Exploring Careers Through Job Shadowing

Exploring Careers Through Job ShadowingExploring Careers Through Job ShadowingJob shadowing is a career exploration activity that offers an opportunity to spend time with a professional currently working in your career field of interest. Job shadowing offers a chance to see what its actually like working in a specific job. Not only do job shadowers get to observe the day-to-day activities of someone already employed in the industry youre interested in, job shadowers get a chance to have their questions answered. Explore Your Career Options Career exploration is the second phase of the career planning process. Once the first phase of self-assessment is completed, it is then time for you to learn more about the vast array of career options that currently exist. Of course, the web offers a multitude of resources from which you can learn about careers. ONet OnLine, The Occupational Outlook Handbook, and WetFeet are just three of the offerings. You can also check the Career Services O ffice at your college to see if they can recommend additional resources. In addition to reading about the career options that exist, gaining exposure and first-hand experience through job shadowing (as well as internships) can make the difference between assuming what a potential career would be like and experiencing it first-hand by working on-site. How to Snag a Job Shadowing Experience First, check with your college to see if they offer a formal job shadowing program through their Career Services Office. If not, career counselors can be an enormous help in either helping you find a potential job shadowing opportunity or pointing you in the right direction. The alumni of your college may also know of businesses (either large or small) that offer job shadowing and government agencies often offer job shadowing programs for students. Dont be shy about going direct and reaching out to any organization that interest you to see if there is someone currently working in your career f ield of interest who would be interested in hosting a job shadower. Even its for a few days over the summer or during one of your college breaksthe experience would be helpful. How to Prepare for Your job Shadow Position You want to make sure you make a good first impression so be sure to check out the dress code beforehand. If youre in contact with your job shadow sponsor, dont hesitate to ask about theappropriate dress code for your department or team. Becausejob shadowing is similar to information interviewing, preparing a list of questions beforehand is essential to getting the most out of the experience. Once the shadowing experience is over, immediately send out a thank you note that highlights what you enjoyed (and learned) the most and express your gratitude to the job shadow sponsor who took the time to work with you. Job Shadowing for Career Changers Job shadowing can also be a good path for those in the process of changing careers. Not only can a job shadow provide more information than youll find online, it offers a first-hand look at the culture of the organization. The importance of a good cultural fit cant be underscored enough. In addition to possessing the relevant knowledge and skills to successfully completing a job, fitting in with the overall culture and getting along with team members is crucial to not only your success but happiness. Career changers possess a lot of transferable skills that they can bring to a new job. However, depending on the nature of the change, additional training or education may be required.

