Career
1000 things you don’t want in your job hunt
GOING ONLY FOR BRANDING
Do you stick only to the top name job boards or portals? If yes, you are denying your chances of getting into specialized positions. Specialized groups or non-enterprise companies often steer clear of top names. Choose your resume posting based on the kind of recruiters that visit a given job boards.
OUTSOURCING YOUR JOB HUNT
If you are getting a peer or a consultant to do your job hunt to the level of making contact with a prospective employer – stop doing this now. You can get help to the level of someone gathering job order description or information for you. You make connect – use the opportunity to create an impression.
RESUME BLASTING
Do you treat your resume like a promotional mailer? Distribute it all over the place or get a group email ID and broadcast? This means (1) Your cover letter or your resume is not customized for the job order in hand – Resume customization in lieu of arranging the skill sets for the given job order. (2) You do not follow up; there are employers who seek to measure your interest with the follow up method that you adopt. Plus your prospective employer or their job consultant knows that you are hunting around, which will reduce your market value.
Another aspect of mindless blasting is clicking the APPLY FOR THIS JOB button wherever you see it. When you submit your resume to a job where you do not have minimum qualifications – and you have a reason to doing so – make an offline connect.
75% of email traffic received by a generic ID such as careers@bestemployer.com is junk. If you rely only on email to get your next job – forget it. Your resume is probably in the junk folder.
PRIVACY
Do not write a tell tale resume with private information. We’ve heard enough and more about misuse of private information. Another aspect of privacy – using Internet at work to coordinate your job hunt. Wake up – Even a mom & pop street corner store can afford a network and a firewall in it.
INTERNET JOB HUNT BALANCE
You do not want to rely entirely on the internet for your job search. You do not want to deny the abundance of information that is available on the internet either. Depending on your skills and where you want to be working next, see if your target employers and their head hunters are hanging out in Print Classifieds or Job boards.
BEING COOL
Email is new age – it has been for over 15 years now 
, but an email ID such as kewldude800@xyz.com is not a great identification. Also see what your social networking page is saying about you – from the eyes of a headhunter, hiring manager or recruiter. Please blogpost here about ‘Big Brother is watching‘. Also your resume or your job hunt webpage is a business document; it is not your platform to express political views.
Balance 994 things you do not want in your job hunt come under ‘common sense application’. We do not want to question your CSA quotient by putting down all of those 994. (Actually, 6 things as a title did not sound grandiose enough to attract your attention)
25 Music Jobs That Most People Don’t Know About
You may have heard that music jobs are almost impossible to find, especially if you’re young and just starting out. While it may be true that few aspiring musicians will reach the top of the charts, there are hundreds of thousands of music jobs available. Some are for performers, some for teachers, and some for support staff for musicians and performers. Musicians and others in the music industry may work in production, performance, promotion, and education – even medicine. I promised you 25 music jobs that most people don’t know about – but that’s not technically true. Many of these are jobs that people know about – but don’t consider when they think of ‘music jobs’. Ready for the list? Here we go:
Music Jobs for Songwriters:
A Staff Songwriter works for a record or media company and writes songs for the artists signed by the label.
A Freelance Songwriter writes and markets his or her own songs. Your hours are your own, but you’ll have to work a lot of them to get your songs heard.
A Lyricist writes just the words to songs. He may team up with a composer, or be teamed up with one by a music production company.
A Jingle Writer writes those catchy ads that you hear on the television and radio – you know, the ones that get stuck in your head for days. A jingle writer may not become a famous household name – but he or she will always find work.
Music Jobs in Publishing:
A Music Publisher finds and acquires the copyrights to songs with the intent of licensing or selling them to record companies and musicians.
A Copyright/Licensing Administrator ($20,000 – $60,000) manages the licensing and copyrights for a music publishing company.
A Music Editor ($20,000 – $60,000) works closely with the composer to document, organize and time cues for the musicians in a project.
A Notesetter ($15,000 – $50,000) transcribes music from audio to the page.
Music Jobs in the Record Business
An A&R Coordinator (artist and repertoire) finds talent for a record company to sign. His boss is the A&R Administrator, a position that includes planning budgets for artists, managing reps and coordinators and monitoring the expenses on production.
Public Relations music jobs range from assistant publicist to director of public relations. The PR department is responsible for getting the names of the artists on a record company label out in front of the public often. Pay ranges from nothing for an intern to three figures for highly experienced public relations managers.
