How to Spot the Signs of a Great Place to Work

How to Spot the Signs of a Great Place to Work If you’re looking for a new job, remember it isn’t just the job description you should focus on. It’s just as important to look for an organisation which will be a good fit for you, making it a great place to work. It’s where you will spend a significant amount of time and, outside of your family, work is said to be the biggest thing to influence how happy you are. Plus, the more comfortable you are in your workplace, the better you’ll be at your job. We champion the ‘best employers’ initiative which highlights those companies which are great places to work by actively engaging, inspiring and motivating their employees, as this helps to attract the best talent to an organisation. But how can job seekers find out more about a company’s culture and whether they are likely to be happy there before accepting a job? 1) Extend your internet research Most candidates will do internet research ahead of job interviews to ensure they feel prepared to answer any tricky questions. Use this time to also look out for signs of what the company would be like to work for. The website may have a section about the company culture, values and staff wellbeing policies. Social media can show more about the way they like to portray the business, whether it’s fun and light hearted in tone, or serious and professional. There’s also a growing number of forums in which current and previous employees can post about what an organisation was really like to work for. 2) Look out for external accolades An external award for being a ‘best employer’ or ‘great place to work’ is a good accolade to look out for. Whether it’s a local business or industry award, an Investors in People standard or a listing in something like the Sunday Times’ annual Best 100 Companies, these types of commendations are only awarded after the organisation has been judged by independent experts. If you do spot that a company has been given an award, do some further research as you’ll often find case studies which explain why the organisation was chosen as a winner. 3) Ask some probing questions Use the interview to delve deeper into what it will be like to work there. Asking the interviewers to describe the company culture from their perspective and what their favourite thing is about working for the organisation can provide some excellent insights. Questioning when they would expect the busiest periods be in your new role could help you to gauge more about expected working hours, while asking how often staff get together will give an idea about the culture of meetings in the organisation and potentially open up a discussion about general socialising, both in and outside of office hours. 4) Explore the office environment Ask for a tour of where you will be working, including any communal areas. While the work place environment doesn’t necessarily need to have the wow-factor of the famed Google offices, it does need to be appealing to you. Being able to picture where you will be spending your time will help you to build up a picture of what day-to-day life will be like. It’s also a good opportunity to pick up on some more visual clues about the workplace culture and the type of people you’ll be working with. Are desks filled with family photos and mementos? Is the office space designed to be funky and creatively inspiring, or sleek, formal and professional? What are the team members wearing? 5) Compare your salary It’s important to assess if you will be paid a fair salary for your role. There’s various different online tools which will help you to research average salaries for the role you’ve applied for. You can also often find recent surveys conducted by professional associations and trade publications for salaries across an industry. Be cautious if you find that the salary you’ve been offered is under the average in your region, but also consider the additional benefits in addition to the basic salary which may be more important to you, for example car parking, private health, enhanced pension, flexible working. If the company doesn’t pay market rate for its staff but still expects amazing results do you want to work for them? Of course there may be a reasonable explanation â€" it could be a charity or a start-up without a big budget. Nonetheless this is an important issue that impacts long term job satisfaction. 6) Consider the additional benefits The employee benefits offered by an organisation could be what really makes a difference to your day-to-day life, however big or small. Look at the company’s website for details of their benefit package: do they offer medical or dental cover? What support do they provide for new parents? Is flexible working available? What kind of pension contributions does the company make? If this information isn’t publically available, call and ask the HR team or check at the interview. 7) Ask those in the know Ask friends and family to put you in touch with anyone they know who already works for the company. Ask them if colleagues get frequent training and subsequently take on new responsibilities? Can staff implement their own ideas in the workplace? What’s the staff turnover like? 8) Discuss with your recruitment consultant If you are using a recruitment consultant, call and discuss everything with them. A good consultant will have done their own research into the organisation as part of the process of helping them to recruit the right people. We want the people we place to be happy and to thrive and in their new role, as this gives the organisation the skilled, motivated person they need. It’s just as important to us to find the right ‘fit’ and we’re always happy to discuss this in more detail. [Image Credit: Shutterstock]

