Remember how your Mom used to tell you to stop fidgeting and look people in the eye?
Turns out her advice holds true – and especially if you’re at a career fair or job interview.
Lack of eye contact was the biggest body language mistake that could reduce your chances of being hired, according to a new CareerBuilder.com survey.
Skipping a smile came in second – so be sure to think happy thoughts just before your interview begins. And too much wiggling around tied for third worst with bad posture, according to the survey of 2,500 hiring managers who work full-time at non-governmental employers.
Non-verbal messages come through clearly and you want yours to say “I’m confident, competent and in control.” And you want to be seen as friendly and cooperative too. That means looking at the interviewer and smiling before you head to your chair. Then sit down easily, leaning forward  toward them to show you’re engaged and ready to begin.
A weak handshake, crossing your arms across your chest and frequently touching your hair or face also are body language mistakes that may work against you in interviews, according to the CareerBuilder  survey.
If you are shy or come from some other cultures, you may not be comfortable looking people squarely in the eye. Start working on this by looking first at the eyebrows or the bridge of their nose. Or look family or friends in the eyes and smile warmly – it’s easier to start with someone who cares about you rather than someone who’s judging your personality and professionalism.
So what else can you do to root out inappropriate body language?  Practice your smile or sitting calmly. Rehearse a handshake and an interview with a friend or friend of a friend, CareerBuilder suggests.  And if you can find a videocam, capture yourself on it – and play back your sample interview. You’ll see mistakes clearly and then can practice removing them day by day.
Forbes.com has a series on body language that offers insights on how to win an argument with your mannerisms and common mistakes women make.  Or you can check out some books on non-verbal communications – or read the full CareerBuilder materials online.
If you’re not sure whether your mannerism or body language are positive, ask a hiring manager or brutally honest friend to review your taped interview. Or go directly to your Mom – she’ll tell you what works and what doesn’t.

The long lazy days of summer always tempt me to slow down, work less and savor the fruits and outdoor concerts.  Now that I run an Italian ice cart in downtown Ann Arbor, my summer’s are far busier and brimming with projects and work.
So when I wrote about summer job search for the Washington Post and ways to network at summer picnics for Glassdoor.com, I felt the heat rising on summer as a work-able season. Businesses move full speed ahead in the summer months (and some are in overdrive). Many people land jobs in July and August, and many more get interviews that lead to jobs in September.
Yet sometimes the summer slowdown still beckons. So lately, I’ve been using summer to swing my motivation into super-speed, and you could too. Consider these :
* August is a great time for temping. It’s also a great time to sign on for contracts for projects that must be finished in the fall. August ranks as one of the biggest months for vacations, and yet projects and products still need to launch in the coming months. So polish up your resume and approach three temporary agencies this month. (For more on picking a temping agency see my AARP Bulletin article . )
* Reward yourself with a picnic or watermelon. Set a couple of goals for the week — whether it’s writing, promotion, outreach or developing relationships or LinkedIn profile. Make sure it’s a goal you can achieve – like contacting five human resources or hiring managers or finishing two chapters in a book  you are writing. Then when you achieve them, help yourself to a luscious serving of summer.
* Use summer’s beauty to inspire you. Take a small note pad along for your morning walk to capture ideas. When you’re on a garden tour, introduce yourself to the organizers – or better yet volunteer to be a docent. Saunter through a farmer’s market and make note of those that are thriving – they may need a part-time social media manager or marketer. As you kayak or hike, use the tranquility to restore your balance and build your confidence.
* Plan for summer bliss. Even if you’re jobless, you have friends who are going on vacation. Maybe you could stay at their house for a week as a “get away time.” Or plan a couple of pool parties at your neighbor’s pool and offer to bring along lemonade and plenty of fresh vegetables and dip as a summer snack. Take a long weekend to see friends – and don’t plan any networking or job search during mini vacation. If it happens anyway, that’s organic growth.

And as my articles pointed out, people are sometimes more open to conversation and networking at summer social events. Kate Wendelton of the Five O’Clock Club and Tom Dezell, author of “Networking for the Novice, Nervous or Naive Job Seeker” gave other advice that was refreshing too.  Just don’t spend too much time in conversation about your career strategies at the picnic or garden tour. Save that for indoors on a work day when success — not sunshine and summer games – is the focal point.

Article links:

Washington Post summer search heats up and sidebar / tips:

AARP Bulletin temping can be tempting but requires research.

You feel bombarded with information, in every medium available. Facebook, LinkedIn, Brazen Careerist, email, Twitter and text messages all deliver insights, information and materials worth reading.
I feel that way too, which is one reason I wrote “Why You Need a Career Curator” for Fortune magazine.Most people need help with the oceans of blogs, websites, newsletters and books coming at them.
The article in the July 5 issue of Fortune has some great suggestions on managing all that, mostly by making better choices and using technology – Google Reader, bookmarks and more.  (The article is not yet available online but it is on newsstands.)
“You can’t digest that much informtion – the human brain can take in only so much information,” said Mary Ellen Slayter, a former Washington Post writer who now edits SmartBrief e-letters including Your Careers and Leadership.
Here’s five other suggestions for keeping the flow of information focused and usable:
1. Seek blogs and information specific to your industry, your profession. Even in career advice, you may find blogs focused on finance careers or writing careers or many other niches, Slayter said. Look too at the growing targeted social media communities – some focus on a profession, others on a city. Before you sign up for another RSS feed, blog or e-letter, ask yourself: “What value will this bring me?” and “Why do I need this now?”

