The Habits of Healthy, Happy and Productive People

The Habits of Healthy, Happy and Productive People Everyone here wants to be healthier, happier and more productive. But how do you do that? All three traits are connected. A healthy employee will tend to be happier and more productive, making him or her a better addition to the company. If you need a good round-up of how you can bring yourself to the next level, this marvellous infographic from TollFreeForwarding  will help you to do just that! Highlights: 40% of our happiness is up to us! Exercising outdoors can improve feelings of revitalization, increase energy, enjoyment while decreasing anger and tension. 15% of people are more likely to be happy if a close friend is happy as well. According to American Happiness Association, our happiness is 50% genetically predetermined, 40% being up to us! Studies have also shown that active people possess high self esteem and greater long-term happiness. RELATED: How Happiness Can Fuel Success in the Workplace

Writing a Resume For a Company You Already Work For

Writing a Resume For a Company You Already Work ForHow do you write a resume for a company you already work for? How do you write one that is attractive and professional? When you consider how the resume works, you realize that the answers to both of these questions are not going to be found in any book or online course. Instead, it is all down to your ability to think like a hiring manager.Once you have completed your job search, it is common for your resume to become outdated. If you were diligent enough to take the time to get a handle on a particular skill or technical skill, you might find yourself working in a field where the skill has been replaced by another one. For example, if you wrote an English degree in order to work as a teaching assistant, it might be decades before you find yourself employed in that same position. A resume can quickly go out of date, but it does not need to be done out of necessity. It is perfectly possible to not need a new resume and simply prefer to keep it current.So, should you simply throw away your old resume and start over? It depends on how much time you are willing to devote to learning about and revising the skills that are listed on it. One thing is certain: your resume can quickly begin to look worn down.When you take the time to edit and revise your resume, you are taking a leap into a new world of employment. You will learn how to take advantage of certain phrases that have come into use because they are particularly helpful when it comes to employers. This information will be invaluable to you in the years to come. However, you also need to make sure that you take the time to know the nuances of grammar and style. For example, it is easy to miss a comma or some other grammatical mistake if you are not careful.All of this means that you must keep your resume as current as possible. This means making sure that you update your skills and experience when necessary. Another way to get back to date is to use the lates t technology. Employers are much more likely to make an exception if you use the latest computer software and assist them with file-transfer programs than if you simply use word processing software or print the resume.In any case, it is never a good idea to use any form of technology that is not supported by the computer you are using to complete your resume. The same goes for the language you are writing in. Word documents are perfectly acceptable, but if you are not familiar with Microsoft Word, you are going to run into a lot of errors.If you are going to need a formal, written version of your resume, the best practice is to save your resume on a CD and use a word processor to write it. This way, you will have a copy ready to use when the opportunity arises. Keep it updated by referencing it at least once every couple of months.Most of all, remember that your job search is not over. You still need to continue applying for jobs, and you should continue to take the time to learn th e intricacies of the process. With time and patience, you will learn everything you need to know to write a resume for a company you already work for.

