Tips to succeed at Job Fairs

Man is a social animal who is constantly on the lookout for change. For a lot of us who are currently employed, job satisfaction is a rarity. And for freshers, who are seeking suitable jobs, it is always tempting to accept an offer that may appear to be great but not in the long run. For you to appropriately make a choice based on your interest and field of expertise, job fairs are conducted where multiple employers come under one roof and give you the choice to appear for a pre-determined number of interviews. However. job fairs tend to attract a lot of crowd which means added competition for you as a job seeker. So here are a few tips that will help you stay on top of others and excel at such career fairs.

Pre-Fair:

1. Shortlist your top companies

Carefully review the list of employers participating in the fair and select the top 7 companies of your choice based on their reputation, your field of interest and domain expertise

2. Research your shortlisted employers

Make sure that you research well on the companies that you have shortlisted as your priority. Browse their websites and other online properties to thoroughly know every single detail about the organization including their team, locations, business objectives, revenue model and other news related to them

3. Customize your resume

Prepare different resumes for the companies that you have selected to sit for. Based on their job description, tweak your profile to suit their requirement 

4. Practice an introductory speech

It is obvious that the first question that every recruiter asks is for you to introduce yourself. Why not prepare a really kickass brief that describes you in the most apt way with crisp and quirky words. First impression is always the best impression. So cash in on this and prepare a really good introduction for yourself

5. Prepare a list of questions for your recruiter

Always be ready with a set of intelligent and wise questions that you could ask your potential employer, such as, what is your strategy to drive sales in the digital space? or how did the inception of the company happen? and other such witty questions.

At the Fair:

1. Be punctual and dress appropriately

It is imperative for you to be on time or even a few minutes before time and dress in business formals to impress your recruiters

2. Plan your time well

Make sure that you schedule high priority companies first and then move to the rest. Such events could press you for time and if you do not manage well, you may not make optimum use of the opportunity in hand

3. Approach with confidence and humility

Firmly shake hands with the interviewer and hand out a clean crisp copy of your customized resume. Extend a warm welcome to them and stay focused and confident while responding to all their questions

4. Thank your recruiter

Request for the recruiters business card so you could send them "Thank you" notes after the fair. Immediately after the interview, politely thank your recruiters for their time. These gestures will definitely earn you brownie points, if not overdone!

Post-Fair:

1. Follow-up

Send out thank you emails to your recruiters and slyly ask for the status of the job position. Remember that you are in need of the job. Shed your ego and discover the developments in the position you are eyeing for

That's about it folks! These are really simple etiquette that you must follow while attending a job fair. Put your best foot forward and crack the deal! All the very best :)  

Tips to shed weight without shedding money!

Weight loss has become such a common thing nowadays that everyone uses it as a conversation starter with strangers. It has grown to become more popular than gossip or news. So while everyone out there is discussing about going to the gymnasium or switching to organic diet or even enrolling for Zumba classes, I have some really easy and effective tips that you could do use in your lifestyle without altering it much. Trust me, this definitely works.

1. Walk whenever possible

If you've to go to a store nearby, don't take your car or bike, just walk on your feet or cycle your way through. This gives you an opportunity to flex your muscles and stay fit while also giving you some time to talk to your close ones. 

2. Take the stairs

Never opt for escalators, travelators or elevators if and when possible. Another quick tip that most of you may not be aware of is that you should climb stairs on your toes and not the whole foot. This is a secret that not many know.

3. Drink hot/warm water always

Completely stop drinking cold water. Start having warm water always. This improves your metabolism thereby helping your food get digested better and faster. It also enhances blood flow throughout your body keeping you active for a longer time!

4. Say no to junk food

Exterminate french fries, burgers, onion rings, frito lays, cookies and other unhealthy eatables from your life. This step itself is enough to cut those extra calories and keep your weight under control.

5. Eat less but more often

Reduce the time between your meals. You must have something healthy to eat every 2 hours, but in lesser quantities. Earlier, if you used to have 5 slices of bread at once, make that 3 and after 2 hours have another 2. This way, you give time for your system to digest the initial 3 slices completely before you have the other 2. 

6. Exercise at home

You must do simple exercises at home like stretching, squats, cycling in air while lying on your back, twisting your body with your feet firm on the ground. You need not dedicate an hour for this. Just try doing sets of 10 each whenever you can, throughout the day!

These tips seem too good to be true. But believe me, they do work. Try it yourself to know it. 

12 silly things you could save money on every month!

