Password Protection dalam Excel

MS Excel memiliki cukup banyak pilihan untuk usernya dalam hal memproteksi file. Masing-masing proteksi ini memiliki tujuan yang berbeda-beda tergantung kebutuhan. Kalau dihitung-hitung ada 5 jenis proteksi yang bisa kita gunakan untuk setiap file excel, yaitu:

1.      File Open Protection, yang berguna untuk mengunci agar file kita sama sekali tidak bisa dibuka tanpa password. Excel akan meminta password setiap kali file hendak dibuka dan file akan tertutup jika password salah.

2.      File Read-Only Protection, password hanya diminta jika kita ingin menyimpan perubahan ke path aslinya. Namun user dapat memilih opsi read-only, namun tidak dapat menyimpan di path (lokasi + nama file) yang sama, jadi harus dengan path yang berbeda. Ini biasanya digunakan pada file yang digunakan rame-rame. Menurut saya agak kurang berguna, karena bisa saja user menyimpan dengan nama file lain kemudian meng-overwrite file aslinya melalui windows explorer (walaupun ini bisa dicegah dengan cara si empunya terus-menerus membuka file dikomputernya).

3.      Worksheet Protection. Proteksinya hanya kepada suatu sheet tertentu dan ada bermacam-macam opsi untuk proteksinya. Paling umum digunakan untuk meng-hide formula serta mengunci suatu range atau cell tertentu agar tidak bisa diubah oleh orang lain tanpa password.

4.      Workbook Protection. Kalau ini fungsinya tidak banyak, tapi hanya terbatas pada penguncian add/remove worksheet dan posisi window (normal/maximized). Proteksi ini juga dapat mencegah suatu sheet dicopy ke workbook lain (klik kanan pada tab worksheet lalu copy).

5.      VBA Protection. Nah kalo yang ini biasanya berguna bagi yang suka macro ataupun VBA programming di excel (termasuk saya, he he). VBA Protection dapat memprotect agar semua coding (modul, sheet, dan class) tidak dapat dilihat oleh orang lain.

Dari lima proteksi di atas, yang kelima-limanya menggunakan password, tahukah anda bahwa yang dienkripsi dual key oleh excel hanyalah File Open Protection. Jadi untuk tiga sisanya (yang nomor dua di-skip lah, ga ada fungsi sebagai proteksi data koq) hanya sebagai formalitas saja. Ya, formalitas, karena saya sendiri dapat dengan mudah membuka semua proteksi, kecuali yang pertama. Oke, berikut saya coba share mengenai metode membuka passwordnya ().

1.      File Open Protection, musti kudu harus pake brute force, atau paling tidak pakai patterned search.

2.      No comment (karena tidak ada yang perlu direcover kalo lupa).

3.      Bisa dibypass menggunakan VBA Macro/Add-in.

4.      Bisa dibypass menggunakan VBA Macro/Add-in.

5.      Bisa dibypass menggunakan Binary/Hex Editor.

Untuk lebih lengkapnya anda bisa googling sendiri, ada banyak resource di luar sana yang membahas khusus mengenai ini. Saya memang tidak mengemukakan secara detail di sini, karena saya takut akan disalah gunakan, nanti situs ini dikira situs hacking lagi :). Namun bagi yang memang benar-benar butuh bantuan untuk recovery password, harap hubungi saya melalui email bisa search di google untuk how to crack excel password.

Top 5 Business Intelligence Tools (by vendor)

Business intelligence (BI) has become a smorgasbord of user interfaces, with certain modules generating more excitement than others. Predictive analytics garners attention in its ability to save a company millions of dollars from a single, optimized decision. Meanwhile, dashboards excite executives, helping them to better manage the business, identifying trends and problems from multiple perspectives. Business query tools (often referred to as ad hoc) empower business analysts and power users to build their own queries to investigate exceptions and discover new opportunities for improving the business.

With so many choices, where is a company to start on a business intelligence deployment and which module is the most important?

