How to Prepare for An Interview

I have found a list for job interview questions and decided to share it with all of you ( 5ppl) who read my blog!If you dont want to bother with these interview questions watch the video below

Tell me about yourself.

What are your strengths?

What are your weaknesses?

Who was your favorite manager and why?

What kind of personality do you work best with and why?

Why do you want this job?

Where would you like to be in your career five years from now?

Tell me about your proudest achievement.

If you were at a business lunch and you ordered a rare steak and they brought it to you well done, what would you do?

If I were to give you this salary you requested but let you write your job description for the next year, what would it say?

Why is there fuzz on a tennis ball?

How would you go about establishing your credibility quickly with the team?

There’s no right or wrong answer, but if you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you be?

How would you feel about working for someone who knows less than you?

Was there a person in your career who really made a difference?

What’s your ideal company?

What attracted you to this company?

What are you most proud of?

What are you looking for in terms of career development?

What do you look for in terms of culture — structured or entrepreneurial?

What do you like to do?

Give examples of ideas you’ve had or implemented.

What are your lifelong dreams?

What do you ultimately want to become?

How would you describe your work style?

What kind of car do you drive?

Tell me about a time where you had to deal with conflict on the job.

What’s the last book you read?

What magazines do you subscribe to?

What would be your ideal working situation?

Why should we hire you?

What did you like least about your last job?

What do you think of your previous boss?

How do you think I rate as an interviewer?

Do you have any questions for me?

When were you most satisfied in your job?

What can you do for us that other candidates can’t?

What are three positive things your last boss would say about you?

What negative thing would your last boss say about you?

If you were an animal, which one would you want to be?

What salary are you seeking?

What’s your salary history?

How do you want to improve yourself in the next year?

What were the responsibilities of your last position?

What do you know about this industry?

What do you know about our company?

How long will it take for you to make a significant contribution?

Are you willing to relocate?

What was the last project you headed up, and what was its outcome?

What kind of goals would you have in mind if you got this job?

Give me an example of a time that you felt you went above and beyond the call of duty at work.

What would you do if you won the lottery?

Can you describe a time when your work was criticized?

Have you ever been on a team where someone was not pulling their own weight? How did you handle it?

What is your personal mission statement?

Tell me about a time when you had to give someone difficult feedback. How did you handle it?

What is your greatest failure, and what did you learn from it?

What irritates you about other people, and how do you deal with it?

What is your greatest fear?

Who has impacted you most in your career, and how?

What do you see yourself doing within the first 30 days of this job?

What’s the most important thing you’ve learned in school?

What three character traits would your friends use to describe you?

What will you miss about your present/last job?

If you were interviewing someone for this position, what traits would you look for?

List five words that describe your character.

What is your greatest achievement outside of work?

Sell me this pencil.

If I were your supervisor and asked you to do something that you disagreed with, what would you do?

Do you think a leader should be feared or liked?

What’s the most difficult decision you’ve made in the last two years?

What do you like to do for fun?

Spain Doing it Right!

Apparently my mother country(Spain) has come up with a solution for unemployment and how to save the world!!!! According to the Washington Post Spain generates about 24.5 percent of its electricity through renewable sources, compared with about 7 percent in the United States. In Spain through a combination of new laws and public and private investment, officials estimate that they can generate a million green jobs over the next decade. The plan would increase domestic demand for alternative energy by having the government help pay the bill — but also by compelling millions of Spaniards to go green, whether they like it or not. This is such great news. Check our the whole Washington Post article

I Was Recognized! And it was a bit Creepy…

The other night I went out with my girls in Hamilton and something very strange happened at the bar. We ran into a friend from university and did the usual catching up. You know the questions “how are you, what are you up to, where are you living” Well after he was done telling me about his life and it was my turn to he said “ so you are living in Toronto with your parents, are unemployed and have a blog” I was shocked! He knew all the answers to the polite questions. He knew about my life and we haven’t seen each other since graduation. He even told me that he works near me in Toronto and for a split second I thought “ OMG HOW DOES HE KNOW WHERE I LIVE” forgetting  he once dropped me off and I did blog about my area.

I won’t lie, this creeped  me out a little, BUT at the same time I was very excited that he had read my blog. I even said thanks, which lead him to say “to be honest I have skimmed it.”

SHOUT OUT TO KRYSTYNA!

My sister posted my blog on her facebook wall and helped me generate 85 people to my blog in 1 day. That is my new record for visitors in a day! Not only that, she read my blog and made a bunch of comments, which is awesome. As result I think she deserves a solid Shout Out blog post.

