Guest Blogger

Guest Blogging for Procella Consulting

If you're looking to blog with us, check out the guidelines and submit your works! We love sharing our world with so many people!

Our blog website: http://procellaconsulting.blogspot.com/

Our due dates: You must have your article in 3 days before the post date. We will remind you before that date, and on it. If your article is late we will reschedule your post date.

Our contacts: You will be working with Heather Lopez, owner of Procella Consulting. Her email is procellaconsultants@gmail.com and phone number 910-382-5951.

Our Websites/Social Sites: We use our websites and social sites to promote our blog. Your post will be featured on our websites/social sites as well. Here are the links to these sites so that you can see our work. If you don’t want your articles on one of these sites, just let us know.

Your post date: Your post date will be determined by our schedule and the article content. We will give you at least two options to choose from. If these do not work for you, we will discuss other options.

Our posting guidelines: We will pre approve any articles. We do not allow excessive vulgarity (all though we will allow one or two words of profanity if it’s used appropriately). We do not allow any bashing of cultures, religions, creeds, or ways of life. We do not allow nudity, sexually explicit materials, or anything against the law.

Our style guide: We have our own way of writing, and so do you. We do not repress your style or how you write. So please feel free to express yourself in any way you like.

Your images: We allow images so long as they do not break our posting guidelines. Please make sure you have all permissions needed to use your images.

Your links: Please be sure to check that your links work before submitting them. You must have all appropriate permissions to use the links also.

Your word count: We do not set a limit nor a minimum for word counts. However, if your article is extensive in size, we might need to break it down into segments. If this is needed, we will work with you to get this done in a way that pleases both of us.

Your topic: Topics must be business or professional related. We encourage diversity of topics as well as out of the box thinking. The more unique, the better!

Your headlines: Please make sure that your headlines/titles are not over 20 words. We want to keep them short and sweet! You may add a longer subtitle to be included in the top of the post if needed.

Your format: We know that everyone works in different ways and would not want to stifle your creativity. We only ask that you have at least a title, body, and summary available. How you decide to format your post is up to you. Please make sure that it is legible and comprehensive for our audiences.

Our pages/categories: We add everything in our blog under at least one label/page. We decide which your is put under. However, if you think it belongs in a certain one just let us know and we'll include it. Our page/labels are as follows- Career Path, Featured Business, List & Tips, News & Hot Topics, Procella News, Professional Profile, RGV News, Start-Up, Weekend Work, You ask We answer.

Our SEO notes: Please let us know if you’d like to add your own preferred SEO, we always work hard to make sure you are benefited of course.

Your bio, headshot, or EP: If you’d like to add a picture, bio, or Entrepreneur Profile please feel free to add one for us to use. We want to make sure you receive all the credit you’re due for your work!

What are your non-negotiables?

Wow, what a deep question? At least that’s what I think. It’s one of the most life altering questions you can ask yourself. Have you ever stopped, sat down, and wrote out your non-negotiables. I believe everyone who wants to do something great with their lives has to, at some point, take the time to identify their non-negotiables. I am constantly reviewing my non-negotiables. I have to! They keep me focused on my dreams and help me to not settle in this life.

Do you ever feel like you are settling? Like you have stopped fighting for your dreams and are becoming content with just getting by? Having a job that barely pays the bills? Having ok relationships instead of your Prince Charming? I believe that having non-negotiables helps you proclaim your decision to have the life you know you deserve. It’s a reference point for you to use to verify that you’re on track.

So lets talk about what exactly is a non-negotiable …

There are decisions that are made in your mind based upon on your values and beliefs and convictions that you will not change. These are ‘deal breakers’ to you, your non-negotiables, the lines you will not cross. If you don’t know what your ‘deal breakers’ in life are, those things that no one can talk you into doing, then you don’t really know yourself very well.

Some non-negotiables are things you won’t do under any circumstances. Others are those things that you refuse to let anyone stop you from pursuing. There are some things that we all (hopefully) agree are non-negotiables for everyone, like not committing murder or not stealing. Other non-negotiables are things that are very personal and specific to us.

