Get a Jump on Next Year: The Charlotte Employment Guide Announces It's 2007 Job Fair Schedule

The Employment Guide® is the largest Job Fair company in the country, hosting over 300 events each year. Get a Jump on your 2007 Recruiting by signing up now for our events in Charlotte, Columbia and Charleston. Career Fairs are a great way to meet face-to-face with hundreds of qualified job seekers.

You'll hear comments from other recruiters, such as, "I have been attending job fairs for over 10 years, and this is the best event I have ever participated in. Your service was Great!"

Job Fair Dates include:

Charlotte
February 20
April 3
May 22
June 26
September 18
October 30

Charleston
March 6
April 24
August 21
October 23

Columbia
March 20
May 8
August 28
November 13

Click the appropriate link below for more information and to fill out the registration form to reserve your spot today!





Fax your registration form toll free to: 866-229-1352

For more information on job fairs, discounts and ways we can improve your recruiting efforts contact us at: 877-676-0051

NCJobs Podcast - 11/28

share your files at box.net

NCJobs Podcast - 11/20

share your files at box.net

Finding the Perfect Job: Killer Cover Letters

This is a continuation of our series of articles with useful tips and information to help you hunt for the perfect job. This information is also available in The Job Seeker Survival Guide, a free publication from The Employment Guide®. Check back here each week for more tips on finding the "Perfect Job", (or pick up a copy of the The Job Seeker Survival Guide at our next Job Fair scheduled for February 20, 2007 at the Westin Hotel in Charlotte.)

Killer Cover Letters!

Always send a cover letter with a resume when applying for a job. The cover letter and resume have the same goal - get the interview, but they should contain different information. The purpose of the cover letter is to develop a rapport with the hiring manager and give him or her an idea of the kind of person you are.

• Keep your cover letter short. Do not restate your entire resume in your cover letter.
• Keep it clear, concise, and simple. Tell them: Where you learned about the job, why you're the right candidate for the job, how they can contact you.
• Experts say that your cover letter should be no more than three paragraphs and fewer than 150 words.
• Use critical buzzwords that focus on your industry knowledge and skill set
• Format in business-letter style using a font size of 10 or 12
• Choose an easy-to-read font style, such as Arial or Verdana (Sans Serif).
• Start with your name, address, and the date.
• Do include a reference line indicating the position for which you are applying, as well as the job reference number, if you know what it is.
• Include a salutation. The letter has greater impact if addressed to the actual person that will be responsible for hiring.

Opening - Why You're Writing/Gain their Attention:

The best approach in the leading sentence is to stick with the facts and simply state why you're writing the letter. The second sentence should then act as your "attention getter."

For example:

Enclosed is my resume for the assistant store manager position advertised in the July 21-27 Employment Guide. Having over five years' experience in retail management and being a frequent shopper at The Factory Store, I feel that I would be a great addition to your Roseville retail outlet.

Body - Selling Yourself:

Here's where you spell out why they should hire you. In other words, I have the particular education and experience that you're looking for. You need to relate your skills to their job requirements. For example:

In my three years at the Quick Shop Center, I was promoted from head cashier to store supervisor and recognized for my ability to direct employees, hold them accountable and get bottom-line results. Additionally, I was responsible for increasing sales in the store's gift shop by 20% through improving and increasing inventory.

Closing:

Hit them one more time with why they should hire you, ask for the interview and indicate any follow-up. Finally, add a complimentary closing such as "Sincerely yours," your name, contact information, and a list of any enclosures. Do not forget to sign the letter before mailing. For example:

Having paid my way through community college by working in retail, I know the value of hard work and am ready to bring that work ethic to The Factory Store. I would appreciate an opportunity to interview for the position. I will contact your office next Wednesday.

Why Most Cover Letters Fail

Often job applicants make the mistake of assuming that employers never really read the cover letter, so they don't spend much time, if any, questioning why they were not called in for an interview. Let's put an end to the myth right now - hiring managers do indeed read cover letters! Your cover letter is the first impression an employer has about you, so it has to stand out from all the others.

Red Flags:

• Overall appearance is sloppy.
• Cover letter paper does not match paper.
• Contact information is not provided and the candidate appears unavailable.
• Spelling and/or grammatical errors are easily spotted.
• Letter is not addressed to the name that appears in the ad.
• Letter does not include an opening, body and a close.
• There is no interesting, attention-grabbing opening statement.
• Duplicate information. Do not simply repeat your entire resume in your cover letter. Keep it brief and summarize why you are a good fit for the position.
• There is no reference to specific position sought.
• Applicants use weak language and do not try to sell themselves.
• Information is duplicated word-for-word from the resume.
• Job seeker tries to use big words to impress the reader rather than keeping language simple and concise.
• Letter reads generically - no time taken to customize to a particular job title, industry, etc.
• It is obvious to the reader that the applicant is bragging or exaggerating about his/her past experiences and accomplishments.
• Salary history not included when requested.
• There is no indication of follow-up action by candidate.

