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Following Up on Fallacies about Getting Free Stuff “Free stuff” – the mere whisper of the words is often enough to make many people throw common sense out the window and head for the free goods like a missile to a target. And then there are those people whose eyes glaze over when they hear those words, because they can’t believe anything worth having can actually be free. The truth about free stuff is really somewhere in the middle. Yes, you can really and truly cash in on many freebie deals for things that you want to have, but a healthy sense of cynicism about free gear is also useful. Here are some of the important things to keep in mind about free stuff. The first myth you should throw out the window is that nothing good comes for free. The fact of the matter is that the price tag on a good doesn’t always match up to the quality, and there are many great free things out there. Case in point: music. Sure, everyone has heard the scare stories about file sharing online, and maybe some big record labels will come after you if you focus on their artists. Dig a little below the surface, however, and you can find a whole new world of really great bands that are more than happy for you to listen to their music over and over again. The same goes for free software. People on the cutting edge of technology who have a passion for creating new and efficient applications often develop open source code software. They’re doing it for the love of it, and they often have more talent than any ten suit-and-tie tech guys trying to hock their latest product for a mega profit margin. Here is where the reality part comes in, however. Yes, you can find wonderful things that are completely free – but yes, you can also find a lot of free things that aren’t worth your time at all and in some cases can cause you a lot of trouble. The net is a great place to fall victim to a “free stuff” scam, but you can also sometimes come across these scams in the mail as well. If something is free, but requires you to give your credit card number or bank details, run the other way. Another myth people have about free stuff, especially free stuff on the internet, is that when you try to cash in, the only free stuff you will be getting is an inbox full of more spam than you can handle. The truth about this is, well, that is can certainly be true. Many companies give away free things in exchange for your email address, so they can try to hit you up to purchase things in the future. What makes this a myth, however, is that it can be avoided. If you don’t want to choke on an inbox of spam, and who could blame you, set up a special (free) email account that you will use exclusively for freebie hunting. You’ll have the best of both worlds. The last myth about free stuff involves the “catch” people are always looking for. Often, for free stuff, the catch is a bit of junk mail or email or the fact that you have to submit to a time consuming survey. Sometimes, the catch is that if you get free stuff through a trial offer, if you don’t cancel it, it keeps coming, and this time you have to pay. The truth about these catches is, however, that the catch is in the eye of the beholder. These things don’t make products any less free; so don’t write off every free offer offhand. You might just find a catch you can live with to get a great free product you really want.

Preparing Questions to Ask in your Upcoming Job Interview When you get ready for a job interview, chances are you have spent a lot of time trying to guess the questions you will be asked and prepare your answers to them. How will you explain that gap in your work history? What will you say when they ask you why you left your last job? In the rush to make sure that you have all of your answers perfectly prepared and ready, don’t forget to prepare a few questions of your own to ask the person who is interviewing you. Asking questions is an important part of your interview. When you get asked the old “do you have any questions for us” one, it pays to actually be able to come back with a few questions instead of a, “no, I don’t think so.” Asking questions will show that you are engaged in the interview and have done some thinking about the position, plus, the questions you ask will help you elicit valuable information you need when you have to decide whether or not to actually take the job, should it be offered to you. The first thing you should want to find out is why the job is open in the first place. Is the job you are applying for a new position? That means you can expect to have a lot of transitional bumps along the way as you are integrated into the company. If the job is not new, and the person before you was fired, then you can expect things to be in a state of disarray when you take over and that you will have to spend a lot of time up front cleaning up spilled milk. If the job is open because the person who had it before you moved up in the company, then you will know that this is a job with a lot of future potential. Next, find out a little bit about the person who will actually be your boss if you get the job. Sometimes, this person will be involved in the interview, but often they will not. Finding out how high up in the company chain you will be reporting will help you gauge how important the position for which you are applying is to the company. Also, it helps to know a little bit about the personality type of the boss to be. If you like to keep your head down and do your work, and your potential new boss is one of those “wacky” types, then you may want to look elsewhere. From there, ask about the kinds of responsibilities you will need to take on board right out of the gate. When companies are hiring for a new position, they usually have a few ideas about what that person will need to start working on right away. Getting a clue about your first project will help you decide if this job is right for you. This is also a good time to ask the interviewer about their job and why they like working the company. You may find out that this really could be your dream job, or you may end up sensing from your interviewer that you should run away, fast. Last but not least, ask your interview when you should follow-up on your interview. Don’t open the door for a “don’t call us, we’ll call you” kind of interview closing. Let the interviewer know to their face that will be making the effort to contact them again. You may get the vibe from your interviewer that the job probably will be going to someone else, so you can move on quickly, or you may end up being offered the job on the spot. Either way, you will have opened the lines of communication to take the next step.

A Woman’s Appearance Do’s and Don’t for the Job Interview Proper dress and interview attire is one of the first and most important things that you have to work with when you are invited to an interview. Whether you are trying your luck on a position of CEO or as an entry-level worker, the person hiring you will make a great deal in out of the clothes you are wearing. Appropriate clothing is one of the first things that an interviewer will see of you and if you are off with it, you do not even have to talk much anymore. For a woman the dress to impress factor is way more complicated than for a man. A man can always choose to wear a business suit and tie, while there is not quite such an equivalent for the female clothing market. To give you a good idea about what women’s clothing articles you should wear when going for an job interview, here a short list: blazers, closed-toed shoes, dress pants, dress shirts, dress coats, women’s suits, skirts, hosiery and turtlenecks. All these clothing articles should be in solid colors and patterns. It is recommended to wear such colors as black, blue, navy, gray, brown and white/beige for shirts and tops. Colors and patterns need to be subtle and should not give the interviewer the wrong idea about you. Bright red attire might suggest that you are wilder or need to be the center of the room and this is not one of the traits that an employer wants to see in their employees. For women it is also very important that they do not wear to sexy cloths. No deep cut shirts that are exposing too much of the chest area, as this could suggest sexual tendencies to the future employer. Going along with this point is the skirt lengths. Should you decide to wear a skirt to your interview, keep your skirt lengths long enough to reach the knees or surpass them. Anything shorter is seen as naïve or even worse. Especially important when wearing a skirt to an interview is to wear tights and similar hosiery. Hosiery should be plain and without patterns. The colors should be complementing your business attire but not be too contrasting. When getting ready for your interview, besides the apparel you are wearing, the way you look is just as important. How about your hair? Make sure your hair is neat and do not style for a party. When putting on make-up, tread lightly. Do not use provocative colors such as way to red lips, especially in pale skin types. Make-up needs to be subtle and needs to emphasize your business attire. Most women do like their fingernails adorned with nail polish. When getting ready for an interview, it is important that your fingernails are neat and clean and when using nail polish, the color needs to complement your attire. Bright red is one of the colors that is not recommended to be used. Rather a clear, golden or darker subtle red color is more appropriate. It is also important to remember that anything that distracts from you as a person while being in an interview can take away the chance to land the job. Whenever you are going for an important interview it is recommended to have friends, family or maybe even colleagues check out your attire. Often times you might be wearing something that is not appropriate or does not fit right and in the excitement and rush of getting ready you might have not even realized it. Also, keep in mind that you need to feel comfortable in what you wear to be confident and secure when talking to the interviewer.