I come to you today with a cautionary tale of the woes of the Internet. Don't worry I'm not about to start preaching about how good the old days were and how I wish we could all go back to corresponding by letter and using quills... although anyone that knows me will know this to be true! Instead I come with a warning, of the perils of disclosure, and how it can get you into trouble in the workplace.

The virtual love train for Twitter has far exceeded my expectations, especially as 'flash in the pan' was what first sprung to mind. I remember my first interaction with Twitter, forever the cynic at new social inventions, I entered my details with a raised eyebrow and expected to find a whole host of things I had to gripe about.  But shockingly, I loved it, and still love it. It has turned out to be a socially convenient, work friendly, staple of my day- my boss was even the one to alert me to the wonders of Twitter Fox; allowing me to be at one with my Twitter stream, tucked neatly in the corner of my browser, twinkling away when a new tweet appears.

Although Twitter is a fantastical tool and especially handy for job seeking, like anything fabulous on the Internet you can waste hours idly reading people's tweets until you end up somewhere and have no idea where you began! N.B to my boss: I don't do this... honest! Time-waster browsing aside, there is a bigger problem with Twitter. The potential for rants. You see a white box with the potential for 140 characters worth of getting-things-off-your-chest. Cue angry messages about irritating late trains, rude people in shops, poor customer service... and you can't help but feeling a little better knowing that you've released your negative energy into the vast abyss of the world wide web.

And of course the potential for rants is endless, especially when you spend a large proportion of your day at work. Let's face it, there are going to be annoyances to you in the workplace. Your sleep deprived, desperation for caffeine makes you intrinsically angrier than usual, and your colleague has just done that one annoying thing too many...

Just typing the words, 'I hate my boss' or 'I hate my job' into the Twitter search brings back a scary amount of angry employee rants. But has the term 'Facebook fired' escaped their attention?! Many office workers have gotten into trouble, and even fired for their errant Facebook statuses, which either incriminate them in falsely claimed sick days or has alerted the company to their intense dislike of the business.

Either way, choosing to disclose your hatred of work on Twitter or Facebook is a seriously misjudged and terrible idea. Helen Popkin, on msnbc.com calls it 'virtual darwinism'- people who fail to realise the error of posting such rants on public channels, almost deserve their fate.

And if anyone isn't familiar with the infamous Cisco/Twitter related job incident, read this and cringe at your leisure.

So the moral of my cautionary tale is this: if you want to keep your job, avoid social networks on those days when you just might blow... or it could be far more trouble than it's worth. And remember the 'delete' key may not save you; Google has a lovely way of caching historical data so your deleted tweets may still turn up somewhere you don't want them to...

People say money can't buy you love, but it can buy you a house, a car, friends, and now... a job?!!!

Have you ever absent minded-ly flicked through the music channels and seen the MTV programme 'My Super Sweet Sixteen?' If you haven't, wow you're lucky. It documents a bunch of insolent teens as they prepare for the pinnacle of their social calender- their 16th birthday. Cue arguments about what stupidly expensive cake to have, dress to buy, how many other spoiled teenagers need to attend etc.

It's all very agonising and painful, and I think it's OK to hate these children. Because let's face it, they are American teenagers shouting at daddy for buying them the wrong kind of Mercedes. However nonsensical it seems, this kind of behaviour of the uber-rich to have whatever they so desire if they wave some cash around, is apparently now transcending the boundaries of televisual torture. It's no longer just the kind of 'reality' that only exists on your TV set- now it seems that the scary Americanised world of spend enough and you shall be rewarded, may be infiltrating the British jobs market.

A BBC News article yesterday highlighted that there is an increasing number of companies trying to profit from job hunting graduates. New graduates are being warned by University careersadvisors to steer clear of websites and companies offering valuable connections and 'ways in' to internships in competitive industries, in exchange for a hefty fee.

There are websites that will charge hundreds of pounds in exchange for an introduction letter to secure an internship. This practice means that internships, which predominantly go unpaid in competitive industries, will effectively go to the highest bidder.

There is a worry that with the emergence of these sites within the UK, the jobs market could begin to mirror the US, where your level of success in business is determined by the amount of money you already have. Those with wealthy parents will be able to secure the top positions by buying their way into such industries, so scrap hard work, effort, and passion- it seems all you need is a MasterCard.

There is also a disturbing rise in high profile internships being sold in charity auctions. Currently on CharityFolks.com you can spend 2 weeks as an intern at Rolling Stone Magazine; for the bargain price of over $1500. In January, The Times reported that in 2008, a week’s unpaid work at ITV Productions fetched a mind-boggling £1,260.

My advice on this issue?

It's competitive and tough in the jobs market- but don't ever feel like you need to pay for an internship to get ahead. It might take time, it might take a hundred letters, emails, CVs, but your determination and hard work will be rewarded. Approach companies directly, inquire, find out whether they take on interns, use internship search sites, etc but don't part with money in exchange for an internship- because no job is worth paying for.

-For more information on all things intern-related; including whether all interns should be paid a minimum wage, take a look at the Interns Anonymous blog.
-To read about the US craze of paid-for work experience, check out this article.

A survey conducted by HireScores.com of 1,277 people currently in employment has revealed that a whopping 69% of them had lied at some stage of the recruitment process, in either their current or a previous job role.

The high number of people that admitted lying, were then asked to explain what they had lied about, with the top 2 offenders being:

-36% admitted to lying about their referee, many using a friend or family member as their fake reference.
-Nearly 1 in 3 lied about their reasons for leaving last employment- because they had not left work on good terms.