Here are some samples of my non-negotiables:

Here are some things that I WON’T do:

I won’t break the law. (ehem, this might not include the occasional speeding…)
I won’t cheat on my husband.
I won’t jeopardize my health for the prosperity of my business.
I won’t drink, swear, or do anything that violates God’s laws.
Some of my non-negotiables are things I WILL do:

I will pray and read the Bible daily.
I will read a self-improvement book at least 15 minutes every day.
I will educate and empower a minimum of 10 people every month.
I will have a date night with my husband at least once each month.
I will journal and write down my goals each week.

How do I know that these are my non-negotiables? I know because I have been tested. I have been in many different situations where decisions about these values of mine have come up and I haven’t budged despite considerable pressure to do so.
Do I work hard on my business and put all of my energy into it? Yes! Will I allow my health to fail while I push myself harder and harder to get one more thing done at work? No! Having good health is non-negotiable to me.
Do I go out with friends and have a great time? Yes! Will we go out clubbing and drinking! No! Breaking God’s laws is a non-negotiable to me. I’ll find other things we can do and still have fun.
Do I have a date night with my husband at least once a month? Yes! Will we spend money we don’t have to do it? No! Keeping my marriage fresh and new is a non-negotiable for me and we’ll find fun things to do that won’t break our budget.
Do I read my goals every day? Yes! Will I allow life and other people to distract me? No! Dreaming big everyday is non-negotiable to me. I always keep track of where I want to go and how I’m going to get there.

Non-negotiables shouldn’t be a chore
The idea of non-negotiables is that they aren’t a chore to be done, but rather who we are without thinking about it. They’re just a part of your day. You just do them.
How do you make them a part of you? Ask yourself these questions:
What do I believe? What are my values?
What actions would I say no to no matter who asked me to do them?
When can I make time for things I need to do EVERY day? Where can I place them so that they’re a priority in my life?
When I wake up in the morning, how can I feed my body and soul today in order to bring my best self to the world?
You are supposed to live who you are to the best of your ability, while constantly seeking to improve. Non-negotiables are the tools to help you do this.

Non-negotiable doesn’t mean inflexible
Being flexible is important. Non-negotiables aren’t meant to be a straight jacket for our lives. They’re meant to define us and help us decide how we will behave without sacrificing that sense of self.
If we decide that we won’t go clubbing, it doesn’t mean that we don’t spend time with our friends. It just means that we figure out how to do it somewhere other than in clubs.
If we decide that we’re not going to hang around negative people and our boss is negative, that doesn’t mean that we quit our job (although that might need to be an option). It just means that we spend as little time around him and listening to his negativity that we can get away with.
The thing to watch out for is that we don’t get so flexible that we lose our grip on what’s really important to us. Little by little, day by day, we can let things slide in such a way that pretty soon the things that matter are no longer a part of our daily or life routine. If that happens, we’ve lost sight of who we are and what our values are. In other words, we’ve forgotten what our non-negotiables are.

Here are a few thing that might need to be non-negotiable in your life.
Your physical, mental, and emotional well-being

A healthy relationship with yourself

Keeping your word to yourself and others

Associating with positive people

Your values

What are the things that you won’t compromise on, the things that no one can talk you out of either doing or not doing? Be specific and detailed. These are the things that define you. These are your non-negotiables and they make you great, not just good. I strongly believe that good is the enemy of greatness. Don’t settle!

Eight Reasons Why You Should Network

How powerful is the statement: “I know someone who can …” when someone says it to you?

If you want it to be you that everyone knows, thinks of and recommends, you have to be a good networker and be comfortable building relationships.

Here are the eight key reasons to network:

1. Driving word-of-mouth recommendations 

This is the essential reason for networking. The more people you know who know what you do the more recommendations you will get. Successful businesses are built on referrals.

2. Encouraging mentors 

Networking helps you to find people with lots of business experience who are often very willing to share their knowledge with you. Successful business people are usually generous with advice particularly with people open to listening.

3. Finding suppliers

Networking is a great way to find the best suppliers and to build value-for-money relationships.  Whatever sort of supplier you are looking for, whether it is an accountant, copywriter, recruiter, web designer, or insurance broker you will come across them all in your networks. Finding suppliers that network often provides opportunities for two-way business.