We all have a monthly budget around which we plan all our finances. And at the end of every month, we always end up analyzing how we lost all that money. I am no exception to this list and as a normal human being, I too started analyzing how much extra I was spending and where I could save some money. You just won't believe my findings. I was shocked to realize how much I was wasting on really silly things that could be well avoided. So here are some things that you could do differently to keep your bank balance happy!

1. Water bottles

Is it so difficult to carry a bottle of water in your handbag/backpack? Each time you purchase a bottle of water from the store, you end up spending 20/- Just imagine if you did this 5 times a week. 

2. Fancy coffee

Do you really need a super tall glass of coffee loaded with chocolate and cream and cookies and what not? All you really need is a hot cup of filter coffee that will wake you up and keep you active throughout the day. Glamorous coffees cost a bomb and yes, along with all those ingredients, it is also loaded with high calories.

3. Carry bags

How many of us have a collection of shopping bags stacked in our houses that are worthy enough to be displayed at a museum? Most of them are bags from supermarkets where we do our monthly shopping. Each bag costs nothing less than 7/- It is wiser for you to take some bags along with you when you decide to go shopping. This way, you would not only save some money but also help the environment by not collecting more plastic at home.

4. Share your cab

Why pay the whole amount when you can share it with a travel companion. You not just save money, but also get a travel buddy to chat with if he/she is interesting. If not, then you still save money.

5. Carpool

If you drive your own machine to work, you could look for options to share fuel cost with other co-workers who could travel with you in your car.

6. Public transport

If your house/office is connected through public transport, then why not use it? It's cheaper and faster most of the times.

7. Imprudent shopping

If you're a shopaholic, then you need some rehabilitation for sure. Don't shop unnecessarily. Only buy what you need. You could really forgo a Gucci purse and take a lesser priced variant that would still serve your purpose of carrying cash and cards.

8. Save electricity

Do you switch off lights and fans when you walk out of any room? Ensure that you do, because these simple practices could save a lot in future.

9. Credit Card payment

Did you know that by not paying your credit card bill entirely, you are losing credit points along with an increased interest rate that gets levied on you? You could easily avoid that by paying the whole amount before the prescribed due date.

10. ATM cash withdrawal

Each time you withdraw money at the ATM with your debit card, you incur an additional fee. Plan your finances well in advance and make minimum trips to the ATM.

11. Bill payments

Make sure that you pay your telephone, electricity and other bills on time to not incur an additional delayed payment charge.

12. TV channels

You all must be paying a huge sum on internet connection that offers great speed and connectivity by now. Why not connect your smart TV on WIFI and watch your favorite shows on Hotstar or any other similar app, rather than paying extra money on every channel?

Well, there's my list. I practiced most of these points and found a major difference in my savings. Go ahead and try them yourself to know how well it could work for you!

Healthier Substitutes in your Daily Diet!

Healthy is the new trendy; we all are aware of that. But what exactly are we doing to be trendy? If you think switching to a snack that has "Healthy" printed on it is actually healthy, then you may need to open your eyes to the real world. I tried substituting my daily diet with some healthier and natural options (not packaged as healthy) for the past 11 months and found a drastic change in my appearance and fitness. Today I am going to share some of my hacks that actually work. Try them yourself to believe it!

1. Whole wheat bread instead of white bread

Whole wheat bread completely eliminates the processed white elements of normal bread made with flour. Taste and flavors were also enhanced for me. 

2. Two egg whites instead of a whole egg

A single egg yolk carries more than half the prescribed amount of cholesterol for a healthy adult. This reduces the cholesterol while increasing the protein content which is an ideal thing to do.

3. Quinoa as a substitute for white rice

Quinoa is a whole-grain superfood that is totally packed with nutrients and proteins as against rice that is just filled with unwanted carbohydrates.

4. Avocado instead of butter

Replace butter in your baking with avocado puree that adds minerals, vitamins and healthy mono-saturated fats.

5. Mashed cauliflower as a replacement for mashed potato

Mashed potato is filled with unhealthy carbs that could easily be substituted with mashed cauliflower that has just a fraction of the calories of the former and tastes equally yummy.

6. Dark chocolate instead of milk chocolates

Dark chocolate, by nature, is a little bitter because of the fact that it contains less sugar and more of cacao in its constitution. That says enough why you should choose the dark variant over any other. 

7. Mashed frozen banana instead of ice cream

Avoid milk, cream, sugar and everything unhealthy by substituting your ice cream with frozen banana that's been mashed to the same creamy consistency as a scoop of ice cream.

8. Honey instead of sugar

Take your tea, coffee or milk with honey instead of sugar on a daily basis and you will see the difference in no time.

9. Sweet potato fries instead of traditional french fries

If you must have fried food, and you just can't control that urge, opt for sweet potato fries instead of the traditional fries as the former adds a lot more fiber, vitamins and minerals to your diet while simultaneously reducing the carbohydrate content that the latter adds.

