So they jump to conclusions.

One client felt the way to have a successful business was to appeal to as broad a range of customers as possible. He came up with his own mantra “I want to accommodate, not exclude”. Any business he considered was rejected if it didn’t fit with this notion.
To him, this made sense. And it does seem logical: Why not appeal to as many customers as possible? One reason not to is that maybe it dilutes your ability to focus. After all, McDonald’s doesn’t appeal to people interested in fine dining.

Another myth to bust is that a great franchise should be in a business segment with little competition. Each year, Entrepreneur Magazine publishes a list of top franchises. Their top twenty-five includes four fast food businesses and three convenience stores. I don’t know about your town, but in mine it seems like there is a fast food business at every busy intersection, and a convenience store at half the gas stations.

If there isn’t too much competition in fast food or in convenience stores, then maybe competition is not necessarily to be feared. Maybe it just means there is a lot of demand for this service.

Sometimes people reflexively want to reject a business with certain types of employees. Many times I’ve heard “You can’t succeed in a business with unskilled employees. They just aren’t reliable.” That hasn’t stopped McDonald’s though, has it?

I’ve also heard exactly the opposite: “You can’t succeed in a business that requires highly paid employees.”

My point is not to claim that a tight focus or high competition is nothing to worry about. Those are examples of things any sensible person should worry about. But worrying does not mean that you assume the business is a bad one. It just means you need to do some research to find out just how good the business is.

Only a fool would ever assume a franchise is good, and invest without doing research. It is just as bad of an idea to assume a franchise is a poor opportunity without doing research.

Leadership skills are something that will enhance your ability to be successful in your career no matter what direction you head.  If you pay attention to the people you have seen who have any amount of career success, you will notice that they exhibit some of the same behaviors.  Certainly, these skills are the basis for promotion and ultimately becoming a manager, but even if that isn’t where you want to head, you will discover career success by mastering them. (It also doesn’t hurt that with these skills, the boss will love you!)

Let’s look at some of the skills that a leader possesses and why they will serve you well throughout your career:

Shows initiative.  This is the skill of seeing something that needs to be done and doing it without being assigned to do it.  This might include generating ideas, volunteering for projects and looking for a better solution.  Bosses love people who do this, because as much as you might not realize it, they prefer for you to “see” what needs to be done rather than them having to tell you.  It’s a win all the way around.

Accepts responsibility.  This may sound funny, but there are some people who simply don’t want to be responsible for too much.  But you can be.  Be responsible for yourself and perhaps others.  Rally others to get something accomplished or improve a process.  This will help the manager as they can’t always know everything that is going on or head up all efforts to improve things.

Communicates effectively.  You don’t have to “pull” information out of leaders – they keep you well informed.  Some people think this is self promotion, and it really is to some degree, but our work doesn’t speak for itself – we do.  Communication is the weakest link in most groups; and that can lead to all kinds of issues.  When you keep people in the loop, informed of things in process, as well as completed you save yourself and other people time.  They will also be really pleased with you.

Thinks positively.   Granted even the most positive of us likes to complain and vent.  Leaders keep that to a minimum and tend to think about what’s possible.  It’s motivational to others.

Looks to the future.   A person can really be a leader when they think about a bigger picture than just today and how things are done now.  They look for continuous improvement and ongoing learning.  This spurs the thinking and ideas for how things could be made better.

As you can see, none of these things are difficult and there is no mention of promotion.  This is the bucket list of all hopeful managers – hopeful that they will have a department full of people who are leaders.

While you may not be doing anything wrong, there are some things that job seekers tend to do repeatedly and simply don’t realize it. It’s hard to tell sometimes especially with something you don’t have that much experience doing. You might check these things to see if this is you:

- No job clarity. This is the classic “I could do all kinds of things so I’ll apply for them” approach to job search. This won’t work. You must focus on 1-2 jobs.

- Mismatch in information. I’m applying to x job but my resume says I do “y” job. No wonder the hiring team rejected your resume.

- You aren’t networking. If you aren’t developing, expanding or nurturing your network, you probably won’t get a job anytime soon.

- You aren’t social networking. You don’t have to turn into a multi-social media platform person. Learn and use Linked In minimally and others if possible but you have to connect to people for a good job search.

- Online applications are your primary search. Stop that. Unless you like to compete and think you are super competitive in a group of 1000 you need to network. (see previous bullet)

- You don’t know “Why you?” You need to know the benefits of hiring you. If you aren’t sold on you no one else will be.

Your job search is like a finely calibrated instrument. If you are “off” on one thing you might find yourself lacking real progress toward that new job. Spend some time thinking through these things and seek help to get an expert opinion.