Different Modules for Different Users

Different users require different tool capabilities as shown in the spectrum in Figure below. Certain tools will span multiple user segments. For example, OLAP is positioned as a tool for business analysts and information workers because of its ability to analyze vast amounts of data while slicing, dicing and drilling down. However, OLAP extends into the executives and managers segment, particularly when a dashboard provides the starting view. Under the covers, an OLAP engine provides navigation abilities and quick summaries such as top 10 products or top 10 customers.

Different Users Require Different Tool Capabilities
Source: Successful Business Intelligence

In evaluating, selecting and deploying tools, one of the most important steps in the process is to understand which segment of user needs you are trying to fulfill and then match the tool to that segment. Just as you would not give a hammer to someone who needs a screwdriver, you should never give a production report tool to someone who, for example, needs a business query tool. The tools have distinct capabilities intended for a particular profile of user and application.

Determining Importance

The importance of any given module or tool depends upon the particular user or department. With so many vendors, tool modules and diverse user needs, IT is often forced to prioritize according to whoever shouts the loudest or which department has the biggest budget. In contemplating modules to deploy or expand, consider how much each module improves:

• User reach and empowerment: Currently, business intelligence is used by only 25% of employees in any organization. See Figure below. Putting relevant information in the hands of everyday decision makers is a top priority for many IT departments.

Business Intelligence Usage and Company Size
Source: Successful Business Intelligence survey results, 513 qualified responses

• Stakeholder and user perception: IT is often perceived as a gatekeeper to the data. When users can’t get to the data, they certainly can’t make informed or fact-based decisions. Out of desperation, many will ask to have all data dumped into Excel or Microsoft Access. This can lead to some other problems. Consider which capabilities will have the most positive impact on user perception. For some, that may be a dashboard. For others, it may mean deploying a business query tool. And, there may be other users who require real-time access via Excel.
• Ability to solve a particular problem: Demonstrating small wins is important in any BI deployment; and if a particular module and tool addresses an individual department’s analytic need quickly and easily, then look for these opportunities. Whether or not the tool can later be scaled to the enterprise is a consideration, but sometimes you need small successes to be able to articulate the value of business intelligence for the company as a whole.
• Value of the decisions: Another way to evaluate the importance of a particular BI capability is by assessing the value of the decision optimized by business intelligence. This is where investments in predictive analytics are most justified. If, for example, a retailer can provide better online product pairings and recommendations, what is the dollar value of the lift in sales? Advanced visualization tools can help still other users more easily find otherwise hidden anomalies or optimize a process by displaying data graphically. However, sometimes the aggregate in value from the thousands of little decisions that, for example, a single, parameterized report supports can be more significant.

In multiple surveys, companies consistently rank the business query tool as one of the most successfully deployed BI modules. See Figure below. Of course, with any survey, success is often in the eye of the beholder. (The person with a nail will rate a hammer more important than a screwdriver!) To control for this, I looked at the overall success ranking by different user types.

Most Successful Aspects of BI Deployment
Source: Successful Business Intelligence

Survey respondents who described themselves as information consumers ranked fixed reports as most important, followed closely by ad hoc query tools. The fact that these information consumers rank business query tools as so important reflects that they too benefit from the ability of power users to create reports. For both power users and information consumers alike, business query tools allow the business to more quickly analyze information and respond to a rapidly changing business environment without having to rely exclusively on expert programmers or the IT department.

This is not to say that fixed reports are not important. They are! One of the key reasons for failure with business query tools is that the vast number of reports, data sources and information elements can become overwhelming when the initial deployment does not contain fixed reports. Companies have to organize for a self-service reporting environment by ensuring an appropriate amount of governance remains in place.

Surprising to me is that integration with Microsoft Office applications such as Excel and PowerPoint is not more highly ranked. While I think users would like these interfaces to be better supported, I suspect that spreadmarts and subsequent data chaos are to blame. In other words, it’s not the tools that are the problem, but rather the way they are used. The latest versions of many BI suites and solutions from niche vendors provide much better Excel integration. As companies begin to take advantage of the newer ability to have live data within Excel, the success of these modules should move up in the ranking.

