If employers are contacting you and not vice versa, you can do better.

Nothing absolutely wonderful comes easy. You have to work for it, whether it be grades, a girl/guy, or losing weight. I think the same thing applies to job searching. If you find yourself immediately getting job offers as soon as you put yourself on the job block, you can probably do better. The best job is usually the one you have to go out and find yourself.

So don’t sell yourself short and jump on the first opportunity that comes through the door. Work for it and you might find an awesome job

Books are a great way to improve both your vocabulary and your knowledge. Take a little time each day and pick one up.

I’m reminded of The Librarian: Quest for the Spear whenever I think about how books can help you become smarter. I tend to read nonfictional books that touch on aspects of science, business, and psychology. I mentioned this book a while ago, but I want to recommend it again: blink, by Malcolm Gladwell.

A lot of people say they don’t like reading. I think it’s more that you don’t like reading boring books. Take a trip to the library tomorrow and find something you might like. You never know… you might end up enjoying it!

Happy New Year’s!

For many of us, 2007 has brought us success, disappointment, happiness, anguish, excitement, boredom, comfort and stress… among others. What’s great about a new year is that it’s a chance to start off on a clean slate (psychologically). Take a moment to reflect on all that’s happened in 2007 and what you’d like to do differently (or the same!) in 2008.

Last year my New Year’s resolution was to use my digital camera more often and I think I met my goal. In 2008, my New Year’s resolution will be to catch up on the social life I missed out on in college.

Here’s to another exciting year ahead of us!

Using brain teasers as interview criteria is one of the worst decisions you can make as a recruiter.

When I interviewed for internships back in college, many companies tried to test how well you think “outside the box” by asking these brain teasers like: “You have 9 jars that are filled with marbles that are 1 gram in weight…” I strongly oppose the use of brain teasers in job interviews.

If you want to find out how good I am at what I do, ask me to solve a real-world problem. Don’t ask me to figure out which jar has the 0.9 gram marbles. I’ll take a page from SNL here and say: Really? Did you really think that because I couldn’t solve that brain teaser, I’m not a good candidate? Really?

Really.

If you want it badly enough and put your mind to it, you can achieve anything.

The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people.

That was a great quote by Randy Pausch. He says so elegantly what I’ve felt for so long. I didn’t achieve what I have today because I was born with something. And neither did you. We’ve achieved what we have because we pushed hard enough to knock down those “brick walls” that stop others.

It just takes some motivation.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, and Happy Festivus to you and yours this season!

Regardless of whether you’re “ho ho ho-ing”, lighting the candles, or taking part in the annual Feats of Strength, all celebrations share one thing in common: spending time with friends and family.

So I hope you were able to get home this season and see your loved ones, be it via car, bus, a Budget rent-a-truck, train, or slipping a 20 to the guy at the airport baggage check-in in order to catch your flight (shhh, it’s our little secret).

Happy holidays!

For those of us who sit in a cubicle all day at work, it’s not easy to stay energized and 100% focused on the task at hand.

When I worked at Network Solutions a few years ago, I found that I was full of energy in the morning, but sluggish after lunch. This can affect your productivity and quality of work. After a few months, I learned to take control of the matter.

The key to staying energized has to do with the food you eat. There are two things to keep in mind: Never get hungry and eat healthy. If you eat something every 3-4 hours, you won’t get hungry and begin thinking about food. And that fattening food you eat at lunch, like grilled cheese sandwiches? It’ll make you tired. Try turkey and lettuce on wheat bread.

So if you’re tired of feeling tired, try changing your diet

Decisions, decisions. Do you buy what you want?… or buy what you need?

I’ve run into this situation so many times before. For example, when I moved to Boston, I needed a hand mixer. Naturally, Target had a variety, from basic 5-speed to 7-speed with retractable cords and multiple attachments. You know which one I wanted Of course, I also didn’t want to spend too much and the difference in prices was significant enough. Should I invest now in the expensive mixer or buy the cheaper one and wait until I have more money to buy the better mixer? If I wait, I’ll be buying 2 mixers, and if I don’t, I’ll have less money now.

What do I usually do? The balance often leans towards buying the cheap one now. Even though it’s not as nice, it gets the job done and that’s what counts. That’s what I need. When I have the money, I’ll buy what I want. You need to put on that “I’m responsible” hat and know the difference between want you want and what you need.

If you’ve ever been hungry while grocery shopping, you know that can lead to bad decisions

Hunger can be a persuasive person. In college I used to go to the grocery store right before dinner and buy something like a fresh load of bread, only to find myself eating through half of it before I even got home! Boy, it’s hard to pass up on that Ben & Jerry’s ice cream when my stomach is growling.

Since, then I’m a little more careful about when I go grocery shopping

Everything’s always easier when the finish line is in sight.

It’s amazing the second wind we get when we can see the finish line for any project we’re working on or sport we’re playing in. When I rowed in high school, the last 100 meters of the race was always able create so much energy in all of us even when we had just been on the cusp of passing out.

The same thing happens when I run in 5k races. When you see that crowd of people standing at the finish line, cheering you on, you’ll probably run faster than you had the entire race.

It’s so important to always have that finish line in sight.