“How did someone as nice as you end up marrying someone so unpleasant?”

Here are 9 Questions that you should ask him or her.

In the last article I outlined the importance of selling yourself via resume and interviews. This is obviously just a small part of the whole process and what you need to think about. You can look at yourself as your own mini company with several different departments like: marketing (resume/cover letter), training (college education/projects), PR (interviews/correspondence), etc. While we are going to go further in depth into all of these departments, blogger Steve Pavlina has an interesting article on the idea that You Are Self-Employed. He uses the analogy that your work is your product and your boss is your customer.

Like it or not, you are self-employed. If you produce output and get paid for it, you’ve got a business. You are no more or less an entrepreneur than any established business owner.

How does your business stack up against the competition? Are similar businesses outperforming you? Can you provide a better service at lower cost? Or are you such a perfect fit for what you do that you really don’t need to worry about competition?

I enjoyed this article very much because it emphasizes taking control of your career path. By working on developing your own “company” you can help yourself, while at the same time benefiting your employer.

Throughout life people are often encouraged to be humble and modest. Generally speaking, those attributes are well liked. Those that are qualified do not want to flaunt their abilities because it might upset others. Unfortunately when you want any position you will have to do some flaunting.

Every step up to receiving the offer is selling. You need to sell yourself. Most companies, maybe even the one your applying for, claim to solve the problem you have and offer a better solution than the competition. You have to do the same, in a polite and agreeable manor. Although the article emphasizes arrogance, really you want to let the companies know the things you are capable of doing. Don’t confuse this with trying to offer the company everything they want.

You don’t know everything, so don’t try to sound like you do. But when they ask you a question, if you have had prior experience in that area, or even something related to it, let them know immediately. One example is my response to the often asked question: “When have you been a leader?” While I had no formal experience in the past, during a summer school program I was involved with, I was the group leader for our project. (more…)

As we’ve noted before being well rounded is critical in today’s industry. Whereas we’ve had the opportunity to experience this while still in college, recently Jon Morrow posted his account of this realization once in the work force.

I was told that having a high GPA would open all kinds of doors for me. But you know what? I interviewed with lots of companies, received a total of 14 job offers after graduation, and none of the companies asked about it. They were much more impressed with stuff like serving as Chief of Staff for the student government and starting a radio station run by 200 volunteers.

Twentysomething: Why I regret getting straight A’s in college

We just have to remind you, as Jon does, that depending on your life goals, GPA can make a big impact. On the whole, the weight that employers put on grades is over estimated, though there are always exceptions. GPA is especially important in even higher education, but if that’s not your boat, you should think about what Jon has to say.