Job Searching: The Pros and Cons of Craigslist

If you use a computer often, you have probably heard of Craigslist.  Craigslist is a an online website that is comparable to the classifieds section in a newspaper.  Through Craigslist, people can connect and meet in person in order to buy or sell personal items from an antique baseball card to a vehicle to an iPod.  Many job seekers also spend a good amount of time on Craigslist checking out new job postings.  Maybe you are one of those people who has spent countless hours browsing through job postings on Craigslist.  If so, there are som pros and cons when it comes to looking for jobs on Craigslist, and those are important to consider if you are one of those people who actively searches for jobs on Craigslist.

One of the major pros Craigslist has to offer is that its free.  This is not the case for all job search websites, so Craigslist gets a vast amount of viewers to their website every day.  Craigslist posts a lot of jobs and also makes it easy for job seekers to search for jobs by dividing them up into categories that are easy to sort through. However, Craigslist has several cons as well and these must be considered alongside the pros.  Many people get scammed easily through Craigslist, so when looking at job postings, it's hard to know whether or not the job posting you are reading is real or fake.  When reading about a job, make sure that it looks professional, includes all of the information that would be included in job postings on other job search websites, and does not ask you for money.  Craigslist is a wonderful website and should be utilized by job seekers.  Just make sure you are smart if you choose to use it!

Oklahoma staffing agency Barracuda Staffing is proud to provide Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Oklahoma with the finest staffing services.  Barracuda Staffing is dedicated to providing companies in need of staff with the finest employees and and job seekers with the finest jobs.  If you are looking for a job or employees, Barracuda Staffing would be thrilled to help you find a job that suits you well or employees that will best suit your company!  Don't hesitate to call or visit Barracuda Staffing in Oklahoma today!

This blog post was composed by Tulsa internet marketing company Quantus Creative.  

Writing a Good Cover Letter

Some people spend so much time working on their resumes and forget one of the most important things that must accompany it: the cover letter.  Many people have never been told the vitality of including a cover letter with their resume, and by the time they realize how much of a necessity it is, their resumes have already been sent off to companies and nothing can be done. 

If you were to ask ten business owners how they go about hiring people, the majority if not all of them would most likely tell you that they will not even look at a resume if it does not have a cover letter attached to it.  This is a definite for large companies who have a pile of resumes to go through.  The person in charge of hiring may simply trash the resumes without cover letters to lessen their load and make it easier to find the best candidates.  With that being said, the first tip of advice would be to simply write a cover letter to attach to your resume before sending it to a potential employer.  So how do you go about writing a good cover letter?  First off, a cover letter is the first impression you are giving a potential employer of yourself, so you want to make sure that it is professional with a personal touch.  Next, you want to make sure that your cover letter is specific to the company and position you are applying for.  This means that you will need to write a cover letter for each resume you send out, because each resume you send out will be going to a different company and position.  In your cover letter, you should describe in short your reasons for interest in the position and the skills and experience you have that will benefit the company if you were to obtain the position.  Make sure your cover letter contains no grammatical errors or your resume will be ignored altogether!

Barracuda Staffing is an Oklahoma City and Tulsa staffing agency devoted to helping companies find the finest employees and employees find the finest jobs.  If you live in Oklahoma City or Tulsa, Oklahoma and are either in need of a job or a company in need of employees, Barracuda Staffing would love to help you find what you are looking for!  Simply call or visit Barracuda Staffing today!

New Year's Job Hunting - Job Searching For a Better Year

On the top of many people's lists of New Years resolutions - aside from losing weight - is finding a new job. For some, that may mean just finding a job at all. In order to make 2013 your best year yet, let these following tips help you hit the ground running toward becoming the new you in the new year. 

Leave previous failures in 2012. 
In order to excel in finding a wonderful new job, you have to have the right mindset. Just going with the flow and dragging all your past baggage into the interview room is not going to benefit you. In this case, leave all your past failures from 2012 in 2012 and act as though you've been given a new chance...because you have! 

Put yourself out there like you never have before. 
Perhaps some bad things happened to you in 2012 such as losing your job or being at a job where you didn't feel appreciated, etc. Any number of things can lead people to want to pursue a new career. Moving forward is all about positive energy and optimism. Even something as seemingly trivial the beginning of a new calendar year can be enough motivation to shut the door on past unpleasant experiences and seek after the career you want. 

Set up a new regimen for getting what you want. 
So, maybe the tactics you were using last year didn't foster many results - big deal! We always have the chance to dust ourselves off, get up, and try again. Just make sure that if you're not getting any results for your efforts, try and change things up a bit to see what happens. Sit down and map out how you're going to spend your time each day. See what methods work the best in allowing you to push through a conversation, what your "elevator pitch" (what you would say if you were in an elevator with the head of HR and only had 30 seconds to pitch yourself) for yourself would be, etc. Spend time formulating a plan A, plan B, plan C, and extra. Remember the definition of insanity - attempting the same thing multiple times and expecting different results. 2013 is your chance for a fresh approach!

For additional help in job seeking, HR expert and blogger Alison Doyle has a whole plethora of tips on finding the dream career you've been searching for. For additional help locating a great job, trust the Tulsa staffing services of Barracuda Staffing. Also providing OKC staffing services, Barracuda staffing is excited to back you in finding a great new career.

