Job Hunting 103 : Navigating pre-employment assessments and tests

Paul

recruit, crm, talent, process, management, headhunter, people, human, leaders, business, online, hrm, concept, center, assessment, background, businesswoman, capital, career, choose, employee, employment, headhunting, hire, hiring, hr, job, male, man, manager, occupation, office, officer, organization, person, personal, personnel, portal, professional, recruiter, recruiting, recruitment, resource, risk, sign, structure, team, wanted, worker, green, communication, human behavior, technology, computer wallpaper, font, smile, product, illustration, Free Images In PxHere

Photo by mohamed_hassan from PxHere

Submitting Online Applications: Dos and Don’ts

How do I submits Job applications online?   Is always the first question I usually get when I am trying to find a job.   I want to make sure I apply in the right to get some kind of response and maybe a good interview possibilities.  This will be me telling you how I apply and making sure I get the right response and possibly invitations to apply type of jobs.   Each person will have different results depending on how they complete the process.

  • Do find the jobs that you want to do.
  • Do follow up with recruiters or HR after the interview.
  • Do write the applications as if you are the best fit.
  • Do create a resume that fits that job.

And

  • Don’t Just apply to any job you can.
  • Don’t be in a hurry to fill out the application
  • Don’t send a generic Resume.

Each employer will vary depending on what they may require you to do to get an interview, so you must read the job description and try to figure what they may need.  You can also start filling out certain job assessments online by using the Indeed assessment portal.  Like everything else this helps the employer know if you have the right qualifications and skills that they might be looking for.   You can also do some more self assessments are something that you can do to prepare for some of this and this could ultimately help you identify what you might be good at if you haven’t already done that.   Knowing what you are good at will help you get the job,  Even though I said that in the other blog posts.  This is how you can get a job that you might be good at.

Following the Job applications requirements will be something that no one can truly master because the employers sometimes makes it harder than it typically needs to be.   They want to make sure you want the job and that can make it even harder to get the job.   However once you have the job the satisfaction of saying you’ve got a job far out ways the hardship of getting the job.

Customizing Applications for Various Job Types

Why would you need to customize an applications?  That is the first questions you might have, when you think about the whole purpose of the application.   Some more interesting aspects of customizing the application is that makes it harder to any employer to track from employer to employer.   Most of the time, they aren’t tracking people but if you have already applied to that company before it makes it a bit harder to look back at the other applications and associate it with the same person.  After you decide which job you want to apply to, customize the applications or resume to make them see your the best possible fit for the job.  If you do this right, you might get an interview with company and be offered a job.

Understanding Pre-employment Assessments

Knowing what the employer might want you to do like an assessments from your local state unemployment office or some other places.  Knowing that you may need to be able to type a certain amount of speed or that you know how to handle customers.  This tells the employer that your skills match what they might be looking for so this can be great way to show off your skills in the application process.  You should do a background check on yourself, and even tell your references you are using them to apply for the job, that way they know to expect a possible phone call.   Sometimes employers will call or just they asks for the references for one reason or another.  I will say there is an good blog post from Indeed of what you might need to do for the pre-employment checks that you might need to do.   Some other good places to look:

As you can see, there is so many things that must be done before you get hired that it is almost impossible to go through the whole process of talking about the pre-employment tests and assessments but this is generally just to help you understand what you might need to do to get that job offer either before the interview process or after the interview process and they want you to do the pre employment testing to make sure you are the right candidate for the job.  So i can’t possibly talk about all the process.  You’re going to have to do the research before you get through the whole process.   However this is just a small bit of what you might need to do accomplish getting a job.

Don’t forget to subscribe to my blog post for more blog post about this and technology related blog posts.

Beyond Bits and Bytes: The Art of Pivoting Away from Tech

Paul
Photo by Junior Developer: https://www.pexels.com/photo/man-wearing-traditional-hat-working-on-computer-5415443/

Is it time to Pivot to another Industry?

First question we must ask what do when pivoting in another industry? The short answer is choicing to leave the an industry because of no success or too many people are trying to get for the same types of jobs. It is sometimes even scary and uncertain to most people because it is something that you have never done. This is where it can be challenging and new to most people. The other questions I usually get from people and from myself when asking this question is “Where do I start at and what areas am I good at that would get me a job?”  These are the questions that I would be asking myself while thinking about pivoting away from the current Technology industry and I am sure I am not the only one when it comes to this idea or thoughts.

