Category: Employment

Hiring theories and techniques

FROM THE TRENCHES: 8 things successful people do after getting back from vacation


8 things successful people do after getting back from vacation

 

SATURDAY SEP 01 2018

Reprinted from Landit.com

Coming back from a magical vacation isn’t much fun. One minute, you’re lounging by the sparkling, blue sea without a care in the world. The next, you’re back in your gray cubicle, feeling jet-lagged and sunburned.

But your transition back to the office doesn’t have to be a total nightmare. In fact, there are certain steps you can take on your first day back that’ll make the whole process much easier.

With some simple strategizing, you’ll get back into your usual work groove in no time:

Get an early start

If you want to ease back into work, you’ve got to prepare.

“Get to bed early the night before, and get in a little early,” Lynn Taylor, a national workplace expert and the author of “Tame Your Terrible Office Tyrant: How to Manage Childish Boss Behavior and Thrive in Your Job,” told Business Insider. “That will mitigate the workload avalanche and give you a head start, sans distraction.”

Don’t stretch yourself thin

Don’t schedule a ton of meetings and deadlines during your first day back. That’ll just leave you feeling overwhelmed and behind on your work.

“Ideally, try and keep your first day back schedule-free from any meetings or appointments — keep it as open as possible so that you have the entire day free to catch up and not feel overwhelmed,” Michael Kerr, an international business speaker and author of “The Humor Advantage,” told Business Insider.

Kerr recommended strategizing before you begin your day: “Take several minutes to plan your day before diving in, focus on priorities, and don’t be afraid to ask for support.”

If you’re facing an avalanche of work, try prioritizing your tasks, Taylor said:

“Handle emergencies first. Decide what’s most important to your job, your boss, and your project list. Look at the big picture, not what comes to you sequentially. Learn to say ‘no’ to low priority items hurled your way.”

Get caught up

Before diving back in to individual emails and projects, Ryan Kahn, a career coach, founder of The Hired Group, and author of “Hired! The Guide for the Recent Grad,” told Business Insider that it’s important to get a broad idea of how things were while you were gone.

“Figure out if there were any major events or changes that occurred,” he said. “This way, you’ll be generally up to speed before diving in deep into the day-to day details of your work.”

Don’t get lost in your inbox

Beware of spending too much time responding to the emails you missed while you were out.

“It’s easy to get sucked into the vortex of responding to every email without considering whether it’s the best use of your time on the first day back,” Kerr said. “Don’t confuse email activity with productive work, so be strategic and only respond to email that are time sensitive.”

Check in with your team and customers

Now that you’re back, it’s a good idea to touch base with your boss and coworkers to let them know what you’re working on. Taylor added that it’s important to keep these interactions brief and relatively cursory, until “you’re comfortably caught up.”

You should also connect with your best clients.

“Take the time to connect with one or two clients to let them know they’re top of mind with you and that you’re back if they need anything,” Kerr said. “It’s a simple customer service touch point that can make a big impression.”

Take care of yourself

You might be tempted to work yourself into the ground after your vacation. After all, you’ve had your time to relax. Now, you’ve got to put your nose to the grindstone.

But this approach will probably end up backfiring.

Instead, Kerr said to make sure you take breaks, stretch, and eat well during the day. Kerr said:

“It’s easy to fall in the trap of feeling like you must put your head down and plow through the first day back non-stop until everything is done. But tackling your first day with that approach will not only potentially cause you great stress; it will increase that chances that you’ll make mistakes and likely result in you being less, rather than more, productive.”

Taylor says that, at a breakneck pace, you’ll eventually tire, and your efforts will be counterproductive.

“Take an extra break during the day, and make sure you get in a longer break than usual,” she said. “You need to create a transition of relaxation.”

She added that, after work, it’s important to resume your normal routine and get to bed at a decent hour.

By Áine Cain for Business Insider.

Does Your LinkedIn Profile Suck?


By Jenny Foss reprinted from THE MUSE

https://www.themuse.com/advice/does-your-linkedin-headline-suck

Welcome to the most overlooked LinkedIn profile section: The headline.

If you’re a LinkedIn user, especially one who’s attempting to leverage your LinkedIn presence for professional gain—please race over to your profile immediately. And once you’re there, tell me what you’ve got going on for your headline.

Current title and company name? Yes, yes, I thought so.

Don’t fret. The vast majority of people screw up the headline on their LinkedIn profile, most often because they don’t even realize that you can edit your headline to anything you want. That’s right, your headline is yours for the taking.

