Saturday, August 22, 2015

How to Use Online Courses in Your Job Search

As online courses gain credibility, these credentials are becoming a valuable tool in your job search. Their popularity is already obvious. In less than two years, two of the largest providers of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have garnered more than 7 million unique users.

All you need is an internet connection and personal motivation to sign up and start studying. Browse online to see how the quality and quantity of distance learning has risen in recent years. Then, capitalize on these strategies to get ahead of the curve and show employers how savvy and competent you are.


Including Online Courses in Your Resume

1. Enhance your keywords. Make your resume stand out when you're applying for positions online. Include course titles and explanations that coincide with the job description of your desired position. Using the appropriate keywords will increase the chances of your being identified as a match by applicant tracking software systems.

2. Check on the sponsor. Taking courses offered by prestigious universities and well-known organizations provides similar benefits. Check out places like Stanford Online or edX started by Harvard and MIT.

3. Customize your application. All learning is good, but coursework closely related to your chosen field is best. Tailor your job application, resume, and cover letter to each job opening.

4. Stress accomplishments. Companies are looking for candidates who can make an immediate contribution. In addition to your education, talk about your career achievements and provide work samples


Other Tips for Using Online Courses in Your Job Search

1. Regard online courses as a supplement. Traditional degrees are mandatory for many professions. Be realistic about your qualifications.

2. Research local options. On-campus education still carries more weight and prestige than online options. Check out community colleges, local universities, and continuing education programs as well.

3. Strengthen your social media profiles. List your online learning on LinkedIn and other sites. All networking efforts help.

4. Consider releasing your information. Recruiters for some companies are now purchasing the names of high-performing students from Coursera. You may want to opt in.

5. Complete the program. Online courses have extremely high dropout rates. Just by fulfilling all the requirements of an online class, you'll demonstrate how well you can manage time and pursue your goals.

6. Take a new direction. Online courses are an affordable way to explore different subjects. If you're working in a struggling industry, consider taking courses in a line of work where hiring trends are on the rise instead.

7. Check out corporate training. Companies are starting to advertise their own MOOCs to the public. It's a way for them to lower their hiring costs while enabling you to make valuable connections and obtain necessary training.

8. Participate in discussion forums and use other communication tools. Staying active will help you learn more about the subject matter and get to know your professors and fellow students. You may be able to get additional references and job leads while you take online classes with people from around the world.

9. Use a variety of job hunting methods. Studies show that candidates who use multiple approaches to finding employment enjoy the highest success rates. While you're studying online, remember to network, attend your job club, visit job boards, go to job fairs, and continue all of your other professional activities.

Advance your career by taking advantage of the growing opportunities in online education. Many of them are free! It's one more way to make yourself desirable to potential employers while you expand your skills and knowledge base.



Tuesday, April 1, 2014

The Corporate Athlete By Dr. Natalie Cordova


Are you an athlete? No? How about a corporate athlete? Do you compete in the corporate world while sitting at your desk? Still no? You are an athlete! You have to understand, I see an athlete as someone that uses their body to compete. An athlete’s body must be a highly tuned, well functioning machine. Still, many corporate athletes have forgotten that they need their bodies to work as well as possible in order for them to perform at their highest level… even if they never leave their chair.

Many corporate athletes have bodies that are not working the way they should, even beginning to break down and leave them dealing with regular aches and pains as a part of their normal day. Why do our bodies break down? Typically, you can trace most of your body’s musculo-skeletal problems to imbalances, posture, and overuse.

Imbalances are easy to identify, if you know what you’re looking for. Take a look at the movements and activities you do during an average day you will see that you basically do the same things each day. Over and over again. Day in and day out. Not much variety, and not much balance. Balance would mean that you do many activities involving muscles of your front as well as your back. Good balance would also involve movements on the right and left sides of your body.

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The computer user keeps their hands in front of them all day, head pushed forward and eyes glued to the screen. They keep this nearly identical posture as they drive into work, and when they drive home, before resuming this posture again at the dinner table and the couch. How many hours in a day are they imbalanced in a forward position? Eight? Ten? Sixteen? Is it any wonder that their muscles, ligaments, and tendons start to change shape?

Bad posture is also easily identified… usually on someone else. Have someone take a look at you while you work at your desk. Is your monitor up high enough or are you looking down at it by bending your neck? How’s your chair? Does it allow you to sit up straight? Are your shoulders hunched?

What about the position of your mouse, where you put the papers you are reviewing, how you hold your phone, the angle of your wrists… it can be a lot to look at! You want to make sure that your body can stay in as much of a good, well-balanced posture for as much of the day as possible. Having a friendly co-worker take a look at you and your body position can allow you to address potential issues before it’s too late. It only takes a minute, and you can return the favor by observing them at their workstation.

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Overuse injuries come from doing any movement over and over again until the body part just plain wears out! These injuries can occur over a shorter period of time when imbalances and poor posture are also a part of that movement. Trauma is usually easy to identify when it involves falling down or a car accident. What about repetitive trauma, also called micro-trauma?

Micro-trauma is not so easily noticed until symptoms start to appear. The same movement or action that caused the injury becomes painful to do. That should be your red alert that you cannot keep doing that movement in the same way. Even treatment will only temporarily relieve the pain if you go back to doing the same thing the wrong way again every day.


The symptoms of your body breaking down are not always pain. Other warning signs can be there for years before pain shows up. Bad posture is already a warning sign that trouble is ahead. The typical shoulder slouching head forward posture is rampant in our society! You likely don’t have to leave your house to find someone living with this posture.

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Bad posture leads to further imbalances and a speeding up of the overuse injuries. If you take a look at someone with this posture, you’ll notice that muscles in the front (like the chest muscles) start to become shorter, while the back muscles start to become longer. This is not just a visual change, but a physical change. Your muscles are actually becoming short in the front and long in the back, a serious imbalance.

Another symptom is a loss of range of motion, or a loss of the normal ability to move the spine or any other joint through all of their normal movements. Does your head turn painlessly right and left to the same degree? Can you move your head forward and back easily, or just forward? What about your low back or other joints like your wrists, elbows, and shoulders? Compare side to side and see if they are equal. Of course they could both need help, but this is a good starting point.

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The good news is that most of these problems can be helped without surgery. Of course, every person is different and when they decide to do something about their problem is also very important. Wait too long and you may eliminate many conservative treatment options. Catch it early and make some changes to your workstation and you can avoid many painful lessons later.

For now, concentrate on your posture and evaluate your work station. Seek out activities that will allow some balance back into your movements, including weight workouts and stretching. If you are already experiencing pain, now is the time to do something about it. These problems rarely resolve themselves on their own. You must act by seeking the assistance of a qualified health professional.

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