Archive for August, 2010
How to Call your Facebook Friends for FREE?
Tuesday, August 31st, 2010The company VONAGE just sent me an email about their new Vonage Mobile™ app for Facebook®.
This app allows you to make FREE calls to all your Facebook® friends anywhere in the world, through your iPhone®, iPod touch® or Android™ OS device. All you need is a Wi-Fi or 3G/4G connection.
With the Vonage Mobile™ app for Facebook®, you don’t even need to know your friend’s phone number. Just select their profile and start talking. You can see your friend’s profile picture and status so you know what they’re up to before you call. You don’t need to join a new network – all you need is your Facebook® account. How’s that for convenient?
Download the App here
How to succeed as International Students in the USA?
Friday, August 27th, 2010Good-bye, summer — hello, school! The 2010-11 academic school year kicks off this week for most area schools.
Thousands of you from across the globe are traveling or returning to America in order to attend college or do internships. Congratulations on your achievements and first steps.
In the weeks and months to come, you will experience a wide variety of both encouraging and negative feelings, such as excitement, surprise, happiness, loss of identity, anxiety, disorientation and confusion, while facing language, academic and integration challenges. You will even sometimes feel like children.
Don’t worry. These feelings are normal. They don’t come to Stay. They come to Pass.
Be patient; your dreams will not come true overnight. But start now, and go with love and courage and confidence. It’s up to you what comes to pass, and if you keep your thoughts positive and strong: your dreams will come true. It’s just a Matter of Time.
As you might know, in 2006, I left my corporate job at HP France to move to Los Angeles as an international student. I wanted to improve my English language skills, learn about the American way of doing business and eventually start my own. More importantly, I was in search of making meaningful changes in my life in order to add value to my own existence while possibly making a positive difference in the lives of others.
My life in Los Angeles has been full of challenges, the biggest of which have been dealing with the unexpected, adjusting to my new environment and getting everything done within a time frame.
Thankfully, some great people both from my university, UCLA, and off campus taught me the skills that I needed, showed me around, helped me adjust to the American culture, and inspired me. Some also provided me knowledge and methods for a better understanding of the ins- and- outs of running a business in this country, encouraged me to challenge the conventional thinking, and helped me discover and articulate my greater purpose.
I am here today to share with you some my insights.
To reach your goals in the United States, I believe it’s important to:
- Believe in yourself
- Discover your driving motivation for action (purpose, cause or belief)
- Be disciplined and Stay on your chosen path
- Remain active
- Stay focused than to sit around complaining
- Speak up and Take Actions
- Take risks and be willing to lose yourself before reaping the fruits of your efforts
- Build your Network. “Your Network Determines Your Net Worth”
- Have an insatiable thirst for knowledge
- Be able to articulate clearly your value proposition
- Sharpen your personal brand to achieve career success
- Get out of your comfort zone
-Master Team working skills
- Familiarize yourself with the American business environment
- Challenge others and yourself to get results
- Don’t settle for anything less than your best
- Develop and master your capacity to think critically and independently
- Develop and master your ability to understand how people of different cultures and values think and behave
- Develop your communication skills
- Develop a global mindset
- Immerse yourself into the American Culture
- Volunteer into your communities
- Think out of the box
- Learn how to understand the greater context of problems
- Be intensely curious
- Accept others as they come
- Look at everything as an amazing learning experience
- See the opportunity in every difficulty
- Share your experience with others
- Be concerned with time limitations
- Listen up
- Read as much as you can –pick up books that you like, books you don’t like and books you never pictured yourself reading.
- Gain control over all the tasks and commitments that you need or want to get done
- Keep track of your goals
- Be accountable for your actions
- Have a stubborn insistence on pursuing our dreams.
Over all, it’s about maintaining a good life balance with the seven following building blocks :
1-Peace of Mind
2- Health and Fitness
3- Loving relationship
4- Control of my finance
5- Career goals that fit my personality
6- Pursuing my ultimate life goals
7- Life Balance (Career, Personal relationship, Friends and Family, Spiritual, Continuing education, Rest, Health and Fitness, Relaxation, Fun)
Finally, I will leave you with this quote that I learned from my mentor, Les Brown.
“If you want a thing bad enough to go out and fight for it, to work day and night for it, to give up your time, your peace and your sleep for it … if all that you dream and scheme is about it, and life seems useless and worthless without it … if you gladly sweat for it and fret for it and plan for it and lose all your terror of the opposition for it … if you simply go after that thing you want with all of your capacity, strength and sagacity, faith, hope and confidence and stern pertinacity … if neither cold, poverty, famine, nor gout, sickness nor pain, of body and brain, can keep you away from thing that you want … if dogged and grim you beseech and beset it, with the help of God, you WILL get it!” Written by author Berton Braley
Source : Les Brown – Live your Dreams. Click here to Listen to Les Brown.
Best Wishes,
Jean-Marc Dedeyne
contact us here.
Jobs With Flexible Hours…Who Wants One?
Thursday, August 26th, 2010“I want a job with flexible hours” is often something I hear from my friends and tons of people I meet. “I want to travel.” “I want to spend more time with my kids.” “I want to [fill in the blank].”
When you work a 9–5 it’s hard to maintain the kind of life that allows you to preserve your sanity, stay healthy, and well…enjoy the light of day. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against having a stable full-time job – I’m simply an advocate for BALANCE. So recently, I’ve started asking around to uncover solutions.
How do people find jobs with flexible hours that pay the bills AND allow the freedom to go for a good long run in the mornings?
