Do you have a photo of yourself posted proudly on your personal social networking page? No, I don’t mean that professional portrait you framed and gave to your grandma last Christmas. I’m talking about that night two weeks ago when you and 20 of your closest friends decided to play beer pong on the roof of a abandoned petrochemical facility and Bob captured the moment on his phone…
In that handy “personal information” section of the same profile did you list the following dislikes?:Working, collating, filing,bosses, HR departments and wage slavery?
Before you send your resume out to the employer of your dreams ( or lets face it in this economy, any employer) you may want to tighten the privacy settings on your Facebook/MySpace/Social Networking Site of Your Choice and other personal ephemera floating around out there on the ‘net.
Prospective employers do treat these resources like a free background check and they will judge you by what they find.
According to research done by the Career Builders website 53% of potential employers will research you online. 43% of those who do research you rely on common search engines and 12% go directly to Facebook to check you out. According to Career Builders, two in five employers found information during such a background check that dissuaded them from hiring a candidate. One third of employers said that an online search of candidates qualifications proved said candidate lied about his or her qualifications.
Once you’re hired you need to be careful too. 28% of employers reported firing an employee over material they posted on the web. In most cases this material was derogatory towards an employer or another employee. It is important to realize that the internet is a memory monster, all those blogs you wrote when you were 16, those wild beer pong photos, political affiliations, likes, dislikes, music and friends are out there once you put them out there. The best solution is to never give out personal information over the internet. If you do, use a pseudonym and don’t post identifying photographs. Many people live a great deal of their lives on the web so this may be an impossible option. As an alternative, protect the flow of information. Go into your account settings and crank up the privacy. Plug your name into a search engine and read your results. If you see any issues try to fix them if that is possible.
Also remember that Social Networking can be used for good. You may be able to make employment contacts or employers may reach out to you. Make your best impression!
Don’t put your name or identifying information to anything online that you wouldn’t want your grandma to read…unless your grandma belongs to a motorcycle gang ( Hi Grandma!).
Let what begin? Your career, your attitude, and the rest of your life. Put it in your head that this is your year. Allow yourself to succeed beyond your wildest dreams and reach heights yet unseen. How are you going to do this? Remember this phrase: It’s all in your head!
Your outlook on life will determine the quality of your mood, the company you keep, and most definitely your career. If you’re unemployed: change it! You might say to yourself, “But there are no jobs!”
THAT IS NOT TRUE!
Check out sites like Hound and Employment Crossing today. Don’t wait. The longer you allow yourself to go unemployed, the more problems you are likely to have.
There is no need to fear, log on and find a job that suits your expectations. If you are currently in a job you can’t stand, cross over to a job you love with Employment Crossing.
You can have the life you want. Let it begin, in 2010!
I previously wrote a post about the impact of encouragement on you and your career and I got some feedback asking for a more in depth look at the phenomenon of discouragement and encouragement and how it plays into your career.
I want you to stop whatever you are doing and think about five things you believe about yourself.
- Do you believe you are capable of earning a million dollar salary?
- Do you believe that you are capable of getting a promotion?
- Do you believe that you are on the verge of getting fired?
- Do you ALWAYS believe that you are on the verge of getting fired?
Okay, now I want you to think back to the origin of such beliefs. It is my guess that these sorts of self-perceptions have everything to do with the company you keep.
Have you ever watched an awards show like The Grammys or The Oscars? More often than not, you will hear the recipients of such awards doll out a long list of thank you’s. And they are also, quite frequently, very long lists. This is an interesting bit of proof that the most successful of individuals do not do it all on their own. They do it with the encouragement and, more importantly, the belief of others that they can achieve such amazing feats.
Rarely, if ever, do you see someone go up on a stage after receiving an award saying they’d done it all on their own. In fact, I have never witnessed this.
