Sunday, December 28, 2008

Tacky Mats Keep Floors Clean

Almost everyone has been told by their mothers to wipe their feet before coming inside. By that same token, almost everyone has forgotten to do so and left a trail of dirt and mess as they walked through the house. If you want to keep a truly clean home, wiping your feet on the doormat before entering is a big help.

However, we all know that doormats don’t get the bottom of your shoes completely clean. How do we know this? The floors need mopping and the carpet needs vacuuming all too soon, even in a house where feet are wiped upon each entry.

If you want to know that your floors are clean enough to eat off of, you need a tacky mat. Tacky mats are not your average door mat. These high tech mats actually remove all dirt and debris from your shoes and some are even equipped to sanitize your shoes.

As you can imagine, tacky mats were not invented for the obsessive compulsive home owner. Tacky mats are most often used in business, labs, and clean rooms in which the area needs to be kept completely clean and sanitary. Tacky mats keep those entering the area from carrying germs, dirt, and debris into the room along with their shoes.

But just how do these wonder mats work their magic? How Tacky mats work has remained a mystery for many, but it’s actually quite simple. In fact, the name ‘tacky mat’ is a big clue as to how tacky mats work to eliminate shoe bottom filth.

Also known as sticky mats, tacky mats are comprised of layer upon layer of adhesive film. The highly powerful adhesive on the film effectively removes dirt, grime, and even grease from the bottoms of shoes, bare feet, wheels, and even animal paws. The adhesive in tacky mats is not your average sticker glue. You might say that it’s adhesive on steroids!

Many tacky mat manufacturers also include anti-microbial germicide that also kills germs. Not only are floors free of dirt and debris, but you can feel confident that your floors and rooms are sanitary and safe.

Best of all, when your tacky mat is full of dirt and debris, a fresh layer of adhesive is just a few minutes away. Simply peel away the top layer to reveal a fresh mat of industrial strength adhesive. Many tacky mats have as many as thirty layers to ensure you never run out of cleanliness. You never have to wash, clean or maintain your tacky mat.

Tacky mats are even used in hospitals to ensure the highest levels of sanitation and cleanliness. When used in the home, tacky mats help you keep a fresh and sanitary home without additional cleaning time on your part.

For home owners and business owners that want to work smarter and not harder, but still want to maintain a clean and sanitary space, tacky mats are a very valuable tool. You’ll love knowing that your tacky mat is working on your behalf to keep your home and your business clean.

Monday, December 15, 2008

Resume Editing Tips That Get the Job Done

When you’re looking for a new job, your resume is arguably the most important part of your application process. Many job-seekers focus on interviewing skills, which are very important. But in order to land that coveted interview, your resume has to speak for you.

Your resume is your potential employer’s first impression of you. More than likely, an assistant or human resources professional will quickly scan your resume. If your resume doesn’t grab their attention in those few moments, they probably won’t be calling you. It’s sad, but it’s true.

Then why does it seem like so many job-seekers miss out on opportunities that are awarded to applicants who may or may not be more qualified? The secret is in the resume. Learning how to write a professional, impressive resume that highlights your qualifications is the secret to landing your next job.
If you’re editing your own resume for your next job-search, here are few resume editing tips to make your resume shine.

Resume Editing Tip #1: Use Proper Grammar and Spelling

It may sound obvious, but it’s important that your resume is well-written and grammatically correct. Always give your resume several proof reads, or better yet, have someone else read it, before sending it off to ensure there are no grammatical or spelling errors or run-on sentences.

Resume Editing Tip #2: Be Consistent

It’s also important to be consistent in the formatting of your resume. For example, don’t use bullet points in one section and numbers in another. Also, use a consistent format for dates. Don’t spell out the date in one section—September 9, 2007—and abbreviate it in another—9/9/07. Your resume should be pleasing to the eye.

Resume Editing Tip #3: Give them the Information They Want


If a potential employer has to thumb through your lengthy resume to find your qualifications, it may end up in the shredder. Present your best qualifications right up front. List your skills and experience in the first few lines

Resume Editing Tip #4: How Much is Too Much


We’ve all heard that resumes should only be one page in length. It’s okay to include a little extra information in there, but this is generally a good guideline to stick with. Multi-page resumes can be overwhelming. If you can find a way to fit all of your best information on one page, that’s the way to go.

Resume Editing Tip #5: Don’t Give Them Information They Don’t Need


In an effort to fill up space, job-seekers sometimes put unnecessary information on their resumes. High school information, personal information like your race or marital status, and interests or hobbies shouldn’t appear on your resume. Also, references should also be presented on a separate sheet that you’ll bring to the interview and not your resume.

Resume Editing Tip #6: State Your Objective

Let the employer know that you’re interested in their company for a very specific reason. Use the objective section of your resume to state your purpose for applying for this position. Sometimes this section alone can put you ahead of the pack.
In general, resumes should be prepared with care. They should be thoughtfully proofread, updated, and tailored to each position. If you put time and effort into your resume, the chances are good that your potential employer will take the time to give it careful consideration.

