A protégée of GoSavant.com, Molly Mann, has been profiled in the Chicago Sun-Times! Molly’s job search success has been realized after taking GoSavant.com’s “Ultimate Job Search Toolkit” and working with one of GoSavant’s coaches, Karen Marvinac.

After watching GoSavant.com’s “Winning Interviewing Techniques” before the interview that led to her job offer, Molly noted: "The tips, along with my coach Karen Marvinac's help, gave me a lot more confidence and acted as a refresher course… GoSavant gave me a structure and a feeling that things can turn around."

Natalie Petouhoff of Forrester Research also notes that GoSavant is unique because it allows job seekers to practice interviewing skills by speaking to a job coach, rather than rehearsing in their heads, and can role-play their resumes in the best way possible.

To read the rest of the Chicago Sun-Times article on GoSavant.com, click here.

We will be hosting a FREE virtual meetup in which you can ask Career Coach, James Persing, any of your job search questions on November 10th from 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM CST.

Wondering if your resume has the right keywords? Curious about how to answer a dreaded interview question? Anxious to learn how to close the interview to get the job? Just go to www.gosavant.com on November 10th between 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM CST (you may join 15 minutes before the session) and click on the Free Advice from a Career Coach button. You can then join in the chat session, all from the convenience of your own computer. You don’t have to drive anywhere or get dressed up; all you have to do is be on your computer between 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM CST on November 10th and type your queries.

Please let us know if you have any questions. We look forward to hearing from you November 10th and are happy to help you in your job hunt and career advancement!

Chew on this! GoSavant.com team members show you how to really "blow" the interview by "sticking it" to the interviewer.

Rule #4: When interviewing, don't describe the reason why you want the job as a "stepping stone" to future jobs.

Rule #3: When asked about your weaknesses in an interview, mention an actual weakness. And when asked why you left a company, the word "supervisor" probably shouldn't be mentioned

There is growing support from a wide range of government officials and economists for a tax credit to companies that hire new employees. The idea is gaining bipartisan support in Washington as the government looks for solutions to the highest unemployment figures in a generation.

Various proposals for job tax credits are currently being considered. One plan, by economists Timothy J. Bartik and John H. Bishop, would provide a first year tax credit equal to 15% of the cost of adding each new employee. In the second year, the tax credit would decline to 10%. The economists claim that this approach would generate 1 to 2 million new jobs in the first year.

The concept of offering tax breaks to companies that hire new employees is not new. The federal government offered a “New Jobs Tax Credit” from 1977 to 1978, in response to the recession that occurred in the 1970s. The program at its peak provided tax subsidies to 1.1 million businesses that added 2.1 million workers, at a cost of almost $4 billion (or a cost of $13 billion in today’s dollars). Or, put another way, it cost about $7,000 per additional worker added.

During the recent presidential campaign, then-candidate Barack Obama supported the concept of a tax break for companies that hired new employees. However, the Obama administration abandoned this concept in early 2009, as many Democrats suggested that a tax credit for jobs would be abused by businesses or that it would be difficult to administer, and the plan was dropped from the $787 billion economic stimulus bill. 

It remains to be seen whether the new jobs tax credit will be approved or not, and what effect if will have on the US employment landscape. In the mean time, the job market remains tough. Currently, unemployment is 9.8% - the highest it’s been since June of 1983. However, on a brighter note,  temporary help agencies report that they eliminated only 1,700 jobs in September, a decrease from the previous month. Economists see temporary jobs as a leading indicator, as employers are likely to hire temp workers before permanent ones.

Rule #2: When asked in an interview to "Tell me about yourself," your response should never include the phrases "I was born in" and "it was dark at night mostly there."

Rule #1: Know the position you're interviewing for. (Also throw out your used tissue in advance.)

It looked promising for Chicago—we had tremendous clout with President Obama, Michelle Obama, and Oprah campaigning for Chicago to get the Olympics in 2016. Michelle Obama spoke impassionedly about growing up in Chicago, and President Obama said powerful statements like “One of the legacies I want to see coming out of the Chicago 2016 hosting of the Games is a reminder that America at its best is open to the world." Chicago also showed videos of the beauty of its lakefront location and mesmerizing Millennium Park to the Olympic committee. So what went wrong? What can job seekers learn from Chicago’s failed “Olympic interview”?

Don’t go for the personal plea in the interview; describe the technical reasons why you would be a good fit for the organization.

There were so many powerful, personal sentiments behind the Obamas plea for the Olympics. Statements including “with hard work and discipline and dedication, [Chicago] can make it if we try” and “That's not just the American dream, that is the Olympic spirit. That's why we see so much of ourselves in these Games. And that's why we want them in Chicago. That's why we want them in America.”

As beautifully said as these statements are, they don’t give any indication as to what Chicago can offer the Olympics. In an interview, describe what you can offer the organization,. It seems as if the Obamas were asking what the Olympics could do for Chicago and not what Chicago could do for the Olympics. In fact, Michelle Obama specifically said: “Chicago's vision for the Olympic and Paralympic movement is about so much more than what we can offer the Games. It's about what the Games can offer all of us. It's about inspiring this generation and building a lasting legacy for the next.” In an interview, however, you should explain what you can an offer an organization.

It had been reported that Chicago avoided reporting “stodgy technical details”…but maybe the Committee wanted to hear technical details. Maybe the Olympic Committe wanted to hear discussions of finances. Chicago instead showed videos of blues legened Buddy Guy and snapshots of the pretty city. Mayor Daley emphatically noted “It’s not about the words. It’s about the heart and soul.” But “some of its speakers looked nervous and parts of the presentation came off as stilted. It also was surprisingly low-key…” If you are relying on an image mainly to sell your point (which you shouldn’t), it should at least come across as professional as possible.

Chicago had the passion, the skills, and the right “references” to sell the city to the Olympic Committee. But it didn’t focus on what the Olympic Committee wanted to hear of  what Chicago could offer the orgnanization. Job seekers may have the passion, the skills, and the right references, but that won’t mean much in an interview unless a job seeker can display how those qualities will benefit the organization.

In the latest ADP National Employment Report, US companies cut jobs by 254,000 between August and September 2009. However, this is considered a sign of improvement in the job market: it is the lowest number of jobs cut since July of 2008.

Automatic Data Processing (ADP), a private company, calculated these figures based on a subset of payroll data collected from about 400,000 of their customers, which reflects 23 million US workers. The company’s payroll services are used to pay 1 out of every 6 employees in the United States, so their findings are considered an accurate reflection of changes in US employment.

While the latest figures suggest that the labor market is slowly improving compared with earlier this year, it remains weak. According to the Wall Street Journal, economists expect the unemployment rate to hit 9.8% in September, up from 9.7% in August.

How long will it be until the trend reverses, and companies start hiring more people then they fire? No one knows. The Federal Reserve said last week that sluggish income growth and tight credit are curbing household spending and slowing the pace of the recovery. According to Rutgers University economists Jim Hughes and Joseph Seneca, it could take the United States more than 7 years to recover from the nation’s worst employment decline since the Great Depression. This means we will have to wait until 2017 before employment rates return to the levels of 2007.