Join our next webinar from Career Studios to learn more:

[WEBINAR] Career Studios: 6 Common Job Search Issues and How to Avoid Them

Join us for an interview with our own Chris Perry and Dorothy Tannahill-Moran, Career Coach, will cover what every job seeker needs to know that can derail the job search, often times without even realizing it As a bonus to this event, Dorothy will cover how to troubleshoot and course-correct your job search.

Take action and register for FREE: https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/270416390

Event Details:

Date: Tuesday, May 22
Time: 5:30pm Pacific/8:30pm Eastern

Access: **Note this event is a GoToWebinar event. You can use either phone or computer to attend. After registering, you will receive a confirmation with instructions. Also, enrolled participants will receive a FREE downloadable recording of this session following the seminar.

*Career Studios are owned and operated by Chris Perry & Dorothy Tannahill-Moran

Visit Career Studios to sign up for more of our FREE career seminars!

In the corporate world, we often see the pursuit of success through changes in our career. Some leave their company and go to another one. Some change fields of expertise entirely, such as an engineer who becomes a manager. For one reason or another, we become dissatisfied with an aspect of our career enough to force ourselves to change it. How we perceive our locus of control has a huge impact on the direction we take in resolving the issue.

To understand this a little better, I sought out the expertise of Mark Sanborn, the author of “Up , Down or Sideways.” Below, you’ll see his analysis of why individuals engage in job change. This is only a portion of the interview, as the remainder of this interview will be woven into our next ebook, The MBA Guide to Career Change (to be released this summer).

Now, on with the interview.

Todd: Why do you think professionals are so restless?

Mark: If you’re not happy where you are, you aren’t happy where you are going. I think that one of the big career dangers is the belief that happiness is dependent on external circumstances. Research shows that happiness is based on our orientation towards life rather than what life throws at us. Shawn Achor, in his wonderful book “The Happiness Advantage,” says that we are not happy because we are successful, we are successful because we are happy. This may sound like a cute little bromide but it is based on research that shows that people who are positive and have an orientation that looks at life in a positive manner make the most of their situation and tend to perform better. They sell more, succeed more and achieve more at higher levels.

I would suggest that anybody thinking about doing a different job first think about whether they might be better served by doing the job they have now differently. This is not to say that we don’t ever need to switch employers. There are always toxic employers and jobs that don’t align with our values or skills but I think it is more often that we are suffering under the delusion that a different job is going to make us happy. I think it is about our internal orientation more than our external circumstances.

So, why are we restless? Well, the American dream is about moving onward and upward to better your lot in life. We are optimistic and want to believe there is a better opportunity out there. This is not bad but it is when our search for a better opportunity outweighs our ability to take advantage of our current opportunity. The other issue is that we use other people’s definition of success. We are either buying into a cultural definition which says a better job is one where you make more money, have more people under your authority or you travel more (or less). It’s really important for an individual to understand their own values and what success means to them. Even if you get to the top of the ladder, you may realize that you were successful but you were leaning your ladder on the wrong wall. You were successful by someone else’s definition. At the end of the day, you must be clear on what’s important to you because it will make you a little less restless potentially. Lastly, when you are searching for a new job, it will keep you focused on what you are looking for.

Thanks, Mr. Sanborn!

If you’d like to learn more about Mark Sanborn and his work, please read on.
Mark Sanborn, CSP, CPAE is president of Sanborn & Associates, Inc., an idea studio for leadership development. He is an award-winning speaker and the author of the bestselling books, The Fred Factor: How Passion In Your Work and Life Can Turn the Ordinary Into the Extraordinary, You Don’t Need a Title to be a Leader: How Anyone Anywhere Can Make a Positive Difference and The Encore Effect: How to Achieve Remarkable Performance in Anything You Do. His book Up, Down or Sideways: How to Succeed When Times are Good, Bad or In Between will be released by Tyndale October 2011.

To obtain additional information for growing yourself, your people and your business (including free articles),
Visit www.marksanborn.com, www.fredfactor.com, www.theencoreeffect.com and www.youdontneedatitle.com. To book Mark at your next event, call Helen Broder at 703-757-1204.

Todd Rhoad, MSEE, MBA is Director at BT Consulting, a career consulting firm in Altanta, and author of “Blitz The Ladder” and the soon to be released “MBA Owner’s Manual.” Todd can be reached at todd.rhoad@blitzteamconsulting.com.

While your first thought is to run screaming for your life to find another job, you know it took you ages to find this one – so you’re stuck there for countless months or even longer.  What can you do?

