It’s less than a week before the biggest Halloween bash in town, but you still don’t know what you’re wearing. The one thing you do know is that you won’t be repeating last year’s lameness, when you threw on a summer softball league T-shirt, grabbed a Brewers cap and scoured the house (unsuccessfully) for your mitt. That sad attempt at a costume was anything but a home run. And it certainly didn’t get you to first base with any of the French maids at the party.

This year, you vowed it was going to be different. No cowboy outfits. No pathetic trucker get-ups. And absolutely, positively, no ghost costumes. Now the clock’s ticking and you’re short of ideas. But don’t despair. Figuring you’d procrastinate (again), Men’s Life Today sought the advice of two Hollywood pros for costume suggestions that will blow the competition -- not to mention those pretty French maids -- away.

Trick No. 1: Don’t Follow the Crowd
Deborah Nadoolman Landis, an Oscar-nominated designer who created the ensembles for Animal House, The Blues Brothers and Coming to America, as well as the costumes for Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” video, suggests going against type -- “be someone you wish you could be” -- and against the obvious.

“I have a feeling this is going to be the year of the zombie,” she says. And for that very reason, she advises that men not be zombies -- or anyone from the Twilight movies. In this year of darkness, she says, “Embrace the light. Women want heroes -- be Prince Charming.”

Trick No. 2: Mix Genres
Remember those flip books for kids where you’d mix and match sections to create a different character with every turn? Landis suggests embracing that concept when pondering a costume. “Don’t be Indiana Jones. Be an alien Indiana Jones,” she posits. If you really want to get clever, you can even create a backstory for your character.

Trick No. 3: Use the News
James Lapidus, a costume designer who worked on the recently wrapped serial 24 and who’s now with the Showtime hit Dexter, proposes perusing the headlines for ideas. From disgraced Sen. Larry Craig to Donald Trump, Adam Lambert to Siegfried and Roy, the cleverest ideas, says Lapidus, come from people in the news.

As in years past, says Lapidus, TV characters provide ample costume opportunities, from reality stars such as Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino to mid-century adman Don Draper. Other iconic characters/events that can be inspiration for your Halloween get-up include the BP oil spill and the Na’avi from Avatar.

One caveat if you go this route: Whatever you do, don’t create a costume so monstrous you can’t move. “I remember one guy who showed up at a party as an iPod,” recalls Lapidus. “It was so cumbersome, he couldn’t even get to the drinks.”

Trick No. 4: Put in the Time
Pop-up Halloween stores make Lapidus’ skin crawl. “Everybody goes to these cheap costume shops,” he says. “If you can’t sew, find a friend who can.” Even if your friends can’t sew, you can put together a great costume with some creative sourcing. Both Landis and Lapidus suggest scouring thrift stores for your costume scores. “Do a Google image search and bring the photo with you,” recommends Landis. She also advises reaching out to local theater companies, which might have leftover costumes from recent productions. And if you don’t find what you want there -- and you have a bulky budget -- you can always check out a costume rental company.

Regardless of where you source your Halloween outfit this year, says Lapidus, once you get into costume, get into character, too. “Become somebody else. That total escape can be really wonderful.”

Photo Credit: ©iStockphoto.com/egorr

At first glance, German females seem to only know success: If you can negotiate cleverly, you become one of the most powerful politicians worldwide (think Chancellor Angela Merkel). If you’re sporty and keen in soccer you could play on world’s best team (our female squad won the last five European and the last two World Championships). And if you look cute and are a fashion-victim you might become one of the most successful supermodels (Claudia Schiffer and Heidi Klum, for instance).

And yet, in the German corporate big leagues, few women manage to reach the top rungs of the career ladder: Only four percent of board management in the “Dax30” (Germany’s stock index of the 30 biggest companies) are women.

This is a pity, since -- were they allowed to achieve their full potential -- German women could really help turbo-charge German companies. In fact, observe the natural skills and abilities of the women coworkers around you right now, and you could really learn something. That’s right: Your female coworkers can actually help you get better at your job just by setting some great examples. Here’s how you should be like a woman:

Be a juggler
“Learn to multi task -- that’s a special female competence”, says Ute Zahn, owner of the Berlin based management agency Artist Network, which boasts clients like internationally-known German artists Thomas Kretschmann and Clemens Schick. “One of my new artists (it was a man!) hung up his mobile because he came to the till in the supermarket. He only said: ‘Sorry, but I can’t pay and talk at the same time.’ Women are the better multi-taskers -- in daily life and business.”

