The Secret Of Overcoming A Failed Interview

The topic for today’s show comes from cell phone number 7430. The person wrote:
I prepared very much for interview at company. I very wanted the job, but did not win. Now I am sad. What can I do?
The issue 7430 is describing is the issue of failure to get the job they wanted. The issue is rejection. Not just any kind of rejection, but rejection that comes after having worked very hard to get the job. This is tragic! Terrible. I’m sorry to hear that.

So today, you are going to learn how they you rise from the ashes of defeat: how you can overcome the rejection and failure that sometimes happens when searching for a job.
Let me ask you all a question. It’s a personal question. A serious question. Have you ever had a broken heart?

The reason I ask, is that failing to get a job after preparing really much is a lot like failing in love.I’ve heard it said many places that searching for a job, is a lot like dating. You court the company, the company checks you out, you get a feel for each other and decide whether or not to go in the same direction together.

Sometimes one person starts to like the other a lot more than the other likes them. The person buts a lot of effort, but the love is rejected. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it does not. When it does not happen, especially when we REALLY HOPE that it does, it can be just as crushing as rejected love.
So how do we get over it?

We need to do the DART!
The what???
The DART!

DART is an acronym I created that helps me remember how to overcome failure.
D stands for Do No Harm! AR stands for Accept Reality. And T stands for Take Positive Action.

D--Do No Harm

Don't hurt the company. Don't say bad things about them. You never know, the person they intended to hire might not take the job. The company may remember you. If you say bad things and they learn of it, they'll think you're pathetic and hire another person.
So, protect your reputation. Say good things. Write them a thank you note thanking them for the opportunity. Tell them that you hope maybe one day in the future you two can work together. ...don't send a note like this to your lover though. Bad idea! ...for many reasons.

Don't Harm Yourself.

This is obvious. Don't take it all so personally. You are still awesome. You are not a permanent failure. Your effort was great! You failed. This is just one small smudge on the giant canvas that is your life. You don't know the future. This could be a good thing.

Remember the proverb about the man with the son that didn't have to go to war. The father of the son didn't know if it was good or bad. (Do a Google search for more info.)

Don't Harm others.

Don't go home and tell your mom her food is terrible just because you're angry. Don't tell your girlfriend her hair looks terrible. Don't throw your cat out the window. Be nice to people.

Don't make your feelings worse by hurting the company, yourself or others!

Next, AR--Accept Reality!

Reality is that the job chance is over. Finished. Gone. Dead. Have a funeral!
Let it go. Delete. Move on! Feel the pain, feel the sadness. Have a sit-down, take a 30 minute pity party, but then get up and get going. Don't dwell. Accept what has happened, and then move on!

Because the reality is YOU ARE AWESOME! You learned so much from this experience. You have now new stories to tell. This job is not the only job in the world. There are better ones probably out there! You can get them.

You never know, this job might have been perfect. It just might have been that the person interviewing you thought you reminded them of their high school bully. People sometimes make illogical choices. HR managers are no different. Who knows the real reason you didn't get the job.

So.....accept reality that it's gone, and that you are great and doing a good job. You can't control everything.

T--Take positive action.

Positive action is so important!!! You can't think your way into right feeling or action. You must act your way into good feelings. You must act act act.
So. Grab a pen. Grab a pad of paper. Go to a coffee shop. Buy a coffee. Have a seat. Write! Analyze what happened!

There are 5 questions that can help you focus and analyze. Answer these questions as best as you can.

1. What happened?

Think about everything you experienced. Write about what happened. Write about the facts. Don't speculate. Don't sit there writing about how fat you are, or how they thought you were stupid. Don't do that. Write the facts. What did you talk about? What questions did they ask?

Give details. This helps you get perspective.

2. What did you do wrong?

Now! Very important! Do not write more than 10 things. I mean it. It's easy for people who feel bad to write a million and four things about how bad they are. Don't do it! Again, don't opinionate.

Give yourself a break, but be honest. Facts. What did you honestly do wrong.

You are not the worst person in the world, so don't go to that mind frame. You are not the second worst, third worst or even fourth worst. ...if you really want to feel bad, then you can call yourself the fifth worst, but that's it!!! You are not the worst. PERIOD!

10 things! Write.

3. What can you do to improve?

This is to balance the paper between what you did wrong and what can be improved. This helps create better perspective. It changes our minds toward better analyzing the situation.

For example, if you wrote that your posture went wrong, then you can improve this. If you wrote you answered some questions poorly, then you can improve this. Write!

4. What did you do well?

This is a great question. And it takes hard work to write. I want you to write as many things as possible. MAKE THIS LIST HUGE!!! Because the truth is you did a lot of things right. You may not think so, but you did. A) you showed up. B) you prepared. C) You tried. A lot of people don't even do that, so you are already better than 90% of the world!

Make the list silly if need be. Talk about your hair, your fingernails, your shoes.

Talk about whatever that is good that you did. Be ridiculous.

Trust me. Try this and see....writing it will put you in a better mood. Action is the key to changing your feelings and mind. Writing about things you did well during the job preparation and interview will help big!

5. What can you learn and USE from this?

This is so important. What can you take away from the experience? What do you know now that you didn't know before? Probably, you know a huge amount.

If you think about it, you at least now have a failure story you can talk about.

A lot of interviewers ask you to describe a time when you faced failure and how you were able to overcome it. Well, now you have a failure story, and by writing this stuff down, and working through my tips, you have a great recovery story.

The truth is there is so much you learned from the process. You can feel good about yourself for having done so much and experienced so much. This process will change you and make you stronger. If you let it.

There is a great quote from Barak Obama. He said it will giving a speech to a high school. He was telling them how they will all be faced with failure at least sometimes in their lives. He said:

"The real test is not whether you avoid...failure...it's whether you let it harden or shame you into inaction, or whether you [choose to] learn from it; whether you choose to persevere."

So that sums up the DART, my acronym for helping me overcome failure. I hope it works for you. Remember that D stands for Do no harm, AR stands for Accept Reality, and T stands for Take positive action.

I hope this helps! Keep up the fight, Job warriors! Good luck to you all, and to you 7430! Until next week! All for now!

Two Questions You Need To Consider Before Beginning Your Job Search

Author and journalist Sydney J. Harris once wrote, “Ninety percent of the world's woe comes from people not knowing themselves, their abilities, their frailties, and even their real virtues. Most of us go almost all the way through life as complete strangers to ourselves.”

Are you a stranger to yourself? Before answering that question, I think it’s wise to answer the question, are you happy in your chosen profession? If you can answer that with either a yes or a no, then you’re off to a good start. At least you know that much. And that much is the beginning of today’s topic.

Many of you are in jobs you hate. Fear, the culprit of culprits, has probably sculpted your path, and directed you into a career that “made sense”, seemed “practical”. Unfortunately, some of you—if you get real and truthful with yourself—know that “sensible & practical” are code words for boring and not our real joy.

Work should not be boring and a disappointing experience. Life is too short. Instead, you need to have the courage to begin searching for the work that will make you honestly happy. Such work is most likely that which you can say provides a real and valuable gift to society. Of course, such can be only tiny in its offering, but generally, if you are doing what you love, the benefits to society will absolutely ripple through.