Organizing for Self-Service Reporting

Given the overall importance of business query tools within a total BI deployment, there are a couple of things to keep in mind when deploying these modules so that users are indeed empowered rather than overwhelmed.

The most important aspect to get right is the business metadata layer. This aspect has to be business-oriented and flexible. Ideally, IT and the business should collaboratively design the business meta layer; and in some companies, power users within the business maintain the metadata layer. Companies that make the metadata layer inflexible or controlled by an unaligned IT department often complain that users continue to create personal spreadmarts.

While business query tools should enable the business to more rapidly investigate issues and explore new opportunities, chaos can follow if certain policies are not established early in a deployment. Shared reports need to be quality assured and centrally maintained. When they aren’t, then users will create dozens of variations of the same report. Too often, when IT hands over the report creation process to the business, they abandon previously established best practices for sharing reports. An unfortunate backlash occurs when the only reports that can be trusted are those developed by IT. To prevent this situation, IT must proactively monitor which reports are most frequently accessed and store these in a more controlled area. The business also should recommend report candidates for this shared area.

There are a multitude of business intelligence tools available to suit every user’s work style. While the tools have evolved and matured in the last 20 years, using the right tool in the right way continues to be a key ingredient of the most successful deployments.

Below are the five top most successful Business Intelligence tools by their vendors.

1- Business Objects

Business Objects continues its reign as the leading BI tools vendor. In 2006, the company’s software revenue in this market reached $894 million. In 2006, Business Objects experienced a slight slowdown in its BI tools license revenue growth. After gaining half a percentage point in share in 2005, the company gave it up in 2006. However, the latest information on the uptake of its Business Objects XI platform suggests a pickup in growth in the latter part of 2006 and early 2007. Business Objects is also making an aggressive push into the midmarket, where it targets organizations with less than $1 billion in revenue. The company’s partner network is one of its strongest assets, and this effort, which depends in large part on indirect sales, is expected to contribute to the growth of Business Objects’ BI tools.

2 - SAS

SAS was again the second-largest BI tools vendor, with $679 million in software revenue and a continued steady increase in market share to 11%. SAS had the
highest growth rate among the top 3 BI tools vendors and the third-highest growth rate among the top 10 vendors. SAS still derives more revenue from its advanced analytics tools, but its effort to revamp and more aggressively market its QRA tools since 2004 has paid off, with QRA’s share of SAS’ total BI tools revenue increasing from 37% in 2004 to 44% in 2006. As the leader in the advanced analytics market, SAS holds 31% of that market segment.

3 - Cognos

Cognos maintained the third position in the BI tools market, with $622 million in software revenue and a 10% growth rate in 2006. It is also one of only three vendors with at least a 10% share in the BI tools market. Cognos has pursued a two-pronged strategy of developing and marketing BI tools and financial performance management applications, with recent expansion into other related performance management markets such as workforce analytics. Nevertheless, BI tools remain Cognos’ largest product line. In 2006, Cognos released several enhancements to its core BI platform.

4 - Microsoft

Microsoft had another strong year in the BI tools market, with the highest growth rate (28%) among the top 10 vendors. IDC’s revenue allocation for Microsoft in this market differs somewhat from other vendors in that its BI tools revenue is not only made up of standalone software that the company acquired with its 2006 purchase of ProClarity Software but also includes what IDC calls embedded BI tools that are bundled with Microsoft SQL Server. These database-embedded tools include SQL Server Analysis Services and Reporting Services. As part of its broader business analytics offerings, Microsoft also includes SQL Server Integration Services within SQL Server. Its other related tools that the company positions within the business analytics stack include Microsoft Excel, with specific Excel 2007 features for BI, and Performance Point Server, a set of performance management applications to be released in the second half of 2007.

Microsoft’s growth in the BI tools market can be attributed to focused sales and marketing efforts in recent years, accompanied by both internal R&D and aquisitions. While, in the past, Microsoft considered BI to be functionality that helps to sell databases and enhance its partners’ more extensive BI capabilities, the company has since identified BI as a market worth pursuing directly.

