Job Hunting 102: Secrets to a Successful Job Application

Job hunting by Nick Youngson CC BY-SA 3.0 Pix4free

Crafting a Persuasive Cover Letter

Do I need to add a Cover Letter?  A persuasive cover letter can be quite challenging to some but if you really want to get that job this would be the something that you will need to do.  It however isn’t as difficult as it might seem.  The importance of the cover letter is tell the employer in your own words why you are applying for the job and what you might bring to the team.  It doesn’t have be multiple pages but a good cover letter uses one page to tell the employer more about you than what the resume can or will.   It is also good to have to make sure to highlight those skills that the employer is looking for.

Structuring the cover effectively can make a world of differences from being in the NO pile to being put in the YES pile.  The cover letter needs to be easy to ready and something that demonstrates why are a good fit for the company.   It could even show them that you are a good fit for team that you might have to work with.   Each Cover letter should be personalized and that can be difficult because that will take time but if you do it right then you will most certainly be put in the YES pile.  You’ll want to stand out and make them see you may bring a value to the company in one way or another.

Identifying Reputable Job Search Websites

Which sites are good for me to look for a job?  Not all Job search websites are the same, some are better than others and that can be negative to your finding a job.   You should strategically standout in online job portals.  You should have a resume that will draw people to ask for you to apply for a job or a even jobs.   The resume then can at least be showing people that you’re got some good talents.   What sites are good for looking for a job?  Here are a few websites that might work well with standing out, however these are just a few and you should look to figure out which ones you want to use:

These are just few that you can start looking for a job but you should optimize your profiles to show them what you are good at and to bring in those jobs that you are looking to apply to.  You’re online profiles are the first impression on what the employers will see when they are looking for potential job applicants that might be a good fit for the job they are looking to fill.   You should also setup email alerts for new jobs that show up and be ready to apply for them when they come into your mail box.   I am sure if you have filtered the right job searches for a particular field or industry you will be more likely to find those jobs that you want to work at.

Build and Expand Your Professional Network

You will most likely start getting job recruiters looking to fill a job that they have.   So you should keep the lists of people who have contacted you in the past and occasionally email them seeing if they have anything that you might be able to apply for.   Just be mindful that these recruiters make money by filling positions that companies are looking for so this isn’t always going to be the best approach but I’ve had some good luck with this in the past.  You should leverage all the social media sites you can from LinkedIn, Twitter(X), Facebook and maybe even put it out that you are looking for a job on Mastodon. As long as you know that it will be slow work trying to find recruiters that are specialized for what industry you are looking to work in, it can be a great way to at least find jobs that you might not find any other way.  Another good way to build and expan your professional network is to attend conferences or job fairs to possibly give the recruiter your resume.   These are the best way to make sure the employer gets the resume but isnt’ always going to bring you an interview it however is worth trying to help you job hunt.

If you liked reading this article why not check out the other article I’ve done already, Job Hunt 101: Mastering the Art of Applying for Positions.  I am not done with this topic and more are on the way, don’t forget to subscribe to the newsletter for even more articles like this.   Don’t forget to share this article to help support this blog.

How to Add #Loveisnottourism banner to your Social media profile pictures!

Social Media

It’s effeminately a very powerful to tool to use to make governments see us and hear our pleas and demands.   Everyone has learned that over the years.   Yet I look on some of the social media sites and don’t see the profile picture being changed.   I ask myself why didn’t they change their profile picture?  I can only assume some people don’t understand that your profile picture even on FB can make a tremendous impact in what someone or everyone see’s about you.   They rarely visit your profile and check for updates.   This can be a good or bad thing depending on how you want people to per-sieve you.   If you are a business or have a business and use your social media to promote your business.   I can see why it will look a certain way.   Yet we loose the value of ourselves when we don’t make our profile more pronounced when it comes to our loved ones.

International Travel

On my previous post I talk about all the travel bans and where you could look to find out information about  what might be required of if you could get into the nationality.   The next problem we are dealt with is that we need to make sure every government hears our desires, and wants, and not be able to keep us quite!

Setting your Picture profile up!