If men mastered this female ability, they’d simultaneously solve another problem, Zahn complains about: organization of daily trifles. “Who books the dinner table in the restaurant? Who orders new coffee capsules for the office? Every time women do!”

Get organized
Okay, maybe you like women ordering the coffee and dinner reservations for you. But what if there’s no woman around to do this for you? Wouldn’t it be nice if you could do it for yourself and not mess up?

“It is proven that organization is a primary female competence”, says Susanne Heidelberger-Heidegger, a psychologist and management coach who -- for 20 years -- has analyzed gender role-models in business. Because of the traditional female role as mother and head of family during the day, “Women learned to organize lots of details at the same time and take responsibility for more than just themselves.” Therefore men could benefit a lot from the women around them, the psychologist concludes.

Communicate with feeling
“Many men stubbornly issue commands and think they’ll work,” Heidelberger-Heidegger explains. “But nothing works if you only think about the facts and not about the people who work for you.” The psychologist stresses the importance of empathy as a success factor in business communication. “I coached a lawyer and she achieved many goals her boss had failed, since he had not included the fate of coworkers in his thought process. Even the soberest topics should be discussed between humans. If you simply impose something on somebody he’ll oppose it.”

In particular, keep this in mind when you’re dealing with conflicts, advises management author Dr. Reinhard Sprenger. “In such challenging situations, you’ll be more successful if you understand your opponents’ emotions,” he says. Many men ignore them, since they don’t accept counterarguments. Women, on the other hand, “usually aren’t as bossy,” adds Heidelberger-Heidegger. “Therefore they’re smarter when it comes to solving conflicts.”

Coffee talk
We all know the stereotype: Women always seem to know all the office gossip. Seeing as how knowledge is power, how can men entangle themselves into the office grapevine? “It’s very easy”, Heidelberger-Heidegger answers. “Avoid any cynicism, prejudices and lack of respect, and show honest interest in your female colleagues. Since many men ignore these rules, do this, and you’ll be the cock of the walk.”

You’re a job seeker who’s just crafted an e-mail you’re positive will get you an interview for your dream job. After attaching your killer resume you hit “send” and wait for a call from the hiring manager. And wait. And wait. Weeks later, you’re shocked to learn the position has gone to someone else. You never even got in the door.

If this has happened to you, chances are good that a computer program -- not a human being -- eliminated you from consideration. In an age in which there are far more job seekers than jobs, an increasing number of businesses are relying on software to weed out applicants. “The vast majority of companies with 50 or more employees are using this software,” says Chandlee Bryan, a certified professional resume writer based in New York. So how do you ensure you don’t fall victim to a thumbs-down from a machine? You’ve got to give the machine what it wants: keywords.

Deborah Bell, a certified career counselor based in Santa Rosa, Calif., recalls the time when, as an experiment, she answered an ad with nothing but a long series of words lifted straight from the job description. “I got an e-mail back saying that I matched the job description and that someone would be calling me shortly to set up an interview.” The call never actually came -- apparently, humans are still good for something -- but the fact that her application made it as far as it did underscores how important keywords are for getting noticed.

What’s the Word?
To determine your keywords, Michele Dagle, a certified Los Angeles-based professional resume writer, suggests crafting the text by cribbing from several job listings similar to the position you’re seeking. “Other excellent sources of these terms are industry websites, blogs and e-newsletters,” she says.

Once you’ve collected a batch of ads, you can quickly suss out the most important words by pasting all the text you’ve collected into the website TagCrowd.com, says Bryan (who also co-authored The Twitter Job Search Guide). In the resulting tag cloud, look out for the words that literally loom largest (the size directly correlates to frequency). Those are the terms you definitely want to use in your resume.