Unless you are a trust-fund baby, don’t quit your job until you have a new one.  But job searching may be difficult now because of how this will look on your resume.  You are probably looking at toughing this out for at least a year to look legitimate on the resume, but here are some tips to help you endure the situation:

“Play” to each person’s issues.   You have to pay attention to the strengths and ego of the involved hierarchy.  As an example, if you have a manager who is fearful of getting fired and afraid to make decisions (or simply poor at leadership), you have a couple of choices:

1. Slowly work your way up to making big decisions by making the small ones and “informing” the frightened manager.
2. Engage the manager in a conversation about boundary conditions of things they feel ok doing and work within that set of parameters.

You have to figure out how each key player functions, what dictates their behavior and how to best adapt your work style to them.  This may not be how you’d like things to work, but you can either add to a bad working group or be somewhat of a high point.

Document agreements.  I know this sounds like a pain but in a dysfunctional setting it’s good to have a trail of documents or emails to refer back to.  It will be difficult to get flogged for a poor memory or moving targets when you do simply sit down and reiterate conversations, agreements and decisions.

Don’t expect to do great things.  If your group is dysfunctional, the normal rules for growth don’t apply.  You’re in survival mode so spend your energy simply figuring out the most effective ways of interacting and performing.  You will learn a great deal in how to adapt your work style even in these conditions.

There is still an alpha dog.  In a dysfunctional setting, there will still be someone who assumes the role of the alpha dog or person who everyone needs to be accountable to.  Of course, when that isn’t the person in charge, you do have high potential for conflicting direction.  Running amok of the alpha will/can make your life miserable; which means your best approach is to create an alliance with them.  It may take some time and it could make you feel smarmy, but the closer you work with an alpha, the better your ability to be effective.

Be the positive one.  The other people have been in the miserable situation longer than you have.  They are probably far unhappier than you despite your waking up in a new, bad job.  If you decide to cop a strong positive outlook while you’re at work, you will actually be happier; and it’s likely to be somewhat contagious.  It does have its benefits.

Have a life.  If you have other things going well in your non-work life, it will help balance this situation.  This can be the thing that will help you endure for a year.

Find something good.  Even in the worst situations you can still find a few things that work well or that you can appreciate.  Find those things and focus your time and energy on them.

While life is too short to have an unhappy work-life, sometimes due to circumstances, you simply have to “grin and bear it” for a period of time.  Sooner or later many people do find themselves in this type of situation.  Learning the fine art of survival is as much a skill as learning new software.

However, finding a green job is not as simple as typing in “green” into a job search engine and sifting through the results — so how do you find what you’re looking for? Here are five tips to finding and landing a green job:

Research green companies. Although some are obvious, there are many organizations who have implemented eco-friendly business practices or sustainable work environments that you may not be aware of. Check out Newsweek’s annual “green ranking” of U.S. companies — surprised to see all of those technology companies made the list?

Don’t focus on the job title. Job searches for words like “environmental” often yield results like Environmental Scientist or Environmental Planner. These may not be exactly what you’re looking for. Instead, search for open positions based on the companies you’ve identified as “green” or find open positions in your industry and then research the organization.

Take steps to go green in your current position. Implement new practices to make your job more environmentally friendly — use natural light when possible, scan instead of print, turn off equipment when you’re not using it, telecommute if possible, etc.

Gain other green experience. Check out volunteer opportunities for green organizations in your community to show your commitment to going green. Then, when you’re ready to apply to a company that is committed to environmentally friendly practices, you’ll stand out among others with similar qualifications because you’ve shown commitment to green practices.

Highlight your passion for green practices. Help the employer understand why you’d love to work for the company by showing your previous experience with going green and emphasizing how important it is that you work for a company with a similar philosophy.

What do you think? What additional tips would you share about finding and landing a green job?

Kat Krull is the Marketing Manager of Resunate, the world’s only automatic resume tailoring tool. You can find Kat and Resunate on Facebook and Twitter.

Then more creative resume writers started to incorporate a Summary of Qualifications section, which was often a list of keyword related to the job and industry they came from, and then resumes became achievement oriented documents.

In 2012, the resume is no longer a fact sheet, but has evolved into a customized marketing document, and although it is still achievement oriented the definition of achievement and accomplishments is somewhat different.

Today, a resume can and in many cases should push the envelope well beyond what was acceptable as recently as 5-10 years ago, and with the emergence of social media, the art of resume writing has reached new heights.

