100 Best RSS Feeds for Recent College Grads

One way for recent college grads to keep up with news, helpful advice and information to help you in your job search is to subscribe to job and career related RSS Feed. You’ll get the latest updates right to your RSS reader without having to visit each individual site, streamlining your searching process and leaving you with more time for other important tasks. Here are a few feeds that can be of assistance in your search for your first big job out of college.

General

Find listings for thousands of jobs all over world in a variety of fields on these feeds.

1. Monster.com: One of the biggest names in job search sites now offers the convenience of RSS feeds so you don’t have to browse jobs every day to get the latest updates.
2. CareerBuilder: Another job search giant, CareerBuilder allows you to customize RSS feeds so you get the job openings you’re most interested in.
3. American Preferred Jobs: Find jobs by state, popularity and field through this easy-to-use RSS tool.
4. Superior Jobs: Here you can find jobs in fields like finance, engineering and design and have them delivered right to your RSS reader.
5. HireAbility: Make the most of the thousands of job listings on this site by setting up a simple feed to send the best jobs your way.
6. Job.com: Get feeds from Job.com through their site and advice on choosing and setting up an RSS reader.
7. indeed: indeed offers complete feeds of its job listings or the ability to limit them by salary, company, title, location and job type.
8. DotOrgJobs: Find feeds for job searches in administrative support, finance, fundraising, human resources, marketing and more on this job search site.
9. Commongood Careers: Here you can subscribe to listings for a variety of jobs in over 12 US cities.
10. Yahoo! HotJobs: Check out this popular site for some helpful job finding feeds.
11. SimplyHired: With over 6 million jobs to choose from, this site can be a valuable resource for setting up an RSS feed.
12. JobSearchUSA: Get connected to jobs and employers by setting up a customized RSS feed through this site.
13. ZamZim: With this site you can limit your RSS feed by city or the type of job that you’re looking for.

Region Specific

Check out these feeds for state and city specific listings.

14. Chicago Tribune: Those in the Chicagoland area can check out the job listings the Tribune offers and set up a convenient RSS feed to monitor them.
15. Guardian Jobs: One of the UK’s largest papers, the Guardian makes it easy to track and search for jobs through RSS.
16. Star Tribune: This Minneapolis-St.Paul paper provides simple RSS feeds for the kinds of jobs you’re interested in.
17. California Jobs: If you’re looking for work in the state of California, check out this helpful RSS feed.
18. International Jobs: Find a job away from your home country with a little help from this site and a customized RSS feed.
19. Los Angeles Times: As one of the biggest cities in the US, LA can offer a wide range of employment opportunities. You can track them through your RSS reader and the Times.
20. Jobs In Dubai: Find work in this growing city through this site’s RSS feeds.
21. New York Times: One of the most well-known papers in the world, the New York Times provides not only news by job listings as well, which you can get delivered right to an RSS reader.
22. DallasJobs: Whether you’re in the Dallas area or looking to relocate, this site can help you find work.
23. BestAustinJobs: Find the best jobs in the Austin area by signing up for this site’s RSS feeds.

Librarians and Academics

Whether you’re at home in the library as a researcher or a librarian, these feeds can help you find a job.

26. ALA JobLIST: The American Library Association provides these listings and the RSS feed that can help you find work in a library around the nation.
27. Alliance Library System Job Listings: Search through these listings or sign up for a feed to find great library centered jobs.
28. Chronicle of Higher Education: This site is a great resource both for librarians and those working in academics and higher education. Sign up for feeds that meet your needs.
29. Lib-bling.com Professional Postings: Check out this site and its feed for great openings in libraries around the country.
30. LISJobs: Here you’ll find jobs at huge libraries like the Library of Congress as well as smaller libraries in towns across the US.
31. NASIG Jobs: You’ll find a wide variety of library-focused jobs through this site and its easy to browse them through your RSS reader.
32. SLA Career Center: Subscribe to this feed to get research and library science jobs that meet your interests.
33. GlobalEdge: Find some great listings for academic jobs on this site and sign up to get them delivered to your RSS reader.
34. H-Net: Sign up for a job feed on this site to get the latest in jobs for humanities and social sciences academics.
35. Jobs.Ac.UK: This UK-based site focuses on providing listings for jobs in science, research and academics.
36. AcademicKeys for Engineering: These feeds provide help finding work in academic and teaching positions related to engineering.
37. BioPortfolio: This site can be an invaluable and convenient resource for those looking to be professors or scientists in biology.