My point is, you should take a step back and analyze your life in this way. Divide your friends and family into categories of those who encourage and those who do not encourage. Does your mother tell you that you are very intelligent. Does she tell you that she “knows” you can acheive anything you want in life? Then put her into the pile of those who encourage.
Conversely, do you have a father (or mother, even) who is always telling you that you cannot achieve this or that. Do they tell you that you need to revise your thinking to be more realistic? Do they say that you’re dreaming too big? Then put them into the other pile!
Once you’ve got your lists together, you have some serious soul searching to do. I do not believe that you should, or that it is realistic to completely excise these negative people out of your life; however, you do need to learn how to more or less ingore those people.
Positive encouragement is one of the most important tools you can possess in your quest for career. The affects it can have on your mood will increase your aptitude at work. They will even make those sleepy mornings easier by increasing your motivation for going to work. If you know that when you get to work, you’re going to achieve something great, then I have no doubt you’re going to be thrilled to get there.
On the other hand, if people are telling you that what you think you can achieve is unrealistic or that it’s not possible, then how do you think that will affect you at work? It will invariably diminish your ability to work to your full potential, and quite possibly leave you with a sense of depression and hopelessness.
Listen to me: You need to ignore those naysayers because we live in a world where anything is possible. And in your career the sky is the limit. That is, and always will be the truth.
When your outlook is positive, good things will happen. They may take time, but from the very moment you believe, you will start planting the seed of greatness. Your continued encouragement will act as the sunshine that lets them grow into beautiful flowers!
Unemployment nationwide is up yet again since September, rising to 9.8 percent, from 9.7 percent in August. That’s a 26-year high.
Attention in the mainstream media has definitely switched, however, from the plummeting employment rate to a strong focus on President Obama’s proposed health care initiatives, which have, throughout a series of town hall meetings set up across the nation, reinvigorated allegations of socialism to angry mob status.
Senator Arlen Specter, who switched from the GOP to the Democratic party earlier in the year, has faced a barrage of hard hitting insults during the recent town hall meetings to discuss future plans for health care in America (My favorite of which: “socialist, fascist pig.” it’s concise hard hitting, and it’s got a nice ring to it).
Now, there is nothing wrong with Americans voicing their opinion about government initiatives, however, one seriously has to wonder where the mojo regarding job creation has gone. It is likely that, should the unemployment rate in America persist as it has been for the past 12 months, many of these enraged socialist haters will have no health care plan to either complain about or praise.
One must wonder how the option of socialized health care sounds to a citizen faced with a mountain of debt after a single emergency room visit: A cherry topping to the ice cream sundae that is unemployment.
I don’t speak any of the Balto-Slavic languages, so I have no idea what this commercial is advertising. But if you’re trying to come up with ways to avoid your boss, then watch:
If you know what’s going on this commercial, let us know in the comments!
If you’re important enough at your firm top score your own administrative assistant, you’re very lucky. But is your administrative assistant?
Here are the requests your assistant wants to make, but dares not:
Always leave without telling anyone where you’re going. It gives me a chance to be creative when someone asks where you are.
Do your best to make me late. I adore this office and really have nowhere to go or anything to do. I have no life beyond work.
If a job I do pleases you, please keep it a secret. If that gets out, it could mean a promotion.
If you don’t like my work, tell everyone. I like my name to be popular in conversations.
Don’t ever ask me to lunch. I love it when you run off for a three-martini binge at noon, while I munch on dry ramen at my desk.
If you have any job responsibilities you don’t enjoy, just delegate them to me. In fact, why don’t I just do your job, at one-third of your pay? Then you can sit on your ass all day and play fantasy football.
If it’s really a rush job, run in and interrupt me every 10 minutes to inquire how it’s going. That helps. Or even better, hover behind me, advising me at every keystroke.
If my arms are full of papers, boxes, books, or supplies, don’t open the door for me. I need to learn how to function as a paraplegic, and opening doors with no arms is good training in case I should ever be injured in a luge competition.
