Journal of Office Workers
Archive for October 9, 2014
You Should Avoid These Work Mistakes at All Costs
Originally posted on TIME:
This post is in partnership with Inc., which offers useful advice, resources and insights to entrepreneurs and business owners. The article below was originally published at Inc.com.
By Lolly Daskal
Everyone communicates and occasionally misspeaks. But the best leaders, the greatest bosses, and the entrepreneurs we admire the most are the ones who take great care with their communication.
Here are some common communication mistakes we are all guilty of and it would be best to avoid:
One-size-fits-all communication. When you try to communicate to a group of people, you may notice that some get it right away while others need more explaining. Different people have different needs and expectations. Consider the range of learning styles of those you’re communicating with and plan a communication strategy that addresses them all.
Lack of attention to tone. Often in times of crises, you may have an edgy tone. Tone is…
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My top 5 tips to help you survive (and maybe even thrive in) redundancy
Originally posted on Welcome to Lensville:
After writing stories about loss for three weeks, it’s time for something completely different with a post on surviving redundancy. Though now that I think about it, losing one’s job is also a type of loss so perhaps not as different as I first thought.
I was first made redundant in 2011 when I was working for the State government. A change of government led to different priorities and my job was suddenly obsolete. Instead of letting me go and paying me out, I was redeployed into another job within the Department and the short version of the story is that ultimately it was a fantastic outcome for me.
Twelve months later, a massive restructure and substantial funding cuts resulted in my role being made ‘surplus to requirements’, along with a couple of hundred other roles. Many newly created or rationalised jobs were ‘spilt’ and people who did not find…
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Asking Questions During the Interview. What to ask, and Why.
Originally posted on From Developer to Manager:
“So, do you have any questions?”
“Nope, I’m good.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yup.”
I shrugged and stood up, offering my hand. The applicant shook it politely, thanked me, and left the interview room.
We are hiring, and this was one of the few applicants that made it through the initial screenings, programming exams and technical interview. He looked good on paper, seemed smart enough, and interviewed well. After a year and a half working on a slow-burning, dead-end project, he seemed eager for a chance to work in a fast-paced R&D team. But the lack of any initiative to ask questions bothered me.
My interviews usually start with me describing what we do. I run a development team in a company that produces mobile apps and services. By the time an applicant reaches me, he or she has already been vetted by at least two other people, and taken at least…
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Smør, A Scandinavian Deli @ One Raffles Place
Originally posted on NAHMJ:
Smør Deli occupies a shop space at the basement of One Raffles Place where all the various eatery co-exist. A unique shop to the food scene in One Raffles Place, it is a Scandinavian Deli which specialises in open-faced sandwiches.
They offer both hot and cold sandwiches with a few options in both selection. For the menu, click here. You can choose to have one sandwich, two or three sandwiches. Each sandwich is a pretty significant size of slice bread topped with the choice of ingredients under the hot and cold sandwiches selection and it comes with a side salad. It was a pity that there wasn’t choices for the side salad. They have paired the bread for each selection but if you want to change, you can make that request. For me, as long as it is not sour dough, I am fine.
With such a flexible…
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What Are the Three Ways to Train Your Brain to Be Happy?
Originally posted on TIME:
You can train your mind to be unhappy and you can train it to be happy.
Training your mind to look for errors and problems (as happens in careers like accounting and law) can lead you toward a pervasive pessimism that carries over into your personal life.
I discovered the tax auditors who are the most successful sometimes are the ones that for eight to 14 hours a day were looking at tax forms, looking for mistakes and errors. This makes them very good at their job, but when they started leading their teams or they went home to their spouse at night, they would be seeing all the lists of mistakes and errors that were around them. Two of them told me they came home with a list of the errors and mistakes…
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How LinkedIn Endorsements Can Improve Your Job Search Efforts
Having already spoken about how LinkedIn endorsements can help and hurt you, we now turn specifically to things you can do with your LinkedIn endorsements to improve your job search.
