Avoid Job and Employment Scams on Craigslist

Avoid Job and Employment Scams on CraigslistAvoid Job and Employment Scams on CraigslistCraigslist, well-known classified ads online site, allows users to post job listings for free in some cities and charges a small fee for other cities. The sites earned a reputation for having many job scams, and these scam positions often have generic job titles, such as Administrative Assistant or Customer Service Representative, and often say that you can work from home. The listings usually lack a specific company location or say that theyre international. Accordingly, they can say they cannot interview you in person. Learn to spot these and other employment scams so you can avoid wasting your time on a job that will never pan out. Avoid Craigslist Job Scams To avoid Craigslist scams, keep an eye out for the red flags listed below. Research companies before applying to jobs to ensure that the information on the listing matches that on the website. Tread carefully with companies that do not li st any contact information or a website on their job posting, and also do not share it in follow-up email communications. Do not send writing samples, your resume, or any contact information before you are confident a listing is not a scam, and never, ever send money through a Craigslist listing. Your choice of search keywords can also help you avoid scams. Be as specific as you can and, if possible, list both a specific job title and location to evade these scam listings. Red Flags- Signs That a Craigslist Job Post Isnt Real The following are some tip-offs that a job listing on Craigslist may actually be a scam. A generic job posting. Be wary of very vague job postings on Craigslist. Typically, a job advertisement includes information about the position, details on the company, and a specific job title. While some companies may post on Craigslist out of a desire for anonymity, if the post does not include a specific job title or outline the positions responsibilities, its a pot ential sign that the listing is a scam. Poor grammar, typos, and an unprofessional look. Regardless of where its posted, a job listing should appear professional. Typos, grammatical errors, slang, or excessive amounts of exclamation marks are all red flags. The pay is really, really good. If the pay seems a little too good to be true, it might very well be a scam. Thats particularly true for jobs that do not require a lot of experience. A request for fees. Legitimate employers dont ever ask job applicants to pay for anything related to job applications or hiring. If a listing mentions fees, or if you get an email requesting them, avoid further communication. In addition, remember that legitimate employers will never ask for bank account information prior to hiring you and then it would be only for setting up direct deposit after you are employed ?with the company.?? mora Craiglist Fraud These job scams will ask you to send money and/or set up a bank account to receive paychecks (which, if sent to you, are not legitimate). Other Craigslist employment related scams ask you to subscribe to a site where you can find more job listings, or have you join a site to receive web training. Some scams will ask you to pay for a background check or leistungspunkt check as a condition of employment. Others, once you have responded to the posting, will ask for your bank account or credit card information to process your application or start the hiring process. Some of these companies will instruct you to wire money for a training kit or employment supplies. Craigslist Job Warnings Craigslist provides a warning regarding some of the typical scams that could be listed in the Jobs section of the site. The scam postings may list jobs which arent legitimate, offer a chance to participate in paid research studies that dont exist, or list other fake opportunities to supposedly earn money. The job seeker is then directed to fee-based services and sites where you are instructe d to enter personal information that is used for identity theft. Those sites include Background checking servicesA credit check or credit reportSites where you are directed to enter your resume, bank account, or credit card numbers, or other personal informationSites where you are asked to sign up for a free trial offerSites offering fee-based training or educationSites offering opportunities for making moneySurvey or focus group sitesSites designed to deliver malware or misuse your personal information Craigslist does have many legitimate job listings, so dont get discouraged. Simply be cautious when applying for jobs and giving out personal information.

