing is like an actor performing on opening night without rehearsing. By researching the company, becoming familiar with the interviewer(s), understanding the job description, and anticipating questions, interviewees can develop appropriate answers and “rehearse” them ahead of time – overcoming much of the anxiety of typical interviews. As Recruiters,…
Overqualified? Really??
A friend of mine recently heard that she had not landed a job because she is “overqualified.” She was gobsmacked! What does that mean? How could that be a bad thing? She wanted to know, and I’m sure there are many out there wondering the same thing – “How can anyone be overqualified for an empty position?” With today’s poor,…
Facebook Password, Please
It has been reported that potential employers are asking candidates for their Facebook passwords as part of the interview process or, alternatively, looking over the shoulders of candidates while they log in to Facebook to see their profiles. Now, I haven’t actually heard from anyone who has been asked directly to supply this informaiton, but an officer of the Maryland…
LinkedIn Updated: Make it Work for You
When LinkedIn first made headlines, and indeed when I first started writing about it on the Artisan Blog, it was good for 3 major things: • As a place to post your resume where it could be searched • As a way to connect with people you know and the people they know • As a place to boost your…
Tips for Interviewers
Helping candidates prepare for interviews is a big part of what recruiters do each day. However, in screening and qualifying candidates for a variety of positions, recruiters are usually also experts at how to interview too. Some of the things we’ve previously discussed on our blog – like body language – apply to interviewers as well as interviewees. However, there…
We’re Going Mobile!
Although mobile recruiting is still its infancy, it is here and it is growing. And so are we! A study by Potentialpark of 30,000 job seekers and 350 top employers shows: 19% of job seekers are already using their mobile devices as a tool in their job search process 50% of job seekers say that they will use mobile devices…
Your Mother Was Right – Thank You Notes are Necessary!
In today’s job market, getting an interview – making it past the initial resume culling process – is an achievement in itself. But where, in the past, making the cut would lead to a face-to-face interview, hiring managers often have too many qualified candidates for most positions. As a result, candidates are more and more likely to get a phone…
8 Tips for Your Next Telephone Interview
Telephone interviews can be one of the most uncomfortable parts of the job-seeking process. Many employers use them regularly in their hiring process as a way to reduce costs and save time. Most often they are used to disqualify candidates early in the process before further time has been invested by all parties. There are usually 2 types of phone…
Eliminate the Negative: Tips on What to Avoid in a Job Interview
Whenever I have an interview coming up, I go through my preparation process. By the time the interview arrives, I know exactly what I want to say, at least to the standard interview questions I’ve encountered before, and I’ve prepared questions to ask – if the topics don’t come up naturally. However, it’s also a good idea to make a…
Pinterest for Creatives
I keep reading about Pinterest and so, of course, I started wondering… Should I join? What do I do with it? Will it help me with anything or just be another social platform? So I started my boards and took a look around, but found myself still a bit puzzled. Pinterest is basically a photo-sharing platform. A place to “pin”…
What’s Your Resume Really For?
The purpose of your resume is to get you a job, right? All those hours, all that tweaking, all that proofreading, and when you’re finally DONE, it will get you the perfect role. Truth is – you’re never done. Every job application needs its own resume. Every single one. Why? The purpose of your resume is NOT to get you…
Why Aren’t You Blogging Yet?
Pretty early in the life of this blog, I wrote a post on why you should be blogging. Did you pay attention? Did you start a blog? Did you ever write a second post? Or a first? Excuses, Excuses! Why not? I don’t have anything to say Actually, the bar here is pretty low. Do you talk? To anybody? About…
How to Choose a Recruitment Company
With so many firms out there vying for your attention, it’s often hard to tell which recruiting company is right for you. Here are a few criteria to consider when selecting the right recruiter for you or your business: Types of Roles They Place Some recruiters are generalists and some are specialists. At Artisan, we focus on Creative and Marketing…
Brainstorming: Important Factor in Company Culture?
There’s been a lot of chatter lately about brainstorming: How to brainstorm better Brainstorming isn’t all it’s cracked up to be It’s okay if you’re not good at brainstorming Our kids are being trained to brainstorm instead of think up their own ideas Brainstorming, like every idea-generation technique, has its place, certainly. I have a friend who sets up great…
The Creative Interview
Most of us have interviewed for many different roles in our working lives, from our first summer job in high school (where they needed to know if we could mop floors) to interviews hours of testing to prove our skillsets were as solid as our resumes claimed. We’ve talked a lot on our blog about how to prepare for a…
7 Ways to Improve your Memory
I am a list-maker. I also set alarms and, when they go off, I have to try to remember why I set them. I lose my keys, my phone, my iPod—I’m lucky I don’t lose the kids some days! Who hasn’t struggled to remember the name of a business associate at a networking event, a key point during a presentation…
3 Ways to Avoid Looking Like a Job Hopper
In today’s tough economic times, many candidates have been employed by companies that eventually closed their doors, were bought out or underwent massive layoffs. Instead of the average two to five year-spans of employment recruiters are used to seeing, resumes of today often list recent work histories as periods of less than a year at multiple companies. You want to…