If you’ve never been on an interview before, you might not know what to expect and that can be nerve racking. Then again, people who have been on several interviews may still find themselves jittery before hand. While it’s natural, and perhaps even good, to be a little nervous for your interview, you’ll still want to mentally prepare yourself and build your confidence before heading in.

Take a Drive                                                                                                                                            A day or two before your interview, drive there.

It might sound like a weird thing to do, but trust me, it will reduce your anxiety. There’s nothing worse than being stricken with panic on your way to an interview when you suddenly realize you have no idea where you’re going. By mapping your route before hand, you’ll be more familiar with traffic patterns, the parking situation and the amount of time it actually takes to get there. On the day of your interview, it will be one less stressor to deal with.

Mock Interview                                                                                                                                     Recruit a parent, sibling, school counselor or someone else you know has been on interviews.

Provide them with a list of questions to ask you, but also invite them to ask you additional questions off the cuff. Why? Well, an interview is a balancing act. You’ll have some answers prepared for the more traditional questions, but you’ll also need to be ready to answer curve ball questions. The interviewer will look for you’re ability to think on your feet and how you perform under pressure.

Go through this process a few times and with different people if you can. The more you practice, the better and more eloquently you’ll find your responses, even on the really tough questions. Practicing your interview skills will build your confidence and in turn, you’ll be much more composed for the real deal.

Practice Tranquility                                                                                                                                An up-coming interview can create a lot of stress—schedule down time for yourself.

The night before and the morning of, spend five to ten minutes sitting quietly or with soft music if you prefer, but no phone, tablet, or other distractions. Close your eyes and take deep breaths. Let your worries melt away, maybe even use a mantra— try a phrase to raise your self-esteem and confidence like, “I am who they want to hire.”

Get Organized                                                                                                                                    Get your materials together.

Getting organized will help your mind slow down. Have a crisp folder with at least three resumes and three copies of references inside. You may also want to bring a professional portfolio with relevant samples of work or writing examples. Just by walking in with a folder or binder,  you’ll walk taller and  feel a whole lot more confident.

These tips will help get you started to a successful interview. For additional interview information take Next Step Academy’s Interviewing Skills course which you can find right here!

What’s the difference between a person who reaches their goals and a person who only dreams about reaching them? Three things: action, accountability and having a plan.

Setting short terms goals is a productive practice. They are the small steps that get you to your bigger dream. Accomplishing your short term goals can exhilarating and will make you want to set even bigger goals for yourself.

Here’s what you need to know to be successful in your short-term goal setting:

What’s A Reasonable Timeframe For A Short Term Goal? 

Short-term goals are typically ones that can be accomplished in one year or less. Try
breaking them down to three to six months, or even seasonally, depending on the goal.

Keep in mind: you don’t need to fully accomplish the set goal to be successful. The important part is creating an established pattern of progress or momentum towards the ultimate goal.

Limit The Number Of Goals.

If you’re like many people, then there’s about 1,000 different goals you want to accomplish, and you wanted to have accomplished them last week. Well — that’s never worked out so great. Know why? When you try to do everything, you can’t focus on anything. Pick one or two that are real priorities. Focus on developing in those areas by creating a new habits or routines. When those become second nature, then introduce a new goal.

Write It Down!

It’s common knowledge that writing tasks down ensures it will be better saved in your memory. Mark down your goals in your calendar. Write it on a post-it note on your bathroom mirror. Make a sign, put it on your refrigerator. Wherever you’ll routinely see it — put it there. This will help remind you everyday to make your goal a priority.

Use Personal & Positive Affirmations.

It’s one thing to see your goal written down, it’s another to be reminded of the importance and meaning it has to you. Write a paragraph of what this accomplishment will mean on an index card and carry it with you all the time. This way, when you’re feeling frustrated, you can remind yourself why the effort is worth it.

Make Your Goal Exciting!

Goals can come across as tedious. We start off with the best intentions, but when they become more of a chore, they’re hard to stick with. This is especially true when we feel like we’re missing out, like not eating bacon or not going out with friends on the weekends.

Frame your goal from another angle — what are the advantages? What benefits will you be adding to your life?

Set The Right Goals For The Right Reasons. 

Goals can sometimes come from a place of negativity. It could be changing what we don’t like about ourselves or what we think needs to change in order to fit in. You are a unique individual. Your goals should reflect that.

Do some soul searching to make sure your goals come from a place of sincerity. Committing to a goal is easier when it truly resonates with you.

Tell Someone.

When we don’t tell anyone our goals it’s close to self-sabotage. By telling someone, you are making a declaration. You will hold yourself accountable. And  when someone asks how you’re doing on your goal, you can answer proudly.

Take Daily Action.

