5 for Friday: Overcoming Workplace Adversity Edition
We run into a lot of stressors in our worklives — annoying co-workers, unreasonable recruiters demanding bosses. and This week’s 5 for Friday rounds up links about overcoming workplace adversity.
- Ask The Headhunter: How to Overcome Missing Job Requirements. PBS: “What do you do when the employer interviewing you has four requirements, you meet three of them and you know that you’re the best person for the job? How can I turn this kind of situation into a job offer?”
- 5 Ways to Overcome Workplace Stress. Toronto Star: “(Multi-tasking is) not something that should be extolled or encouraged. It’s actually a bad habit to get into, and people would be much more productive if they stopped doing it.”
- 5 Workplace Irritations That Can Actually Boost Productivity. Forbes: “These irritants provoke different facets of your brain, subsequently igniting a flame far quicker than if they weren’t present.”
- 5 Interview Red Flags for Employers. About.com: “Have you ever met a candidate who was never responsible for anything that went wrong at work? I have. They’re a sight to behold as they blame coworkers, bosses, a lack of resources, and the lack of skills in their team members for every failure they describe.”
- Surprise! A Job Search Can Build Self-Esteem. Huffington Post: “I know people typically think that engaging in a job search can beat you up and be tough on the ego. But I’m here to say not so! For those in professionally unhealthy situations, it can be an uplifting exercise that helps immensely.”
The post 5 for Friday: Overcoming Workplace Adversity Edition appeared first on MonsterWorking.
#FindBetter Wednesdays: Your Advice for Career Success
We asked our social media connections to contribute their best tips for career success, and the results have been exciting and inspiring. We reached out via tweets hashtagged with #FindBetter and our Facebook page, and we’ll be rounding up the best and most popular advice each week.
This week we asked:
What’s your best tip to stay sane during a difficult work week?
Popular responses included: enjoying a good post-work book or workout, organization and prioritization, maintaining personal positivity by smiling, and giving others positive encouragement.
If you could do one thing differently when you were younger to help your career now, what would it be?
Popular responses included: taken Spanish as a second language, attended a better university, done an internship, started community college right after high school, entered the military, stayed away from people who didn’t support my goals, and taken school more seriously.
What’s the best bit of career advice you’ve ever had?
Popular responses included: do what you love and the money will follow, be proactive about generating career experience, be patient with yourself during the first few months of a new job, ask questions and listen.
More #FindBetter tips we found helpful:
@GalloMontreal Don’t be shy to share you are unemployed, and looking. You never know who will help you
@Corneliocmc “There is no success that is final, and no failure that is fatal”
@PeterShanksUU Establish a network and raise your visibility; and “work, work, work”
@StratfordGreg I networked the hell out of all my contacts, both on and off line: Wasn’t afraid to step up and ask
@Ask_Dan Make a lasting impression. People should look around & still see you, even after you’re gone.
@CremRecruitment Research your potential employer and preparation for any interview is the key to success
@ghasley Don’t discount opportunities that move you in a new direction. It’s a fast paced world and you need to move with it!
@domwalton: Confront obstacles – the longer you leave them in place the larger and more burdensome they become
Do you have a career tip that’s brought you success? Use the hashtag #FindBetter on Twitter or comment on our Facebook page to share it with the Monster community.
The post #FindBetter Wednesdays: Your Advice for Career Success appeared first on MonsterWorking.
5 Questions You Can (and Should!) Ask Your Boss
Leading employees is a two-way street. Leaders share information, and employees who are engaged ask questions. Here are five questions that will elevate engagement, involvement and respect for your efforts.
What Are Your Expectations?
Leaders who are newly promoted or haven’t developed this habit sometimes forget to share their expectations out loud. Unless telepathy was on your resume, that doesn’t bode well for your understanding of what needs to be done, how, and in what time frame. If the leader hasn’t given this much thought, the question will prompt the discussion and provide value for you both.
How Can I Help?
When your boss is clearly overwhelmed, an offer to help take some of those things off his list will be well received. However, asking this question before taking the initiative to simply do some of things on his list will also prevent double work and leave you perceived as a valuable resource.
Which One Comes First?
If your boss is a stereotypical “Type A” over-achiever, she may overload your plate without even thinking or knowing it’s been done. A well-timed question to clarify priorities will prevent a miscalculated choice and the ensuing consequences. The question might sound like this: “Thank you for these projects. I will add them to the ones you shared yesterday. Just so I’m clear, which one takes priority?”
How Far Can I Take This?
Most bosses crave employee initiative and yet, if you’re new to the team, or new to your boss’s style, or they’re new to you, probe for more information before you step on toes. Asking how far you can go before checking back in will also prevent finding out later what it looks like when their inner control freak comes out.
What Drives You Nutty?
Finding out what drives your boss nutty is the same as asking for their pet peeves. Consider these the ditches on the side of the high performance road. You wouldn’t drive off into the ditch on purpose, but when working with your boss, if you don’t ask where they are, you might not even see them and find yourself there having to ask for help or apologize.