4. Understanding market opportunities

Networking is a great way to broaden your thinking and to find new ideas to find potential clients or see different target markets that you hadn’t thought of. People you meet networking often can help you to identify new market opportunities you might not have thought of. Some people you meet may offer synergies with what you do.

5. Getting new ideas and innovations

Meeting other business people and talking about business is a fantastic way of learning new ways to do business. Every business is different and all business people have their own ideas. Finding out how people in other industries, other markets or with different products get business helps you to generate new ideas and perhaps adapt other people’s innovations to your own business.

6. Finding inspiration 

Entrepreneurs share a common energy. Mixing with people who have to rely on their own resources to survive and who have to think outside the square to get the edge on their competitors is always an inspiration. Meeting business people who have the same difficulties but are willing to share their solutions is a great encouragement.

7. Improving your communication

Getting out there and introducing yourself and your business to strangers soon teaches you the best way to get your message across. At first it can be very hard but practice and familiarity soon makes it second nature. I have seen some people transform from shy beginners to confident crowd-players as their experience builds.

8. Making great new friends 

Although we focus on business, networking can also bring you wonderful new friends. It can’t fail to! You share your ideas, your goodwill and your enthusiasm for business with like-minded people. Strong friendships combined with strong business alliances are very powerful forces in building your network.

his is a guest post written by Caroline Gilroy – Principal Consultant at Purple Lightbulb

Everything You Need to Know to Start a Microbusiness

Pay Off Your Debt

Before you leave your day job and declare your independence, be debt free with $1000 emergency fund. That doesn’t mean wait until that happens to get started, but I suggest waiting until that happens to quit your job. I chose to save 2 months of income so that I wasn’t pressured to make money immediately. I didn’t want to start a business with the anxiety of where the next dollar would come from. If I hadn’t paid off my debt, I never could have saved the money.

Assess Your Income Needs
You may want to make a lot of money, but to get started think about how much you really need to make. Your Money or Your Life and Smalltopia to define that number.

Dream
Maybe you don’t know what you want to do. You might be so overextended and burnt out with your current job and lifestyle that you have no idea what interests you. I just started reading The Fire Starter Sessions by Danielle LaPorte. If you don’t like what you are doing, but don’t know what’s next, this book is next.

Brainstorm Business Ideas
In The $100 Startup, Chris Guillebeau says “To start a business, you need three things: a product or service, a group of people willing to pay for it, and a way to get paid. Everything else is completely optional.” I’ll add that it will help if you know and love what you are selling. That makes you much better at what you do and takes the sting out of asking for money. When you know you are offering your very best, and that product or service will help someone else, you will feel good about getting paid for it.

Visit an Accountant
There are plenty of tools online like outright.com to help you manage your business finances, but I recommend meeting with a local expert. Understand tax laws, organize your business and have a friend in your local area that can help if problems arise.

Develop a Platform
Every client that I’ve worked with found me as a result of this blog. They may have found this blog fromtwitter or another blog, but they didn’t find me because my face was on a billboard, or magazine ad. Each person found me because I showed up on this blog and wrote helpful information consistently. Building a blog will be your number one way of developing new ideas and connecting with clients, business partners and investors.

With my history in the advertising industry, I can tell you with no uncertainty that times have changed. Your business will not grow because you throw thousands of dollars at TV spots and magazine placements. Your business will grow because you will take time to let people get to know you through a platform like a blog. It will grow because you help people and they will tell other people that you helped them.

Keep Your Day Job
The early stage of new business planning is not the time to leave your job, unless money is no issue. The early stage of new business planning is the time to hustle. I launched this site 2 years ago and quit my job 7 months ago. There were 13 months of writing nights and weekends, staying up late, waking up early and working extra hours. The beauty of it was that it wasn’t exhausting. It was exhilarating. I knew I was building my future work. I knew I wouldn’t be attending anymore weekly meetings. I knew I wouldn’t be writing reports or be chained to a desk or a cell phone from 8-5. I knew I wouldn’t need a committee to make a decision and that I would have an opportunity to do some really cool stuff.

Set a Date (or several)
I set 3 different dates before I pulled the trigger, but each date gave me hope and motivation. My first date was May 2011 but I wasn’t ready, then July 2011, and my dog needed an expensive surgery that depleted my jump ship fund, and my 3rd date at the end of September 2011 stuck. Setting a quit date will be a reminder that this isn’t a pipe dream or a hobby. This is your life.

