Tag Archives: stepping up

Job Hunting, Motivation, Planning, project management recruitment, Redundancy

Employees facing redundancy – 7 things to think about

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It is never a good time to hear that your job has been put under threat of redundancy, most of us have been there at some point in our career and just when you think you are doing a great job the news hits. One thing to remember is that this could be the change you need to make a positive move forward – how long have you been thinking that you would like a change / more money / progression / a boss who really appreciates all the hard work? By being forced out into the cold you have to take action and this is a perfect time to really take stock of your career to move into a new challenge.

Some things to assist you in your transition are listed below:

  1. It is not your fault – it is easy to take things personally when you are faced with redundancy. However, no matter how good you are in your job there are always other factors that management need to take into consideration for the good of the business and as such departments are removed. Especially when it comes to project management, how many projects are still realising their benefits? Are the right people running them? How can we improve outcomes and cut costs?
  2. Take stock of your skill-set – performing a skills audit and writing a list of your accomplishments to date will help you re-evaluate your position, feeling kicked to the curb means you lose sight of you as a professional and running through your achievements and abilities will help you get back on track mentally.
  3. Make a plan – take a good look at how you can tackle your circumstances, research the market for roles which meet your abilities and create a spreadsheet to list job boards and start noting down roles to apply for. Remember now is time to look for something which will meet your expectations in terms of progressing, whether it be in seniority, money, potential for progression and/or training.
  4. Work on your CV – make sure you use your list from your skills audit and also look at the job descriptions, what are they asking for? If you have done these things have you articulated them in your CV?
  5. Keep motivated – remember it is not you; the business has to make changes for whatever reason. Now it is time for you to demonstrate to others how good you are, harsh but recruiters and employers do not like to hear and see candidates down in the dumps.
  6. Keep up momentum – your plan should have clearly marked out sections to tackle such as xx hours on job adverts, xx hours searching company websites for direct applications to employers and also other routes such as looking for opportunities which aren’t advertised. Keep to it – make sure you set aside a good few hours a day and really work on each application; applying for everything rarely works but a good tailored application to fewer roles really does harvest results.
  7. Seek help – if you are finding you are yielding little results from your approach it may be time to seek help, your CV is a first port of call. Get a free CV review, talk to others about their approach to finding a role and see if you are missing anything.

Once you have been notified of your redundancy payout you should look to structure how to use it effectively, after covering your mortgage and bills for a number of months you should look to see if you need any additional training, a professionally written CV and careers advice on applying for positions and interviewing can be a very effective investment too.

Careers Advice, guest blogger, Internships, Recruitment

12 Steps To Make The Most Of Your Internship

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An internship is an opportunity that’ll prepare you for the rest of your career. An internship takes you out of your ‘student mentality’ and brings out the young professional in you. Still, an internship won’t mean much if you don’t know how to leverage one. Here are 12 steps to make the most of your opportunity.

1. Think Of It As A 10-Week Reverse Interview

Consider each day as just another day of your interview so that you’re sharp, focused and diligent. Would you lax off on your interview day? No you wouldn’t. Continue to impress each day and you’ll win.

2. Make An Impact

Make a measurable impact by thinking ahead and beyond, asking astute questions, showing your intelligence, willingness and dedication. Volunteer for advanced tasks and spend extra time to learn stuff from your superiors.

3. Ask For Help When You Need It

If your boss is the kind that expects you to learn on the job, don’t feel intimidated. If you’re stuck with something, don’t waste precious hours. Ask for help –your initiative will be noted, along with your efforts to save time.

4. Ask For Feedback

Ask your manager to give you feedback at the end of each week. Write down the feedback and the next week, show your manager what you did with the feedback given. Then ask for that week’s feedback.

5. Make Friends

Smile often and always make some pleasant conversation, though respectful and limited. It’s ok to be friendly with everyone, even your superiors. Make friends of everyone, from the mailman to the top man. All your friendships can be turned into your network later on.

6. Explore The Company’s Culture

Understand how your company works – the working culture, the dress culture, holiday culture and so on. Then compare this data with other companies. You’ll find many parallels within the same industry. This due diligence will help you follow the right culture when you begin your career.

7. Be Visible

One of the biggest complaints from managers is that their intern is invisible. Be visible. Be seen. Be known. Make yourself visible by voicing your thoughts and opinions respectfully, with confidence. Don’t hide.

8. Understand The Context

Learn how the organization operates. Interact with various teams and find out how everything works as a whole. . Learn about the various functions behind the running of the business. You will earn newfound appreciation for your employer and have a better understanding of what you’re doing as well.

9. Impress With Your Hard Work

This doesn’t mean you have to kill yourself with 90 hour weeks. Still, be willing to work hard and after-hours at times. Offer total support to your manager, such that he or she sorely misses you once the internship is over.