Medical

Doctors, nurses and support staff can find great job listings and news in these feeds.

37. PhysciansEmployment: Doctors around the nation can make the most of this valuable job search feed.
38. Physical Therapy: Those working in the field of physical therapy can find the job openings they need through this feed.
39. Hospital Jobs Online: Subscribe to this feed to get the latest on a wide range of jobs in hospitals across the nation.
40. Foundation Rehab Staffing: Find work in a great rehabilitation facility through the listings from this site.
41. Intelli-Source: Here you can find feeds and searches for everything from nurse practicitioners to orthopedic surgeons.
42. MedicalJobs: You can get a variety of healthcare related job listings delivered to you in RSS form through this site.
43. AtlasMedical International: If you’re looking for work in the medical profession outside of the US, check out the feed provided by this site.
44. 4NursingJobs: Nurses should check out this feed for loads of nursing job openings.
45. Healthcare Republic: Find all kinds of healthcare related news, educational opportunities and job listings through this site’s feeds.
46. StaffPointe: Check out this recruiting company’s site to get jobs as nurses, physicians and other healthcare professions delivered to you in feed form.
47. NurseRecruiter: Nurses can find all kinds of listings through this feed to help them find jobs that reflect their skills and personal goals.
48. Reflectx Services: This staffing services company offers feeds for jobs in nursing, physical therapy, speech therapy, medical imaging and a variety of other healthcare professions.

Technology

Whether you’re a programmer, an IT professional or a web designer, you’ll find plenty of work on these feeds.

48. devBistro: Subscribe to these feeds for listings by location, keywords or latest jobs.
49. Perl.org: If you’re looking for work as a Perl programmer, this feed is the place to start.
50. Slashdot: This popular tech site provides jobs listings as well, with feeds in design, management, networking, programming, and system administration.
51. SourceForge: While this site mainly focuses on open source downloads, it can also be a great place to look for a job with a number of customized feeds available.
52. FreshMeat: Programmers, system admins and designers can check out these feeds to find great employment opportunities.
53. Wired: Wired is a popular tech magazine, online resource and place to look for jobs. Sign up for a feed to get help finding the tech job you’ve been looking for.
54. SharePoint Reporter: Find jobs working with AJAX, Microsoft products, SQL and more through this site.
55. TeachEBlog Jobs: This blog is all about the latest tech and gadget news but after you’re done reading it you can also sign up for some great RSS feeds to help you find a new job.
56. LinuxJobs: Find jobs working with this great open source OS through this feed.
57. Tom’s Hardware: Programmers and network designers alike can find work through these helpful feeds.
58. CMC Technical Staffing: Sign up for feeds that are organized by company or job type.
59. 37 Signals: Check out this site and its feeds for jobs programming, designing, administrating and more.
60. FindaTechJob: Here you can find loads of freelance opportunities and long-term employment for programmers of all kinds.

Aviation and Travel

Travel industry workers can find loads of jobs by signing up for these RSS feeds.

