School is out forever? Time to find a job. No, your purpose is a job of your dreams. You’ve searched for some compelling companies and are now ready to send them your resume. Be sure, the position is yours. You’ve got only a little unfinished business to take care of — an application or a cover letter.

   Before you start writing your application letter, learn the most common mistakes to avoid. Already done with your cover letter? It’s never too late to fix them.

      Mistake # 1. Repeat your resume

It’s not a good idea to repeat or simply copy-paste all the things you mentioned in your CV. If it was, there was no need to write any cover letters at all.

What to do instead: Research the company, know what they do and what candidate they are looking for. So, on that very basis, describe your background, skills and abilities in a different manner than in your resume.

Mistake # 2. Make it too long

Sure, you want to describe your personality as well as possible and impress the hiring manager with all of that. But remember, no one wants to read a long essay about your moment of glory in a school’s baseball competition.

What to do instead: Follow “The shorter the better” approach. Aim for 250 words. All you need to include in your precise application letter is a position you want to apply for, the reasons you’re the best for it, and how you intend to do the job.

Mistake # 3. Make it too formal

No doubts, in every company they are looking for a responsible employer to rely on and trust their complicated projects. You take it into account and write in your cover letter something like: “I wish to apply for the open position provided by such a professional company like yours and show myself as the best candidate to do the job required”. Sounds too robotic, doesn’t it?

 What to do instead: Be natural and sincere, but not too informal in your language. A friendly candidate will have more chances to seem a nice person to work with.

Mistake # 4. Underestimate yourself!

Think you’re not too good for the position, have not enough experience and thus try not to overestimate yourself? That’s a good point. But what if you could underestimate yourself thinking it is absolutely fine?

What to do instead: Just started with your cover letter? Then avoid using the following phrases. Already have a draft? Remove these phrases from both your application letter and mind forever:

      Probably, I do not have the qualification and experience of the candidate of your dream…

      I’m sure there are the candidates more qualified for this position…

      If only you gave me a chance to prove that….

Be confident and believe that you’re the best candidate. Include your strong sides to prove you can have a chance to fulfill the requirements and do the job.

In conclusion

You already know what you shouldn’t write in your application letter and what to do instead. Now it’s time to show you a more precise road to your compelling cover letter. So, every successful paper of the kind will look good if it includes 3 main paragraphs and corresponds the guidance:

1) Introduce yourself

• Make a connection between you and the company you’re applying for.

• Mention, why you want to apply for a desired position.

2) Highlight your resume

• Demonstrate your awareness of the company.

• Show why you are good for the position (mention your skills / experience / qualification).

3) Follow up

• Illustrate your follow-up plan.

• Include your contact information: phone number and email.

Here you are! Good luck!

Ask yourself these 5 simple questions and let the answers help you overcome winter tiredness

      While wrapped in winter’s embraces, one wishes to paraphrase a sensational song by Lana Del Ray and sing that out loud “I got that wintertime, wintertime sadness” when getting out of bed every morning. It’s sad but true, winter takeover is in every single cell of our body that forces us to survive the season.

      Comprehend the reasons why you may feel the winter blues by answering 5 simple questions. Banish the flow of a winter’s lassitude and manage your seasonal mood.

Question 1. At what time do you end your day?

    Biological hours play first violin for getting enough sleep. It’s recommended that you go to bed between 10.00 PM and 12.00 PM, which helps your nervous system have enough rest and gives your body a lot of energy to feel well balanced throughout the whole next day. This way, wishing to get up at 7 AM one should fall asleep at 10 PM. Knowing this simple rule grants enough sleep and lets go of thoughts “to kill somebody in the mornings”.

Question 2. How much water is your daily habit?

    Nature rewarded us with a bringing-to-life source that helps a lot like a pill – water. It may sound strange, though sometimes your apathy signals about a lack of water in your body. Absorbing no less than 1.5 liters a day is a must to keep your body healthy and happy. So how full is your daily glass of water?

Question 3. How do your evenings flow?

    Stop and think of the evenings, what they’re filled with. In the stream of everyday assignments even the most creative ones can lose their hobbies by putting them off again and again. Though, at least 1 hour spent for hobby and anything you love doing may rescue from a routine of tiredness, which is usually caused by a flow of identical tasks. How often do you let yourself do what you love?

Question 4. What’s on your thoughts and mouth?

    They say, we are what we eat, think, say and feel. The truth is that as love doubles when shared, the same happens to the influence of words we pronounce. Talking about beautiful things, making compliments, supporting friends with nice words automatically doubles your spirit and put you on the way of successful thinking. Have you noticed that we are getting tired much faster when complaining, saying swear words and criticizing? Catch the thoughts you think most of the time. Are they inspiring?

Question 5. Is responsibility your hobbyhorse-like thing?