Earn More from Your Current Job in 2019

Earn More from Your Current Job in 2019Earn More from Your Current Job in 2019 According to Glassdoors Economist and Senior Data Scientist Daniel Zhao contends , Despite economic uncertainty, wage growth for the American worker is still holding at a healthy rate above 2 percent. Whether 2019 will continue to ride the wave of accelerating wage growth from 2018 is unclear. Regardless, it wont hurt to earn mora from your current job. As you enter into 2019, here are some tips to help you earn more this year.Negotiating a raise is by far the fastest and easiest way to earn more from your current job. Its interesting how many people have never negotiated a raise of their salary despite having been at their job for so many years. Even for some of those who negotiate a raise, they do it so inconsistently and often out of fear. Thats a great mistakeResearch from PayScale shows that a whopping 57 percent of people have never negotiated their salary. While this might not a ppear to be very serious, everything changes when you realize that regularly negotiating a raise could result in you earning an additional $1 million in your lifetime - yes, that muchIf youre like the 57 percent of people who have never negotiated a raise in their jobs, its time to do something. If you earn a $100,000 salary and get a 3 percent raise, thats $3,000 extra that could go a long way - it could perhaps be applied to your commute, or even be invested into something else.Often, when negotiating or aiming to earn more , many people only focus on their cousine salary and completely forget that benefits and perks from their job is part of their overall compensation package. Many organizations have draufgabees and perks that you might not be aware of, or that you might be aware of and have not considered negotiating. Look up these perks and benefits, and look at the possibility of negotiating them. All things being equal, practically anything can be negotiated .Effectivel y negotiating your benefits and perks can result in extra thousands of dollars, or even extra tens of thousands of dollars, for you in 2018 depending on the nature of your job as well as the perks being negotiated.Referring an employee, that gets hired, is one of the easiest ways to earn extra income at your current job. Most companies offer a referral bonus , and some even offer up to $20,000 in commission to people who help them find employees they can add to their talent pool.What makes referring an employee even cooler is that you win on two levels first, you appear cool to the person you refer if he/she happens to land the job, and second you net that compensation bonus youve been eying in the first place.Check with HR to see if your company offers a referral bonus for people who help them find relevant employees that they hire. Sometimes, this bonus might be unannounced. And, in fact, depending on your companys talent needs you might even be able to prompt them to start som ething like this, which further contributes to your goal of earning more at your current job.Oftentimes, many employees think that getting a promotion is a randomly spontaneous event that is completely out of their reach. This is not so. In fact, you are able to influence your being promoted just as equally as your company is able to, and with every promotion comes a proportionate salary increase which you know contributes to your goal of earning more from your current job.If your job has a new senior-level opening that you believe you are qualified for, highlight your accomplishments and send in your resume to show that you are qualified. If you have a track record of quality at your organization, and if you have a good relationship with people in your organization , you could just get that promotion and the proportionate increase in income.Yasir Khan is a renowned online marketing consultant and has been in business since 2008. He owns Quantum SEO Labs and loves sharing tip s on various aspects of marketing, conversions and real estate.

3 Steps to Writing Your Professional Will

3 Steps to Writing Your Professional Will3 Steps to Writing Your Professional WillCreate a career I WILL list so your dreams will never die.Fact I am a huge fan of the television series NCIS. In a recent episode, one of the characters unearthed an I WILL list she wrote when she was a young child. It contained the kinds of dreams youd expect a young girl to have I WILL be a ballerina, ride a horse, live in a castle, have a boy and a girlIt got me thinking, How long has it been since I last wrote down my hopes and dreams? When was the last time I allowed myself to take a step back and dream big?As we usher in a new year, I urge you to write your own WILL. Consider it your professional bucket list. Fill it with what leadership expert Jim Collins calls your Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals (BHAGs). They should be long-term, visionary goals that you want to accomplish over the course of your career.Follow these three steps to write an effective WILL.ReflectWhat would you like to accomplish in your professional life over the next 10 or more years? For instance, you may wish to make a major career transition or perhaps you aspire to become a CEO one day. Close your eyes and tap into your childhood dreams. What did you want to be when you grew up? While those fantasies may leid make sense today, they could give you clues as to what professional accomplishments you would find most fulfilling. Need more help? Click on the following link to access more job-goal exercises.WriteYou are ten times more likely to achieve your goals if you write them down. Once youve brainstormed your WILL, document it. When you successfully achieve this goal, what will that look like? What will be the outcome? Go through this process for every item on your list. Post a copy of your WILL someplace youll see it on a regular basis, such as the sun visor in your car or a wall in your home office. Better yet, enter your WILL into your phone using an app like Evernote so you have the list with you at all times.PlanThe beauty behind the WILL is that youre not expected to accomplish these goals any time soon. You have loads of time to acquire the appropriate skill sets, make the right connections, and gather whatever other resources are necessary to help you succeed. Consider which of your dreams youre likely to tackle first and decide on an action plan for the year. For instance, this might be your year to research what it will take to become a New York Times best-selling author so you can create smaller milestones to meet that goal over the next five years.