How can you get started tonight? Make a list of actions that will get you to your goal. This way you’ll be able to make continuous progress. Looking to improve your life skills? Sign up for Next Step Academy. Take a course, earn a badge and, more importantly, earn knowledge.

What have you been wanting to improve? Set some short-term goals for yourself this week. You’ll be surprised at how much accomplishing even one small goal will improve your life!

Let’s face it—whether you happily engage in social media or feel it is a “weapon of mass distraction,” it’s not going away any time soon. And chances are you either currently (or will in the future) participate in some form of social media.

With that being said, taking time to think about your personal brand is crucial. So, regardless if you’re on one platform or all one-hundred billion and five social medial platforms that are out there, (ok, that might not be an accurate number, but you get the idea) personal branding comes with its own set of rules.

Let’s look at the biggest social media Dos and Don’ts to maximize your personal branding efforts:

Do: 

• Be Consistent

Do not confuse ‘consistent’ with boring. It’s about being recognizable to your followers, potential clients or employers.

• Be Cautious

If you don’t have anything nice to say… you know the rest. Find a way to politely disagree without antagonizing or perpetuating social negativity.

• Be Selective

By nature, people are curious. We have many interests. A good practice is to pick one hobby, one professional skill and one cause or lifestyle topic.

• Be Creative

What is unique about you, your voice and your personality? Work those attributes into your content.

Don’t: 

• Be Critical

Remember, no matter what your privacy settings are, social media is still essentially public record. Being critical comes across as combative. It is not a trait that employers (or anyone else) will be impressed with.

• Be “That Person”

Know the difference between personal branding and shameless self-promotion. Personal branding should be an authentic expression of your personality. Self-promotion is “spammy”, unfocused and does not productively contribute to any conversation.

• Be Negative

We all have this friend: they only post about is how awful everything is; their love life is the worst, their job is the worst, their life is the worst. Repeat after me, “My social media is not my personal diary.”

As a sidebar here: If you do have reason to be concerned about a friend who is seemingly distressed, take the conversation offline—call them, contact someone close to them or contact professionals if there is a real problem. The sooner the person receives support, the better.

• Be Fake

The glory of social media is that you can make it as unique as you are. It’s an opportunity for others to learn more about you and you about them. Be authentic. Be bold! And always, always be you!

Don’t panic if you find yourself guilty of some of these social media “Don’ts.” You can start creating—or turning around—your personal brand today. Next Step Academy also has a perfect Social Media Etiquette course. Need a refresher? Take a few minutes and check it out: http://www.nextstepacademy.com/course-detail/life-skills/social-media-etiquette

Now, go forth and brand!

Still trying to get that report done, six hours later? If your productivity levels are quickly and steadily plummeting to the floor, it may be time for a change or two. Sure, getting 8 hours of sleep every night will probably help, and changing your diet may benefit you eventually…but you need to get the led out ASAP. Here’s how you can increase your productivity right now…

Put your phone away.

Turn on silent mode, and put your phone in your purse, desk drawer, or under your chair—wherever it will be out of sight. Also, close the tabs on your browser that have Twitter and Facebook open on them. (If your job requires you to be on social media, then turn off the notifications for your personal accounts.) The internet is the ultimate distraction. Combine that with your nagging desire to beat level 181 on Candy Crush, and messages from your mom about family dinner on Sunday, and you’ve got yourself a recipe for a seriously unproductive and distracted day. So do yourself a favor, and disconnect from your smart phone. The world won’t end while you’re away from Twitter, your mom won’t be mad, and you’ll be exponentially more productive.

Stop trying to multitask.

Seriously, stop it. We all love to think we are fantastic multitaskers, and we like to think that we are better at it than everyone else. Sorry, but you are not a special and unique butterfly (in this situation, anyways). The fact of the matter is that it takes us (yes, everyone) more time to complete each task if we’re trying to complete more than one at the same time, and the quality of our work suffers. It takes us time to refocus as we switch from task to task—about 1/10 of a second each time, and that adds up quickly. No wonder productivity is an issue! Instead of trying to get everything done at the same time, focus on one task at a time. You’ll get things done much faster, and you’ll produce a better end product. This will also benefit you long term.

Make a list.                                                                               

Physically write out (or type) a list of the tasks you need to get done for the day or week. Start with the fastest, simplest tasks. Or, you can start with the task you’re really dreading and get it over with (that way it’s not looming over your head and distracting you from your other responsibilities). Having a tangible list will keep you focused on the task at hand, and keep you on track for a productive day. As you go along and complete each goal, cross it off your list. The feeling of accomplishment after you cross off each task will keep you motivated, and thus, productive!

Reward yourself for each completed task.