If you give me more than one job to do, don’t tell me which is priority. I’m hoping if I concentrate hard enough, I’ll become psychic.
If you have special instructions for a job, don’t write them down. In fact, save them until the job is almost done.
Never give me work in the morning. Always wait until 4:00 pm, and then bring it to me. Better yet, wait until Friday.
Never introduce me to the people. When you refer to them later, I’ll rely on my psychic powers again.
Tell me all your personal problems. No one else has any, and it’s nice to know someone is less fortunate. I especially like the story about you having to pay so much taxes on the bonus check you received for being such a good manager.
Got any more secret requests for your manager? Let us know in the comments.
It can be confusing, sometimes, to figure out what a human resources manager does. Is he or she a representative of management, a manager, or an employee advocate? (Yes.) Is he or she involved in payroll, hiring, and benefits? (Yes.) Can you go to your HR Manager if you have an issue with your superior? (Yes.)
The HR person’s role can vary between companies. But here are some basic responsibilities:
Hiring: Often, managers at a firm will write up a description for a position they need filled. The HR manager will then act as a recruiter — placing the job ad, evaluating responses, and setting up interviews with potential employees. If the HR manager is happy with the outcome of that first interview, he or she will set up one or more interviews with the actual manager and other executives, sometimes on the same day.
In my experience, especially concerning technical and new media positions, an HR manager will happily pass you along to your potential supervisor, who will decide you are not a fit for the position at all. What’s the disconnect between the HR manager and the supervisor? Usually a lack of communication, and a poor understanding on the HR Manager’s part of what the position entails.
Member of management: One of an HR manager’s primary duties is to ensure professional business practices in all human resources decisions and communications. Usually this involves creating an employee manual, and then enforcing the rules of the manual. In a growing company, the HR person may need to demolish the fun, freewheeling atmosphere of a small company in order to protect it from lawsuits as it becomes a medium-sized or large company.
HR managers must be on the lookout for inappropriate behavior — sexual harassment, inappropriate jokes or pranks, racial or religious remarks, unsuitable work clothing, dangerous work practices that may lead to injury, etc. This applies to both management and non-management employees. At a well-run company, the HR manager has the authority to force management into behaving properly and treating employees with respect.
Employee advocate: When an employee is not getting what they are due — a raise, bonus or promotion, job resources, respect — the HR person becomes his or her advocate, working with the employee and with management to reach a solution. But if your HR manager has no pull with management, then they are ill-suited to advocate on your behalf. This is why unions exist.
Under the best of circumstances, it can be nerve-wracking to tackle the topic of compensation with a new or prospective employer. You worry that if you don’t negotiate, you’ll end up with the lowest possible salary (true); but if you play hardball, you may not get the job at all (usually untrue, but who knows?).
In this economy, employers are particularly keen to get you to accept the lowest end of whatever range of salary they are prepared to offer. And some employers won’t negotiate at all.
So what to do?
Don’t bring up salary until you get a firm job offer. That isn’t to say that the employer won’t bring it up sooner. But don’t mention it yourself until offered a position. Sometimes, an employer hasn’t even seriously considered salary — they wanted to see who they would hire first. Others are waiting for you to broach the topic, and you will have given the impression that you want the job for the job, and not just for the money.
Of course, this is all unfair — you’re putting in all the time and work of the interview process, and have no clear idea of how much the job pays. I once interviewed for a great job with a great company — and was told at the very end of the process that they really wanted me, but didn’t think I would like the pay. It was half of what I could conceivably live on, and I was forced to turn it down. If I’d known what the job paid from the beginning, I would have politely turned down the interview.
Find out what other people are paid for the same position at similar firms. This research is very easy to do online. In my experience, what websites list as the average salary for various positions is much higher than what employers actually offer. But if you can say “whatpeoplegetpaid.com says the average wage for a widget comptroller is $80,000,” the employer is put in the position of having to offer you something near the higher end of what the firm is willing to pay.