Join our next webinar from Career Studios to learn more:

[WEBINAR] Career Studios: The Evolution of the Resume in the 21st Century

Join us for an interview with our own Dorothy Tannahill Moran, Chris Perry and Perry Newman, executive resume writer, who will take us through an exciting exploration of what a resume looked like in the past (and what your resume may still look like today) and learn how professionals transform them into marketing documents that will yield better results in terms of send-out to response rates, first and follow-up interviews, and job offers.

In the words of Sonya Williams, VP of Marketing for a Fortune 250 company, “Perry is a wealth of knowledge and expertise… Anyone who has a initial conversation with him will be immediately impressed with his candor as he takes one on a journey of what the ‘inside’ of building a resume and career is really all about. He is a true ‘gem’ for anyone who really wants to embark on a fun, educational and fruitful career journey!”

Take action and register for FREE: https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/556409646

Event Details:

Date: Tuesday, May 8
Time: 5:30pm Pacific/8:30pm Eastern

Access: **Note this event is a GoToWebinar event. You can use either phone or computer to attend. After registering, you will receive a confirmation with instructions. Also, enrolled participants will receive a FREE downloadable recording of this session following the seminar.

*Career Studios are owned and operated by Chris Perry & Dorothy Tannahill-Moran

Visit Career Studios to sign up for more of our FREE career seminars!

This document and the Franchise Agreement set out the complete terms under which you become a franchisee.  You might have great conversations with the franchise representative.  You might get to know, like, and trust him.  But what matters is what’s in writing.

If you are considering buying a franchise, you will need to get comfortable with this entire, legal-ease filled document.  Let’s start with a description:  What exactly is the Franchise Disclosure Document?

In the United States, franchises are all regulated by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).  One of the regulations requires every franchise to publish a Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) every year.  Every year the document must be updated with current information.  The FTC dictates what information must be included in the FDD.  The FTC actually writes the table of contents.  They ensure that each franchise company provides the same kinds of information, usually called “items”.

There are 23 sections in the FDD.  Let’s review of some of the most crucial parts.

There will be information on the senior managers of the company.  That is something you would want to know.  Has there been an ownership change?  If so, do the new owners have a background in the industry?  Have the owners ever filed bankruptcy?  This is the kind of information that will be included on the ownership, in Items #1, #2, and #4.

Has this company ever had a major law suit?  If so, it will be detailed in the FDD.  We all know even the most ethical company can be taken to court in The United States these days.  So a single lawsuit might not be a reason to worry.  But some franchise companies have literally dozens of suits between them and the individual franchisees.  If you see that kind of litigation history you know you could be in for big trouble after joining that franchise.  That’s a reason to pay attention to Item #3 – Litigation.

You know you have to make an investment in order to start a franchise, but how much?  That’s also in the FDD.  The company will give you ranges for every start-up cost that franchisees typically experience:  rent and advertising and construction.  They’ll tell you how much cash you should have on hand in order to cover your costs after you open.  Look at Items #5, #6, and #7 for this information.

Most people know that a McDonald’s franchisee must purchase all of their food products directly from the franchisor.  Does your franchise have a rule like this?  You can find out in Items 8 and 16.

Some franchises give you a protected territory, while others do not.  Neither of these is necessarily “better”, but you’ll want to read Item 12 to understand how the territory works in the franchise you are considering.

Item 19 is the one that is most often talked about.  This is the only optional part of the FDD.  In this section, the franchisor is permitted to share the financial results that existing franchisees have.  This is obviously important information to have.  Unfortunately, only about one-third of franchisors provide this.  But don’t worry – if yours does not, there is still a way to get this information.

The last item we will mention is usually cited as the most valuable.  In Item 20 the franchisor must show you how many franchises they have, as well as how many have opened and closed for the past two years.  What’s better is that they also have to provide phone numbers for every last franchisee.

Why is this so valuable?  Because those franchisees are your best source of information on the business.  You can pick up the phone and call as many of the existing franchisees as you like.  Whatever you want to know about the business, you can ask them.

The existing franchisees will give you an inside look into exactly what it’s like to own this franchise.  We find they usually give it to you straight – warts and all.  And after all, no one is in a better position to tell you what the business is really like than the people who are working in the business every day.

So, yes, the FDD is boring reading.  There is data and figures and statistics and charts.  All the things that might make your eyes glaze over.  But look hard at that document.  It is the key to learning just how good of an opportunity that franchise really is.

1. Indeed (free): Use this comprehensive job search engine to search for jobs across major job search engines and job boards.

2. Simply Hired (free): Check out Simply Hired for  (FREE): Simply Hired is one of the largest job search engines, aggregating job postings from across the web, including major job search engines, online newspapers, company websites and more.

