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Archive for the ‘Help For You’ Category

When money is tight, many people end up in a situation where they cannot pay their bills, sometimes including their mortgage. If you find yourself unable to pay your mortgage on your primary or second home, you may face major consequences. These consequences vary by country and can even vary by state or province within the same country, so it is important to understand them fully.

Defaulting on a mortgage in Spain, for example, has very specific consequences. In the past, such defaulting used to be very simple. This was especially true if the homeowner was not a Spanish citizen and the home was a vacation home or second residence. However, this is no longer the case, as Spanish banks can and will pursue non-residents to fulfill their mortgage obligations.

If you find yourself unable to avoid defaulting on your mortgage in Spain, the bank may agree to take the home back. This simple option will save the homeowner a lot of money in court costs and additional interest on the home loan. However, turning the home over to the bank is a process that must be negotiated. The bank is under no obligation to let you out of the mortgage by taking the home back. The bank is more likely to accept the home back from you if you have had a true hardship that has affected your ability to make payments on your Spanish mortgage. Any homeowners that can prove such a hardship to the bank will be even more likely to succeed in negotiating a turnover.

If you cannot negotiate a home turnover with the bank that holds your Spanish mortgage, you will need to sell the home as soon as possible. Try to get a final sale price that will cover the remaining amount on your Spanish mortgage or one that will come as close as possible to paying it off, as the bank will still expect the full amount from you in any case. They are more likely to do so if the shortfall is large. They will attempt to collect the remaining amount they are owed in any legal way they can. This means you may face liens on any assets you own, including your primary home and investments..

Even if defaulting on your Spanish mortgage is inevitable, you should work with the bank as much as possible as soon as you know you must default. Doing so can result in an agreement that will satisfy the bank, relieve you of your responsibilities associated with the Spanish mortgage, and allow you to keep other assets you may own.

Indeed it seems that the only aspects of new astrology that carry much importance is the fact that due to the Internet people can receive readings much more quickly and inexpensively than ever before. Some people hear the terms inexpensive and quick and associate this with low-quality and ineffective readings. This is not always the case.

You can never really be sure if the effect will be positive or negative when Aquarius is involved. Aquarius is unpredictable. But, this eclipse will be conjunct Jupiter, the planet of good-luck and expansion.

Lets face it, most of us on this planet are worried about money right now with the problems in the global exchange, and I think this eclipse will be ushering in a new beginning — a ‘New Deal.’The lunar eclipse on February 9th will be a penumbral eclipse, which means that the outer shadow of the earth will eclipse the moon, but not the whole shadow. You will reevaluate your feelings of care and love towards others. Mithuna – GEMINI You will not feel particularly brave.

Limitations will come to the fore. You will experience frustration with your life to date. A feeling of being alone and unsupported in life may dominate this period. There will be delays and slowdowns in the areas of health, mobility, and career. Karka – CANCER Relations with neighbours and siblings will be under pressure.

Most builders and renovators will say a large percentage of their business comes from referrals (and, for some, virtually all their business comes from referrals).

Of course, backing up your reputation and the quality of your work are your testimonials (you do collect testimonials…don’t you?).

In fact, testimonials are essentially mini-referrals. They allow a past client, who’s never met your prospect, to provide a referral ‘after-the-fact’ by saying “this is why I did business with this builder.”

Where Most Builders Fail with Testimonials

Most builders will ask for a testimonial and leave it at that. Some may follow-up once or twice, but even that can get annoying for the client, especially if it’s just not that high on their to-do list.

(A company I once worked for continued to follow-up for *three months* to get one testimonial. This, in my mind, is overkill, and not a positive experience all around.)

The problem is two-fold:

1) Clients, as well intentioned as they are, may be too busy with their everyday life to remember, or get to, your testimonial

2) Most testimonials, left solely to the client, aren’t as powerful as they could be.

The Road to Better Testimonials

Instead of simply asking your client “Can you write me a testimonial?”, use these strategies to capture not only more testimonials, but more powerful testimonials, quicker.

