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I like to think it is responsive.
 
The work “provocative” is often taken to mean the generation of negative actions and that might make people confused and hesitant to respond. I’m no linguist, so I’m unclear on exactly what is being asked, also.
 
If provocative is to mean that it causes people to take a specific action, I would say that this w…[Read more]

One way is to write your cover letter like a personal letter straight from yourself. Any other way is going to present something other than you. If it is a tried and true method that everyone is talking about, it will sound like everyone else who is jumped on the bandwagon.
If everyone else sounds like a marketing pitch and you do the same, you’ll…[Read more]

Buffalo grass also takes longer to green up in the spring than other turfgrasses. The advantages are that it is drought tolerant, stays relatively short, and can be installed as plugs, so it may do well in a rooftop application. I’ve not worked with it with limited soil depth though so I’m not sure how it would fair. The one greenroof photo on this…[Read more]

Dropbox is another cloud based backup service.  Files sync automatically and can be shared across several computers or devices. 
We are moving to a Dropbox system so that our employees can access crucial files from anywhere when they are outside of the office .

The 2-weeks thing is generally true.  There’s a bunch of clues you can sift out to tell weather or not they want people to apply.  Two other things that indicate that it is a “real” job posting are: a non-HR person’s contact number, especially if the person listed is the supervisor; if they say they will pay to move you if hired (not always the c…[Read more]

haha…oh man! I would love to hear other wacky ideas. haha. Can you imagine their faces? I do know of someone who sent a poem with spicy chocolates. 😉 He didn’t hear anything back either. haha. Maybe a singing telegram…someone dressed up like a clown that hand delivers your portfolio. haha.
 

Sara….I have no personal experience with buffalo grass but be aware that it is a warm season grass that goes dormant in the winter. Depending upon your climate, your “green” roof may be “beige” for much of the year. Not a problem for a place with seasons, but in parts of the sun belt where some people expect plants that are green and blooming…[Read more]

I’ve heard that if the application window is 2 weeks or less it typically means that they already have someone in the job or in line for it and they are just advertising to fulfill civil service requirements.
 
I recently got an email that my info was forwarded to a hiring official for a USFS job that I applied to months ago!  Can’t recall where i…[Read more]

This friend of mine sent a thank you letter for an interview via a telegram and even used old-timey formatting with “stop” after each sentence.  This was around 10 years ago.  I don’t think you can even do telegrams any more.  Needless to say, he wasn’t called back by the employer.

Woh…not to be rude, Heather, but you’re WAY off!  Where did you go to school anyway?

I think you should just use the elfin language from Lord of the Rings…that will definitely highlight your creativity.

…unless you had decoder goggles…

If it were written in invisible ink, backwards or forwards you couldn’t read it… you’d be staring at a blank page in the mirror.

Oooo!  Or invisible ink!  Written backward so you have to stand in front of the bathroom mirror to read it!

I love a blank page.  I like to create mystery and intrigue…
 
 

Because of this thread (and the others from the un/under employed folks out there), I started a thread asking for stories of how people got jobs using other than the “resume/post” method.  It’s titled “How did you get that job?”.  Hopefully others will contribute and it will be of help. 
I graduated in the last great recession (1980) and it took…[Read more]

Great article Peter.
I will re-iterate what has been mentioned above.  Social media is a great way to stay in front of people.  At SiteScapes, where I work, we have added a FB feed to our home page.  Our aim is to let our customers know we are busy and keep them up to date with projects we are especially proud of.  This is a new undertaking and…[Read more]

Thank you all so much for your kind words. 🙂 It is encouraging.

Jon,
 
You really need to have a cover letter that quickly covers the things that you have been doing. It seems that you got to rent space in an engineer’s office, get bid work on commercial jobs, collaborated with other LA (s) over a distance, … anyone can appreciate that this is high performance from someone who has not interned, lives in a…[Read more]