Awesome, you finished that report! Reward yourself with a short break—about 2 minutes. Go walk around, eat a bag of Skittles, or listen to a song that makes you happy. But resist the temptation to get on social media. A “two minute” break on Twitter will turn into 20 minutes. We all know it’s true. Giving yourself a breather in between each task will keep you energized, prevent boredom from setting in, and motivate you to complete tasks, all of which leads to increased productivity!

Learning how to write well is a continuous process. Sure, we learned how to spell our names in kindergarten, and we’ve all been fluent in our native language for some time now, but writing well is not the same thing as simply being able to write. Written communication is a skill that needs to be constantly fostered, and can always be improved upon. Whether you’re a Pulitzer prize-winning author or a college student with 5 term papers ahead of you, we have some great steps for you to improve your writing skills…

1.Review the basics

Reviewing basic grammar rules will help you avoid common mistakes in writing that many of us make on a regular basis. While these mistakes are common, they hurt your credibility and muddle your message. These common mistakes can be easily avoided by simply reviewing the basics we all take for granted. Refresh your memory on sentence fragments, the proper use of semicolons, and subject-verb agreement. Of course, these are  just part of the basics. Take our Basic Grammar/Writing Toolkit course to cover all your bases!

2. Change your writing process

Many of us stick to writing one draft of whatever document we are producing. Rather than producing several versions of the document, this first draft is often our final draft. Maybe we feel rushed, or maybe we are just plain old lazy about writing. Whatever the reason, this habit results in a sub-par end product that is unclear and/or filled with errors. This can easily be avoided by changing how you write. Rather than trying to spill all your ideas out at once into a cohesive document (which rarely actually works), go through the steps of writing one at a time—prewrite (brainstorm, outline, etc.), write, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite…

You can also change how you revise and edit (or maybe you need start revising and editing…). Don’t just rely on spellcheck! Instead, read your writing aloud and listen to find out if it actually makes sense, ask someone else to read it or listen to you read, or print it out and make notes with a pen. The more you review, revise, and edit your writing, the better the end product will be.

3. Write more often.

No one is a perfect writer, but practice does make pretty-close-to-perfect. The more you write, the more you can hone your skills and develop your own unique voice. Make a habit of writing every day for at least 10 minutes. If you can, try to read every day, too. A great exercise to improve your writing skills is to read a newspaper/online article or blog post and rewrite it in your own words. This will boost your critical thinking and reading skills, your writing skills, and give your inspiration for what you want your own writing to be like.

For more tips on how to improve your writing, take the Next Step Academy Basic Grammar/Writing Toolkit course. 

With graduation season nearly upon us, the personal finance website WalletHub recently released its 2015 Entry-Level Jobs Report, which takes stock of the first-timer employment landscape by comparing 109 different types of entry-level positions based on 11 key metrics ranging from starting salaries to industry growth rate.

Here are the best and worst jobs according to the report:

Best Entry-Level Jobs
1. Training Specialist
2. Web Applications Developer
3. Network Engineer
4. Attorney
5. Environmental Engineer
6. Software Engineer
7. Designer – Web
8. Information Security Analyst
9. Financial Analyst
10. Programmer

Worst Entry-Level Jobs
100. Welder
101. Building Inspector
102. Policy Processing Clerk
103. Electronics Assembler
104. Boilermaker
105. Claims Processing Clerk
106. Consumer Loan Servicing Clerk
107. Refinery Operator
108. Sheetmetal Mechanic
109. Floor Assembler

Some of the highlights from the survey:

• Certified occupational therapist assistants are expected to see the most job growth by 2022 (42.6%).

• While web application developers, web designers, software and network engineers, and programmers are all among the 10 Best Entry-Level Jobs, computer operators have the grimmest outlook, interestingly enough – with 17% of jobs in the field projected to be cut by 2022.

For the full report, please visit Wallet Hub.

> To explore career options, visit Next Step Academy’s free online career courses.

Finding a job is never easy. There are numerous steps in the hiring process — the application, a resumé and cover letter, an interview, the follow up, plus the preparation. To help cope with the sometimes overwhelming process, Joe Rosenbaum, vice president of human resources for Argyle Executive Forum, offers some tips to make it easier.

Commit to the process
According to Rosenbaum, there seems to be a hesitation to commit to developing a career in a specific profession coming out of college. Instead, people focus more on finding the perfect job or perfect fit. This could be a problem if you start applying to jobs without really wanting them. “Remember that an employer hires you for what you can do for them and if you don’t position yourself as someone who actually wants to do that job, why would you assume it would be offered to you?” he explains.

Resumés help you get to the job you want
In Rosenbaum’s opinion, resumés are given too much attention in the job application process, but at the same time you still need one that states your interests. He suggests that a resumé should be specific and clear because employers are looking for candidates who have some sort of idea about what kind of career they wish to pursue. “Trust me when I tell you that if you apply for a marketing job and your resumé doesn’t say that you’re interested in marketing, you’re toast,” he says.