Power from a Second Skin

Power from a Second Skin Power from a Second Skin Power from a Second SkinIts an undulating, bending, twisting, world out there. Winds blow, leaves rustle, waters rise and fall bodies run, jump, and reach hearts beat and lungs swell and deflate. Every movement, no matter how small, is a profil source of power.But just how do we access that power? And once accessed, how do we put that power to everyday use.To harvest energyfrom daily lifewalking talking, human motionthe efficiency of electromagnetic generation is very low. It cannot do it, says Zhong Lin Wang, a professor of werkstoffs science and engineering at Georgia Tech.Wangs solution is a thin stretchy material he calls STENG, for skin-like triboelectric nanogenerator.In short, two layers of elastomer sandwich a hydrogel, which acts as the electrode. A triboelectric charge builds up on the outer layers and creates a current when it leaps from one side to the other.The gel itself has been around, but has never been used for this purpose, Wang says.With thehydrogel, the elastomers elasticity isnt compromised and the material can stretch nearly 400 percent. Its also transparent. Sheets of the material can be worn on the skin, integrated with any kind of clothing, or coat anything that moves.A STENG-based tactile sensor. Image Georgia TechYou can light up an array of LED lights, drive a smart watch, or send wireless communications, Wang says. Charging a cell phone would need substantial human activity, but in principal you can.But allowing humans to power their own gadgets as they perform daily activities is only one of the STENGS benefits. It can also be used as a medical sensor, which can transfer data over bluetooth. But it has applications well beyond the human as well. Robots can also benefit from the materials sensing abilities. Currently, most robotic hands apply the same amount of pressure to whatever they might pick up. An egg gets as much squeeze as a brick, to the detriment of the egg. But with STEN G on its fingers, robots can measure how much pressure they are applying to an object and automatically adjust to the appropriate level.Farmers hoping to study the humidity distribution over their fields could make a flag with the STENG. Powered by the wind, it could detect humidity levels and wirelessly send along the information. And in the expanding world of the Internet of Things, those things will be able to better power themselves, sense their surroundings and communicate.The coating may eventually become an efficient alternative to the windmill. Todays windmills are massive affairs, in both size and cost. And they turn only in strong winds. The giant blades are unmoved by gentle breezes that pass over them, their potential as a source of power gone to waste. But with a giant tree with thousands of rustling and waving STENG coated leaves, we could profit from the slightest of winds.Wang and his team are currently working on ways to make their skin more robust and energetically profitable. We can work for ten million cycles without degradation, Wang says. For humans thats long enough.Treesand robots might need stronger stuff. But while there may be obvious room for improvement, STENG is already on its way to real applications. The technology, medical, and automotive industries are already talking to Wang. He says in a matter of two to three years, products could be using STENG.Texting while walking may still make you collision prone, but at least the latter will soon power the former.Michael Abrams is an independent writer.You can light up an array of LED lights, drive a smart watch, or send wireless communications. Charging a cell phone would need substantial human activity, but in principal you can. Prof. Zhong Lin Wang, Georgia Tech

Lies Youve Been Told About Usa Jobs Resume Builder

Lies Youve Been Told About Usa Jobs Resume Builder It is a fact that a resume should typically be kept brief but by means of the federal government resumes, its about the ideal balance between being concise and being informative. As you can post several resumes on the website, make sure to tailor your resume to coincide with the particular position youre applying to. Note you will not be considered for the position if any portion of the application is incomplete. If you wish to receive a GS-13 position you must demonstrate that youve worked successfully at the GS-12 level for a calendar year, even when you arent currently working for the federal government. The USAJOBS resume builder enables you to provide as many as five references. You have the ability to search these vital phrases from the description that the business allows for the job. To save a whole lot of heartache down the road, be certain that you use our resume builder to create a document that could be easily t ransferred to different job applications. Second, the resume builder enables you to duplicate your resume, which is extremely helpful once you want to upgrade the document or tailor it to a certain position. Applicants should make certain to cover the fundamentals. Resumes are written dependent on the exercise evaluations. It isnt difficult to read, and theyre able to locate the keyword phrases and qualifications EASILY when theyre reading hundreds of applications. Many announcements incorporate an on-line questionnaire that you need to submit. Furthermore, they also desire to be certain that the applicants actually understand what theyre using for. We strongly encourage applicants to use the USAJOBS resume builder in the invention of resumes. Top Usa Jobs Resume Builder Secrets However, the agency may request additional references if necessary. It will ask for others if needed. Some agencies will specify if theres a limit. In case the hiring agency has any extra requirem ents or questions, the Finalist will be reached. Even when you successfully navigate the complicated questionnaire on the work listing, it still doesnt indicate the path to some other career is going to be as smooth as you want. While USAJobs is there to match your qualifications to appropriate employment opportunities, at times it takes some excess aid to guarantee you get the absolute most from the system. This status indicates your application was chosen by the selecting official, who decided that youre qualified enough to be invited for an interview and get a work offer. You need to check the status of each application the moment you submit it. What You Dont Know About Usa Jobs Resume Builder Tailoring your resume for each particular federal job announcement may be the key to your success. Next, you might be requested to outline any abilities and abilities you must meet certain qualifications necessary for the job. Federal jobs often need you to have experience in a speci al type of work for some period of time. Ive seen resumes that spend an excessive amount of time describing the jobs which I would basically call irrelevant. Download your resume so you can unleash it to the world. The very last thing you desire is for your resume to let you down when youre actually the most suitable pick for the job. ur resume builder is the quickest approach to create a resume that will allow you to get your fantasy job. The benefit of the resume builder is that you obtain a consistent federal cv, which are available by means of a recruiter employing a keyword search. Our easy resume builder service does not need advanced technical understanding, which means that you can concentrate on spending time sifting through your great achievements as you decide what things to include, instead of on attempting to work out the way to use our new program. Create a master resume that will get the job done for a variety of positions. Choosing Usa Jobs Resume Builder Is S imple If you dont meet the requirements, you just wont be considered. USAJobs offers plenty of important hints you should follow in constructing your Federal resume. In addition, if youd love to payments, I want to know and I can schedule the payments too. The Federal hiring procedure is tedious, not not possible.