Personal Branding Interview Caterina Fake - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Personal Branding Interview Caterina Fake - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Today, I spoke to Caterina Fake, who is the co-founder of Flickr, the Chief Product Officer at Hunch.com and is one of Time Magazines top 100 most influential people.   In this interview, Caterina talks about how she got started with social media, what Hunch.com is, how shes built her own personal brand and more. What got you started in the web 2.0 world? What originally lured you into creating Flickr? Well I really got my start in the web 1.0 world, though obviously we didnt call it that at the time. I started working in web development in San Francisco in 1995, because it was the most interesting thing going on at the time, and as a generally creative person who liked building things web sites were the perfect medium. Flickr was a side project that grew out of a game we had been building, and it grew fast and furious to the site you see today. How does Hunch.com work and what influenced you to jump from Yahoo! to your new startup? Hunch asks you 10 questions or fewer, and gives you an answer. Its a really simple idea that has a great deal of engineering and technology behind it. The main reason I left Yahoo to work on Hunch was the people. We have some exceptional team members co-founders Tom Pinckney, Matt Gattis and Chris Dixon are all brilliant technologists and great entrepreneurs. They gave Hunch its start and I was fortunate enough to find them and come on board. How have you built your own personal brand to become one of TIME Magazines 100 Most Influential People? I dont think I ever set out to build a personal brand, but I did register caterina.net in 1996, and that is where my blog has lived for the past 10 years. I still write about things that I care about there that are not necessarily associated with technology poetry, literature, psychology, culture. But I really believe that things that seem unrelated, the juxtaposition of disparate ideas, are necessary for innovation, creativity and invention. So my blog may seems a jumble of unrelated posts, but there is a method to the madness. We should all become renaissance men and women as it allows for surprising new ways of thinking. As for the Time 100, that was an amazing thing, and certainly good for my personal brand! Since the world is crowded with social networks now, how have you made Hunch.com stand out? Well, Hunch isnt a social network, its a collective knowledge site, more like Wikipedia or Yahoo Answers than Facebook or Twitter. I think all consumer internet sites need to be social these days, and I dont mean explicitly social, as in comments, profiles, photos, contacts and whatnot, but should intelligently use the artifacts created by the activities of people acting on information. Every small action a person takes, their path through a system, what they look at and what they dont, is meaningful and can be interpreted and used to make a system better. In five years, where do you think youll be professionally? Hopefully working on Hunch, which will be flourishing and mindbogglingly huge! Caterina Fake is a businesswoman and entrepreneur. She co-founded Flickr along with Stewart Butterfield in 2004. Flickr emerged from the development of a massively-multiplayer game, Game Neverending. After being acquired by Yahoo!, she ran the Technology Development Group at Yahoo, founded Yahoo’s Brickhouse, and ran the Hack Yahoo program.   Caterina currently serves as Chief Product Officer at Hunch. She is a boardmember at Etsy.com. Fake has won many awards, including BusinessWeeks Best Leaders of 2005, Forbes 2005 eGang, Fast Companys Fast 50, and Red Herrings 20 Entrepreneurs under 35. In 2006, she was named to the Time 100, Time Magazines list of the worlds 100 most influential people. She sits on the board of Etsy, and advises many startups and new businesses.

Ode on a Liberal Arts Graduate

Ode on a Liberal Arts Graduate For the record: I’m a proud liberal arts graduate. I graduated from the University of Wisconsin with big dreams and a double major that doesn’t have a darned thing to do with my work now. If you’re a parent despairing over your new grad’s choice of major, take heart. You could be the proud parent of an ambitious would-be writer with a degree in 19th Century French Literature and 18th Century Spanish Literature. So my degree didn’t exactly enhance my job prospects, but the skills I learned were invaluable. A Liberal Arts education (literature, philosophy, mathematics, and the social and physical sciences) builds a student’s ability to think in the abstract. Liberal Arts studies emphasize critical thinking, research, writing and clear communication â€" all skills that will make anyone more persuasive and, incidentally, more interesting, on and off the job. A Liberal Arts degree teaches you that ideas matter. That words matter. That important ideas are worth discussing, and to earn a seat at the table for the discussion, you must be lucid, informed, and articulate. Business and technical degrees focus on how things work and what to do. The Liberal Arts focus on why things matter. It’s easy to make fun of studying philosophy or art history because they have no practical application in the workplace. I would argue that understanding the work of great minds (whether you’re studying philosophers, artists, mathematicians, or novelists) opens up your mind and keeps you humble. You learn to appreciate brilliant thinking and nobility of spirit, which are rare in a world that seems only to value money and fame. Neuroscience researchers have found that reading novels increases empathy and brain function. That makes the fact that 24 percent of Americans report that they haven’t read a single book in the past year even sadder. If you’re a new graduate, this is a great job market for Liberal Arts majors.   Companies are desperate for talent, and even history majors are getting multiple job offers. But there are ways to make your Liberal Arts degree more marketable and shorten your job search. First, learn to talk about your skill set as an advantage for a potential employer. Emphasize your speaking and writing skills and your ability to think clearly and deeply about issues. Figure out a way to explain why you chose your major. Emphasize your passion for the subject and how what you learned has made you more well-rounded as a person. Second, consider layering on some other courses, experience, or certifications that will help you land a job. A USA Today article about a Burning Glass study suggests that all liberal arts grads have to do is “couple their liberal arts education with ‘a relatively small dose’ of field-specific skills. Those skills fall into eight categories: marketing, sales, business, social media, graphic design, data analysis and management, computer programming, and information technology networking and support. Most can be acquired through internships, an academic minor, or similar experiences, the study finds.” Meanwhile, take pride in the fact that anyone can learn technical skills, but it takes a true Liberal Arts major to understand this joke: René Descartes walks into a bar. The bartender asks, “Would you like a drink?” Descartes replies “I think not.” Then he disappears. You’re welcome.