5 - Hyperion

Hyperion maintained its fifth position in the market, with a 5.2% market share and a 12.3% growth rate. Since releasing its latest BI platform, which incorporates the best of the Hyperion and former Brio components (in addition to certain new performance enhancements), the company has improved its standing in the BI tools market. Hyperion’s other major product line includes financial performance and strategy management applications, where company has been the market leader for years. In March 2007, Oracle announced its plans to acquire Hyperion. IDC sees the event as a positive development for both Oracle and former Hyperion clients.

Now it's all up to you folks. Which tools will you prefer?

Kartu Kredit/Pinjaman itu bagus/buruk?

Kartu kredit (Credit Card) dan Pinjaman (Loan) belakangan ini marak dikampanyekan di hampir semua bank di Indonesia, baik bank lokal maupun bank asing. Bahkan institusi non-bank pun juga ikut bermain di bisnis ini.

Banyak orang yang masih salah kaprah mengenai fungsi dari kartu kredit dan pinjaman yang ditawarkan. Ada yang menganggap sebagai kebebasan finansial (gesek sekarang, ngutang kemudian). Ada juga yang menganggap sebagai sesuatu yang patut ditakuti (takut ngutang, takut ngga bisa bayar).

Tahukah anda, bahwa dengan adanya kucuran kredit, roda ekonomi bangsa kita ikut terdorong maju  'lebih cepat'? Saya ambil contoh, misalnya anda ingin membeli mobil. Anda bisa saja menabung sampai kemudian uang anda cukup, baru membeli mobil yang anda idam-idamkan. Akan tetapi, jika anda menggunakan fasilitas kredit, artinya anda membeli mobil itu sekarang, dealer mobil pun mendapat keuntungan sekarang, pabrik mobil pun mendapat keuntungan sekarang, vendor dan supplier pun mendapat keuntungan sekarang, begitu juga karyawan dari dealer, pabrik, dan supplier menjadi lebih sejahtera sekarang karena penjualan tercapai, dan pada akhirnya mereka juga akan membelanjakan/berinvestasi sekarang, dan ujung-ujungnya mungkin akan sampai juga ke bidang perusahaan tempat anda bekerja.

Dari sisi anda sendiri, anda juga dapat membeli sesuatu yang anda inginkan, dan membayarnya kemudian dengan cara dicicil sehingga lebih ringan.

Saya tidak bilang bahwa budaya ngutang itu bagus, tapi bisa menjadi alternatif yang ikut memajukan roda ekonomi nasional asalkan masih dalam kewajaran. Kalau semisalnya tidak mampu membayar cicilan, sebaiknya tunda dulu pengeluaran anda, jangan asal gesek kartu kredit. Jangan sampai istri anda komplain karena membaca tulisan ini lho.

Sales = Pekerjaan Rendahan?

Sebelumnya maaf jika judul artikel ini agak menimbulkan kontroversi. Tetapi artikel ini justru bermaksud untuk meluruskan pendapat sebagian besar masyarakat kita yang menganggap bahwa pekerjaan menjadi sales adalah pekerjaan yang kurang bonafide.

Mantan bos saya dulu, pernah berujar, "Menjadi seorang Sales adalah suatu kebanggaan. Tanpa Sales, tidak akan ada penjualan. Tanpa Penjualan, tidak akan ada perusahaan.".

Semua pekerjaan pada dasarnya adalah penjualan. Seorang ahli komputer menjual kemampuannya mengenai komputer. Seorang ahli MIS menjual keahlian menganalisa data. Seorang Akunting menjual kemampuan menyusun laporan keuangan. Begitu juga Sales, yang menjual suatu produk barang maupun jasa.

Menjadi seorang sales, berarti menjadi seorang wirausahawan. Karena umumnya Sales tidak digaji pokok, namun dibayar berdasarkan hasil penjualannya. Banyak orang mencibirkan hal ini, karena mereka pada dasarnya hanya melihat dari sisi 'bawah'-nya saja, bahwa sales tidak mendapat gaji. Tapi kebanyakan orang lupa, bahwa penghasilan seorang sales dapat melebihi seorang CEO, dengan catatan jika mereka berhasil. Artinya, range gaji seorang sales adalah 0 sampai sekian ratus juta, bahkan lebih.

