Don’t Take That Job Before Doing This – Stacy Rapacon

Aug 292016
 

Don't Take That JobWhether you’re a new grad eager to enter the world of work or a seasoned pro ready for a new opportunity, know what you’re getting into before accepting that job offer.

“The job market is strong across the board,” said Dawn Fay, district president of staffing firm Robert Half International. “It’s really become more of a candidate’s marketplace. If you’ve got some sought-after skills, you’re probably going to wind up with more than one job offer.”

Indeed, with a low national unemployment rate of 5 percent and positive hiring outlooks, the odds are in favor of job seekers. Salaries overall also are expected to be 4.1 percent higher than they were in 2015, according to Robert Half’s 2016 salary guide.

So how do you decide whether an opportunity is worth taking? Very carefully. And it all begins long before you get your offer. After all, your job is where you are going to spend the majority of your waking hours.

“For the employer, it’s a commercial decision,” said Kim Seeling Smith, founder and CEO of human resources training and consulting firm Ignite Global. “For you, it’s a life decision, so you have to put a lot of thought into taking the next opportunity.”

The first thing you should do when approaching a job hunt is figure out a three-year career plan, said Seeling Smith. This process should involve evaluating your personal goals, your career values, and your strengths and weaknesses. If you’ve figured this out, you can more easily determine whether your next job offer is the right step to take.

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5 Skills You Need to Work on to Get Ahead – No Matter What Industry You’re In – Antonio Neves

Aug 222016
 

5 SkillsWhen it comes to succeeding in the workplace, a college degree isn’t necessarily enough. Nor is years of experience on the job.

That’s because the most in-demand skills that employers crave are the elusive “soft skills”—the intangible but important qualities that enable you to work and interact with the people around you effectively.

These traits include leadership, self-awareness, communication skills, and emotional intelligence. In fact, an important criteria during the hiring process at Google is screening for “learning ability.”

Having great soft skills can be a huge game-changer as you go through your career. It can be the difference between getting people to believe in you or being forgotten, the difference between advancing a project or having it rejected, the difference between getting a promotion or finding yourself in yet another disappointing lateral move. These skills teach you not just to be a better employee but a stellar human being as well.

So, check out the five soft skills below that are essential for success—all of which you can teach yourself to practice in your daily interactions:

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  •  August 22, 2016
  •  Posted by at 10:05 am
  •   Comments Off on 5 Skills You Need to Work on to Get Ahead – No Matter What Industry You’re In – Antonio Neves
  •   Career Success, Social Skills

The One Question You Should Ask at the End of Every Job Interview – Peter Economy

Aug 162016
 

The one questionWhile we all know that resumes and applications–and anything else we submit on paper–take priority for getting our foot in the door with a new employer, there’s one thing that ultimately determines whether or not we get the job: The interview. How do we nail it? Read on to find the one question you should definitely be asking–and why it works so well.

Interviews are crucial for employers to put a face to a name, as well as to see whether or not they think the person would be a good fit for the company. That being said, it’s of utmost importance not only to put your best foot forward, but also to show that you can add something to their team. When interviews do fail, they leave so many applicants wondering just what they did wrong. The trick to circumventing this problem, however, is actually easier than it seems.

Sometimes, the solution is simply to ask.

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13 Social Media Power Tips for Getting the Job You Want – Matt Sweetwood

Aug 092016
 

13 Social MediaI believe that social media is the most effective tool for building your brand and business. That is true whether the brand is for business or is personal. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and Linkedin have become commonplace in our culture and maybe the most popular forms of interaction today. In fact, Facebook has 1.5 billion monthly users. That’s one in five people on earth.

Job seeking has changed a lot over the past few years. Gone are the days of waiting for the Sunday newspaper to scour the job section for new opportunities. We have Monster, Ladders, Recruiter, ZipRecruiter and other dot coms which provide job listings and automatically deliver your resume electronically. So, do you need to use social media to find a new job? Does having a powerful personal brand give you an edge in the job market?

Related: The Easy Way to Get a Social Influencer Advocating Your Brand Is to Hire One

Let’s look at some statistics, courtesy of the September 2015 study done by the Society for Human Resource Management: 57 percent of companies hired from LinkedIn, 19 percent hired from Facebook and 65 percent of companies used some form of social media to hire.

Related: Build a Social Media Hiring Strategy

From the same study: Hiring managers thought it important for job seekers to have the following social media accounts: LinkedIn — 87 percent, Facebook 63 percent, Twitter 56 percent, and a blog 55 percent. The statistics tell us that if you are not using social media to help you find a job you are putting yourself at a huge disadvantage.

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11 Sloppy LinkedIn Mistakes That You’re Too Qualified to Make – The Young Entrepreneur Council

Aug 012016
 

11 SloppyA LinkedIn profile’s an awesome opportunity to shine beyond the traditional resume. Between your job history, publications, endorsements, and connections, potential employers scan your information to see what you can bring to the team that no one else can. But if your profile is riddled with typos or you don’t have an adequate picture, an employer isn’t going to see you as a viable candidate.

We asked 11 entrepreneurs and members of YEC to share the mistakes they see most often and how they hurt your professional image in an employer’s eyes. Here’s what you should avoid:

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