Now that you’ve decided to change your profile picture you have a few options to add a small text around or in your picture profile to make sure people better know what it is you are wanting them to see.   Here’s a few options:

First Option:

You can go to Love Is Essential website and upload your profile you want to use and they will gladly put a text in your picture with “Love is not Tourism” banner.  See below for example of what it might look like.

Second Option:

I used Facebook and uploaded a picture and Told Facebook to add a Frame to it.   I searched for “Love is Not Tourism“.   Then I added that frame to my Profile Picture and Your done with that part.   Now if you want to use that frame with other sites such as Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, or any other social media just download the picture by right clicking on your profile picture and save image to device or Desktop.   You’ll need to view your Facebook profile picture and then you can easily grab it.   I personally like this one better because it doesn’t obscure your picture but people can see your profile picture.

Third Option

This option is for those who don’t have Facebook or wants to make it even personalized.   You can smartphone apps like Snapseed or other Picture edition apps for your phone device.  You can add your personal messages to any photo then upload them to all your social networks.   This way everyone can see your text and know that you are wanting your local governments to know where you stand on this issue.

Finally,  If you do this it will help your cause because maybe one of the important people on Facebook, or even some other social network will see it and put pressure on the governments to allow loved ones into the country.

If you enjoyed this post please feel free to share it with others and encourage them to update their profile pictures and support our cause!

Not even Whatsapp is Private anymore!

Photo by Pixabay from Pexels

Whatsapp and Privacy

I’ve been using whatsapp for 2 years now and never thought a thing about it.  Recently I have been logging into Whatsapp and seeing the Facebook logo on the start screen of it on my mobile device.  Facebook bought Whatsapp in February 2014 about 6 years ago.   So I didn’t know about this until recently when they decided to update the apps on Google Play.  We all thought Whatsapp was end to end encryption.   Then I had Facebook ads start showing stuff that I didn’t even talk about or say anything on the Fb messenger.   I won’t explain what as been showing up with it because I want to keep my life private but I will say it’s a little disconcerning.   There’s even a post from another blogger named Sk babu about this such problem.  Is our encrypted message being unencrypted by Facebook and bots and people reading our messages.  

Should I stop using Whatsapp?

This has been a sour point with me and keeping my conversations with friends private.   Many bloggers around the world are suggesting we stop using Whatsapp because Facebook will sooner or later embed content moderation into our conversations.   So how are they going to do that if it is encrypted.   Simple, they have the master key to all encrypted content.   WhatsApp even said some of this in their blog posting 2016.

But by coordinating more with Facebook, we’ll be able to do things like track basic metrics about how often people use our services and better fight spam on WhatsApp. And by connecting your phone number with Facebook’s systems, Facebook can offer better friend suggestions and show you more relevant ads if you have an account with them.

Metrics and Phone Numbers?

What metrics is Facebook and Whatsapp tracking?  I can imagine if it’s end to end encryption that they can track much.   If this is really being tracked then how are they doing this?  Why would I want to connect my phone number to Facebook, if I wanted to be a private about this with other such applications.   It is really concerning in my mind and thus I want to move from WhatsApp to another app.

3 Apps that Might be an alternative to Whatsapp

I’ve been searching Google play and I have come up with a list of apps that look promising and these are:

  • Threema —  I was drawn to this app because it has a ranged of security features such as Trusted Contacts, and Highest level of encryption.  I do see a small set back is that it cost money to buy the program.  So there is that but I like that it has a level of trust for people by verify there identity with a qr code.
  • Signal Private Messaging App —  This is an open sourced and uses Open Whisper Systems.   It is also free but there isn’t much way to verify someone on Signal but it is secure and you can keep private by routing your calls through the server to avoid your ip from showing.  I’ve tried and it looks promising.
  • Telegram — I’ve used telegram from gaming and other such activities and I am impressed with it but there is much to desired by it because you can’t verify anyone’s identity without your Telephone number.

These are three that I recommend and have used 2 out of the 3.  I might just buy Threema and check it out and tell you what I think.   Do you have a secure messaging app that you want to recommend.  Why not leave a comment and tell me your experiences on it!