Review the top resume editing services on the internet.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Tips for Responding to Knowledge Skills and Abilities Factors When Applying for Government Positions

If you haven’t looked for a job recently, particularly in the government field, you may not be familiar with the term KSA. It is an acronym for Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. Federal job applicants are commonly required to complete a narrative statement on specified KSAs in order to be considered for a particular position. Such a statement is used to determine the proficiency of a candidate to perform the duties of a position. Therefore, in order to successfully compete for a position, it is important to understand how to fully explain on your knowledge, skills, and abilities gained through education, experience, and past employment. As with a resume, if you cannot effectively elaborate on why you are the best candidate for the position, applying for the position is a waste of the employer’s time as well as yours.

Carefully analyze the position description. There are several key tips to responding to questions on your knowledge, skills, and abilities successfully. The key to writing a solid response concerning your KSAs in regard to a particular factor is to carefully review and consider the job announcement for the position to which you are applying. Along with providing what KSA factors you need to address in a narrative statement, the announcement will give you specific clues about what language to use in your response. When you read the announcement consider what words stated in it are specific or common to the job and the field to which you are applying. Make note of these words and ensure when appropriate in your response that you use these words. Even if a previous employer used a similar, but slightly different word to describe the skill or ability you are addressing, use the word listed in the announcement. You will draw an immediate link between yourself and your capability to perform the job.

Include specific examples. Further, Federal job announcement instructions provide an important strategy to fully and properly responding to KSA factors. They indicate your KSA response should provide “examples and explain how often you used these skills, the complexity of the knowledge you possessed, the level of the people you interacted with, the sensitivity of the issues you handled, etc.” In essence, your response should be made up of several examples from previous experiences that demonstrate you have the requisite knowledge, skill, or ability sought. The examples you provide should be descriptive and quantitative. If your work at a previous employer saved the company time, money, or any other resource, when using this experience as an example to respond to a KSA factor, indicate what and how much of it (time, money, etc…) your work saved. However, even if you don’t have quantifiable results to give in your examples, ensure you provide the following four items for each example:
1. Provide a context of the situation. What did it require of you?
2. What about the situation made it difficult to solve or work through?
3. What steps did you take to resolve the issue?
4. What was the outcome of the action you took?

Follow directions completely. There are also several stylistic points to responding to KSA factors in your narrative statement. Each KSA factor should be addressed on a separate piece of paper and should be a half a page to a page in length. Arrange your response so that the most important and key information is at the beginning of your answer. Your submission will likely be scanned so keep this in mind as you lay out the information. Write your response in the first person. Finally, and most importantly, make sure that you carefully proofread your narrative statement prior to submitting it. Often communication is an important skill that is addressed in a narrative statement; therefore, it is vital that your grammar and writing are impeccable.

Even if you aren’t applying for a Federal job, it is important to learn about KSAs. If you can identify the key knowledge, skills, and abilities associated with your job or work field, you can think of examples from your education, experience, and past employment that demonstrate your work proficiency. These examples are prime responses to the behavioral based interviewing questions that many corporate employers use today. Therefore, having thought through your key KSAs and your examples to demonstrate them will make interviewing for jobs easier and likely more successful.

Final Tip: Begin your KSA writing by using a KSA sample. Your writing will go much faster and be more professional looking.

Friday, December 5, 2008

What is the Cost of a Toll Free Number?

Back in the days when land lines were the major component of communication, businesses used toll-free numbers to allow their customers to call at no personal cost. This was a big hit with the buying public, but the cost to businesses was very high. Fortunately, increased competition from cell phone companies with no long-distance charges brought the cost of toll-free numbers down significantly.

What is a Toll Free Number?

Whenever you call an 800 number, you are calling a number that is toll-free. The owner of the number is the one that gets billed for the call. Whenever we hear toll-free, we think of the 800 area code. While it is true that the area code 800 is always a toll-free phone number, there are several other area codes that are reserved for toll-free status as well. Other toll free area codes include: 888, 877, 866 numbers that are in use now. Other toll-free area codes are reserved for future use, and they include: 844, 833, and 822.

How Do You Know the Price?


Many years ago, you only had one choice for your 800 service. Things have changed these days. You can still choose to get service or your local phone company, or you can choose from a large number of telephone companies that offer toll-free service.

If you type the words “toll-free phone number” into any search engine, you will get many pages of telephone companies advertising their services. Many times right in the ad, the company will display costs for their services. Prices range from $9.99 per month and up depending on the numbers of perks that you want included in your plan.

The best way to find the best price is to talk to all of them. At least talk to several companies before you choose the right one for your business needs. Keep in mind that you need to compare all options offered with each company, as well as price to make up your mind. Once you decide which company you want, they can take care of getting your phone number and all of your service connected for you.

Do You Really Need a Toll-Free Phone Number?