61. AviationNation: Here you’ll find three kinds of feeds: one for pilots, one for flight attendants and one for other aviation careers.
62. MaritimeJobs: Find work at sea through this site. You’ll get feeds for jobs on cruise ships, cargo ships, shore side jobs, naval architecture, port work and more.
63. FliteJobs: Pilots can find work through this site’s RSS feeds as well as other aviation professionals.
64. FindaPilot: Check out this site for listings for needed flight crew members in various places around the country.
65. AviationTire: Whether you’re a pilot, airline mechanic, or another member of a flight crew you’ll find helpful listings through this feed.
66. AviationEmployment: Those looking for work as everything from an aircraft manufacturing technician to a flight attendant can find job listings through this site’s feed.
67. BootsnAll TravelJobs: Find jobs that will allow you to travel and see the world while making money through this helpful site and feeds.
68. TravelingCrossing: Here you can find work doing everything from leading tours to booking flights in a convenient feed form.
69. TruckDriver.com: Truckers can make finding a new job more easy by checking out the listings or signing up for a feed through this site.
70. AirlinePilotJobs: Find work on a major airline by checking out the listings provided by this site.

Education

Teachers of all kinds can find job listings on these feeds.

71. ESLemployment: Teachers looking to work in ESL at home and abroad can find loads of job openings around the world through this feed.
72. EducationJobs: Teachers, administrators and other educational professionals should take a look at the feeds provided by this site when looking for work.
73. TedJobs: Find work in higher education by checking out the feeds you can subscribe to on this site.
74. OutdoorEd: If teaching in or about the great outdoors is your thing, get signed up for the feeds offer though this job search site.
75. Education Jobsite: Customize an RSS feed catered to your education job finding needs through this site.
76. EducationCrossing: With tens of thousands of education job listings, you’re sure to find something that suits your needs through these helpful feeds.
77. ESL Job Project: Find listings for ESL jobs around the world through these feeds.
78. TESall: ESL and EFL teachers will find everything they need to find work in the US and other countries around the world in this site’s feeds and job search capabilities.

Green Jobs

These feeds will help you find environmentally friendly work.

79. Renewable Energy Jobs: Leave the coal burning behind and find work in the renewable energy sector though this helpful site.
80. GreenBiz: Focused on all elements of green business, this site is an invaluable resource for job seekers looking for a green job and an easy-to-use RSS feed.
81. GreenIndustryJobs: Get feed updates on the latest jobs in a variety of green industries through this site.
82. SustainableBusiness: Whether you’re looking for work in a green business or a socially responsible organization, you’ll find great opportunities through these feeds.
83. Eco.org: Called the place for everything eco, this site provides loads of information on available eco-friendly jobs which you can get delivered right to your RSS reader.
84. TreeHugger: This popular green site has a job board which makes it easy to keep up with listings in an RSS feed.
85. Idealist.org: Find loads of work in the nonprofit, green and sustainable business sectors through the feed provided by this site.

Business and Finance

Find work crunching numbers or selling products with the help of these feeds.

86. MarketingHire: You’ll get access to thousands of listings for work in marketing through the feed provided by this site.
87. Seeking Alpha: This site specializes in listings for accounting, finance and investment professionals and you can set up an RSS feed to meet your individual needs.
88. Sales Recruitment Jobsite: If you’re looking for some work in sales, you’re sure to find some listings that interest you with this site’s feeds.
89. Finance Jobs: Find work in the field of finance through this site, whether you’re looking for accounting jobs, financial planning or something else entirely.
90. AccountingCrossing: Accountants looking for a new gig can sign up for an RSS feed on this site.
91. SalesJobs: Get a new sales job by searching for jobs and signing up for a feed provided by this sales oriented site.
92. BrandRepublicJobs: This site is an excellent resource for finding jobs in marketing, sales, media and public relations and offers a wide range of RSS choices.
93. NumericJobs: Find jobs in the direct and online marketing sector through the searches and feeds provided by this site.

Miscellaneous

These feeds can help you find work in a variety of specialty fields.

94. Freelancer Jobs Network: Find all kinds of freelance work from consulting to creative services through the postings in this RSS feed.
95. Building4Jobs: Don’t struggle to find construction work. Instead, sign up for this feed and get jobs brought to you.
96. ChristiaNet: Users of this feed can get updates on the best Christian jobs out there through this site.
97. EntryLevelJobsite: Whether you’re fresh out of college or just looking to start a new career at the bottom, you’ll find loads of entry level opportunities on this feed.
98. EnergyCentralJobs: Find work in an energy-related field by checking out this feed.
99. CoolWorks: Get a sweet summer job or internship by browsing the listings provided through this site’s RSS feed.
100. Officer.com: Police officers with a little tech savvy can sign up for this feed and get information about law enforcement jobs.

