A friend, Glenn, passed me this great article about the anxiety people experience when an e-mail goes unanswered. It talks about how our minds start racing with thoughts about what could be wrong. In short, we see “no news” as bad news.

E-mail Panic = Even Worse With Job Seekers

Anxiety from unanswered e-mails is especially prominent in job seekers. At least once a day, a client contacts me in a frustrated panic because the e-mail they sent days ago to a colleague, perspective networking contact, online application, recruiter, and so on hasn’t been answered. Each time, I walk them through the three tips that should be followed to increase the chances we get a response. They are:

1. Wait One Full Business Week Before Following Up

While it feels like months to you, to the person you sent the e-mail to, a week feels like a day. If they didn’t answer you yet, it just means you weren’t viewed as needing an immediate response. It doesn’t mean they are saying “no” to your request, they are just saying “not now.”

2. Never Send A Nudge On A Monday

Even the happiest of people feel a little off on Mondays. We call it the Weekend Flu, you might call it the Monday Blues. Regardless, it puts people in a mood to say “no” more quickly. So, even if it’s been a full business week, if it’s Monday – don’t do anything.

I recently asked readers to share the best career advice they ever received – and I figured it was time to ask for the worst next. And you certainly delivered! A lot of bad career advice apparently comes from parents – but managers aren’t too far behind them.

Here are the 10 worst pieces of work advice that readers reported hearing.

1. Say whatever it takes to close the sale

“’Say whatever you need to say to close the sale. Then we can worry about resetting expectations.’ This from a seasoned sales manager. I wasn’t in sales, so he wasn’t saying it directly to me, but this is what he was telling his sales reps to do re: the professional services I was responsible for managing.”

2. Major in anything and figure it out later

“’Major in whatever you want and then figure it out later.’ What was helpful when I was having panic attacks at 18 wasn’t so helpful when I was having panic attacks about what I’d do post-graduation at age 21. So then I went to grad school because it seemed like the safe, familiar choice, for a major that (turns out) needs a doctorate to do anything with it. And I don’t want a doctorate. Plus, I took out student loans that I’ll be paying back till my yet-to-be-born kids go to college. (I fully recognize these are my own choices; just wish someone had slapped me upside the head and said, ‘No!’)

If I were to do it all over again, I might still pick my undergrad major, but I’d get my act together more about what I’d do post-college before the spring semester of my senior year and seriously consider what kind of life I wanted post-college rather than my at-the-time “dream job,” which has a lifestyle that, turns out, I really don’t like or ever want.”

Finding a job in today’s market can be a daunting task, but there are many ways to make yourself more appealable to potential employers. The following 10 tips are surefire ways increase the likeliness of finding a job.

1. Build a Resume Worth Reading

Resumes are a necessary evil, and today you need more than a piece of paper. Check out sites like About.me and Flavors.me to create online resumes where you can add pictures, video and links to social media. You’re painting a more complete picture in a fun and creative space.

Across any media, language is important so avoid redundancy as well as common words and phrases. Overused terms such as innovative and dynamic, team player and detail oriented do little to distinguish your candidacy. Plus, it seems contrived and sometimes in-authentic.

Never lie on your resume and don’t use half truths, but it’s ok to dress things up. Look back at all your prior job experiences and find what’s most relevant. Many small and menial tasks provide insight into the spirit and enthusiasm you bring to your work, and it’s important potential employers understand not only what you did, but how you accomplished it.

2. Create a Calling Card

If someone wants to hire you for a job then make it easy for people to find you! It could be your personal website or the contact information on LinkedIn, but freely share information about yourself and your background. Not only does it build your professional story, but it establishes your authority in a given space. After people view you as a credible source of information they’ll want to contact you so make it easy for them to get in touch.

Whether we like it or not, our social media profiles are part of our digital resume. In the same way we stay glued to Facebook for updates from our friends, family, and favorite celebrities, employers look at our social media profiles for clues into our character and qualifications. Strengthen the likelihood of landing the job you want by avoiding these social media don’ts for job seekers:

Don’t post questionable photos or statuses.

Becoming an online billboard for the TMI Rule will cement your place at the back of the unemployment line. Unless you’re applying for a job as a Hawaiian Topics bikini model, forego the body-baring photos. And be just as modest with the content of your statuses. If you want a professional position, skip the profanity.

Don’t publicize criticisms against current or former employers.

Slamming an employer via social media will squash your hireability faster than a snowball can melt on a summer day. Publicizing offensive comments about your employers paints you as disloyal and untrustworthy. If that weren’t enough, making disparaging and defamatory remarks could thrust you into legal hot water.

Even though the logistics industry is growing, finding a job in this field takes a bit of preparation on your part. Let us help you get a foot in the door and navigate the process from start to finish by following our tips, tricks, and how-to’s.

Tip #1: Determine your career goals.

To reach your career goals in logistics, you must define your ambitions. Do you want to run the company, or do you want to specialize in a particular field? What are your short-term and long-term goals? Sit down and write out a career plan detailing what you want to achieve, then brainstorm ideas for how you’ll get there.

