Articles

Remember those dreams?

Published on 07-03-2009

Remember what you were thinking when you started? I bet most of you had quite an impressive career plan - a middle management position in 5 years, CEO by the time you're 35, and so on. Where are you now? If you're reading this I'm guessing you're not CEO yet. Further more, I'm betting you're sometimes lazy at work and quite often bored with what you do.

Did you know that the moments when you feel lazy or bored are actually moments when you lose contact with your real needs? Did you also know that very few people make the time to get in touch with their true needs? Well I think it's obvious now why laziness and boredom are such a frequent phenomena.

So... what do you really need? Do you want more money, more time for your family, your hobbies, yourself? Do you need to be appreciated more? Do you need more creative tasks and new challenges every day?

Think about it for a while. Maybe you'll get sad but that's a waste of time isn't it? It's never too late to change something (motivational tip: think of the Colonel, yes, KFC's Colonel Sanders - he began trying to sell his chicken recipe after he was 60!)!

Since now you should be motivated let's see what you can do - get in touch with your needs, think about what kinds of activities could satisfy them and then think of things you are good at. The last step in planning is combining things you are good at with the ones that could satisfy your needs. Nobody says it's easy but at the end of this analysis you should find your "dream job".

Is there anything stopping you in getting that job? I'm pretty sure that you already found a couple of very good reasons why you should actually keep your current job. The fact is that people are afraid of change, especially when they have been for a long time in a single place and their lives are somewhat above the floating line. But you should admit to yourself that affording to pay your bills and a couple of nice stuff on the side does not mean you are happy! If you could do better than you should do anything in your power to get what you deserve.

So start looking for that dream job! Look for it in newspapers, on the internet, at Job Fairs, at companies specialized on recruitment. After you find the position you wanted see what the demands are and if you are already qualified there should be NOTHING in your way; if you lack certain abilities start searching for classes that could provide both the knowledge and the degree or apply anyway (you might still get hired if, for example, the employer believes that what you lack can be compensated with other qualities you possess). And even if you don't succeed at first, analyze the feedback, make corrections and keep trying! The important thing is to stay alert, focused on your goal.

By Andrew Harris

What about Job Fairs?

Published on 06-03-2009

Job Fairs are great ways to test the market. On one hand you can see what is on demand and, on the other hand, you can talk to potential employers in a very relaxed way. You can submit resumes to anything you want and the more you submit the more likely it is you will be contacted; it is much like recruitment websites, with a major bonus: you can make a more accurate impression on the employer (or more accurately representatives of the employer, usually members of the Human Resources Department).

Tip: since Job Fairs usually last a couple of days I would recommend that you go on the first day to look around and make notes of job openings you would like to apply for and return afterwards with plenty of resumes, written particularly for each type of job you are considering. If you don't have the time to return, it would be best to send your resume by e-mail; however, the first choice would be preferable because the people you meet might actually be very impressed with you and if they can associate right then and there the great conversation with a face or a name you might be the chosen one.

It sometimes happens that you are asked to fill out an application, the resume becoming just a formality. Especially for situations as such, but also for the conversations in general, you should come well prepared - as in well informed, mostly about you. It may sound strange but, even though you are talking about yourself, you might forget important aspects. When you wrote your resume, it should have been an entire process of self-analysis that started with a list of attributes, then a hierarchy of the qualities and so on but when you have to sell yourself on the spot you don't have all that time to rethink the process. So know your strengths and highlight them during conversations and in your applications!

You should also keep in mind the general rules applicable to the job interviews because, even if you are more relaxed in this setting, any conversation could mean a new job and thus being a kind of interview. So remember: self-confidence, conservative clothing or even arriving early. About arriving early, even though in this situation it is important mostly for avoiding the crowd, it could have some impact - research shows that people tend to remember best elements they meet at the beginning and end of a series; applied to this situation it would mean that you would be best remembered, which, as we said before, is important, if you talk to the employers early in the morning or close to the end of the schedule; but a series of whole day interviewing can be very consuming for the interviewer, making the end of the schedule a bad option.