Use this checklist to ensure your cover letter is top-notch!

Applying Online:

The Email Cover Letter Just because you may have been asked to apply Online, doesn't mean that your cover letter should be any less formal than it would be if you were mailing it or faxing it. The method of delivery may be the Internet, but the importance of the message is still the same.

• Beware of Email etiquette:
  Make sure your own email address is generically professional and does not contain anything that might be considered offensive. Never leave the subject line blank. Stand out from the crowd by putting something interesting in the subject line, not just the job number. A statement like, "experienced technician for supervisor position" is much more interesting to the reader than "job #06718." Do not type anything in UPPERCASE letters. It gives the appearance that you are shouting at the reader. Send your email in plain, unformatted text. Do not add graphics or bullets, use large fonts, or add color. Use black font, normal size and typeface (10 point, Arial or Times New Roman). Make sure your lines are short - no more than 60 characters. This will ensure that your lines don't wrap, making your cover letter appear fragmented.
• Be cautious of attachments:
  For security reasons many companies do not accept emails that have attachments. Do not attach your resume unless you are asked to do so. Check on the company website to determine if they have an online application they prefer you fill out. If you are including your resume as an attachment, it's recommended that you save your resume in a Rich Text Format (RFT) and also cut and paste it into your email message (just in case the person reading your resume does not have the software to open the attachment).
  Check and double-check content: Do not fill in the address of the recipient until you have finished writing and proofreading the document. This will prevent any chance of your hitting "send" by mistake. Run a "spelling and grammar" check from your "tools" bar to make sure there is nothing you missed. Try sending the finished document to yourself or a friend to make sure it comes out on the other side in the correct format.
• Follow up immediately:
  Once you have sent the email, if you are really interested in the job and want to make an impression, follow up by sending a hard copy of your cover letter and resume to the hiring manager via regular mail referencing your email: "I recently sent you my resume via Email and am following up with this hard copy. I am very interested in this position."

To find that perfect job, pick up a copy of this week's edition of The Employment Guide at locations all over the Charlotte area, including all Petro Express stores, or go online at www.employmentguide.com/.

For more information about The Employment Guide call us at 704-676-0051 or 877-676-0051 or click on the Media Kit link.

NCJobs Podcast - 11/14

share your files at box.net

Finding The Perfect Job

"Can I really find a perfect job?" Absolutely! But sometimes we all need a little help.

This is the first in a series of articles with useful tips and information to help you hunt for the perfect job. This information is also available in The Job Seeker Survival Guide, a free publication from The Employment Guide®. Check back here each week for more tips on finding the "Perfect Job", (or pick up a copy of the The Job Seeker Survival Guide at our next Job Fair scheduled for February 20, 2007 at the Westin Hotel in Charlotte.)

Survival Tactic # 1

Preparation!

Before you begin your job search, you need to identify a few things about yourself and your personal goals. The following questions will help you take stock of your current situation and where you want to go before you accept the next job offer. Write down your answers. Once you see them in black and white, they will be more real to you. You may find yourself changing your answers.

Some employers will require that your take a personality assessment during the interview process, so the more you know about yourself, the better. There are lots of personality assessment tests available. You can find a number of them in the library or on the Internet.

On-The-Job Inventory

These questions should help you understand what types of job responsibilities satisfy you most. Think of the jobs or class of work your have experienced. In the next few questions, first answer the question and then figure out why those experiences were important to you.

1. What job responsibility did you like the most? Why?
2. What job responsibility did you like the least?
3. Why did you accept your current position or your last job?
4. Why are you looking to change jobs?
5. Are you interested in changing fields?
6. What’s the most important factor in selecting your next job? Money? Location? Hours? Work environment…?

Personal Inventory

These questions are designed to help you understand what you want from a job. Sometimes we take jobs that we think are right for us, but they don’t really fit our personalities. Be honest with yourself. Answer the following questions with explanations.

1. Is full-time work important to you?
2. Do you have family or other obligations that require you to have flexible hours?
3. Are you naturally outgoing? Is it easy for you to talk with others?
4. Do you enjoy working on a team?
5. Do you prefer working alone?
6. Do you enjoy teaching others?
7. Do you enjoy working with your hands? Building things?
8. Are you detail oriented? Do you like working with data and numbers?
9. Do you like to work outside or in an office environment?
10. Do you prefer to work from home?
11. Are you creative?
12. Do you resist conflict situations?

Goals Inventory

We all have goals for our lives. There is a great feeling of satisfaction when we accomplish a goal. Give good explanations to each question.