Read and Connect
There are people out there doing what you want to do or doing something that can help you do what you want to do. Meet them, work with them, learn from them and read their stuff. I’ve learned from the best in my field, Leo Babauta, Pam Slim, Chris Guillibeau, Darren Rowse, Seth Godin (+ many others) have all helped me with in person meetings, phone consultations or through writing amazing content that shaped my business. If they didn’t have a blog, I never would have found them.

Hire Someone
A consultant or business coach can help you brainstorm and organize your ideas, streamline your business and put an idea into action. Yes, you can hire me.

Use Virtual Partners
You don’t need a staff to run your business, instead, use free or paid microbusiness resources.

Recommend Responsibly
One source of your microbusiness income can come from recommending other products. When you purchase a product I recommend, it is sometimes through an affiliate link and I receive a commission. The commission can be anywhere from 4-80% depending on the product and the partner. While this post has several affiliate links, I know that each recommendation is valuable. If I started linking to popcorn makers, credit card deals and furniture, you’d see that the recommendations don’t fit the message and you wouldn’t trust future recommendations or ideas that I share.

Full disclosure is necessary legally and in terms of building trust. If you visit my I love page, you can read my disclaimer at the end of the page.

Test. Fail. Repeat.
Not everything you do will work. Fortunately, you are out of debt, building your platform, connecting with new people and will try something new. The benefit of a microbusiness is that you can try again. You won’t be filling your garage with millions of dollars of widgets that won’t sell, leaving you broke. Instead, you can create on demand and give your people what they want.

Get Real
You won’t be working from the beach everyday, even though some people do. I like the beach, but I also have a family to take care of, grocery shopping to do, bills to pay, and a child to pick up from school. None of that changes when you own your own business. The romance of location independence work can be alluring, but instead, think about how working for yourself would benefityour lifestyle. I love that I can walk my dog in the morning, exercise in the afternoon and work when I like instead of when an office is open. I can also work when I travel.

Treat People Like People
If you start your own business, you will be working with people. Care about them. Help them. Support them.

Partner
I am not a fan of partnering on a business, but I love partnering on business projects. Working with Leo Babauta on theclutterfreecourse.com and Tammy Strobel on Your Lovely Life has been fantastic. We share the workload, get to know each other better and learn from each other.

Dump Perfection
I am sure that there is a spelling or grammar error in this post and someone will email and tell me about it. That error and my general lack of perfection does not dilute my message. If you make a mistake, you can correct it. If you wait until things are perfect, nothing happens.

Start Now
This isn’t your someday business. The right time is right now. You don’t need a mission statement, marketing plan or quarterly projections to get started. You don’t need a degree in business or a special certificate. You just need an idea, a taste or tolerance for uncertainty and a good sense of humor. Supportive friends and family help too!

Is this really everything you need to know about how to start a microbusiness? It’s everything you need to know to get started, and the rest … you don’t know what you don’t know and you won’t completely know what you need to learn until you get started. My business is different from what I thought it would be, and I know next year it will change again. The only constant in our lives and business is change and we need to embrace it.

By Courtney Carver

Weekend Work #6

We're going to say we're sorry. 

No, not us to you. 

You to someone else. 

How many times have you just overlooked or deleted that email that's been in your inbox forever. Well, no more avoiding it. It's time to apologize!

Here's 5 email apologies that you should have on hand! Brought to you by the book Send by David Shipley & Will Schwalbe which i highly recomend to anyone that emails. At all.

1. I have an aweful feeling that I've neglected to answer your kind/urgent email....
2. I woke up in a panic with the realization that I neglected to answer you....
3. A thousand apologies for the slowness of my reply...
4. I am a horrible person and a terrible friend...
5. I have no good excuse for my rudeness in not answering... 

Now, go send at least 1 email apology. Let's see what happens....

Quick Business Plan Overview

Are you thinking about that horrible evil vile thing of a business paln? It's terrible to have to think about how to take an idea and make it real- in paper- out of thin air....

So here's a help! Just do this quick exercise to get those business juices flowing!

Business Plan Quickie

Business Vision:

What do you want your company to be?

Where do you want your company to go?