Why an Internship?

Published on 4-03-2009

First of all let’s review what an internship is. An internship is a learning experience which takes place in a company; its particular goal is to combine theory with practice in order to help an individual gain experience in a determined occupational area. Internships last between a month and a year and are not usually paid.

Why does it help you? The answer to this is quite obvious from the “definition” above. You get the chance to be integrated in a real work experience, which is quite important for your resume when you are entering the work field. You get the chance to see what that work environment is like: what it takes to make it, what the people are like, what are the actual demands, time limits and so on. Of course, each company has its own culture and, therefore, these aspects may vary, but there are strong common denominators among each area of expertise. Further more, you can establish contacts with the people you meet and you even the chance to get hired after the internship is over, provided that you do your job right.

What’s in it for the companies? Here’s a little inside information: currently, the work force is dramatically decreasing in quality; this means that there are very few people who are actually very qualified for the openings. Taking this into consideration, it is pretty clear that a company has great benefits in forming you accordingly to their needs, especially when you prove yourself worthy of employment. The truth is that, just like your romantic experience, the work experience you accumulate in different places adds up in different attitudes, attitudes which may affect your productivity when confronted with a new work place; this being said it is surely obvious that since you don’t have any other work experience you can be “shaped” in a “productive” manner, if you are suitable for the position.

One last important aspect about internships is that these kinds of programs are usually made by big companies and I don’t think I have to tell you about the advantages of working in a big company. Why big companies? Because a big company means a successful business, but success means valuable people and that’s why they are always on the look-out for valuable people, especially since they are so hard to find. Further more, a big company is an organization that passed the test of time and that is only possible with constant re-adapting so it is in their advantage to constantly attract fresh minds with fresh opinions and perspectives.

All of the above should have convinced you that if you hear about an internship, go for it! It is a very valuable experience for you and since it’s quite useful for the company too you will be valued and respected.

By Andrew Harris

What about my lack of work experience?

Published on 1-03-2009

So you want to find a good job but you are young and don’t have a lot of work experience yet. Well, to tell you a little secret, nobody really expects you to. Of course, you will be highly appreciated if you managed to keep a job while you were still in college, but if you didn’t it’s not really a problem – employers do understand that you chose to focus on your studies.

First of all let’s take a look at what could count as experience in the work field. By far, the best fit is an internship. If you were involved in such a program feel free to highlight it – it shows that you were faced with real-life job responsibilities. The next best thing can come from your college experience. For example, being a part of a Student Association or volunteering - these extra curricular activities are also proofs of your abilities to get involved and take responsibilities.

But if you don’t have any of the above on your resume, you can still get a great job. All you have to do is find your strong points and build your resume accordingly to the job you are applying for in order to make it very clear that you have what it takes to fill that position.

Start by making a list of all your personal qualities, technical abilities, knowledge, talents. Then think of all the stuff you were good at (for example team sports – prove you are a team player and an effective team leader, if that was the case) and the times you showed initiative (like small jobs you did as a teenager – babysitting, small errands, mowing lawns and so on). Don’t end the list without going through the things that you learned in school such as: foreign languages, computer skills, science or anything else that you consider you are good at and could be relevant for a potential employer.

After you finish your list go over it again to make sure you don’t forget anything; you could also ask your parents or friends to read it in order to get additional information. After you consider it is complete, look over it and see how much experience you really have; even though it is not actual work experience, it is life experience and it counts if you manage to put it in the right shape on a resume. Besides, the only things your work experience could show an employer are your abilities to do your job right and cope with the social aspects of a work environment. So if you manage to prove you can do these things and do them right there is no reason for you to miss out on that great job you want and deserve!

By Andrew Harris

What Do Employers Want?

