By: Alythea Ho

Had a bad case of Monday blues? Hold back that angry tweet or Facebook rant about your boss first.

An employer survey by JobsCentral found that 75% of managers and hirers use online channels to snoop on job candidates. Of these, one in three say they prefer using social media sites like LinkedIn (38%) and Facebook (34%). Search engines ranked third at 28 per cent.

Let’s face it — job searching is stressful. So if anything can be done to help bring positive energy to the experience, it’s worth exploring. That’s why the practice of feng shui is so intriguing. While feng shui may seem like something you do when decorating your house, its applications can extend beyond the abode and into your job search.

Congratulations on your new job. You worked hard to get it — you added your résumé to online databases, you networked both online and off, and you got your portfolio in tip-top shape. Now that you’re working, you don’t have to think about anything job-search related until the next time you’re looking. Right? Wrong.

By Nur Shakylla Nadhra

In this digital age, more and more people are creating online personas and using the internet as a platform to showcase their work to attract potential clients or employers.
Normally, money and extensive knowledge in HTML and web design are essential tools needed to create a website or online portfolio from scratch. But with a plethora of online portfolio websites, and even popular social media platforms, doing up your own online portfolio has become fairly simple.

Isn’t it frustrating when you get little or no response from recruiters after spending so much time and effort applying for multiple jobs?

Your career experience and academic qualifications fit the bill. And you are sincerely interested in the open position. So why haven’t you received an interview invitation?

The problem could well be in your resume or cover letter.

With over 5 million people in our tiny red dot jostling for space, education and jobs, it can be quite difficult to stand out from the maddening sea of chaos.

I know I feel the same way. The endless waves of commuters while taking public transport and the constant queues for anything remotely popular sometimes leaves me wishing that I could move to a remote island somewhere far away, except that my island would come with an Internet connection and a supply of Magnum Gold ice cream.

The same frustrations set in when I apply for jobs, spamming resumes to as many organisations as possible with nary a response, except calls from financial planners purportedly offering me a career that will change my life.

By Beth Hering

Employers nowadays are generally so overwhelmed with applications for a position that they can't devote much time to each potential candidate. How can your résumé spark their interest enough to garner more than just a passing glance? Here, experts offer suggestions on gaining precious seconds of "look" time.

Make it visually attractive

The adage that you should not judge a book by its cover may be worthy advice, but throw the saying out the window when submitting an application. The last thing you want your résumé to do is look sloppy or disorganized among a stack of stellar submissions.

Here at Jobscentral, we do not do things by halves. That probably explains how we have managed to steadily grow from strength to strength over the years to become one of Singapore’s leading career portal.

One of our offerings is the JobsCentral Career and Learning Fair. Held annually, the event attracts a huge amount of jobseekers and a whole spectrum of exhibitors from a wide variety of industries.

To complement this event, JobsCentral also conducts a series of workshops in partnership with The School of Personal Excellence (TSOPE) to provide jobseekers with an all-encompassing experience during their job search.

The two workshops held, How to Write Winning Resumes and Achieve Employment Success, and How to Ace Your Interviews and Get Your Dream Job, were a smashing success.

A record number of 65 participants spread out over the two workshops took this chance to brush up on their job searching skills and create a greater impact on the market.

Here’s what some participants had to say.

“Very good and informative. I liked the workshop very much. I have learned the 5 'R's on how to write our best resume, the 3 pillars of resume writing and how to present and sell our value to the potential employer." - Doreen Tan, 50, Senior Purchasing Officer

"Very interactive. I learned where my weak points are in terms of answering questions and also my physical posture. I will recommend this workshop to others!" - Joey, 28, Project Engineer

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by Alina Dizik
August 24, 2010

Weeks after Rosalyn Ray was laid off from her job as a medical health clerk last year, she decided to hire someone to revamp her résumé.

"I wasn't getting any hits," she says. Ms. Ray eventually hired a résumé writer she found online. Ms. Ray was initially wowed by the writer's website, which boasted dozens of résumé samples along with testimonials.

More than $100 and a week later, her résumé came back full of typos and misspellings. "I didn't do too much due diligence," admits Ms. Ray, 49, from Oakland, Calif.

With low barriers to entry, résumé-writing services have mushroomed as job seekers who've been out of work for a prolonged period compete for the attention of hiring managers. Out of more than 400 members of the National Résumé Writers Association, or NRWA, (one of two main trade associations for résumé writers), only 34 have attained the National Certified Résumé Writer Credential. That makes quality tough to discern. Résumé-writing services cost between $100 and $2,000 dollars, says Charlotte Weeks, president of NRWA, making it critical to know what you're getting before you pay up.

Five questions to ask a résumé writer before making the investment.