Even if it’s only your personality that becomes the gift. An unhappy person in work, usually spreads misery in all the places they visit.

So stop spreading the sad! Instead, as you prepare for your job search, consider these two questions:

1. What do you want?
2. Who are you?

Sound simple, yes? Sound difficult, yes? You’re right in both regards. These question are both the most simple and most difficult questions to answer. But, unless you’re willing to struggle through and answer them, you’re going to keep making the same choices in your career life.

Of course, making the same choices is okay if you are a) currently happy, or b) love misery. As you’ve most likely heard before, doing the same thing over and over again expecting something different is an idiots tomfoolery. Stop doing that! Answering these question can help.

When you look for a job, most usually consider only jobs they know, then write a resume, and apply. Then wait. Like fishers without a clue of what you are fishing for, or even if there are fish to be caught, you wait. You hope, pray, and wait some more until a compassionate company comes along and grants you a good enough job you need so you can pay bills, etc.

Stop that! Instead, before updating your resume, before digging around for job leads, grab yourself a pad of paper, a few sharp pencils, make your way down to a coffee shop, find a quiet table, sit down and begin to write.

Write a story about your ideal life. Write a story about your past. Write a story about where you thought you’d be going when you were a child. Writing stories like this—don’t worry about grammar or interest to others—will jog your memory. It will provide you a real picture of both who you are and where you really want to be going.

Doing these exercises will put before you pieces of yourself you might have never given time to think about.

I remember a story about a girl who worked for a hospital. She worked there during college to find out if that was what she wanted to do. While working there, she had an assignment similar to the one I describe. After writing it, it became very apparent to her that she was a very willing person, that she was filled with compassion, and that she was eager to learn and develop herself.

That knowledge led her out of her sensible plan to become a nurse, and into a new path of becoming a family psychologist.

The girl in this story often wonders what would have happened had she remained on her original path—which was to become a nurse. She believes she would have liked it, but that it would have been less than her best. Working as a family psychologist is something she’s passionate about.

The point is that from writing her story, she was able to work out parts of herself that helped her guide her on her way.

Of course this is just an example. Still, each of you, if you take time to write your stories, can gain valuable insight into yourself. The insight you gain can help you stop making the same choices in your career. Life is too short, and you deserve to be happy. So before you start considering your next job search, ask and answer for yourself these questions. It might mean a whole new life, and a whole new smile.

Until next time…

Q & A

For the past six months, I’ve had the honor of speaking to over two million Korean listeners each and every Wednesday morning on EBS FM. The opportunity has started in me a passion for career advice, personal branding, and persuasive storytelling. Though the show will be cut from it’s roster this next term, I will continue to write tips and advice for job hunters and for those interested in how to make for themselves a great career. Please continue to view my weekly posts.

For this weeks show, I decided to answer a few of the various questions I received over the past six months at my email address jobwarriors@gmail.com

A change of pace is good, so instead of focusing on just one area for today’s article, I’ll try and answer a few questions.

The first question was one I received a short while ago. Jong-Sub wrote me the question:

"I'm a university student. What advice do you recommend I take to become a good leader?"

Thanks for the question, Jong-sub. It’s a great question! It’s awesome that you are interested in this aspect of your future.

The first thing I’d recommend is that you take a look around yourself. I assume you’re in university, which means that you are involved in a club, involved in your classroom activities. These are great places to develop leadership. What are you doing to take on more responsibility in these areas? To me the best kinds of leaders are those that know how to serve the needs of the group they are a part of.

To me there are many kinds of leadership. So, take a look at your leadership style. As well, read tonnes of books on leadership. If you are not finding what you need at school, reach out and get involved in various clubs around town. I am a big fan of Toastmasters. It’s a communication & leadership club that teaches people leadership skills. It is an amazing opportunity!

As well, I’m sure there are youth leadership groups around Seoul, and in other cities. Check the internet, find out what’s available, and put yourself out there. Learn to serve, and from that learn to lead.

Keep searching, Jong-Sub. With questions like that, you are off to a great start!

The next question comes from a person with the cell number 6771. 6771 said,

“I'd like to start my career at an international NGO to do voluntary work. Do you think my priority is to improve my English?”

Again, another awesome question.

I’d have to say a big gigantic YES! I’m certainly not an expert in how NGO’s work in various countries, but I’d say that English would be vital in your ability to work with other volunteers, or to work with people in the country you’re going to work in. A quick Google search for NGO volunteering opportunities shows roughly 700,000 different links. I kept clicking on different links for about 10 minutes. All of them were in English. Now, I’m not sure how to look in Korean, so I cannot compare…but it seems fairly apparent that a large amount of opportunities are available for people if they speak English. In all, it really depends on where you want to go. Do you want to stay in Korea, and then probably you don’t need English as much. If you want to go work in Africa, or India or the Philippines, then English most certainly seems helpful.

A person named Min wrote me and said,

“An international company I’m applying to wants personal references. Who do I ask, and what should they say?”

This was quite surprising to me. I assumed that references were a part of the Korean job search process. Apparently they are not.

The reference finding process can be quite elaborate. Briefly, I’ll say that the first thing you want to know about finding good references, is that you do not use family members or friends. You’re going to want to select people who have actual knowledge of your ability to deliver the duties of a job. You want people who can provide actual proof of your work and your ability and your accomplishments, and your attitude.

You should ask your former bosses from part time work, or your former professors, or former people who’ve you’ve volunteered with, done an internship with, church leaders, etc.

Of course, I’m not sure if your references need to be written in English or not, but if they do, then hopefully you’ve got someone who can write a good letter.

Since it may not be a big practice here in Korea, I really recommend you go online and look at some samples of reference letters. Maybe take that into the people who you have asked to write your letters, and guide them to do something similar.

An important point to remember about these, is that if your getting someone to write a letter for you, I really don’t think it should be completely perfect. It shouldn’t say only your strong points. If there are not weaknesses, I think that sends a suspicious message. Keep that in mind. After all, no one is perfect….so we shouldn’t pretend to be.

Of course, be sure to select someone who’ll say good things about you?

What should they talk about? Well, as I said…accomplishments. Primarily, they should talk about things that pertain to the job your applying for. If you are applying for a sales position, maybe they can talk about your persuasive skills, your interpersonal skills, your communication skills. Maybe they can talk about your ability to learn quickly, work hard, etc.

Great question. Good luck.

The next question comes from Kim. He writes:

“I am a guy 32years old. i am running my own business but I hope to work at a company but I guess because of my age, I almost give up applying for any company. Pls give me any advice.”

Wow! Great question! From my perspective, Kim. You’re not too old at all! I really wish I knew more about your situation. What kind of business, how long you’ve been in it. I think entrepreneurship is a powerful training ground for success. I think about all the skills and knowledge a person gains from running their own business. You’ve got sales skills, management skills, logistic knowledge, marketing knowledge, leadership, self-motivation, and a whole lot of other skills.

Presumably, your company is still running. That means you have the ability to keep a company solvent. That means you are a smart business person. You also understand the value of customer service.