Selain itu, perusahaan juga biasanya memberikan jenjang karir yang jelas untuk setiap sales. Kriterianya sudah pasti: siapa yang bisa konsisten berjualan dengan volume tinggi, akan mendapat kenaikan karir yang lebih baik dari sisi tunjangan, fasilitas, dan insentif. Percaya atau tidak, banyak sales yang mencapai level vice president dalam waktu kurang dari 10 tahun.

Di dalam pekerjaan saya yang berhubungan dengan payroll, saya sering melihat kesuksesan dari seorang sales. Rata-rata kesuksesan mereka dihasilkan dengan jerih payah.

"Yah, lumayan lah mas, Saya jadi bisa beli Rumah, Mobil, dan istri, he he he.. " hus, yang terakhir itu bercanda lho. Itulah sepenggal kalimat dari seorang Sales di perusahaan saya yang sudah sukses meraih booking kartu kredit sampai dengan 100 kartu per bulan.

Jadi, jangan anggap remeh kemampuan seorang sales. Saya mungkin tidak digaji oleh perusahaan jika tidak ada mereka. 

Pagi tim! Kabar baik? Luarr biasa...

Googling half of my life

Well, it may sound a bit overspoken, but at least it's almost the truth Back to 9 years ago, since I was first introduced to Google Search Engine by a friend, Google fascinated me by its extremely long 'o' letters, which turned out to be it's index pages of my search criteria.

Since then, Google has always been my top search engine. Why not? it's extremely fast, no huge and no blinky advertisements. This was so important since at that time in my city, internet access wasn't as fast as not as nowadays, and internet was still expensive too. I had to pay each hour with IDR 10000 (~US$ 2). And I was still a student, heck! I won't waste my time just to load those sluggish ad banners.

Years I've spent with google were countless. Google wasn't actually my homepage though (my homepage was 'about:blank' he he), but I always rely on google when I need to find anything in internet: jobs, scholarships, prices, computers, books, lectures, programming, tools for downloads, you name it! My friend often questioned me: How did you find it? I said, "Google". And yes, it's still very fast now.

And Google is not just a search engine, It can search any thing (forum, groups, images), and it also provides freewares! I once needed a tool to design my house. I used visio at first, but when I downloaded Google Sketchup, wow, I can draw my design within minutes. I also find out, that Google toolbar, Google Earth/sky, Google Chrome, and even google pack are extremely awesome tools. I've downloaded them all and use them in my pc and laptop.

Google has become a very important part of my life. When my first daugther was born, I find every articles regarding birth and baby care. And now, I blog with google. Perhaps some day I can work with google? ha ha, who knows. I heard that Google cares so much to their employees. It is my privilege if I can work there, and I am sure that everyone agrees that Google is one of the best company in the world.

Well, this writing is dedicated to google. And I hope Google can always be the best, to it's customers, clients, employees, shareholders, and to all communities. Keep up the good work. Thanks for being part of my life.

25 Great Salary Negotiation Tips (Negosiasi Gaji)

1.          From the moment you make initial contact with any company or organization you wish to work with, you are in negotiation. You may not be discussing money openly, but you are making a permanent imprint on the minds of the hiring authorities.

2.          Delay all discussions of salary until there is an offer on the table.

3.          You are in the strongest negotiating position as soon as the offer is made.

4.          Know your value. You must know how you can contribute to the organization. Establish this in the mind of the hiring manager.

5.          Get employers enthusiastic about your candidacy, and they will become more generous.

6.          There is no substitute for preparation. If you are well prepared, you’ll be confident, self-assured, and poised for success.

7.          Prior to going into employment negotiations, you must know the average salary paid for similar positions with other organizations in your geographical area.

8.          Prior to going into employment negotiations you must know, as best you can, the salary range that the company you’re interviewing with will pay, or what former employees were earning.

9.          Prior to going into employment negotiations, you must know your personal needs and requirements, and how they relate to numbers 7 and 8 above.

