A: Some of the positions that we get the most requests for are Sales representatives, Customer Service representatives, Administrative assistants, certain positions within the Medical/Dental fields, Insurance Agents, Retail Associates and Automobile Technicians just to name a few.  There are some companies that do not require college degrees and are willing to train potential employees on site.  If you are interested in pursuing any of these careers, check out our available job listings posted on the site.  Be sure to highlight your people skills on your resume.  For more tips on writing a resume when you haven’t gone to college, read this post.  Good luck David.

Mistake #1: Taking family members to the job fair.

Believe it or not, I have seen this a dozen times. In some cases, the job candidate may not have someone to watch his or her young kids the day of the job fair, and they decide to bring the kids along.  Or they bring Mom with them for company and moral support.  Simply put, it is unprofessional and will not make a good first impression with any company.  I’ve even seen people with strollers at job fairs — definitely not the best presentation of professional demeanor.  From an employer’s perspective, if a job seeker is unable to find someone to take care of their kids the day of the job fair, it may give the impression that they will not have enough freedom to come to work every day, or that they have too many responsibilities at home to be able to perform well at work. Taking Mom along also gives the impression that the job seeker lacks confidence, and may not be able to independently manage the responsibilities that the position entails. My recommendation: to make the most of the job fair day, leave family members at home. Attend the job fair on your own, as you would the first day at a new job.

Read this post for more information about how to prepare for a job fair, and check back tomorrow for the next mistake to avoid.

Today, I will narrate the story of two of my friends; one does not like change and the other loves the challenge that change brings. The first friend would prefer to stay in the same job rather than to navigate into unknown waters. The second friend can not wait to see what he can do with his career next, and doesn’t stay in a job for more than three or four years.

For this post, I’ll call my friends ‘Mary’ and ‘Daniel’ (but those are not their actual names). Mary is the friend who does not like change. Daniel is the one who thrives on it.

Mary went to college and completed her education in computer science. She found a job that was perfect for her. Throughout the years, Mary took on extra responsibilities at her company, excelled at everything she did, and became totally comfortable. Take a close look at the last word; ‘comfortable’. This word does not get along too well with the word ‘change’. So far, after college graduation, Mary has stayed for more than two decades at her first and only job.

On the other hand, Daniel also went to college. He got a law degree. As you know, many attorneys start practicing in a law firm until they acquire enough experience and develop a client list, and then become a partner in the law firm. However, early on in his career, Daniel decided that he wanted more than to work at a law firm, and eventually become a partner. So, for the last two decades, Daniel has enjoyed the challenge of finding new jobs, moving to new places, meeting new people, learning new things, and loved proving himself again and again. He decided early on that change was good for him, and that it kept him motivated to excel in his professional life.

The other day, I happened to be talking to Mary and she said that she should have gone for more challenges in her professional life when she was younger. I was surprised to hear this because I always thought that Mary liked her job. She pointed out that she does still like her job, but that the company she has worked for all of these years has changed, and that now her qualifications and experience are too limited to make a change to another company, especially to another field. Plus, she indicated that because she grew to be too comfortable with her tasks and responsibilities at her company, she is now afraid to make a change after so many years at her present and only job.

I found myself thinking about the ‘comfortable’ Mary and the ‘entrepreneur’ Daniel, and wondered which one has better career possibilities from this point on.

To this date, Daniel has lived in five or six different places, has worked at numerous law firms, and is now a Judge.

I should point out that I consider both of my friends to be successful people, and that both have achieved many goals in their respective lives, including having a good marriage, having a family, and being happy. Other than their fields of work, the main difference between Mary and Daniel is that one does not like change and the other does. Daniel does not have any regrets, while Mary may.

Recently, Daniel and I were talking about the fact that some people take more risks than others. But that whichever route we take with our lives, we need to make certain that we balance our professional life with our personal life. Daniel and I agree with the fact that a successful person achieves balance – with their business life, their personal life, and makes time for family and friends. After all, like we all have heard, ‘we only live once’… and ‘this is not a dress rehearsal’.

So, ultimately, the answer to the question “Should you stay or should you go?” is a difficult one to answer… and the best advice I can give you is to picture yourself and your life twenty-five years from now. Ask yourself these tough questions: Would you like to be Mary, or would you like to be Daniel? Which lifestyle would make you happier? Do you like change or not?

Probably one of the biggest fears my friends with kids have is to hear the words, ‘I am not going to college.  I want to work instead, and buy a car, or get an apartment with my friends.’ Those words bring anguish to some parents, because they think that their children’s future might not be as bright as they had hoped.  But once parents realize that their kids are serious about not pursuing college, they accept it and decide to help them succeed.

If you are one of the young adults who decided that college was not for you, you still need to put a resume together and sell your abilities to prospective employers.  Like any other resume, you’ll have to include your work experience, attributes and qualifications.

Here are some quick resume tips for you:

• List high school classes you excelled in. For example, ‘Excelled in math classes throughout high school, including geometry and algebra.’ This comment can help you, especially if you want to work in a field in which a lot of math is required.

• Mention your volunteer work, or other accomplishments, like your Eagle Scout, Gold award, or any other impressive volunteer award.

• Describe your attributes, such as if you consider yourself to be a hard working person, if you are disciplined and stick to it until you get the work done, if you’re team oriented, or if you are a positive person with great determination.

• Discuss your computer knowledge of Excel, Word, or your web site design experience.

• Be sure to mention if you are bilingual. This could be very important to the employer because they might have a lot of customers who speak the two languages that you do.  Tell them if you are fluent in two languages, and also if you can write in two languages.  Being bilingual may give you an edge, and may mean higher pay.