To me, you’re a great person for a job. I’d hire you. I am a big fan of the entrepreneurial spirit. I think more people should do it.

The question I think you should ask yourself is “do you really want to work for someone else?” I think once you get a taste for self-employment, that degree of freedom is hard to give up. But, working for someone can be a great benefit too. There is much less personal stress, I’m sure!

If you are interested in trying to work for a company, I’d look at selling my skills in terms of helping a company grow. Some people might be concerned you’re just getting into a company so you can relax and not work so hard. Assuming that is not your motive, you should absolutely maintain that entrepreneurial attitude, and go into a company interview with a sincere desire to make that company grow and get rich.

You may need to start at a lower position than you think is fair, but…that’s okay. With your skill and age and ability, I think you’ll advance rather quickly. But that’s just me assuming.

No matter what…don’t let fear hold you back. Go get your dream, Kim. That goes for all today’s listeners.

All for today.

How To Make Yourself Into Someone Who's Both Highly Valued & Extremely Employable

Today I’m going to tell you how you can make yourself into hot commodity that is both highly valued and extremely employable.

Today’s tips will both help you build your reputation--your personal brand & they will help you become a globally savvy employee or job seeker.

Now, before I begin, of course much of my tips come from a Western perspective. That means there are probably some tips that are missing which apply specifically to Korea. So feel free to write in and share your hot tips on how listeners can make themselves highly valued and extremely employable. Share the love everyone!

So how do we do it?

Well, we all know that in today’s’ day and age we live in a world of Globalization. Gawd I’m tired of that word. Despite my dislike for that word, the reality is upon us. So what kind of skills are needed to make you into a super cool employee or job prospect?

Keep these ideas in mind.

A hot commodity of today and tomorrow will be a person who:

Of course has an awesome attitude. Since it really is the first thing people notice about you, you should spend a huge amount of time making sure yours is in tip top shape. How is your attitude? Are you a complainer? A whiner? Or are you a can do kind of person? How do you feel about yourself? Self-love is so cool!!!!

Is quick to adapt to changing technology. Duh! Of course. But, often times we get comfortable with certain technologies as we get older. We stop challenging ourselves to understand the up and coming technologies. Complexity gets the better of us, and we begin to slow down. DON’T! Of course a technologically cool person is and always well be a HOT Commodity!

Loves Diversity! Embrace it. Snuggle it. Become curious about other cultures. Don’t grudgingly accept other cultures and other people just because it’s cool. Develop an honest curiosity to understand other people. I think Korean people do this really quite well. Especially since people have become travel addicts. Focus on the similarities between people of other places. Someone who is open is someone who can have many contacts in many places. Chances are, you’ll be working with people from India, Africa, China, and Brazil. Get used to them. Read books about these places. (ESPECIALLY CHINA!)

Is committed to life-long learning. Another thing I see Koreans doing a fantastic job at. But, again, sometimes we get tired. We make the excuse…schools over. I want to rest. Ok…rest, but keep learning. Learn something that is fun, that doesn’t feel like learning. But commit to opening the pathways in your brain. If you are working for a company, become a sponge. Learn all and everything you can. Don’t limit yourself. A sponge is a really valuable tool to have. Keep that in mind. Everyone loves a sponge. Remember too to give! Be quick to give and teach. Wow! Teachers in all organizations are loved and wanted!

Practices integrity! Cannot stress this enough. What is integrity? It’s wholeness. Honor. Honesty. What does it really mean? Do some research. Begin to practice. Take risks will telling the truth. Do despite the fear. Trust and credibility are so vital in today’s workplace, and they will become more so in tomorrow’s workplace. We live in an age of PR. PR can spin lies and create images in our minds about other people and cultures. If we practice integrity, we can break down the walls of prejudice, and create serious value for our company. A person of integrity is a hot commodity!

Is a self-starter. Don’t wait for people to tell you to do something. Get going. Be the first. Optimism. It’s a beautiful thing. Eagerness. If you are not this way yet, what are some ways you can develop it? How can you become better at this? I really recommend you begin looking into answering it. Top experts agree that the day of waiting to be told what to do are long behind. We have to learn how to be proactive. What are your thoughts?

Practices personal discipline. This basically means work on your reliability. Take care and attention to your work. Do all jobs well. Be disciplined in your thinking and in your approach. How do you do this? I like to practice one step at a time. One thing at a time. Be persistence. All of these tips will require slow practice. But…keep at it. No matter what, no matter how difficult they are, no matter how many times we slip up, we should keep going. After all, they’re good for making us HOT!

Again, remember, if there are certain other tips that really apply to make someone super hot in the Korean market, write in.

Next…a hot commodity of tomorrow is someone who can adapt well. Change is not going to slow down. We all know the reality of it. If anything, it’s going to get faster. Koreans are certain good at this, I feel. But, we all have a sticking point. And humans are just naturally slow to change in certain areas. The best way we can become adaptable, is to focus on being a part of the solution. When change comes, we tend to complain and talk about how bad things are. Instead, focus on what you can do to fix, to help, to add to the solution. A constructive attitude in times of change is a powerfully valuable skill. Practice offering solutions and viewpoints. Don’t be a waiter. Don’t wait for others to offer solutions. Be a conduit of awesome ideas.

Get's busy Upping their creativity. It is never too late to develop and work on this skill. According to so much of what I read, our ability to think creatively is SO VITAL in the future workplace. And I don’t just mean for those who work for Google. In our own workplace. Remember, becoming a valuable commodity means that we are value adders. Our job is to add value to the companies we work for. Creative people think up better ways to manage work-flow. Think up better ways to increase sales. Think up better ways to communicate with customers. Thinkers and creative problem solvers are highly valuable. Find ways to increase your creativity. We are all creative. Even if we think we are not, that’s NOT TRUE! Many of us have just forgotten…that is all. So work hard at this.

Back to attitude. To be hot: Think Can-do, can-do, can do! You know this. Attitude is everything! The future may change things…but the importance of attitude is not something that will.

As you begin to improve these skills, you’ll notice your confidence will increase. You’ll notice that you’ll begin creating an environment that will be seriously more valuable than it was before you got there. We want to be the kind of people who have changed the places we’ve worked at and been a part of. Working on these skills will help you do that.

With that, you are certain to be both more highly valued and extremely employable.

All for now! Ciao!

A special thanks to Karla Brandau at Buzzle. Her words are the inspiration for today's message.

How To Do Company Research That Will Make You An Amazingly Hot Commodity.

In today’s hyper-competitive job market, it is not enough to go into an interview without a thorough understanding of the company you’re interviewing with or without a gigabyte of knowledge about the type of job you’re interviewing for.

As I’ve said time and again, in prepping for a job, you should be working 40+ hours per week. That prep time should include, among other things, writing and rewriting your resume, practicing your interviews, and performing job and company research.

Today I’m going to tell you how to research a company in a way that’ll make you an amazingly hot commodity.

How does it make you hot?

