The economy is bad and unemployment is up. Everyday, we’re hearing about companies downsizing and laying off tons of people. People who haven’t been in the market for a new job in years now find themselves updating their resumes. Now we all know that your resume is the first impression that employers get about you. I mean, from your resume, employers will determine if you’re capable of doing the job you’re applying for based on your previous job experience.

As more and more people are faced with updating their resume, you can only guess on the advice and tips they are receiving on how to make their resume as appealing as possible. Well, below I’ve listed five horrible job tips that I’ve received before. Please feel free to add any tips you’ve gotten. Hopefully, someone will benefit from this information.

1. DON’T BRING UP MONEY
Do bring up money (BusinessWeek.com, 8/7/08) by the second interview, and let the employers know what your salary requirements are before they start getting ideas that perhaps you’re a trust-fund baby and could bring your formidable skills over to XYZ Corp. for a cool $45,000. Set them straight, at the first opportunity.

2. ONLY SEND YOUR RESUME VIA AN ONLINE JOB AD OR THE COMPANY WEB SITE
Successful job-seekers use friends, and anybody else in their network to locate and reach out to contacts inside a target employer. Playing by the rules often gets your résumé pitched into the abyss at the far end of the e-mail address talent@xyzcorp.com. If you’ve got a way into the decision-maker’s office, use it. Ignore advice that instructs you to send one résumé via the company Web site and wait (and wait, and wait) to hear from them.

3. WAIT FOR THEM TO CALL YOU
You can’t wait for companies to call you back. You’ve got to call and follow up on the résumés you’ve sent. If an ad says “no calls,” use your connections to put you in touch with someone who can put in a word with the hiring manager. Don’t sit and wait for the call to come. Your résumé is in a stack with 150 others, and if you don’t push it up the pipeline, no one will.

4. POST YOUR RESUME ON EVERY JOB BOARD
This is the best way in the world to get overexposed and undervalued in the job market. (Exception: If you’re looking for contract or journeyman IT work, it’s a great idea to post your credentials all over.) Your résumé posted on a job board is a spam-and-scam magnet and a mark that your network isn’t as robust as it might be. These aren’t the signs you want to put out there. Use your network (vs. the world at large) to help you spread the job-search word.

5. LIST EVERYTHING YOU’VE EVER DONE ON YOUR RESUME
Another piece of horrendous job search advice tells job-seekers to share as much information as possible. A post-millennium résumé uses up two pages, maximum, when it’s printed. (Academic CVs are another story.) Editing is a business skill, after all—just tell us what’s most noteworthy in your long list of impressive feats.

Rate this:

3.5

Critics of Georgia’s sweeping new crackdown on sex offenders urged a federal judge Thursday to block a provision that bans offenders from volunteering at churches because they say it robs them of their right to participate in religious worship, according to an article in the Athens Banner-Herald (November 14, 2008). State attorneys argued the measure’s goal is to keep Georgia’s children safe from sex offenders who attempt to work at churches and other spots where children gather.

The main portion of the measure bans sex offenders from living, working or loitering within 1,000 feet of just about anywhere children gather. That includes schools, parks, gyms, swimming pools and the state’s 150,000 school bus stops. The measure, which supporters say is among the nation’s toughest, was passed in 2006 at the urging of Republican leaders who said it would help protect Georgia’s children and prevent the state from becoming a “safe haven” for sex offenders.

U.S. District Judge Clarence Cooper did not issue an immediate decision, but his ruling will help resolve a growing litany of lawsuits targeting the strict sex offender law. The Southern Center for Human Rights and others have called the new law far too restrictive. They contend it renders vast residential areas off-limits and could force some offenders to elude the state’s registry.

Attorney Gerry Weber said some sex offenders have been told it’s illegal to sing in a church choir, set up religious events, lead a Bible study and even sing in an adult choir. One sex offender was prosecuted for playing piano at a church function, he said. “These are acts required by their faiths,” said Weber. “All of these folks need and want as a matter of their faith to participate in these activities. And they can’t.”

The state’s attorneys contended the measure helps churches remain a “place of safety and refuge,” and suggested that critics had little hard evidence that the new rules threatened any protected religious activities. (Source: Athens Banner-Herald on Friday)

This is very controversial. My question to you is: Should a person not be allowed to go to church because they’ve been convicted of a crime? Or would it depend on the nature of the crime which would determine if a person could attend church?