4 Benefits You Can Negotiate (and How to Do It!)

4 Benefits You Can Negotiate (and How to Do It)4 Benefits You Can Negotiate (and How to Do It) As you consider what you need most out of a new position, salary is an important component of your compensation picture - b ut its not the only factor. A guide published by Northwestern Mutual titled Changing Jobs? Top Financial Considerations Beyond Salary cites data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to solidify the claim Salary typically accounts for just 70 percent of an employees total compensation. Benefits make up the remaining 30 percent.When it comes to benefits, its important to have a clear sense of where you can negotiate. Ellen Kuntzmann, Director-Talent Acquisition for Integrity Staffing Solutions advises When speaking with a hiring manager you will want to understand what benefits can be negotiated vs. what is fixed. For example, smaller companies may not be able to adjust medical benefits but would be more likely to offer additional PTO. This is wher e you want to do your research and be clear on what youre after. Also, recognize what constitutes fixed benefits youre unlikely to negotiate your way into a program the company doesnt offer. So its probably not a good strategy to target transportation benefits if the company doesnt offer that. But you might be able to negotiate a beigabe or higher base salary by touting your merit. You can then use that extra pay to underwrite your transportation expenses.Kuntzmann advises Things which are often negotiable may include work hours such as 410 hour days, span of control for your function or work location if you want to move to the corporate office or have family in a different branch that you may be supporting. Be sure to ask for any changes to benefits you are looking for in a concise, focused one-time request.Once you get agreement on one change or benefit, asking for additional may be perceived as not fully focused on what you want.A few other benefits you may want to consider neg otiating for?One benefit that Kuntzmann notes may be worth pursuing is COBRA benefits . This is short-term healthcare that covers you and your family during transitional times. Kuntzmann points out If you are between jobs or are leaving your current job for a new role, you may ask for your cost of COBRA to be covered by your new employer until your medical benefits go live.Telecommuting can help foster fit for many employees. But some employers have not caught the wave. Maybe it doesnt suit their geschftlicher umgang model, or their leadership isnt open to it. Telecommuting can be a great job perk, but if youre targeting it as a key benefit for job fit, its in your best interest to learn whether or not your prospects are open to it. If you learn that its an option, Kuntzmann offers this advice for negotiating a telecommuting arrangement The key to remote work or telecommuting is to be specific - is it one day a week or one day a month?PTO is commonly negotiated as a means to be tter foster job fit. Kuntzmann explains PTO is what Im most often asked to negotiate. Some companies have ranges that they offer based upon tenure, and others may allow you to use time already allotted for a personal vacation thats already been paid for without utilizing paid time as part of your offer negotiation.Kuntzmann explains that if youre going after a particular benefit when you negotiate your salary, dont assume that you need to accept a lower base pay to negotiate that benefit. However, this might be true in the case of additional compensation. Kuntzmann explains Ive often negotiated higher bonus or higher stock for a candidate for a lower base pay. So if you find that the base pay offered is lower than what youd expected, it might make sense to negotiate for an additional bonus or stock. Remember - n egotiations are a collaboration, not a contest. I always appreciate creative requests,Kuntzmann says. When its time to negotiate, be prepared, be gracious and be confiden t - you can do this

