(WIN a Sewing or Embroidery Machine!) from the DIY Dish

A friend posted this contest on her blog and I thought I would share it as well. Also check out the the DIY Dish blog. Lots of great stuff for creative people!

Here is the link to their site DYI Dish. Enjoy!

Happenings this week…

Pacific Northwest Weddings

Coming Soon: March 2010

Snapshot eMagazine presents
Pacific Northwest Weddings

NEW Awe-Inspiring Guide
Distribution (4,000) is emailed throughout the Pacific Northwest area and emailed out directly to brides who request them online throughout the year. The guide will also be available on snapshotemagazine.com as a flipping page digital magazine and available as a PDF file for download.

Begin reserving your advertising spot today. Free with ad -  spotlight a product/service in our “Snapshot Trends” section. All advertisers in the magazine also receive a free listing on www.snapshotemagazine.com. This provides couples with the opportunity to contact advertisers by email 24 hours a day and is a useful source of extra response for advertisers.

Email Shiela at shiela@snapshotemagazine for rates.

Wedding Photographer’s:

Would you like to be on the cover? Email photo submissions to Shiela at marketing@strubelstudios, winner will have their photo with credit on the cover of Snapshot – Pacific Northwest Weddings Magazine. Plus receive a full page ad (8.5×11). Deadline February 12th for Spring Issue.

Sample Cover:

Remax Equity Group Inc.

Dominique Mahlow
Your Professional Realtor

Phone: 360-828-3066
Email: dominiquemahlow@comcast.net
Website: www.equitygroup.com/dominique

Write Stuff Websites

Dana Greyson

Phone: 360-448-8833
Email: info@WriteStuffWebsites.com
Website: WriteStuffWebsite

Interview Strategies: Three Simple Steps

Many job searchers show up for an interview in a nice suit, with a copy of their resume and some research on the position in hand, but with little thought about a strategy for actually landing the position.  The great thing about creating a “job search strategy” is that once you have it you can use it for every interview.  The requirements for this tool are to simply follow the steps below.  Take the time to think about the answers to the questions and write them down.  Review you notes and practice or rehearse answering and asking questions before each interview.

OVERVIEW
When job searchers don’t get a job it is often not because they don’t have the skills, but simply because they didn’t interview as well as the person who was hired.  As a job applicant your part in the hiring process is to articulate specifically why you should be hired.   As they lead you through a series of questions, the company hopes to get to know you:  your character, track record and reputation.  This is one area where many people struggle.  The following exercises will help you prepare.  You will want to write out your answers so that you can review them before each interview.  You may not have an opportunity to share all of the information during the interview.  Your strategy is to fit it in as much as possible.  This tool will help you identify the strengths the company wants and needs to know about you.

NOTES
Would you go to a staff meeting with 10 points to cover without an agenda?  Most likely not!  The probability of you forgetting half of what you wanted to cover would be way to high.  Once you have completed the exercises below create a key point outline on a note pad and bring it with you to every interview.  A casual glance at the outline you have created will help keep you on track.

Step 1
Previous job experience
All too often your thoughts about your job history aren’t all great.  After all, you are leaving or you have already left.  This exercise gives you a chance to pre-think the best possible aspects of your experience and allows you to keep a positive focus during the interview.  Bottom line, it conveys that you are an enthusiastic person, productive employee and well respected by your employer.

Answer the following three questions for each of your past jobs.

List three things you like about your current/most recent job

List three of your best accomplishments or contributions in your current/most recent job

Quantify the impact of your accomplishments in your current/most recent job

List three things you are most known for in your current/most recent job

Step 2
What are your strengths?
Identifying strengths and sharing them is a struggle for most people.  This step will help you prepare a list of your strengths.  Knowing your strengths makes it easier to share them.

First choose 5 people in your life with whom you have a good relationship and ask them “What are the top 5 reasons someone should hire me?”   Ask your best friend, your favorite co-worker, mentor or boss.  Family members are also a good choice.  Write down their feedback.  You’ll draw on this information during your interview. Usually this exercise gives you a whole new view of yourself.

Next, make a list of your own perspective of your strengths.

You should now have a list of 8-10 strengths that you can share about yourself.   Come up with examples to support each strength.  If you cannot come up with an example, maybe it is not really a strength.

If you say, “I am a hard worker” back it up with an example that will benefit your employer.

The “I am a hard worker” statement now becomes  “I am a hard worker, which means that you can count on me to always complete assigned tasks and find more productive work to do should I have time on my hands.”

Another way to back up each strength is to ask yourself why you are good in that particular area.  For example, someone who is always punctual may have an extremely strong commitment to being responsible or doing what he or she says.  This is a great insight that you can share to support your character strengths which are often more important that your skills. Step 3
Questions to ask during the interview
Having a set of prepared questions in more important than you might think.  Often, not having questions to ask during an interview can be a deal breaker.  Not having questions can convey that you are not prepared or not interested.

Below are questions that get the interviewer sharing their thoughts with you.  (Note: Avoid asking questions about salary or benefits during the first interview unless the interviewer brings it up.)

About the company
Tell me how you would describe your department’s/company’s culture?
What is new and exciting in your company/group/department?

About the position
How would you describe the person that has performed the best in these positions? What about them contributed to their success in the position?
Can you tell me about any challenges or obstacles I should be aware of in this position?

