With budget cuts and layoffs many are pressured to work harder and longer for less money and often expected to do the work of those let go.

Finding ways to manage stress at work is crucial for minimizing it’s effect in your everyday life and increase overall happiness and productivity. Keeping it manageable can help stop the overflow to your home life and helps keep you in a more balanced state of mind.

There are various ways to help reduce your stress at work effectively that are easily managed with a few tweaks to your routine.

Keep the Fun at work

No matter where you work you can keep the fun in your workplace by remembering to laugh. Laughter relieves stress instantly and incorporating into the workplace can make difficult days tolerable.

Keep memorable pictures or items in your work or personal area. Have a funny screensaver on your computer or a crazy calendar on your desk. Share the laughter with your co- workers when you can and celebrate occasions whenever possible.

Get Moving

Take breaks regularly when your work environment permits. Working for extended periods without a break leads to sluggishness, which increases errors and decreases performance.

Taking a few minutes every few hours to stretch increases blood flow and disconnect your brain from the work at hand. Focusing on a simple new task such as getting a cup of coffee, revives and re-energizes both mind and body.

Stay Healthy

Keeping stress in check can also be achieved with healthy nutrition. A diet of coffee, sweets and high fat snacks spikes your insulin levels into danger zones affecting your concentration. Keeping hydrated and eating a balanced diet keep your body in peak performance and regular exercise helps promote proper sleep which is critical in stress reduction.

Time Management

Squeezing in all the pending work can be overwhelming when timelines are out of sync. By organizing and prioritizing you can tackle one project at a time thereby reducing stress levels with each completed project.

Ask for help from superiors in prioritizing requested tasks by levels of importance and avoid committing to responsibilities that will not fit in your schedule.

Taking care of yourself is your primary concern when it comes to working either for yourself or for others. When you are not functioning at your best, your work will suffer and your reputation may be jeopardized. When work stress had reached a peak, take the time to regroup. Everyone will benefit in the end.

Sensible Guides.

Then there are the rest of us who would rather be in the seats or behind the scenes instead of on stage.

Chances are we will need to address this situation at some point in our lives and the best defense is learning the basics of public speaking and adapting them into our lives as often as possible until we are comfortable with how we present ourselves.

The Main Points

Here are a few basic rules of thumb to keep in mind when you have been asked to speak.

• The content of the speech should match the information needed by the audience. Preparing the material carefully in advance can ensure you have covered all areas you wish to address.
I have never had a problem finding things to say in a group or on a stage but I have to admit I do ramble on. One night I was proudly chairing a veterans meeting and had it planned with slides and a short film for added punch. When the lights came back on I found I had put at least half a dozen audience members to sleep. I quickly learned to keep it simple.

• Record your speech in front of a mirror and take notes. By doing so, you can watch your mannerisms and emphasis any weak points you may uncover in your speech.
• Note your posture. Standing tall and making eye contact across the room shows confidence and attention. If you feel yourself tensing up, change position or walk a few steps and let yourself relax while you continue.
• In any story, there is a beginning, middle and an end. Use this guide in your speech to capture attention in the beginning, support your story in the middle, and close up with a conclusion at the end. Your speech is just another story to be told.
• Keep natural pauses in your speech and allow the listener to reflect and absorb what you have to say. By allowing them to question in their own mind, you have engaged their attention.
When we first got married, Gertie was all atwitter when she was scheduled to head a school board meeting. She fussed and fidgeted with worry until she noticed the audience were similar to an unruly room of students who needed a lick of firm guidance. Once she had them pegged, she rarely had a problem when she was asked to speak.
• If there are audio-visual materials being utilized, have a plan B and a plan C should electrical problems occur. Also as a fail safe, plan for all of the above and know how to wing it should the worst case scenario happen.
• Keep track of your time. Never go beyond your allotted time as boredom will quickly set in and derail any gains you may have made in your speech previously.

From grade school to corporations across the globe, meetings and speeches are a part of our life. By taking the fear out of public speaking early on, we can learn to become more comfortable in front of crowds each time we take the stage.