Related: 4 Big Tips For LinkedIn Endorsements And Skills
The specific skills included to the Endorsements section can help employers and recruiters find you more easily when a search is conducted for the specific skill. So, if your profile doesn’t include any skills, it’s time to get some on there. It will help even if they don’t get endorsed.
Take some of these steps under Endorsements to improve on your LinkedIn profile for job search efforts:
1. Add the Skills section.
You can do this by going to the Edit Profile page and on the right side of the screen, click on the blue “+” button next to Skills.
2. Plug in 50 skills to your profile.
You want to include as many relevant skills as you can to your profile to improve searchability. When you type in a skill, LinkedIn will also suggest relevant keywords, which are more likely to show up in searches.
3. Give the Skills section priority on your LinkedIn profile.
Rather than tucking this section down below, you may reposition the Skills section to a higher place in your profile, like under Summary. Drag the up and down arrow icon to the right of Skills to move the section’s position in your profile.
4. Tweak Priority of Skills.
Each time you accept an endorsement for a skill, that skill will get a higher ranking on your list. The one with the most endorsements will be placed at the top of the list, followed by the next highest endorsed skill. Sometimes this may cause your skills to be listed not in the priority you want. You can tweak it by clicking on ‘Edit’ in Skills. Where it shows ‘Add & Remove,’ reorder your skills. If there’s a skill you’ve accepted an endorsement for, but now want to remove it from the list, the only option is to hide it. LinkedIn does not allow you to remove accepted endorsements.
Whether you choose to be active on LinkedIn or not, it’s simply necessary to at least have a profile set up with accurate information of your skills so that employers and recruiters can find you more easily.
Related Posts
5 Tips For Building Your Brand On LinkedIn
7 Reasons Why You Need A LinkedIn Routine – Employed Or Not
5-Step Quick Guide For Getting Started On LinkedIn
About the author
Don Goodman’s firm was rated as the #1 Resume Writing Service in 2013 & 2014. Don is a triple-certified, nationally recognized Expert Resume Writer, Career Management Coach and Job Search Strategist who has helped thousands of people secure their next job. Check out his Resume Writing Service. Get a Free Resume Evaluation or call him at 800.909.0109 for more information.
Disclosure: This post is sponsored by a CAREEREALISM-approved expert. You can learn more about expert posts here.
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#1 Interview Question You Must Answer Correctly
There are hundreds of questions interviewers can ask potential employees… but there’s one interview question you could be answering in a way that is costing you the job - and you don’t even know it! So, what’s this one question?
Related: How To Answer 7 Of The Most Common Interview Questions
It’s different for every person—and every position. But one thing about this question is the same… it starts out like this: “Do you have experience doing… (insert whatever responsibility, duty, etc. the employer is looking to find in someone)?”
Employers want to know you have the experience and the ability to perform the essential functions of the job. And you can usually tell where their biggest “hurts” are by the questions they ask during the interview. If they need someone with special expertise or experience in a given area, they’re going to make sure they ask you about that experience.
So, how do you answer this all-important interview question in the best way possible?
Tell Them About A Time When…
The first way you can respond to the “experience question” is to use an example from your past experience about a time when you did XYZ—and of course… the successful turnout that resulted. This is the best-case scenario when answering the ‘experience question’. But what do you do if you don’t have the experience they’re asking about? Then how do you answer?
Tell Them You’re Confident
Just because you’ve never done something doesn’t mean you can’t do it. And it surely doesn’t mean you can’t excel at it. If you’re asked a question about prior experience regarding something you’ve never done, the best way to answer isn’t to say “No, I’ve never done that.” Or, “No, I don’t have experience in that area.” The best way to handle the question is to say something along these lines: “While I have not had any direct experience in XYZ, I am a fast learner, and I am confident that I could (do, manage, direct, handle, etc.) XYZ successfully and exceed your expectations.”
And an effective way to enhance your previous confident response would be to share with the hiring manager about a time when you did do something very similar—or something that could in some way relate to the experience they are asking you about.