An Artist’s Relations Representative is responsible for maintaining communication and cooperation between the record company and an artist or band.
A Promotional staffer works with radio stations and video stations to get airplay for a label’s records.
Campus representatives are promotional agents – but they work directly to promote a record label’s products to college students and music retailers. Working as a campus representative is a great way to get your foot in the door at a record label.
Music Jobs in Education
A music teacher teaches music to classes from pre-school through college, with duties varying depending on the age of the classes. In the elementary grades, the music teacher may concentrate on teaching music appreciation and theory, with some teaching of instruments and performance theory. By high school, the job duties are more varied, and may include directing student performances and organizing and directing a band or choir.
A Music Director or Supervisor is responsible for managing and setting policy for music instructors hired by the school department.
Music Jobs in the Ministry may include part time work as an organist to full time work directing a professional choir and the entire music worship for a parish or citywide.
17 Important Things To Remember As You Prepare For An Interview
Several Days – One Week Before the Interview
1. Spend some time to research the organization and the position at hand. To find company-specific information, visit your local library, run a search on the internet, or talk to current or former employees about their experiences and impressions of the company. Study up on the company’s products and services, industry, target market, annual sales, geographic location(s), structure, history, officers, and any other key information. Are there any new trends in the industry?
2. Identify the organization’s major competitors and do some basic research on how they differ (either positively or negatively) from the company at which you are interviewing.
3. Prepare specific examples of how your skills and experience make you a strong fit for the organization’s needs. Practice answering directed questions about your experience, education, and skills and how they relate to the position at hand. Being prepared to draw colorations between your experience and the needs of the organization is one of the most important interviewing skills you will need.
4. Identify your strengths and weaknesses. Be prepared to talk about your weaknesses, but find a way to frame them positively. For example, “My biggest weakness is that I am a perfectionist. It may take me a little extra time to get a project done to my satisfaction, but you can be guaranteed that the work will pass even the most stringent review, be 100% accurate, and that no detail will be overlooked.”
5. Prepare several intelligent questions about the company and position that will demonstrate your knowledge of the company and your sincere interest in the position.
6. Try on your suit and make sure that it is still well-fitting and in good repair. If necessary, make arrangements to have it altered or find alternate dress.
The Day before the Interview
1. Contact the company to confirm the date and time of your interview. Also confirm the name and title of the individual(s) you will be meeting.
2. Get directions to the interview site. Be sure to double check the directions using a map. This will ensure that you know the way and also give you an approximate travel time – don’t forget to allow for extra time for rush hour!
3. Lay out your entire interview outfit. Check it for any spot, wrinkles, or snags.
4. Print off a few extra copies of your resume and cover letter on nice paper. Even if the interviewer has a copy of their own, it’s always a good idea to have a backup copy. This is also helpful if you end up interviewing with multiple individuals, since the head interviewer may be the only person with a copy of your resume.
Get a good night’s sleep!
1. Your brain needs fuel to run at peak performance and if there is ever a day you needed 110% from your brain, it’s today. So don’t skimp on meals. Be cautious about eating large amounts of carbohydrates right before your interview though, since carbs are know to cause sluggishness and may lead to a “post-lunch” naptime.
2. Get dressed early so you do not feel pressured to dash out the door. Pay attention to the details (brush off any lint, comb your hair, brush your teeth, use deodorant, etc.) and remember that a first impression can reveal a lot about you and your character.
3. Don’t forget to take copies of your resume, your cover letter, and your portfolio if you have one.
4. Leave yourself plenty of time to get to your interview. If you arrive more than 15 minutes early, it’s best to wait in the car or outside the building. Arriving too early gives off the impression that you have a lot riding on the interview (and have nothing better to do with your time), and also pressures the interviewer(s) into feeling that they have to adjust their schedule to accommodate you.
5.Smile and shake everyone’s hand when you are meeting for the first time – you should also smile and shake hands when the interview concludes.
6. Relax! If you have done your homework you are well-prepared for the interview. Take a deep breath and spend a moment collecting your thoughts if you need to when being asked a question. Ask confused about a particular question you are asked, don’t hesitate to ask for clarification.
After the Interview
Write a quick “Thank You” message to the individual(s) who interviewed you.