By default, LinkedIn populates your headline with your current job title and employer—and that’s precisely what a lot of people leave in there. But allowing the LinkedIn default to take charge of your headline is a dumb move. Why? Because this little 120-character section is prime marketing real estate. Done well, your LinkedIn headline can be used to promote your brand statement, core marketing message, most enticing expertise, and all-around spectacularity (please don’t use that word in your LinkedIn headline.)

Simply put, you can sell yourself, your stuff, and your services, all with a stellar LinkedIn headline.

So how do you get from job title to stellar headline? A great LinkedIn headline incorporates at least a few of these five elements:

1. Succinctly showcase your specialty, value proposition, or your “so what?”

As a recruiter, most days I breeze through LinkedIn profiles fast and furiously. If you want my attention, you’ll do yourself a tremendous service if your LinkedIn headline instantly showcases to me your “so what?” Why should I stop and take a closer look at you? Tell me—in your headline.

PMP-certified project manager – Known for successfully leading multi-million dollar projects in developing countries.

If I were looking for a certified project manager who could take it and run on a challenging international assignment? You’d better believe I’d read further into this guy’s profile. He’s got a good “so what?” The guy whose headline says “Project Manager, [company I haven’t heard of]”—I might pass. (Even if he put “international development” in his interests, which I’ll never see.)

2. Speak directly to the audience you want to entice

Your LinkedIn headline (and, for that matter, your entire profile) should consider its target audience, and then speak directly to it. What will compel or seduce the decision-maker at the receiving end of your message? What does she likely care most about? Address that your headline.

Let’s assume for this next example that I’m a robotics industry recruiter (which I actually am). I’m a robotics recruiter, and I’m looking for someone who knows how to program the heck out of all types of robots. This headline would catch my eye:

Customer-focused pro who can program every robot in your manufacturing facility. Specializing in ABB, FANUC, and Kawasaki robots.

3. Be specific

Again, consider who you’re trying to reach with your headline, and how you can stand out from the competition. The more specific you can be, the better.

Tireless, caring Registered Nurse who helps pediatric cancer patients and their families feel at ease throughout treatment and recovery.

If I were looking for a nurse to care for children or cancer patients—you bet I’d give that profile I second look.

4. Worm in the important key words

Where don’t key words matter anymore, really? Indeed, key words are important when it comes to your LinkedIn headline. What are the most likely terms or phrases someone looking for a “you” might search to find you on LinkedIn? Embed as many of those as you can into your headline.

5. Be creative

Memorable wins, always. (OK, unless it’s scary memorable. That loses.) If you can use some attention-grabbing creativity and get the “so what?” about you across? You’re an all-star.

A couple of excellent examples of headline creativity:

Reliable pet-sitter who will find out and report back to you exactly what your dog is up to when you’re not home.

Copywriter who knows how to craft web content that goes viral. Oh, and you’ll never beat me at Scrabble.

So what if you’ve just realized that your current headline sucks? Go to your LinkedIn profile now and click “Edit Profile.” You’ll see the tiny word “Edit” next to your name. Click on that, and then get down to business. I promise, it’s that easy.

LinkedIn is full of space-wasting, say-nothing headlines. With a bit of effort, yours can totally be the standout.

Laura Smith-Proulx wrote an article which is also filled with great ideas. Fast Formula for a Powerful LinkedIn Professional Headline appears on Job-Hunt.org. Here’s her formula:

  • Add your target job or position level
  • Add your primary industry or job function
  • Pull in your strongest areas of expertise
  • Add a signature achievement

To see examples, you’ll have to read the article!

Social Media Used To Evaluate Job Seekers 2018


[Infograhic] August 23, 2018 by Hannah Morgan reprinted from Career Sherpa

It should come as no surprise that employers are using social media to evaluate job seekers. The information on the web is fair game! Here’s what you need to know to make sure you’ve got the right online presence!

Social Media Used To Evaluate Job Seekers 2018

Whatever you have put out there on social media is fair game – public status updates, comments on other people’s updates, mentions of you by others on social media, written recommendations on LinkedIn… the list goes on. In order to understand what’s out there, go search for your name using Google.

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Careers: Follow Her


Brittany Hoffman

Brand Director & Growth Strategist

LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/brittanykrystle

Why You Should Follow:  After spending some time working with Gary Vaynerchuck at VaynerMedia, Brittany set out on her own to create a brand for herself in growth strategy. If she can build a small empire for herself on her own personal branding journey, it’s likely she has some interesting things to say to anyone looking to build their own personal brand story.