Knowledge is power baby. The most confident people are often those who know their subject matter best. If I know what I am talking about, who I am talking to, I feel more at ease. That ease or confidence communicates loud and super clear! Knowing your company inside out and backwards will win more arguments than it will lose! …and in this case, the argument is “should we hire you or not?”

Knowing your company can make you really persuasive. It’ll also help you think up creative ways you can assist the company. If you know much about the company, you can see solutions. Not that they’ll like your solutions, but they will like your passion.

Bottomline: knowing your company can make you hot Hot HOT!

So what does someone who’s hot know about a company?

They tend to know about seven different areas. They tend to know about a companies:

1. Competitive profile—how are they positioned in the marketplace? How hard competitors are fighting against them.
2. Size and Growth Patterns—How big the company is? .
3. Direction—can be difficult to find, but worth the chase.
4. Products or services—what does it do?
5. Culture and Reputation—though often subjective, still important.
6. History—it’s future might be influenced by it’s past.
7. Net Worth—finances are hard to get a hold of sometimes, but again…worth it. You want to know if the company is in trouble.

How do I get the knowledge?

The key to doing brilliant research is having good questions! Ask a good question, get a good answer. Ask a poor question, get a poor answer. Today I’m going to give you some questions you can use to ask when doing your research. But first….

Where can we find knowledge?
(I want to you readers to write some good research sites in the comments box. Pass on the knowledge. Also feel free to pass on some research tips.)

The internet, baby! Some great sites for Korean business—in English or Korean: company’s direct website, or Korchambiz.net (Korean Chamber of Commerce has great information), Yahoo Finance—English, KoDart.or.kr (executive & industry information) These are free. One pay site that I know of includes people.joins.com. Offers awesome information about managers and CEO’s of companies.

But what do you do if the company is small?

Open up the Yellow Pages and give a company a call. Informational interviews. Some people think this is rude? I don’t think so. I think you can call people and ask. Remember your intention. When doing an informational interview, you’re not looking for a job. You’re collecting information. Ask them for ONLY 10-15 minutes of their time. (Keep your Promise, don’t go over 15 mins.) Be very polite. Stay away from salary questions. Keep it business related. Also, keep away from financial information. Say thank you for your time, and hang up.

If you are interested in applying, a few weeks later, you can write and tell them that you were interested. Tell then that if they are ever looking for a new employee, consider you for a specific position.

But I also know that there are a tremendous amount of web boards, blogs etc. that are available. So readers, send some information. Share the love, people!

Now!

Once you find some good places to gather information, you break your search up. As I said, there are seven key areas you’ll want to find answers to. (Check out books by Joyce Lain Kennedy for more questions. She helped me write this today!)

Let’s start with Competitive Profile:

• Who are the company’s competitors?
• What are the company’s current projects?
• What’s the industry like? Growing?
• What technologies does it use?

Size and Growth Patterns:

• What does the company do?
• Has it expanded globally?
• What are the divisions or subsidiaries?
• How many clients? Employees?

Direction: Can be found in newspapers, trade pubs, annual report.

• What’s the mission?
• What are it’s current problems?
• Initiating any new products?
• Current priorities?

Products or Services?: Absolutely necessary you know this!

• What services or products does the company provide?
• What are it’s areas of expertise?
• What’s it’s production standards? Quality profile??

Culture and Reputation: Subjective, but can tell you if you’ll fit in well.

• What’s the company’s business philosophy?
• What’s it’s reputation?
• What kind of employees does it usually hire? (Don’t guess…call if necessary)
• Management style?
• Woman friendly?
• Family friendly?
• Drink Friendly?
• How does it treat it’s employees?
• Work time?

Company History:

• Known for change?
• Stayed the same over the years?
• How quickly has it grown?
• When was it established?
• Who started it?

Financial Picture:

• What are the companies sales?
• Earnings?
• Assets?
• How stable is it’s base?
• Loans?
• Profit trend?
• Do employees receive earnings benefits?

I’ve just given you a brick of questions to guide you in your search for the kind of information that can help you become knowledge filled. With all the knowledge you gain from this, you’re sure to be amazingly hot! Now get to work!

See you next week!

The Twelve Steps to TOTAL & COMPLETE Insanity

These steps are not my creation. Again, necessary to remember when considering work life and your future. Read and learn.

1. We admitted we were powerless over nothing - that we could manage our lives perfectly and those of anyone else who would allow me.

2. Came to believe there was no power greater than ourselves, and the rest of the world was insane.

3. Made a decision to have our loved ones and friends turn their wills and lives over to our care even though they couldn't understand us at all.

4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of everyone we knew.

5. Admitted to the whole world at large the exact nature of everyone else's wrongs.

6. Were entirely ready to make others straighten up and do right.

7. Demanded others to either "shape up or ship out."

8. Made a list of all persons who had harmed us and became willing to go to any length to get even with them all.

9. Got direct revenge on such people wherever possible except when to do so would cost us our own lives or, at the very least, a jail sentence.

10. Continued to take the inventory of others, and when they were wrong, promptly and repeatedly told them about it.

11. Sought through bitching and nagging to improve our relations with others as we couldn't understand them at all, asking only that they knuckle under and do things our way.

12. Having had a complete physical, emotional, spiritual breakdown as the result of these steps, we tried to blame it on others and to get sympathy and pity in all our affairs.


For those of you who are familiar with AA's 12 Steps, these alternative steps might just give you a new perspective on the idiocy we sometimes perpetuate in our own lives. When we have difficulty seeing "the right way", sometimes a twist in language helps us see "the wrong way".

Enjoy!

Seven Ways to Screw Up Your Life

This was too good not to be shared. It comes from Professional Life Coach, Kathy Gates. Good Stuff!

1. Beat yourself up for every little mistake. Be sure to constantly tell yourself that you're 'dumb", that you're a failure, and that you'll never have anything.

2. Hang around people you don't particularly like and that always put you down.

3. Be a victim. Decide that you have no control, no power. Complain. Blame everyone else for how unhappy you are.

4. Live beyond your means, whatever means you have. Don't plan for the future, don't have any emergency money. Don't assume that Unexpected Bill will arrive at any moment.

5. Dishonor yourself, your health, your body, your mind. Eat junk food, watch junk TV, read junk print. Lie to yourself. .

6. Don't control your time. Procrastinate, so that you're always running late, always rushed, always harried and hassled.

7. Accept defeat. Give up on life. Decide to be miserable the rest of your life. Yes, you have that power.
******************

Professional Life Coach Kathy Gates is the author of several e-books and e-courses designed to help people live happier, healthier, easier lives. Sign up for her ezine, "Make It Happen" at www.reallifecoach.com.

How To Build Your Network & Be The Kind of Person People Remember

Today I’m going to tell our listeners how they can increase their social networks and become the kind of person that other people remember absolutely.

Let’s face it. Our reputations are very important. Networking is very important part of building and spreading our reputation. If we learn to do it well, if we learn to grow our networks, we have a super strong chance of becoming not just a hot commodity, but a SUPER hot commodity!!!

So how do we increase our social networks?

First, what is a social network. No, it’s not just the computer. Nor is it a computer hardware/software thing. A social network is a group of people that share similar interests. They may not be exactly the same interests, but it can be any group of people you belong to that has a similar aim or purpose or connection.