Bobbing and Weaving
So what’s the best way to work those words into your resume? Not by sneaking them in, Bryan counsels, explaining she has heard of candidates who “hide” keywords in their resumes by changing the words from black to white so they don’t appear on-screen or in print. This subliminal scheme goes awry, however, when the resume is scanned and converted to plain text. Suddenly, those stowaway keywords go from invisible to visible, and a recruiter will easily be able to read between the lines, so to speak. “If you don’t have the skills, don’t use those keywords,” says Dagle. You might get an interview, but you will be eliminated once it becomes apparent you don’t have the skill set you said you did.

Your goal is to get the important keywords into both your executive summary and body of the resume. Use the terms in your bullet points to convey your experience and, where possible, associate them with specific accomplishments you made at each job.

It’s not necessary to include every keyword, says Bryan. “As long as you’ve got 60 to 75 percent of what they’re looking for, you should most certainly apply.”

Format Wars
And when you’re finally ready to transmit your qualifications, make sure to follow the submission instructions. For example, don’t send a PDF if the ad calls for a Microsoft Word file. And be careful with non-text characters such as bullet points, which can show up differently depending on the computer. Last but not least, do not title your attachment “resume.doc” -- be certain your last name is in the document name. In this market, if you give a company the opportunity to disregard or forget your application, it most likely will.

Given these turbulent economic times (high unemployment, a shaky stock market, the Euro dropping...) people are looking everywhere for money-making opportunities. It’s reached a certain fervor: Average citizens have transformed into networking-vampires looking to suck job-info out of anyone they meet -- even if the encounter is at LeClerc or Roissy airport, or any other unprofessional setting.

Efficient and proper networking can be tough to navigate at the dawn of this new decade. So how to best job-hobnob? Follow our advice and you’ll learn how to find the gatekeepers standing between you and the secret opportunities. They’ll do much more for you than those people you killed time with while you waited in line.

Present yourself right

The initial step to building a network is classic, basic -- and so important: Make a good first impression. It’s pretty logical. If you want to build a web of people around you, you’ve got to attract them to you. If you’ve registered with a professional online social network, sticking a photo on your CV is the easiest way to get noticed. According to Nicholas Vieuxloup, head of PR for Paris-based site Viadeo, CVs posted on Viadeo with photos are looked at 5 to 10 times more frequently than those without pics. Also, he recommends filling out your profile, from your studies and competencies down to your centers of interest. The same goes if you’re headed to a networking soirée or a get-together where you know you might be able to make some interesting business contacts: “You make sure you’re dressed well, shaved, smiling. You present yourself, say why you’re there, and what you’re looking for. That’s how others learn about your savoir-vivre.”

Show what you can give, not just what you’ve got

Business connections work the same as friendships, marriages, or any other relationship -- everyone involved gets something from them. Otherwise they won’t last. Nicolas Thébault, founder of career advice agency Tebopro, warns that being a “collector of anonymous contacts” online won’t get you anywhere. You’ve got to show how you’ll bring value to the person you’re reaching out to. Moreover, remember that networking isn’t just about finding a job. In fact, it’s more effective when you aren’t looking for something from a potential contact. “Go toward him in the hope of exchanging information about a shared interest, much as a journalist would approach an expert,” says Thébault. “The most common networking error consists of being solely centered on yourself and your own interests.” The shared subject doesn’t even have to be about work -- if you both like running, ask him about his next race. Maybe he’s looking for a training partner. If all works out, you’ll end up building a real relationship with him, which will serve you down the line.

Get down to business

Whether you’re talking to an HR representative, writing to someone online, or hobnobbing at a networking party, “in 30 seconds or 5 lines you must be able to succeed in attracting a person’s attention,” says Thébaut. Have your pitch prepared in your head beforehand and, if your delivery succeeds, you’ll get a chance to have a fast back-and-forth dialogue. Then hopefully something more lasting develops. A valuable contact is one who gets to know you and will recommend you as a professional, says Vieuxloup. “It will activate your career on the long term.”