10. Watch The Clock

When assigned a task, do it within the given time. If you have doubts, get them clarified immediately. Find out if your manager will be available to clarify, or get the name of another person you can approach with doubts.

11. Understand Your Own Needs And Limitations

An internship is the perfect opportunity to pinpoint what kind of work you’d like to do, and what kind you don’t want to do. This understanding will help you fine-tune your resume and your inclination for your future career.

12. Don’t Duck Your Responsibility

Be bold, and admit to your mistakes. If you’re criticized, accept it and see about improving your work. Don’t look for a trophy – it’s not Little League. Sometimes it’ll be unfair, but you have to take it on the chin and do your best.

Gagan works for http://tictwo.com/,an internship training administrator and facilitator, who works with young college students and college grads from all over the world who apply for internship in China.

Careers Advice, Interviews, Project Management Careers Advice, Project Management Interviews, project teams

Let’s do coffee – How to Tackle Informal Interviews

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We’ve practised questions and answers, researched the business and got our suits dry cleaned only to receive a call from HR / recruitment services asking us to attend an informal meeting with the hiring manager. Suddenly, we feel unprepared and unsure about how to handle a meeting in Costa or Starbucks tomorrow at 8:30am – what to do!?

Don’t panic for a start – an informal interview is certainly nothing to worry about but equally it is not something which should be treated as informal either. I have often pushed back on hiring managers asking why choose an informal meeting over the traditional approach. I have heard a few replies from: issues over time (heavy diaries mean meeting outside the office and office hours), interviewers wishing to escape the office for a change to testing candidates in a less formal environment. As the format of such interviews is perceived as “let the conversation flow” – it could be a test to see how you lead a conversation which isn’t so daunting but keep in mind that you also need to ensure you are entering core skills and experience into the dialogue too. Culture fit is generally a key driver to informal interviews – by taking you out of the formal environment the hiring manager may be trying to understand who you are, what your personality and sense of humour is like. Will you get on well with the team or stick out like a sore thumb?

Always treat these types of interviews like a test – if you prepare for the worst you can cover all bases and ensure you gain the greatest success:

  • Do not assume the interview will actually be informal just because the surroundings are; prepare your questions and answers as you would for competency based interviews.
  • Careful what you order!! Coffee houses are great but I have known candidates order strong coffee and be bouncing off the walls in the interview. Be sensible or avoid caffeine altogether and order decaf.
  • Be prepared to be distracted, the downside to coffee houses and hotel lobbies has to be the noise and the hustle of people coming and going. For this, you must keep focussed on the interviewer – remember this may be a test!
  • Make sure you have the mobile number of the interviewer in case you cannot see him/her when you arrive – especially first/last thing in the day as there will be a great deal of smartly dressed people at peak periods.

Don’t let the informal setting get in the way of asking some good strong questions – make sure you leave the meeting knowing if this is the job for you or not. It is not unreasonable for you to ask to see the offices at some point in the process too – it is important that you get to see where you could potentially be spending 8 hours a day, so if an offer is extended post interview – ask.

Careers Advice, guest blogger, News, Recruitment

Standing Out To Employers In These Economic Times

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Getting on to the employment ladder is a very tough task for a lot of people nowadays. The economy finds itself in a state of continued difficulty and there is little argument to be had regarding the assertion that the credit crunch has separated the weak and the strong in terms of supposedly simple things such as having a job.

The days of employees being able to casually amble on through their working lives, doing the bare minimum and spending half of the day watching the clock and waiting for the glorious moment when the little hand hits 5pm seem to have come to an end. In fact, to some people’s horror, it is quite the opposite; now there simply are not enough hours in the day and most people find themselves taking their work home with them.

The truth of the matter is that this is exactly what separates people in the employment game. Companies can no longer afford to hire staff that simply will not pull their weight any more. Of course they would not have wanted to in the first place, but financing for businesses is now at a situation where a few wrong moves in the recruitment sector and the business could be facing severe difficulties. Nowadays, companies demand the most from their employees and rightly so. A lot of companies can demand employees that are willing to go above and beyond the call of duty in their roles; they want employees that are willing to stay behind after hours to ensure that the work gets done.

This new found expectation from employers has no doubt come as a bit of a shock for some people and may be a factor that is directly attributed towards the high unemployment figures that seem to be reported every other day.

What is the solution for those people who would not exactly classify themselves as the dedicated type when it comes to giving their all in the name of employment? The only thing those people can do is either adopt a working pattern to make an employer sit up and take notice or alternatively they can join the millions of other people in the Job Centre. The tough economic times are certainly not what anyone wanted or envisaged but they are still here and they are affecting people so the only solution is to, as with most things, get your head down and work.

This blog post was written by Kelvin Whittaker, a specialist in the recruitment field, particularly accounting and tax recruitment writing on behalf of www.pro-tax.co.uk.