LinkedIn is important
“Assume that the first thing a recruiter will do is look you up on LinkedIn,” Rosenbaum says. He advises to make it easy for them to find you — upload a professional photo (no group pictures or beach shots). Make the Summary on your profile similar to the objective on your resumé, as LinkedIn is the digital version of your resumé. He also says it’s very important to build your connections. Start with friends, siblings, parents, friends of parents, neighbors and classmates. LinkedIn tells you how you’re connected to a posted job based on the people in your network. “The larger your network, the better you can leverage it to get a job,” he explains.

Real-life connections matter, too
As Rosenbaum describes, resumés and LinkedIn work the best when you have formed connections with a lot of people. “Once you break into the professional world, you’re going to connect to jobs through friends, colleagues, former bosses. It isn’t as much about who you know as it is about knowing a lot of people,” he said. If you’re just posting your resumé on job posting boards, your chances of getting noticed are slim — you need to know people in order to get the process moving.

> For more help landing the job, take Next Step Academy’s short Interviewing course.

Most people get rejected from a job at least once in their lives. Career setbacks happen to everyone — even Madonna, Andy Warhol and U2 faced rejection at some point in their careers.

But after you’re told no, you are often left to wonder how and why it happened. Rejection letters have a history of being vague about why you were passed over for the job and instead leave you only with a thanks for your interest. After all the time and effort put into applying to the job, you deserve some feedback.

So what can you do to learn from your setback? Here are three ways to handle your rejection and gain some insight in the process.

Keep negative emotions in check
Paul Freiberger, president of Shimmering Resumes, a career counseling and resume writing firm explains, “Even though being rejected leaves you bitter, angry and defeated, this is not the time to show those emotions.” Instead, send them a note of thanks for the consideration and well-wishes for the right person. “This is the mark of a grownup,” says Freiberger, “this could make you someone they’d keep in mind for the future.”

Don’t expect a lengthy explanation
Employers tend to be tight-lipped when it comes to responding to rejected candidates because giving you an explanation can cause problems surrounding litigation, Freiberger explains. While getting feedback may be something that is helpful for you, don’t come across like you are demanding an answer for why you were passed over. If you get feedback — great! But if not, don’t push the issue.

Be specific
When responding to a rejection letter, your note doesn’t need to go to everyone involved. “Write to the person who seemed the most involved, or if not them, the hiring manager,” explains Freiberger. Also, make sure you include something company-specific in your letter to avoid sounding like you are “sending these notes in bulk,” according to Freiberger.

Don’t burn any bridges
Even after receiving a rejection, anything can happen. You could have left such a great impression that they considered you for a different position or even passed your name to another company. Venting about your rejection or demanding an explanation will not help so make sure you always come across professional and willing to be reconsidered if the opportunity ever arises.

No matter what, rejection is hard to take. The further you get in the hiring process, the bigger the sting. But making it this far has a benefit — you now know small changes can make a big difference. You know what needs work.

The rejection is harsh, but it gives you an idea of what needs to be worked on. Because of this, Freiberger says there is reason to send thanks, even if you’re not feeling very thankful.

> Check out these Life Skills Courses that are sure to help you land that perfect job!

Part of everyone’s job is to communicate with co-workers and supervisors. This is especially important because communication plays a part in making a company successful. Vivian Ciampi, founder of Professional Coaching, has seen millions of dollars lost due to ineffective communication.

“Too many in our nation’s workforce, both employees and executives, are ill-equipped [to communicate effectively,” Ciampi explains. “[This] is keeping them from realizing their full potential and attain a maximum measure of success,” she explains.

In order to combat the communication gap, Ciampi gives 4 ways to improve communication at work:

Become the “universal translator”
Translating things that will make sense and resonate with everyone involved is important in every workplace. Step out of your comfort zone or discipline, focus on the audience at hand, suggest ways to move forward and present the vision in a clear, crisp, confident and actionable way.

Meet before you meet
In order to avoid getting derailed in a meeting by questions, meet with key constituents prior to the big meeting. Answer any questions that may come up, so you will be able to cover more ground in the big meeting.

Stop, ask and listen!
Because everyone has a to-do list, important conversations and meetings are hurried to get crossed off. Slow down, take a deep breath, ask open-ended questions and actively listen to the other person without interrupting or being distracting.

Converse with clarity
Data, tight timeframes, acronyms, jargon and rushing through details all make it difficult with trying to communicate. If you’re confused, ask clarifying questions. Start with the basics: who, what, where, when, why and how. You uncover problems that need to be addressed that would have otherwise been overlooked.

> For more life skills tips, visit NextStepAcademy.com for courses on interview skills, communication skills and much more!