Learning to plan the topic and teaching ourselves to relax while speaking can make a big difference when it comes to projecting confidence and leadership in all areas of our lives.

Sensible Guides.

You have done your home work and are prepared for the interview but for many, the interview process in the most difficult to get through. Having a few well planned questions will help improve the flow of the interview and show your potential employer that you are proactive and ready to become part of their team.

Of course each interview will require some individual prep work on the company doing the hiring, for example, how long they have been in business and who are their competitors etc. However there are benefits to having a list of questions prepared, and generally you can use the same format for all companies that are in the process of interviewing you. Asking questions can create a good impression showing responsibility, initiative, and readiness.

What To Ask

The first question involves the specific job duties and tasks. Though you may have an idea of what is required in the position you are applying for, here is where you can ask additional questions as the interview progresses. These could include when are the busiest times of the day, will your workload increase after time, what are the hours of work required for the position, and if there is shift work involved. You may know the answer to some of these already but asking them will show you are interested in the bigger picture.

Another great question is about advancement within the company. Asking about promotions from within and potential advancements are relevant questions and show that you are dedicated to working towards goals and looking to be successful in their employ.

Asking about employee benefits and salary are trickier but will a little finesse, can be discussed without appearing paycheck happy. You will already have a good idea of the available transit and parking but you can now ask about if the position has any special requirements such as safety glasses. Are there additional certifications recommended?

At this point you can ask about any employee benefit programs available. Test the water with this question. If you feel the interview is going well then by all means broach the subject but don’t focus too many questions here. Interest in the company is what you are striving for not what the company will do for you.

Now the subject of salary. Some employers expect the interviewee to ask, and others may see it as a downside, and you may only be concerned with picking up a paycheck. If the salary for the position has not been stated then now is the time to inquire. In doing so, use the phrase “salary,” as it tends to sound more professional than pay, money, or even paycheck.

Positive and Professional

These are just a few of the many questions that you may want to consider asking during your job interview. They can be tailored to each interview and you will have a good indication early on if you can expand on any questions as you go forward.

To ensure that you are able to impress your interviewers, have the questions ready ahead of time and do a few practice runs so you will appear at ease and confident.

To be the best qualified applicant for the position you need to make a lasting impression and be willing to sell your skills in your interview. Show the employer what you can do by engaging them professionally with confidence and with style.

Sensible Guides.

Take the time to research the various resume styles and templates to find one that best suits your situation. The biggest mistake people make is using generic templates that are usually outdated, difficult to format, and do not transfer well to online job applications.

Search the internet for samples of resumes within your own industry. You will also find many great online resources in almost every online job website. Remember, you only have a few seconds to make a lasting impression and the design of your resume is the first thing your prospective employer or client sees.

Formatting Your Own Resume

Here are some basic formatting tips to create your own printed resume:

• Limit the length of the resume to one or two pages.
• The page should have one-inch margins, top and bottom, right and left.
• Use left justification only and never center the content of your resume.
• The font type and size should be consistently applied.
• Bullet points should be basic circles or squares.
• Headlines can be bolded and capitalized. The remaining text should not have special formatting.
• Do not underline any of the information in your resume.
• The font size for headlines should not exceed 14 points. The remainder of the text in the resume should not exceed 12 points.
• Use the Tab key instead of the Space bar to create spaces between the text in your resume.
• Send the resume file to yourself and friends and print it out to review and make sure nothing seems out of place.

Your research will tell you if it’s ok to use photos or some color and/or graphics in your particular job field. It is safer to be conservative about this. Make sure to test a photocopy version first to make sure the black and white copy doesn’t look strange.

There have been examples of completely innovative, off-the-wall designed resumes that worked, but unless you are a market-savvy designer, it’s best to stick to the proven methods.