(These days, people who own certain brands are said to belong to a kind of network. The definition of network is evolving.) This is important to know, because since the definition is evolving, we should be evolving our own networks too.

To increase our social networks, we first need to ID our current networks. I usually think of them as being such things as family. School mates. University clubs. But the reality is there are tonnes of places that can be considered potential networking places. What are some potential networking places? Listeners…write in. What are some of your social networks? Do you have any uncanny or different kinds of places you consider a chance to network?

To increase our social networks, we need to ID new and alternative places to meet new people. I know this is scary, but in today’s marketplace, the more people you know, the more you know and the better your chances.

While searching the internet, I found one networking professional who listed over 41 places that can be considered for an opportunity to network. The person listed hobby clubs, airplanes, job fairs, conferences, the gym, job interviews (that’s why it’s sometimes a good idea to write thank you notes…if that’s not done in korea….why not? Creative and unusual is sometimes rewarded). The person listed alumni groups, social clubs like the discussion clubs and Toastmasters I mentioned a few weeks ago, seminars, planes trains and busses. (I know this is taboo…talking to strangers. Many people in America and Canada are afraid too. Why? Will it ever change? Does it need to?)

The important part of increasing your network, if you need to, is getting out there! Fear is your friend. It’s telling you that you are moving in the right direction. (At least in this case. Fear signals opportunity to meet someone who can help you in your career. So listen to it, and act. Don’t run away from the opportunity. Jump in!)

How do you start? Say hello! Say an observation that can be similar to you both. “How’s the weather?” If you’re at the airport, and you’re watching TV…why not comment on the thing your watching. Just an option.

I think it’s important to note, that trying to strike up a conversation with some random person on the street is not normal. If you’re at a crosswalk, and your waiting for the green light. Don’t expect people to jump into conversation. It’s kind of weird. But if you’re both on an airplane to Canada….why not.

I also like the idea of a smoking pit. When I smoked, I used to meet all sorts of people out smoking. No, I’m not promoting you to start smoking. But…if you do, it’s a great way to strike up conversation.

So, next…how do you become the kind of person that people remember? Well, this is quite easy.

But before we go into that, I’m curious how people feel about networking. Some people think getting a job through your network is really unfair. Unfair because some folks have bigger more powerful networks than others. But is it really unfair? Yes nepotism is not good. The favouritism of someone who really isn’t qualified is not fair. …but so what. Welcome to reality. That’s why it’s important to expand your network.

Getting a job through your network is very good for the company. Companies want to make money. They don’t want to lose money. If they hire someone who is unverified, unvouched for, they’re taking an enormous financial risk. You could be a crackpot. However, if they hire someone that has been recommended by a trusted friend, chances are the person being hired has a respectable character.

If you were going to give your money to someone to keep for a week, who would you trust? A person you don’t know or a person who your best friend recommends? Companies think the same. That’s why networks are so important.

So, on to becoming a remarkable networker. How to be great!

1. Be giving. Don’t be an information mooch. Just because you meet a powerful person, don’t start sucking up. “Remember: Ask not what your network can do for you, but what you can do for your network”. Try to be helpful. Give information before trying to receive.
2. Have something interesting to say. Read the news. Be ready to comment. Don’t be fighty or really heavily opinionated.
3. Practice your stories. Have a good story to tell. I cannot underestimate the power of story. This goes too for when you are introducing yourself. “I’m Michael Jay, I’m give people career advice on the radio is more interesting than, I’m Michael Jay, I’m a job coach.” They don’t have to be super stories…just interesting. It takes practice…so be patient.
4. Career guru Tim Tyrell-Smith advices us to Be consistent: If you are expanding your network or working within an already established network, keep attending. Don’t go once a month and expect to be remembered. Go, go, go again. If you’re dealing with family, write letters. Keep in touch. Don’t drop it after you get what you need either. People will see you as a flake. One time help followed by disappearance is an ugliness that will NOT be forgiven.
5. Tyrell-Smith also says Be relevant: Know what’s happening now. What’s hip, what’s cool? Do you know much about new technologies? I really recommend getting to know all you can about the new smart phones. HTC, iPhone, Galaxy….these technologies and all they offer are going to be SO HUGE in the coming years. They’re cool and fun. They are great things to talk about. Also, fashion…and of course…movies. (Oh yeah, and business!!!!! Remember you are always doing your research and homework. If you’re at a job fair…know about every company your interested in.
6. Be social media savvy…this goes without saying. Should be part of your daily network. We’ll talk about this more in a coming show. Facebook etiquette, Twitter etiquette, etc. How to network on these places.
7. Be here and now! Don’t phase out, don’t diddle your phone. Be with the conversation, with the event. Don't be thinking about TV at home, your girlfriend, your other stuff.
   
8. Be grateful for anything you are given during the event. Koreans are definitely good at this. Keep it up!
9. Tyrell Smith also recommends honesty….don’t simply smooze, tell people what they want to hear. Be genuine. I know it’s tempting to say what you think will work when you really want what someone has. But…a) people can usually smell lying eyes, and b) the result might hurt you in the long run. You might end up hating what you get.
10. Be committed to the process. Even tho it’s scary…keep going. You may suck networking at first, but keep going. A growing network is a powerful thing!
11. Finally, be respectful to everyone! You know never know who you are talking to. Or who’ll be a part of your future. That person you think is a fool at first sight, might just be Bill Gates. ….I would have beat Bill Gates up in high school. ….who’s the fool?

That’s all from me. Best to you all!

How NOT to be HOT

Sometimes our mistakes can lead to very cool discoveries. Just last week, while on the air, I nearly said a fairly objectionable word. During the song break, while talking about it with Steve and Jong Hyun, we happened upon an interesting topic for a show. (I won’t tell you how we got there, but...) While we were joking about, out of our jokes emerged the idea of a show about ways people can NOT be a hot commodity. Since we’re always talking about the serious business of searching for a job, we thought that maybe this week we could break things up a bit and look at the funny side of job preparation.

You know, the truth is, in this world of ours, there are many people out there who really do NOT want to be a hot commodity. They do some really silly things when they are looking for work, interviewing, networking, volunteering, etc. I decided to collect some interesting and silly stories for our listeners. You never know....there may be some people out there who, in fact, do NOT want to be a hot commodity. So, if that’s you....here are some stories of ways you can become unhot.

Let’s start with Networking....

There’s the story of the young man who decided to attend a job fair. While interacting with a group of people, he decided to make a comment about how hot and sexy he thought the woman behind the HP booth was. You can imagine his surprise when one of the people in the group turned out to be the woman’s husband. ...you can further imagine the man’s surprise when a month later the young man walked into an interview with financial company only to find the woman’s husband as the interviewer. How not to be a hot commodity? Blab!!!! Talk! Keep not your more personal love opinions to yourself during networking opportunities with new people.

There’s also the story of the young woman who, while also at a job fair, decided her cell phone text messaging to be more important than the person she was talking to. An older woman walked up to her said hello, and moments later the young girl excused herself to write a text message. After the old lady walked away, it was pointed out to the young girl that the older lady was the boss of a well known company. How not to be a hot commodity? SMS instead of network.