Only you can decide if the benefits of having a toll-free number are worth it for your business. There are some advantages that are worth noting. The number is portable, so if you move, the number follows you around the country. You will get a better response to any advertising when you post a toll-free telephone number. Your customers like a business that doesn't charge them for telephone calls. Businesses that have toll-free numbers tend to have a better professional image and businesses that don't. It's all about credibility. A toll-free number will give you a little extra credibility with your customers.

To recap, do your research on several different companies to find the best deal for your toll-free telephone number. Compare prices, features, and benefits offered with all of the different plans. One site that posts customer ratings of the top toll free number providers is BestTollFree800Numbers.com.

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Choosing a Resume Service

There is no doubt that we are in some of the toughest economic times that we have seen in more than 70 years. Rather than looking for people to hire, companies are laying people off in numbers not seen in 25 years. The unemployment level is now over 6% nationwide.

How do you find a job in these tough times? One of the most important things you can do for yourself is to update your resume. Experts suggest having a professional writer resume rather than trying to do it yourself.

Why Do You Need a Professionally Written Resume?

Face it. There is a lot of competition for the job you're seeking. Computer job classifieds don't cater to just a few people; instead, they leave the job openings for the entire public to view. If you want your resume to stand out in the crowd, it needs to be the best of the best. Unless, you know what you're doing, you may spoil your chances for getting an interview.

You may be tempted to pass on the idea of hiring a professional, because writing a resume seems so easy. Your word processing software has several different templates that you can modify for your own use. It seems like a good idea until you consider that everyone else has the same templates you want to use.

How Do You Find the Right Resume Company?

There a lot of individuals operating freelance businesses that will write your resume for you. In addition to the individuals, there are also a lot of professional companies that produce professional resumes. How do you sort through all the propaganda offered by these services to find the gem at the bottom of the pile? Here are some strategies that should help you find the right service to produce your new resume.

• Does the professional have a website? If they are serious about producing resumes, then they should have a website detailing their credentials and the services that they provide. Look it over carefully. Does it impress you? If it does, then research further. If it turns you off, then look elsewhere.

• Is the professional a member of the Professional Association of Resume Writers? While it is not required to produce a quality resume, anyone who has the designation CP RW (Certified Professional Resume Writer) is serious about the resume business. If they care enough to maintain membership in the PA RW, then they will understand the latest and best information on how to make your resume stand out.

• Do they have samples of their work? Ask to review some samples of previous resumes on which they have worked. Ask if they have any testimonials from previous clients.

• Do they guarantee their work to be error-free? Any serious professional will guarantee that their work will be delivered error free.

• Price is important too. How much do they charge for their services, and what services do they provide for the price they charge? Will they provide you with a CD copy of your resume? Is the cover letter included?

• You should always read resume service reviews before choosing a resume service. This is an excellent way to determine other customers satisfaction and yours is likely to be with the resume service.

Even though you find the best resume writer, you will still need to have the ability to adjust your resume on every job that you apply for. The changes you make will only need to be minor, but these days, you need to target your resume specifically for every job. That is one way to make it stand out from the crowd.

Where to Post Your Resume

Finding a new job during a recession can be a difficult undertaking. Employers are reluctant to hire new people when they may be facing layoffs down the road. Whether you are one of the people that may be subject to a lay off, or if you just want to find a different job, posting your resume in the right place can make the difference between getting a job or not.

The first thing to do is to make sure that your resume is updated and looks professional. Consider your resume to sales page about your qualifications or specific job. As with all forms of advertising, finding the right place to get your personal ad about you seen is important. Here are some great places to post your resume.

• This one should be fairly obvious. Post your resume on any of the online classified job boards. Employers search frequently for qualified people before they post their ads online. If your resume is already online, an employer can find it more easily.

• If you don't have one already, get a MySpace page. While they are supposed to be for personal networking and social experience, more and more employers are searching MySpace pages for information about potential new hires. Just make sure that you don't have anything embarrassing on your site that may keep you from being considered for a good job. Post your resume on any of the other social networking sites that you are a member of, such as Facebook.

• If you're looking for an administrative job, register with the temporary agencies, and give them a copy of your resume. Many clerical positions are placed as temporary to permanent assignments.

• Post your resume on the website of every company that has a job for which you apply. Many companies have their own internal application process online. If they post a job, they typically ask for your resume. Go ahead and upload a copy for them to review. Again, make sure it stands out from the crowd of other people applying for the same job.

• An ideal place to post your resume is with your local Department of Labor. This department has a lot of contacts with local employers. Most states now have the ability to have online resumes. Post your resume here so employers can see it.

• Post your resume on your blog site. This may seem strange at first. However, if your site pulls in a lot of visitors, this is a great way to network.

• There are a variety of professional resume distribution services that send your resume to recruiters and employers in your industry. Some of them offer their services for no charge and others charge a small fee.

• If you do happen to have your own webpage, post your resume there. Many employers search the names of applicants to see if they do have websites of their own.

These are just a few of the many options available to post your resume. You will want to use some old-fashioned methods as well. Hand out your resume to everyone that you know. Ask them to put in a good word for you, if they hear about the job. Resumes are great at selling you, but networking still works better than anything else.

Learn how to post your resume online.