Ask you client:

a) what their fears and concerns were when considering taking on a build / renovation, and how your company helped overcome those fears.

b) what their hopes and dreams were when imagining their new home or renovation, and how your company helped create that vision.

c) what services were performed by your company that simply went over and beyond their expectations.

also,

d) Ask if your clients received any help or service that they wouldn’t normally attribute to working with a builder / renovator.

e) Hopefully by now they’re remembering some great things you did…which is a perfect time to ask for a referral. Do they know anyone considering a build / renovation that you could help with?

Finally, make it easy for them to give you a testimonial. You can ask for it not only in writing (the old stand-by, but definitely not the easiest method), but also:

. on voice mail (some businesses set up a number or extension solely for this purpose)

. via a questionnaire form (print out the questions above with spaces beneath for them to fill out

. in a conversation with you (if you do it via phone, you can record the testimonial…just simply ask their permission first.)

Final Tip

You don’t have to wait until you’ve completed a project to get a testimonial. Ask your clients to comment on the progress so far, whether it be the design phase, or how you helped them choose the right contractor (you!), or any other phase. This reminds the client how they feel about your work (hopefully positive!), gives you great feedback, and captures the testimonial before it’s forgotten.

Brett Martinson is a professional coach and consultant to the home building and renovation industry. Builders and renovators can sign up for a FREE subscription to his Successful Home Builders’ Newsletter AND receive his free, bonus 5-Part eBook, “5 Profit-Draining Mistakes Builders and Renovators Make…and How to Fix Them” at http://www.SuccessfulHomeBuilders.com.

Lots of successful, intelligent people write their own CVs or resumes every week but usually they are not too well targeted, do not include the most powerful language and keywords, or are poorly organized and excessively wordy.

So its easy to write your CV is it?

All you need are the basic skills and knowledge:

• A clear understanding of what specifically you have to offer;
• Thorough knowledge of your market place and what is wanted;
• An excellent command of the English Language;
• The ability to express your skills in keyword terms that recruiters search for;
• Strong copywriting skills;
• Ruthless editing ability;
• Knowledge of marketing principles;
• Genuine concern for the message the reader will receive;
• Ability to create a high impact CV or resume targeted to your chosen field.

OK you’ve got all the necessary skills – what you need is perhaps an example or two to help you get the creative juices flowing. Take a look at http://www.your-career-change.com/Sample-Resumes.html for some examples and then get to work.


The only thing you might lack is OBJECTIVITY and we all suffer from a lack of that at times!

It’s never the easiest thing to talk objectively about your own skills and abilities, so make sure you get your finished CV or Resume read-over by someone you trust, who can give accurate feedback.

Failing that, it doesn’t need to cost a fortune to have your CV or resume written professionally.

Peter Fisher is Principal of Your CV Coach and Your Career Change, as well as an acknowledged Author and Publisher who has written thousands of CVs for delighted clients. http://www.your-cv-coach.com

In this article we will look at two solid techniques for handling smoothly what otherwise might be a troublesome issue: inconsistent employment history on your resume.

Your resume is important. It is the absolute first impression that a prospective boss has of you as a professional and as a person. It must represent you well, clearly express your skills, talents and experience, your training and education, and your professional and career goals. It would be ideal, of course, to have a neat list of consecutive positions in one industry, each a little more advanced and responsible than the last, to present in your employment history. But life’s not neat. We have all hit a detour of one kind or another somewhere along the way. Whether it be a matter of personal health issues, raising a family, changing careers, or coming out of the military or out of retirement, you must address with your prospective employer the resulting gaps in your employment history right off the bat. You will not get the call for an interview if you do not adequately explain what might appear to be critical inconsistencies on your resume.

When you do explain your circumstances, it will not do at all to be vague. Addressing specific dates and periods of time, down to months and years, that it appears you were not minding your career. Outline the circumstances surrounding inconsistencies, periods of non-employment, interruption of schooling, or putting your career on hold to resume your education, in simple, factual, non-dramatic terms. This approach will indicate that you are forthcoming with all the information your prospective boss will need to make a fair decision about you, and that you are a professional, and not prone to treating life like a soap opera.