1. Have you set career goals for yourself? If yes, what are they? If no, why haven't you?
2. Do you aspire to a position that requires a high school degree or GED? If so, what is that position?
3. Is a college or graduate degree important to your overall goal? Why?
4. Do you know what courses you need to take to get that degree? List the courses.
5. Do you need to take special courses to be accepted into a particular field? What are they?
6. Do you aspire to a position that requires years of work experience? What is that position?
7. Have you started accumulating experience towards that goal? Explain.
8. Do you need to accept non-paid internships in order to get experience?
9. Are there other work/study opportunities to help you get the experience you need?
10. Do you want to be a manager?
11. Define what "manager" means to you.
12. How will you meet your goal of becoming a manager?
13. What would the ideal job be for you?

Review

Once you’ve answered these questions, compare the results to what you know about jobs that area available. Are these the same positions you were looking at before you completed the questions?

To find that perfect job, pick a copy of this week's edition of The Employment Guide at locations all over the Charlotte area, including all Petro Express stores, or go online at www.employmentguide.com/.

For more information about The Employment Guide call us at 704-676-0051 or 877-676-0051 or click on the Media Kit link.

Welcome to The Charlotte Employment Guide

The Charlotte office of The Employment Guide® recently announced the launch of its new Employment Guide To Careers® publication. This targeted publication will feature information about different occupations, including the nature of the work and working conditions, training and qualifications needed, and the outlook for future job growth and earnings potential. Each job will be sponsored by a local company that is currently recruiting for these positions.

"While this publication will be useful to anyone looking for a new career, our target audience will be high school and college seniors who are planning their future," said Lyle Stone, General Manager of the Charlotte office. "We will also distribute to libraries, Employment Security Commission offices, at our Job Fairs, and other locations where job seekers are looking for information."

The publication will allow recruiters to not only reach potential employees with information about their company, but will also provide accurate information about the jobs they are looking to fill. Job seekers will benefit from the opportunity to find information about an occupation they are considering, plus information about a company that is actually hiring for those positions.

The first edition of the Employment Guide to Careers will be distributed beginning the last week of November and the next edition will be published in the spring of 2007.

Job seekers can find more opportunities by picking up a copy of The Employment Guide at more than 1,000 locations in the Charlotte metro area, including all Petro Express stores, or go online at http://www.employmentguide.com/.

For more information about The Employment Guide or the Employment Guide To Careers call the Charlotte office at 704-676-0051 or toll free at 877-676-0051.

Be a Featured Employer

Recruiters, let us feature your company! We have three opportunities to feature your company on our blog that offers advice and information on the job hunt.

Featured Employer.
If you have a recruitment video, let us know! We'll upload it and post it in our Featured Employer section on the left sidebar. It's a great way to further you company brand and show job seekers who visit our blog what it is like to work for your company.

Featured Opportunity.
We'll announce your job opening on one of our weekly podcast as a featured opportunity. Appeal to those browsing our site who are listening to our podcasts.

Featured Sponsor.
Add a web banner to the right hand sidebar under our Featured Sponsor section. This includes mention of your sponsorship in the podcasts and an opportunity to write a guest article for our blog. Blogging is great for search engine optimization and will help to increase traffic to your site.

If you'd like more information about this please email our office at ncjobs@employmentguide.com.

What is the Charlotte Job Spot?

The Charlotte Job Spot is a job advice blog that seeks to offer information about jobs in Charlotte, NC. This blog is affiliated with The Charlotte edition of The Employment Guide, a national free recruitment newspaper and award winning niche job board. Contributors are mostly employees of our office. Sometimes you'll see an occasional guest post from someone outside of our office. Please note that anything you see on this blog are the opinions and views of the author and not necessarily the opinions and views of The Employment Guide, EmploymentGuide.com or Dominion Enterprises. However, we do try and provide you with useful information and resources regarding your job search particularly those who are searching for jobs in Charlotte, NC.

You'll find a number of helpful resources on our blog.

NC Jobs Podcasts - Podcasts are a nice change from reading. Let your eyes relax and listen as we tell you about great job opportunities in the Charlotte area. Occasionally we'll announce a print or online advertising special going on in our area for recruiters to help with their candidate search and hiring needs. We also might include information about a job fair, or tips for job seekers in finding a job, interview or anything else related to the job search.

Job Spot Chat - This feature allows you to chat live with someone in our office about anything related to your job search. Adding this interactive feature allows us to provide you with the very best and take your job search into the Web 2.0 realm! We may not know all of the answers, but we will do our best to point you in the right direction. Most the time you'll be talking to me, Rosie, but occasionally you might get to chat with someone else in the office.

These are just a few of the great things our blog has to offer. I hope you'll take the time to look through some of the articles and links we've posted. Don't forget to add our RSS Feed to your homepage or subscribe by email to get updates on great information about jobs in Charlotte! And if you find our blog particularly useful, be sure to add our link to your website! Thanks for visiting!