Company Goals:

What is your purpose and mission?

How will you achieve your vision?

What is your promise to your customers?

Marketing Strategy:

How will you grow your business?

How will you reach out to your customers?

What are the current opportunities that exist?

Financial Objectives:

What is your financial goal after your first year of operation?

What measurements will you use to determine if your goals are being met?

How will you measure success?

Action Plan:

What actions are you carrying out to achieve your vision?

What is your timeline for carrying out key projects?

How much will each project cost?

The Office Space

We're diving into that spot you go everyday- the office. From fun and great ideas, cool and unique designs, to some not so great things to keep there.

First, take a fun quiz on our Facebook page to see what your office says about you!

Here are 22 interesting office facts! Share these fun office facts at your next coffee break!

1. One percent of U.S. employers allow employees to take naps during working hours.
2. People in the U.S. spend at least 1896 hours per year at work.
3. Women business owners employ 35% more people than all the Fortune 500 companies combined.
4. No piece of normal-size paper can be folded in half more than seven times.
5. During thinking, we only use about 35% of our brains.
6. A typist’s fingers travel 12.6 miles during an average workday.
7. More American workers (18%) call sick on Friday than any other day of the week.
8. Tuesday has the lowest percent of absenteeism for American workers—11%.
9. Difficulty focusing on the computer screen, short-term memory problems and trouble with basic math can be caused by a mere 2% drop in body water. Remember to stay hydrated during work hours.
10. More people walk to work in Alaska than any other U.S. state.
11. Americans now spend more than 100 hours a year commuting to work.
12. More than  50% of lost work days are stress related, keeping approximately 1 million people home from work every day.
13. The average office worker spends 50 minutes a day looking for lost files and other items.
14. The United States has the fourth largest workforce in the world, at 154.2 million (does not include those who are unemployed).
15. Forty percent of worker turnover is due to job stress.
16. Remember to always take notes during meetings, as the brain retains less than 5% of what is said.
17. Each person owns at least eight distinctive intelligences (Musical, Bodily-Kinesthetic, Naturalistic, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal, Verbal-Linguistic , Logical-Mathematical, Spatial), and these are further developed whenever used at work.
18. “Stewardesses” is the longest word typed with only the left hand.
19. Refrigerating rubber bands makes last longer.
20. Eighty percent of jobs are gained through networking.
21. Sixty-six percent of full-time workers in the U.S. say they are heavy drinkers (consuming five or more drinks per sitting at least five day per month), while only 4.9% of part-time workers in the U.S. say they are heavy drinkers.
22. People spend one in every four and a half minutes online on social networks and blogs.

Now for something super fun! Here's some great offices that like to be unique! Share your office spaces with us too! Email them in or post them to our facebook!

  Check out this video of office space gone wrong!

Share your Office fun with us! 

Need Event Promotions or Planning? Hidden Entertainment is IT!

It's the Holidays! Lots of fun, getting together, many parties.... it's great! But also sometimes stressful!

Hidden Entertainment is here for you! An event planning and promotion company that has everything you need! Based in Brooklyn, NY Hidden Entertainment is a great resource for any family, business, artist, organization, and even non-profit!

You name it and they can provide it! With an experienced staff working around the clock, you can be sure they will get the job done and right the way you want it. From an Album Release to a Zoo themed fund raiser, they've got your back!

Check them out at their website here and Facebook page too! Don't forget to follow them on twitter too! 

To contact this awesome company, just click here!

*Company is looking to partner with 

local vendors in the Brooklyn Area. 

Please email at hiddenentertainments@gmail.com 

or call 971-652-2808 for more details!*

*Hidden Entertainment is also looking for investors! 

If you'd like to know more 

please follow up with an email or call. 

Thank you!*

What were you thinking?

I have a book that I love to sight when trying to show a client that their biggest problem is themselves. Thinking for a Change by John C. Maxwell is a great resource to help you see how your thinking can't be a trap for yourself and how to change it to be your strength instead. I'm just going to share a quick summary of the top three lessons I learned from this book and use daily.

