» Lifestyle

How To Survive Your Job Search

UBO Editor — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 21:45:38 +0000

I wanted to write this article because I spent about a year and a half jobless. And let me tell you it was hard, hard, hard. I very much consider myself a career woman so having to struggle to find a job (which I never had to do before) was humbling. For those of you still in the trenches looking for work I’ll offer you a few tips that I helped me survive this very stressful time.

Find something positive to occupy your time
Do something that makes you feel good something even goal oriented to take the control back in your life in a time when you feel out of control. I exercised to help release stress and to get healthy and in shape. Taking better care of my health gave me a since of control and boost to my faltering self-esteem.

Look for a job like it’s your job
Set hours or set how many jobs your going to apply for. Have a goals set and stick to them because it’s easy to get discouraged and stop altogether. So make sure it’s something that you do no matter how you feel.

Create different resumes
This market may force you into a new career. Or if you have different industry experience then create a specific resume for that field. Customize your resume for each job you apply for. I ended up creating about twenty different resumes and tailoring my resume to the job. This doesn’t mean fabricating but it does mean applying for jobs that are suited to your work experience to make this process easier.

Be ready for the phone screen
If you can, keep a printout of jobs you’ve applied to. This is especially useful if you are applying for many jobs and really helpful with the phone screen. If the phone screen comes at a bad time and your not prepared to speak intelligently about the job you applied for let them know and plan it for a time when you have the time and quiet in the background to talk. The phone screen is important it can keep you from getting the face to face interview if things go wrong so take it seriously.

Organize your search
Use an Excel spreadsheet if you don’t have Excel use Google docs to keep track what jobs you applied for.

Network, network, network
Even online join online groups for your industry or interest. Find communities in Ning or Meetup. People are using social networks to post jobs and look for qualified employees. Also develop relationships with recruiters of staffing companies so that you have other people looking for jobs for you as well.

Repair Bridges & build new ones
Contact old co-workers, past supervisors. Keep relationships good and keep lines of communication open.

Don’t stop learning
Go to industry websites. Take your downtime and turn it into time to go back to school to get that degree you’ve always wanted or take continuing education classes at a local college. Even take online classes and tutorials. As a web developer I use Lynda.com to learn new skills and software.

Use an Internship Opportunity
To keep something on your resume, develop new contacts and keep your skills sharp. They just aren’t for college students anymore. This is a good option especially if your looking to get into a new field and have no experience.

Get ready to sell yourself
Always accentuate the positive about yourself, know your strengths as well as your weaknesses.

Stay professional
Even though times may be desperate don’t talk about pay, hours or vacation in your phone screen or interview.

Don’t be afraid to fight for the job you want.
I interviewed at the same company twice for different jobs and had to talk to some of the same people. It was embarrassing but hey I got a job offer out of it so a little embarrassment was worth it.

Respond to email and phone calls from recruiters or HR people promptly.

Keep your head up and keep going
Today you may have no prospects but 24 hours can easily change that so stay optimistic.

Have a pity party but keep them short & sweet.
It’s alright to have a bad day but don’t get stuck in a bad frame of mind. Pray, meditate, journal whatever it takes to keep your spirits up.

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SisterStudy.org | “Go Bra less to Prevent Breast Cancer”

UBO Editor — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 13:00:10 +0000

I’m a faithful listener of the Michael Baisden show and every Thursday is “Your Body is Your Temple” day. For the life of me I can’t remember the name of the doctor he had on his show but they made the connection of the number hours you wear a bra to your breast cancer risk. So basically if your wearing a bra over 12 hours a day your risk of developing breast cancer increases.

For me this was a revelation because I usually sleep in a bra and panties and then of course wear one all day long. But I have changed that. And I encourage all women to change their bra wearing schedules as well. Don’t be afraid of gravity taking effect while your not wearing your bra; after all you need to free your body of all constricting garments while you sleep.