Rate this:

3.5

It is Tuesday and you just may need someone to smile at you.  If so, I have a smile for you that you can’t get any place else.  What do you think of this?

Rate this:

3.5

Now what did this dog do to anyone?  Does the dog really look like he wants to go trick-or-treating?  By the way, I got this picture from Steven Humor.

 

 

Quit dressing your pets up!  Nature already gave them protection from the elements!

Rate this:

3.5

Sometimes we have to take a break from all the problems and serious issues of the world and read, talk about or look at something that is nothing more than a few minutes of entertainment.  Check this picture out and let me know if it works for you.  I followed the instructions below the picture and it didn’t work for me.

Stare at this moving spiral optical illusion for about 30 seconds, then look at your hand, or a pen. You’ll see it start to move and distort whatever object you look at. This is another one of our favorite optical illusions! In fact it’s so great, that it took me a long time to actually publish this article about this spiral illusion because I’ve been staring into the spiral and am totally mesmorized! See if you can break away after you watch this picture and check out some of our other spiral illusions!

Rate this:

3.5

We are two weeks away from voting in a monumental presidential race.  Every single day, we are bombarded with He Said, She Said articles, conversations, etc.   Today, on 7daybuzz, let’s have a ‘Calgon, take me away moment’ and talk about nonsensical topics.  Here we go:

Did you know that Omarosa (yes, the one from The Apprentice) is getting her own reality TV show?   According to Trump Productions (yes, Donald Trump is producing it - can you believe it?!), “It’s a dating show, but it’s business meet romance.  Love is serious business and that’s what Omarosa knows.”  Uh - okay?  Can we say, WTH?!!!!!!

Did you know that Terrence Howard was fired from the Iron Man sequel, but didn’t know it until he read in the newspaper?  Wow!!!!  That’s crazy, especially since I thought he did an awesome job in the movie.  But, he is being replaced by Don Cheadle, who is an excellent actor in his own right.

Did you know O.J. Simpson “was allowed out of his cramped cell to attend worship services” at his new address in the Clark County Detention Center?   Sometimes, it takes something this drastic to happen to get a person to go to church and discover Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

Did you know that thanks to a new Internet-based service called inSPOT, people are now receiving anonymous e-mails about sex?  But they aren’t spam and there is no hidden ad for herbal concoctions to increase the size of anything. Rather, the “e-cards” are notices from a previous sex partner that the recipient may have been exposed to a sexually transmitted disease.

Did you know San Francisco is voting next month to legalize prostitution?  San Francisco would become the first major U.S. city to decriminalize prostitution if voters approve Proposition K — a measure that forbids local authorities from investigating, arresting or prosecuting anyone for selling sex.

Did you know in this economy - what some perceive to be a recession - software giant Apple’s profits are up 26% - mainly because of the iPhone?  Does this mean McCain was right, that the economy is not as bad as we think it is?

Rate this:

2.8 (2 people)

Yesterday was Sunday.  Did you have time to rest, relax with family and/or go to church?  If not, was it because Sunday became your day to catch up or is Sunday just like any other day for you?  Don’t get me wrong, if there is one thing I’m going to do is get my nap at some point during the weekend.  But the rest of the week I seem to be constantly on the go.

Presently, I live in Biloxi Mississippi - hardly a fast-moving place to live by any standards - and I still seem to always be on the go.  I’m trying to determine why I always seem to have something to do other than relaxing and I have what I think may be good possibilities.

1. I may just be spreading myself too thin.  If this is the culprit, reducing some of my activities could make those that remain better.  One thing that will NEVER get eliminated is family so adding time to spend there would be nothing but positive.
2. Our current culture sucks us into more complexity than ever before.  Remember when we were kids and used to go outside to play?  I wanted to go outside every single day to ride my bike, play wiffle ball or kill ants - don’t ask about the ants.  Kids don’t really go outside like that anymore.  Part of this could be due to computers/video games and part of it could be due to kids not being safe out there anymore.
3. Everybody wants to be rich.  Do we want too much stuff?  Is too much of my time being spent trying to chase material wealth?  Sure, I would like to be wealthy (different than rich), but I’m only going to go so far to do so - I still have to live with myself.  I know and see people all the time that would cut someone to get ahead.  I still have to live with a code (of ethics).
4. I’m getting old(er).  It couldn’t be that could it?  :D  I know I’m slowing down.  There used to be a time where I was, shall we say, a night owl.  There is no way I could keep up with my younger self.  Hmm, maybe that is why I have to get those naps.

