Hand Gestures You Should Avoid When Talking

Hand Gestures You Should Avoid When TalkingHand Gestures You Should Avoid When TalkingTry having a discussion with your arms at your side and without moving them. Weird, right? We always talk with our hands whether we know it or bedrngnis. But are your hands saying the right things to hiring managers during interviews? Your words may not be matching your hand gestures. Here is some advice for using hand gestures when you speak and the hand gestures you should be avoiding.WarningCultures vary, so hand gestures that work for you in your job market may send a very negative message in another job market. Research what works and what not to do especially if you are interviewing with companies overseas. Here are some interesting examples of hand gestures and their perceptions around the world.1. Do not leave your hands idleImagine watching someone talk for hours without ever moving his or her hands. You might think the person is either drugged or numb.Moving your hands while you speak will illustrate to the audience that you understand what you are talking about. If you stop using your hands, the audience will abflug to understand you less because your hands illustrate key points they should be paying attention to.2. Never keep both hands in your pocketTry this yourselfRead a portion of the famous paragraph below with one hand in your pocket and the other hand extended.Now, read the same paragraph with both hands in your pocket.We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win.Do you notice the difference when you speak? One hand in the pocket feels confident and laid back while both hands in pockets almost feels like you are hiding and nervous about what you are saying.Granted, the one hand in my pocket hand gesture may not always work. But if you have a naturally intimidating presence, it may help keep others comfortable. If not, try talking with both hands OUT of your pocket.3. Know the right times to cross your armsOne of the most identifiable hand gestures known is crossing your arms. Everyone from babies to adults cross their arms when they wish to close themselves off. It is a way of saying, I am done listening. I am closing you out. Needless to say, this body language is not approachable.What you will see many do to show they are listening and welcoming, or displaying leadership and control, is to hold their arms extended almost in a position that resembles a Jesus Christ pose. The arms are extended, welcoming, and in many ways look like an offer of a hug.Oddly, people are naturally conditioned to avoid or stop talking to people with crossed arms, yet we find those with open arms to be welcoming and charismatic.4. Avoid the w ringing of your handsWringing your hands looks like you are tense, nervous, or in some cases, uncontrollably upset. You may see different types of this gesture such asWringing your hands by holding the palms together and moving them back and forth like an evil scientist with a planWringing your hands by cupping your hands and moving them slowly. This looks like you are praying for help in some strange way or begging for forgiveness.Interlacing your fingers and wringing your hands also looks like you are nervous and trying to figure exactly what is wrong while you are talking.Important The worst is clenched fist ringing of the hands. This is always perceived as aggression and looks as if a person is about to start throwing punches or wants tohurt someone.5. Avoid hand gestures that look fakePeople today are starving for authenticity. The last thing you want to do is try to fake it. If you are lacking confidence and start using these hand gestures to cover up your true emotion...you w ill look silly.For example, have you ever seen a public access TV commercial? A local business owner is nervous about being on television, so he or she tries to look confident by using hand gestures they read about online. And they end up looking silly and downright hilarious.The best thing you can do to make sure your hand gestures do not backfire is practice until the uncomfortable feeling of being expressive with hands goes away. When you learn to work it into your natural way of speaking, it will come across as authentic. If you do not, you may end up looking like a person from these bad commercials.In conclusionYou are always talking with your hands. Just do not fall into the bad habits seen belowNot moving handsBoth hands in pocketsCrossing armsHand-wringingFake gesturesThe more authentic you are to people, the more they will see you as a positive person to work with and quite possibly a great leader