To Shave or Not to Shave?

Facial hair has become a major trend today.  With "hipster" being the trending style, more and more people are trying to grow out their facial hair.  Basically, people just want to have a beard.  So, with beards, mustaches, and goatees becoming a commonality, the question has been raised as to whether or not facial hair is ok on the job or during an interview.  Because it is so common today, people feel that as long as you are in a suit and tie it's not that big of a deal.  However, this is not the case.  You should keep your appearance as conservative as possible.  Always think with the mindset that the person who will be interviewing you could be older than you.  If the person interviewing you is older than you, it's very likely that they think differently than you and have their own opinion when it comes to business attire.  Whether the person is business casual or not, you should play it safe by being conservative.  In one word this means shave.  Shaving tells your potential employer that you are serious about the job whereas not shaving can tell him or her that you are not serious because you do not care about your appearance.  If you spend time on your appearance, it will impress the person interviewing you.  If you absolutely cannot go without facial hair, make sure you keep it simple and very well groomed.  Here are so more grooming tips you can read up on.

Barracuda Staffing is an agency out of Tulsa and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma that is dedicated to providing job seekers with the most recent job listings in Oklahoma and helpful tips.  Barracuda Staffing is also committed to helping employers find the finest employees for their companies.  If you are short staffed or seeking employment, call or visit Barracuda Staffing in Tulsa or Oklahoma City, Oklahoma today!

How Twitter Can Help You...or Hurt You

Twitter is a social networking site that allows users to tweet a status that can only be 140 characters long.  However, there are many features.  For instance, you can attach videos and pictures to your tweets, or you can add links in your tweets.  Twitter also has a feature called direct messaging where you can privately message someone a 140 character long sentence. Another feature is that people can favorite or re-tweet your tweet if they really like it.

Twitter is literally "trending" today.  Around five hundred million people have a Twitter account and are posting their content, whether it be personal opinions, advice, or even business information.  Twitter has not only become a popular networking site for friends and family, but for business owners as well.  Tweeting or direct messaging has become a useful and easy tool for business men and women to communicate with each other.  

So what does this mean for you?  Why would it be useful for you to get a Twitter account?  Well, one of the greatest things you can do on Twitter is portray yourself as a source where people can get relevant and useful information. Think about it this way.  You are looking for a job in a specific field.  If you began tweeting really good information pertaining to that field, you will be likely to gain followers that are in that same field as you.  Many of these people will probably also re-tweet your tweets, which will help to create more of an awareness as to who you are and what you do.  This builds connections, which could also possibly lead to job opportunities.  However, be careful when tweeting personal opinions.  You never know who could be reading them.  Tweeting can help or harm your reputation.

If you are looking for a job or are an employer looking to hire a quality employee, Barracuda Staffing in Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Oklahoma would love to help you!  Barracuda Staffing is committed to helping workers find the finest jobs and employers find the finest workers.  Simply call or visit Barracuda Staffing today and specialists will help point you in the right direction!  

Having a CEO Mindset

When getting ready for a job interview, the most common thing to do is think about yourself:  past jobs, experience, knowledge, skills.  You build a resume and then talk that resume to the interviewer, stating everything you can do.  However, the interviewer does not want to know what a person can do, but rather what a person can specifically do for his business.  This is why it is important that you, the one who is going to being interviewed, do a needs assessment prior to the interview.  This involves studying the business, finding out what their needs are, and then evaluating what your skills are and how you can use those to meet the needs of that business.  Many people have an employee mindset rather than a CEO mindset when doing job interviews.  Put yourself in the shoes of the CEO of the business you are trying to get a job at.  What are the short-term and long-term needs of the business and what skills do you have that you can utilize in order to help meet those needs?  Present yourself as a solution rather than an option.  How could someone say no to a solution to their problems?  High Trust Selling by Todd Duncan is a great book that to purchase that expands on having a CEO mindset.

Barracuda Staffing out of Tulsa and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma is a direct hire and permanent placement personnel agency dedicated to helping people find jobs as well as helping businesses find great employees.  For the latest job postings in Oklahoma City or Tulsa, don't hesitate to call or visit Barracuda Staffing today!

Interviewing Skills: Dress to Impress

Have you ever heard that people determine whether or not they like you within minutes of meeting you for the very first time? Well my friend, that is a very true statement. Impressions are important in normal, everyday encounters, but they are vital when it come to interviews. In an interview, you will only have a limited amount of time to show a person who you are and how qualified you are for a job.  The person interviewing you has also most likely seen other candidates who are interested in the same position as you.  This makes it even more important that you leave a great impression and differentiate yourself from your competitors.  The best way to make a good impression in an interview is to dress your best.  The phrase "dress for success" is not a lie.  You want to dress for the job that you want, not the job that you have.  Be professional, regardless of the job position, and dress as well as you can. Always remember that it is better to be overdressed than under-dressed. If you are wondering the best way to dress for the job, these tips are great on how to dress for success!

With the holidays coming up, you may be hoping to make a few extra bucks by getting another job.  For current job listings in the Oklahoma area or support in finding the right fit for you, don't hesitate to get in touch with Barracuda Staffing Inc.  Get the right advice and find the right job today!