Posted by alina77vere9uk on June 26, 2008 under Articles | 
Tips to Improving your Skill Set without Changing Jobs, Written by Teena Rose
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While many people want professional growth, it does not necessarily mean that you want to change jobs. You may be happy in your current position, but still have the desire to do more, be challenged and grow professionally. There are several tips that can help you to improve your skills without changing jobs.
By setting aside time for learning you can really improve your skills on your own. Reading professional journals, books, websites or blogs are excellent ways to help you think differently about the problems you face in your current position and open you up to new ideas. If you have time and classes or seminars are offered in your area, they can also be a great way to help improve your skills at work and network with others outside of your job where you can share ideas. The key to this tip is to dedicate the time for learning regularly, be it 30 minutes a day or a couple of hours a week.
Another tip to help improve your skills within your current position is to make yourself available to others in your office to assist with their projects or tasks. It is important to think outside your original job description and find out how you can be a team player at work. Putting yourself out there to try new things will help improve your skills and be seen as valuable contributor to your employer.
Outside the office is a great place to improve your skills often in a non-threatening environment. There are many volunteer positions where you can pursue new skills. If you need help on your leadership skills, see if you can find a volunteer position where you could work on these skills. Think about getting involved with clubs, religious or non-profit organizations, schools or sports teams. Sometimes the skills you learn in a context completely different from your career can fuel your creative energy to look at the issues you face at work in a new way.
Pay attention to what you are doing at work and think creatively about each task or skill. The monotony of your daily tasks is likely leaving you feeling less than fulfilled, but what if you could come up with a way to improve the outcomes of these tasks or to make them more meaningful? Pay attention to each task individually, concentrating on whether this is creating the best outcome. Things do not have to be broken to get better, focus in on each skill with an eye for improvement.
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Copyright 2008, Teena Rose, Resume to Referral, All Rights Reserved
Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.
Posted by alina77vere9uk on June 22, 2008 under Articles |
Visible tattoos, once considered a serious flaw in the job interview, no longer seem to predict job search failure.
With the success of TV reality shows like Miami Ink and LA Ink, college students are more inked and more colorful than ever. Pew Research in 2006 showed that 36% of 18 to 25 year-olds and 40% of those aged 26 to 40, have at least one tattoo. Earlier in 2000, the National Geographic News stated that 15% of Americans were tattooed.
In a 2006 survey of employer perceptions conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), hiring managers were asked to state the amount of influence that certain factors had on their hiring decisions. The results may be surprising to many career professionals who have urged job seekers to err on the side of being conservative and hide those tattoos.
The NACE survey results showed that only 29% of employers stated that obvious tattoos strongly influenced them while 71% said it had slight to no influence on their hiring decisions. A cautionary note - taken by itself, that does not mean that employers look favorably on tattoos in the job interview.
Add that, however, to what John A. Challenger, of renowned global outplacement firm, Challenger, Gray and Christmas stated in a 2007 interview with the Boston Globe. “A decade ago, showing off tattoos and body piercings would be a sure-fire way to get your resume placed in the ‘No Way!’ pile. Times have changed.”
Challenger shared that hiring managers were more concerned about baggy-underwear-revealing-pants and cell phones in the job interview then they were about tattoos.
While the trends have indicated greater tolerance for tattoos in the job interview, jobseekers should keep in mind that HR managers making hiring decisions have their own personal biases. A January 2008 Harris Interactive poll surveying more than 2000 adults found that 32% of people without tattoos believed that individuals with tattoos were more likely to do something deviant.
Additionally, more than half believed that a person with a tattoo is more rebellious. Hiring mangers conducting the job interview, although trying to remain objective, might still tend towards their personal opinions and dismiss your candidacy for the job.
New college grads should err on the side of conservatism and cover up those tattoos. There will be plenty of time to show them off later. For now the goal is to get the job offer and get the proverbial foot-in-the-door.
Article By: Article by Marcia Robinson and courtesy of BullsEyeResumes College Blogs. Robinson has been coaching, training, and writing on career, workplace, employment and education issues for students and career professionals for 10 years.
Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.
Posted by alina77vere9uk on June 8, 2008 under Articles |
We are all aware that using the internet today for a job search is a huge time saver. Webcam interviews and emailed resumes save potential new hires hours of driving, printing, mailing, and air travel time not to mention the countless hours just waiting for flights. Americans are also beginning to realize that webcam technology offers solutions to problems other than time issues: environmental concerns related to dependence on fossil fuels are reframed by the possibilities of electronic communication. Digital technology has given HR and job candidates the “green interview” and eco-friendly employment.