Tips For Writing a Resume For Corrections

Tips For Writing a Resume For CorrectionsIf you are starting to get ready to write a resume for corrections, here are some tips to make your job easier. First of all, take a look at the freebie sample that you can find on the Internet. Even if you don't think you are cut out for the job, it can be a great way to learn more about this field. For instance, sometimes the student who does the research will give you the sample so that you can see how it is done.Then read it over until you are completely satisfied with it. Sometimes the sample might be very long and complex. In fact, sometimes it is just one document that you have to read over. That can take time off your daily schedule, so make sure that you are looking through the sample at least once every day.You might also find it helpful to contact the employer whose company hired you to help them with the sample. You might want to discuss it over lunch or by email. Try to tell them a little bit about yourself. Tell them why you are willing to do the work that they need you to do.They will need to know how much you will be paid and what it will pay you. You should also tell them a little bit about how long you have been doing this type of work. In addition, you should tell them what your experience level is in the field and what your expected income will be.This sample might be a little bit more detailed than you would like, but it can be good practice. You should also be prepared to let them know that you do not know everything about the job. Although you should be able to answer most of the questions that they might ask you, it is best that you keep notes. You might need to look over your notes later, so be prepared. Of course, it is best that you spend a little time looking over the sample. You might find things that you didn't realize about it. It can also be helpful to look at other samples from other employers.It might be a good idea to spend a few hours at a time looking over the sample. Try to make sure that you think about all of the points that you need to make. Look over everything in detail until you are completely satisfied with it. This sample can be a great way to learn more about this field.Corrections is a challenging field. You have to make sure that you are up to date on all of the necessary things that are involved with corrections. This is why you should always check your work and make sure that you understand everything that you are doing. Your work should be professional as well as accurate.

The Only Way to Stand Out Above the Crowd - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

The Only Way to Stand Out Above the Crowd - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career The market is crowded. Every vertical has a professional trying to brand himself as the expert in the field, saturating the market and making it difficult to stand out above all the noise.  Becoming the best has nothing to do with being the best; rather, its all about perception and how the market perceives you. To get noticed, you need to do the opposite of what everyone else is doing. My best friend Yu-kai Chou is positioning himself as a Gamification Expert.  In doing so, he has utilized unique techniques that are worth learning so that you too can become an expert in your field. Conquer an emerging field Yu-kai said something very interesting to me: Gamification is at a point where Social Media Marketing was 5 years ago.  When professionals first started doing social media marketing, it was all about creating a social profile and posting as much content as possible.  In reality, there is so much more to it and only after 5 years of social media marketing have brands realized that its an intricate and necessary part of consumer marketing. Similarly, professionals believe that gamification is all about points, rewards, and levels. Want to gamify something, then just add a badge! In actuality, gamification is so much more than that and is just starting to catch on as an important aspect to consumer marketing. Yu-kai plans to be one of the pioneers and show brands what its all about. Takeaway: your best bet is to conquer an emerging field.  If its an emerging field, then there is most likely no branded expert and you can label yourself as a pioneer, which will add extra to your credibility. Video as opposed to text Text is of course still super important, but the use of video will make you stand out above the crowd.  Very few people create content in video form, and even less do it in an engaging way. Just check out Yu-kais video on this page.  He strategically uses cut-scenes and humor to keep the audience engaged, thinking about what hes going to do next. Takeaway: use different forms of communication to stand out and communicate with your audience.  For example, use Vokle to hold live video discussions with your audience. Take on fun or controversial topics The best way to drive traffic to your site is to write about fun and controversial topics.  This encourages people to spread it online and also generate traffic via search engines. Take on national campaigns: check out Yu-kais post about Old Spices campaign with Dikembe Mutombo.  His blog post ranks #1 on Google for the search term Old Spice Dikembe Mutombo Gamification.  Not only does this add to his level of credibility, but its a springboard that will allow him to build relationships with the marketing and advertising agencies that big brands work with. Take on controversial topics: check out Yu-kais post about the war in Israel.  Yu-kai doesnt directly talk about the morality of war or what is right or wrong, but he does address the issues behind using gamification for the purposes of war.  This post has generated a good amount of comments. Takeaway: write posts that will generate links back to your site and compel people to share or comment. Coin your own terms This is what I think is absolutely genius about Yu-kais strategy.  He knows that gamification is an emerging field, so hes using the terms from old fields and applying them to new fields. For example, White Hat SEO and Black Hat SEO are two very popular terms used to describe the techniques used to optimize a website.  Yu-kai has taken these terms and applied it to gamification: White Hat Gamification and Black Hat Gamification. Furthermore, he is taking psychology terms and applying them to his strategies as well.  He has coined the terms Left-brain Gamification and Right-brain Gamification to describe the two ways gamification affects the brain. Lastly, he has created his own framework called Octalysis, and is teaching others to use Octalysis to analyze the way they use gamification in their company.  If hes successful, then the Octalysis score will be the barometer for which all gamification campaigns are measured. Genius. Be like Yu-kai and stand out above the rest. Author: Jun Loayza is the founder of Passport Peru, a tourism-connect site that connects travelers with the best agencies in Peru.  In his entrepreneurial experience, Jun has sold 2 internet companies and lead social media technology campaigns for Sephora, Whole Foods Market, Levis, LG, and Activision.

