Category: lifestyle

It seems trivial, but your outfit can make or break a career opportunity. ‘In a job interview, your attire makes a statement about yourself before you even open your mouth,’ says Nicole Williams, LinkedIn’s career expert and best-selling author. ‘A scuffed shoe, a messy bag, or a low-cut shirt can speak volumes. You need to wear your “power outfit”.’ As the adage goes: dress for the job you want, not the one you have.

Dress for the environment

Make sure your look is current, even if you’re interviewing for a corporate job. ‘Wearing out-of-date suits shows your lack of willingness to keep informed of the current trends,’ says Ritika Trikha of online community CareerBliss. If you’re unsure of what to wear, chat to someone in the company, or do some detective work – see if the company has a Facebook page with some staff pics. If everyone is wearing jeans and slip-slops, you can dress down a bit, but still keep it professional. Career and executive coach Mark Strong advises dressing ‘half a step up from what the typical daily dress is in your industry’. When in doubt, bring a well-tailored jacket along to formalise your outfit if you need to.

Dry run

Try on the outfit beforehand and move around in it. Check that your buttons aren’t gaping, you can’t see your bra through your shirt and your skirt doesn’t ride up. Make sure the outfit is well tailored (not too big or too tight) and don’t leave your ironing for the morning of the interview!

First impressions

Arrive early, but not too early – ideally, 10 to 15 minutes before the interview. Make sure you have everything you need – a printed copy or two of your CV, reference letters (if you have any), your portfolio, as well as a pen and notebook in case you want to take notes. Put it all in a nice folder – you don’t want to have to rummage through your bag to find what you need. Switch off your cellphone beforehand, and ditch the takeaway coffee cup.

During the interview

Let your body language project confidence – greet your interviewer with a firm handshake and make eye contact. ‘When deciding between two equally strong candidates, an employer will almost certainly pick the one who appears the strongest socially,’ says David Press, a chief executive at recruitment specialists Proceed. Also be aware of your posture – don’t slouch in your chair. Be polite and listen carefully. If anything is unclear, ask the interviewer to clarify – you’ll give a better answer. Never assume that they have studied your CV and know exactly what you’re referring to. If you’re asked about something you don’t know much about, don’t fake it. Say something like, ‘This is not my strongest area, but I’m very keen to learn more about it.’

After the interview Shake your interviewer’s hand and thank them for taking the time to meet you. Reiterate your interest in the job and that you look forward to hearing from them. If you don’t get the job, be gracious and polite. If you made a good impression, they may think of you the next time a position opens up.

Women 24

Wearing all white from head to toe is for grown ups and I think I might finally be a grown up, because I am finally willing to do what it takes to meander through an entire day in all white and stay clean.
It has always been my opinion that wearing white from head to toe is for the kind of person who consciously avoid hot dogs drenched in tomato sauce and mustard, give air kisses to avoid getting make up on their clothing and steer clear of children with dirty hands.

In fact, grown ups don’t even wear white when they know they are going to be near children. Grown ups think before they wear all white from head to toe.

Due to the sweltering heat, simple white ensembles have been the order of the day when it comes to my summer wardrobe choices.

However, I do know myself and the standard simplicity of all-white and its current “everybody is doing it” appeal won’t satisfy my curious approach to style for long, because “good style” is not in my opinion achieved by homogeneous dressing…

Women24

To learn to say “No”, we have to first understand what’s resisting us about it. Below are common reasons why people find it hard to say no:

1. You want to help . You are a kind soul at heart. You don’t want to turn the person away and you want to help where possible, even if it may eat into your time.

2. Afraid of being rude. I was brought up under the notion that saying “No”, especially to people who are more senior, is rude. This thinking is common in Asia culture, where face-saving is important. Face-saving means not making others look bad (a.k.a losing face).

3. Wanting to be agreeable . You don’t want to alienate yourself from the group because you’re not in agreement. So you confirm to others’ requests.

4. Fear of conflict. You are afraid the person might be angry if you reject him/her. This might lead to an ugly confrontation. Even if there isn’t, there might be dissent created which might lead to negative consequences in the future.

