Jan 4, 2010 Posted by PTJFS on Jan 4, 2010 in Find jobs, New articles | 0 comments

Freelance Writing Opportunities

Freelance work can be perfect part time jobs for students that need an extra buck here and there but don’t need a constant income. There are tons of jobs out there, and finding them is easier then ever. Web sites like E-lance and Freelancejobs.org specialize in connecting employers with the needed freelancer, and vise versa. What you need to look out for are deceptive ads, as some of the freelance writing opportunities listed on the Internet border on being scam, if not are outright trickery. However, rest assured that most freelance writing opportunities are real and legit.

Know what you want

It is a good idea to know what you are looking for before doing extensive searches on the freelance sites. If you are a student, try to think of ways that your education can be used for this purpose. IT-students might try to find computer related freelance writing opportunities, perhaps writing articles for a Tech-site. Journalists in the making might write reports and commentaries for a small online newspaper. Medicine students could work for a professor, scribing or proofreading journals.

Fee-based freelance web sites

Some of the online sites will charge you a fee for providing you with freelance writing opportunities. This fee is sometimes worth it, other times not. What is for certain is that you should never pay to be able to bid on or see listings of the jobs. If they don’t let you see the listings or advertisements for the freelance writing jobs, find another site. A fair deal is if the site takes a small percentage of what you make for the job. After all, they have to make a living providing this service.

Cheap labor

An issue that might turn you off freelance writing opportunities is that in the recent years cheap labor has flooded the market. This labor stems from countries where the minimum wage is a lot lower then here, if they have minimum wages at all, and the freelancer is willing to work for a very low salary. However, if you can write quality articles, you will probably be ahead of a large percentage of these low-wage freelancers, as English is usually not there best skill. You might want to start out with a low paying job first to build your resume, and then go for the more quality online freelance writing opportunities as you get to know the game.

Dec 26, 2009 Posted by PTJFS on Dec 26, 2009 in Career advice, New articles | 0 comments

Customer Service Training

I once worked in the data entry business. This meant I spent the day putting information into a computer, but I never had to deal with the customers. However, that didn’t seem to be important. When I started the job, I had to learn about the software I was going to be using, and I also had to go through some customer service training. The company I worked for also had jobs for taking orders over the phone, and even though I would never do this, they thought everyone should at least have some basic understanding of how to talk with customers.

A must

Customer service training is a must for anyone with a job that interacts with the public. It is more important in some sectors than in others, but these skills are always good to have. This is because we often think we know how we would like to be treated, and we think that is how you talk to others. The problem with that is some don’t think like this, and they need customer service training so they know they are saying the right things at the right time. Not every customer is going to be pleasant, and that is where most of the problems come from.

Smile to the customer

One thing that surprised me about my customer service training was that I was instructed to smile. This is something that anyone should do when interacting with a person face to face, but I never thought there was a need to smile when on the phone with someone. I was taught that a smile will make your voice more pleasant, and will encourage you to be nicer and more patient with someone who may be complaining or giving you a hard time. This part of customer service was a surprise, and very much a simple lesson, but it is one that I would not have thought of on my own.

Customer service training is worth it

Most who go through customer service training will have to learn much more than I did. I don’t really care for such jobs, but they can be great jobs with wonderful earning potential. People always need help, and that is why these types of jobs will always be around. If you are offered courses on customer service training anywhere you go, you should make sure you take them, even if you aren’t sure you will ever need them. One thing anyone should know is how to treat a customer. You have no idea where your career will go, and these skills may come in handy more often than you can imagine.

Dec 19, 2009 Posted by PTJFS on Dec 19, 2009 in Find jobs, New articles | 0 comments

Jobs for Students

There are tons of part time jobs for students if you know where to look. Finding the right part time student job is the difficult part, as you want to find the job that is just right for you and your schedule. There are many employees out there that are willing to take advantage of cheap student labor, so shop around and try to get the one that also helps you build your resume.

Resume building for you or cheap labor for employer

There are two main types of part time jobs for students. On the one hand you have jobs where the employer takes advantage of the fact that you are young and need short-term employment. On the other hand you have the jobs where the employer actually harnesses your skills. To get the latter type of job, you need to put more effort in, as these are in high demand and can be difficult to find. It also requires that you have a particular skill. As an example, if you are good at computer programming, you could get a part-time systems administrator or monitoring job. If you are good with people and customer relations, you could get an office counter job at a University.

Chill summer jobs

Some students like to have a part time summer job that doesn’t require much responsibility. In that case you might want to apply for a job in a student cafeteria, which will let you work at a relaxed pace, and could possibly be a very social type of work where you can mingle with other students.

 

Always be on the look out

Keep you eyes and ears open, as some of the best student part time jobs are only past around through the “grapevine”. There are many stories of students finding part time jobs completely by accident, or through someone they know. An example, a student had a professor who was looking for other students to help him with a long term project, and just by being in his class and making friends with him he got one of the jobs. So, you never know when an opportunity might show up and knock on your door.