Tip #2: Network, get feedback, and find a mentor.

The cliché is true: It’s not what you know, it’s who you know (though knowing stuff definitely helps). Discuss your career aspirations with someone who currently works in the job you’d like to have, such as a coworker, a family friend, or a connection made through networking. If you currently work at a logistics company, have a discussion with your boss or a human resource staffer about what you need to do to earn a promotion and set yourself on the right career track. Ask your mentor or coworkers to introduce you to others in the field or at specific companies you’d like to work for. If you attended a school with a career office, contact them to ask for advice and connections to alumni.

During the recent financial crisis, many companies ran into difficult times. Businesses struggled to stay afloat and employees were laid off. In the post-recession period, many companies are downsizing when their business does not meet set expectations. Today, employees are also familiar with the idea of pink slips, and they know that their individual performance and company’s financial health must be right to prevent any shocks.

Being Laid Off? Know Your Rights

While layoffs have become quite common in all industries today, many employees do not know that the law safeguards their interests and welfare. Here are some laws and policies that every employee should be aware of when he/she is asked to leave:

Final Pay

Final pay laws differ from one state to another. The general norm is to issue the final paycheck as soon as the employment ends. The final pay includes the wages an employer owes to its employees on the last day of their work. In addition, it covers overtime, bonuses, expense reimbursements, commissions, and vacation pay, if applicable. The law does not cover sick leaves in the final pay. Some employer, however, pay it to prevent the misuse of sick leaves.

Final pay may not include severance pay for the layoff. Further, employers are not required to issue severance pay by law. It depends on the employment contract or terms of a separation agreement.

Today’s competitive global marketplace requires corporations to build a professional labor force that is multicultural, multilingual, and multinational. But when resumes flow in from all corners of the world, it’s not easy to identify the best and the brightest. Combine that challenge with the pressure to fill open positions and the result can be quick hiring decisions that later turn out to be mistakes. That’s why resume verification and pre-employment screening should be a standard part of the international recruiting process.

What you see on the surface can be misleading

Some employers rely on a resume alone to ascertain candidate suitability, but the resume is simply a selling document designed to attract interest. In reality, there is always much more to be learned about an individual. The key is to capture a complete history of the candidate’s education, employment and other relevant activities, with the aid of an application form. This, of course, makes the screening process much easier but it also sends out a warning to fraudulent applicants. In some cases, the response from such people is to withdraw their application, saving the employer from a potential bad hire but also from wasting unnecessary time and effort at the recruitment stage.

Inconsistencies on resumes are often result of error, but the regularity with which stated qualifications and previous employment details differ from those verified by institutions and employers is surprising. Our candidate screening experience has indicated that approximately 80 percent of resumes contain discrepancies that may influence the hiring decision. Unfortunately, many of these discrepancies are intentional, perpetrated by individuals who think their chances of getting a great job outweigh their chances of getting caught in a lie.

Looking for the employment edge - some individuals take it too far

There are an increasing number of unscrupulous organizations that use sophisticated technology to produce and sell fabricated resumes and educational or professional certificates via the web. Two such examples include a Liverpool-based company selling fake degree certificates to customers worldwide for anything between £70 to £100, and a Californian ‘University’ that has been running for 40 years, although it has never received authority to operate or grant degrees. Research suggests that thousands seek work using degrees from these ‘Diploma Mills,’ which sell their “esteem boosting” diplomas on the Internet.

This sort of activity is global and you’ll find similar services in most countries, including Australia, South Africa, France, Germany, Switzerland, South America, India and China.

While falsified qualifications raise questions about general honesty and integrity, there is a range of searches that may reveal other potential areas for concern. In addition to routine checks by HR departments to confirm the validity of work permits and visas, other checks might include registration regulatory bodies, credit and bankruptcy checks, company appointments, directorships and disqualifications and police/criminal records checks, to name just a few.

Are you feeling defeated because you’ve done all you could do to attain a job, but have yet to land one? Examine your internal dialogue. Yes, put down the resume, halt the job search, and join me in this deep-dive exercise of exploring your thoughts…

What are your beliefs about your candidacy? What “vibe” are you transmitting during your phone interview, exuding through your body language, projecting with your attire selection, and reinforcing via your marketing documents?

Others Can Sense Your Lack of Self-Assurance

Lack of confidence can be “smelled” a mile away. Negativity, cynicism, and a “poor-me” attitude is not attractive at all–no matter how you try to mask it.

Open the Floodgates Of Interview Offers

While it may seem too simple and bordering on just “self-help” talk, the beliefs we hold about ourselves are fundamental in our success. The concept of reversing negative internal narrative seems simple; however, actually changing what you are thinking, feeling, and exuding is not—but it can absolutely be accomplished!

I guarantee that if you have lost the job offer, perhaps even during a second interview, the person who got hired sold their qualifications with more confidence, was more persuasiveness in promoting their value, and closed the deal (job) by assertively reassuring the employer that they were the best choice!

Possible Reasons For Your Hard-To-Detect Negative Self-Talk

The following could fuel consistent negative beliefs about your value, your opportunities, and your expectations: