175 Power Verbs and Phrases for Resumes, Cover Letters, and Interviews

While you're revamping your resume or cover letter or constructing your proof-by-example stories for interviews, you'll find you need to watch your word choice. Why? Communication is powerful if the words we use to communicate are powerful. That's not all it takes, but the right words make for a good beginning. So as you craft achievement statements or write paragraphs that sell your skills or draft interview responses to knock the employers' socks off, consider these suggestions:

Use verbs in active tense, not passive tense. Use verbs that convey power and action. Use verbs that claim the highest level of skill or achievement you can legitimately claim. Use verbs to accurately describe what you have done on the job. Use adjectives and adverbs sparingly, but when you use them, use them well. Use nouns that are as specific and as descriptive as possible. Use numbers whenever possible. Use the most impressive (and still honest) form of the number you use. Never lie! It IS NOT worth it. It WILL catch up with you. Proofread all your verbs and nouns for agreement, tense and appropriateness. Here, then, are 175 powerful verbs and phrases to make use of in resumes, cover letters and interviews: abated abolished accelerated accomplished achieved actively participated administered advanced advised aggressively analyzed applied assumed a key role authored automated built hired closed coached co-developed codirected co-founded cold called collected co-managed communicated completed computerized conceptualized conducted consolidated contained contracted contributed controlled convinced coordinated cost effectively created critiqued cut dealt effectively decreased defined delivered designed developed developed and applied directed doubled earned eliminated emphasized enforced established evaluated exceeded executed exercised expanded expedited facilitated filled focused formulated fostered founded gained generated ground-breaking headed up helped identified implemented improved increased initiated innovated instituted instructed integrated interviewed introduced investigated lectured led leveraged maintained managed marketed motivated negotiated orchestrated organized outmaneuvered overcame oversaw penetrated performed permitted persuaded planned played a key role positioned prepared presented prevented produced profitably project managed promoted proposed prospected protected provided published quadrupled ranked received recommended recruited reduced removed renegotiated replaced researched resolved restored restructured reversed satisfied saved scheduled scoped out selected self-financed set up sold solved staffed started stopped streamlined substituted supervised taught tightened took the lead in trained trimmed tripled troubleshooted turned around upgraded yielded While you certainly can use the list anytime you're looking to say something in a more powerful way, you can also use it to help jog your memory about accomplishments on present and past jobs that you might otherwise overlook. Also, consider using the list to help you refine your resumes and cover letters to be more powerful in their presentation and communication.

Convincing People To Join Your Mailing List

Even if you attract people to your newsletter sign-up page, it's another thing altogether to get them to sign up! You might be surprised (and disappointed) at how difficult it is to convince people to join your mailing list, especially now, when Internet users guard their e-mail address so carefully. So let's look at what you need to do to convince potential subscribers to become real subscribers.

The first rule is that you must get permission before putting people on your list! If it's not required by law, it's probably required by your Web host or Internet service provider. You'll almost always discover they say you must have explicit permission before sending e-mail to anybody. If you break that rule, they will close down your Internet account and your Web site might be "blacklisted" (blocked by other Internet service providers).

So, assuming you don't break this rule, how do you convince people to sign up? Here are some ideas:

Give them a sample: On the sign-up page on your Web site, show them one or more sample newsletters so they know what to expect. The samples don't have to be the most recent issues; rather, they should be your best issues. Give them an incentive: Give your new subscribers something of value in return for signing up - such as an e-book, a special report, a free audio clip, or a webinar recording. It doesn't have to be big, although the more value the better. Even something as simple as a tip sheet is better than nothing. Show testimonials: If you consistently deliver value, you'll get a range of glowing comments from happy readers (ask for them, if they haven't provided any). Ask for permission to use them on your sign-up page to convince new subscribers to join the list. Be clear about privacy: Reassure them you respect their privacy, will protect their e-mail address, and they can unsubscribe at any time. You can link to your privacy policy, but also make a clear statement like this on the sign-up page itself: "We respect your e-mail privacy and will never disclose your e-mail address to anybody else without your permission." Talk it up! Put as much effort into your newsletter sign-up page as you do for any other product or service. Your newsletter will become an on-going cash flow pipeline, so treat it with the same importance as your other products.

