When the job market is this tough and getting tougher by the day, you need to step up to the plate in order to compete. Think about it: for every job that is available out there, there are hundreds of applicants vying for it. Imagine just 10% of that figure as the ones who are truly qualified, that should leave you with a couple of hundred rivals for the same job. Scary, isn’t it?
Why you need a strategy
In order for you to get hired, you need to get noticed, something you might have trouble with if you do not have a good employment strategy that will blow the competition out of the way. It’s a tough way of putting it, but if you truly want something, you’ll have to be strong enough to go after it. Unfortunately, that’s the same sentiment that goes on in the minds of the couple of hundred of your competitors.
However, if you have a strategy, you could turn your employment chances to your favor and believe it or not, much of that will ride on a single piece of paper: your employment cover letter.
- How a good employment cover letter strategy can add sizzle to your professional life
A cover letter is more than your introduction to a potential employer. It also contains the information your employer needs to decide whether or not they should give you the time of day. Your cover letter is more than just a summary of your resume – it is your ticket to gain your potential employer’s confidence that yes, you might just be the right person for the job.
- Strategies you can use for an employment cover letter
There are certain things that you should keep in mind when you start writing your cover letter. More than anything, this one document will show your potential employer what your best points are and why of all the applicants who vie for the same job, you are the one person they should talk to. Here are some strategies you should include in your employment arsenal:
Targeted
Employers appreciate it very much if you’ve done a good job researching about their company. They don’t want to feel that they are just one of the many in your long list of potential bosses. It makes them feel insignificant and makes you look like a desperate job hunter.
Write a targeted employment cover letter as your strategy. Design a cover letter that will show your potential employer you fit perfectly in their organization. Show the matches and emphasize your selling points, qualifications you have that are badly needed by their company. If they see your relevance, they will realize that their organization truly has a need for someone like you.
Professional
A professionally written cover letter is not something you can achieve overnight. Sometimes you’ll even need someone’s help in order to do it. Nevertheless, as an employment strategy, your cover letter should be direct, polite and complete.
It should follow the standards required of a good cover letter and have the right elements to help you come across as someone to be taken seriously. It should be well written, free from any grammatical and spelling errors of any kind and should flow logically.
Confident
As part of your employment strategy, a cover letter should convey the message that you are a person who knows exactly who he is and what he has to offer. State your achievements and qualifications matter-of-factly to let your potential employer know that you have what it takes to fill that job vacancy. Tell them what you have done and what you can do without bragging.
Employment strategies should not only look good on paper, they should also deliver. When you write your cover letter, include elements that make you special, anything in your past work experience and training that will tell your potential employer that you’re the best person for the job. If you can let your employer see you in that light, you’d have captured your dream job.
By: Mario J. Churchill
Create a Strong Cover Letter to Make Your Employment Strategy Sizzle
March 4th, 2010 by admin No comments »Italian Culinary Herbs Will Suffer Weed Threats in the Herb Garden
March 4th, 2010 by admin No comments »
The ambiance of your Italian culinary herbs or of those carefully nurtured medicinal herbs can become completely lost if weeds are allowed to get out of control. It has been estimated that at any one time there can be as many as 100,000 seeds in any square yard patch of earth. On that basis it is not surprising that weeding your herb garden is going to be a constant process.
Dealing with weeds in the herb garden, or indeed any vegetable or flower garden can be a real and constant chore. Midsummer is definitely the season when weeds are at their most prolific but with a willingness to deal with them, weeds can be beaten.
When you are first preparing your herb bed, do it early so that you can leave it for about two weeks before planting your herbs. By doing so you will see all the fast growing weeds from seeds that have germinated in the good growing conditions that your preparations has given them. Gently hoe them out without disturbing the surface too much. Then your planting will at least have a weed free start.
As your herb growing season begins you have all the work of preparing the bed, planting out cuttings or seedlings then hopefully standing back to enjoy the sight of all your Italian culinary herbs coming to maturity. Unfortunately other little plants will soon start to appear as well, and if you had sown seed how do you know what is a weed and what is a treasured herb?
