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We hope you agree with our direction with this site, please share your opinions in the comments section below.
 
 
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Anybody who has ever written a report can relate to the frustrations of having to handle citations in a project.  There are many different formats and many times a comma or period in the wrong place always leads to points being taken off.  However, there is a better way to manage all of your projects' citations

Ottobib.com

All you need to do is add the book's ISBN number to the website and it will automatically and correctly create the appropriate bibliography in the following formats.
  • MLA
  • APA
  • Chicago/Turabian
  • BibTeX
  • Wikipedia
Only catch is that this is for books only, but can be a tremendous time saver for any student/professional putting together research projects.
 
 
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I wish I could report that the job market was doing better, but according to a 2009NACE study, 
19.7 percent of 2009 graduates who applied for a job actually have one."

Many economists are predicting that the recession is over.  However, I disagree and graduates have it harder now than in any recent memory.  The best thing you can do now is go the more traditional routes and grow your network.  I recently read, "Never Eat Alone" By Keith Ferrazzi, Tahl Raz.  This is a great book on how to use networking to get ahead in life. 

 
 
One of the best investments a heavy computer user can make is to purchase a good quality mouse, I am not here to sell a mouse, but here to discuss how to make it work better for you efficient

Increase efficiency = Increase your value as an employee

If anyone has a programmable mouse, say logitech MX revolution, you are able to program the short cuts into the mouse.  My favorite example is to program Ctrl+TAB and Shift+Ctrl+Tab into the mouse and I am able to quickly navigate between Tabs in Firefox just by using the mouse.  You can do this for a lot of programs, with just a few minutes of set-up, you can save tons of time and navigate multiple pages faster than ever.

Excel
program Ctrl+page up and ctrl+page down to quickly move between pages in an open work book

Outlook
Ctrl+E will take you directly to the Instant Search bar
Ctrl+Shift+V will make it easier than ever to file messages

Mice are often over looked as productivity enhancers, but any edge you can give yourself will save you time and allow you to do more with less.  Or at least allow more time to read more Feeds and jump on Facebook
 
 

No more tedious input forms

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Have you ever noticed how annoying it is to plug in all your information into your calendar?  How about a program that allows you to type it the way you would explain it to someone.  For example, Just jot down "meeting tomorrow at 4pm" and information is inputted directly into your calendar.  Well finally that has happened thanks to task.fm

Task.FM
Create reminders that can be delivered via SMS, email or voice call
It is free to sign up and I have just started using it and couldn't be happier, I will probably switch over to the premium version soon, but the free version has definitely made life easier.  This is perfect for keeping your calendar organized so you don't miss any interviews, meetings, or just a reminder that you are going to hangout with someone and don't want to painstakingly plug the information into the same old calendar form. 
 
 
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Latest and greatest new toy from Google. 

You have to request an invite and it will take a few days, but just got one and it is pretty sweet
Invite Link

3 Reasons Google Voice is Important to Graduates

1. One number to reach all devices (e.g. cell phones, skype, landlines, etc).
No more missing calls or having the wrong phone with you.  Let's say you have a cell and landline, just put one number on the resume and if an interviewer calls you are more likely to receive the call.

2. You can create different voicemail boxes for different numbers
There is nothing that will kill your chances quicker for a job than having a recruiter call and they get the latest rap song or some crazy message on your phone.  Set a fun message for your friends, set a more professional message for unknown numbers.  This could easily be the most important feature for job seekers.

3. Get your voicemails and conversations in writing
I am sure there might be some legal issues with this one at some point, but now you can have a written transcript of your conversations and voice mails in an email format.  Reduce the chance of misunderstanding an important details of a call.  Just a few examples below:
  • location of interview
  • meeting time
  • contact person - it is good to remember the names of who you talked to at a company.  One of the top reasons people get a job is for their first impressions and you cannot afford to let anything slip.

This product is still relatively new and I am not recommending jumping everything to Google Voice, but with some of its features, this may help reduce the chance of missing an important call or information.

"Google Voice is a service that gives you one number for all your phones, voicemail that is easy as email, and many enhanced calling features like call blocking and screening, voicemail transcripts, call conferencing, international calls, and more." - Google


 
 

I attended the Boston College graduation last month for a family member and the graduation speech (can't remember professor's name, please comment if you know it)  talked about the next several years after graduation are the time to find yourself professionally and try different things.  It is okay to make mistakes.  Mistakes are what teach us the best lessons, help us figure out what we want to and don't want to do.  It can be scary trying new things, but like after a while, it becomes habit forming. 
If you want to start a business, do-it, it can cost less than you think.  With the all the options on the Internet for creative ways and access to income sources, there is plenty of options to move forward in your own way. 
Maybe you are struggling to find a job, you might lack the experience needed, this is the perfect time to either build the experience yourself and then put it on your resume or just to have fun and you might surprise yourself. 
Feel like writing for a blog, start one yourself or submit an article and I will post it on the site.

Never Stop Learning!!!


 
 

The economy is going down the crapper fast.  Over 70K jobs were cut in a single day!  Check out the article at NDTV

It is definitely starting to hit home too.  I know several acquaintances that lost their jobs last week.  Plus, I know several teachers who were already told they won't have work next school year.

What the heck do we do now as young graduates?

Ever thought about doing freelance work, sites like elance.com have plenty of postings for skilled work.  If you don't think you have the skills for free lance work.  Check out their article about 100 things to hire for free lance Top 100 Jobs You Can Elance

That's right, 100 different ways to make money! 
Just pass a few tests (should be good at that or definitely would not have made it through school) :)
Figure out what you are good at and start bidding on projects, not much else to it.  Even if you are in a job, this is a great way to supplement the wallet.  Build your skills and if you find something you are only decent at, but want practice, bid cheap, explain the situation and you and the customer will both be better

Image courtesy of the Library of Congress (LOC) via Flickr

 
 

Certifications are an excellent way to demonstrate proficiency.  Depending on your career, there are numerous certificates that can help make up for lack of experience.  For almost any knowledge worker, proficiency in Microsoft Office products can move you up in the candidate pack, plus having a certificate to back up your claims on experience is definitely more credible.
Check out Microsoft Certified Application Specialist Series

They offer application certifications in all the main Office products and they an excellent way to ensure you completely understand the products and they are fantastic to add to your resume.

 
 

This site helps give advice, ideas and tips on how to make the right decisions moving forward after receiving the hard earned diploma.  We are looking for bloggers to help enrich the content of this site and provide a mix of experiences and ideas.

We want to use an open source model to allow for the site to provide the most comprehensible and in-depth information for many industries.  This will help people not only understand the choices that are directly in front of them, but also help spawn new ideas and paths that may have not been considered or understood well enough to become reality.

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