Dec 16, 2009 Posted by PTJFS on Dec 16, 2009 in Career advice, New articles | 0 comments

Job applications

It is very important that your application stands out when you are looking for work. Remember, you are competing with a lot of other students (and non-students), and many of them are highly qualified. This means you have to focus on the qualities that make you different, so that your first impression is remembered by the employee. Here are some tips that can help you get your foot in the door and hopefully land an interview with an employer.

First impressions

If you’ve answered an ad in the newspaper, the employer typically asks you to come in and fill out the job application. In many cases, the employer wants to get a look at you and size you up. This gives the employer a chance to discard your application without further thought, should you come in with a sloppy appearance or a bad attitude. So, when you go to fill out the job application, dress as though you were showing up for an interview. Put your best foot forward.

Resume: make it count

You need a resume, and you need it to look good. I am not talking about fancy-schmancy, with exotic fonts and clip-art. You need to have a resume that is easy to read, with good structure, and no grammatical errors. I repeat: no grammatical errors. If you spell the name of your past employers wrong, or common words, your first impression will go down the drain. So use a spell checker. If you need help writing your resume, search online for “resume template”, there should be several free ones out there (we will offer one on this site soon). You can also visit your local employment department for guidance and advice.

Customized vs. generic resume

If you really want to stand out, create a customized resume for the job/employer you are applying to. Build this customized resume based on your generic, adding and/or subtracting skills, experience, and knowledge to target the specific requirements in the job.

Let’s say you’re applying for a job as a secretary in the personnel department of a local company. This company sells cabinetry. Do a little research on the company. If they have a website, go take a look. You want to rearrange your resume in such a way that you emphasize the particular skills and personal characteristics they’re looking for in an employee.

Don’t lie

Even though it is advised to target your resume content, do not go overboard by including things that are not true. You need to market and sell your self, but don’t lie.

Special interests

A great way for your employer to “get to know you” is to include special interests at the bottom of your resume. As an example, if you have volunteered at the local “poor house”, raised awareness for global warming, anything you have a passion for that is not offensive, include it to give the employer a glimpse in to what kind of person you are.

Special skills

If you have a special skill, like fluency in foreign language(s), this can be a great feature in your resume.

Concluding thoughts

That’s about it for now, so go brush up your resume and remember to sell your strengths!

Dec 16, 2009 Posted by PTJFS on Dec 16, 2009 in Find jobs, New articles | 2 comments

Summer camp jobs

Where can I find summer camp jobs?

summercampstaff.com

Great resource that lists summer camp jobs for all states. Describes the camp, any details about the job, and expected salary. Also lists jobs in Canada.

campjobs.com

Lets you search for camp jobs based on several search criterias, like  State, Country, Camp Type, Religious preference, and so on.

What kind of salary can I expect?

Starts at 150$ per week, up to 400-500$ per week. Some camps pay per season/summer, simply devide total with number of weeks to get weekly pay for comparison.

Working at a summer camp (insider tells his story)

I have been working summer camp jobs pretty much every single summer since I turned 15. I’ve been a summer camp counselor many time, but I’ve also worked as an assistant counselor, cook, sailing instructor, and in many other positions. I’ve worked in summer day camps and sleep away camps of every description, but the most challenging summer camp job I ever had was at a camp for at risk youth about a year ago.

Up until that point, all of the summer camp jobs that I had worked had been pretty easy. I would corral the students, organize activities, hand out discipline when it is needed, and generally act as a 24 hour babysitter for wealthy kids from the suburbs. Most of the time, they were fairly well behaved, and the stuff I would have to step in and deal with was pretty routine – I would catch the kids sneaking smokes, getting into fights, or sneaking into the girls cabin every now and then. For the most part, I would be able to keep them out of trouble by telling them my philosophy of discipline. I would sit my campers down on the first day of my summer camp jobs and tell them that I did not want them to get into trouble and, if they did not break the rules in an obvious way, I would not not punish them. 9 times out of 10 the kids got it and kept whatever mischief they planned on the down low.

Working at a summer camp counselor job in a camp for at risk kids, however, was a different thing altogether. A lot of these kids had been getting into trouble for years, and they did things so dangerous that you could not really look the other way. I would have to be on my guard pretty much every moment, and that is no exaggeration. For the first couple of weeks, it was the hardest thing I had ever done.

With summer camp jobs as with any other field of human endeavor, sometimes the hardest tasks are the most rewarding ones. I spent the first few weeks regretting ever taking that summer job, but once I got used to it, I really saw the value. At most of the summer camp jobs I had worked in the past, the kids were just there looking to have a good time, but at this particular camp, there was a whole lot more to it than that. These campers were looking for a second chance and a way to make their lives better. As a summer camp counselor and role model, I could help make that happen. I couldn’t get through to all of them, but I like to think I made a difference in at least a few lives.

Conclusion

Working at a summer camp can be a lucrative and smart way to spend your summer. While others are relaxing at the beach the whole vacation, possibly regretting the fact when their wallet is empty a couple of months later, a summer job like this can give you a nice buffer budget for the rest of the year.

It will also give you a very nice entry in your resume, as future employers tend to give credit to prospects that show dicipline and work ethics through summer jobs. The work at a summer camp also adds to your people skills, which employers also find attractive.