What then is a Weed? Weeds could be defined several ways, but simple knowledge dictates that a weed is just any plant that grows where it was not planted or where it is not wanted. Regular weeding is absolutely necessary so just accept the fact that you will have to spend quite a lot of time doing it in order to have the best results from your culinary herbs.
Why is it so important? Apart from the unpleasant look of some weeds and of course the untidiness of them it is important for several reasons:
1.) Weeds take out nutrients from the soil that your herbs need.
2.) Weeds with their more vigorous growth will crowd and smother the herbs
3.) Weeds will rob your herbs of the available moisture in the soil.
4.) Weeds will grow taller than the herbs and rob them of sunshine.
5.) Weeds will provide a home for all sorts of garden pests.
Getting rid of annual and perennial weeds is a constant battle. But it can be done by the tedious process of pulling the taller ones regularly before they can set seed. Careful use of a hoe to grub out or to cut the stems just below the ground always avoiding any disturbance to the herb plants is by far the easiest method. Constant treatment year on year should reduce the weed problem, but it will never completely eradicate it.
By: John Beaver
Culinary Garden – Sunlight, Aphids, Mites, Watering and Increasing Your Drainage
March 4th, 2010 by admin No comments »
Growing Herbs In a Culinary Garden
Do you really love herbs or have ambitions as person who sells them? Then turning a large part of your garden into a culinary garden may be the best solution for you. With a little preparation these gardens can be very simple to make and give you more fresh herbs than you can imagine.
Weather and What It Means For Culinary Herbs
When we talk about good weather and bad weather for herbs it means weather that will have an adverse effect on your herbs. Often weather that we do not like (Rain for example) is great for herbs. If you want to take weather out of the equation, simply create a potted herb garden and you can move your herbs indoors if there is a cold spell.
As a general rule most herbs:
* Like sunshine, but not too much can cause bolting
* Like it when it rains, but too much causes rot which is bad
* Dislike frosts
These are general rules, as some plants really like extremely hot weather and others survive best in shaded areas. There are even some that like the cold!
Using the Right Fertilizer
Luckily fertilizers are not as vital for herb gardens as they are for other kinds of plant. Having said that though, it is definitely worth considering using one in the early stages of growth. Just make sure that it is suitable for use on edibles, as some kinds actually make your food inedible.
Aphid and Mites: Should You Be Worried?
Luckily most herbs are pretty tough and do not get badly affected by these pests. However these annoyances do cause a loss of harvest, so it is in your best interests to get rid of them. There are two main ways of controlling them: kill them with a mitocide or use a species that preys on them to do the dirty work for you.
Location… location… location
This is stated three times because it is so important. Obviously the most important thing is sunlight and getting the right amount (Which may be a little or a lot depending on the plant). Remember south-facing gardens/ windows get the most sunlight, north-facing the least.
A well-drained and frequently watered (Once a week) soil is also vital. Whilst a particularly poor soil can be transformed using perlite, compost and fertilizer, it is a lot easier to simply have a good soil to begin with rather than spend a lot of time altering yours. Beware of consistently dry areas or you will spend all your time watering your garden and still get poor harvests. If you have really poor drainage, dig an inch underneath where you want to plant your herbs and fill this area with crushed stones. This will artificially increase your drainage.
Most herbs do well with a weekly watering, so it is a good idea to keep the same day free to do this. Some gardens may also need an occasional ‘misting.’ This is done by spraying a thin later of water onto the leaves. This keeps the plant cool and gives it some extra water to boot.
Finally you will want a good location where you can easily harvest your herbs. The good news is that every time you take sections off for eating, you stimulate the plant to grow back more edible parts. Therefore it is best to add a regular clipping schedule to really get the best out of your plants. Then enjoy eating them knowing that you are increasing your harvest with every flavorful mouthful!
By: John Charleston
