Here is a little secret ingredient you'll want to add to your cover letter to make it absolutely irresistible to hiring managers and personnel professionals. Like sugar or cinnamon to a cookie recipe, no cover letter will be as appetizing without this bit of spice.

Manners are not only important at the dinner table (use your napkin, please), on the telephone (listen as well as speak), in a theater (refrain from talking during the performance), but also during a job interview.

Internet sites are helpful, but people in the job market say they continue to rely heavily on people they know to help them find new work. Here’s how to reach those prospective employees.

Your interview is over. You feel good about your chances of landing the job you want. But what if the hiring manager forgets about you or interviews someone else before responding to you? Cut those chances to zero by following up with a post-interview cover letter that moves you to the top of the 'must consider' list.

In the United States, there are several questions that are ILLEGAL for employers to ask you. Your interviewer should know that certain questions are "off limits."

Dear Job Hunter:

Have you ever asked questions like these?

"May I have a chocolate ice cream sundae, please?"

"Are you free for lunch tomorrow?"

"Can you give me a hand moving my desk?"

"Will you loan me a few dollars till payday?"

Just the thought of an interview can set your heart a-thumping. Even the word itself––interview––can bring on cold hands and stomach jitters. When you enter the office and face the employer you may have yet another outbreak of stress—fuzzy thinking and nervous chatter—all of which can result in losing the opportunity to make a good first impression toward landing the job.

"Dress for Success."

Most people have heard and seen this slogan on television, in magazine articles, in fashion stores. It's become such a common refrain it has nearly lost its meaning. But for you, a wise job-hunter, it's worth taking seriously!

To an outsider, it might have seemed a very easy choice. Good Guy Greg, one candidate for the job of heading up the project, was very professional, a tough negotiator, dogged, determined, and principled. The other candidate, Slightly Shady Sam, had a reputation for being tough on his employees, hiring his friends… and he was rumored to take kickbacks.

Which would you choose?

As the Baby Boomer generation exits the workforce steadily over the next 10 years, sourcing new candidates will become a tenuous task.

Hiring happy, optimistic job applicants can increase your company's productivity and lower turnover. Plus, optimistic, confident employees are vastly more delightful to have on-board.

Methods to help companies have optimistic, positive employees include pre-employment tests, job interviews of applicants, managing being role-models, and reinforcing smiles.

Hiring salespeople is a daunting task in that they are good actors with the ability to project more skills than they actually possess. Bad salespeople can masquerade long enough to get through the hiring process and onto your payroll. Selecting strong salespeople requires certain disciplines.

I have to tell you that when I was first introduced to psychometrics in 1983, I was somewhat sceptical and that scepticism has remained with me ever since; I will explain why in a moment but first a little background information � this might be the boring bit but do stay with it!

Cindy Ventrice is a management consultant and workshop leader with over 20 years of experience in a wide range of industries. In this interview she provides guidance for owners and leaders to assess the quality of their current recognition programs.