How Non-Communicators Can Showcase Communication Skills - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

How Non-Communicators Can Showcase Communication Skills - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Unless you work in a communications field (i.e., journalism, public relations, marketing), it can be hard to showcase the oh-so-important communication skills employers look for. You might not have links to hundreds of blog posts youve written. For example, graphic designers often have little cause to demonstrate their superior writing skills, yet employers still want to know their designers are effective communicators. Here are some tips to help showcase your communication skills through your personal brand: Write an intro. Take any chance to demonstrate your writing skills. Write an intro blurb about yourself on your online portfolio. Give a little background information, explain your credentials in the industry, and say a little something about what work youve included in your portfolio. Make sure your blurbs on each profile are similar dont leave out crucial information on some and include it in others. Demonstrate that, although you work outside of a writing industry, you still possess writing skills. Highlight your expertise. Add any public speaking classes you might have taken in college to your resume and under the skills section of LinkedIn. If given the opportunity, speak at a convention or in a public setting. It could be for the volunteer organization you work with or at a meeting for work. Wrack up public speaking experience and publicize it. Update each profile to note where and when youll be speaking and whether its an open-entry event. Afterwards, transcribe your speech and add it to your portfolio, or upload any videos. This demonstrates to potential employers that you have public speaking experience and shows them how well you know the topic on which you spoke. Add a bullet point. Update your resume to reflect your communication skills. Especially if youve held a management position, make sure a point under your job duties reads something like facilitated communication between X members of the team. Employers not only want to know you have communication skills, but also that you can effectively utilize them in a team setting. If you havent held a management position, highlight your participation in team communication. Mention attended weekly meetings to facilitate communication and transparency or communicated daily with my supervisor to maintain clarity and transparency. Reference your references. Have your former boss or supervisor write you a recommendation on LinkedIn. Ask them to mention inter-office communication or any special communication skills you might have utilized for them. For example, if you worked as a data analyst and were in charge of on-boarding new interns, ask your boss to highlight that. Then, refer to your references. Make sure to include your LinkedIn profile on your electronic resume and portfolio. Link additional social profiles back to LinkedIn so that prospective employers can see that you have practical communication skills. The more you highlight your communication skills, even in unusual ways, the more employers will take note. How do you highlight your communication skills? Are you demonstrating to employers how well you communicate? Author: Heather R. Huhman  is a career expert, experienced hiring manager, and founder president of  Come Recommended, a content marketing and digital PR consultancy for organizations with products that target job seekers and/or employers. She is also the author of  Lies, Damned Lies Internships  (2011),#ENTRYLEVELtweet: Taking Your Career from Classroom to Cubicle  (2010), and writes career and recruiting advice for  numerous outlets.