Shutdown Day 33 USAJOBS Advice

Shutdown Day 33 USAJOBS AdviceShutdown Day 33 USAJOBS AdviceShutdown Day 33 USAJOBS Advice Resume Place AdviceUSAJOBS and Agencies are Still HiringShutdown Federal Resume Homeworkby Kathryn TroutmanJanuary 23, 2019Kathryn Troutman, President of Resume Place, Inc., is searching USAJOBS to see how many jobs are posted on the 32rd day of the shutdown. Is USAJOBS still posting jobs?Are they hiring? YES, they are, look at the numbers6,852 jobs Open to the Public13,230 jobs for Federal Employees and other Competitive Hiring Authorities7057 for Armed Forces224 for Students and Recent Graduates50 for SESKathryn also talks about two important formats and content tips for the best, most current and competitive federal resume CCAR writing for accomplishments and the Outline Format.This video is good for Shutdown Federal Job SearchersView Kathryns video on YouTube Here Kathryn searches for USAJOBS byTOTAL FEDERAL JOBS no search criteriaGRADE LEVELCERTAIN TITLES OF JOBSFederal jobs ARE still po sted during the ShutdownKathryn talks about Two Top Tips for your Federal ResumeCCAR Accomplishment writing with the CCAR BuilderOutline Format for your Federal ResumeTop Federal Resume Booksare recommended for the best competitive, correct samples.TEN STEPS TO A FEDERAL JOBCERTIFICATION TRAINING PROGRAMREGISTER NOW FOR 2019TEN STEPS CERTIFICATION TRAININGBEST BOOK FOR TRANSITIONING MILITARY, SPOUSES AND VETERANSJOBSEEKERS GUIDE, 8th Edition

Tips for Long Distance Job Searching

Tips for Long Distance Job SearchingTips for Long Distance Job SearchingYou are about to move to a new city but you would like to secure a job, first. This requires doing some long distance job searching. Accept that this is not easy to do and then follow the tips we offer when you start job searching because you plan on relocating.1. Create a list of companies to work for in your new cityBefore job searching, you have to do your research to binnensee what jobs and industries are thriving in your new location. Go on LinkedIns job search feature and do a keyword search byThe job you wantLocated in the city you are moving toAnd the minimum pay you needSee if the industry you work in has a lot of companies and work available for you.Out of the companies you are finding, see if any of them currently employ your college alumni. College alumni make some of the best connections for the entire span of a career. For now, you are just making a list for yourself to see who you will be contactin g or the companies you will be applying for. When this research is done, you can get down to business2. Find your connectionsNow that you have some companies and names, it is time to start reaching out to people. For all the companies you desire to work for in your new city, contact your college alumni at these companies with connection requests. Add a LinkedIn note that is brief and friendly. In the note, explain that you are moving to their city, looking for work, and went to the saatkorn college.LinkedIn is a great help in this process because a companys page displays your 1st, 2nd, and 3rd-degree connections. Granted it will feel odd reaching out to strangers but given you both went to the same alma mater, you should feel comfortable knowing you have a common background in education. There is something about going to the same college that connects people for their entire lives, even those who attended the same college at different times. Use it to your advantage.In addition, you should try to contact anyone you see working at your dream company, especially if they are a 1st-degree connection. It would help to start up a dialogue with a new person in your new city before you arrive.3. Try to get face-time with these new connectionsStudies show people, in general, only trust about 31% of the content and people they connect with online. Until nowyou have been requesting to connect with people and writing messages, but there is no social proof you are a real human.While networking, see if you can talk a connection into connecting for a brief call. Let them know you would like to ask what its like to live in this city you are moving to and what they think of it.When you give a person a chance to talk about what they know, they will take that chance to tell you. In return, you are making a connection and thanking a person who may soon be your neighbor. During your face-time with new connections, you can get details about jobs, life in the new city, and much more .4. Start online job searchingMany say applying to jobs for people online is a waste of time. Granted, the hit rate is not that much by comparison to the number of applications filled out, but it is a good way to see the job activity in a city and maybe make some calls.Just because you have an online job application, does not necessarily mean that filling out the application is the only means of communicating to get the job. See if you can find who posted it on LinkedIn. Start to connect with people posting jobs in your new city.5. Follow upThis process certainly involves lots of hustling. Making all these connections, job searches, and contact requests would be pointless if you never followed up with any of them. Without endlessly pestering them, stay in touch with the people you are networking with. And by all means, once you arrive in your new city with or without a job, make sure you thank them for offering such a pleasant introduction to your new location