Hope you benefit out of the healthy switch! Write your observations and experiences here to spread the success stories.

How to use technology to build your startup?

Startups are totally trending these days but every small business is not a successful one. Did you know that the success rate of startups is just 5%? Well what is it that this 5% of businesses is doing right and the rest aren't? Let us take a look at how technology, without much expenditure, can lead to a good start for entrepreneurs.

1. Time tracking tools must be put to good use to manage your time wisely and allocate appropriate amount of time to tasks with varying priorities. 1Time and Chrometa are a couple of good tools available in the market.

2. Use an efficient project management tool like Basecamp or Asana to maintain a record of all accounts that you are handling. It is ideal for a small team to communicate and share files and other related data.

3. Create a systematic email management system to not miss out on any important message and also to keep every single detail of your team documented in one place. You never know what will actually be of use to you at a later stage.

4. Use a methodical online invoicing system to bill your customers and avoid any kind of hassle with respect to funds. You could make use of Google Checkout or PayPal for this as they are authentic and very user-friendly.

5. Maintain your finances well with a productive online budget planner. You ought to plan your spends wisely when you are starting off with almost nothing or very little. Mint or GNUCash could assist you in this task.

6. Explore the possibility of creating an alternative source of income like selling your products online or getting associated with a complimentary product that would mutually benefit both the businesses.

7. Exploit social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and others that are free and at the same time super effective to popularize your business and connect with your targeted audience.

8. Start writing a blog that you can use as a rich source of content marketing. Gather as many readers as you can in your domain and educate them about the need of your product and how they can benefit out of that.

9. Use video marketing to create short yet engaging videos about your product. You can introduce your business, talk about features of your products that stand out in the industry, and create various videos that are worthy of going viral in the digital space.

10. Last but definitely not the least is going mobile. Create an interactive and fully functional app that aligns with your website design and interface. We all know that the world is going mobile and if you are not, then you are losing a lot.

Hope this helps you in elevating your business further and scaling greater heights with simple and cost-effective ideas. In case you have a few more ideas in your kitty, share them with our readers in the comments below. 

What not to do in a job interview!

My friend recently went for a job interview but miserably failed for silly mistakes that he could've easily avoided. For all those who are looking out for new jobs and are preparing for the D-Day, these are some points that you should definitely refrain from doing.

1. Oops..Forgot to check you online

It is imperative for anyone appearing for an interview to thoroughly research the company and its key people. Ensure that you browse the company's online properties and make a note of some of its founders and principles.

2. Liar Liar Pants on Fire!!

The worst you could for yourself is to lie in an interview and get blacklisted. Always resort to the truth and nothing but the truth. Stick to actual facts while preparing your resume rather than glorifying it with false and fancy statements.

3. But, I look my best in bright Red!

Dress decently. Guys should ideally stick to formals with a clean look and girls must be dressed in formals as well that's elegant and not distracting. Hair, make-up, accessories should all be very subtle and simple. 

4. Hey, how you doin?

Never ever make inappropriate gestures at your interviewer for any reason. Behave yourself and don't get flirtatious for any favors whatsoever. 

5. Questions for the interviewer? Errr...Ummm...NO!

Whenever you are given an opportunity to ask a question to the interviewer, be prepared to bowl him over with your spontaneity and wit. Pounce on the chance and ask a really brilliant question about the company's revenue model or any recent incident that they tackled. This is a golden opportunity for you to show your preparedness and intelligence.

6. Actually, I am angry right now. Could we do this tomorrow?

Never let yourself be in a bad mood. You must stay calm and collected during an interview to let your best personality come out in the open. Anger will just make things worse for you in any situation.

7. Follow up? Who me?

Yes that's right. You ought to follow-up after an interview. Remember, there is room for ego here. You won't lose anything if you call them up once or twice. You never know you may win this over someone else who proved to be a tad bit lazier.

8. Blah..Blah..Blah..

Stay crisp and clear with your words. Never give TMI (too much information) to the interviewer and for god's sake be audible and confident while you speak.

You may really think that these points are very silly and why would I create an entire article out of this. But trust me, these are some really crucial things to remember that we often don't pay attention to. I am just reminding these nuances to you. All the very best and crack it!

What if India's population was just 100?

Did you know that if we considered the entire Indian population to be of just 100 people, we would get a really interesting set of statistical data to understand various characteristics and parameters of Indians. This infographic is a representation of the facts received from a popular survey.

Do you any other interesting fact about Indians or even of other nations? Please share with us in the comments below.