The sample were then asked whether they had been inclined to 'bend the truth' on their CVs also, to which 9 out of 10 people admitted that something on their CV was embellished or simply untrue.

The top 2 things to lie about on your CV were:

-Hobbies and Achievements: 50% had lied about hobbies and achievements, including ability to play instruments, extent of language skills, and embellished gym or sporting activity.
-Educational Qualifications: 25% of people had amended their qualifications to higher grades than they had actually achieved.

Why lie, and is it worth it?

Of the reasons given in the survey, many believed that the white lie was so minor that it was unlikely to be checked- such as altering a qualification here and there.

But what happens if they do check??

There are three scenarios here:

1) They don't check, it doesn't mean much, it never becomes an issue.

2) They do check, they think it is a BIG issue, you end up in disciplinary or worse, fired for your misleading information.

3) They don't check, but assign you tasks that you must attempt with a lot more difficulty than if you had never said you could do them. Talking to a french customer, being invited to play tennis at the weekend, asking to solve a maths equation etc...

Whether you embellish something minor, or go all out on a compulsive lying spree- is it really necessary in the first place; regardless of the repercussions?

My advice is to just be honest. Yes it is the standard, party, goody-two-shoes answer, but it is also logical, sensible and risk-free. Most people lie about something minor, which begs the question, why lie at all? If its something so pointless, leave it off- or ask yourself why you can't/don't do the thing you want to say you can. Maybe it's a hobby you could take up, a vocation you could learn? If it is a qualification you feel let down by, you could always take a course. Or, just don't worry- if you can tick every other box, then you may just succeed on your own merit, without the guilt factor involved in your little lie- which invariably leads to a complicated web of the darned things.

Yes, the job market is competitive- but this is even more reason not to ruin your chances, by getting into trouble over something you needn't have done in the first place.

Happy Job Hunting.

 
Reports from AllTheTopBananas.com have revealed that things might be looking up for jobseekers. After analysing job vacancy data on the site over the last two years, AllTheTopBananas.com have been able to measure the impact of the recession on the amount of available jobs. Their findings have proven to be extremely positive for the coming months as October heralded the second largest number of jobs on the site since January 2009.

Of the data collected, the job count has increased considerably since July 2009, increasing by 41%, which is significantly more than in the same period last year. The job count has also increased by 25% from September to October, which suggests that we may at last be witnessing an upturn in the number of jobs becoming available- great news as the Christmas period rolls in.

According to the site, the rise in the number of vacancies can be seen throughout many industries including IT, Catering, Sales and Retail. This is great news for retail, as the credit crunch has proved a difficult time for those in the industry. Retail giant John Lewis has also been reporting positive signs for retail, as they reported a fifth weekly sales increase for the end of October. But with VAT set to rise again in January, will this put a spanner in the works of recovery efforts?

Whilst we are not officially out of recession, many signs in the economy are pointing positively in that direction. The US reported that the period from July- September 2009 was the first period in over a year that the country had experienced economic growth, which is good news for recovery. Here in the UK, The Halifax reported a 1.2% rise in house prices in October, their fourth monthly increase, and even success stories in retail are beginning to infiltrate the news of late.

It may still be a little early to get out the party poppers and streamers, as AllTheTopBananas reported that the overall job count has fallen by a whopping 48% since 2008, but we're all hoping that this is the beginning of the end for the horrible R word.

So what do you think:

Will the VAT increase put people off the high street?

Are you seeing signs of the recession easing?

Feel free to leave your comments below.

Employers are often asked to identify the top CV errors, that should be avoided at all costs, and one problem that comes up a LOT, is CV cliches.

When you are thinking about your skills and qualities when writing your CV, it is very easy for the usual suspects to come to mind:

-Excellent communication skills
-Strong work ethic
-Hard worker
-Good team player
-Results oriented

But what do they actually say about you, and do they make you stand out?

The answer is nothing and no.

All of the above are just overused, stock phrases, that actually render them pretty meaningless and waste space on your CV- which you could be saving for more vital information. Employers see these type of phrases so often, that they are likely to not pay any attention whatsoever- it's about as useful to them as telling them the colour of your car.

Here is a list of the offending phrases, so that you can avoid their use AT ALL COSTS!

Good communicator- It's surprising how this phrase actually makes you a bad communicator- there are far more effective ways to emphasise this point, without actually writing the phrase on your CV. Why not save your dazzling oratory for the interview, and instead give examples of your best achievements in business.

Team Player, Thrives in a team environment, Love working as part of a team- NO NO NO just, NO! It's highly unlikely that you don't like other people, in which case, this kind of point doesn't add anything. If you could say that you headed up an advertising team who created a national advertisement campaign that used television, radio and online promotional material- this is giving the employer an insight into your career and what you've achieved, all whilst avoiding the horrendously cliched phrase of 'team player'.

Strong work ethic- Well, you're not going to write that you're a bit lazy, like browsing Facebook, and aren't easily motivated now, are you?!

Have a keen attention to detail- This kind of thing is just expected, so again not necessary to list!

Other things to remember...

Avoid writing in a passive voice, saying things like 'responsible for' 'duties included' etc. Try to be more dynamic and positive, using action verbs and phrases that help to sell your skills effectively.

If you want to let the employer know about your hobbies and interests DO NOT put socialising- this is pointless, and might work against you, as people may not want to employ someone who is likely to be calling in sick on a Monday morning after a big hangover.

Love of travelling- This may be true, but some employers may get the wrong impression- it could alert them to the fact that you may not be after a full-time career, that perhaps you are likely to quit after 3 months and go backpacking around South America. So be careful about the overall impression you are giving the employer, down to the last detail.