Create Your Electronic Resume

Make sure these points are followed if asked to provide plain text files:

• Create a plain text (.txt) file version of your resume.
• Do not try to making portions of your resume bold, or change the font size or type.
• Make sure you check for uniform spacing and adjust any lines of text that seem out of place.
Long paragraphs and too many pages are a real turn-off. For one project manager job, we received 500 applications. I totally had to skip over the boring and long-winded ones in less than 3 seconds, never mind the usual 5 seconds. Maybe we were offering too much money, because everybody wanted that job!
• Follow the exact instructions of your potential employer. Some want the resume copied into the body of the email, while others want it sent as an attachment. Others ask you to directly upload the file from your desktop.
• Test your electronic resume by sending it to yourself and to a few friends via email.
• Sometimes companies will want you to upload a PDF file. If that is the case, you want to convert your printed version to PDF format to upload it. Most word processing programs, like Word, have that capability.

Companies often circulate resumes among several individuals in the decision making process however, always have several high quality printed versions of your resume handy for distribution when you do arrive for your interview.

Remember, your resume is your living document, reflecting you. By creating clean, clear and consistent formats throughout your resume, you stand out as polished and professional to your perspective employers and clients.

Sensible Guides.

Your resume may take various formats and styles depending on who you’re addressing it to. But the major content components remain essentially the same. Whether you include a cover letter or not, this resume must be able to stand on its own, complete and reflective of your personality, experiences and achievements.

So, in this article, we will focus on the content requirements of resume writing for employers. Slight adjustments can be make to reflect your specific intended audience.

Page Heading

The heading of the resume should contain your name, address and contact information. This is so the reader can identify and reach you instantly.

Title

The title or headline summarizes your professional title and/or your professional statement. It is important that this title be well crafted, as it is the first impression your potential employer will have of you.

Career/Business Objectives

Your objectives should be brief, up to two sentences. It should give your potential employer a good idea of how you wish to move forward in your professional life.

Profile/Summary

A concise profile or a summary should discuss who you are and how your skills and experience best apply to the job you are interested in. It should contain a few well-written sentences that convey what you bring to the table in terms of the specific job. Use this section to attract the employer’s attention, but don’t go overboard in trying to be creative or cutesy here.

There are three things a well-written summary should address:

• your experiences and skills as they relate to your desired job
• what you can uniquely bring to the organization, and
• your professional goals.

Professional Experience and Achievements

Your experience listing should include information on one to five jobs you’ve held, starting with your current or last job, and listing previous positions in chronological order. Alternatively, you can functionally organize this information by type of job as it relates to your application. This method is often used for professional specialists to highlight their functional expertise.

The listing should include:

• the date range of your employment
• name of the companies or person(s) you have worked for, and location (full address of employment is not necessary).
• your title and your main responsibilities, with emphasis on accomplishments applicable to the type of work you are seeking

Educational Background

Your educational background should include:

• college, graduate and post-graduate work
• any courses or professional certifications that are relevant to your career development

Associations and Achievements

Achievements, volunteer positions, publications and interests should only be listed if they apply to your professional work experience. Some companies don’t require this on the resume, but bring it up during the interview.

References

References should be listed if requested. Best practices suggest not to list generic statements about references being available upon request, as this is already understood.

Your resume, should not contain personal information that discloses ethnicity, sexual orientation, marital status, age, living situations, or any other personal information that is not directly related to your career. It should be composed in the third person, present tense.

Use Action Keywords

Action words, or power words, are keywords (verbs) that add strength to your descriptions. When you submit your resume to your potential employer:

• your application will be run through a computer software program, which searches for key terms they are looking for. If your resume contains relevant key words, your resume will be pulled aside for further review.
• a hiring manager or a human resources associate, receiving resumes, will scan through them quickly to pick out these key words.

Be Error Free

Make sure that your resume is error free. Double check your grammar and spelling. A resume containing errors, no matter how minimal, will give your potential employer an impression that you do not pay attention to detail, that you don’ t take enough time to double check your work, and that you are a poor communicator.

A great resume will make you stand out from the crowd by showcasing your skills. Think of your resume as your sales pitch. You need to sell yourself in the best possible way. Invest some time and research into developing your resume. It will be well worth it.

Sensible Guides.