How to Create an Advertising Portfolio

How to Create an Advertising PortfolioHow to Create an Advertising PortfolioIn this increasingly digital world, online portfolios are replacing traditional books that advertising creatives take to interviews. But they are not dead. Not yet. Some people still like to look at physical samples, especially if you specialize in product packaging, direct mail, or anything else that a website doesnt do justice to. So, if you want to create a stunning traditional portfolio, follow behauptung 10 steps. 01Buy an Advertising Portfolio CaseYou can find a standard black portfolio case at your local office supplies store or an species supply shop. You can also find a large selection online, even at stores like Amazon and ?eBay. They come in several different sizes but you wont need a very large one. Prices start at around $40 and can go up to several hundred dollars.02Purchase Extra Portfolio PagesYour advertising portfolio case may come with some starter pages. These pages are protective plastic over a black page.Go ahead and purchase a small pack of additional portfolio pages so you dont have to worry about running out. You never know when youll need to add a new writing sample in a pinch, and you dont want to be without some extra pages.03Add Your Advertising ResumeYour advertising resume should be the first page of your portfolio. Even though youll send your resume to potential employers or ?clients, youll still want your resume in your portfolio. You could be one of the hundreds of prospects so it never hurts to reintroduce yourself and your qualifications with the first page of your portfolio.04Decide On Your Best SamplesEven if you dont have many samples to your credit, youll need to pick out your best work for your portfolio. Dont be afraid of using rough comps, sketches, and other spec work.Many times, creatives have a great project theyve finished but the project is still in production and hasnt gone to print yet. You dont have that full-color brochure or that glos sy print ad to put in your portfolio but youll want to show off your copy so you can land the next assignment.This is also a similar case for the budding creative who has no official samples to showcase at all. You can create SPEC ADS, which are ads youve created on your own. In other words, you can rewrite an ad for a major company with your own style, label it as a SPEC AD and industry pros automatically know youre showing your ability to write without you trying to mislead them into thinking you really reworked the branding of Nike, for example.Choose the work that best shows your copywriting talent, even if it is simple text on a piece of paper. Well dress it up in Step 6.05Create Divider SectionsLets say youve got three TV commercials, four samples of print (both brochures and print ads) and three samples of website copy you want to include in your advertising portfolio. Create divider sections to help your work stand out and not get s-lost in the clutter.In our example here, w e would create a divider page with a heading for Commercials, one for Print and then another for Web (or Internet). Remember, copywriting is a creative talent so dont be afraid to get creative with your own portfolio.Dig into your old magazines and cut out various pictures from ads. Arrange these so that your divider page appears like a collage.This helps your sections stand out on their own and shows your creativity at the same time. It really helps your portfolio become more memorable, which is a huge plus when youre competing for a job or a client.06Dress Up Those Text AdsDont think your text ad isnt worth putting in your portfolio. You can dress up these ads and make them every bit as appealing as a full-color ad.For copy you dont have in final pretty form, you can simply put at the top of your page, In Production. For copy that is written as a SPEC AD, meaning you wrote the ad on your own to show your writing ability, title it SPEC AD.Remember, employers viewing your copywritin g portfolio are looking at your ability to write. Theyre not hiring a graphic designer so dont try to pretend you are one by wasting all of your time designing a mock-up ad so that your copy looks more finalized. Even seasoned copywriters put their best work in their portfolio and that doesnt always mean they have the final printed version of the material so they use plain text on paper.To dress up those plain text ads, print them on professional-quality paper. This is the same type of paper you would use to print a resume on.To really make that text ad stand out, buy a decorative background paper and offset the two by about an inch.07Arrange Ads for Easy AccessDont glue your brochure down to the portfolio page and then hide it behind the protective plastic. Be willing to cut into the portfolio page so that the person looking at your portfolio can have easy access to the materials. This means you may have a brochure flap sticking out of the protective plastic but your prospect can e asily landsee your work.Your portfolio pages are also designed to protect your work. The last thing you want is a prospect wanting a closer look, so they start trying to feel the protective plastic back to get their hands on your materials.08Change Your Advertising PortfolioNever be afraid to change your advertising portfolios pages to a client or employers specific needs. If youre interviewing for an agency position that exclusively handles direct mail, load your portfolio up with direct mail samples. A hodgepodge of samples wont do you as much good as the types of materials the agency specializes in.Same goes for freelancing clients who need something specific. Your portfolio is your calling card and it will change with you and your prospects needs.09Take Extra ResumesYes, youre in the employers office because he or she looked at your resume and called you in for an interview. As mentioned before, you could be one of thehundreds of people going after the same advertising job.Stuff some extra copies of your resume in the back flap of your portfolio case. Now youve got the first page of your portfolio with your resume as described in Step 3 and you can also hand a copy of your resume to the prospect for them to keep. This is especially handy in interviews when the employer or client just cant seem to find your resume.10Never Leave Your PortfolioIts the best portfolio Ive ever seen I just have to show it to my business partner.What a great compliment. But never, ever leave your portfolio no matter how much you want the position.Once your portfolio is out of your hands, you have no idea how its going to be handled. Portfolio cases can easily get damaged and even lost in an office. You dont want your portfolio to end up stuffed in someones inbox with papers all over it while it also serves as a coaster for morning coffee. And, agencies make copies of ads they like. Its a hard fact.You have a couple of options so you dont offend anyone. You can say you would love to schedule another appointment to show your portfolio. Or you can even say youll be happy to fax over a copy of your portfolio, which is basically a black and white copy of all of the materials youve shown in your portfolio.