          1) Good thinking is the foundation of good results.
"Good thoughts and actions can never produce bad results; bad thoughts and actions can never produce good results." -James Allen, American Philosopher
           This you know is true, whether you admit it or not. All you have to do is think good thoughts. How many times have you focused on the negatives of your day only to have it go worse and worse for you? Sucks right? So don't do it. Really, it sounds simple, but we know how hard you have to work at it. Give it a try today. Focus on the good things that have happened already, and the great things you're looking forward to in this week.

          2) Good thinking increases your potential.
"Beware when the great God lets loose a great thinker on the planet." -Emerson
          Can you imagine that? Where you are now in the world? In your life? What if it could be even better? Why wouldn't you take that great little helper? Thinking the right way is free, it's not that hard, it won't take up your time or resources, it's your greatest resource! Use it.

          3) Good thinking produces more good thinking IF it's a habit.
"The problems we face today cannot be solved on the same level of thinking we were at when we created them." -Albert Einstein
          Thinking the right way is your best habit to keep, and easiest to break. Thinking creatively, outside the box, it helps to bring you to your solutions. Remember, don't focus on the problem. It will only complicate it. Focus on your solution. What you want to happen instead, and the way to get there will be easier than you imagined.  

Want to read more? I highly recommend it! Click the link here to buy the book for yourself!

Weekend Work #6

Business Lessons I learned from Sons of Anarchy

I am slightly in love with the dangerous drama Sons of Anarchy. I watch every week with my husband, edging and squirming in my seat waiting to see what happens to the SAMCRO crew. I get mad when they're attacked, I feel the sadness of the past, and I cheer when Gemma does something bad#*@! But then I realized, that Jax runs his Club just like I run my business. So, you fellow leather lovers, here's what I learned in doing business from SOA:

• Bad Communication is Dead Business

Everyone knows the game telephone. But would you play it with SAMCRO or the Irish? Probably not. Because you know the message will be wrong, and loosing to them might be the end of you. So why don't you apply this to your business? We have so many ways to talk to each other now that it becomes more problem than a solution. You sent your co-worker an email, then he replies in text, but you don't see it in time, so you try to facetime him right fast before the meeting, but he can't answer, so he messages you on Facebook instead.... You know what happens. So my answer is to delegate strict communication rules. If you need me right away, call. Need me sometime today, text. Sometime this week or longer, email. That's it. I keep my professional communications simple, so I don't loose work.

• Loyalty Is Key

The Sons of Anarchy are the perfect example of loyalty. They show it every day in their unwillingness to rat on anyone for gain and protecting the club with all it's members plus their families. You can show your loyalty by rewarding the talent that you see in other coworkers, your employees, and vendors you work with. Keep them encouraged. They should always know how you feel through your words AND your actions.

• Don’t Assume Everything

You know the cliche, yup, that one. Just don't do it, ever, with anyone or anything. This point is simple and easy to follow. Leaders sometimes have to make decisions without having all the facts, but a good business professional pulls in as much information as possible and takes counsel from mentors in order to dictate the best course of action.

• They don't have to like you, just love your business

Despite SOA's reputation for shooting first and asking questions later, the Sons are still a lovable group of criminals. This is evident in the long lasting and deep relationships that they hold plus the family life they share. You can maintain your business love-ability by engaging with customers and working hard to continuously develop new relationships.

• Give you Team all they need

 It's not that hard. Just make sure you're delegating the right tasks to the right person. And don't leave them hanging. If you are giving out project assignments, give them the right tools to use. You won't see Bobby going to blow away the Irish with just a knife. Jax will make sure he has the guns needed. So don't send your employees to fight with just a pen.

• You will HAVE to Fight for It

If you want it, if it's worth it, make sure you fight for it. You will never succeed in any business industry without fighting for something. Struggling past an obstacle. It's through the fight that you learn how to win.

• Let go what you can't control

Every episode I watch seems to have a big “I’ll take care of it” or “I’d never let that happen” sentence from a "Man in Charge". Despite their bad-butt attitude and good hearted intentions, even they are totally powerless in affecting the outcome. With your business there are too many external forces which you must realize you can't influence. Wasting time and efforts on things you can't change won't help you or your business. Identifying what these factors are and how they influence your business is such a critical part to working through them to achieve your goals.  