Resume Writing For High School Students

Resume Writing For High School StudentsFor high school students who are looking to start out on the right foot and to achieve their dreams, a resume writing for high school students needs to be designed with an eye towards what you want. You need to have some kind of goal or vision in mind when you write your resume.It is not uncommon for young people to have a high school diploma but not much else, or they might be headed to college but might not have plans for much after they graduate. Then there are those who have a diploma, but do not know what career path they would like to take. Perhaps they have always wanted to be a nurse, or a teacher. Whatever your future plans might be, the resume needs to capture that with the kind of information that can be put in your resume.One thing that resumes for high school students often overlook is organization. In order to be successful at this part of your job search, it is important to break your job into small parts and to ensure that everyt hing you wrote is organized and well thought out. Write down everything you need to make sure you write and organize the information you have written.When writing your resume, it is very important to have a great first impression. That means that you should be creating an outline of your life so that when you are applying for a job you will know what to focus on. Having a clear plan of what you are hoping to achieve will also help you avoid looking as though you just came out of the washroom and immediately thinking about yourself.To successfully apply for jobs as a high school student, you need to have one of the best resumes you can possibly have. Even if you are an average student in a prestigious school, you still need to have the information that will allow you to show off the skills and knowledge you have. Make sure that your resume includes all the information that will make you stand out from the rest.Of course, some of this right information will come with experience. Becau se you are applying for jobs, it is easy to get lost in the maze of resumes that are sent out daily. While it is true that experience does matter, you still need to demonstrate that you are looking for a job that will help you reach your goals. If you have the experience and you are looking for that big job that will catapult you to success, then it is important to point that out, but you will need to be careful not to go over the top on what experience you have.The key to writing a resume for high school students is to keep it simple and to include only the essential facts. However, if you do need to include some of the experience that may be helpful, then have some in your resume. Otherwise, do not worry about having enough experience to make a difference in your resume writing for high school students.There are many different ways that you can go about creating a resume that is exactly what you are looking for. Most professional writers and companies are more than happy to write a resume for you, including your unique requirements. With a little bit of research, you can make sure that your resume writing for high school students will be exactly what you want.