An Early and Instant Check for Breast Cancer

An Early and Instant Check for Breast Cancer An Early and Instant Check for Breast Cancer An Early and Instant Check for Breast CancerBreast cancer can best be treated when its detected early. But the equipment doctors use to detect and monitor suspicious lesions on the breast is invasive, large, and expensive.But that could change as Jana Kainerstorfer, assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, and doctoral student Constance Robbins continue to develop a hand-held device to noninvasively check how lesions change over time.The goal is to develop an inexpensive, noninvasive, yet quantitative monitor of the physical and physiological characteristics of a breast lump that could be used in both the doctors office and by the woman at home, Kainerstorfer says.The researchers created a device that uses near-infrared light to optically image the tissues.Malignant tumors contain greater water concentration and less fetthnlicher stoff concentrat ion than surrounding tissue and have a high concentration of blood vessels, Kainerstorfer says. These changes can be monitored optically, based on near-infrared light interaction with tissue.Heres another innovative method researchers are using to detect cancer.Adding optical imagery expanded the work of James Antaki, a professor of biomedical engineering, and Molly Blank, a 2016 Carnegie Mellon graduate now at the University of Washingtons department of bioengineering. Blanks hand-held device compared a lesion to the surrounding tissue, creating a topographic image that can be examined for the size, shape, stiffness, and location of the deformation.We demonstrated that we can image lesions, even deep inside the phantoms when compression was applied. That was proof of concept. Prof. Jana Kainerstorfer, Carnegie Mellon University The system can send the near-infrared images to a smartphone. Image Carnegie Melon.Carnegie Mellons researchers developed spatial frequency d omain imaging, which offered two-dimensional images in an inexpensive, portable system.The light source is a projector and the camera can be a cellphone camera, so the depth penetration is limited to the superficial tissue layers, Kainerstorfer says. However, we are compressing tissue such that the imaging depth does not create an obstacle.The optical innovation was important for younger women who have denser breast tissue.The researchers developed breast cancer mimicking models (optical phantoms) to monitor the effectiveness of the imaging. The researchers settled on flexible polydimethylsiloxane with ink and titanium dioxide standing in as scattering and absorption agents.We demonstrated that we can image lesions, even deep inside the phantoms when compression was applied, Kainerstorfer says. That was proof of concept.The team plans to test the device on humans sometime in the next six months.Neil Cohen is an independent writer.For Further Discussion