How about job prep?

We all know that volunteering is really important to assist us in getting that awesome experience we need to get the job. Well, there are certain do’s and don’ts we should consider when volunteering.

There’s the story of the young man who volunteered with a service that provides elderly people with transportation on weekends. After picking up an elderly man, the young guy asked him if he minded that they stopped by his best friends house for just a second. The young many said he needed to drop something off. The elderly gentleman said he didn’t mind. So, the young man went inside. About an hour later, after knocking on the door of the house, the elderly man walked in. Inside, he saw the young man and his friends drinking beer, smoking funny substances and playing XBox. How not to be a hot commodity....fail to do your volunteer work.

There are also the stories of the people who allow their friends to take them on a drinking binge the night before an interview. D’oh! Don’t do that.

There are also the stories of the stories of the MBA graduate who misspelled Masters on her resume. And, the story of the Phd student who misspelled Doctorate. (It’s Doctorate, not Doctrate).

When it comes to interviews, there are many many MANY ways Not to be a hot commodity.

There’s the story of the young man who brought a water bottle into an interview. During the interview, he asked if he could take a drink. The interviewer of course said okay. So, the young man took a drink, swished the water around in his mouth and spit it into a plant pot next to him. ....don’t do this. It’s bad for the plant. ^^

There’s the story of the woman who brought her pet dog with her into the interview. COME ON!!!! Apparently she didn’t get the job. Had the dogs ears been light blue instead of the dark blue....it might have made all the difference.

There’s the story of the job applicant who told the interview that she was more of a “people person” than a “numbers person”. ...this would have been okay, had the job she was applying for NOT been as an accountant.

There’s the story of the young man who answered his cell phone during the interview. Um.....this might not be a good idea.

There is the story of the young man who said he was so eager to join the company that he got a tatoo of the company put on his chest. ...he didn’t get the job. You might want to get the job first. ....eagerness is good, but....

There’s the story of the applicant who fell asleep during the panel interview. She was in with four other applicants. While the otheres were talking, she herself decided to take a little nap.

There’s the story of the young man that walked into the interview room, big smile, confident posture, hot looking suit. As he reached out to shake the interviewers hand, he started to speak. As he did, the candy he had in his mouth fell out and landed on the interviewers hand. So flustered, the interviewee lost all confidence. Moral of the story, chew gum not candy. Just kidding! No candy!

Of course, once we get the job...there are some things that we will will absolutely want to do if we do NOT want to be a hot commodity.

We can write bad things about the company and boss on FACEBOOK. This is really wise. Especially if the boss is one of your “friends”.

There’s the story of the young girl who kept having her friends call her at work. When confronted about it, the young girl yelled at her boss. It’s might right to have friends, she screamed. ....yes...it’s your right. It’s also your right to FIND ANOTHER JOB you dumb fool!

Of course, backstabbing people at work is a great way to make friends and influence people. Yes, this is always smart.

There’s also the story of the young person who worked for a manufacturing company. Over the course of two years, he took home more than 1 million screws. Apparently he sold them online for over 155,000won. Good job. D’oh!

There’s the Detroit woman who decided to sue her collegue for repeatly wearing too much perfume. If only she’d worn Chanel.

Finally, there’s the story of the coca-cola and pepsi salesperson who decided to have a fist fight in the middle of a Wal-mart. The pepsi sales person was sick of being number two. Apparently, in this instance, Pepsi was better than Coke.

So there you have it. If you are intersted in NOT becoming a hot commodity, feel free to follow any one of the things I’ve mentioned. If, however, you’d like to continue on your pathway to becoming HOT in the marketplace....well....I don’t really think I need to tell you what to do here.

Have a good week everyone!

Michael Jay....OUT!

Does Everybody Have A Job But You?

This week, I pulled from my jobwarriors@gmail account, the following dilemma. Son wrote:

“Dear Michael…I just graduated from university last February. It’s been four months. I’ve had a few interviews with companies I was interested in, but didn’t get the job. All my friend have found jobs so far, but I have not. I feel bad. What can I do?”

This is a very stressful situation. I remember feeling this myself when I graduated. I actually had two friends that had jobs lined up a few months before they graduated. I didn’t understand. And I felt terrible.

To help answer this question, I asked several HR professionals here in Korea for some advice. As we talked, we came up with the following tips to answer the question: What do you do if everyone has a job except you?

The first thing to do, and this is very VERY important, is to RELAX! Try and avoid Panic. Panic can be a destructive emotion. It can cause us to make poor choices. When I graduated, I was tempted to take any job just so I could be like my friends. Luckily I did not. My HR friends say that what usually happens when people do this, is that they take a job and only end up working at it for a short time, because it’s not what they really want to do. The person gets the job, hates the job, performs poorly, makes the company and themselves miserable, and then quits. When this happens, your resume is affected. A lot of short term employment on a resume is a danger signal to potential employers. So, do yourself a favour, and relax.

To help you relax, GET SOME PERSPECTIVE. Realize that life is long. Realize that the economy is changing, and getting stronger. You will get a job eventually. You will get a good job eventually. Keep trying. Don’t give up. You are young, and you have many years ahead of you. Remind yourself of this. You are 24, and you have many years ahead.

Remind yourself also, of how much you’ve accomplished. Don’t beat yourself up. This temporary stress and position will pass. “This too shall pass” is a great quote to remember. All stress and pain is temporary. It’s a learning opportunity for you, to develop patience. Perhaps not easy to hear, but it’s true. Keep good perspective, be happy anyhow.

As I said, KEEP SEARCHING. Don’t stop looking just because your perfect job hasn’t happened yet. Don’t give up. Really use the time you have…free time, to search your soul. Get to know yourself. Self-knowledge is a key to long term happiness. Socrates once said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Take the time to examine yourself. Do you really want the job you think you want? Maybe it’s time to be open to other opportunities. We don’t want to get into a job that is really NOT US! Socrates also said, “Know thyself”. Important concept.

No matter what, realize that this process of searching IS making you stronger. It’s not happening to you, it’s happening for you. For your development of character. I truly believe that.

Also, KEEP AN OPEN MIND. So often we say, I must have THIS exact job. If not, I’ll die. Well…that’s good. Ambition is good. But, sometimes we can’t get exactly what we want right away. The rolling stones sing a great song with the chorus: “You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes you might find you get what you need.” Life is strange, and if we are open to other opportunities, we can sometimes a) find a backdoor into the career we dream of, or b) find a new more delicious career that we hadn’t ever thought of. My friend Pil soo is a perfect example. Started an engineer, found himself in sales. Hated it at first. Decided to put his heart into it, and learn all he can. The result….he developed himself into a country manager of a pharmaceutical company.

Follow your gut. If a job opportunity comes that doesn’t quite match our dream, but our stomach says…”cool”…take a chance. Try it. Give it your all. Don’t worry about “What if…” What if I miss my opportunity. What if can destroy a great adventure. Feel it. If an opportunity feels right, try it out for two years. Two years is a good time for a resume. After the time, you can come back to your original plan. That, or you might find other doors open that you never expected. Being open, as opposed to being rigid, is a GREAT SKILL!!!!