Published on 28-02-2009

What do employers want from a potential employee? Other than the technical abilities, employers want on their teams people who are professionals and trustworthy. This might not even be a surprise for you, given the fact that many people already write this on their resumes. But what is a professional?

The center quality of a professional is reliability. Why? Well, it’s common sense actually – no matter how good you are at your job if you are not guaranteed to finish it, and sometimes, more important, finish it on time, you might say you are wasting your talent.

However, you might think that this kind of behavior will be obvious only after you get the job, but there are some indicators during the hiring process. For example:

• Applying for a job you are obviously not compatible with;
• Not paying attention to all of the ad’s elements;
• Confirming your participation and not showing up for the interview; if something totally unexpected should occur, the right thing to do is notify the employer as soon as possible that you will not be able to make it and the chances are that you will be able to agree on another time for the interview;
• Bargaining for terms that were well stipulated in the job offer;
• Applying for jobs you don’t really want for reasons such as expanding your experience regarding job interviews;
• Showing up late for the interview; and so on.

If you tend to act as described above or in similar ways you should know that the only chance you stand in getting hired is if your competition on that job offer is very little and under-qualified; and even so you might not be hired for too long. But for a very serious and well paid position no employer is going to waste time or money on people he can not count on, for the simple fact that there are plenty of others out there who could do the job and might fit the requirements a whole lot better; further more, there are times when a manager might be tempted to invest in training for someone who has proven to be responsible because technical abilities are much more easier to learn.

Of course, there are those who say that the actual job could change you and make you more responsible. But what if you can not get a job for that very reason? Keep in mind that in order to get a good position with a decent pay you have to respect your employer, your clients, your tasks and yourself. Your attitude makes the difference!

By Andrew Harris

Ten things to keep in mind when choosing your first job

Published on 15-02-2009

1. Opportunities to learn are, by far, the most important aspects when you are a "rookie". There are, of course, lots of tempting jobs out there that are easy to learn and not very demanding, but they are usually repetitive and you can’t really grow from such an experience. So unless you are forced by financial circumstances, it would be best to ignore them.

2. Your "visibility" in the company is about your ability to get out of the crowd and by doing so you could arouse the interest of the key people in the company, people who could influence in a very good way your career path; we are basically talking about managers and the personnel in the HR department. For example, an assistant manager position, even though it could be easy, it is often an excellent way of getting to know managers and making yourself "visible". Someone with potential, especially in a growing company, is hard to be kept for a long time on that position.

3. Actual promotion possibilities. When it comes to promotions, almost every company, trying to seem as a top employer, will say that it is offering opportunities to advance. But actually you need to check some things to be sure that you really have these opportunities:

• The development of the company – is the company growing, constantly hiring new people or has it reached a relatively stable structure? For you, the first scenario would be the happiest.
• The company’s policies regarding promotions – some companies are recognized for the fact that they invest in their own people, while other companies tend to bring in new people for any vacant position, considering that these new people already have some experience on a similar position. Again, the first case would be the good sign for you.

4. Your direct superior. The person who could help or sabotage the most an employee in his/her development and professional fulfillment is his/her direct superior. Important research shows that employees most often take a job for its pay or company’s prestige and leave it because of the direct manager. So, what do you need to check? First of all, your "chemistry" with your manager – are you on the same page? Second, there are some traits of his that are important for you and your relationship: how well he communicates, how much he cares about his employees, how competent is he as a manager and how sure of himself he is. The opportunity to first evaluate these aspects is the last interview, when you are face to face with this person; so try not to focus exclusively on proving yourself worthy of the job, but use the opportunity to evaluate him/her. Ask some well thought questions in order to bring to surface relevant information for your evaluation on him/her.

5. The company’s brand. People tend to react in a very positive way to a strong brand and such an employer is often associated with:

• A well built system of rules, values and procedures;
• A team of professionals;
• Extraordinary opportunities to learn and evolve.