Put some thought and effort into making this work. Don't just create a Web page with a form and expect hundreds of people to sign up. A few will, but the more effort you put into convincing them to sign up, the more subscribers you will get. And it really is worthwhile because your newsletter is going to make a lot of money for you in the long term.

The History Of Twitter

Twitter is a relatively new social network which is growing to be the biggest social network in the world second to Facebook. Twitter has 500,000,000 users and it lets you send a 'tweet' which can contain a message of up to 140 Characters. It also has facilities to let you share pictures and videos with the group of people that follow you.

Twitter was founded on 21 March 2006 by 4 people. It goes back to the podcasting service Odeo which lets you send podcasts to users. After this service began to fail the employees of this service were allowed to take part in a hackathon where they were allowed to spend a whole day working coming up with projects and new ideas. Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Evan Williams and Biz Stone had collectively came up with the idea of a service called Twittr. This idea began to grow and it was based around users sending a SMS to the website. Some of the Odeo users became addicted to the service and began racking up huge phone bills. Odeo had faith in this new service and agreed to pay the phone bills for these employees.

In October 2006 Odeo was failing due to iTunes announcing that their iPods would have a podcast service and this paired with Twittr slowly growing left Investors worried. Evan Williams, who was already rich due to selling blogging site Blogger to Google, offered to buy out the owners of Odeo by saying that he felt sorry for them and he wanted to help them out. These investors now say that Williams deceived them and that they were betrayed. As soon as Williams acquired Odeo he changed the name to Obvious Corporation. The name of Twittr was then changed to Twitter.

Many of the previous employees say Noah Glass was the person that was really pushing the idea of Twitter and was apparently working harder than anyone to get Twitter going. This is why it was a huge shock that Williams fired Noah Glass when he acquired Odeo, who owned Twitter. It is rumoured that he did this because he really spotted the potential of Twitter and he wanted the success to himself. Noah Glass still has a Twitter profile in which he states in his Biography "I started this" and according to many Odeo employees he is right.

Williams then took Twitter and broke it off from Odeo to make it its own company. It was at this point that Noah Glass received a share of the money for Twitter although the exact figure is not known. Glass still wasn't satisfied and said he felt betrayed and pushed out by his friends, referring to Williams. The other inventors Jack Dorsey and Biz Stone remained at the company although they have recently distanced themselves from it. Biz Stone is described as a co-founder of Twitter in which he would occasionally help the other 3 out but now he doesn't spend any time at the Twitter HQ. Dorsey still works at Twitter and he is also credited as a co-founder of Twitter.

As Twitter grew investors have come out to vent their frustrations at being pushed out of Odeo by Williams. Who can blame them though? Recent statistics value Twitter at $8.6 Billion and with the investors collectively receiving an estimated $25 Million you can see why they feel robbed. Twitters revenue is always increasing as it now offers advertising to businesses by making them a trending topic. The trending topics are meant to be about what most people are talking about but now some are edited to be there by Twitter. It is a great way for businesses to advertise with a potential reach of 500 million users. Twitter is still growing and is constantly breaking its own records. When Michael Jackson died Twitter broke its own record of number of tweets as it recorded 100,000 tweets per hour with the words Michael Jackson in them.

Many users find Twitter addictive and with a new recent layout it is competing with Facebook. So over the next few years competition between the two is likely to increase and this could cause a better social network or both could flop.

Confidence is King of the Road

Confidence is more than just sexy. It can save you a ton of money on your next car or truck.

Lots of people hate buying cars. When you get right down to it, the root causes of this fear and loathing aren't hard to pin down.

1) Fear of the unknown. 2) Buying a car is a confrontational situation. 3) It's a huge commitment of time and money.

Well, okay, that's great, but how does that help you? Patience, grasshopper.

While there's no magical silver bullet to cure all of the above ills, a little confidence can go a long way. If you act uncertain and unsure, chances are you will get taken for a ride. This applies to every step of the process, not just when you're checking out cars on the showroom floor.

So what do you do? I mean, great, be confident. But what does that mean?

Be decisive. Know exactly what kind of car you want and exactly what you want to pay. Do your homework first and research everything you can find. The Internet is the most powerful research tool ever devised by man. Use it.