RSS Feeds For College Job / Intern Seekers

Despite the fact that many college kids say that they live in a bubble, they still deal with an information overload on a daily basis. Today you might read 7 Facebook messages, 23 e-mails, 142 IMs, 14 text messages, 97 pages of assigned reading, 3 course announcements, 12 web pages, 8 blog posts, and 6 articles in your campus daily. Shoot, you might do that before noon. It’s easy to deal with the information when it’s delivered to you. E-mail makes your computer ding. Facebook sends you e-mails. You have a ringtone for text messages. IMs make an icon on your screen bounce. Your campus daily is delivered in front of your favorite coffee shop every morning. It’s when you have to seek out information that it becomes far more difficult to manage.

This is certainly the case in your job search. Say your search is focused on two dozen companies, 6 cities, and 5 different fields. You could spend a couple hours a day checking each company, city, and field of interest for new job openings. Or you could take the easy way out…

There is a free tool that you can start using immediately to simplify how you manage the never ending flow of information. It’s called RSS, and we’re going to tell you how to use it to put your job search (and maybe some other aspects of your life) on auto-pilot.

Wnat Is RSS?

You thought you were ahead of the curve, being a cool college student and all. Well you missed something that may not be as sexy as being one of the first Facebook or iPod users, but it’s arguably way more useful (if you already know what RSS is and how to use it, skip to the section of this article entitled “So How Does This Apply to My Job Search?”).

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication (which was formerly RDF Site Summary, which was formerly Rich Site Summary – if you’re really interested in all the technical stuff, read the Wikipedia entry). It is not a particularly new technology, but it’s finally hitting the mainstream. Put really simply, it’s a way that web sites let you know when they’ve been updated, kind of like Facebook’s mini-feed (where do you think they got the idea?). When a website tells you about their feed or asks you to subscribe, they are typically talking about RSS. If you see a logo like the one above, you’re looking at the universal symbol for RSS feeds – they’re usually orange and white, but we thought black and red fit our color scheme a little better.

Once you know what it is and how it works, you’ll realize how many of the websites that you visit every day are already using RSS to deliver information in an easily digested format.

Why Do I Care?

We think that learning how to use RSS is as important as knowing how to use e-mail. Some forward looking companies have already established the use of RSS feeds for gathering information from both internal and external sources. If you’re not already RSS literate when you get hired by one of these companies, you’ll be playing catch up. On the other hand, most companies are ignorant to the wonders of RSS feeds. If you end up working at one of these companies, not only will you look really smart and productive, but you’ll also have the opportunity to impress your superiors by teaching them how to use RSS.

Let’s put this in perspective for college students. Imagine that your Professors started using RSS to deliver important information to you. You’re taking a mid-level Economics course and the Professor offers two RSS feeds, one for important announcements and required assignments and another for commentary and optional reading assignments. Clearly you’d only subscribe to the first one. Just kidding. The feed would give you daily assignments with the pages to read, a link directly to an online document, or an essay question. The prof could also tell you that class is cancelled, moving to another classroom, or that you’ll be having a guest speaker. With integration into a course management system like Blackboard, it could even notify you of your grades as soon as they’re posted. Instead of having to seek out this information, it would come to you as it becomes available. While you could still use your syllabus to get ahead, the RSS feed would remind you of what’s due tomorrow or next week.

RSS can be a huge time saver (or time waster if you get addicted and subscribe to too many feeds). Beyond your job search (don’t worry, we’re going to tell you about that soon), you can use RSS to monitor your significant other’s Amazon Wishlist, your friends’ Facebook status, your college’s sports teams’ results, the news, or pretty much any blog on the Internet.