According to the Sierra Club (sierraclub.org) more than 50 percent of adults believe that their employers should do more to be environmentally responsible. Many companies have already taken steps to do so by embracing technology and using electronic methods such as websites to advertise available positions. Requesting emailed resumes and correspondences is also ecologically conscious. Paperless communications are invaluable in the fight to reduce a company’s carbon footprint; in the production of regular office paper, mills pollute water, air, and soil. Paper production is one of the most polluting industries in North America (ranked 3rd) and uses chlorine-based bleaches that result in toxic emissions.
Although paper recycling has reduced the pollution caused by initial or pulp production, it is an industrial process and recycling mills may have polluting by-products such as sludge. Therefore, the reduction of paper use is the truly effective way of reducing environmental polutants. And digital technology offers companies and job seekers this opportunity by creating a paperless line of communication that can be archived: email.
Webcam interviews are also greener than many realize. Americans must cut carbon-dioxide emissions 80 percent in the next 40 years in order to successfully combat global warming. According to the EPA, more than 30% of carbon dioxide emissions in the US result from gasoline engines in cars, light trucks and SUVs. Additionally, drivers in cities such as Los Angeles and New York City waste over 600 million gallons of gas annually while idling in traffic. The use of webcam interviews reduces the release of carbon dioxide from cars driven by job seekers attending interviews in the job search process.
The EPA also estimates that air travel causes 3.5 percent of global warming and predicts that the amount could rise to 15 percent in the next 40 years unless America changes the way it does business. On average, an airline flight from the west coast to the east coast requires over 12,000 gallons of fuel, and emits 252,000 pounds or 126 tons of carbon dioxide. Further, the impact of carbon is 2.7x greater in the stratosphere than if emitted on land. In other words, air travel is leaving a colossal carbon footprint on the planet, one that might easily be reduced by eliminating unnecessary air travel via webcam interviewing and webcam conferencing technology. Business travel may be necessary in some cases, but air travel for employment interviews is not.
When all factors are considered, Internet technology may offer solutions to many of the environmental problems vexing the nation today. Reducing America’s dependence on fossil fuels while further developing alternate and renewable resources is most important; using today’s technology to do this is the easy part.
For more information, go to
www.doe.gov
www.ecobridge.org
www.epa.gov
www.sierraclub.org
Article By: Real-Time Video Job Interviews
Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.
Posted by alina77vere9uk on June 4, 2008 under Articles |
Partnering with a staffing firm is an opportunity to reduce your recruiting time. Most of the work is taken care of by professionals with years of experience. Partnering with a successful staffing firm is a good step in managing your recruiting campaigns. Staffing firms have a database full of highly qualified candidates that could match your organization’s needs. Your responsibility is to choose a reputable firm with experience in high retention rates. Why are the experience, reputation, and successful retention rate important in choosing a staffing firm? We will review the details of this in our article because we want you to choose a partner that will get the job done.Experience
An experienced staffing firm has a methodological way of acquiring new talent for their clients. The firm should have experience or expertise in finding candidates with the right skills and abilities to ease into your organization. Their interviewing processes should include virtual assessments, face-to-face meetings, and thorough background searches. Your prospective partner should have several years of experience in recruiting candidates in highs and lows of your industry’s demands. The staffing firm’s experience and reputation tell a story of how well they work with their clients.
Reputation
The reputation of a staffing firm is a supreme factor of their capabilities in placing qualified candidates in your organization. What are the clients saying about the staffing firm’s abilities? Can you contact previous clients to inquire about the process used to place candidates within their organizations? Use your HR skills to screen potential partners by using the best practices in recruiting. Your potential partner should have data stating the retention rates of their placements in organizations. If this information is unavailable, you should consider finding a company that has that information available. Remember, the data is concrete and you need to feel confident in their abilities to assist you in your recruiting efforts.
Retention Rates
How long has the firm worked with a particular organization? You can ask for professional references from clients who have worked with the recruiter for years. The retention rates of their placements should explain their ability to coordinate candidates to fit into certain organizational cultures. For instance, would you hire a candidate with no intentions of monitoring their adaptation to the company culture? Your company’s needs must match suitable characteristics of candidates. Staffing firms with high retention rates, strong reputations, and experience are the best partners for any business.
Please consider the above factors during your search for a strong staffing partner. If you want to learn more about the benefits of partnering with staffing firms, check out Benefits of the Temporary Help and Staffing Services Industry [http://www.collegerecruiter.com/pages/articles/article50.php]. The increased work week has left many businesses turning to the staffing industry for help in coordinating talent. Take advantage of the skills of other recruiters to locate the best candidates for your organization. This will not only make you look good, but it will help move the company forward.
Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.
Article By: Tahjia Chapman is a writer for CollegeRecruiter.com at http://www.CollegeRecruiter.com, the leading job board for college students searching for internships and recent graduates hunting for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.