    The older we get the more we conceive that our life is about responsibility. It is the thing that goes independently from the weather outside. We lose our vital energy when procrastinating, transfer responsibility on somebody’s shoulders or avoid doing things that need to be done immediately. What’s your case?

 Our main message is: your outer reality of the winter blues starts within – happiness or tiredness is the result of inner condition, actions and intellectual posture. They say, happiness requires struggle, though suffering takes the same efforts. The choice is yours!

Let’s take a look at some ideas and tips we have to help you succeed in both studying and working. We are ready to show you how to cope with the obstacles on your way to combining these two vital activities. So keep going with us to triumph.

Step 1: Free time from studying

The critical issue is where to get time to work at least several days a week while studying if the latter almost takes up your whole timetable? One good way is to think of the value of each subject you study and find out what is the most insignificant one you may skip.

Of course, every lecturer believes his or her subject to be a must, but it is possible to free yourself from visiting some of them and devote this time to gaining valuable working experience.

If this is not a solution, then try at least to reduce your engagement with this or that subject to minimum and think of some additional ways to be ready with your home assignment, if any.

Step 2: Study everywhere

If there are many important subjects you have to learn and cannot avoid in order not to fail, take every free minute as a precious moment to read something. For instance, on your way to college or work carry the stuff for studying to be able to use it when possible, even at your work or while having your meal. Flash cards are the perfect study material to take with you.

Otherwise, there are many other ways to cope with it: ask your friend, class- or roommate to help you with your homework for a humble reward. Having nobody around, one may apply for professional help of different custom services. Of course, it needs some money expenses, but this is an alternative.

It is of great importance to start considering every single minute as an opportunity to do something useful for yourself and your self-improvement. It is recommended that you be a self-organized person when you start working.

Use a notebook to plan your time and the tasks you have to accomplish every day. There are also tons of apps and tools to choose from. Why? You cannot remember everything, so that is why you’d better write it down.

When you see all your tasks together on one paper it is much easier to calculate how much time you have for each of them. See the apps that will help you to use your time wisely and download any you like to your mobile device – free Remember the milk (IOS), Any.Do (IOS/Android), RescueTime (IOS/Android/Desktop version). Thus you will learn where all your time goes and how to rescue it.

Step 4: Motivate yourself

No one will argue that your motivation serves as your daily driving wheel. Think of the things that motivate you to get out of  bed every morning, give you energy and desire to do necessities – study and work.

Money? Yeah, it is probably a crucial reason why you decided to start working. But is the only one? Think of a goal you want to reach or a thing you want to buy. As they say, happy is not the one who has money, but the one who converts them into useful things.

Step 5: Stay refreshed

Do not give up your rest. Take reposes to renew your energy and strength for doing your activities in the best way possible.

Of course, it goes without saying that it is very important to have enough sleep, go out and spend some time with friends or do something that makes you relax. You are the one to know what works best for you.

So, are you ready to sacrifice something you got accustomed to for achieving something new? If so, then we are wishing you good luck in all your undertakings.

Luckily, people have studied for hundreds of years and there are many ways to getting good grades. Sometimes it is as simple as taking 4 easy steps forward. Here are 4 tips to passing a class with minimum effort so that you can have more free time for all the other stuff.

1. Know the rules of the game

Some say that getting grades is like a game students play, where grades are the score they earn. In order to succeed in this game, you must know the rules. Know what influences your GPA and what part of the assignments represents the biggest part of your grade for each class. Do not miss out on extra credit assignments! They are perfect easy steps to pushing your grade right up! Be smart. Know the rules, follow them and take advantage of all the bonus cards dealt to you.

This is true for everything you will even start in life. Your first time in a new class, on a new job, in a new company. Anywhere you go people will judge you based on the first impression. You can of course change it later, but that will take a lot more effort on your part. So do not miss the first class, look nice, be friendly and make sure you are seen and noticed by the professor in a good way!

3. Participate in class

Going to class really is that important. If you’re there anyway, you might as well use your time wisely and get as much as you can out of it, so you may not have to spend a lot of time on homework or much time when preparing for tests and exams. Participate in the discussions generated by the professor, ask questions and try to reply to the questions professors ask. Most of the times, the answers to the questions asked in class do not even need to be correct. The professor just wants to make sure you are paying attention and to understand at what level you are.

4. Get organized

You hear this everywhere. Time-management, organized study space, clear deadlines. It really is as important as people make it sound. If you spend 5-10 minutes a day just to plan what you need to do together with what you want to do, you will be able to do both! Plan the day in the morning or in the evening before going to bed. Get a planner, write out all the assignment deadlines and test dates. Do not be taken off guard with some huge assignment that is due in a couple of hours! This will only make you stressed; mad and furious at what this college life is doing to you. 

There you have it. Four easy steps to passing a class. If you try to narrow it down, it really is all about going to class and paying attention. Everyone can do it and so can you! Good luck!