About the manager
Describe your management style.  What would it be like to work for you?
What are your expectations of me or of those in your department?
When you made the move to come here, what was the most compelling reason?
What is the most pressing problem or challenge to be solved in the next 60 days?
Profile your top performer for me.  What does he/she do that makes him/her stand out?
What do you think of my skills and chances for this position?

The opportunity to share information about you is during the interview. If you don’t say something about yourself, the interviewer won’t know it.  If you are reliable, say it, if you are punctual, say it, etc.  They are hoping you are the one… as much as you are hoping you are the one.

Meet Beth Skillern: Bullivant’s Quiet Success

Glance at the top 150 Privately held Oregon Companies list and you’ll find women CEOs scarcer than hen’s teeth.  Beth Skillern, a former middle school teacher who worked her way up to CEO at law firm Bullivant Houser and Bailey is one of the few.

Ironically, despite a keen interest in the law, graduating college with a teaching degree in the ‘60s seemed like a smart way to go for a woman back then.  And Beth loved teaching. But when the time came to trundle her youngest child off to kindergarten, Beth decided if she didn’t pursue her dream then, she probably never would.

When asked why there aren’t more women in her position, Beth’s focus is on the future, noting many more women entered the profession over the past 30 years and are in good positions to successfully work their way up, too.

Perhaps that kind of quiet success is just what you’d expect from someone who for the last 24 years starts her day off with the same group of neighbor-friends, rain or shine, at 6 am to walk.  Or from a CEO who insists that economic down times are not the time to jettison personnel and market development and whose open door policy is not just a figurative term, it’s a literal reality.  Or from someone whose greatest on-the-job pleasure is mentoring, then seeing her mentees pass those lessons on to others, recognizing and fostering their skills and strengths.

Over the years, Beth worked hard to balance career and family demands.  Unexpected family crises, and attending a soccer game took priority when it needed to, though that may have meant working long evenings after putting her daughters to bed and pulling weekends, too, especially when there was a big case coming up.

“I must have done something right,” Beth chuckles, “My family’s still speaking to me.”

Bullivant prides itself on its acceptance of diversity, family-friendly policies and even its willingness to support part-time employees.  Still, Beth pragmatically advises women raising a family while wanting to follow in her footsteps,  “You can have it all, just not all at the same time. There’s an ebb and a flow, and sometimes you’re just going to be tired.”

That same practicality pushes Beth to focus attorneys now more than ever to get out of their safe, cozy offices and market, seek out new opportunities and directions.  When tough times hit, the focus on spending sharpened, and some positions had to be trimmed. “Personnel issues are hard,” confesses Beth, “You want everyone to succeed, and sometimes it just doesn’t happen.”

On those rough days, the kind of day tough enough to take a walk, Beth finds sitting down with a cup of coffee and a cookie, any kind of cookie (from the woman who admits “I never met a cookie I didn’t like”) is the simple guilty pleasure that gets her through it.

After hours, Beth restores her optimism with stories, typically true, of courage and success in overcoming obstacles, like the building 0f Afghan schools for women, “Three Cups of Tea”, the deliberately intertwined lives of an Arab and Israeli family in The Lemon Tree” and the delightfully told tale of German resistance, “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society”.

What else would we expect from a woman whose motto is “Do your best, and anything is possible!”

Vancouver’s First Friday Artwalk November 6th

Vancouver’s First Friday Artwalk is upon us again!  I hope you will join me this Friday, November 6th.  The galleries will be presenting their new shows from 5:00 – 9:00 PM.  We have a new gallery open on First Friday, bringing our total to eight!  The new gallery is called Lincoln’s Gallery and is located at 108 West 9th Street between Main and Washington.   Come out and enjoy Vancouver’s art scene with a glass of wine and refreshments.  Support our local artists by purchasing that one-of-a-kind piece of art.  It’s not too early to be thinking about the holidays.  I will look forward to seeing you on Friday!

For the Arts,

Kristy Weaver
360-735-3707
911 Main Street
Vancouver, WA  98660

Divine Indulgence Event

Wise Wild Women World & Cameo Café presents

“Divine Indulgence”
Veterans Day
November 11 th, 2009
6:00 – 9:00 p.m.

An evening of sheer delight! Indulgences and buffet to tempt the most reserved woman.

Do you remember when you were in your twenties… and now you wish that feeling returned more often to the life that you have left? Well, let us help you bring out that hidden “Tigress”. It’s time to dress up for the evening girlfriend! Come out with Wise-Wild Women World to The Cameo Café for a special evening event just for the girl-power within!

MUSIC: COLUMBIA RIVER CHORUS (All Women Chorus) and  Tony Lincoln & Ensemble

Chocolatier & Desserts – Jofoody
Foods for Fun – Jofoody
Cosmetics – Arbonnne
Fashion Show – La Claudio & Act 2
Jewelry Designs – Satori
Massage & Body Essentials
Healthy Living – Take Shape for Life & H2Opurified4U
Photography – Aevum Images
Home & Garden Inspirations – Southern Living

Cost: $15.00 for buffet
Cans & packaged food is kindly requested  for donation to our disabled Veterans’ Food Bank.

Location of Event: Cameo Café –  7703 NE 72nd Ave. Vancouver, WA 98661
Reservations limited to 100 attendees. Please submit your reservation for the event.

Jadia Ward , Event Organizer  • (503) 750-6361

Arbonne

Cathy Nielsen
Independent Consultant

Phone: 360-513-5744 • Email: rbon@pacifier.com • Website:www.simplynatural.myarbonne.com

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