Don’t lie about past salaries. Often, employers ask what you made at your last job, and tack on 5% or 10%. If that total is within their acceptable salary range, that’s what they offer. This might tempt you to lie about your past salary. Don’t. Lying about something that can easily be fact-checked is a great way to end up back in the dole queue.
Don’t use your personal life in salary negotiations. Your prospective employer does not want to hear that your kid needs braces, or that your mortgage is past due. You haven’t even started yet, and you’re already dragging your home life into the office.
When negotiating salary, talk about the professional credentials and skills that will make you valuable to the firm. Make clear that by hiring you at better pay, they will in fact save money, and may just be snatching you away from other prospective employers. Don’t bring your personal life into it.
Got any more advice for negotiating salaries? Let us know in the comments!
I return now to my lone, quixotic campaign to help stop dumb people with business degrees from trying to sound smart by using heinous business jargon.
Plug-and-play. This term has a technical meaning we need not worry about here. Microsoft introduced the term as marketing jargon in the ’90s, to imply that you could plug a printer or modem into a Windows PC, and have it work automatically, without loading software or changing settings. You know, like a Mac. On rare occasions, Windows plug-and-play actually works.
Business folks use the term to mean a process or product that is easily initiated or installed, and that works right away. Now think — have you ever experienced such a thing? Of course you haven’t. It doesn’t exist.
“Plug-and-play,” when it comes to business, is a lie. Don’t use it.
Turn-key solution. Means the same thing as plug-and-play. Does not exist, no matter what the salesperson tells you. The closest thing I ever encountered to a “turn-key” solution was WordPress — and it still took me a week to get a blog properly going.
Dynamic metrics. This also may have a highly technical meaning, but business people use it to mean “measurements taken while a process (such as online advertising) is operating,” as opposed to taking measurements when a process is ended. I hereby grant permission to IT pros and data analysts to use this term. Anyone else — you sound like an idiot. In fact, the next time you hear a non-techie use this phrase, ask him or her what it means. It’ll be amusing.
Right-sizing. Right-sizing = downsizing = FIRED. Never let anyone euphemize firings. Make them feel the guilt.
Synergy. The absolute nadir of corporate buzzwords. It means “different entities that cooperate, and become more than the sum of their parts.” This word has been overused to the point of meaninglessness. In practice, it means Company A bought Company B, and now the employees at Company A are not allowed to use any product made by Company B’s competitors. But they will pay full price.
Instruct your secretary or assistant to stab you in the hand with a fork every time you say “synergy.” You’ll learn. Same thing goes for “mediums” and “irregardless.”
Got any hated corporate gobbledy-speak of your own? Let is know in the comments!
You Found Employment Crossroads -- Now do something with it.
In the miracle that is cyberspace, you've no doubt read a zillion blogs and websites about how to improve your employment picture. It's kind of sick and ironic that employment among employment "experts" seems to be doing just fine. Dubious at best.
Well, we do things a little differently here, and it boils down to basically two options:
A) Keep going to employment sites that only feature ads paid for by employers; or
B) Try something that works.
This blog is published by EmploymentCrossing.com. We feature the most comprehensive websites on the PLANET that don't charge employers to post their jobs with us. Think about that...And as we say during our elevator pitches to people who don't quite get why that's important:
Here are the requests your assistant wants to make, but dares not:
The HR person’s role can vary between companies. But here are some basic responsibilities:
13. My Mom didn’t wake me up on time. She doesn’t like to come into the basement.
In this economy, employers are particularly keen to get you to accept the lowest end of whatever range of salary they are prepared to offer. And some employers won’t negotiate at all.
Plug-and-play. This term has a technical meaning we need not worry about here. Microsoft introduced the term as marketing jargon in the ’90s, to imply that you could plug a printer or modem into a Windows PC, and have it work automatically, without loading software or changing settings. You know, like a Mac. On rare occasions, Windows plug-and-play actually works.
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