There are two basic ways for you to immediately clear up inconsistencies for your prospective employer: the cover letter, and the style of your resume.

Cover letters are a tradition, which some experts say is fading in the modern climate of instant, online communications. But there are many other experts who contend that, as a technique for ‘filling in the blanks’ that a resume leaves in the minds of hiring authorities, the cover letter will never be equaled. The resume, your single most powerful job search, or marketing, tool, is by nature very dry and impersonal. Which makes sense, as you are expected to present the sum total of your professional career in no more that a couple of sheets of paper. The cover letter, on the other hand, gives you a chance to present a more personal impression to the hiring agent. Here is the chance to broadly outline your major qualifications, the focus of your career, your availability for and interest in the position they are offering, and the opportunity to intelligently respond to issues raised by gaps in your resume. Even more than a resume, your cover letter is your first line of communication with someone that you want to work for.

An important point to bear in mind: when you present yourself in a cover letter, you should avoid raising issues in the employers’ minds. The whole purpose of the document is to lay issues to rest. Avoid making excuses, or criticizing former or present employers, as these practices will only lead to the impression that discord and dissatisfaction follow you wherever you go. Employers Concentrate instead on closing the gaps in your resume with clean, truthful explanations of fact and circumstance. If, for example, you have recently completed a degree or key certification in your career field, and that is the reason that you have a current gap in your work history, offer the positive information that you have added important knowledge and skills to your professional arsenal, mentioning in passing that this is the reason for the gap in your resume.

Your cover letter should contain only positive statements. In spite of gaps or inconsistencies, you want to stress the solid and valuable experience that you have in your field, and demonstrate that you have done your research by presenting attributes of the company you are applying to, and explaining why you have the desire to work for them.

The appropriate resume format for those who have gaps in their work history is called the ‘Functional Format,’ which has a distinct number of differences from the traditional ‘Reverse Chronological Format.’ At the top of the resume, for instance, the functional format calls for a ‘Summary of Qualifications,’ which is a single paragraph, some six to eight lines, that gives a basic outline of your skills and expertise. This is normally followed by a section called ‘Areas of Strength,’ which is a list of keywords and phrases, for use in a personnel database, that highlights specific skills by category. For example, if you have experience in Graphic Design, Office Management, and Automotive Mechanics, these three phrases would be used as headings, with three or four bullet items below each one, indicating specific facets of the heading over which you have achieved some mastery.

Then, instead of listing your work history in reverse chronological format, which is the traditional resume format, you may list your positions grouped according to industry or specialty, much the same as your section entitled ‘Areas of Strength.’ Remember to include your dates of employment as well, as omitting them raises unwanted issues in the employer’s mind.

If you have long periods on non-employment reflected in your resume, whether they are due to taking time off to raise a family, recovering from a health issue, dealing with a medical handicap, caring for a critically ill family member, or going back to school, the point is to keep the focus on the skills and experience that you do have. If you served in any civic or volunteer capacities during your unemployment, feel free to highlight those, including dates of service, under the heading ‘Additional Experience,’ which should follow your work experience.

The resume should conclude with both ‘Computer Skills’ and ‘Education’ sections.

In conclusion, you can certainly see how, combining a positive professional communication in your cover letter with a carefully designed resume using the ‘Functional Format’ can present your qualifications for any position in a much more positive light than an unexplained chronological resume with ominous gaps in career history that brings up questions, instead of answering them.

GOOD LUCK TO YOU IN YOUR JOB SEARCH

Mark Baber has 20 years experience as an Executive Search recruiter.

Mark is Recruit Consultant to http://www.JobNewsRadio.com where Jobseekers access 2 Million job transactions, and can submit their Resumes Free and have them distributed freely to Employers they choose by industry, vocation, City or Region.

For one-on-one job search assistance submit your resume directly to Mark via: http://www.recruit-services.com

Mark is also Consultant to http://www.smarthiredirect.com , a low cost, effective recruit, hiring and job applicant tracking system for recruiters, HR staff and employers at all levels.