Celebrate Dancing with the Stars with Friends

The show ‘Dancing with the Stars‘ still causes water cooler conversation and today is no exception.  Everyone is buzzing over the announcement of the new contestants and the season premiere September 20th.   This morning on the radio and at the gas station people were debating who will win, who will go first and who they can’t wait to see dance.

If you missed the announcement, the full line up includes David Hasselhoff, Michael Bolton, Bristol Palin, Audrina Patridge, Mike “The Situation” and Florence Henderson.  In the athletic department, Rick Fox and Kurt Warner will both compete for the title.  Other contestants include Brandy, Margaret Cho, Jennifer Grey and Kyle Massey.  Who’s your favorite based on the list?

Well, if you’re excited for the show to begin, then consider throwing a weekly viewing party with friends or other residents of Ashbrooke apartments.  You could put together a competition prize pact for your friend who chooses the right dancer to win or get a group together for weekly dance classes together.  How ever you choose to celebrate the dancing sensation just takes a little creativity.  Visit Party City on Southeast Delaware Avenue for inspiration.  It’s located less than 15 minutes from the community.  Design your event and let me know what inspires your viewing party.

What You May Not Know About Independence Day

As is tradition, many cities across America will have day or even week-long celebrations filled with parades, food kiosks, bands, games and contests. A little something for everyone!

But did you know there are some really interesting facts surrounding the Fourth of July holiday you may be unaware of?

For instance:

• July 4, 1976 marked America’s bicentennial (that’s 200th birthday) and venues and people all across the United States rang bells at exactly 2:00 P.M., which was the time of the approval of the Declaration of Independence.

• And it has often been suggested that George Washington wanted to be one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence but was busy fighting for our freedom out on the battlefield.

Happy 4th of July everyone!

Weekly Career Tip

Did you know that reference checks are often conducted by third party companies? And the results of your reference checks can determine if you get the job you are after or if you get overlooked.

Choose wisely who you use for your list of references on your resume.

Use these tips to get you a great reference check:

1. Provide work and cell phone numbers for all of your references.
2. Let your references know that you are listing them as a reference on your resume.
   
3. Make sure you spell all references correctly. This is very important since titles are easy to verify and you could be eliminated from consideration for listing an inaccurate title or misspelling.
   
4. Only list supervisors or managers if possible.

Follow Spectrum Career’s Blog for more great advice!

Who is on YOUR list?

A Createve Light Touch

Are you a creative person? We all get tired of hearing about the same decorating ideas over and over again, but here is one you may not have heard of and will probably find interesting.

Wine bottle incense or light holder: Take your old wine bottles and transform them into unique incense or light holders by only spending seven dollars.

Get the instructions!

Do you have any bottles you could use?

Tips for Studying Well

So what are you studying in college? Are you a good note-taker? Taking good notes is essential to doing well on an exam and in most cases keeps you from having to cram the night before a test.

Try these tips for studying well and see if they help improve your study habits:

• Take accurate notes in class and don’t worry about how neatly you write the information.

• Be sure to indicate the class and the date at the top of the first note sheet.

• Number each page so you have all your information in order.

• Taking additional notes from any associated reading is very helpful.

• Copy all of the notes into a spiral notebook just for that class in a more organized manner. This will help you retain the information.

• A day or two before a scheduled test, rewrite the notes from the spiral notebook into a 3 ringed binder as neatly and as organized as possible using an outline format.

• If any drawings are needed, do not worry about the artistic quality of your drawing but the accuracy of the information.

• Highlight very important information, and use color for the illustrations.

• The night before your test, organize the materials needed for the test.

• Get a good nights sleep.

• The morning of your test, eat a healthy breakfast.

• Get to your testing area early.

• Take a few deep breaths, and relax.

• The morning of your test, do a few short exercises like jumping jacks, running in place or sit-ups. This will get the blood flowing and help motivate you.

How do you prepare for your tests? Get a full description of some of the tips and see how they compare to your current methods. Are you on the right track?

Make Sure All Windows Are Secured

We are all probably under the assumption that the majority of home burglaries occur during the daytime when most of us are away at school or work. Theft is often a crime of opportunity. Stay safe and be prepared!

Keep your home windows burglar-proof by following these tips:

• Secure all accessible windows with secondary blocking devices.

• Block accessible windows open no more than 6 inches for ventilation.

• Make sure someone cannot reach through an open window and unlock the door.

• Make sure someone cannot reach inside the window and remove the blocking device.

• Use anti-lift devices to prevent windows from being lifted out.

• Use crime prevention or alarm decals on ground accessible windows.

Keep these tips in mind the next time you go on vacation!

What type of work do you seek?

How many of you will begin searching for a new job? What kind of career do you want to have? Are you finding these tips on career advice useful?

Recent graduates are now flooding the job market. This does not mean you should put your job search on hold! Too often job seekers slow down their search efforts in June, because of all the new graduates hitting the job market. New graduates are typically NOT your competition for opportunities requiring work experience.

Opportunities are on the rise because employers have started to hire. Employers cut too wide and too deep and it is beginning to negatively impact their profits. It can be tempting to take the summer “off” but you owe it to yourself to escalate your search. Let your competition take the summer off, while you accept a great job offer!

It is also important to remember that your resume is either a ticket to an interview or it is screening you out! If you are submitting resumes but not scheduling interviews, the solution could be as simple as revising your resume. Hiring a resume writer is often a great way to go!

Does your resume have a professional look?

Why it Took Almost 60 Years to Revive

As many of us are aware, musical theatre combines music, songs, spoken dialogue and dance for live audiences.

Although it has been duplicated across the country and around the world, Broadway has feared reviving the musical South Pacific for almost 60 years.

For starters, many of the people who saw the 1949 original figured it could never be topped.

And second, the people who missed it – and instead saw the 1958 movie or any of the amateur productions over the years – thought it was too hokey to touch with a 10-foot stick of bamboo. Audiences can’t stomach a song called “Happy Talk” quite like they used to.

Read the full Des Moines Register article!

Career Search Advice

Working at the same job for 35 to 40 hours a week may be the norm, but many job seekers are beginning to understand the value of a part-time job.

Here are a couple tips to keep in mind:

• If you are offered a part-time position, you may want to seriously consider accepting the opportunity. A part-time job allows you ample time to continue your job search, provides you with current experience and often the opportunity to develop new skills.

• If you excel at your part-time position, it may lead to a full-time job offer. The employer has an opportunity to view your work habits and talent first hand. It is amazing how many job seekers work two part-time jobs and make more money as compared to when they worked one full time job.

Look at all opportunities including part-time, job sharing, contract or temp work or internships. You gain current experience and actually become more marketable in the job market.

Did you know?
The trick to ace an interview is to stress your accomplishments and how they impacted your past employers. Take time to write down anything you did that saved your past employers time or money. Write down what separated you from the person who had the job before you. Hiring authorities like to hire individuals who stand out and it is your accomplishments that will help you ace out your competition.

Are you currently looking for a new job and would like more advice?

Need Some Job-Seeking Advice?

If you are a serious job seeker, I suggest checking out JobFox.com. Rob McGovern, Founder and CEO, offers up some great advice. The weekly email alerts are very easy to read and understand.

One of the hard truths about job searching is that resumes, not people, get chosen to be interviewed. In a perfect world every candidate would get an in-person opportunity to pitch themselves for a job.

However, in reality, it’s the resume that has to do all the work. The process is simple. A hiring manager is handed a large stack of resumes of which they will pick only 4-5 for interviews.

Ultimately, it’s up to your resume to get you noticed.

Are you a job seeker? What is your ideal job?

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