10.     Remember, fringes and perks, such as vacation time, flex time, health benefits, pension plans, and so on, have value. Consider the “total” salary package.

11.     Salary negotiations must be win-win negotiations. If they’re not, everybody loses in the end.

12.     Be flexible; don’t get hung up on trivial issues, and always seek compromise when possible.

13.     Listen carefully and pay close attention. Your goals will most likely be different from the goals of the employer. For instance, the firm’s main focus might be “base salary.” Yours might be “total earning potential.” So a win-win solution might be to negotiate a lower base salary but a higher commission or bonus structure.

14.     Anticipate objections and prepare effective answers to these objections.

15.     Try to understand the employer’s point of view. Then plan a strategy to meet both the employer’s concerns and your needs.

16.     Don’t be afraid to negotiate out of fear of losing the offer. Most employers expect you to negotiate as long as you negotiate in a fair and reasonable manner.

17.     Always negotiate in a way that reflects your personality, character, and work ethic. Remain within your comfort zone.

18.     Never lose control. Remain enthusiastic and upbeat even if the negotiations get a little hot. This might be your first test under fire.

19.     Play hardball only if you’re willing to walk away from, or lose, the deal.

20.     What you lose in the negotiations will most likely never be recouped. Don’t be careless in preparing for or conducting the negotiation.

21.     Be sure to get the offer and final agreement in writing.

22.     You should feel comfortable asking the employer for 24 to 48 hours to think about the deal if you need time to think it over.

23.     Never link salary to personal needs or problems. Compensation should always be linked to your value.

24.     Understand your leverage. Know if you are in a position of strength or weakness and negotiate intelligently based on your personal situation.

25.     End salary negotiations on a friendly and cheerful note.

25 Great Tips on using Internet in your Job Hunting

1.          When typing your resume out with the intent of emailing, make sure it is in an ASCII format.

2.          Use keywords heavily in the introduction of the resume, not at the end.

3.          Keywords are almost always nouns, related to skills, such as financial analysis, marketing, accounting, or Web design.

4.          When sending your resume via email in an ASCII format, attach (if you can) a nicely formatted one in case it does go through and the reader would like to see your creativity and preferred layout. If you do attach it, use a common program like MS Word.

5.          Don’t focus on an objective in the introduction of the resume, but rather accomplishments, using keywords to describe them.

6.          Don’t post your resume to your own Web site unless it is a very slick page. A poorly executed Web page is more damaging than none at all.

7.          Before you email your resume, experiment sending it to yourself and to a friend as a test drive.

8.          Look up the Web site of the company you are targeting to get recent news information about new products, etc., and look for their job posting for new information.

9.          Before your interview or verbal contact, research the company’s Web site.

10.     Use a font size between 10 and 14 point, make it all the same for an ASCII format resume, and don’t create your resume for emailing with lines exceeding 65 characters.

11.     In case your resume may be scanned, use white paper with no borders and no creative fonts.

12.     Include your email address on your resume and cover letter.

13.     Don’t email from your current employer’s IP network.

14.     Don’t circulate your work email address for job search purposes.

15.     In the “subject” of your email (just below the “address to” part), put something more creative than “Resume Enclosed.” Try “Resume showing 8 years in telecommunications industry” (if that is your chosen industry), for example.

16.     For additional sources of online job searching, do a “search” on the Web for job searching, your company, and your specific discipline for additional information.

17.     Be careful of your spelling on the Internet. You will notice more spelling errors on email exchanges than you will ever see in mailed letter exchanges.

18.     Try to make sure your resume is scannable. This means it has a simple font, no borders, no creative lining, no bold face, no underlining, no italics, and limited if any columning. Though the practice of scanning is overestimated, it should still be a consideration.

19.     Purchase or check out of a library an Internet directory listing the many links to job opportunities out there. There are thousands.

20.     If you are using the email as your cover letter, keep it brief. If the reader is reading on screen, their tolerance for reading long information is reduced dramatically.