OK, OK, I Get It. Now How Do I Use It?

It’s likely that your web browser or e-mail client can already do RSS for you. The newest versions of Safari, Firefox, and Internet Explorer all have RSS functionality, and web-based services like Bloglines and Google Reader allow you to subscribe to RSS feeds and access them from any web browser on any computer.

Paul Stamatiou has done a great job of describing how to use RSS (and he did it over 3 years ago, look how late you are to the party), so we’re not going to rehash what has already been said.

So How Does This Apply to My Job Search?

First, if you haven’t already, subscribe to the One Day, One Job RSS Feed. Where you will you get daily case studies on companies and their entry-level jobs.

VERTICAL JOB SEARCH ENGINES

Job Search Engines like Indeed and SimplyHired do what Google does, but only for jobs. They “scrape” the Internet for relevant results, and then allow you to search those results to find what you’re looking for. You can search by company name, job title, location, or any other keyword. You can then subscribe to an RSS feed for the search, so that when new jobs are found that match your criteria, you’ll be notified. Make sure that you use the Indeed Search Box in our sidebar to do all your searches – by supporting our sponsors, you support One Day, One Job.

JOB BOARD RSS FEEDS

Job boards like Monster.com (not that we recommend using them) also have some RSS functionality. For instance, Monster lets you subscribe to their most popular job searches, but doesn’t give you the full functionality that Indeed and SimlyHired do. Since these job search engines index Monster.com and other job boards, we don’t see any reason to use this functionality, but we thought we’d tell you about it just in case.

COMPANY JOB BOARDS

Some companies have gone the extra mile to add RSS functionality to their Applicant Tracking Systems. One example is Iconoculture’s Jobs RSS Feed. If you subscribe, you will be notified through your feed reader every time they post a new job,. It’s that easy. We hope more companies start doing this.

GOOGLE RSS FEEDS AND E-MAIL ALERTS

You can subscribe to an RSS feed of any search that you perform through Google Blog Search. You can also subscribe to e-mail alerts (no RSS yet) for any general Google search.

For ideas on what searches you should subscribe to, read the article How to Use Google to Find a Job.

BLOG RSS FEEDS

Blogs are quickly becoming one of the best ways to gather information. The great news is that almost all blogs have RSS feeds. We’re a blog and we have an RSS feed. Tons of companies are also blogging. Some with recruiting as a specific topic. Zillow.com, Redfin, and RehabCare have all impressed us with their blogs. Whether you’re looking for career advice, specific jobs, or just researching a company, subscribing to blogs’ RSS feeds is a surefire way to get quality information as it’s published.

Spread the Word

If you’ve paid attention to what we’ve just written, you should be able to put your job search on auto-pilot. You’ll no longer have to go website to website, filling in search boxes. Do it once. Subscribe. Get search results as soon as they become available. Since you’ll be saving so much time, take a few minutes and tell your friends about this article. So click those social networking "Share This Buttons" below. They will allow you to automatically post this article on Google Plus, Facebook and other social networking sites,

And don’t forget that RSS can also help you improve your relationship with your girlfriend, manage your classes, and monitor your friends’ lives on Facebook. Even people who already have jobs lined up for next year deserve to know what RSS is – it’s your responsibility to tell them.

Resume Rant Review

There are a gazillion articles out on the web filled with terrific tips on how to write a great resume.  Sometimes the information from different sources can be conflicting but for the most part the information is sound and the advice is worth incorporating into your resume.  Candidates who do a good job writing their resumes will almost always have a better chance at being considered for a particular position.

The reality of sourcing (the process that recruiters use to identify potential candidates) is that in a competitive market most resumes will only get 5 to 10 seconds of a recruiter’s time during the critical first pass.  The purpose of this article is to focus on some of the practical things that recruiters see every day in the many resumes submitted to them that tends to reduce the likelihood that a resume, and therefore the candidate behind it, will make it past that critical initial screening stage.