The Honest to Goodness Truth on Novo Resume

The Honest to Goodness Truth on Novo Resume Whatever They Told You About Novo Resume Is Dead Wrong...And Heres Why Not simply the resume, it has the amazing functionalities for a CV and the very best titelseite letter builder too. It is possible to also alter the font sizes accordingly. Select the template, complete the details and youre ready to go There are more than merely a couple of pointers which you have to remember and fully adhere to when designing a resume even when youre employing a readymade template. The Debate Over Novo Resume Resume editing isnt much simpler. Curriculum vitae creators are interactive on-line curriculum templates that make it possible for you to link information and generate a coherent curriculum. Word Resume templates are complete with the whole outline structure and the majority of the content which makes way for a powerful resume in an issue of only two or three minutes. They are easy to find or spot on the internet and can be downloaded fo r further use. Heres What I Know About Novo Resume Each and every facet of your CV should work towards producing the correct impression with the employer. Resume or CV or cover letter is getting a significant part our academic and the skilled lives. Resume or CV along with a cover letter has turned into a critical portion of our academic in addition to professional lives. A well-organized resume or CV is essential have to stick out among the competition. An employer based in Sydney wont need to see you are now living in Perth. When someone requires a CV in a few days, it usually means that person must send it to the HR department to submit an application for a specific job he wishes to eagerly get. Whether to even incorporate the city youre based in is quite job dependent too. Novoresume has turned into the most intuitive resume builder which allows you to easily create a professional job application and boost the possibilities of you getting your fantasy job Its possib le your interviewers will cross-check all of the information and verify all the details before recruiting you, so theres no scope for virtually any mistake. When youre called up for an interview or any time you receive a call for those admissions in the college or university, the very first thing which you will be asked for is the CV or Resume. Its very crucial to comprehend the sort of resumes preferred by the establishment that you need to work for. You may say thats quite opposite of functional resumes that are very traditional. In general, the very best practice and most probable change to land a new job is to produce and incorporate a couple of the suggested tips, which makes it possible for you to be active on several different mediums and present yourself as the complete package. A resume is a highly effective tool which could make or break your job prospects, only in the event you realize its potential in aiding you to make an impression, and know ways to get the resume basic s right for the perfect impression. There are a number of internet tools youll be able to utilize to assist you build the perfect resume. He or she is being offered at all the steps of the process which offers a smooth process. Details of Novo Resume Odds are, if youre applying on the internet for a job, your resume will be screened and ranked by means of an ATS. Dont just create a video resume because you are able to, create one because its related to the job which you would like to do. If you would like to receive a work answer is NO.