3. JobCompass (free): Using the iPhone’s GPS, JobCompass will find open positions within a given radius of the are you’re in. You can also apply directly from your phone if you find one you like.

4. Gmail (free): Keep up with your emails to ensure you reply to employers in a timely fashion. Search your inbox or go to labels with the Gmail app for your smartphone. The iPhone app even has color-coded threading.

5. Highlight (free): Although you probably have Facebook or Twitter for your smartphone already, Highlight offers something different. It allows you to pull up profiles from people who are nearby and learn more about them. You can simply login with Facebook and see information others have made public, such as their name, photos, and mutual friends.

6. CardMunch (free): If you’re on LinkedIn, you can use CardMunch to transform business cards into contacts on your iPhone. The person’s contact information will also include LinkedIn profile data (when available).

7. Google Translate (free): Being able to translate other languages can be particularly useful when traveling, and Google Translate has more than 30 languages supported with pretty accurate results.

8. Evernote (requires membership): This app allows you to save ideas, things you like, and make notes on all of these things straight from your smartphone. It then synchronizes all of your files so you can access them from anywhere. The search function also comes in handy when looking for something specific.

9. Converter+ (free): This app helps you convert currency, figure out interest, and convert measurements for temperature, cooking volumes, and length, among other things. Quite handy on the go or when you’re traveling!

10. Cards (free to download; $2.99 each U.S.): Use this app to buy and mail customized greeting cards. Choose from a template for several different occasions and add your own photos and text — great for following up with a client or a prospective employer!

What other apps would you add to this list? Let us know in the comments.

Kat Krull is the Marketing Manager of Resunate, the world’s only automatic resume tailoring tool. You can find Kat and Resunate on Facebook and Twitter.

What does this mean for you? The positive is an increase in odds that you will receive an initial interview screen if you meet the employer’s minimum requirements. The negative — yes, there’s always a negative — you also have a greater chance of being turned off after five minutes if you fail to spark the interest of the interviewer.

The old adage couldn’t be more than true — you never get a second chance tomakeafirstimpression. If you want to impress an interviewer for all the right reasons, use the following four tips to create engaging video interviews.

1. Check off the basics: First things first, ensuring you have met the basics for video interviewing will allow you to move on past the professionalism piece and on to the fun part — creating engagement.

• Dress professionally: Choose the same attire you would wear to an in-person interview with the potential employer.
• Mind your manners (and your tongue): Speak slowly and clearly, avoid using jargon, slang, or obscenities, and maintain eye contact with the camera. Distractions are painfully evident when being recorded.
• Practice makes perfect: If you haven’t spent a lot of time in front of the camera, be sure to make some practice videos before filming the real thing. Explore different backgrounds and colors that will suit the camera and your face. The more you practice, the better you will get at letting your true self shine on camera.

2.  Try to remember there is a person behind the camera: Conversational styles tend to work best in video interviews and resumes. You want to draw your interviewer in and get their attention. They can get the basics from your resume, but the video interview allows them to get a true sense of who you are as a person. Again, practice will help you sound like you are talking to someone vs. appearing flat and nervous.

3. Show what you know: If you want to impress a recruiter or interviewer, tailor your responses to interview questions to show what you know about them in your responses. For example, if asked why you are interested in XYZ company, you might want to say that a theme of the organizations you have worked for is they use the newest technologies, and you really like that XYZ is not afraid to think outside of the box.

While this may seem like Interviewing 101, personalizing your responses is the number one thing the interviewer will be looking for. The employer wants a more comprehensive picture of you than what you can provide on a resume alone. They want to see that you are excited about their company and that you’ve done your homework.

4. Engage your viewer: Engaging with your interviewer as though you were sitting in the same room can be a real challenge when participating in video interviews. It is important to look directly at the camera during your interview and to avoid looking around at distractions. Looking around may send a signal to your interviewer that you aren’t interested in what’s being discussed. Unlike face-to-face interactions you don’t have the benefit of the viewer shifting their eye contact from you on occasion, so you have to work twice as hard to maintain your own with the camera.

Print out any materials you may need such as your resume, notes, etc. and avoid opening and closing documents on your computer during your recording. Additionally, be sure to silence any phones so that you don’t have to worry about one going off while you’re responding.

What tips do you have to ensure your video interview doesn’t get quickly deleted?

Josh Tolan is the CEO of SparkHire, which combines a video job board and online interviewing platform to enrich interaction between job seekers and employers. Connect with him and Spark Hire onFacebook andTwitter.