However, no matter how you approach the question, be sure to emphasize that you’re confident you can do whatever it is they’re asking you about.
It makes a potential employer feel better to know that you’re confident in your abilities and talents—and it’s also a far better alternative than just telling them, “No, I don’t know how to do that,” and possibly excluding yourself from consideration. As I mentioned earlier, just because you haven’t done something previously doesn’t mean you can’t do it… or never will be able to… And who knows? With time, you may even do it very well!
This post was originally published at an earlier date.
Related Posts
How To Answer Tough Interview Questions Effectively
Top 3 Interview Questions You Should Ask
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About the author
Jessica Holbrook Hernandez, CEO of Great Resumes Fast is an expert resume writer, career and personal branding strategist, author, and presenter. Want to work with the best resume writer? If you would like us to personally work on your resume, cover letter, or LinkedIn profile—and dramatically improve their response rates—then check out our professional and executive resume writing services at GreatResumesFast.com or contact us for more information if you have any questions.
Disclosure: This post is sponsored by a CAREEREALISM-approved expert. You can learn more about expert posts here.
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Networking 101: How To Establish References
Establishing references can be really difficult, especially when you’re looking for a job and don’t seem to have a strong list of potential references. However, this shouldn’t be neglected because, in many ways, references can make or break our future careers.
Related: 5 Things You Should Know About References
According to an article on Jobdig.com titled “The Real Purpose of References,” references serve as a deal closer for job candidates (and as a job seeker, you definitely want to seal the deal!). Here are some ways you can establish references while you’re looking for a job:
Step 1: Work With What You’ve Got
“Fortunately, references are more about quality than quantity,” said John Higgins, Vice President of Talent Management at Bridgepoint Education. If a candidate is asked to provide three references, job candidates could always reach back to the few people who have seen their work ethic and skills at their best.
“They need to think about former supervisors or peers,” he said. “If they are less experienced, new to the workforce, or perhaps a recent college grad, they can seek references from professors, civic organizations they may have served in, or from temporary positions they may have held.”
Higgins went on to say that if you volunteer at an organization or a place of worship, using a spiritual leader or a committee member you’ve worked with a couple of times could also be used as references.
Step 2: Use LinkedIn To Maintain References
“LinkedIn is a great tool to facilitate the ongoing maintenance of contacts and references,” said Higgins. By adding former managers or co-workers, one can easily maintain a relationship with professional colleagues.
Keep up to date with their posts, provide them with feedback or even ask them for feedback on your profile. These types of things will help establish a rapport with the people you’ve worked with and even help gain you some endorsements.
Higgins added that it’s crucial for candidates to maintain and cultivate references throughout their careers. If a candidate is worried about using a dated reference, he or she has to think about the relevance of that reference.
“While a more recent reference may seem logical, if that reference is unable to provide the appropriate relevant reference, then the reference being current or not becomes less important,” he said.
Step 3: Prepare Your References
“I always recommend getting in touch with anyone a candidate plans to use as a reference beforehand,” said professional resume writer, Marissa A. Letendre. “They should make sure these individuals are okay with being a reference and let them know that they may be contacted on their behalf.”
Prepping your reference(s) will give them a chance to really think about your skills as an employee and what you have to bring to the table. It would be a shame if a potential employer decides not to offer you a job because your reference didn’t provide relevant, positive things about you as a person and a professional.
Step 4: Get Involved To Establish More References
Letendre says that in some instances, when a candidate is trying to reach an older reference, that reference might be “out of touch” with that candidate’s skill(s). To avoid this from happening working on establishing newer references during your job search can help you in the long run. Using your most recent co-workers and managers could work as references or you can start getting involved by doing some volunteer work at one of your local schools, churches or non-profit organizations.
This post was originally published at an earlier date.
Related Posts
10 Steps To Preparing Top-Notch References
Why Your References Should Be Ready Before Starting Your Job Search
How To Deal With A Bad Reference
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