My sister Krystyna is 5 ½ years older than me.  She just got married this summer to a great guy named Scott and their wedding was one of those great days that was perfect from beginning to end. They have a Dog named Wiggum(after Ralph not Chief) who is the cutest dog. One of the perks of moving home is that Krystyna and Scott live super close.  This is dangerous however because their apartment is a black hole. When you go and visit them you end up staying there for hours longer than planned.

Close to everything  Krystyna has done, I want to do. This sometimes sucks because I don’t want to copy her.  Example- She lived in Spain for a year. Hello, I want to live in Spain but I feel like I have to find another country for myself. Example- She is a flight attendant. I wanted to work for Emirates Air and live a jet-setting glamorous life. She is probably going to have a baby before me. Now I’m not saying that I want a baby but she is TOTALLY GOING TO STEAL MY BABY NAMES. She has already told me that she is going to steal my baby names.  But regardless she is a great big sister, even if she is doing everything I want to do.

SHOUT OUT TO KRYSTYNA!

Post Grad the Movie and Story of my Life

The other night I saw the movie Post Grad. Now I personally love a good, cheesy movie and was very excited to see it. I saw the trailer and thought “OMG this movie was made for me!” It’s about a recent graduate, moving home with her parents and grandmother, and not being able to find work. Hello that is my life! Also in the movie I am played by Rory from Gilmore Girls, my dad is Batman, Mom is the coach from Glee who is HILarious and my coocky grandmother is comedic  great Carol Burnett.

This movie actually made me angry. It was so annoying. Rory basically is one of those girls who had her whole life planned out. She even goes so far as to put her down payment for a condo near her dream job she cant afford before she gets the job. Well go figure she doesn’t get the job, loses a bunch of money and moves in with the parentals.  She then has a ridiculously gorgeous neighbour who gives her life advice life Yoda, a series of dead-end jobs, really random scenes with the family, and a boy who loves her and tells her all the time and for some reason acts like she doesn’t know.

OK so at first this movie was just lame, BUT THEN SHE GOT THE DREAM JOB. I’m sorry but WTF. The movie is about how sometimes life doesn’t turn out exactly how you plan it, AND THEN SHE GETS THE DREAM JOB!?!?! I was just mad. She gets the dream job and everything is perfect. I swear I almost stopped watching the movie. She then decides to quit and be spontaneous for the first time in her life to follow a boy and live with him. WTF.

I don’t remember the last time I have been so unhappy with a movie…ever.  Below is the official trailer to the movie. Its one of those super annoying trailers that gives away the whole movie in under 3 minutes.

Julia Got a Real Job

Above is a photo of my good friend Julia from high school. Julia has had the worst time trying to find a job. In high school Julia was at the top of our class, participated in everything, and basically she was on track to a very successful life. Julia is brilliant, hilarious and could not find work after university. For a pretty long time after university Julia was doing random jobs that were not related to what she studied in University (something with science, I don’t really know) We would talk about how much it sucks not being able to find work and I kept promising to blog about her. Well good news recent graduates, JULIA HAS FOUND EMPLOYMENT! Julia has a job that is related to her field. Julia has a REAL JOB . So everyone who is unemployed  there is hope for us. We will one day find our dream / entry level job.

PS- Shout out to Julia!

SOMEONE STOLE MY SHOES

Last Friday I went back to my former student house for my 18 year old housemate’s birthday party, sadly he was turning 19 which is not as fun to say. He had a party as any second year student would, messy and crowded. It was a good time, I felt very old but one night of res-style partying never killed anyone. Well it didn’t kill me but it ruined my next day. I left the party because I had school the next morning at 9am. I know what you’re thinking, and yes I have school Saturday morning at 9am and it is the worst.  Well basically what happened was someone stole my shoes!

Someone stole my day-to-day Lacoste walking shoes. I had to go to school in flip flops and black socks. I was late for school because I was looking for my shoes, so I had to pay for a cab to get to class. I then had to go to Toronto in black socks and flip flops.  I then had to shopping for new day-to-day walking shoes in black socks and flip flops. I had to travel in black socks and flip flops all day!!

So basically the moral of this blog is never steal someones shoes. It does not matter if your shoes have been stole, DO NOT STEAL SOMEONE ELSE’S SHOES. Also maybe its not that bad being a recent graduate out of work living with my parents, I know none of my parents friends will steal my shoes.

ps- Below are my new shoes, which are super cute!