Even though these associations are not always valid, they exist and a few years spent in a company with a strong name is a very good way for you to create your own brand as expert.

6. Time required on the job. The first job is usually overlapped with other aspects of your life such as school, family, hobbies. For this reason, the time your job is demanding is very important so do not stick to asking if the job is full-time or part-time – during the hiring process ask questions about the responsibilities of the job and the actual time they require.

7. Your first impression on the workplace. At interviews remember to look around and observe elements such as the company’s main building or the people you see. These are good indicators for the very important aspects of a job that are not task related and by comparing what you see with your own preferences you could evaluate if you could fit in and feel good in that company.

8. The clarity of your job. It is very hard to do your job very good if your objectives are not very clear or if you don’t know what you are allowed or even if your evaluation standards are vague. On the interview try to understand these elements, especially the ones directly related to the specific responsibilities of the job. If the ones conducting the interviews are not able to describe these aspects it is very often a sign of a weak employer and this should raise some question marks for you.

9. Matching your passions. What do you like to do? Talking to people, finding solutions, writing documents, organizing information? Matching these things, your passions, with the tasks your job imply is essential; it makes the difference between constantly finding resources to continue your work and exhaustion, which could be translated into a high level of performance or not.

10. Your instinct on the job. Only after checking the first nine criteria and after analyzing the job in all its aspects, before taking the decision of taking the job it would be wise to listen to that little voice inside your head. If your intuition says the same as your analysis then you can go ahead and take the job with no regrets; if not, analyze the information once more.

By Andrew Harris

Occupational stress

Published on 14-02-2009

Stress refers to the pressure and reactions to the environment which results in different kinds of reactions:

• psychological (noticeable especially on the superior processes area such as thinking or even residing in fatigue, depression, anxiety);
• physiological (our bodily responses at the cellular, tissue and organ level happen without our control and very often appear phenomena such as elevated heart rates and blood pressure which are sure to have very serious consequences);
• behavioral (when people are not comfortable with their lives they tend to go off track; routine health behaviors take a slide as people compensate with more of this and less of that).

Occupational stress is a particular form of stress with specific causes like:

• Work overload
• Threat of job loss
• An unsympathetic boss
• Sexual harassment
• Taking work home
• Office politics
• Being unsatisfied with your work (whether it is about what you do, or the money you make or even the quality of the work environment)

What can you do about it?

1. Acknowledge that stress simply occurs, disregarding your age, occupation and any other aspect of your life. Your goal can not be avoiding stress completely, because this thought would be stressful itself. You have to learn to manage it and it would be good to start with an evaluation of the signs and symptoms for you as an individual.

2. Try to control some of your reactions and start with understanding that you are not a bystander, but the main character and you must act as one. Assess your options, create a plan, manage your time and re-evaluate your options. Most people under stress feel helpless and hopeless. By taking control, you will determine the outcome of situations.

3. Breathe – it must sound stupid and far fetched, but stress causes the blood pressure to go up and this makes one feel like the walls are closing in on him/her. A few minutes for focusing on breathing can help you refocus your energy into solving the problem.

4. Meet with your friends because they can help you put things back into perspective. But during these meetings don’t stay focused on the work issues – try to forget about your worries and enjoy their company. Being with friends provide you with more energy to deal with your problems. Besides, you never know where you can find solutions.

5. Get or continue a hobby because it helps you shift your concentration away from stressful situations. You can occupy your mind with pleasurable things. Hobbies give you something to look forward to, day in and day out. Additionally, hobbies can help you connect with others, and gain perspective.

6. Exercise actually makes you happy, because during this activity endorphins are released and this chemical is responsible for good moods and, in addition, reduces stress. It also helps you manage weight, improve appetite, and sleep better (those being other symptoms affected by stress). And last but certainly not least, exercising on a regular basis gives you more energy to fight any challenge along the way.

