Alan Carniol

Alan Carniol

Alan is the creator of Interview Success Formula, a training program that has helped more than 80,000 job seekers to ace their interviews and land the jobs they deserve. Interviewers love asking curveball questions to weed out job seekers. But the truth is, most of these questions are asking about a few key areas. Learn more about how to outsmart tough interviewers by watching this video.

Wednesday, 25 July 2012 22:56

Asking for a Recommendation Letter

Recommendation LetterMost people struggle with getting recommendation letters in their job search. There are the questions of how to ask, what to ask, and whom to ask. Getting a recommendation letter is a source of stress for many people, chiefly as a result of not knowing how.


Wednesday, 25 July 2012 22:51

Have a Weak Resume? Get Online Courses!

Online CoursesThe challenge for all job seekers is to get their resume noticed. When you write your resume, your mindset should be: “What would make a potential employer notice my resume?”

Wednesday, 25 July 2012 22:47

Job Search: Evaluating Your Options

jobofferevaluationThe past few years have seen the highest unemployment rate in decades. Every business, big or small, has experienced the effects of the recession. Countless people have seen their company do well this month and hit rock bottom the next. It only stresses the importance of thinking about your decision before accepting a job offer.

 

job search anxietyMany ISF clients become seriously worried that they don't have every qualification and experience required in the job description.

Even worse: some have a track record that isn't perfect - extended time off, a past lay off, short job stints. Maybe, just feeling too old or too young.

Now these issues can lose jobs offers and they can extend the job search. And from personal experience and speaking with many folks perhaps like you, I know this can feel exasperating, at times even producing a sense of helplessness.

Here's the good news.

Of the thousands of job seekers I've worked with, many have successfully overcome these insurmountable obstacles and landed jobs.

How do they do it? Like this.

Wednesday, 18 July 2012 02:22

Signs an Interview Is Not Going Well

Interview Fail SignsFor your upcoming interview, you practiced and prepared, wore your best suit, and basically did your best in acing the interview. Yet even with all your efforts, you didn’t get the job.

Looking back at the interview, it’s hard to tell where it went wrong. But learning how to detect when the interview is not going as planned can help you turned things around.

Tuesday, 17 July 2012 03:59

Another Job Search Tool: Volunteering

Volunteering in Job SearchIn this tough job market, long gone are the days when you could post your resume online on Monday and have your e-mail flooded with interview invitations on Tuesday. With workers being laid off and so many people looking for jobs, a good way for you to improve your skills and keep yourself hire-worthy is through volunteering.

Volunteering offers a lot of benefits to job seekers, but it also has drawbacks if you don’t take the right precautions. The major pitfall of volunteering is not knowing the difference between volunteering and working for free.

Job Search with Small BusinessesFor most people who are looking for a job, the big, famous companies are the first choice. This means that sometimes we overlook golden opportunities with small businesses. Times have changed, and so should our mindsets.

According to United States Census Bureau data from 1980-2005, almost all net job creation was created from firms that are less than five years old. The statistics indicate that without start-ups, job creation in the U.S. would be negative except for a few years. Of the 12 million jobs created in 2007, young firms (firms one to five years old) account for nearly 8 million of the jobs created.

The data from the US Census Bureau clearly shows that without small businesses, a lot of people would be unemployed right now.

jobsearchprocrastinationIn job searching, there are a lot of factors that prevent you from getting an interview and getting hired, but none is bigger than procrastination.

The danger of procrastination is that most people don’t recognize it. Often, people think that it is normal.

Stopping Procrastination

Friday, 13 July 2012 11:25

Dilemma on Short-Term Jobs in Resumes

Resume Writing DilemmaIn a perfect world, every citizen would be holding a permanent position with one or two employers until his or her retirement. In reality, the economy is unstable and companies often lay off good employees simply for financial reasons.

In a time when many are laid off and are struggling financially, it is understandable to see people accepting jobs just to keep a roof over their heads.

So now, you find an opening that feels like the perfect opportunity for a permanent position. You’ve had several short-term gigs. The question is: Do you put them in your resume?

Wednesday, 11 July 2012 01:04

Social Networks Hurting Job Search

Job Search OnlineThe Internet of yesterday is vastly different from what it is today. Technology evolves rapidly on a daily basis, and along with this change comes a change in how we look for a job. Job seeking is already tough as it is, and with the ever-growing popularity of social networking also grow the challenges of job seekers.

Before the advent of social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, writing resumes and cover letters was the only thing job seekers would worry about. However, this is not true today. Whether we like it or not, more and more employers use social networks to screen applicants. The reason is that social networks help them understand applicants better.