How Time Management Skills Can Positively Affect Your Career CareerMetis.com

How Time Management Skills Can Positively Affect Your Career The Negative Effects of Poor Time ManagementLacking organizational skills can have a strong impact not only on your career but also on your mental and physical health. Regardless of whether your work assignments are time-sensitive or not, you don’t want to give in to the enchanted circle of procrastination and overexertion, as these tend to negatively affect performance and job satisfaction.i) Stress and AnxietyResearch has shown that deadlines are the biggest cause of work-related stress. Having a tight schedule to stick to can truly cause a great deal of mental strain, and can even have a serious impact on our health. Elevated cortisol levels due to chronic stress have been shown to contribute to conditions such as anxiety, depression, digestive problems, heart disease, weight gain, and even impaired cognitive capacity.ii) Quality of WorkThose who are constantly in a hurry to get tasks done often have to sacrifice revisions and quality checks. Furthermore, overworking oneself in order to meet a deadlinecan easily result in lower levels of productivity. As a result, you’ll need even more energy to finish tasks that could have been done far more effectively.iii) Work-life BalanceOne of the most impactful consequences of a lack of organizational skills is a compromised work-life balance. With more time spent at the office and fewer hours dedicated to rest and leisurely social activities, job satisfaction inevitably suffers. Without paying proper attention to core career values, and getting the opportunity to step back and relax, it becomes increasingly easy to suffer from burnout â€" a condition affecting significant numbers of professionals every year.iv) Reduced OpportunitiesFor most employers, the ideal employee will be able to perform tasks in a timely matter, without compromising the quality of the results. So, it comes as no surprise that being unable to deliver in this aspect can lead to a reduced chance to advance, both in terms of position, as well as monetary compensation.What Is Good Time Management?evalOnce you know how much you can benefit from keeping track of every hour you spend at work, you can start moving towards being efficient in everything you do. Unfortunately, there’s not a single formula that will work for everyone. Instead, scheduling, tracking, and managing should be regular daily practices, with the goal of finding a method that works best for each individual.There are, however, a few constituents that make up a great system for maximizing work performance and productivity. What’s best, some of these can be used for more than just assignments and tasks. They can even play an important role in organizing errands, personal events, or other private affairs.1) OrganizationThe first step towards having better control over the way in which you utilize your working hours is to become better organized. This goes for both physical and mental space. An office and mind which are smothered in clutter are filled with distractions that break up your pace Next, take a piece of paper or open up a blank note on your laptop and write down everything you need to finish until the end of your workday. Finish each day by planning out your assignments for the next day, or even week.2) TimelinessIn order to ensure your results are the best they could possibly be, it’s important to give yourself the opportunity to edit and revise. The only way to achieve this is to start on time. Beating procrastination can be difficult, so before you can get started, try to identify your reasons for putting off tasks.For some, it’s as simple as their brain trying to keep them from facing negative moods. For others, this process will require questioning their core values, aspirations, and the price they’re willing to pay in order to achieve what they want or think they want.3) NegotiationOnce you’ve learned how to organize your thoughts and responsibilities, as well as how to get started with your assignments on ti me, you’ll gain priceless insight into the actual amount of time required to finish a project. This will, in turn, help you take a proactive approach to schedule.For freelancers, this will mean the ability to better evaluate the number of hours that will go into a job. Those who work for an employer, on the other hand, will be able to negotiate better timelines with their management, seeing that they’ll be able to set realistic goals and deliver in the agreed time period.4) DelegationEntrepreneurs who have limited staff will often take on more than they can handle. In short bursts, this can be a budget-friendly solution, but in the long term, it can lead to neglecting priorities or using a highly skilled workforce on low-priority tasks.To avoid this pitfall, it’s best to determine the importance of each task. If you’re the only one with the expertise and authority to do it, place it high on your to-do list. If, however, the task is not something that requires your specific s et of skills, you can delegate to an employee or even outsource to a freelance specialist.5) AutomationWhile technology has a number of drawbacks in terms of time management, it can certainly be a huge asset, too. The key lies in knowing how to use it in the best way possible.Today, there is an abundance of software solutions that can help minimize the hours you’re spending on menial things such as time-tracking or invoicing. Investing in such software can be a great help, especially when said software can take existing data from your calendarand turn it into actionable reports, statistics, or invoices you would otherwise spend hours preparing.eval4 Proven Time Management Techniques You know how it goes: you can get something done fast, cheaply, and well. But only two of these can be achieved at the same time. This means that something needs to be sacrificed. Yet in today’s job market, the limits of what is humanly possible seem to be moving at a rapid pace. Just like our personal lives, our careers have been sped up by growing demands for instant results, often at whatever cost.Still, the truth is, as long as our tasks and job descriptions keep evolving, we need to evolve as well. For career-driven individuals, becoming obsolete is out of the question, and highly successful people are increasingly coming up with new, effective ways of getting things done. Time management skills are an essential part of this growth.evalNowadays, there’s a huge range of available time management tools and products you can invest in, as well as online courses, books, podcasts, and articles that deal with the subject. And that’s no surprise. After all, professionals who want to make it to the top need to know how to plan and control the hours spent on accomplishing a goal.So, whether you’re only entering the job market, or are an established professional wanting to advance, working on your time management skills is crucial. And there are a few areas in which they will have the biggest impact on your career. By being aware of all possible obstacles, as well as studying the ways of overcoming them, you can make your road to success not only faster, but smoother as well.The Negative Effects of Poor Time ManagementLacking organizational skills can have a strong impact not only on your career but also on your mental and physical health. Regardless of whether your work assignments are time-sensitive or not, you don’t want to give in to the enchanted circle of procrastination and overexertion, as these tend to negatively affect performance and job satisfaction.i) Stress and AnxietyResearch has shown that deadlines are the biggest cause of work-related stre ss. Having a tight schedule to stick to can truly cause a great deal of mental strain, and can even have