■ Limited or Missing Contact Information – Everyone knows that email spam is a huge problem and most people these days don’t like receiving unexpected calls from people they don’t know.  But if you’re looking for a new position being able to be easily contacted really is the point.  Most recruiters aren’t going to bother trying to track you down or jump through hoops to contact you.

■ Limited or Missing Dates – Age discrimination is an illegal practice, however, many candidates still experience this so the standard advice has been to limit date visibility on a resume.  This can help mitigate potential age discrimination but it often also does more harm than good.  When reviewing a resume recruiters typically evaluate things like a candidate’s stability (how often they job hop) and how up-to-date their skills are for a particular position.  If dates are missing that analysis can be difficult and many recruiters will simply move on to the next resume.

■ Limited or Missing Key Words – It almost impossible to underestimate the importance of key words on a resume.  Many organizations use automated processes to import resumes and almost all recruiters use some form of keyword matching to initially identify resumes that may be a match for a position.  Missing, abbreviated, nonstandard or limited key words will usually mean your resume won’t be found during a search.  Make sure the text of your resume uses specific keywords and even better include a key word section in your resume.

These issues aren’t nearly as important as the ones already mentioned but are some additional “rants” inspired by things recruiters see every day:

■ Contact Info in a Header – Okay I agree that most of the time it looks cool to have your contact information in a header.  But it makes it harder to copy & paste your information into a database for follow up and many automated systems won’t “see” that information at all.  Keep your contact information in the body of the resume.

■ Spaces in a Name – Again it can look cool to have your name like T H I S on your resume but it’s a real pain to get into a contact database.

■ Single Letter Abbreviations in a Name – If you normally go by your middle or nick name, don’t put the first letter of your first name on your resume (e.g. R Bob Smith).  In many systems your name will become “R” and not “Bob” like you probably intend.

■ Goofy Email Addresses – If you want to be taken seriously then make sure you have a professional or at least a non-silly email address.  Enough said.

■ Resume File Name – Keep in mind that usually whoever downloads your resume will see what you name the file.  Keep it professional and make it easier for the recruiter to save by making it unique and applicable (e.g. “Smith, Bob – Engineering Resume.doc” and not “resume.doc”).

Be sure to check out our website at http://www.NewTownSolutions.com for more great tips!  Our goal is to help you land your next great position!

Bald is beautiful ... and a career boost, study finds

Looking for an edge at work? Break out your razor. A new study says that men with shaved heads are perceived as more dominant, more masculine, and more suited for leadership roles.

The lead researcher, Albert Mannes at the Wharton School of Business, decided to go "bare up there" in his mid-thirties when he was starting to lose his hair. And people started treated him differently. He then designed a series of experiments to test what people really thought of guys with shaved heads.

In the first tests, he showed participants pictures of similar-looking men with shaved heads and those with hair. The men without hair rated statistically significantly higher for dominance. They were also rated as being 3 years older, and slightly less attractive.

To isolate the results further, Mannes devised a second experiment. He showed a panel pictures of men with hair. He also showed pictures of the same men with their hair Photoshopped out. The panel rated the men with shaved heads higher for dominance, confidence, masculinity, and leadership potential.

But get this: The panel also said the guys with shaved heads were an inch taller and could bench-press 13 percent more weight than the guys with full hair.

Remember, these are the same guys, just with their hair digitally erased.

The third and final test used no photographs. Just words. Mannes asked subjects to read a two-sentence description of a man and rate him on the same attributes as the second experiment. The paragraph was the same each time, with one difference, whether the man was described as having a "shaved head," "thinning brown hair," or "thick brown hair."

Even when responding to just the text, the guys with the shaved heads ranked higher on those alpha-dog traits.

However, there was a much smaller margin between the "shaved" head and the "thick brown hair." The greatest difference was between "shaved" and "thinning." Which means that men with all their hair looking to jump up the ladder shouldn't rush out and go under the clipper. Only men experiencing hair loss will have a total net benefit from shaving their head. Men with all their hair who shave it all off will lose more in social and psychological ranking than they gain, said Mannes. 

