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Preparing Questions to Ask in your Upcoming Job Interview When you get ready for a job interview, chances are you have spent a lot of time trying to guess the questions you will be asked and prepare your answers to them. How will you explain that gap in your work history? What will you say when they ask you why you left your last job? In the rush to make sure that you have all of your answers perfectly prepared and ready, don’t forget to prepare a few questions of your own to ask the person who is interviewing you. Asking questions is an important part of your interview. When you get asked the old “do you have any questions for us” one, it pays to actually be able to come back with a few questions instead of a, “no, I don’t think so.” Asking questions will show that you are engaged in the interview and have done some thinking about the position, plus, the questions you ask will help you elicit valuable information you need when you have to decide whether or not to actually take the job, should it be offered to you. The first thing you should want to find out is why the job is open in the first place. Is the job you are applying for a new position? That means you can expect to have a lot of transitional bumps along the way as you are integrated into the company. If the job is not new, and the person before you was fired, then you can expect things to be in a state of disarray when you take over and that you will have to spend a lot of time up front cleaning up spilled milk. If the job is open because the person who had it before you moved up in the company, then you will know that this is a job with a lot of future potential. Next, find out a little bit about the person who will actually be your boss if you get the job. Sometimes, this person will be involved in the interview, but often they will not. Finding out how high up in the company chain you will be reporting will help you gauge how important the position for which you are applying is to the company. Also, it helps to know a little bit about the personality type of the boss to be. If you like to keep your head down and do your work, and your potential new boss is one of those “wacky” types, then you may want to look elsewhere. From there, ask about the kinds of responsibilities you will need to take on board right out of the gate. When companies are hiring for a new position, they usually have a few ideas about what that person will need to start working on right away. Getting a clue about your first project will help you decide if this job is right for you. This is also a good time to ask the interviewer about their job and why they like working the company. You may find out that this really could be your dream job, or you may end up sensing from your interviewer that you should run away, fast. Last but not least, ask your interview when you should follow-up on your interview. Don’t open the door for a “don’t call us, we’ll call you” kind of interview closing. Let the interviewer know to their face that will be making the effort to contact them again. You may get the vibe from your interviewer that the job probably will be going to someone else, so you can move on quickly, or you may end up being offered the job on the spot. Either way, you will have opened the lines of communication to take the next step.

Can Facebook or MySpace Help You Land a Job? The Internet is quickly becoming the vehicle of choice for people looking for a job and for employers looking for people to hire. There are many job sites on the Internet dedicated to matching up employees and employers, and most people turn to the Internet today when they are hunting for a job instead of turning to the classified ads in the local paper. Job hunting websites may all be well and good when you are looking for a job, but what about social networking sites. Everyone knows how popular sites like Facebook and MySpace are online, but can they help you get a job? If you are in the job market, can these sites be your foot in the door, or a one way ticket to the unemployment line? The answer is that there is no easy answer. To know if you can find a job using Facebook or MySpace, you have to know how employers feel about these sites, and employers have mixed feeling about them. Some companies are actively using social networking sites to track down employees that meet their company’s employee profile and have had great success finding workers via social networking sites. Other companies wouldn’t touch these sites as a hiring tool with a ten-foot poll – in fact, many companies don’t even want you to access these websites from their company computers. The real answer to this question has more to do with exactly what kind of job you are looking for. Are you looking for an executive position at a company? Then stay off of the social networking sites, at least for job hunting (and maybe all together). No company is going to look for its top brass on a social networking site, and you will be wasting your time. However, if you are looking for entry level or hourly wage work, the social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook may be the answer for you. Many hourly wage employers in particular, like fast food restaurant chains and mall stores, use MySpace and Facebook to look for potential employees in their area. If a potential employer sees your profile and thinks you may be a good fit for their company, they will send you an email or an instant message and get the ball rolling. You should also, however, carefully consider the downsides of using social networking sites as a job tool – and you should carefully consider how and if you use these sites at all if you are in the market for a new job. Most people wouldn’t want their parents to see their social networking site profile, let alone potential employers. If you have rude and off color material, political or religious material, and inappropriate photos of yourself on your profile, a potential employer will be turned off, and you might lose your chance at that job. Most people give up way too much of their privacy when they use these kinds of sites, and your social networking site profile may offer a window into a side of you an employer might not be overly impressed with. Further, you can open yourself up to danger by using these sites to job hunt. If someone approached you in the street and offered you a job, would you accept? Then why would you accept a face value an approach by someone on social networking site? If you do get approached for an interview, never meet anyone in a private place, and do your homework to make sure the facts check out before you go for the interview. One last reality check – there are over 60 million users on MySpace alone. How will an employer find you in the crowd? MySpace and Facebook may help you in your job hunt, but don’t count on them as your sole avenue into the job market.

Save the Earth and Get Free Stuff from Recycling with Freecycle Get ready to become more earth-conscious by freecycling. What is freecyling and how can it help the environment? As the name implies, the concept of freecycling is directly inspired by the idea of recycling. Freecycling is not only a great way to help protect the earth's natural resources and prevent the flooding of landfills, it is also a great and viable way to find goods and services that you really need. Thus, freecycling is a very practical approach to many of the problems that we face today. What is the Freecycle Network? Freecyling has found a home at freecylce.org. The Freecycle website is home to the Freecycle network. This network is made up of over 4,000 groups with a total member population of over four million people worldwide. The freecycle philosophy is spreading like wildfire as more and more people come to learn more about this exciting and environmentally friendly new exchange network. The Freecycle Network represents an entirely grassroots, nonprofit effort that allows people to get and give their stuff fro free in their own cities and towns. Freecycle allows all the good stuff that would normally end up in a landfill in the hands of someone who can really use it. A local volunteer who is in charge of coordinating the freecycling efforts and awareness in their own community moderates almost each local freecycle group. Membership to join the Freecycle Network is absolutely free and open to anyone with something to give, or get. In order to join the Freecycle Network today, simply find your local community by searching in the search box. The Ins and Outs of Freecycling for the Freecyling Newbie No freecycling is not a new, cutting edge sport—it is an easy way to manage one's owns possessions so that you leave a smaller footprint on the Earth. If you are new to freecycling, perhaps you could use a little guidance on how to get into the freecycling side of things. Here are some things you need to know before you get started in the exciting world of freecycling. Take the Right Kinds of Precautions When Freecycling One of the most important things you should do is to always make sure to freecycle safely. Freecycling often means coming into direct contact with seemingly perfect strangers. You should always maintain your safety and privacy when interacting with other members of your freecycling group. If you do not know someone well, avoid giving out your personal contact information right away. Whenever possible, try to make exchanges in a public setting or at least make sure that you are not alone with picking up or waiting for someone to pick up the item that is being freecycled. Tips and Hints for Using the Freecylce List What happens once you has signed up to become a part of your local freecycling group? Once you have successfully joined, you can use your local freecycling list to communicate with other members. You can post a message, read messages and send email to your local groups collective address. Most local freecycling groups use local yahoo groups to communicate. To send an email to the list, simply send an email to your local groups email address. If for some reason you wish to unsubscribe to your local freecyling group, you simply need to send an email to the unsubscribe address that is listed at the bottom of each email from your local freecycling group. For information on posting, replying or reading messages to your local yahoo group, visit your local group and become familiar with the delivery options. If you have any questions, contact your group's moderator directly.