a serious impact on our health. Elevated cortisol levels due to chronic stress have been shown to contribute to conditions such as anxiety, depression, digestive problems, heart disease, weight gain, and even impaired cognitive capacity.ii) Quality of WorkThose who are constantly in a hurry to get tasks done often have to sacrifice revisions and quality checks. Furthermore, overworking oneself in order to meet a deadlinecan easily result in lower levels of productivity. As a result, you’ll need even more energy to finish tasks that could have been done far more effectively.iii) Work-life BalanceOne of the most impactful consequences of a lack of organizational skills is a compromised work-life balance. With more time spent at the office and fewer hours dedicated to rest and leisurely social activities, job satisfaction inevitably suffers. Without paying proper attention to core career values, and getting the opportunity to step back and relax, it becomes increasingly easy to suffer from burnout â€" a condition affecting significant numbers of professionals every year.iv) Reduced OpportunitiesFor most employers, the ideal employee will be able to perform tasks in a timely matter, without compromising the quality of the results. So, it comes as no surprise that being unable to deliver in this aspect can lead to a reduced chance to advance, both in terms of position, as well as monetary compensation.What Is Good Time Management?evalOnce you know how much you can benefit from keeping track of every hour you spend at work, you can start moving towards being efficient in everything you do. Unfortunately, there’s not a single formula that will work for everyone. Instead, scheduling, tracking, and managing should be regular daily practices, with the goal of finding a method that works best for each individual.There are, however, a few constituents that make up a great system for maximizing work performance and productivity. What’s best, some of these can be used for more than just assignments and tasks. They can even play an important role in organizing errands, personal events, or other private affairs.1) OrganizationThe first step towards having better control over the way in which you utilize your working hours is to become better organized. This goes for both physical and mental space. An office and mind which are smothered in clutter are filled with distractions that break up your pace Next, take a piece of paper or open up a blank note on your laptop and write down everything you need to finish until the end of your workday. Finish each day by planning out your assignments for the next day, or even week.2) TimelinessIn order to ensure your results are the best they could possibly be, it’s important to give yourself the opportunity to edit and revise. The only way to achieve this is to start on time. Beating procrastination can b e difficult, so before you can get started, try to identify your reasons for putting off tasks.For some, it’s as simple as their brain trying to keep them from facing negative moods. For others, this process will require questioning their core values, aspirations, and the price they’re willing to pay in order to achieve what they want or think they want.3) NegotiationOnce you’ve learned how to organize your thoughts and responsibilities, as well as how to get started with your assignments on time, you’ll gain priceless insight into the actual amount of time required to finish a project. This will, in turn, help you take a proactive approach to schedule.For freelancers, this will mean the ability to better evaluate the number of hours that will go into a job. Those who work for an employer, on the other hand, will be able to negotiate better timelines with their management, seeing that they’ll be able to set realistic goals and deliver in the agreed time period.4) Delegatio nEntrepreneurs who have limited staff will often take on more than they can handle. In short bursts, this can be a budget-friendly solution, but in the long term, it can lead to neglecting priorities or using a highly skilled workforce on low-priority tasks.To avoid this pitfall, it’s best to determine the importance of each task. If you’re the only one with the expertise and authority to do it, place it high on your to-do list. If, however, the task is not something that requires your specific set of skills, you can delegate to an employee or even outsource to a freelance specialist.5) AutomationWhile technology has a number of drawbacks in terms of time management, it can certainly be a huge asset, too. The key lies in knowing how to use it in the best way possible.Today, there is an abundance of software solutions that can help minimize the hours you’re spending on menial things such as time-tracking or invoicing. Investing in such software can be a great help, especially w hen said software can take existing data from your calendarand turn it into actionable reports, statistics, or invoices you would otherwise spend hours preparing.eval4 Proven Time Management TechniquesThe great thing about efficient time management is that there’s a wide variety of already existing methods that you can try and implement into your routine. Better yet, these can be combined into a hybrid routine that will answer all of your demands, helping you take control of how you schedule, utilize and manage your working hours.In order to find out what works, it’s best to give several methods a go and to decide whether they’re effective for your individual needs.1) Pomodoro TechniqueYou’ve probably already heard about this working method that combines 25-minute periods of work with short breaks. What makes it effective for a number of professionals are that it limits the available time we have to spend on projects, creating a positive sense of urgency and cutting down on distractions.2) The 2-minute RuleFor smaller things that you’re putting off, but that needs to be done, try this rule. The concept is simple: it asks that you dedicate just two minutes in your day to a single job. More often than not, once you actually start, you’ll either find that you have finished the thing you’d been putting off, or that you’ve already started and decided to finish.eval3) Time-tracking Apps/ExtensionsYou can do this either by using a time-tracking app/extension or by just writing down the times when you start and finish work on something. Tracking achieves two important things: it gives you valuable insight into how you’re spending precious minutes and hours, and it discourages procrastination and multitasking (which are problematic for most modern workers).4) Minimize Making Many DecisionsSometimes, the things that take up most of our energy are the ones we should be spending the least amount of time on. This is especially true with decisions such as what to wear in the morning, or what to eat for dinner.You can completely eliminate these time-wasters by minimizing the number of options you can choose from in the first place. Create a routine and try to stick with it â€" much like former President Barack Obama. You may just find that you have far more willpower to dedicate to what actually matters.ConclusionFor most employers, great time management skills are high on their list of priorities. This is why, if you want to be successful in your field, you need to prioritize them as well. For a number of people, however, it’s easier said than done, mainly due to the all-or-nothing approach we tend to take with these things.Nonetheless, when broken up into smaller, manageable bits, organization, focus, and efficiency become easy. They simply become a part of our everyday routines. And their most important effect isn’t a better bottom line or an increase in pay. Instead, it’s the fact that we’re left with more energy and resou rces to dedicate to the things we truly love about our jobs.