11 devastating money mistakes I made in my 20s that you should avoid

11 devastating money mistakes I made in my 20s that you should avoid11 devastating money mistakes I made in my 20s that you should avoidMoney mistakes in my 20s? Yeah, pretty sure I made all of them.It has been said that you learn and grow wiser once youve experienced something for yourself, and made a few mistakes along the way. I do believe those words have merit, but boy, is it not fun when you are the one paying for it (literally).My parents were great with money and they had no debt we lived a very comfortable life. I guess they figured I knew enough to manage on my own finances (which, yeah, I probably should have). Unfortunately, schools dont teach financial literacy like they do algebra. So, I made some wrong turns before I got myself on the best path to maximize my money and make it work for me.I am now 37-years-old, and I often wish I could rewind the clock to fix those mistakes I made with my finances. Heres a list of my moneyfaux pas, and what to avoid1. I didnt have abud get.One of the biggest - not to mention, cringeworthy - mistakes I made is that I didnt even have a basic understanding of my cashflow. I spent money without thinking about the dollars I welches putting out, or if I even had enough in my checking account to cover what I was charging. Now I budget and know where my money is going with the help of the Mint app.2. I lost a lot of money on overdraft fees.As a surprise to no one, I often ended up paying overdraft fees for my checking account since I had no budget. If youve never been the unlucky recipient of an overdraft-o-gram, theyre not fun. Generally they cost you up to $35 per charge, and they can really snowball (though in 2010,federal regulationswere passed to try to eliminate banks from profiting off of these charges). These extra charges can be especially detrimental when you dont have a lot of money to begin with. Now that I have a budget, I keep track of the money in my accounts and I dont overdraft.3. I didnt save 10% of my income or really anything.I cant say I never saved, because I did. But my saving was sporadic at best, and was often spent just as suddenly and frivolously. I always think of the ereignis of Friends where Monica is about to ask her parents to borrow money after she loses her job, until they confidently assert that surely she must be prepared for herunemploymentbecause they always taught her to save ten percent of every paycheck. Yeah not true of Monica, or me. Now, I automate savings to myemergency fundand other short-term savings accounts.4. I shopped with complete abandon.In case you havent figured this out yet, I had no willpower to save or be smart about money. I loved - and still love - shopping. Somehow, all the clothes I already owned paled in comparison to the new dress and shoes at the mall. I shudder to imagine what it would have been like if Amazon had existed in my early 20s. Also, friends? Bars? Happy hour? Yes, please I had no limits. My 30s have taught me that sta ying home in sweats (or going to a friends house) is a real mood, and a bottle of wine goes a lot farther than the $20 vodka soda from the club.5. Also, I ate out. All. The. Time.Cooking? Whats that? I wont pretend that I have mastered the art of cooking even now, but I can tell you that the moment I moved out on my own, all I did was reservierung out for nearly every meal. If only I had learned the art of meal prepping on Sundays sooner. It has saved me a bunch of cash.6. I didnt negotiate mysalary.I love that women are becoming their own best advocates in the workplace, but it wasnt such a widely celebrated topic back when I was in my 20s. While I startednegotiatingmy salary in my 30s, I just accepted whatever I was offered back when I was younger. Who knows how many thousands of dollars (and overall earning power) I left on the table because I didnt speak up for myself?7. I didntprioritizesaving for retirement at myfirst job.When youre young, the thought of being older and provid ing for your golden years is the furthest thing from your mind. Or, it was in my case. Im embarrassed - and sad - to admit that this didnt become a topic of interest for me until about 3 years ago. Years for building compound interest went completely down the drain. Talk about the one that got away. Luckily, I did always have enough sense to meet my employer-sponsored match (if you dont, youre literally throwing away free money dont do it).8. I got divorced.Make good choices both with your money and with whoever you choose to be your life partner (they may have access to your money). I made a number of mistakes here, but in summary I didnt prepare or choose wisely. Divorce in and of itself is a costly experience, but my ex and I never had the necessary financial conversations we should have had prior to marriage. We didnt have the same views on money or the future. Despite how much I had left to learn about money, I was the mora responsible one. The marriage and the divorce left me both unprepared and financially devastated as he had secretly been opening accounts in my name and ruined my credit. I later had to file for bankruptcy, and have only started to fully recover my credit in recent years.9. I paid more interest due to a lowcredit score.Because my credit score was lower, the higher interest rates I was stuck with made me pay out nearly double of what I would have paid if I had a good credit score. Treat your credit score withrespectand pay plenty of attention to it. It will save you money in the future.10. I didnt take advantage of the more prosperous times.Despite all of my mistakes, I earned agood salaryand didnt want for much. My ex had a job that provided a free apartment, and we didnt pay for any utilities. I think I made so many mistakes early on because I didnt have to scrimp and save to survive. However, once the recession hit in 2008, I lost my job and was unemployed for nearly two years (with a young toddler to boot), and then my ex and I divorced. I realized that if I had only prepared myself better, I wouldnt have been so down and out when hard times hit. If youre reading this and things are going well, take the opportunity to save an extra 1% to retirement or set up an automated transfer to your emergency fund every time you get paid. Trust me, it pays to be prepared when an emergency decides to rear its ugly head.11. Most of all, I didnt ask for help when I needed it.Overall, this is my biggest regret. Asking for help could have saved me a lot of stress and money. When I needed to figure something out or when I needed money, I didnt reach out to my friends or family, and the online resources and communities didnt exist like they do today. But good news they do now, and you are not alone Never feel shy to reach out for help when you need it.Women are becoming more involved in their financial futures by investing in themselves and avoiding the kinds of mistakes I made. I cant encourage this enough. There are severa l resources I use now to upkeep a healthy financial situation, including theFairygodbosss salary database,the Financial Diet, and Stefanie OConnellsblog.A version of this post previously appeared onFairygodboss, the largest career community that helps women get the inside scoop on pay, corporate culture, benefits, and work flexibility. Founded in 2015, Fairygodboss offers company ratings, job listings, discussion boards, and career advice.

