Struggling to decide what to get someone for the holidays? Whether he or she is a job hunter, a recently promoted career professional, or someone in between, you can’t go wrong with buying a gift that will positively influence someone’s career. Here are some ideas:

The Ultimate Job Search Toolkit. We are offering our all-encompassing job search course for a discount. Here is a recent testimonial.

Job coaching services. Know someone who can’t make it past the first interview or is gunning for an upward climb in his or her position? He or she is a prime candidate for some job coaching. Find the right coach for you here.

Rosetta Stone. Knowing a second language can only positively impact someone’s career.

Gift certificate to JoS A. Bank or Banana Republic. Your gift recipient should be able to find a dress shirt, slacks, or a blazer that is appropriate for the interview.

A watch. With the advent of the cell phone, it appears that wristwatches have slowly become less in vogue; however, there are still many positive associations associated with those who wear watches.

Gift certificate to a hair salon. Give the holiday gift recipient a haircut that will give him or her more confidence to take on the job world!

Teeth whitening services. If a trip to the dentist is too expensive for you to give (professional teeth whitening services range from $300 to $600, offer BriteSmile. BriteSmile polishes your teeth and gives you fresh breath—but be sure to give this type of gift to someone who won’t read too much into it! You don’t want the gift recipient to think his or her breath stinks or teeth are too yellow!

A subscription to a trade magazine. Keep the career professional updated about happenings in his or her career industry.

The United States Department of Labor is compiling a list of career advancement sites, and GoSavant.com is one of the contenders. Job seekers and workforce professionals will be invited to test-drive, comment on, and recommend tools. We would appreciate it if you could recommend GoSavant. Just scroll down past the description of our group, and you'll see a little red cross and the word Comment. If you click on that you'll be able to leave a comment. Commenting can start now. Official test-driving of the site will start January 4th. For more details, read this.

We appreciate your assistance in getting the word out about GoSavant!

For this holiday season, give a gift that will make a positive difference in the life of a job hunter. Give him or her The Ultimate Job Search Toolkit.

Get 25% off of the course by entering in"holiday" as the discount code. This promotion is good until the end of December, so be sure to order it before the end of the month!

The other day we had our first free virtual career coaching session on GoSavant.com. We had quite a number of people come in and ask multiple job search questions! It was so busy for our career coach that we have decided to limit the number of people next time or have 2 coaches available at once (depending on expressed demand). We hope we were able to answer the most pressing of your job search questions, and we empathize with those who need one-on-one career coaching beyond the hour. We are planning on having future virtual career coaching sessions, but if you have more than a few questions that can be answered via chat in an hour, visit www.gosavant.com to select a career coach for more personalized coaching.

So what were some of the questions and answers during our first free virtual meetup?

What can I do to increase my chances for a phone call for an interview?

Coach: The market is tight, so being able to stand out from the crowd helps. In your resume, include any unique information that will be a "hook" and grab people's attention-- maybe it is some background or perhaps a skill.

I have really strong writing skills so I'm not that concerned about the cover letter but more the resume itself.

Coach: I suggest that in today's economy a well-crafted and individualized cover letter can be very important. It can allow you to articulate very specifically what you bring to them. Other people will send generic cover letters… you will want to stand apart and be noticed with your specific skills, knowledge and ability that meet the job. For instance, you can highlight an experience that you perhaps can't do as well in a resume.

I see..good point.

What’s an elevator speech and what should I include in it?

Coach: Use your ingenuity! An elevator speech is what you would say to someone about yourself in the amount of time you spend on an elevator with him/her. Intro, goals, skills….

How do I find the unpublished jobs?

Coach: Good question. Do you have the ability to develop and maintain personal connections and professional contacts? These contacts may generate some leads.

I meet people, but where do I go from there?

Coach: Ask them if they know of any opportunities or contacts. You can also explain your skills and see if they have any ideas based on that. I also suggest using LinkedIn.com to keep in contact.

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

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."