Manage your reputation

Again, networking isn’t only -- or even principally -- about looking for jobs. Vieuxloup suggests using online business networking sites (besides Viadeo, LinkedIn is another big one) as resources for finding investors, generating business, looking for products, and just generally building a name for yourself. The latter is super important in this Age of Information. “Your reputation is really fundamental,” says Vieuxloup. “You have to think about it and have a strategy -- know what you want to do, who you should get in contact with, and what you should say to them.” For instance, don’t approach someone with, “Pierre Bloch referred me to you,” if Pierre didn’t. He very well might know Pierre -- business communities tend to be tight (bankers eat lunch together, newspaper editors hang out together, etc.). Maybe he doesn’t have the best relationship with Pierre; or maybe he’ll check in with Pierre, who will be perturbed that you used his name. With one simple sentence you’ve hurt both an existing relationship and an opportunity. So be prudent!

It’s one of Andy Warhol’s most popular quotes: “In the future everyone will be famous for 15 minutes.” Nowadays it’s much easier to become famous -- and not just for a quarter of an hour. Because there is YouTube.

People all over the world drop by the YouTube website, watching two billion videos a day. And there are plenty of new clips to watch: Every second, users upload 24 hours worth of new stuff.

The best news: You don’t need to be a professional actor or singer to find fame via YouTube. With their online video, “Wo bist du, mein Sonnenlischt”, the German boy band Grup Tekkan stormed the charts up to 12th place (and their music was anything but awesome).

Want to be popular like a German boy group? Here’s how.

The Topic
Anything is doable. Whether you want to make music videos, chronicle your poodle washing dishes, or just make jokes -- try it. “The easiest videos work best,” says Matthias Sdun, filmmaker at the production company freeeye.tv in Hamburg. For first timers, Sdun recommends taking a shot at comedy -- any kind. “Primarily, YouTube still is an entertainment platform. Therefore, arouse emotions,” he says.

Skeptical? Check out “Die Außenseiter,” the YouTube channel -- in which two teenagers talk gibberish and perform skits -- are watched by hundreds of thousands. 

The Storyboard
Beginners need not be concerned about a concept. But if you want your opus to have a professional sheen, try mocking up a storyboard, sketching one scene at a time. While YouTube videos are short (the site only accepts video files up to 2GB in size and 10 minutes length), any scripted piece would benefit from following the same formula as a full-length motion picture. “Since Aristotle, classic screenplays consist of three parts. Keep that in mind since it guarantees easy structures,” says former TV moderator (of Pro7-magazines taff and Bizz fame) Dominik Bachmair, who currently works as a media trainer and manager. 

Part one serves to inspire the audience’s curiosity. Therefore start with some surprise that raises an interesting question. In the following middle section, lay out the important facts. And in part three, answer all questions and, urges Bachmair: “Finish your video with the best image and phrase -- everybody will remember this last scene.”

The Equipment
You can use a simple web cam (already integrated into many new computers) -- but poor quality video can make those hard to watch. For better quality and a superior viewing experience, splurge for a real camcorder. Just make sure said camera includes an audio jack for external microphones: If the distance from the camera to your performer exceeds half a meter, the camcorder’s boom microphone will fail to capture quality sound. Wireless microphones offer excellent value if you’re willing to splurge: They typically cost 150 Euro or more. “Don’t be stingy,” says Sdun. “The quality of a video is primarily influenced by quality of sound.”

How to Use the Camera
When it comes to handling your cam, just remember three rules: Don’t zoom; avoid shaking (if possible use a tripod); and don’t turn the cam away from the “set.”

Also, beginners should stick to three main shots: “wide shots” for lots of action; “medium shots” (chest to head) for character interaction and close-ups for intimate moments. Sticking to these shot guidelines are especially important for YouTube, since most videos are watched on small screens.

The Post-production
You’ll find good post-production software for less than 100 Euro. For example, try “Magics Video Deluxe” (there’s a free test version). Beginners can cut movies with freeware, too: Movie Maker (Windows) or iMovie (Apple) are often already installed. And how to cut your movie? “Avant-garde cuts hard,” states Sdun. “Only laymen use fadeouts or dissolve effects.”

The Publicity Campaign
Once you’ve uploaded your video to YouTube, you must call attention to it! Integrate it into your Facebook or VZ-network account or send its link as a Twitter notice to your friends. But the most effective way, advises Sdun, is to use the “video response” function in YouTube: Look for videos with a similar topic and a huge audience. Then write a comment and attach your video link -- the entire audience will get the message.

And with that, your 15 minutes begins (though we’re sure you can go into overtime).