The Biggest Myth About Uga Resume Builder Exposed

The Biggest Myth About Uga Resume Builder Exposed What Is So Fascinating About Uga Resume Builder? Position may call for local travel. Writing a strong application is a tough procedure and we wish to help it become simpler. Companies might set you in various projects. Before the online age background checks were more troublesome to perform and lots of companies did not put a great effort in a detail background check. The majority of the geschftliches miteinanderes have a mission set and they work for achieving some form of goals. If youre good in 1 Technology different companies might use different Technologies including your technology so itll be a compulsory act for you to learn other Technologies for the interest of completing your task in the organization. Curriculum vitae ought to be well formatted with regard to the type of job anyone is searching for. A comprehensive selection for prospects with a lot of experience who would like to truly have an exemplary one-page c urriculum vitae template. Do not be worried if you dont have any legal experience yet. Temp experiences can be confusing for recruiters, so be aya theyre explained in a means which makes sense and is simple to read. Afterwards, you might get into your professional experience. However, you may also have any other relevant experience. Make sure you include every ideal information that is pertinent to the job posting. Job searching can be rather tough and continue posting is most likely the tasks that require to get done when browsing for work. When these emails might have an amount of sentiment to you, they lack professionalism in the opinion of an employer. So make sure that you dont create any issue with both of these aspects while explaining to a recruiter. On account of the increasing competition atlanta divorce attorneys area, its currently critical for each and each job looking individual to stay different from almost every other candidate to acquire attention from company . For example, if the company is in an extremely competitive field, you wish to reveal in your resume that youve been in a position to aid them acquire a larger proportion of growth in their precise niche market with your individual expertise and accomplishments. To begin with, youre in a position to inspect the work posting that the business enterprise creating to discover just what is essential for the position. Establish the company enterprise and profession youre attempting to locate work in. So at the right time of recruiting they also check if youre goal oriented. During the time you are explaining, recruiter will attempt to judge your communication abilities and your approach to the issue. When producing the work application for virtually any coach, it is extremely important to incorporate each one of the coaching related skills in the work application that may force you to stick out from various coaches. While there might certainly not be thought of as a job up for gra bs, it is sometimes a substantial recon opportunity and establishes an association that may be leveraged down the street. Understanding Uga Resume Builder Its possible to conserve the templates in the present folders or youre able to help to earn a fresh folder. Last, it has to be in Word format. By simply choosing a theme, you dont will need to worry about the format itself. The format of your entry-level college-graduate resume will be dependent on the info you need to work with.

