In one sentence, describe what the following article is about: Describe yourself and your experience in the field. Include an overview of your recent job history, as well as any relevant education and volunteering opportunities. Don't assume that the person in charge of hiring will recognize the value of your skills immediatelymake them see how they will prove useful. Don't just recite what's on your resume. Explain to the employer how those qualifications can be applied and adapted: "as you can see, my four years as a teacher have provided valuable experience in working closely with groups of all different ages." If you don't have any experience to speak of, focus on the aspects of your personality that you think would make you a good fit for the position. Don't wait until you've been hired to start being an asset for the company. Be proactive and tell your contact or interviewer exactly what sort of things you would bring to the table. Doing this shows resourcefulness and makes it clear that you've put serious thought into filling the position you're seeking. Entice the employer with an idea on how to boost productivity, a writing sample or an example of a program you helped develop. This is often as simple as mentioning past accomplishments like "at my last job I helped overhaul the new employee training program," or hinting at future ones like "I look forward to seeing how working in a more organized kitchen will help me improve my skills as a cook." Providing a preview of the kind of work you do can help you showcase your practical abilities, allowing the company to feel confident in their decision to hire you. Read up on the company's history, goals and product or service to familiarize yourself with what they're all about. Then, tailor your pitch to highlight the qualities of yours that are consistent with their business model. Many employers will be more willing to give you a chance if they think you have the best interest of the company at heart. Make it evident to the person you're meeting with that you want a job with their company, not just any company. Avoid saying things like "I need a job" or "I heard you were hiring." You'll make a much better impression if you appear to be actively pursuing the job you're asking for. Point out the things that you have in common with your contact, such as a close friend or associate. If somebody you know referred you to the job, be sure to mention them by name as someone that can vouch for your character. Networking is an important part of the job search because it suggests that you can be trusted. Bring up your relationship with your connection in a way that sounds organic. For instance, you could say "my friend Christina told me that she loved working with you" or "my uncle has always been a satisfied client of yours." Don't rely on namedropping to get you hired. You should be able to secure the job on your own meritshaving a friend or two in common just helps. Instead of referring to yourself in the first person, use words like "us," "we" and "our." When you talk like you're already a part of the team, the person you're speaking to will begin to see you that way. This may make them more likely to seal the deal and bring you onboard. Listen for the other person to start using plural language as well. This is a good sign that you're winning them over. If you're uncomfortable with the thought of boldly asking for the job, you can try moving things along in another way. Before you leave or hang up the phone, see if you can get more information about the next phase of the hiring process. Ask questions like "when would be a good time for me to call you back and go over some of this information in more detail?" Request feedback to get an idea of how you did, or what you could do differently next time. For most employers, the fact that you're already looking forward to what you can do next will be taken as a promising sign.
Summary: List your qualifications. Demonstrate your usefulness. Show an interest in the business. Establish a mutual connection. Use plural language. Find out how you can follow up.

Problem: Article: Grocery receipts from the past year would work well for this purpose. For accurate calculations, use a sampling of prices based on a relatively brief period of time--perhaps just one or two months of the previous year. If you are using old receipts, make sure that they have the date on them. Simply knowing that the prices listed are not current does not illustrate any real point. The change in CPI is only relevant if calculated for a specifically quantifiable amount of time. Using the record of past prices, add together a sampling of those product prices. Normally, the CPI is restricted to some of the most commonly used consumer items--foods such as milk and eggs, and others such as laundry detergent and shampoo. If you are using a record of your own purchases and are trying to determine the general trend in prices and not merely the change of a single item, you may want to exclude those items that are only occasional purchases. Again, receipts would function well for this purpose. If you are using a relatively small sample of items, you may be able to find the prices in flyers sent out by retail stores. It may be useful, for the sake of comparison, to make sure the prices used are based upon the same brands and from the same retailer. Because of the price differences at each store and from brand to brand, the only way to track the change of prices over time is to minimize these variables. You must use an identical list of items as you used when you added the prices of past items together. For example, if one loaf of bread was in your first list, one loaf of bread must be part of the list of current prices. For example, if the total of current prices amounted to $90 and the old prices equaled $80, the result is 1.125 (represented mathematically, 9080=1.125). The baseline for the CPI is 100--that is, the initial reference point, when compared to itself, equals 100%-- and so make your figure comparable. Think of the CPI as a percentage. Past prices represent a baseline, and that baseline is described as 100% of itself. Using the previous example, current prices would be 112.5% of the previous prices. By doing this, you are subtracting the baseline--represented by the number 100--to determine the change over time. Again, using the above example, the result would be 12.5, representing a 12.5% change in prices from the first period to the second. Positive results represent the rate of inflation; negative numbers reflect deflation (a rare fairly rare phenomenon in most of the world since the mid-twentieth century).
Summary:
Find a record of past prices. Add together the prices of the items purchased previously. Find a record of current prices. Add together the current prices. Divide current prices by the old prices. Multiply the result by 100. Subtract 100 from the new result to find the change in CPI.