• A Fresh Perspective is a Game Changer

In season five, the club started out with a new vice president. You don’t need to step down from your business, but asking others thoughts and opinions is always a great asset that's under used. Maybe you can bring in a consultant. Maybe it’s just a matter of listening to the suggestions of your loyal and new customers, clients, or employees. 

It is possible to learn business inside tips from a group of outlaws. Putting these lessons into your practice will only make your business tougher & stronger. And awesome leather vest with company patches are always a great way to go!

Tony the Turkey Takeover! Week 2

Pumpkins, Pilgrims, & Pies! Oh My!

 

 

Post pictures or videos of you with a pumpkin, a pilgrim, a pie, and as many P items as possible! Get creative! 

Be sure to send or attach your list of P items. 

Winner with the most get's a FREE Website layout done just for them by Wix.com! 

Interview FAQs & The way to answer!

Here are some of the usual questions in an interview. Already know them? Great! Then here is how you should be answering! You aren't? Uh oh....

Tell me about yourself
	Be prepared to talk about yourself within one or two minutes. Be logical. Start anywhere, such as your education or first professional position. The interviewer is trying to evaluate your communication skills and linear thinking. You may score a point or two by describing a major personal attribute.
What are your strengths and weaknesses?
	Know three to five of your key strengths - the ones most compatible with the job opening. Discuss with specific examples. Don't include your management or interpersonal skills unless you can describe specific examples of good management, or how your relationship skills have been critical to your success. A suggested response may sound like this: "My main strength is my sense of commitment to tasks. When I am given something, I cannot rest until I complete it. Of course, one's greatest strength can also be a weakness in that I tend to be a bit of a workaholic at times."
What do you want to do 5 years from now?
	Be realistic! Pie-in-the-sky goals label you as immature. one or two management jumps in 3-5 years is a reasonable goal. If your track record indicates you're in line for senior management in 10 years, then mention it. If you've had a rocky road, be introspective. A suggested answer could be: "5 years is a long time, I would like to learn more about marketing and the hospitality industry and perhaps be in a position of responsibility in this field."
Why are you leaving your current job?
	This is a very critical question. Don't bad mouth your previous employer or co-workers or sound too opportunistic. It's fine to mention major problems, a buy-out or a shutdown. You may want to state that after long personal consideration, your chance to make a contribution is very low or extensive company-wide changes. Answer truthfully but not in a way that is self-damaging. You do not have to make others look bad in order to look good. Suggested answers may be something like these: "I enjoyed my job but I felt that the company was not able to give me the long term growth I need as their business is not doing that well, which is why I applied for this job" OR "I believe I can do more and I felt that opportunities in my previous company were limited, which is why I applied for this job."
What can you offer our company? OR Why do you want to join our company?
	Sometimes interviewees make the mistake of saying that they want to learn. This offers no value to the prospective employer! Others say that they want to join a particular company because of their interest in a particular field. This does not answer the question as you could join any one of their competitors. Instead say why you have selected their company. For example, you may answer as follows: "Your company enjoys a high profile and is a market leader, as such I feel that I can make useful contributions toward your company's growth. By nature, I am a goal-oriented person, as such I feel that I can add to your company's sales performance."
One of our biggest problems is... What has been your experience with this? How would you deal with it?
	Think on your feet. Ask questions to get more details and break the problem into subsections. It is highly likely that you will have had some experience dealing with the subsections. Answer these and summarize the total. If you can't answer directly, state how you would go about solving the problem. Be specific and show your organizational and analytical skills. Demonstrate your problem solving and logic skills.
How has your technical ability been important in accomplishing results?
	A potential employee needs a strong level of technical competence. Most strong managers and executives have good technical backgrounds. Describe specific examples of your technical abilities, and how you resolved a technical issue.
How would you handle a situation with tight deadlines, low employee morale and inadequate resources?
	Your interviewer is looking for strong management skills in managing human resources and creatively sourcing resources. You need to be creative and innovative in describing your toughest management task, even if it doesn't meet all the criteria. Most situations don't. Organizational and interpersonal skills, handling pressure and an honest and good response to this question are indicative of effective management skills.
Are you satisfied with your career to date? What would you change if you could?
	Be honest. The interviewer wants to know if you'll be happy. Are you willing to make some sacrifices to get your career on the right track? Your degree of motivation is an important selection factor.