Employees who assert themselves with their boss often build exponentially greater amounts of respect and rapport. In each question, maintain a tone of sincere interest and curiosity. After all, the goal is to truly find out the information, not challenge the way in which it was delivered or what was delivered, and this information will then increase the strength of your relationship and the team.
Monica Wofford, CSP, is CEO of Contagious Companies, Inc. and a leadership development expert who training, coaching, consulting, and assessments for managers who’ve been promoted, but may not have been prepared. She is the author of Contagious Leadership and Make Difficult People Disappear and may be reached at www.ContagiousCompanies.com.
The post 5 Questions You Can (and Should!) Ask Your Boss appeared first on MonsterWorking.
10 Reasons Your Cover Letter Sucks
A strong cover letter could be your ticket to moving a step further in getting a new job. This relatively concise piece of information has the ability to place you steps ahead of other candidates, highlight your achievements, and showcase your personality – but no one ever said creating one would be an easy task. Writing a knockout cover letter might even be one of the most challenging parts of the hiring process.
It’s hard to nail down just one challenge that accompanies writing cover letters. Unfortunately, many poor cover letters have allowed outstanding candidates to be passed over by hiring managers. While writing your cover letter might be a scary task, doing it successfully is essential to getting hired.
Don’t let your next cover letter be a flop; consider these 10 mistakes before you hit send:
1. It’s Riddled with Errors. There are many things the errors on your cover letter will express to a hiring manager: lack of attention to detail, carelessness, and even disinterest in the position. Your cover letter deserves to be triple checked for poor grammar, punctuation, and overall structure. Pass it along to your mentor or friends to ensure you haven’t missed anything.
2. It Lacks Focus. What are you attempting to convey to the hiring manager? Writing about your professional experiences can be challenging, and it often causes job seekers to create unfocused cover letters. To write a more direct cover letter, consider creating a layout encompassing your main points.
3. It’s Too Long. Respect the busy schedule of a hiring manager by utilizing brevity in every cover letter you create. Write short and succinct paragraphs to allow for a more easily read document. Sift through unnecessary details and only present the most beneficial information for the job at hand.
4. It Doesn’t Set You Apart. Your cover letter is your chance to leave your mark on a hiring manager. Rather than reiterating what they can read on your resume, use this as an opportunity to share why you’re better for the job than any other candidate. Use a strong, purposeful statement of what you can bring to the position, and how you can positively benefit the company as a whole.
5. It Fails to Highlight Your Skills. While you certainly don’t need to highlight every single job you’ve had during your career, your cover letter should talk about your skills and experiences most beneficial to the company. Your cover letter isn’t for sharing your personal life or specific needs.
6. It’s Missing Information. Job listings often require certain information from applicants. By failing to share the necessary information in your cover letter, you’re essentially removing yourself from the hiring process. Why would a hiring manager choose you over a candidate who went above and beyond to provide the correct details? Double check the qualifications needed for the position prior to sending it.
7. Your Tone is Off. While a cover letter is a professional document, it also gives your potential employer insight into your personality. Don’t rub a hiring manager the wrong way with long-winded bragging. Be sure to leave out arrogance, unprofessional information, and keep the company’s culture in mind.
8. It’s Generic. Customization is key in every part of the hiring process. Submitting a generic cover letter presents you as an average candidate. Your cover letter is an opportunity to stand out and truly speak to a hiring manager – don’t settle for generic.
9. You’re Not Qualified. No matter how you twist and stretch your skills and experiences, you might not be the right candidate for the position. Applying to a position you’re under qualified for is an all-too-common part of the job search. Keep in mind this not only wastes the time of the hiring manager, it also uses up the time and energy you could be spending on applying to position you’re more accurately matched.
10. You Don’t Have One. Just because a cover letter wasn’t mentioned in the job listing, doesn’t mean it’s OK to skip it – they’re never optional. Your cover letter is an important opportunity to convey points you can’t in your resume. Omitting this document leaves you at a fault.
Creating a strong cover letter may be a challenging, but it’s worth the time and energy. Leave a positive first impression on hiring managers by going out of your way to create a concise, focused, and customized document.
10 Reasons Your Cover Letter Sucks is a post from: Glassdoor Blog
Related posts:
- Is Your Cover Letter Compelling?
- Get Noticed: Write A Cover Letter That Makes You Stand Out
- Four Cover Letter Secrets That Will Open Doors
Now Post your Jobs on Linkedin Groups
One of the best sources for top talent is industry-specific Linkedin Groups. Posting each Job, Group by Group, is hard work though. But, what if you can post all your Jobs directly on your Linkedin Groups at a single mouse-click?
Try out Wisestep’s new Linkedin Groups Publish feature. This service now allows you to Post any specific Job onto Linkedin Groups of which you are a Member. You can even select specific Groups to publish each Job in. After all, it doesn’t make sense to Share a Java Developer job on a Group for HR Professionals!
Social Recruitment is smart. We just try to make it smarter.
Power your Linkedin Job Publishing with Wisestep!
