There are all these articles out there on the Internet, or even worse as actual books you have to BUY, telling you about “secret” things that apparently resume-reviewers want to see on resumes and cover letters. There are “secret” things you must remember to say, or then again, not say in interviews. Let’s not forget the “secret” things you have to mention in thank you letters. I haven’t

I have always said that the worst job in the world is looking for a job. I mean, if you pin me against the wall and tell me there are actually worse, then yes, I guess I’m exaggerating. Working down a salt mine in a country with deficient safety standards is doubtless quite a bit worse. The point is, looking for a job IS a job. There’s no money coming in – in fact, it costs you to dress up and

Scenario 1: I’m intelligent – if you don’t believe me, just ask my mother. I have great skills, good experience. I’m a team player. Why, then, would I need a staffing service to help me find a job? Scenario 2: I’m intelligent – see Scenario 1…. I have great skills, good experience. I’m a team player. WHY CAN’T I FIND A JOB?Scenario 3: I went to a staffing service once, the Scuzz Bucket

You went on a job interview.You prepared/could have prepared a bit better.You dressed in your interview best/you couldn't dress appropriately because your boss would have guessed immediately what you were up to.You did your best/you weren’t on your game and totally blew it.You were the best candidate around but they put the position on hold/you were not even close to being the best

Cover letters can be crucial to the success of your job search. They can bring out the specifics the company is seeking. They can give you the opportunity to highlight achievements that may not fit neatly into your resume. They can show that you have a pleasing command of the English language, with clear, cohesive sentences all joined together into attractive paragraphs. But an unfortunate cover letter

**with apologies to Elizabeth Barrett Browning and her fabulous romantic sonnet, “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways”.      1) You didn’t do your homework.  Mr/Ms Google is going to go to straight to heaven for coming up with a search engine that tells you everything you wanted to know, and sometimes more than you wanted to know, about all companies and most people.

We’re normal people. We have normal feelings though, frankly, some of my colleagues spend waaaay too much time looking at The Kardashians and American Idol. Maybe that makes THEM normal and me the one who’s out of sync with the world; that’s for another blog or possibly even a therapist’s couch. We’re here to find people -- we call them candidates -- jobs, and to help companies – we call

The last blog was about what not to say in interview, you know, the NORMAL dumb questions. This week, I thought I’d write about the absolute silliest things ever  that my colleagues have been told their candidates said on interview (not through Merit, I hasten to add)… You sometimes read articles like this on msn home page, but I thought I’d write about examples that I can swear actually

I have previously written about what to do when you get asked the tough questions, and when you get asked the same questions several times by different people for a specific job. This week, I thought it would be helpful to talk in more general terms about what NOT to say in a interview. You have the chance to blow it at the end of an interview when the interviewer smiles and asks, “Have you any questions

Last week I wrote about whether it was advisable to look for a new job in such a volatile economy --  and the answer was, basically, “Depends how strongly you want to move.” This week I’d like share my thoughts on New Year’s Resolutions. You may or may not have made any, you may or may not have kept to them or broken some of them. (Side track – at Lent each year, I give up dieting, and