Reports show that bras constrict the flow of lymph through your system. The lymphatic system is key to our immunity as well as the carrier of white blood cells, oxygen and nutrients while gathering toxins throughout the body. To restrict this process with a bra is not ideal.

So when you come home from work take off your bra and if you’re very large breasted and hesitant to walk around your house bra less just make sure not to sleep in your bra.

P.S. if you’re a woman of color between the ages of 35-74 and have a sister that has been diagnosed or passed away from breast cancer please join the Sister Study. Women of color are grossly underrepresented and we need to be a part of the study to understand what lifestyle factors affect our breast cancer risk.

Join the SisterStudy.org
Visit the Michael Baisden Site

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The Daily Plate | “It Helped Me Lose 20 Pounds”

UBO Editor — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 15:30:39 +0000

It’s seven months into the year and where are you in your resolution to lose a few pounds? I admit that in January I resolved to lose some weight and started on my journey January 22. My method involved writing down everything I ate and while searching to find the amount of calories in an apple I found a web site called The Daily Plate. I signed up for free account (just to try it out) and used it to log all the food I ate and all the workouts I did. The result is that I’m twenty pounds lighter and still counting.

What I really love about this site is that it makes it easy to count calories. Just type in what you ate and you will find that members of this site have already entered all the nutritional information for you so just point and click and add it to your plate for the day. I weighed myself weekly,entered my weight and it recalculated the number of calories I needed to eat everyday to keep losing weight automatically. If your not trying to lose weight and just want to eat healthy you can still use The Daily Plate because it keeps track of your sodium intake, fat intake and protein etc..etc.. the features are endless.

I know there are so many diets out there and it can be frustrating and confusing to find what works for you but The Daily Plate makes it easy because it’s built on the simple principle that in order to lose wieght you have to expend more calories than you consume and when you use it you will be able to discern if you are doing that and when you do you lose weight.

I know, it can be a pain in the butt to have to input into the website every morsel you put in your mouth and every session on the treadmill but it was so worth it when I was able to toss my size 14 jeans for a size 10. Now my size 10′s are getting baggy.

Just try it. (Eat smarter, lose weight or mainatain your weight loss @ The Daily Plate)

Olay Daily Facials | “Travel-Approved Skin Care”

Toyota Targets Black Women | “If Looks Could Kill”

UBO Editor — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 16:45:01 +0000

Toyota has launched a $5 million dollar campaign to get Black women to take notice of the Toyota Camry. It has been discovered through surveys that sisters think Camry’s are for the suburban types, lack style and are boring therefore opting for the Nissan Altima and Honda Accord.

This year sales are down 8% for the Camry from last year, according to adage.com causing the previous best selling sedan to fall from grace. As a result Toyota is pulling out all stops to garner a new audience to put them back on top and the ” If Looks Could Kill” campaign is poised to do just that.

“If Looks Could Kill” is an interactive, episodic game starring an attractive, upwardly mobile fashion assistant for the House of Champagne, Bianca. She quickly gets involved in a game of mystery which includes her boss, her man, her daddy and her 2009 Toyota Camry XLE.

I watched the first episode, played along and was quite impressed by the campaign. The main prize is a Toyota Camry XLE (loaded) and every week various prizes will be given away like IPod Nanos, cameras and Coach and Carol’s Daughters gift cards among many others. But you have to sign in, watch and help Bianca in order to win.

The next episode: BFF In A Box premieres June 23 so visit “If Looks Could Kill”, sign up and play.

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Superviva.com | “Turning Your Dreams Into Reality”

UBO Editor — Fri, 30 May 2008 20:51:37 +0000

Did you scribble your goals for the new year on a piece of paper? Okay now where’s that sheet of paper. I have to admit I did that too but you may want to take it one step further by writing down and sharing your goals with like-minded goal-setters on Superviva.com. And if you prefer to keep your goals private you can do that too as well as get ideas for setting goals, tools to organize them and the motivation turn your goals into been there done that moments.

(Live your dream life! Plan it with a life list at SuperViva.com!)

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