21.     Always back up what you can on a disk.

22.     If you post your resume to a newsgroup, first make sure that this is acceptable to avoid any problems with other participants.

23.     Remember that tabs and spaces are the only formatting you can do in ASCII.

24.     Make sure you check your email every day. If you are communicating via the Internet, people may expect a prompt return.

25.     Don’t send multiple emails to ensure that one gets through. Try to send it with a confirmation of receipt, or keep a look out for a notice from you ISP that the message didn’t go through.

quoted from "To Get You Hired" book.

25 Great Interviewing Tips

1.         Relax. The employment interview is just a meeting. And although you should not treat this meeting lightly, don’t forget that the organization interviewing you is in need of your services as much as, or perhaps more than, you are of theirs.

2.         The key to successful interviewing is rapport building. Most people spend their time preparing for interviews by memorizing canned responses to anticipated questions. Successful interviewers spend most of their time practicing the art of rapport building through the use of powerfully effective communicating techniques.

3.         Prepare a manila folder that you will bring to the interview. Include in the folder:

a.   company information (annual reports, sales material, etc.)

b.   extra resumes (6–12) and your letters of reference

c.    15 questions you’ve prepared based on your research and analysis of the company

d.    a blank legal pad, pen, and anything else you consider helpful (e.g., college transcripts)

4.         Dress appropriately. Determine the dress code and meet it. If their dress is business casual, you still need to be dressed in business professional. Practice proper grooming and hygiene.

5.         Shoes, of course, must be polished.

6.        Wear limited jewelry.

7.         Call the day before and confirm the appointment—it will set you apart.

8.         Be certain that you know exactly where you’re going. Arrive in plenty of time. You should be at the receptionist’s desk 10–12 minutes before the scheduled interview.

9.         Prior to meeting the receptionist, check your appearance. Check your hair, clothing, and general image. Test your smile.

10.     Secretaries, administrative assistants, and receptionists often have a say in the hiring process. Make a strong first impression with them.

11.     Look around the office and search for artifacts that disclose the personality and culture of the company—and possibly the interviewer. his information will be helpful in initially breaking the ice, when you first begin discussions.

12.     Be aware of your body language. Sit erect, with confidence. When standing and walking, move with confidence!

13.     Your handshake should be firm, made with a wide-open hand, fingers stretched wide apart. Women should feel comfortable offering their hands and firm and friendly handshakes. A power handshake and great smile will get you off to a great start.

14.     Eye contact is one of the most powerful forms of communicating. It demonstrates confidence, trust, and power.

15.     During the interview, lean forward toward the interviewer. Show enthusiasm and sincere interest.

16.     Take notes during the interview. You may want to refer to them later in the interview. If you are uncomfortable with this, ask permission first.

17.     Be prepared for all questions, especially uncomfortable ones. Before the interview, script out a one-page response for each question that poses a problem for you, and practice repeating it until you’re comfortable with it.

18.     Communicate your skills, qualifications, and credentials to the hiring manager. Describe your market value and the benefits you offer. Demonstrate how you will contribute to the bottom line. Show how you can 1) improve sales, 2) reduce costs, 3) improve productivity, or 4) solve organizational problems.

19.     Key in on specific accomplishments. Accomplishments determine hireability. They separate the winners from the runners-up.

20.     Listening skills are priceless! Job offers are made to those who listen well, find hidden meanings, and answer questions in a brief but effective manner.

21.     Let the interviewer bring up salary first. The purpose of an interview is to determine whether there is a match. Once that is determined, salary should then be negotiated.

22.     There is no substitute for planning and preparation, practice and rehearsing—absolutely none.

23.     Practice interviewing techniques using video technology. A minimum of five hours of video practice, preferably more, guarantees a stellar performance.

24.     Close the sale. If you find that you want the position, ask for it. Ask directly, “Is there anything that would prevent you from offering me this position now?” or “Do you have any reservations or concerns?” (if you sense that). At the very least, this should flush out any objections and give you the opportunity to turn them into positives.

25.     Always send a thank-you note within 24 hours of every employment meeting. 

quoted from "To Get You Hired" book.