7. If the last six steps don’t seem to work you should seek professional help. There are plenty of institutions, companies or people willing to lend you a hand. All you need to do is reach out. The main point is not to wait until the last minute to act. The more you wait and let the situation worsen the harder and longer it will take to resolve your issues.

These being said, we consider we should point out another very important aspect – determining the cause, and by that we are referring to the REAL cause. If you dig deep and find yourself unsatisfied with any aspect of your job do not be afraid of change! Many people choose to stay in “unhealthy” environments for them because they think that it would be too late to make a change or that it’s the best they can do. The perfect job for you is out there and you should not be afraid to search for it; we are not suggesting you should quit your job tomorrow, but keep an open mind, read more of our materials and remember that you have a better chance of getting good money if you do something you enjoy because enjoying that something will result in a superior quality product/service.

By Andrew Harris

Recruitment websites

Published on 13-02-2009

Recruitment websites have become one of the most popular methods of recruitment and that because of the great accessibility on both parts – employer and employee. Still, there are certain specifics that you should consider. Here are three of the most important aspects you should consider when using a recruitment website:

1. Customizing your resume is about paying attention to the requirements of each job you are interested in and, accordingly, deciding on the information and the specific details you reveal, in order to make your resume as relevant as possible. A customized resume is easier to read and understand, it reflects your professionalism and it helps the employer see the match between you and the position he is offering. This is a general advice, but it is of greater importance when you are using a website specialized in recruitment. It is actually a challenge because most of them are not optimized for customization. So here are your alternatives:

• If the website allows it, create more resumes for different kinds of jobs and apply to each job with the resume that fits the best;
• If you can have only one resume / account you can try creating more accounts, and for each account elaborate different kinds of resumes;
• If you know your professional motivations well enough, then go for a single type of job, very specific and create a single resume, suited for the type of job you are considering and only apply to job offers in this area.

2. Use keywords. The resume search process on a website is based mostly on keywords. For this reason, it is very important for you to use in your resume keywords that increase the probability for it to be found by a potential employer. There are a few parts of the resume where keywords are a “must” because those are the areas where the actual search is made:

• The names of your previous jobs. Sometimes the official title of a position doesn’t quite match the titles usually used in the field. For example, if you are “HR assistant”, but the job title is “personnel assistant”. Other times, the job title doesn’t actually match the responsibilities you really had. So it is important to use a job title that both matches the responsibilities and makes the resume easy to find.
• The descriptions of the responsibilities you had on your previous jobs. Each professional area has certain keywords and acronyms. For example, in the HR field there are used terms such as: training, coaching, conflict management and so on. Get familiar with the keywords in your field and use them in the descriptions of your former responsibilities in order to make your resume easier to find.
• Specific abilities. For some jobs it is very important to have certain abilities and, further more, they should be certified. This is usually the case of technical abilities
• for example, the ability to use a certain software. If you have specific abilities, mentioning them in their section could be a major advantage.

3. Pay attention to the exchange of information. Recruitment websites allow both you and the employer the opportunity to find out information that could influence your chances in getting an interview. It is important for you to know this information and use it. Here are some specific aspects regarding the exchange of information:

• The employer can often see the other jobs you applied for. It doesn’t really help if he sees that you apply almost randomly to every new job on the site. In return, it could be a major advantage if you apply on specific criteria, proving that you have standards and that you know what you want.
• An employer that bought your resume can attach comments on it, comments that can only be seen by other recruiters in the company. For example, he can make a note on the fact that you didn’t show up at the interview and this could probably mean that you don’t stand a chance in getting an interview in the future for that employer.
• You can find out when an employer looked over your resume, when he selected it for an interview or rejected it. This feedback helps you a lot because, for example, you could figure out what kind of companies tend to look over your resume or select it for an interview.

The hiring process through a recruitment website is just as serious as any other method and has its own specifics. It requires attention, perseverance and professionalism. If you manage to highlight these qualities your chances of getting a job that best suits you radically increase.

By Andrew Harris