How to Start a Career in SEO

How to Start a Career in SEO I remember graduating undergrad with a decentfinance degree, ready to take on the world. I welches under the assumption that I had a golden ticket to a cushy, high-paying job. Dreams of being the nextWolf of Wall Street danced around in my head.Then reality hit. I applied to hundreds of finance jobs with no real promise. Sure, I was offered a few jobs working 70-hour weeks selling financial planning services to the wealthy, but that wasnt for me.I had to rethink what I wanted to do with my life, and fast.While researching new jobs, I saw the term SEO pop up here and there. In university, I had worked on websites and even sold advertising on some of them to lawyers and doctors, which turned out to be profitable. It was just a pastime for me, and I didnt realize that it was a viable career.I enjoyed working with websites, and I had a bit of experience ranking websites so I said, What the heck lets apply to some SEO positio ns.It was the best decision of my life. Im currently 24, and since the time I applied for my first SEO job, Ive- worked for four different marketing agencies as an SEO specialist- built up a nice SEO consulting gig on the side- traveled the world and paid off my student debt- and built an eCommerce website to half a million dollars in revenue in a year and sold the business.Currently, Im the marketing director for an up-and-coming software company andthe co-founder of an Indonesian eCommerce companyHealthy.co.id. This was all made possible because of SEO.SEO, or search engine optimization, is now a key parte of the marketing puzzle for most companies from corner stores to the Fortune 500. SEOwas even listed as No. 4 on LinkedIns list of the top 25 hottest skills that can get you hired in 2016.I think SEO work isa fantastic job, because its a happy mix of technical know-how and marketing. Also, theres still lots of potential in the field of SEO and content marketing.Would I recommend it? Absolutely.If I had to do it all again, these are the steps I would take to kick-start my career in SEO1. Get Some basic skillsWhen I got my first job inSEO, I had alreadyworked with websites in the past. Thats notlage to say that I was an expert. Even now, Im an absolutely terrible coder and hire people to do most technical jobs. But its important to know the basics of- HTML- CSS- graphic design (Adobe Photoshop)- wordpress- Google AnalyticsLucky for you, all of this can be learned for free Take some courses on UdemyorCodecademy,or just Google around and figure it out on your own. You dont need to be a proto start. Just get down the basics, like learning what meta tags are. As long as you are resourceful, youll be able to learn as you go.2. Read Everything You Can FindSEO is constantly changing. Its radically different now than it was even five years ago. Thats why its important to always stay on top of the latest nachrichtensendung and always be reading. The best SEO professi onals are the ones who are agile and can alter their strategies quick.One of the great things about SEO is that the experts love to share. Writing in-depth articles on SEO is what gets them their readers, so theres a wealth of knowledge online and most of it is absolutely free.To get started, I would recommendreading someguides. Ive put together a list of the19 guides you need to learn SEO. They cover a number of topics, including keyword research, technical SEO, and link building.I alsorecommend creating a Feedly account and filling it up with some good blogs. This list is a pretty good place to start. SEO news and tips come out fast and furious, so get ready to read every day.Fianlly, you should also be checking Inbound.org every day for the latest news on inbound marketing and SEO. Its a great resource, and I still check it daily. The beauty of Inbound is that it filters out a lot of the poor quality content. If an article has been voted to the top, its because a number of SEO a nd marketing professionals have voted it up there. Youre also welcome to jump in on the conversation and ask questions.3. Get Familiar with the ToolsEveryones heard the saying, Use the right tool for the job. While its possible to use a hatchet to cut down a tree, its much easierto use a chainsaw. The same applies for SEO.There are many moving parts ofSEO, including keyword research, link building, and auditing websites.Using the right tools can save you hours of time. For large enterprise projects, the right tools become an absolute necessity.A few basic tools I would recommend playing around with are-Ahrefs-Screaming Frog-Google Keyword PlannerBrian Dean has put together a thorough list of SEO tools that you can peruse. Take some time and use a few that you find interesting.You will be asked what SEO tools youre familiar with in an interview I guarantee it.4. Start ExperimentingI highly, highly recommend that you start your own website if youre interested in becoming an SEO profe ssional. Thatsthe best way to learn the ropes, and it shows manahme to potential employers.One way to differentiate yourself from other applicants is to make a personal blog and use it as your resume. Rank the website for your name, which should be easy, and tell employers to Google your name. Its creative and shows that you understand the basics of SEO.You can take it one step further and start an eCommerce shop. You can start a Shopify store for as little as $9 a month and find products to drop ship, which means you dont even have to hold inventory Its a fun learning experience, and it can make you some money on the side, too.5. Go to Meetups and Talk to PeopleGet out of thehouse and go meet some people in the industry. Not only can you learn a lot from presentations, but you can also make some valuable connections. I landed two of my four agency positions through meetups. If you play your cards right, you may not even have to make a resumeYou can find SEO- and marketing-related m eetups through Meetup.com and Eventbrite.6. Apply, Apply, ApplyWhen somebody tells me they cant find a job, I ask them how many theyve applied to. All too often, people pick their favorites and only apply to 5-10 open positions. But finding a job really is a numbers game the more you apply to, the better. There is no downside to applying to more jobs. If you dont like one of the jobs you are offered,you dont have to take it.To get my first job in SEO, I applied to 100+ jobs. They werent all exactly related to what I wanted to do, but any job is better than no job.In the meantime, you can alsotake jobs on Fiverr or Upwork. Find simple work related to SEO, like article writing, and get some real life experience in the process.If you follow all of these steps, you will find a job in SEO. That, I can promise. Mop up all the information you can handle and hustle. Its well worth it. Working in SEO was one of the best decisions Ive ever made