So if you have luscious locks, don't let this study be the Delilah to your Samson. Keep your hair.

The big takeaway is that men who are losing their hair, Mannes said, "might better improve their well-being by finishing what Mother Nature has started," and shave it all off. It can give you social and psychological boost, and could open up pathways at work and in life.

This doesn't mean that men with shaved heads are in fact better leaders. Then again, perceptions can become reality.

"People may afford you opportunities to demonstrate your leadership if you look like someone who could be a leader. There is a reinforcement process that does happen with social perception," said Mannes. "How you're perceived affects how people treat you, which can alter your future."

But if you're experiencing male pattern baldness, a receding hairline, or thinning hair, Mannes said, "the simple act of shaving is a viable alternative to medical or surgical procedures, at a lower cost."

Best of all, if you try the look out and decide you don't like it, it's not irreversible.

Noah Kagan on "Why I Got Fired From Facebook - a $100 Million Dollar Lesson

Meet Noah Kagan - he's a former early Facebook employee who went on to do great work at Mint.com, and more recently has founded a cool little site for entrepreneurs to learn what they need to know called AppSumo.

Here's how to learn more about him:

Noah's Blog - OkDork

AppSumo - his current company

A great video interview with Noahwhich gets inside his head about growing a business and doing what makes you happy...

And finally, according to the title -his story about getting fired at Facebook in the early days.
Check it out:

"Let me start in reverse.

I can tell you every detail of the day I got fired aka “let go” aka “down-sized” aka “shit-canned.”

I thought I was going to a routine coffee with my boss and randomly saw Matt Cohler sitting at the table inside (surprising)!

I knew something was amiss. Matt broke the news quickly and I was in dead-shock as the words came out of his mouth. They walked me back to the office and removed my laptop and my cell phone.

Then I proceeded to the Verizon store to use their phone, called my gf (at the time) and drove to the house I shared with 6 other FB guys.

Packed up all my stuff in my CRX, smoked a 1/2 pack of cigarettes on the balcony and drove to my friend Johnny’s place. It took me a bit to let my mom know and I slept on Johnny’s couch for a few days, thanks J!

Later that night we had a bbq at this place and everyone was asking me how the job was going….#awkward

I kept drinking that night to pass out and pray this was all a bad dream."

After a period of self-reflection, Noah goes on to evaluate his responsibility in getting fired from Facebook, the types of employees he looks for as a result, and more.  It's a great read, so go check it out and take a look at his blog and AppSumo while you're at it.  

Business Travel Essentials

A review of some business travel essentials:

• NyQuil. Great for gaining some serious sleep in a strange bed.
• At least one novel. You can't read about business all of the time. Years ago I discovered that an Elmore Leonard novel was the length of one flight from Phoenix to New York City.
• Almonds. In case you get stranded.
• Pepto-Bismol tablets. In case your stomach gets weird.
• Crossword puzzle. Some mind exercise. I bought a crossword puzzle book at Barnes & Noble the other day. Later learned it was published in Australia. That explained all of the cricket references.
• Starbucks canned espresso. Small with a lot of punch.

Your nominees?

Trying to hide your scandalous past

Dear Employment Hub Editor, A couple of years ago I was falsely accused of something that erupted into a huge scandal. (Well, huge in our area.) My name was in all the papers and if you search on my name lots of bad things pop up. I didn’t actually commit the crime of which I was accused and the prosecutor ended up dropping charges, but nevertheless, my reputation was destroyed.

 I was fired from my job as part of this mess and I’ve been at home with the kids ever since. I want to go back to the workforce, but honestly I’m scared to death to apply under my legal name. Can I apply under my maiden name instead? What will happen if I get hired and then say, “Oh by the way, I’m not Jane Doe, I’m Jane Jones?”

ANSWER:

 If you want to go the hiding route, there are some pitfalls there. You are fortunate to be a married woman (or divorced but kept your married name) with a whole unused maiden name just sitting out there.