Show, don't tell. Print copies of everything you find. Don't just tell a dealer that you got a better price quote online. Show them. Don't just say that you thought your credit was good enough to qualify for a better rate. Show them.

Know thyself. Not everyone handles every situation well. If you know you're going to have a hard time negotiating and haggling over the price (which you will) then find someone who can. Even if you don't have a friend or loved one skilled in the art of car buying, you can usually find car buying services listed in the Yellow Pages major cities than can help you out for a small fee.

A little confidence goes a long, long way.

The Magnificent 7: Tips for Cleaning Up Clutter

Clutter is postponed decisions®. Here are some suggestions to simplify the task of controlling clutter:

1. Put all like items together. Put items in their largest category first, and then break them down by steps as necessary. For example: (1)Put all clothing together. (2) Then break into women's clothing and children's clothing. (3) Then break women's clothing into seasons.

2. Create your own "organizing store." Determine a specific place to store any organizing items you find as you sort that might be useful in the future. This could include boxes, hangers, hooks, shelves, bags, organizing equipment, etc.

3. Determine the best location for each category. Where will they be used? What location would be the most practical place to have these items. For example, if items need to be secure, choose a location that can be locked or a lock could easily be added.

4. Choose an appropriate container. Select one that will hold the largest amount of each particular item you expect to have at one time - or, put some of the item in a convenient place, with additional supplies in some less accessible space. For example, some paper could be under the copier with extra paper in a nearby closet.

5. Make containers easy to use. If you want to encourage people to put things away, remove lids whenever possible. For example, a container for videos which requires taking the container off the shelf to remove the lid will probably result in people putting the videos on top of the container!

6. Labels contents. Label the outside of all containers/shelves/cupboards clearly. This will vastly improve the chances of items being returned to their correct location!

7. Identify a specific purpose for every container/location. Unidentified containers/shelves/boxes quickly become catch-alls for postponed decisions.

Alamosaurus - Giant Titanosaur From North America

Alamosaurus - Largest Dinosaur Known from the United States?

During the Late Cretaceous a land bridge between what was to become North and South America allowed the migration northwards of Titanosaurs, long-necked dinosaurs. This was the first time in perhaps as much as thirty-five million years that these huge animals had been present in the region we now know as the United States.

Known from Several Partial Skeletons

Alamosaurus is known from several partial skeletons and numerous individual bones that have been found in Mexico and throughout the south-western United States from Texas, New Mexico and Utah. It was one of the last Sauropods to live in North America and these types of dinosaur may have been limited to the more southerly part of that continent as the climate may have been too cold for them further north. Intriguingly, strata from Alaska, the same age as those rock formations that have yielded fossils of Alamosaurus have provided no evidence of Titanosaurs living in the northern most parts of the continent. It has been suggested that the distribution of Titanosaurs may have been limited by the cooler climate.

Named Ninety Years Ago

Alamosaurus was named and described by the American palaeontologist Charles Whitney Gilmore in 1922. Although, described as a large animal with an estimated size of twenty metres or more, recent fossil finds have suggested that individual animals could be very much bigger, perhaps rivalling some of the super-sized Titanosaurs known from South America in terms of their body length and total weight.

Contrary to popular belief this dinosaur was not named after the Alamo mission, the site of a famous battle near to San Antonio in Texas that took place in 1836. The genus name derives from the Ojo Alamo Formation, the name of the geological formation where the fossils of this dinosaur were first discovered. The word "alamo" is the local Spanish term for a species of cottonwood tree that is common in this area.

Diverse Fauna of the United States in the Late Cretaceous

It seems that in the Late Cretaceous, the fauna of the southern United States was dominated by Ornithischian dinosaurs, primarily duck-billed dinosaurs and Ceratopsians (horned dinosaurs such as Torosaurus), although there were Sauropods present. Ornithomimid fossils (bird-mimic) dinosaurs have been found in Upper Cretaceous strata from this part of the world and the main predators were Tyrannosaurs and the much smaller, agile Dromaeosaurs. With forests of maple, horse chestnuts, sycamores and birch the flora would have looked very familiar to us. Dinosaurs such as Alamosaurus would have looked quite incongruous in such familiar woodland surroundings.