Being a Boomerang Kid

IM sorry but I did not realize there was so much hate out there for university graduates returning to live at home with their parents.  I am grouped with around 60% of other recent graduates returning to live with my parents and we are called the Boomerang Generation, or a Boomerang Kid. Wikipedia defines the Boomerang Generation as

Boomerang Generation is one of several terms applied to the current generation of young adults in Western culture. They are so named for the frequency with which they choose to cohabitate with their parents after a brief period of living alone – thus boomeranging back to their place of origin. This cohabitation can take many forms, ranging from situations that mirror the high dependency of pre-adulthood to highly independent, separate-household arrangements.The term can be used to indicate only those members of this age-set that actually do return home, not the whole generation. In as much as home-leaving practices differ by economic class, the term is most meaningfully applied to members of the middle class.

After Googling for some sort of youtube clip or a photo to attach to this blog post I found that everyone is hating on the Boomerang Generation. There is one website where you can find a contract to make with your Boomerang Kid to make sure they aren’t awful and sit on the couch all day. There is another website that provides a calculation on how much you should charge them, which gives an option of doing chores as payment. This makes me wonder, what would happen if your Boomerang Kid doesn’t do his chores…are you not going to give him dessert, take away his video games, ground him!?!?!

Why do we have to come up with a contract or a major analysis on how to communicate with the Boomerang Generation. We are your children. Naturally, we should treat you with respect. We should offer to run errands or anything else to help the family out and work together as a team. I don’t know who these Boomerang Kids are who sit on the couch all day and act as ingrates but it’s no one I know and for so many people to treat us so badly it is insulting. Because we cannot find work you cannot act as if we are all lazy.

As much as I don’t agree with those sites that insult us so blatantly they are at least trying to present a solution. Some sites choose to just rip apart the Boomerang Generation and talk about us like we are the laziest generation that has ever been produced.

So to what I have said so far, I’m sorry. I’m sorry Baby Boomer Generation. I’m sorry you took over the world, you consume everything in sight, you’re use to having had everything given to you. I’m sorry you are leaving the Boomerang Generation having to take care of the environment you screwed up and I’m sorry in the future we will have all of our taxes go towards taking care of you when you will be in the hospital and nursing homes. Generation X, I’m sorry that we are not as annoying as you. I’m sorry that it was easy for you to get a job. I’m sorry that in your eyes we will never be as good as you.

In the Boomerang Generations defence we are trying to enter the working world during a recession. We have far higher university bills that any generation before us, especially you Baby Boomers who always manage to use the line “well I managed to pay for school” I’m sorry we are trying to enter the working world with you guys the Baby Boomers refusing to retire and give us your jobs.

So please, everyone who is judging the Boomerang kid’s, I ask  for a little compassion. After all it is not that weird that we are moving home to live with our parents. It is has only been since the latter half of the 20^th century that we are expected to move out right after school, and isn’t it since then that we have become an over consuming society leading up to this recession?

The Benefits of Moving in with Your Parents

Its official, I have moved in with my parents. I am no longer a student. I can no longer sleep-in till 1pm like it’s no big deal, hang out with my friends without leaving the house, go out on a Wednesday and feel the same pain Thursday afternoon as I would a Sunday. Gone are the days of cramming for an exam, staying up all night to finish an essay, and awful eating habits that your OK with because everyone else you know eats Pita Pit 4 times a week, and considers it “not THAT bad”

Part of me is really bummed that I have to live with my parents again. Its kinda sad when people ask you what you are up to and your answer is “ oh I just moved home with my parents.” It’s almost comical because moving back in with the parents goes hand and hand with being a failure, a loser, etc, etc. But I know that this is the best option for me right now. Also I am a recent graduate and not 40 moving back home for whatever reason.

Some of the benefits of living with my parents are:

-          Sleeping

• Sleeping the same hours as a middle aged person. Parents have the greatest sleeping habits. I swear before moving home I don’t remember the last time I have been in bed at 10:30 and a sleep by 10:45. I love it! You go sleep and wake up in the morning refreshed and ready for the day. That’s another thing, before moving home I don’t remember the last time I have been awake before 7:30am.

-          Eating

• Eating at home is great. I don’t have to worry about making myself something to eat for dinner because its already made! I don’t have to think about going to buy groceries. I don’t have to calculate the price of food into my monthly budget. I don’t have to get the cheap no name version of tuna because it is a dollar less that the regular. Also there is always healthy food available at home, I cannot say the same for student living.

-          Money

• I am saving a tone of money living at home. I don’t have to pay rent, hydro, electricity, or cable. Nope I get everything for free and I love it. Also my parents have a way nicer TV then my student house.

-          Laundry

• I didn’t even notice this at first, but when I put something in the hamper it is washed, dried, and folded waiting for me on the piano in the living room within 2 days! At first I was wondering where all this clothing was coming from, but then it hit me…I have a grandmother! My Babcia(grandmother in Polish) lives with us and sometimes doesn’t know what to do with herself, so she does my laundry! It is probably one of the best things about living at home.