If you are undecided about what to major in, you are not alone. While you don’t have to go into college knowing what you want to do in life right away, it is recommended to choose a major by the end of your freshman year. With so many possibilities at hand, you may feel scattered, and that’s fine. We are here to help and provide you with 10 simple steps to help you decide what you want to major in. You’ll need something to drop ideas into while you’ll be reading this, so grab a pen.

1.  Start with deciding what you are good at.

We like to do things we are good at. It improves our self-confidence and gives a boost to our self-esteem. Naturally, you want to dedicate the next 4 years of your life to something that will of course be challenging but still be something you know you can achieve and enjoy doing it. If you can’t decide what you are good at apart from watching TV and playing video games, don’t lose hope just yet. Keep calm and continue to step two.

2.  Remember which classes in high school you excelled in, not just enjoyed or liked.

It is one thing to like P.E. and Photography class, but it’s something completely different to get good grades in Math or Physics and tackle some demanding material. While getting a good workout can get you through life, it’s not necessarily what you want to make a living out of. Such tough subjects as Algebra, Biology, Chemistry and others can guide you in the right direction.

3.  Think of what else you did in school apart from regular classes.

Which extracurricular activities filled your free time? Was it French club? Drama club? Or maybe you were part of the school IT team? Think about what you are passionate about and what you are ready to put your free time into. They do say that your hobby is the best job you can have, so decide which hobby drives you!

4.  Focus on enjoying what you’ll be doing, rather than on how much money you’ll be making.

Sure, we all want to have a nice fat paycheck when we get a job. Believe it or not, but you will not want to be working in a job you hate even if it does pay well. This is something you’ll be working with 5 days a week, 8 hours a day. That’s A LOT of your time. If you hate chocolate, you won’t be able to work with it well, however hard you try. But then again… who hates chocolate anyway?

There are so many people that know you well, sometimes even better than you know yourself. Ask your parents, family, friends, teachers what they believe you are good at. Are you the go-to-person to get advice about fixing their laptops? Perhaps IT is for you. Apart from the people you already know, there are very useful groups of people you can get to know. They can give you priceless information. Who are they? College advisers have helped hundreds find their passion and set them on their future path. Your college alumni can tell you what it’s like studying for a particular major. Ask around, poke around and get the scoop you need to make a choice. Try finding people who work in the field and ask them about their job and how college prepared them for it. Perhaps they can even suggest a minor that will be an extra boost once you graduate.

6.  Try different courses and push yourself.

Don’t slack off with easy courses in your first year. This is your chance to try different fields. Get the courage to take those challenging courses and discover that they are not that bad. You have to keep moving and going further. Taking simple classes you know you’ll be able to pass with flying colors will get you nowhere. Push yourself, move forward and don’t be afraid to jump ahead.

7.  Give everything a fair chance.

Just because you didn’t like a subject in high school doesn’t mean college will be the same. This is a whole new playing field. Professors don’t teach the same, homework is done differently, and you study for totally different reasons. Not to mention that actually working in the field will most probably be still not the same as studying it in college. Try to find a new perspective even on the subject you may think you have no interest in at all.

8.  Reality check.

It’s nice to be in seventh heaven, but it doesn’t pay the bills. College is expensive, and most cannot afford to spend three years thinking what they want to study. Reality is tough, and you have to make decisions. You have to think about your skills and your abilities. If you know physics is not your thing, you tried and you still firmly believe in this, leave it and try something else. If you want to go into medicine, you don’t have even the whole first year to make a decision. Medical school is tough and long. You might as well start as soon as possible.

9. Don’t panic.

Your first year in college, and already you have to make decisions that your whole life will depend on? Relax and take a deep breath. People change careers up to 5 times during their life, and although their first job may be connected with their major, even that is not always true. Yes, it is important to decide what you want to major in, but if you end up hating it, you still can change and try something new. It’s all in your hands.

10. Keep your minor in mind.

Sometimes we get stuck with not being able to decide which of the two we want to do. We want to do both! I want fries and a hamburger! Um … wrong topic… Yes. If you can’t choose between the two, college comes with the possibility of taking a minor. You can’t live with the idea of forgetting Spanish or you’re in love with dancing? Take a minor. Sure, it will be a little more work, but if you’re really passionate about it and if you really want to do it, you can do it all. After all, we can do everything we set our minds to. Motivation is the most important thing. If you have it, you’re 90% there.

Here is a list of 6 simple and no-brainer things that will significantly ease your college lifestyle.

1. Study Aids

We do go to college to study, right? So might as well make it productive. Stock up on pencils, pens, notebooks and don’t forget to also have a ruler, scissors, a stapler and some glue around. You never know when you’ll remember that you have that creative project due tomorrow. Why not get a desk organizer while you’re at it? A good study station is the start to good grades…maybe.