Social media usage in the workplace - Margaret Buj - Interview Coach

Social media usage in the workplace Social media is an ever-growing part of modern life. With over two billion regular users on Facebook and an average of two hours  spent on social media sites per day, this relatively recent trend will have a long-term impact on workplace habits. With this in mind, you need to make sure that your use of social media is responsible and in line with any guidelines set out by your company’s social media policy. Consider what your social media might say about you to potential employees and start vetting posts to guarantee there is nothing off-putting in them. A recent survey  has uncovered information about current habits concerning social media in the work place which give some idea of what to steer clear of. Latest findings suggest UK companies still falling short of regulating social media in the workplace. Almost a third (30%) of UK companies STILL dont have social media policies in place, leaving them open to issues such as reputation damage and reduced productivity. When these findings are positioned against the 32% of employees that didnt know whether their company had a social media policy, we discover that a massive 62% of workers are either unaware of their companys social media policy or are working without one in place. The findings, from office suppliers Viking, suggest that more must be done by companies to ensure their position on social media usage is both clear and secure. Massive reputational damage can be caused by careless or disgruntled employees taking to platforms such as Twitter and venting frustrations or even sensitive data. On top of that, with an average of 52 minutes a day being spent procrastinating at work â€" commonly on social media â€" the company could be experiencing an entirely avoidable productivity drop. Read the rest of the article here.

The five biggest mistakes you can make on a cover letter

The five biggest mistakes you can make on a cover letter Your cover letter is one of the most important documents you will write in your job search. Some argue that its equally as important as the resume. Of course, every job will place a different amount of weight on the cover letter, but however important the cover letter is to an employer, there are some mistakes that you absolutely should not make. Here are some of the common pitfalls to avoid when writing your letter. Mistake Bad spelling or grammar This mistake is the most common, and what makes it so grievous is the fact that its completely avoidable. There is no excuse for bad spelling or grammar in a cover letter. If youre not sure its perfect, have someone read over your work before you send it. You dont get a second chance at a first impression, and grammar mistakes in a cover letter tell an employer that you aren’t paying attention at best, and that youre uneducated at worst. Mistake To Whom It May Concern While some form letters are written very well, they wont really help you show that youve done your research on the company. Never let your cover letter be generic. Use a last name in your address if at all possible. The To Whom it May Concern intro just shows you dont know how to pick up a phone and call to see who the hiring manager is, or you dont know how to use Google. If you absolutely cannot find the name of a person in the company, make sure the address at least fits the position.   For example, if youre applying for a sales job, try Sales Team Hiring Manager. Mistake Using the company to further your own goals Remember, that any employers wants to know how you will be an asset to the company, not the other way around. Dont use your cover letter to explain how the company will help you achieve your dreams of being a clerical assistant. Explain how your particular skill set will increase productivity, and how your work in the past has demonstrated this. Mistake Leaving it all up to the employer Dont end your cover letter with a line like I hope to hear from you soon. This takes things out of your hands. You want full control over the situation. Instead, say something like I will email again on X day to arrange an interview. If youre not bold enough for this, at least make a commitment to follow up with the employer. Just be sure that if you set up a time for follow up, you comply without fail. Mistake Ignoring the job posting The job posting ad may have important instructions about how to submit a resume, and what needs to be included. If you ignore the ad, you run the risk of missing critical information, and having even a perfectly written cover letter ignored.