-          City

• Now to be fair Hamilton has been very good to me. I use to hate it, but now there is a little place for it in my heart. BUT Toronto is wayyyy better. Toronto has a lot more things to do when you are not a student. I can get around Toronto without a car so easily, whereas Hamilton you need a car if you are going anywhere outside the McMaster Bubble.  Most of my friends are in the city, which is great but I miss my girls in the Hammer(womp womp)

-          Opportunities!

• Since I am living with my parents I have been looking for a job harder than ever. Its good motivation moving home, you realize how much you want to get out. I am setting my eyes on international work now.  Also being in Toronto there are a lot more Public Relations opportunities which is nice.

I have only been living at home for a week now so my feeling about all the great aspects might change…I’ll blog about it when they do.

MORE JOBS…maybe for recent grads

Here are some more jobs that I find interesting. Let me know if you guys apply for any of them

National Ballet School- Development Assistant

The Royal Conservatory- Academic Scheduling Assistant - this one is a full time job!

The London Group-Marketing Coordinator- This one would include social media!

Heart and Stroke Foundation- Sales and Youth Events Coordinator

The Hudson Bay Company- Marketing Coordinator- I was told I would be a great employee for the Bay because I love it so much. I agree!

Job Bank- Event Planner

Blogging and Looking for a Job

I found an interesting article about blogging while looking for a job. Since my blog is about finding a job, I thought I would share this with you guys!

Enjoy!

People Live in Toronto?

People from outside Toronto always say ” you know I could never imagine living in the city, it’s just so big and busy all the time.” They then go on to say ” you know I love the city, but I only like to visit it.”  Being from Toronto myself I try convince these people that there are these things, we from Toronto call “neighborhoods.” Contrary to popular belief Toronto does in fact have neighborhoods  that are unique and fun, and yes you can live  there and be happy. EyeWeekly has done a great job at  highlighting the different areas in Toronto with all their personalities.My area is Roncesvalles and I think they did a pretty great job describing it.

So if your from outside Toronto please check out some of the areas. If your from Toronto let me know if you think EyeWeekly did a good job describing your hood.

I am Having a Quarter Life Crisis.

My roommate’s boyfriend started to tell me about an article that he has read about people having quarter life crisis’. He did not realize that by giving examples, and telling me to read this article appropriately titled “ Welcome To Your Quarter Life Crisis”, he would manage to throw ME full speed into my own quarter life crisis. Everything he said made complete sense. Every example made me think ” well, that makes sense” or ” OMG I AM HAVING A QUARTER LIFE CRISIS!”

ps-shout out to Zac

Cause were in Parkdale, Parkdale, Parkdaaaaale

I once was dealing with a crazy roommate that was making my life hell. It was awful. Naturally I called my Mom because I wanted to be babied, have someone give me sympathy and tell me everything was going to be OK. My Mom did not tell me everything was going to be OK, or give me the sympathy I desired.  Instead she gave me some of the best advice I have ever received.

My Mom simply said ” Natalie, you are from Parkdale, when a crazy person is walking towards you, you cross the street. If someone is messing with you, you make a scene.”

She was right. Growing up near Parkdale you grow tough skin. You know the difference between someone who is out of their mind and someone who is just being an idiot. My Mom’s message was that my roommate was out of her mind, there was nothing I could do to make the situation better, so I should just cross the street.

As for the “if someone is messing with you, you make a scene.” Her message is you be fearless, and strong, and don’t let yourself get messed with.

My Mom is a Parkdale Mom without a doubt. She would do anything if someone was messing with her two babies.  This is why I find the article in the Toronto Star, appropriately titled “Don’t Mess with Mom’s of Parkdale”, HILIARIOUS!

ps- My Dad is a man of Parkdale who is a nurturer who you can trust with children…and its his birthday!

TV You Should Watch

One thing that I like to do when I am not looking for a job is watch TV. Some TV shows that are great don’t have a lot of viewers. I have assembled a list of comedies that I think you should give a chance.

30 Rock

30 Rock is the prime example of a GREAT TV show that some reason people just don’t watch. Below is a short link for all us undergraduates’ trying to make it in the world.

Community

Community is a show that I didn’t think I would like…but I love it! With Chevy Chase, the guy from The Soup, a producer from The Office, a writer from SNL, and a couple of directors from Arrested Development how could the show be bad. Watch this show! It is on Thursday on NBC and CityTV.

How I Met Your Mother

This show is another show I didn’t think I would like, but then feel in love with. I watched 3 seasons of this show during exam time in about 4 days. Neil Patrick Harris is hilarious, and all the Canadian jokes are classic.To love this one you need to watch a few episodes, and then you will be hooked.

Are there any shows you guys like?