Here are a few avenues to consider:
1. Consulting
2. Provide a service for busy people
3. Join the Food & Beverage Industry
4. Sell stuff online
5. Join a Start-Up
As Monique Peltz, author of this article, said most of hers suggestions require a significant amount of time and effort to set up and manage. However, she looked at it from the perspective that once you successfully create these types of opportunities for yourself, you most likely will enjoy a flexible schedule.
Continue here
Source : YSN
What do you think? Please help out and share your bright ideas below in the comment section.
How to Leave Effective Voicemails In Your Job Search?
Wednesday, August 25th, 2010When networking, following up on an application, reconnecting after an interview, or for virtually any other aspect of a job search… talking to someone is always better than an email.
A professional voice on the phone is much harder to ignore than one of dozens of emails.
However, for most people, the majority of calls you make will initially result in leaving a voicemail than actually being able to catch someone on the phone.
So what can you do to improve your chances of getting a call back?
Here are some points to consider:
- Be prepared
- Make it Brief
- Let them know you’ll be back
- Be Pleasantly Persistent
- Say something like…
Read complete article here
Source : The Wise Job Search
Why do Americans love yoga so much?
Tuesday, August 24th, 2010According to a 2008 market study in Yoga Journal, some 16m currently practice, spending $5.7 billion a year in the process on gear (Lululemon bootie shorts and the like). The question is psychological as well as financial: the quasi-religious tinges of the ancient Indian art form have become so normalized that many people feel more comfortable uttering om and namaste in a sweaty class then they would entering a house of worship.
Stefanie Syman, a journalist and yoga aficionado, seeks to answer these questions in her book “The Subtle Body: The Story of Yoga in America”. “Yoga has been the aspect of Asian culture most widely and readily assimilated (outside of food),” she writes. It “has augured a truly post-Christian, spiritually polyglot country.”
Ms Syman takes a guru-centric approach, charting the path of the thinkers, spiritual leaders, celebrities and quacks that brought yoga into the mainstream. The result is well-researched and rich in character studies, even if Ms Syman never quite gets at the strange crux of exercise, spirituality and faddish consumerism that defines today’s yoga industry. Ultimately, the book is a cultural study of America, and the country’s ability to assimilate just about anything. More Intelligent Life compiles five unique facts about the folks that introduced Americans to this bendy pastime:
Continue reading here
Source : The Economist
The Subtle Body: The Story of Yoga in America
What do you think? Have you already taken yoga? If yes, why do you practice it?
How to nail an interview by video
Monday, August 23rd, 2010These days, a job seeker can land a job without ever setting foot inside the company’s office, traveling to the city where the office is, or even meeting the company’s recruiters in person — thanks to video communication tools such as Skype that connect employers with candidates over the Internet.
Several people in the career and job-search industry say video interviewing using remote technology software is on the rise for a broad swatch of industries and companies.
“This type of interviewing, for campuses as well as for businesses is becoming more and more prevalent,” said Doreen Amorosa, associate dean and managing director of MBA career management at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University.
Continue reading here
What Are U.S. Community Colleges?
Monday, August 23rd, 2010Several representatives from community colleges, over 1000 strong U.S. institutions, discuss the benefits for international students who choose to begin their post-secondary education in a 2-year community college. The transfer process to 4-year colleges/universities, the reduced costs, the personal attention, and more make community colleges a truly realistic choice for a growing number of international students.
More about Community Colleges here
If you want to study in the USA, you should first visit an EducationUSA center. Find one here.
If you have more questions about life in the USA, and you need more tips, please fill out this form here! We’ll send you local information specific to your projects.
Meals on U.S. Campuses?
Saturday, August 21st, 2010As an international student preparing to study in the United States, you might be a bit concerned about adjusting to the American way of eating. And, if you haven’t ever eaten typical American food, you might wonder where you can find food you are accustomed to from your home country.
Have no fear: A new and major trend on campuses is an increased customer interest in the history and origin of food—and this includes providing more cultural choices to students, according to the National Association of College and University Food Services. Continue reading here
More Resources :
- Campusfood here
- Get to know your school Campus Dining here
Where to buy groceries in the USA?
Saturday, August 21st, 2010American grocery stores contain an overwhelming variety and quantity of food.
Therefore, shopping for the items that you need in U.S. stores can be overwhelming at first for international students, but with a little practice, you will soon be getting the most for your dollar.
You may find it tempting to try everything in sight; however, if you have a tight budget you should make a list and purchase only those items, and not to go to the store when you are hungry (people tend to buy more when they are hungry). It will take a while to figure out the location of the items in each store, but once you become familiar with the layout, your trips to the store will take a lot less time than they did at first.
These different types of stores in the United States cater to different needs:
- Grocery stores
- Department stores
- Convenience stores and gas stations
- Use coupons and in-store discounts
- Buy generic items
Read complete article here
More resources:
- Shopping in the USA here
- How to Shop for Various Things in the USA here
- Buying Food in the American Stores here
About Graduate Studies in the USA
Wednesday, August 18th, 2010Graduate education in the United States will almost certainly be different from the system offered in your country.
Admissions staff from George Washington University and Old Dominion University explain the process for students applying to graduate programs (master’s, doctoral, specialist degrees) in the U.S. Choosing the right schools, testing, statement of purpose, and financial aid / assistantships are all explained.
More about Graduate Studies in the USA here
If you want to study in the USA, you should first visit an EducationUSA center. Find one here.
If you have more questions about life in the USA, and you need more tips, please fill out this form here! We’ll send you local information specific to your projects.