• In the ‘objective’ section of your resume, (usually at the top of your resume) explain why you’ve chosen a specific field and how you plan to excel at it.  For example, ‘Goal is to prove myself as an auto mechanic, to go through the necessary training, and to excel at Smith Motors for years to come’. Write a specific objective for each individual employer.  This will set you apart, and the company will know that you go the extra mile, rather than just having a ‘generic objective’ for all companies. For example, ‘to work at a company where I can build upon my career’ is too generic.

• List part-time jobs you had during high school, such as ‘worked at the city parks during the summers of 2008 and 2009’ or ‘free-lanced as a sports or news-writer at my local newspaper’. You can then list the managers you worked for, as references.  If they will attest to your attributes, your sense of responsibility, and your desire to be a part of a team, then you have better employment possibilities with the prospective company.

• Please make certain that you do not have anything offensive in your Facebook or in My Space pages. Employers do check these sites to learn more about you, and some feel like your aptitudes are like the people/friends you associate yourself with at these sites.

• Once you have written your resume, let two or three other people read it and critique it, so you can make certain that you have the best possible resume.  Allow a professional resume writer to help you.  Keep in mind that you are creating your first impression on your hoped-for (intended) employer.

• Apply at places where you can create a career; at companies where you would feel passionate and proud to work, for years to come.  If you don’t feel the passion and or the drive to do it, perhaps you should re-consider applying at that company.  Remember that you might be spending numerous hours, days, weeks and years of your life at that company, and you should get a certain degree of happiness, pride, and stability by working there.

• Most of all – make certain that this is the path or field you want to follow with your life.  Your career building has to start somewhere.  Be aware that not going to college might limit your options, so you need to consider your choices more carefully and demonstrate your work ethic.  This can build upon your work experience and can make your resume better, for the next employment opportunity.

My personal belief is that you should train at something. If you don’t want to pursue a four-year college degree, or can not, then try to go to your local two-year community college.  Seek out a Career Counselor at that college and speak to them about your likes and dislikes about certain vocations, and see if they can help you find the right field; a job that can accommodate your interests, and a field that can fulfill your dreams.  We all have to pay our bills when we grow up, and I think that you would rather be happy in a job that you love.  That’s why your decisions and seeking advice from professional career counselors is so important.

However, if in the end, you decide not to go to college, I wish you the best.  I truly hope that you will do your best at whatever you choose to do with your life, and that you make yourself irreplaceable at your chosen vocation.

To begin the negotiation process, the potential employee should research the yearly salary for people in their field, by market or region.  They should also consider the responsibilities of the new position, their individual salary history, the cost of living in the region (if relocating), the traveling involved, and the number of people for which they will be responsible.  Candidates also need to consider the total benefit package, such as insurance coverage, car allowance or company car, retirement plan, bonus potential, and other benefits.  In other words, potential employees should not look strictly at the salary, but rather, they should look at the whole compensation package.

Oftentimes I get asked, ‘if I am bilingual, should my pay be higher?’ My opinion is ‘yes’. Companies conduct business in other countries and your additional language and cultural knowledge will be beneficial while traveling, or while speaking to vendors and customers in other countries, and even with other foreign employees of the company, or with customers in your local market.  You can connect with more people and create added benefits to the company, in two languages.  Consequently you do have additional skills, and that’s why I believe that your salary should be higher.

In my opinion, companies should pay a higher salary for bilingual employees because they see the value you bring.  Keep in mind that some companies are testing new markets and becoming more multi-cultural, so they don’t know yet what someone bilingual might be worth to their company.  Sometimes you have to prove the value yourself.  In those cases, if they can reach the new market, you can justify higher pay for being a bilingual person.

Two years ago, I asked a company recruiter if they pay a higher salary to their bilingual employees, and she proudly replied “Yes, we do”. She appeared proud of her answer.  I then asked her how much more a bilingual person made in her company, and her excitement diminished.  She said: “10 percent more”. I was surprised with her answer and proceeded to push my luck a bit, and asked her “do you think that your company values the bilingual candidates enough, the ones who communicate with your newly created Latino customers?” She replied, “I’m hoping to be able to justify it more to the company, but for now, they get 10 percent.”

This story may illustrate a lack of understanding from the companies’ point of view.  My hope is that employers will come to appreciate that a bilingual employee brings additional education, culture, knowledge, and possibly other important skills; like perseverance – the perseverance and the discipline to learn two languages.

Thus far, it has been my experience that bilingual employees are dedicated, and that success matters to them.  Which are just more reasons why they deserve a higher salary.

Have any of you ever been able to successfully negotiate a higher salary because you are bilingual?

The Manager asks you questions and you feel good about your answers.  You get the second interview, the third and final interview, and then you get hired.

You call Mom and tell her the good news.  She is ecstatic for you.  You don’t know what to do with yourself.  Enjoy the moment.  Celebrate. You made your Mom proud, and made yourself feel proud too.

Your next goal should be to make yourself irreplaceable in your job.  Simply by having the best attitude and by having the best work ethic.  No one can do as great as you can, because you’ve decided to be awesome at what you do.  That’s how you can position yourself for life – by doing 110% each and every day, by being cordial to your friends and co-workers, and to your companies’ customers, at all times.  You can become the most positive person you know.  Everyone wants to associate themselves with you, because you are so pleasant to be around.

To be told that you are irreplaceable is the best feeling you can experience. Go ahead.  Have that wonderful feeling – and share your irreplaceable accomplishments with us.  And go ahead.  Keep making Mom proud.