How to Write a Self Resume

How to Write a Self ResumeSelf resume writing is a good idea if you have already filled up the standard government applications and if you are still in college or university. It will be useful to you later on in your career, when you're already making your way in the corporate world.The reason why you should give yourself self resume writing is that the requirements in applying for jobs in corporate and government have changed a lot since you were in college. Not only are companies now requiring a huge amount of information, but also they are searching for people who are able to show some expertise in their field. These requirements, coupled with the fact that you are applying for an entirely new job, are actually quite demanding.This means that you will need to come up with a new type of non-traditional resume. It's actually not that hard to come up with an amazing self resume, just make sure that you're able to follow these instructions carefully. Your self resume writing should be filled with the most essential information that companies require. It's not just an ordinary resume, you should be aware of the importance of writing the right one.It doesn't really matter what kind of resume you make. What matters is that you're able to write the best one you can. When you're looking for a resume writer, it's important that you find someone who will be able to understand your needs and what exactly you're looking for. You may ask for samples of their work and see if they can meet your expectations.When you're working on your resume, you'll need to remember that everything must be organized. The way you arrange your information is how your resume will appear to the readers.Once you've organized all the information in your resume, you'll need to choose the right title. Make sure that you use the right format when writing the title. If you're unsure of what the title should be, you can ask your local writing service or online resources to help you out.Once you've wri tten the title, you'll need to begin writing the body of your resume. Your resume writing should be fairly straightforward and it should tell the reader about you in simple terms.Don't forget to indicate your education and qualifications if there are any. Also, make sure that your resume is formatted correctly before submitting it.

Happy links roundup - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Happy links roundup - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog Here are the best recent stories from the Happy Link Collection: Being nice saved this McDonalds. A McDonalds owner feels the squeeze when a Taco Bell opens next door. Instead of cutting costs, he fights back by going nice: Bigari started giving no?interest loans to employees to cover things like new tires, rental deposits, medicine and emergency babysitters. He worked with a local church to help employees get daycare, and he started buying inexpensive cars at police auctions and selling them to employees at cost. Why growth no longer makes us happier. The formula for human well-being used to be simple: Make money, get happy. So why is the old axiom suddenly turning on us? (txh Kareem). Small company hires a happiness manager. The owner decided to only hire people who where happy! Thats right if she didnt feel that you werent a really happy person, you didnt get the job. She went even further and hired a Happiness Manager. His job is as you might expect, is to find ways to keep her happy employees.HAPPY! Also: Happy at work in South Korea The science of lasting happiness Why happiness at work is like marriage Schedule play at work A 10-second experiment in negative thinking. And finally, you gotta see this video from game company Cranium, a truly happy company whose office is laid out like the board of their first board game: Find more links, vote on your favorites and submit your own stories, articles or blogposts at the happy link collection. And have a spectacularly happy weekend :o) Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related

More Great Career Advice from The Olympics

More Great Career Advice from The Olympics Here are a few more of my favorite moments from the XXIX Summer Olympic Games and the lessons we can apply to our own lives and careers.I said Id try to get a medal and hopefully itd be a gold one. According to NBCOlympics.com, thats what Michael Phelps said to Stevie Hansen, a promising young swimmer diagnosed with cancer who had reached out to Phelps. Michael sent gifts and made trips to see Stevie, even attending a swim meet to cheer on the little boy. Michael said he was honored to be looked up to by someone like Stevie.Its amazing that behind the scenes, behind all the fame success is a team effort. Michael Phelps was motivated not only by the desire to break records and become the most decorated Olympic athlete of all time but also by a young boys last wish.Dont put an age limit on your dreams inspiring words of advice from Dara Torres, 41 year-old mom and the oldest swimming medalist in history. I wanted to highlight Daras story for anyone feeling its too late or theyre too old to follow their dreams.Believe it or not, you might be getting even better with age. According to NBCOlympics.com, Torres started her Olympic career at the 1984 games in Los Angeles but her most successful Olympics didnt come until 20 years later in Sydney in 2004. And when shes been retired from swimming, Dana Torres has also successfully transferred her skills into sports broadcasting and modeling.What lessons are you taking away from these amazing athletes and their stories? Whos inspired you to go beyond your limits and achieve whats never been done before?