2. Organizing bins

Stuff accumulates with breaking speed. Before you know it, you’ll have a bunch of textbooks, a heap of printouts and a stack of graded papers with nowhere to put them. Get organized to not feel cramped in your small-as-it-is room. In addition, try going up and putting bins on top of each other. Don’t let all that room up there go to waste or the room down there. Yes, under-bed storage is a savior for all those clothes you won’t be using in the nearest month or two.

3. Laptop

Now this is a no-brainer. A huge PC is, of course, great to have… at home where you have plenty of room. But in college, you need a laptop for when you’re running between classes or just decide that you want to study on the bed. It is more likely, though, that you’ll be watching a movie in the end instead of studying. But why not? College students get to relax sometimes too!

Try getting one of those 3-in-1 printers, so that you can print, copy and scan everything you need. This won’t only save you time, but it will save you money as well. A lot! Once you get to printing those big research papers, you’ll see just how much you are saving. Don’t forget the ink for your printer! Individual cartridges are expensive, especially for a college budget. Try buying cartridges in bulk and not in the campus book store. You’ll be grateful you have a spare when you suddenly run out of ink in the middle of printing the 30-page paper due in an hour.

5. Ear plugs

If you’re not used to load music, people talking and dancing while you’re trying to fall asleep, you will need ear plugs. No matter how great your roommate might be, hallways are also a great place to chill. It’s awesome when you’re out there partying with everyone, but when you finally found time for some shut-eye, you want to get those hours of sleep.

6. First aid kit

This is something your parents had back home and you now have to get for yourself as well. It need not have anything serious, but a stash of painkillers, plasters, throat sweets and cough medicine has never been useless in a college dorm. Trust me on this.

Now that you’ve got these six things checked off, stop procrastinating and get back to work!

The Rules Are Made With You In Mind

The United States and the United Kingdom are the two most popular destinations for international students for a reason. Both offer amazing career growth opportunities but in a different way.
In United Kingdom, students used to be entitled to a one-year work permit until things changed in the Spring of 2012. The British government thought that there has been too big of an influx of international students staying in the country on a work permit and not getting jobs. Now permits are given only to those who already have a job offer and whose salary is going to be at least 25,000.00 pounds per annum.

In United States, you are entitled to a one-year work permit every time you complete a full-time degree. The work permit is going to be issued for optional practical training (OPT). It can be seen as tough to get and if you do decide that you want it, there is a whole process that you will have to go through.

The Things You Will Have To Do

• What you will spend most time on is the I-765 form, which is the core of your application. You really have to make sure there are no mistakes in the completed form, as even one mistake can cost you the work permit.
• The time when you submit your application is of utmost importance. If you submit your application too early, your OPT will also start early, and you will not have time to find a job. You would also want the OPT to go for a full year, and for that it would be best to submit your application as close to commencement date as possible.
• The cost has varied in the past, and you should expect the overall cost to be somewhere between $350.00 and $400.00.
• You cannot pay for the application by card, so you will either have to write a check or pay via Western Union. The latter can be done at your university and is probably the easiest way to go. You pay at the box office that does Western Union transactions, and then include the slip hat they give you with your application.
• It will take some time and money for you to get approved. Not many students get rejected, and the ones that do, are rejected because they have filled out something wrong. It is still quite unusual that a student gets rejected though.
• It is very important that you have your passport photos taken right, as this is one of the common pitfalls of why many students get rejected. The Department of Homeland Security Website should have all the necessary information.
• In order to submit you application, you go to the international students’ office and say that you want to pursue an optional practical training (OPT). It can be done only through that office, and you should make sure that you are in good relations with them.
• You will need a recommendation from the head of the office. Something like “yes, this student is bright to take on the OPT experience”. You do not have to worry about the recommendation itself, as it will submitted without you actually seeing it.
• You have the address where you are going to be staying. You will also need to report to the Department of Homeland Security every three months for them to know where you are and whether you are still employed.
• You can only go for as long as three months unemployed in a year.
• Once your OPT is over, you can stay in the country for no longer than three months extra time.
• Extending your OPT is virtually impossible, unless you are a STEM student (i.e. studying science, technology, engineering or maths).

Plan Ahead And Be Patient

Most students to get rejected are unsuccessful because of lack of patience. There are plenty of opportunities for all. You just have to think ahead of time and not lose touch on things. As most professors will tell you, time will go by real fast, and it is in your best interest to be getting exposed to job search and various career-related experiences early on.

One of these opportunities is obviously the optional practical training part of your degree. It lets you stay in the country, see how goes, and if you find it good enough, you will have a chance to progress into a bigger role at where you work.

Remember, it’s one thing to get approved for an OPT, and it is a totally different thing to get a well-paying job that you will be happy with. That’s where the struggle lies!