Have you recognized the Signs?

The real question is, why has it been so hard to find a job in the tech industry that you want to find a new job that might work for you to bring in the money that you might need to keep paying those bills.   The underlying questions is usually how many applications have you applied for and got turned down?  Has this been something that seems to be a repeatively being turned down for getting those interviews.  The ultimate signs you could need to pivot is burnout of applying for jobs to a lack of passion to keep applying for those types that seem to not even be interested in your skill set.   We may need to acknowledge that we may not have enough experience or that there are too many people trying to get the same job to even have a chance to land a job to bring in the money we may need to pay bills.

What is the Motiviation behind this?

Ultimately the main motivation is probably to keep food on the table and be able to pay the bills that much is what everyone is wanting to do in the end.  We need to identify other motiviations that you might been considering as you are considering changing directions.   Is because you like People, or are you looking for new challenges that may interest you.   Knowing what your motivation might be will help you know how well you will do when you pivot.   Clarifying your strong motiviations and knowing what you are good at will help you to identify which industries you might be able to pivot to help you get those jobs that might be interested in applying for.  While you consider your motivations, go ahead and consider your transferrable skills that you might also have to use in other industries and that might help you identify where you might be good at.  Write these skills down and start considering who might need them and you will be better off finding area’s to apply for.  Leverage those skills while you modify your resume to help show the potential employer that you are good fit can bring even more jobs and job offers.   I am sure that knowing these skills will help you get that job you probably are wanting and needing in this uncertain time.

Can you Embrace the Journey?

You should embrace the journey as you transistion from Technology industry to another industry where you can learn new talents and learn things to bring you on your journey to better you.   Nothing is set in stone and that much is where we need to learn from the life.   Resiliencey is key to this journey you might be considering and you should have a support system available to help encourage you and show you even mroe skills you might be able to bring to any jobs.  Seek people who might have gotten jobs like the ones you are looking to apply for and have them mentor you in what it might be like to learn even more about if this would be a good fit for you.   You will need to learn new skills but while learning them you might find that the job is more enjoyable than you thought it would be.

Finally, I could talk even more about this but I thought we should at least consider the idea of maybe people needing to move away from the technology sector and find other jobs to help support their needs to pay off bills while they can still use the time to look for jobs in the industry.  It is much easier to have a job to find a job then to be unemployed and looking for a job.  Either way you can be sure whatever you decide to do will help guide you.   You should sit down with friends and family and discuss this as much as possible to help you understand the potential pro’s and con’s of the industry and be open to listening to their thoughts on the subject.  They might be able to help identify where you should apply to get that job.   You aren’t alone in this like everyone else this is a journey for sure.

Say Goodbye to Sluggish Browsing: A Quick and Easy Cache Clearing Tutorial

Paul
Edge Browser

Why should I clear my cache?

The simple answer is the most important. You have a limited amount of space on any given space. Most of the time it might not be a problem but if you like to visit sites constantly then you may get unwanted files stored on your system that could slow your system down and even slow down your browser experience. It depends on how fast your system will react to your browsing and what happens when you get some bad cache files from websites.   This can help clear those up and stop all those popups that maybe becoming annoying to you.  You might get advertisements and other pop ups that will cause problems while you are trying to use your computer.

How Do I clear my cache in Google Chrome and Edge?

The real questions is how you would do this quickly and easily to help you get where you can have your browser speed up and non intrusive as it should be.   If you are getting popups or something that looks like a browser page then this is where you should start.   Clear your cache and get rid of the potenital cache causing problems.   Here’s how to do it easily and quickly:

On Google Chrome Press CTL-SHIFT-DEL, while you have Google Chrome up and running this is the quickest way to clear your cache in Chrome.

Google Chrome – Make sure you clear all the cache and click on Clear Data at the bottom to make sure you clear everything out of Chrome.

If you want to make sure you get all the data, you should select ‘All time” in Time Range and check all boxes to make sure you remove all necessary files off of Google Chrome.  Once done close out Google Chrome and restart and you should have a cleaner experience with Google Chrome.