5. Fear of lost opportunities . Perhaps you are worried saying no means closing doors. For example, one of my clients’ wife was asked to transfer to another department in her company. Since she liked her team, she didn’t want to shift. However, she didn’t want to say no as she felt it would affect her promotion opportunities in the future.

6. Not burning bridges . Some people take “no” as a sign of rejection. It might lead to bridges being burned and relationships severed.
If you nodded to any of the reasons, I’m with you. They applied to me at one point or another. However, in my experience dealing with people at work and in life, I realized these reasons are more misconceptions than anything. Saying “No” doesn’t mean you are being rude; neither does it mean you are being disagreeable. Saying “No” doesn’t mean there will be conflict nor that you’ll lose opportunities in the future. And saying no most definitely doesn’t mean you’re burning bridges. These are all false beliefs in our mind.

At the end of the day, it’s about how
you say “no”, rather than the fact you’re saying no, that affects the outcome. After all, you have your own priorities and needs, just like everyone has his/her own needs. Saying no is about respecting and valuing your time and space. Say no is your prerogative.

Celestine Chau

The word women is used generally to represents all age of female human while ladies is used for specific purposes.

The word lady is still used as complementary word for example while calling and addressing like “excuse me lady” and “ladies and gentlemen” respectively while women word is not developed for the purpose of respect.

Lady is more polite word than women. That’s why for president’s wife, the words first lady is used to address.

There are distinction about games in Olympics both for ladies and girls.

For example ladies can take part in alpine skiing, cross country, figure skating, freestyle skiing, short track speed skating, ski jumping, snowboard and speed skating sports in Olympics. While there are limited sports are available for women in Olympics like biathlon, curling, ice hockey, luge and skeleton.

I recently turned 25 and supposedly became a proper adult. While I’m not really sure if I’ve got this grown up thing even a little bit right yet, or if I ever will, I do know a few things now for sure that I’d like to share with you.

1.    Yes, you WERE that annoying, obnoxious and rude as a teenager.

2.    Love can come from rather unexpected places. Remember to stay open to it.

3.    You can’t force everyone to see things your way, but you can educate them – as long as you’re open to listening to their view too.

4.    Also, it’s more than okay to have an opinion. Don’t let anyone silence you.

5.    Change WILL happen. No one likes it (seriously, it sucks), but it’s necessary for personal growth.

6.    You are where you are mostly because of the decisions you’ve made. Own it.

7.    Always do something you love over something that will bring you only momentary or monetary happiness.

8.    Trust your body. It knows what it wants. Most of the time.

9.    You’re never too old to do something fun, or too young to take responsibility for something you did.

10.    Horrible things happen to good people. It’s a startling truth. The trick is to learn how to deal with it.

11.    Some people are not meant to be in your life forever. It’s okay to let them go.

12.    You don’t need to see someone every day to know they’re your best friend.

13.    There’s always going to be someone smarter, funnier, wiser, or sexier than you are, but that doesn’t make you any less amazing.

14.    Laugh as much as possible for as long as you can. It’s good for you.

15.    Your mom may not always have been right, but she wasn’t always completely wrong either.

16.    Take ALL the pictures you can. Document your life and your journey. Record happy moments with people who matter, and the silly things you’ve done. You don’t know how long you’ve got.

17.    Mental illness does not make you less. You might feel alone, but you’re not.

18.    Be humble. Before someone makes you feel like you know less than Jon Snow.

19.    Not everyone is going to like you. That’s okay.

20.    Your identity is yours. No one can tell you who to be and what to do unless you let them.

21.    There’s a difference between loving yourself and being full of it. Learn that difference.

22.    Women have been told for too long that we need to compete for the attention of men. Don’t. Appreciate the struggles and beauty of the woman next to you.

23.    Just because you’re getting older doesn’t mean you have to get old. Embrace your age and have fun with it.

24.    Privilege is real. We all have some. Acknowledge it. Use it to help others who do not have the same privileges.

25.    You are enough. If someone makes you feel like you’re not, you need to reevaluate that relationship.

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