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Every now and again I write about jobs and how to dress for interviews. Most of the time my writings are geared towards the individuals who are looking for jobs, the prospective employees. After all, the employers already have jobs and should know how to dress. In addition, the employers are the ones who are supposed to be the examples and know what the job entails. Unfortunately, a recent incident has shown me that this is not always the case.

I should note that I am not looking for a job. I may have a resume on Monster, but that is just because I have not gotten around to taking it down. I love what I do for a living. I write, and I am considered rather good at it. I get to work at home, and set my schedule, so long as I get the work done. Like I said though, I do have a resume on Monster.

Last week I received an email regarding my resume from a potential employer. I was flattered and quickly called to see what this job entailed. After all, when the marketing director emails me, I am thinking that it could be something to do with writing and marketing. Well, after arriving, I learned something very interesting. 1. That apparently suits were not considered necessary by this insurance company, and 2. That they had not read my resume at all.

Employers, if you want to catch the attention of the potential employees, please, dress the part. I do not care if you are just a manufacturing company; make some effort to look professional. If you have a professional business, such as insurance, consider wearing a suit for these interviews. It helps to instill confidence in your potential employees. In addition, it helps them to realize that the company is not just a scam or temporary company, but rather a growing and stable company.

Another note, please, do not email job offers to people who have no experience and no desire to have that position. I am a writer; I have no experience selling insurance. I certainly could not hope to sell Medicare insurance if I wanted to. Take a moment and read the objectives. It can really help to eliminate a lot of wasted time between you and the employee. Needless to say, I didn’t take the job, but rather listened to him politely and declined.

Original article from Star Tribune http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/style/112945049.html

There is one thing about the New Year that I love almost as much as hanging out with my friends and having a great time. It is the shopping that I get to enjoy as the holiday seasons end! I love gathering my good friends after our recovery from the parties and hitting some of the greatest sales of the year. Here are some sale tips I’ve learned over the year for saving money and finding the best items.

1. Shop early for different holidays. Just because Christmas ended, it is not too early to shop for this year’s Christmas. Pick up the holiday decorations that you liked, but didn’t want to spend full price on at a huge discount. Simply do not remove the items from the box yet, and throw a sheet or towel over them during storage to keep the items looking brand new and beautiful for next year’s celebrations.
2. Check the clearance items and racks. Sometimes the only reason these items are on clearance is because someone bought someone else the wrong size. This means that one can find stunning outfits for a true steal. Last year I was able to purchase petite jackets that typically cost $100+ for $5. I was so excited! Talk about a 95% sale.

   

3. Try everything on. Do not assume that just because it is on the clearance rack and your size that it will fit. Remember, money is money and wasting money is never cool. Instead, make sure everything fits nicely when purchasing it and looks good on you. Do not purchase things with the intention of losing weight to make it fit.
4. Look for sales that also allow for the use of coupons. I tout the use of coupons like nothing else. I firmly believe that coupons can help save a lot of money, especially when coupled with sales and clearance items. It sometimes is possible to save several times the amount of money that one actually pays for the item, making the purchases more cost effective.
5. Do not purchase things just because they are cute or they are on sale. If you are not actually going to use it, do not buy it. If you are prone to this type of spending, the skipping the sales may be best for you. This way you are not spending money on things you don’t need and may not even really like.

This year I didn’t find anything major that I liked. I already have the decorations that I want and I have the clothing that I need. I have everything for the house, and had little need to even go shopping. However, I would not have missed our trip no matter what. I love being with my friends, even if we were just wandering around and looking at things that we’d never buy and do not need. That is, after all, the best reason to hit the sales, the time with your friends doing something silly and fun.

The New Year is here. For most people, there is the hope that this year will be better than the last. There is the desire to make a change and become someone new and better than the 2010 version of themselves. Some have already stated their New Year resolutions. Some others have already broken their resolutions for the year. Here are some tips to help people modify or create resolutions that will survive the whole year and help to create a better year for the individual at the same time.

• Make your goal for the year attainable. Do not set impossible or improbable goals and expect to fail at them. If your goal is to lose 50 pounds by the end of the year, do not state you want to lose 50 pounds, but rather that you want to lose 3-5 pounds a month. It will make the task easier to complete and far less daunting.
• Make sure your goal is set in a positive mindset. Do not use negative terms to create your resolutions. Instead of saying “I will not eat too much food per sitting,” say “I will eat healthier.” Instead of saying, “I will not use credit cards for purchases,” try saying, “I will be more financially responsible this year.”

  

• Write down your goals and place them somewhere that can be seen throughout the day, every day. This will help to keep the goal fresh in your mind, rather than have it forgotten about and then left uncompleted. This will also help to act as an affirmation and give you a better mind set regarding your goal.
• Reward yourself for completing or staying on task with a goal or resolution for the year. If you lose weight, reward yourself by buying new clothing or doing something special for yourself like a massage. If you are being more financially responsible, give yourself a little room to splurge and buy yourself a gift. It will surprise you how long these little rewards will stay in your mind and help you follow your goals.
• Make sure the goals that you want to set for yourself this year are goals that you really care about, goals that you are interested in. If you do not feel like you really have to lose weight, then do not make that a goal just to please someone else. Remember, it is your life and your year. Do not feel pressured to change anything for someone else, but rather be sure to do it for yourself. It will decrease any resentment you might feel and it will be easier to follow through with the resolutions.