2.  Look for ideas and insights backed up by research. Seek accuracy and currency and some research-based writing, says Cuyahoga County Public Librarian Bonnie Easton. Ask yourself: “Where is their authority? Where are they getting information from?”

3. Use lists and tags to track different topics. These work on Twitter, on Google Reader and even in your email in box. Once you have different tags and lists set up you need to decide how often to review them. Some may require 10 minutes a day; others may be once a week quick run-through.

4. Just say no. Go through your e-mail inbox and look for e-letters and other regular materials that you seldom or never open. Those are the first to go. Then consider which ones feel like a chore and don’t deliver any “aha!” or “good idea” boosts. Unsubscribe from one or more of those. And then look at what else comes in regularly that could come out without much loss.

5.  Develop places and processes for saving. The valuable articles and insights could be parked someplace for later reading – perhaps  Google Documents, a Word file or a section of your blogs. Or create a system within your organization for stashing and sharing the best stuff. “That gave me a place to go back and find them,” said Erin Young, a user experience consultant in Austin, Texas. Then she left the company – and now she uses GoogleDocs.
“Occasionally you find a gem, and it’s easy to lose that gem,” she said.
Remember that you too could be part of the overload and career information clutter if you’re not careful. So use Twitter thoughtfully. Post responses when you have something valuable to add to the discussion, not just so your name shows up. Blog posts need to “create a unique contribution,” Young said.

And above all, Young and I both believe it’s important to use social media sites such as LinkedIn to nurture your in-person relationships, not to drown them.

As a business development tool, gratitude and thank you notes sound soft and unlikely — but may make a difference.
As a way to set yourself apart from the other job candidates, they certainly work.
As a way to encourage lasting relationships with clients or colleagues, they can be remarkably effective.
And as a way to cultivate a more positive attitude and gratitude, say thank you to the thank you notes you send.
My pile of thank you notes and appreciations brings me joy for years after I received them. They came from former interns, people I’ve profiled and staffers whose jobs I have saved or created.
So when I interviewed Heidi Kallett for the Washington Post Capital Business, her message of thank you notes as a tool to build your business immediately resonated with me. The article which is out this week explains much of her thinking and approach to them.
So I decided to look further at thank you notes, and what others say about them. On LinkedIn, I found many endorsements.
“The thank you note has more purposes than to simply show courtesy and professionalism, it extends the interview. I always tell my workshop attendees that the interview is not complete until you have sent the thank you note.,” Bob McIntosh wrote in a LinkedIn Answer recently. McIntosh is a career trainer for Career Center of Lowell, Mass., and points out thank yous allow you to  correct any miscomunications that might have crept in.
“Taking the time to send a Thank You shows a lot of class and consideration,” Jason Shinn wrote on LinkedIn. He’s a business and employment lawyer in metro Detroit and has invested in them. “There are plenty of opportunities where a little appreciation for someone’s time/assistance is warranted.”
Next I did an online search and found more fans at university career centers and career coaches. Many give many sample thank you notes, which are good for starters but shouldn’t become your de facto approach to sending appreciations.
Then I returned to Heidi Kallett, a past President of the Junior League of Northern Virginia
who writes more than 100 thank yous a year to her clients, vendors and others connected to the Dandelion Patch shops. She learned to write thank you notes from her mother and has been developing her skill for years. I asked her to share her best advice in developing a thank you note habit. She suggests:
1. Choose a pen that you enjoy writing with-- ballpoint or roller ball? Blue or black? Fine or Medium point? Everyone has a preference, so find yours -have it at the ready.
2. Come up with several collections of stationery. The glittered high-heels don’t work for interview follow-up, but would be greatly appreciated by your BFF when thanking her for your birthday gift. Typically professional correspondence is either soft white or white in color with a tasteful and simple design – or only your monogram.
3.Avoid the text tokens. When writing a professional thank you note, stay away from any smiley or frowning faces, the emoticons that pop up in text messages.
4. As a habit, try to find 5-10 minutes a week to write notes of gratitude. Keep a post-it note or journal with your list of friends, associates that you’d like to personally thank. Writ notes all at one sitting– trust me, it is easier to do them all at once than to write one a day.
5. Always keep a roll of stamps ready. You don’t want any excuses as to why these notes can’t make it into the mailbox.

Very helpful advice for getting motivated to send thank yous.

Finally, I came up with a few techniques of my own for making your thank you note memorable and enjoyable:

• Make it timely. Send a note within 48 hours of the event or the favor. Don’t wait longer than a week. That will make it easier to write and it will have more impact if it arrives promptly.
• Make it personal. Don’t try the “one size fits all” thank yous. Tailor it to the person you’re thanking or the occasion you’re noting. Include specifics from shared jokes to insights you picked up.
• Make it true to you. Your personality needs to shine through in the notecards and even the stamps. Some people will never send thank you notes with angels or flowers to their corporate clients. Yet I have – and will again. Some prefer the crisp pinstripes and sincerely signature that match their dress code and approach. Others will sign off with fondly or peace.  Make yours match your professional persona.
• Make it joyful. Consider how good it feels to receive something upbeat in the mail. Think about the good things that will grow from your connections. Think about your thank you note bringing smiles and good feelings for years to come, pinned up on a bulletin board or stashed away with memorable letters and card.

Feel the gratitude and joy of the thank you note as you write them. And then feel hopeful that they will be seeds well planted that will bear fruit for you or your business.