Windows Edge Browser

On Windows Edge Browser copy and past this into your address bar.

edge://settings/privacy

Once there you should see something like this:

Select “Choose what to Clear”
Clear Cache in Edge

This will be the same thing as you did with Google Chome select Time range “All Time” and make sure to check the first 4 options available and hit Clear Now as edge removes all the cache that was collected over time.  Once done exit out of edge and then start it up and you should have no more problems with popups as long as you don’t have a different browser.   If you have a different you should search for how to clear the cache in those types of browsers.

What if you can’t delete the cache?

In Google Chrome the best and easily way to fix this to load up chrome in incognito mode and then try to delete the cache that way.  However this may or may not work depending on what might be causing this.

One Edge the easily pres Windows Key + R and type “start msedge -inprivate“.  Once you do that then try to clear the browser cache and see if that allows you to clear the cache.  The last part of this is that you might need to reboot your system to allow the system to complete some update or problems that might not allow you to clear cache for some reason or other.

Don’t forget to subscribe for more informatative information like this and others blog posts.

Job Hunting 102: Secrets to a Successful Job Application

Paul
Job hunting by Nick Youngson CC BY-SA 3.0 Pix4free

Crafting a Persuasive Cover Letter

Do I need to add a Cover Letter?  A persuasive cover letter can be quite challenging to some but if you really want to get that job this would be the something that you will need to do.  It however isn’t as difficult as it might seem.  The importance of the cover letter is tell the employer in your own words why you are applying for the job and what you might bring to the team.  It doesn’t have be multiple pages but a good cover letter uses one page to tell the employer more about you than what the resume can or will.   It is also good to have to make sure to highlight those skills that the employer is looking for.

Structuring the cover effectively can make a world of differences from being in the NO pile to being put in the YES pile.  The cover letter needs to be easy to ready and something that demonstrates why are a good fit for the company.   It could even show them that you are a good fit for team that you might have to work with.   Each Cover letter should be personalized and that can be difficult because that will take time but if you do it right then you will most certainly be put in the YES pile.  You’ll want to stand out and make them see you may bring a value to the company in one way or another.

Identifying Reputable Job Search Websites

Which sites are good for me to look for a job?  Not all Job search websites are the same, some are better than others and that can be negative to your finding a job.   You should strategically standout in online job portals.  You should have a resume that will draw people to ask for you to apply for a job or a even jobs.   The resume then can at least be showing people that you’re got some good talents.   What sites are good for looking for a job?  Here are a few websites that might work well with standing out, however these are just a few and you should look to figure out which ones you want to use:

These are just few that you can start looking for a job but you should optimize your profiles to show them what you are good at and to bring in those jobs that you are looking to apply to.  You’re online profiles are the first impression on what the employers will see when they are looking for potential job applicants that might be a good fit for the job they are looking to fill.   You should also setup email alerts for new jobs that show up and be ready to apply for them when they come into your mail box.   I am sure if you have filtered the right job searches for a particular field or industry you will be more likely to find those jobs that you want to work at.

Build and Expand Your Professional Network

You will most likely start getting job recruiters looking to fill a job that they have.   So you should keep the lists of people who have contacted you in the past and occasionally email them seeing if they have anything that you might be able to apply for.   Just be mindful that these recruiters make money by filling positions that companies are looking for so this isn’t always going to be the best approach but I’ve had some good luck with this in the past.  You should leverage all the social media sites you can from LinkedIn, Twitter(X), Facebook and maybe even put it out that you are looking for a job on Mastodon. As long as you know that it will be slow work trying to find recruiters that are specialized for what industry you are looking to work in, it can be a great way to at least find jobs that you might not find any other way.  Another good way to build and expan your professional network is to attend conferences or job fairs to possibly give the recruiter your resume.   These are the best way to make sure the employer gets the resume but isnt’ always going to bring you an interview it however is worth trying to help you job hunt.

If you liked reading this article why not check out the other article I’ve done already, Job Hunt 101: Mastering the Art of Applying for Positions.  I am not done with this topic and more are on the way, don’t forget to subscribe to the newsletter for even more articles like this.   Don’t forget to share this article to help support this blog.

Game-Changer Alert: Microsoft Flight Simulator on Steam Deck – A Dream Come True!

Paul2 Replies
Golden Gate Bridge – Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 by Bhautik Joshi

You might be asking yourself, can you play Microsoft Flight Simulator on the Steam Deck?  The Answer is Yes you can and here’s how you would do it.

