Career Advancement Portrayed in Reality TV ShowsWritten by Scott Brown
Hollywood has really hit it big with reality TV shows - especially some of more recent reality shows that deal with idea that winning a brief 2-month competition can launch your career into stratosphere. In "The Apprentice," contestents are given a chance to earn a job with a hefty salary working directly for billionaire real estate developer Donald Trump. A similar show, which is even more outrageous, is "The Rebel Billionaire" in which contesents compete for chance to be hired as president of Virgin corporation - a multi billion dollar holding company which owns an airline, wireless phone service and other diversified interests. These shows appeal directly to an idea that all you have to be is lucky to make it big. They also make it appear that it's relatively easy to become successful in business world.In entertainment arena, reality shows like MTV's "Cribs" show extravagent lifestyles of 20-something singers, rap stars and athletes who seemingly become overnight successes just from sheer luck. American culture seems to glorify idea that you can become super successful without having to work hard. While this is all highly entertaining, downside to it is it can give people mistaken impression that if you're good looking, photogenic, know right people, or just lucky, you can be successful. It also leads to people subconsciously comparing themselves with these people on TV, which in most cases is not really a fair comparison. Your life is reality, whereas what's shown in reality TV shows is largely manufacturered and staged by Hollywood. Yes, people are real, but situations are created by TV producers for dramatic effect.
| | Improving Your ResumeWritten by Scott Brown
You may have considered going to a resume writer to get your resume revamped. Resume writers are great and most of them produce resumes that are better than what average job seeker can produce on their own. Resume writers are often writing experts and can eliminate presentation problems like grammar, writing style, and spelling errors. A good resume writer will also have copywriting skills, meaning that they know how to present information in a way that's compelling and exciting. However, it's important to keep in mind that not all resume writers know what a potential employer in your particular field is looking for. Especially if your field is highly specialized. If you're going to use a resume writer, consider looking for some of these traits: - Experience either working in your field or helping a considerable number of people in your field with their resumes - Experience working as a recruiter - Experience working as a manager who made hiring decisions It would be difficult to find someone who had all three of these traits. But point here is to be conscious about what advice you're taking from a resume writer. If person doesn't have experience as a recruiter or hiring manager, and isn't familiar with what employers look for in your field, it can still be beneficial to use their expertise on grammar, writing style, spelling and copywriting. The most common flaws in resumes are grammatical and spelling errors. Even without using a resume writer, you can use Grammar and Spell-check features in Microsoft Word to improve those aspects. Perhaps most effective source of advice for improving your resume would come from active hiring managers themselves. If you're going on interviews and getting calls from recruiters but you're not getting hired, consider asking manager at end of interview if he/she would give you an honest assessment of your resume. Many managers pride themselves on being knowledgeable and would be happy to give you some advice. If you get sense in interview that person is not planning to hire you, objective in asking for feedback is to find out why (i.e. if they perceive you're lacking some skills or other qualifications, your presentation at interview, etc.).
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