Superalloy Rescues MEMS Sensors

Superalloy Rescues MEMS Sensors Superalloy Rescues MEMS Sensors Superalloy Rescues MEMS SensorsEach day, the Internet of Things ecosystem spurs a greater amount of connected devices, cars gain greater autonomy, and high-temperature technologies generate more information that needs to be collected. But the MEMS sensors they rely on are made mostly from silicon, which doesnt stand up well to high heat.Researchers from Johns Hopkins Mechanical Engineering department created an alloy that they believe can be better. The whole design problem welches to take MEMS into more extreme environments, says Gianna Valentino, a mechanical engineering Ph.D. student who worked on the project.The team needed a materie that was as malleable as silicon but with better thermal expansion properties. So they started with nickel, which is already widely used in the superalloys of the macro world, and added molybdenum and tungsten to hamper nickels tendency to expand.If we could put more and better sensors i n jet engines, we could make them much more efficient and reliable. Prof. Gianna Valentino, Johns Hopkins University Plane-view TEM images of the as-deposited film. (A) Bright-field plane-view TEM image. (B) TEM-based orientation map. Image Johns HopkinsTo make the sheet as thin as possible, they used a well-established technique called sputter deposition. In short, they put a piece of the alloy in a vacuum and bombarded it with argon ions. Atoms pop off the chunk and get redeposited on the substrate below, forming a unique structure.Instead of a single crystal with all the atoms aligned in a specific way, it started to grow a layer, and then a layer was kinked next to where it should have of been. It then grew at an angle, and then kinked back. And then kinked back again, says Kevin Hemker, a professor of mechanical engineering, who led the research. With all the zigzagging, the layers that grew were very closely spaced. And that meant that the film they created was incredibly strong, three times the strength of high-strength steel.The new alloy can handle temperatures over 1,800 F. That means sensor can now go where theyve never gone before.The new alloy can handle temperatures over 1800 degrees Fahrenheit. Imagine the challenges associated with putting sensors in a jet engine a high corrosion, high temperature, high-speed environment,Hemkersays. If we could put more and better sensors in jet engines, we could make them much more efficient and reliable.More for You Read about the latest in Manufacturing and Design from AASME.orgCars, which are already loaded with sensors for airbag deployment, tire pressure, and accelerometers, among many other things, dont have any in arguably the most important place, the engine block. Currently the exact position of a drill bit as it goes underground is unknown to the companies operating itthe heat is too great to include a gyroscope. With the new alloy well know a lot more about whats going on with the dri lls and engines of the world, to say nothing of power plants and all things aerospace. Cross-sectional microstructure of the as-deposited film. Image Johns HopkinsThe alloy, since it is made from metal, is conductive as well as super strong. The appliances of the world stand to profit.Think of smart washing machines and fridges, says Hemker. If you want them to turn on when the power is cheapest, you wont have to throw on a big macroscopic solenoid. You could zulauf the power through a computer chip, but it has to have the capacity to run that kind of current. The new alloy has that capacity, where silicon does not.Hemker is now looking at how the alloy can be tweaked during the deposition process.The rate you sputter down, the temp of the substrate, and the pressure you use those are all parameters that we can vary, he says. Meanwhile, Valentino is creating a cantilever with photolithography, as a proof of concept for the material.When theyre done we may finally have a look into the hottest, most important parts of our world.Michael Abrams is an independent writer.Related content we think youll enjoyNano Engineerings New FrontierCreating Energy with Every Step You Take For Further Discussion

