My sister suggested that I use a double knot, where you knot the “bunny ears” after tying you shoe. It works well, but sometimes the shoes get loose after not retying them for a while and occasionally they still become untied. Also it can make noticeably large knot.

So how do I keep my shoes tied? Well I tie them using the common bow (over and under around the tree, yadda, yadda, yadda). Then I take the knot and role it under. The result is that part of the “bunny ears” and part of the loose ends get rolled under the tightened laces. This helps the knot stay together and it’s not too noticeable. This solution isn’t guaranteed to keep your laces together, but it has helped me over the past few years.

Wikipedia gives another explanation why my laces get untied. It says that I am using the granny style bow instead of the reef knot style. Wikipedia suggests that there are other better knots, but I don’t want to waste time thinking on how I’m tying my shoe. Now I just roll it under automatically.

I hope this advice helps and check out Ian’s Shoelace Site for some awesome ways to lace you shoes.

YAHOO! hotjobs: Dealing with Rejection
The article is mainly about reevaluating what you did during the interview. Sometimes it is not your fault, it is just business.

Bizzy Women: 4 ideas on Dealing With Rejection
It is a bit feminine, but if you can get past that there is some good advice. Even if you do not get the job, still try to make contacts and be gracious about it. It might just lead to future opportunities better suited to you.

ESL Teachers Board: Coping With Rejection During Your Job Search
This site offers six techniques to be in the right frame of mind while searching for a job. Remembering that there is a Yes at the end of all the No’s, might give your the confidence you need to ace the next interview.

These websites offer an alternative to the regular clichés to stay positive and keep trying. Check them out and see if they can help you get out the rejection blues.

One important thing is to remember that first impressions are important. You may never see the recruiters again, but on the other hand they will probably be the ones interviewing potential candidates in the future. So if they remember you being an intelligent eager candidate it can help you in the future. Looking great can also help, but it is less expected at a university job fair.

Seriously research 2-3 companies before going to the job fair. It is great to know something about all the companies, but it is unrealistic to try and to know all the important details of the dozen companies you want to talk with. I tried to do that and I ended up forgetting almost everything when I arrived. Some recruiters were helpful to give me all the company information, while others made me feel like an idiot for not knowing what they are looking for in a junior process engineer. If you know about two or three companies it can help make that great first impression without overwhelming you before you arrive.

I have heard that business cards or networking cards are great to bring to a career fair so that you can give your essential information in an easy to carry format. I found that some companies were accepting resumes and other companies referred you to their website and were only there to give information so giving a card did not seem like a great idea. It was a university career fair so it is likely that they were not expecting business cards, but I can see how useful they can be in other networking situations.

Another important reason to go to a career fair is to find out how they are recruiting people at your level of employment. Many companies will send you to their website to find available positions, but other companies will be more specific. For example, I am looking for an entry level position and one company told me that they will only be posting entry level jobs at the university career site and not on their own. Another company gave me the contact information for a specific hiring manager for their new site. So do not be afraid to ask or you may miss a great opportunity.

Overall I am happy with my experience at the career fair and am glad the university holds these kinds of events for student and recent graduates. I do not know if I will be getting any interviews out of it, but only time will tell. Wishing you the best of luck with your job search and remember that talking with people in person is always better than over the internet.

The newest version of Read It Later was designed for Firefox 3, but the service can also be used in other browsers. There is a demo but it is somewhat hard to follow. Basically, the point of Read It Later is to temporarily save web pages and then read them later. It is better than bookmarking because you can whip through the list easier than going through your toolbar. Try out read it later for yourself and check out the options for this extension to customize it and learn about all of its features.

I use read it later to go through the lists of openings on career sites. I usually only want to look at some of the jobs, so I use Read It Later’s “Click to Save Mode” and click on all the job links I want to look at. This saves those pages to my list. I can then click the Read It Later toolbar icon to begin going through the list. Once I have gone over a job posting and made a note of it, I click the checkmark by the address bar to mark the page as “read”. Clicking the “read” button removes the page from my list and I have set my preferences so that I automatically go to the next page in my list. It is fast and efficient. I also use the same system to go through news websites and I found that it does go much faster.

Read It Later saves me time and effort. Try it for a few days, the add-on is free and you can always uninstall it.

Learn a new skill
The primary reason to go back to school is to learn a new skill or improve upon your current skill set. Some interesting areas to consider are language courses, business courses and management courses. These transferable skills are useful in any industry. Language courses in particular can help your career and also satisfy your own personal interests.

Keeps you active
Going back to school keeps your mind fresh. Your job may be keeping you busy, but you may still become stagnant without learning any new skills or improving the skills you already have. If you are currently looking for work, going to school can show employers that you are not becoming dormant during your job search.

Meet new people
Going back to school can also help you meet new people. Night courses have people from all walks of life; you never know who you might meet. Even if it is casual small talk on a break, it might turn into an opportunity you would not have found on your own. It also helps that everyone taking a course has at least one common subject of interest.

Going back to school offers many benefits. Take some time to look into your local university, college or school district to see what courses they offer. There should be something to catch your interest and it will be well worth your time.

Post Scriptum: The University of Toronto offers recent graduates a $600 credit to one course offered at the UofT School of Continuing Studies. This offer lasts for about two years after graduating and started with the class of 2007.

The first reason is to stay focused by evaluating your work.
Sometimes work may not be as stimulating as you would like. By blogging about your job, you have a good reason to be evaluating your work on a weekly or daily basis. You can see what tasks went great and what did not go so well. Then try to maintain good habits and work to eliminate bad ones. I will admit that blogging about this might sound like a waste of your time, but I feel keeping track of improvements makes them much more concrete and easier to maintain.

The next reason is accountability.
By posting this on the internet I am making myself accountable to anyone who might see it. I realize I will not be getting 1000s of views on my first post and I know that there are many other blogs and websites about professional development. I still have to be accountable to myself. I must stick with this as a means for documenting my self-improvement and a way to keep track of the resources and advice I find along the way.

Another reason is to put yourself out there.
A hiring manager may search for your name online. Rather than just getting your facebook page and some website you made in high school, they can get your blog with your unofficial portfolio. I have seen some personal websites used as an online CV, but I feel a blog is better suited as a progress report. Also by putting yourself into the blogosphere, you can get feedback and advice from others who you never would have met in real life.

The final reason is progress.
You do not want to get stagnant in your career or in your job search. A blog keeps you moving forward by trying to find new ways to improve yourself. Business is always progressing and a blog is one tool that can help you achieve your future success.