Remember: “If life gives you lemons…make lemonade, baby!”

ENJOY THE UNCERTAINTY. You are young and free. Enjoy it. You will soon get a job, and will soon be working all the time for the next fourty years. Take this time and enjoy the freedom, the wandering, the not-knowing. It will not last forever. Try to relax no matter what the stress is. Parents, friends….try to ignore it and enjoy.

COMPARE YOURSELF WITH YOURSELF ONLY, NOT WITH OTHERS. Comparison with others makes me crazy. It can do the same to others. The only person you should compare yourself with is you. This is your life and your journey. It is unique and different. And that’s okay. Because even though it’s different, it isn’t totally different. If you must compare….there are lots of people who are in the same situation as you. And they will be okay too. So will you. I promise.

USE THE TIME. When you are not busy writing cover letters, practicing interview techniques, etc. Get busy using the time. You will be asked about the gap in your time between university and the job. So, have a story of the way you utilized your time. Take a course. Learn about new technology. Get an unpaid internship. Go to the gym. Lose weight, get muscles. (I realized this past weekend, that my story about losing 20kgs is powerfully interesting to HR people). Join a communication club like Toastmasters. Improve yourself during your time off. Don’t mope. Do something active and fun. It’ll help your employability, and it’ll help keep your spirits up.

Finally, BE HAPPY NO MATTER WHAT! Get rid of the voices that say “you should be doing this…you should be doing that…” Get rid of the voices that say, “I’ll be happy when I have my job…I’ll be happy if I get this job…” It’s not true. The only time we have to be happy….is right now. We have breathe in our lungs, an education in our pocket, a powerful mind in our skull…and we have youth. Youth and energy and power. We will be successful. Because we already are! So keep happy. You’re young and awesome. Remember that!

All for today. I hope this answers your question, Son. Best of luck, and hang in there!

Michael Jay, out!

Overcome Failure Like A Champion

"Failure is a detour, not a dead-end street."

--Zig Ziglar

We tend to get so upset when we fail. That word, "fail" swells and pulsates like a headache. We repeat it. "I failed. I failed. I'm a failure". The emotion builds from the story we're telling ourselves. "I didn't get the job I wanted. What does it mean about me? What will my friends think? What will my family think? Oh God! The shame!"

KNOCK IT OFF!!!!

You are not a failure!

This "failure" you speak of is only a teeny tiny bitty smudge on the canvas of your entire life. So, have some faith. Stop crying! This failure you cry about could just be a blessing in disguise. Learn to have faith in a process that's bigger than you. Trust that life is going to provide you with a better opportunity. So keep working, keep going, and keep improving and developing yourself! You are not a failure! ...unless you want to be.

Today, go out and take some positive action. Make a list of 3 things you learned from the experience. (Make it 5 or 10 if you can). Ask yourself what you can do to improve. Don't smash yourself in the head with your findings, instead use them for reflection. Use them like a scientist learns from experiments. The Wright Brothers didn't fly the first time they tried.

Then write a list of 3 things that you do well. WRITE IT! DO IT NOW!

Write 3 things that make you a good prospect for any job! Are you tall? Good looking? Do you have nice posture? Count these kinds of things too, for they are very big determinants in the hiring process.

Are you smart? Can you communicate well? Write down three things. (4, 5, or 6 if you can think of them). Write them now. Use these things to inspire yourself.

Instead of thinking "failure", and telling yourself stories about "I'm such a loser," start telling yourself a new story. Tell yourself that this is the beginning of a new adventure. Tell yourself that that stupid company will one day regret their decision. Decide to get positive revenge! Go out and bust your ass to get an even better job. Prove them wrong!

If you're really feeling pity, really feeling sad, then okay. Take time to feel sad. Set the timer on your watch. Sit down and feel sorry for yourself for 15 minutes. 20 minutes. 30 minutes. Really give yourself time to do that. Then, when the bell rings, stand up and take action!

If you won't write, then choose to change the thought from the word "failure" to something else. Instead, think power words! Think POWER. Think STRENGTH. Think CAN. Think FIGHT!

Bottom line, don't let that emotionally laden word (failure) paint dark ugly pictures in your brain. Failure is a learning opportunity. Without experiencing failure you wouldn't be human. Learn from the experience, then let it go. The water in the river of that moment has passed under the bridge. It's gone. It's done. Now move on!

Let me leave you with a quote from Samuel Smiles:

"We learn wisdom from failure much more than from success. We often discover what we will do, by finding out what we will not do."
--Samuel Smiles

All for today, Job Warriors! Keep up the fight!

Michael Jay....OUT!

Write To Win!

Our topic this week comes from Ko. Mr. or Ms. Ko wrote me with the following letter: I’ve just graduated from university. I am really worried. I’m finished school, but I don’t think I have skills. What can I do to get skills?

Today I’m going to talk about what our listeners can do to “get some skill!”

First of all, Mr. or Ms. Ko…we all have some skills. They may not be as brilliant as we like YET, but we have them. They need to be developed. So don’t give up!!! “Yet” is a powerful word. We are works in progress. Who we are today is not who we will be tomorrow, if we are taking action toward growth! What are somethings that Ko can do to “get some skill”? Ko has options. There are ways to get job skills, to get experience. There are some obvious ways, and there are some not so obvious ways.

The obvious: take a part time job. Really recommend this. Gives you money. Earning money helps our self-confidence. It doesn’t need to be a perfect job. Take it and learn all you can. Throw your heart into it.

Second, volunteer. We talked about this a few weeks ago. There are many ways to volunteer. It’s up to you to find ways to help others achieve their goals. Again, throw your heart into this. Learn all you can. You’ll be surprised at all you learn.

The not so obvious: and this is my main point today: START WRITING! That’s right, start writing. But not just any kind of writing. I want you to start writing the kind of stuff that helps other people. I want you to start a blog. If we are preparing for a job interview, we should be researching companies, researching industries, practicing interview skills, learning how to prepare our resumes, practicing Toeic, and a number of other different things. I recommend you choose an area and start start writing about what you learn.

Become an expert by researching, and pass it on. Write a blog that teaches others. For example: If you are researching the pharmaceutical industry. What are you learning? What information are you getting that can be passed on to others? If you are benefiting from it, probably others could benefit from it. So write it. Teach it to others. If you have found some great advice on ways to prepare for Toeic, pass that on too. (I’m not talking copy and paste).

I’m talking about learning something, and explaining to it people. I'm talking about using your own words! You could take what I am telling you today, and write it on your own blog. I’m giving you advice, why not pass it on to others? Oh, but won’t others steal my ideas? Why should I help the competition?? What have you to be afraid of? This is a great chance to show that you are not afraid of competition. It’s a great chance to show your confidence. As you learn through research, as you teach through writing, you gain the intelligence, you gain the skill. You gain the power. No one can take that from you. Write weekly. And write consistently.