Before Installing Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020

Before we even begin installing the game onto the Steam Deck, we shall have to do some things to better make it more likely to run. You’ll probably need at least a minimum of 256 gb of space on the NVME.  I have tried to use the SD card that is was was fast read but slow in writing and that caused problems with the game.  You’ll need to have something that can do fast writes and that would require a NVME or some way to use an external hard drive that you can plug in while you play the game on the Steam Deck.   However if you don’t have the room due to it having a small amount of storage to begin with then I have some good news.   Amazon has started selling NVME that are 1gb of space for around 60$ to 70$.  The Minium hard drive you should use is a 512gb then you should be able to install the game.  The Game requires a massive amount of space that including the world updates that come along over the years which are free. So you want to upgrade your SSD on the Steam Deck, huh? I created a good blog post on how to do it even more but this is about the game and you should at least get the biggest Hard drive you can and that would be a 2 terabytes NVME which does cost a lot but would allow you to have the game and other games installed.

How I did it

Now we get to how I did it because this worked with me, I got a copy of the Steam deck OS image and re-imaged my Steam Deck.  You’ll want to use Rufus or some other imaging software to create a boatable USB drive and boot into that the Steam Deck.  This is the best approach to make sure you have enough space for a the game if you only have a 512gb installed and it is also good just wipe the hard drive because you never know what files are left after you installed a game or not.

If you are doing the install my way, you should update the OS once you boot into the Steam Deck. Log into your account as if this was your first time using the Steam Deck and check for OS updates in the settings.  Don’t install any games yet because you should also be using a Dongle of some kind or dock to speed this process up a bit.   You can use wireless but it will more than likely take twice as long and that can be time consuming to say the least.

It’ll take while to install the game

It’s like a 130gb or a bit more to install the game once you have installed the initial game from Steam which is like 3gb or so.   Make sure to install it on the main hard drive and don’t select the SD card because it will not work more than likely.   It took me about 3 or 4 hours of just keeping the system active while it was download the packages from Microsoft which uses AWS(Amazon Web Services), so the speed isn’t going to be fast.   I would say if you are on dock plug in a mouse or something and occasionally move the mouse while it downloads from Microsoft.   Again this can’t be helped no matter how fast your speed is on your network.   However before you click on the game the first to actually download the files you are needing to install from Microsoft, you should go into the properties and select the Experimental.  This is under the compatibility menu in the game.   You’ll need to make sure that is selected and experimental proton was downloaded from Steam before you can run the game.  Also you’ll need to add the -FastLaunch in the launch options settings.

Community Files on the Steam Deck

Does the steam deck have a community folder for Microsoft Flight Simulator?  Yes it does.  So you want to add your community files you have on your Windows Systems to the Steam Deck, the good news that can now be done on the Steam Deck.   You’ll have to go into Steam Desktop and navigate to the right folder.  Once you do that grab a USB that has the files on them and put the USB into an empty USB slot.  Once done, open up the drive and folder where you put the community folder in and copy all the contents not the folder into:

Where’s the community files located on the Steam Deck?

Go to your steam deck desktop find the home folder.

Before you can find this folder, you’ll need to hit Control + H to show hidden folders and files.

/home/deck/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/1250410/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/AppData/Roaming/Microsoft Flight Simulator/Packages/Community

You’ll want to have a fast USB drive to do this because I am sure the community files will be more than 10 gigs of space at least that is how much mine was, so using a USB 3.0 device is something that helps you move the files over quicker.   However that just depends on how much you have to copy over.   Once that is done you can boot back into Steam environment or just reboot the system to get to the steam menu like before if you aren’t that knowledgeable about this that is one way to do it.

Finally I suggest you just start installing all the world updates you want it just depends on how much space you have on the NVME.   If you have a 2gb then you can possibly install all the worlds and that would be around 300gb of space or something like that.   So you just have to be mindful of that and also which community files you want to install on the Steam Deck. Once you have did all this you can begin to play around and setting it up the way you like to play the game.  On Battery power I would assume it will last around an hour and half on the LED Steam Deck and the OLED probably a bit more since they have a bigger battery.  I haven’t had a chance to see how long it will last on the Steam Deck on battery but I would just be mindful of that and have the overlays showing you how much battery power you have left.

Have fun and if you enjoyed the blog post consider subscribing

P.s. on a side note someone was asking if Microsoft really did use AWS.  I did do a check on this on my desktop and they are going to the AWS servers:

ec2-54-225-216-74.compute-1.amazonaws.com