There are plenty of women who change their name legally when they marry, but are known professionally by their maiden name.

This is especially popular for women who had already established themselves professionally prior to marriage, but still wanted to change their name. But, it's not just as simple as going by another name.

Most applications will ask if you are known by any other names and you would have to list your legal last name (and, in fact, any names you've been known by, in case you've been married four times and changed your name each time).

This is for the background check and is necessary to track down transcripts and the like. Additionally, your Social Security number will be run through a check to make sure you haven't stolen the card. The number will need to match your legal name.

 Hiding behind your maiden name may or may not hide results about your scandal. And any company that asks you for information for a background check will find out anyway.

So it may well not be worth your time. But, if you'd like to be known professionally by your maiden name, that's fine. But make sure you tell your for references so they don't act confused when someone calls about you.

 But I strongly recommend being upfront and honest about the whole mess. It may make it more difficult in the beginning, but you won't spend your life afraid that someone will find out.

5 Steps to Landing a Job by Thanksgiving

According to employment experts, our economy is enjoying “modest improvement.” The BLS has the unemployment number hovering at 8.1 percent, which is better than this time last year, when it was at 9.1 percent, and significantly better than in October 2009, when it hit a record 10 percent.

If you’re unemployed or underemployed, it’s time to snap out of your summer state of mind and embrace a new season of action and opportunity. Fall is the time for change and transformation, and if you want a job by Thanksgiving, you need to get energized. The way to counteract “modest job improvement” in the jobs market is by making a major improvement in yourself and your tactics.

Here are five ways to change your job prospects before the holidays are upon us.

Polish your image.

Grab your college yearbook and find your photo. If you still have the same hairstyle, it’s time to dump it for a newer model. Frumpiness is not the image you want to portray when every job has ten competitors clamoring to wow an interviewer. While you’re at it, remember everything your friends ever told you about your most flattering colors. Now pair a killer jacket with some well-cut pants or a skirt using your power colors, accessories, and one interesting detail, such as a piece of jewelry or an edgy tie that makes your look different and memorable.

Leave home.

You’ve spent enough time at home, online, moping and surfing the job sites for leads. It’s time for a new tactic. Devote at least one meal a day–breakfast, lunch, or dinner–to dining out with someone who has professional connections or advice for you. If you’re broke, make it breakfast, the cheapest meal for treating. Visit the watering hole of your desired industry at happy hour, and sip a seltzer while you schmooze. Bring your business cards with you to the gym and everywhere else you frequent. Jobs, and the people who know about them, aren’t in your apartment. They’re out there waiting to find you.

“Power up” your resume.

Revamp your resume by replacing “so what” copy with power words and phrases. Here are a few that employers love: achievements, awards, coached, detail-oriented, experience, fostered excellent working relationships, hard worker, high energy, innovative, organized, outperformed, people skills, quick study, results, team player. Have three people whom you look up to read and react to your resume. Make it superior, snappy, and powerful.

Play the grad game.

You know all those alumni events your alma mater throws in your area (lectures, mixers, conferences, fund-raisers)? These people are in YOUR tribe. They’re well connected, and you already have an “in” with them. Make it a point to hobnob with fellow alumni. Get and give lots of business cards, talk about your career aspirations, and don’t forget to follow up. This is one of the best and easiest ways to generate solid job leads. By the way, old professors and advisers are also great people to get back in touch with. They’re on your side and want you to succeed.

Master the interview.

Let’s face it. Even if you’re the most talented, experienced, charming, attractive person you know, in this job market there are probably ten others like you vying for the same position. So you have to kill it in the interview. Do your homework and know everything about the company you can find from their website, articles, annual report, and any contacts you may have at the company. Make a master list of questions they might ask you, and practice answering them in the most dynamic way possible. Figure out what you have to offer them, and make this the focus of your preparation and delivery. Be well rested, arrive early, and look sharp for the interview.