7 career lessons you can learn from TV pilot season

7 career lessons you can learn from TV pilot season7 career lessons you can learn from TV pilot seasonEvery year, about this time, the networks announce the new TV lineups and listings of shows that will debut in the fall. And every fall, the majority of those pilots disappear without as much as a whimper, never to be heard of again - unless its in the form of a punchline. Believe it or not, there are a lot of career lessons to be learned from the best and worst TV pilots.Here are some in no particular orderTheres no stigma to failA few years back screenwriter Noah Hawley wrote in The Hollywood Reporter about the great unknown secret of the TV industry, and it was sad. According to Hawley, about 92% of all TV pilots fail. And because so many shows fail or never see the light of day, something unexpectedly delightful happened - catastrophe is seen as experience, not acareer killer. Or as Hawley wrote in TV, the thinking goes, each step forward a writer-producer takes imbues him or he r with valuable job skills and authority. Once youve been The Boss, therefore, you remain A Boss, even after your show disappears.TV pilot lesson learned Keep the skills you learn on the way to improve your chances the next time around.A badeanstalt review isnt necessarily fatal to your careerWhen Friends debuted, it was dismissed as being fruchtweinly a Seinfeld rip-off. People didnt hate it, but they couldnt seem to find much to love about it. Critics, viewers, and the network gave the show a chance though, and Friends ended up being one of the longest-running sitcoms in TV history.TV pilot lesson learned One bad performance review shouldnt color your entire career. Try to improve and show just how far youve come.You can always find direction as you goEven the most die-hard Parks and Recreation fans will admit that the first season of the show was pretty awful. Also, boring. Oh, and there wasnt all that much character development or originality. Somehow the show picked up momentum - and rabid fans - and the show ended up a cult classic.TV pilot lesson learned Starting a new job, can be daunting. And sometimes when you start, it isnt all that clear where youll be going once you get there. Work with your team to keep improving and you might just end up a massive success.Work it. Then rework itPretty much anyone who loves Game of Thrones raves about the pilot it was thrilling and set the stage for the seasons to come. That said, it wasnt the original pilot. Wait, what? True story. The original pilot had a somewhat different cast and plot trajectory and by all reports was nothing short of awful.TV pilot lesson learned If you believe in something, give it your all. If it doesnt live up to your vision or expectations, dont be afraid to tear it down and start over again.Theres no cure for boringThe Wire is one of the most critically acclaimed shows of all times. People who love it sound almost reverential when discussing various plots and character relationships . People who hate it probably never got through that first excruciating hour.TV pilot lesson learned Even if you have the most innovative plan or project on earth, people wont be interested in it if you cant find a way to capture their interest. Start strong and build in interesting points as you go.Show dont tellIf there was ever a pilot that fully expressed the full range of emotions of the upcoming series it was the absolute perfection of The Walking Dead. The pilot didnt rely on dialogue or even gratuitous zombie scenes to express the full horror of what the world had become.TV pilot lesson learned If youre good at what you do, dont hold the bag. Dont brag about it, dazzle them with your skills instead.Dont stop believingBy the time that the pilot script for Mad Men made its way to the executives at AMC it had been bounced around for over eight years - and rejected at every turn. Somehow though, someone took a chance and Mad Men ended up being one of the most ground-breaking sh ows in the history of television.TV pilot lesson learned Just because something doesnt work for them, doesnt mean it wont work for you. If you believe strongly enough in the power of something, keep going until youve proven everyone else wrong. But choose wisely. You dont always want to be known as the champion of underdogs.

Learn the Basics of Music Demos

Learn the Basics of Music DemosLearn the Basics of Music DemosA music demo, or simply ademo, is a sample recording of your music. Usually, demos are rough recordings of songs and often do elend include an entire albums worth of material. Demos are frequently sent by bands to record labels to try and land a deal, but they have a few other uses as well. How Musicians and Songwriters Use Demos Demosof new songs can be given to producers before a band goes into the studio. The songwriter in a band may give rough demos of new songs to other band members. If a band or artist is looking for an werber or manager, the demo is a key tool to raise interest. And sometimes,a record label will allow the media to hear demo recordings to build some buzz around an upcoming release. When this does happen, usually only a select few media members will get to hear the demos, and generally, this happens when demos contain finished songs. In other words, songs that are still in the writing and tweaking stage dont often get played for people outside the band and label. Dont Spend Money on Production (At Least Not Yet) One of the most important things to remember about a demo, especially when you are getting started, is that it is not intended to be a finished product. There is no need to spend a lot of money in a recording studio to make a demo. Labels expect your demo to be rough, and no one is going to give you a record deal (or turn you down) based on the recording quality of your demo. Also, remember that a demo should be short. It should contain your best songs three or four is ideal. Demos offer a taste of your music, not your whole catalog. Whats more, when a label receives a demo with studio recorded songs, it may indicate the artist is naive about the way the music industry works. Despite your best intentions, this approach could raise questions about whether or not youre ready to undertake the humbling process of trying to get a music career off the ground. Spending money on a polished demo is not worth the investment, and may end up hurting your chances more than helping. Not Everyone Needs Your Demo A label has to be interested your kind of music to have any interest in releasing your record, so make sure you investigate the labels that you approach with your music. If your band has a sound like Metallica, for instance, dont send your demo to recording labels that work exclusively with hip-hop groups. Know What Youre Getting Into The worst thing you can do is send out a demo blindly. A lot of recording labels have very specific rules about demos that you have to follow if you want to make it through the door. Some require you to get permission to send a demo in the first place. Consider that unsolicited demos could get a label in legal trouble. If theyre not careful, someone could claim that the label ripped off the song form the demo. Demo policies can usually be found on label websites. Respect the rules. A demo doesnt have to be lo ng and drawn out to be effective. Rather, it should be a sample of your work. The goal is to give whoever it is youre trying to reach a taste, so they come asking for more.