Rate this:

3.5

This man wants you to know he could also benefit from a change in Washington.

Yes He Can!

Rate this:

3.5

People who know me, really know me, know my (Honda) Accord has been special to me for many years - since 1996.  LA, San Diego, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Denver, Kansas City, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Washington DC, San Antonio, Houston, New Orleans, Mississippi, South Carolina - I have literally been coast to coast in this car and many places in between.  I have got the most value out of this purchase more than any - except maybe one house - by a long shot.  But you know there is a reason I’m talking about this.

The AC went out recently and I wanted to get it fixed.  I called the Honda Dealer and of course their prices were outrageous.  The service guy actually told me to call another shop ran by someone who used to work for Honda.  So I’m thinking this sounds good and all.  Not so fast.

I believe in being a good consumer, willing to pay, but wanting the service I pay for.  When I took the car to get it fixed I told the guy I wanted the AC fixed and some other things.  The bill came out to be a little more than $1400 and I barely paused.  After all, this is my Accord we are talking about, and at approximately 190,000 miles I think it is just getting broke in good. 

To my surprise, I mean utter shock, the AC stopped working a couple of days after I picked the car up.  I took it back and was told the part was defective/leaking - I was made to believe this was a rarity.  OK, no problem since I wouldn’t have to pay for it to get fixed.  I pick the car up again and the AC goes out the next day!!  This is getting ridiculous right?  I took him the car on a Tuesday and didn’t hear a single word from him until Friday morning - remember, I want to be a good consumer and at this point I didn’t want to rush him although I would have thought he would let me know what is going on.

I get a call and he tells me another part is not working and it will cost me $703 to get it fixed.  Do you smell something?  I do too.

Unfortunately, this story will be continued.  I really can’t go for this after taking the car in on three different occasions.  It just seems like he is trying to get over on me and I hate that.  He was unwilling to cut me any kind of deal and I had another one of my cars ready to take to him.  I think as a business man he could have took a hit now to make more money later, but it is his business to run.

Did you know that auto repairs are the second most common consumer complaint filed against a business, according to the Better Business Bureau?  It makes sense since a car is the second largest purchase (for normal folk) and it will eventually need repairs.  So the question is, how do you keep from getting taken advantage of when you take your car in for repairs?  If we really knew everything wrong with our cars when we took them in we would just fix them ourselves right?  He are some possibilities.

• Plan ahead.  Get to know a mechanic before you need one.
• Check out the repair shop’s record.
• Look for a mechanic and shop that has updated knowledge and skills with recognized credentials.
• Get a written estimate in advance clearly stating all parts, labor and the cost of repairs for your car.
• Describe the “symptoms” of your problem as you’ve noticed them.
• If it’s not an emergency, get a second opinion.

I say all that after the fact though.  Even if a consumer follows all those steps, an auto repair shop can take you to the bank unnecessarily.  I guess I need to take an auto mechanic class.

Are there any honest auto mechanics?

Rate this:

3.5

If you remember, last week we started something new called “Question of the Day.”  After thinking about it more, I thought we should rename it to something with a little bit more zing.  So, now Question of the Day is called “A Penny For Your Thoughts…”  So, on to today’s topic:

As I did my usual thing today (surfing the web), I came across an article about a man who was shot 3 times because he was wearing an Obama T-shirt.  This happened in London and the man who was shot was Black and the assailant was a White man.  The Black man said the White man shouted, “I f***ing hate n*****s.”  Fortunately, the gun was not real –it was a gas-powered ball-bearing pistol.  But still!  To think it’s gotten to the point where someone could get shot for voicing their opinion by wearing a T-shirt!  So, here’s my 2 questions of the day to you:

What if someone took it to another level and began shooting people with real guns for supporting Obama just because he is Black?  Would you still show your support by wearing a T-shirt, button, etc.?

Rate this:

3.5