I recommend you focus your blog on only a few key areas. For example, you might focus it on Pharmaceutical Industry research. Or TOEIC test tips. On specific company information. I might focus it on “Things I’ve learned from various job interviews”. You can focus it on several areas, but try not to be too broad. I have a blog, but I focus only on Career Advice, Presentation Skills, and PR. My blog’s in the baby stage, but I’m learning as I go. So what do I learn? I learn how to use the technology. I learn how to communicate clearly and informatively. I learn how to research. I learn how to synthesize information. I learn how to share. I learn how to market myself. I also learn about industries. I learn about companies. Here’s a key to making your blog helpful. (Can also turn into a self-promotion tool. Online Social Networking is becoming HUGE! And can help you get a job).

Visit other blogs. Read and leave comments. Include a link to your blog. That way people will come and visit you. When you go into an interview, you can talk about your blog. Companies will probably see your commitment to the betterment of others as a good thing, they will see your skill and willingness to put more effort than what is necessary into the job hunt.

But I’ve no time to create this blog???

Yes you do. Searching for a job is a FULL TIME JOB! Building your skill-set is 2 FULL-TIME JOBS! When you’re sitting in front of your television, you can be asking yourself….hmm….is this the best use of my time?

Famous motivational guru Zig Ziglar once said, “When we do more than we are paid to do, eventually we will be paid more for what we do.” Keep this in mind as you work on building your skill-set, your brand, your future through creating an informative, helpful, blog.

Remember, when you write you should be responsible and respectful. Yes it’s your blog, yes you can write what you want. But, it’s also your reputation. Social Networking is a powerful thing. Blogging is a powerful way to create your reputation. If you create bad information, if you write abusive information, if you act and write unprofessionally, you will lose.

What blogsites should I use?

There are many places to go. Blogger.com. Wordpress.com. myblogsite.com., thoughts.com. You can also use microblogging sites like Facebook and Twitter. The blog does not have to be perfect. It’s a work in progress, just like us. Once we publish, we have the freedom to rewrite and edit. It’s our duty, in fact, to always improve upon what we learn.

But I don’t know how to write???

Me too? So what? No one does….at first. But, keep writing. Learning is only done through doing. We act and we learn, we don’t think our way into knowing, we don’t think our way into a skill. Skills come from action. But I can't write English!!! Don't write it in English. Write it in whatever language is best for you, and will help most people.

But everyone has a blog like this!!!

So what! Then join the bandwagon. Do what everyone is doing....you never know, you might just find yourself a superstar blogger! We've all got unique talents that we can only uncover by doing new things. So try something new, you might just surprise yourself. So that’s all for today.

Keep up the fight, Job Warriors!!!! Michael Jay….out!

Improve Your TOEIC Scores & Speaking Skills--LOW COST

Good morning!

Today’s topic is a result of a letter I received last week. On last weeks show, a listener wrote in and asked me my advice. This person wants to know what they should do to improve their English speaking skills and TOEIC scores in order to prepare for a job. …but there’s a twist. Due to the cost of TOEIC institutes, the person is unable to attend. So, today I’m going to talk about a low cost way our listeners can both improve their English speaking skills and study for TOEIC.

A few years ago, I took the TOEIC test. I actually missed two questions. D'oh!

I noticed how varied it is. That to prepare for it properly takes a LOT of time and effort. So, the greatest way to prepare for the test is to give yourself a lot of time. You have more options available for studying. But, reality is that we don’t often have a lot of time. So today, for this corner, I’m going to assume you’ve only got a short time to prepare. Doing that helps me focus my message into a few simple tips.

The fact is, in preparing for this, I came up with an ocean full of ideas. But, given time….I’ll have to keep it simple.

First, you’ve got to realize that you are not the only person who’s ever had money difficulties. There have been tonnes of people like you. And, there have been tonnes who’ve not let that stand in their way.

You don’t have to let money issued stand in your way. You can still prepare well without spending as much as people spend on a hogwan. All you need is a dream, dedication, and persistence. Without the dream, (a concrete goal to strive for, it’s pretty hard to fight for what you want. Often without a dream, our motivation dies. So make your dream achieving a REASONABLE score on the exam. What’s reasonable? Find out what you need, and shoot for it. I’ve heard that between 450-750 depending on whether you want to work domestically or internationally.

Find yourself a team. Form a group of likeminded motivated individuals. Work together to tackle the exam. How do you form a team?

Go onto the free webboard of your university, post a want ad. Or, go onto a famous internet café website, and post a note there, or find a note of another person who’s looking for a group. I think you’ll find a lot. Be brave.

Join!

Once in the group, each buy the same test book. If you have enough time, you can work through more than one book, but to begin with, each buy the same book. If that’s too much money, then each of you should search mercilessly among the used bookstores of Korea for similar books. The chances of finding one are good.

Once you have it, break that test into pieces. There are two parts. Listening and reading. Listening has 4 sections. Reading has 3. Depending on the amount of people in the group, one person should take one section. That person goes home and studies to understand it, and the questions. (This technique is often what law school students do to manage the heavy load of studying.) Make sure you keep your commitment.

Then, come back to meet together. Start off with one section of the test. Each of you take it together. When you are finished, the expert can then instruct and explain why certain answers are wrong, and why certain answers are right. (In Korean). Once a section is understood, move to the next section.

Again, each group member takes the section test, and again, the new expert explains.

This is not a perfect method, but it is an effective method that I have on good authority has worked to help produce really high scores. (Without the help of a hogwan!)

For speaking, there are a lot of short term solutions.

The TOEIC test has a speaking section now. That involves looking at a picture and describing it. Well, that’s easy to work on. This can be broken up too. Each person selects a picture of something from a movie scene or a magazine. They study it and write about it, and look up various words for it. Then, they bring their picture to the group. The others practice describing it. The expert works hard to explain and add to the others’ knowledge. This is a great way to increase vocabulary knowledge—particularly verb knowledge. …this can be tricky, because of misuse of the words. Again, not perfect…but it can help.

Mainly for speaking, the most important thing is to JUST DO IT!!! Stop letting fear win! You are amazing and powerful! There is nothing to be afraid of. The only person you need to worry about comparing yourself to is YOURSELF! Everyone has different abilities and skills. Practice anyway. Talk to your teacher, talk to friends. Remember that your goal is to speak better and score well on TOEIC. …how important is it to you?

Go out and join one of the many free “language exchange clubs”. There’s one that meets at city hall every Sunday.

Get an English newspaper, or an expat magazine in itaewon and search the classifieds, find a language clubs, or similar interest (English member clubs) to get involved in.

Volunteer to teach some passionate foreigner English. …For Free! It’s a great way to be forced to utilize English to communicate the Korean language. It’s difficult, but it’s for free and no matter what, will be beneficial to the person you are helping. There are chances at churches, temples, universities. There are a lot of chances if you look in the classified. (more practice for reading comprehension).

The bottom line, is that if you want to learn, money is not a barrier. There are a lot of options available to you.

You have to commit yourself to the process, you have to dedicate yourself to the process, you have to go at it whole-heartedly. If you do that, nothing can stop you!

All for today, Job Warriors! Keep up the fight, and TAKE NO Prisoners!!!

Michael Jay…..OUT!