Glassdoor’s New Social Recruiting Tools Focus on Improving Hiring and Employment Branding
Today, Glassdoor is proud to roll out two new product updates designed specifically for HR professionals and recruiters. Since we launched in June 2008, we have always wanted Glassdoor to be a community that offers a 360-degree view into the workplace. With these enhancements, we hope to make it even easier for employers to get involved in the conversations happening on Glassdoor and gain better insights into their company’s reputation and how that reputation influences job seeker engagement.
FREE EMPLOYER ACCOUNTS
The first new tool is the free employer account which gives any company the chance to take more ownership of its profile and presence on Glassdoor. As a company representative with this account, you can:
- Update your company’s profile with basic information (i.e. website address, headquarter location, employee count, year founded and more)
- Provide a company description and mission statement
- Respond to your company reviews and interview reviews
- Add awards and photos
- Request updates to your stock ticker, CEO and list of competitors
- Flag reviews that may be inappropriate
Sign up for your Free Employer Account
Note to sign up for a free employer account, you must be in a position to speak on behalf of the employer i.e. company leaders, as well as HR and marketing professionals or other employees responsible for managing the company’s brand.
GLASSDOOR EMPLOYER CENTER
We’re also debuting the Glassdoor Employer Center, a self-service portal which offers company-specific analytics designed to help companies make informed social recruiting decisions. The Employer Center reveals valuable insights around:
- Company awareness among job seekers: See how much activity your company profile is seeing from job seekers and get demographics about your candidate pool i.e. age, gender, education and years of experience. You can also discover what other companies job seekers view after looking at your company, what type of job seekers were looking at your profile based on job title, and the locations where these job seekers are based.
- Job click activity and demand: Find out how much activity your job listings are seeing and what jobs are clicked on the most for your company.
- Employer brand insights: See how employee sentiment tracks month over month by looking at company and CEO approval ratings.
- Competitive analysis: See how your company compares to competitor companies in terms of company ratings and various workplace factor ratings (i.e. work-life balance, comp & benefits) – all ratings based on anonymous employee feedback. Also compare your company’s profile activity among job seekers to that of your competitors.
The Employer Center is accessible direct from a company’s profile page on Glassdoor and can be viewed at any time of day and from anywhere in the world.
To access to the Employer Center if you are already a Glassdoor customer, or if you’re new to Glassdoor and want to get started, register for your free employer account.
Note if you’re not currently using Glassdoor’s social recruiting solutions, the free employer account gives access to basic awareness information within the Employer Center i.e. profile activity among job seekers as well as interests and demographics of job seekers.
Glassdoor’s New Social Recruiting Tools Focus on Improving Hiring and Employment Branding is a post from: Glassdoor Blog
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- Glassdoor Shaking Up Social Recruiting At ADP’s Meeting Of The Minds In Las Vegas
- Why Employers Need To Focus On Student Recruiting
- Is Employee Sentiment Improving? Glassdoor Releases Q3 Employment Confidence Survey
What To Avoid When You Don’t Get The Job
Opening your email inbox to find a rejection letter is every job seeker’s nightmare. This can be especially frustrating after feeling like you nailed your interview. Many job seekers don’t even get to receive their rejection in the form of a concise email; it often comes in the form of silence.
Of all job search frustrations, getting rejected from a position certainly tops the list. Learning to handle rejection during your job search is an art — without the proper approach, job seekers are likely to be faced with a variety of consequences.
Learn from these terrible ways of handling job search rejection to overcome disappointment and find success in your hunt for employment:
1. Forget Perspective. One sure-fire way to mishandle a rejection is to overlook the big picture. Getting turned down from a few positions during your job search is inevitable. Rather than getting hung up on the glaring details of the situation, look to the overall perspective of your job search, career and life. This is just one small bump in the road.
2. Let Your Emotions Take Over. With rejection comes a wide variety of internalized emotions. It’s important not to take this rejection personally. While you may be angry with yourself for not performing better in the interview or at the potential employer for not seeing how great you truly are, try your best to remain level. Allowing your emotions to consume you will only make the job search harder as you put yourself under unnecessary stress.
3. Forget To Ask For Feedback. Simply ignoring a rejection letter and not looking back might feel right at the time, but you could be missing a valuable opportunity for feedback. Instead of wondering where you went wrong, consider reaching out to the employer and asking for feedback. While they might not always be able to give you details, it doesn’t hurt to ask. Be sure your request is respectful and optimistic.
4. Refuse To Improve. Rejection during your job search can act as a driving force for improvement. Instead of cursing the employer for their inability to recognize your match for the position, break down the hiring process and see if there’s room for growth. The job search is often a learning process.
5. Don’t Stay Connected. The hiring manager may not have chosen you for the position, but you should still keep in touch with them. Focus on maintaining a relationship with this person by connecting with them on LinkedIn, shooting them an email in regard to relevant information, and even applying to another position when it arises. Never let a connection with a hiring manager go to waste.
6. Avoid Sharing Your Experience. Utilizing your support system will help ease many of the challenges you experience during the job search. Sharing your rejection with others might feel embarrassing at first, but speaking about your experiences and emotions will get it off your chest. Everyone has experienced some form of rejection, and this will allow you to receive a variety of advice and guidance.
7. Give Up. Rejection pushes many individuals to give up on the things they’re seeking to accomplish. Mishandling rejection during your job search may lead you to giving up on your search for employment — even if it’s only temporarily. Briefly quitting your job search might force you to miss out on a variety of opportunities. Keep applying for positions, customizing your resume, and working your network.
Successfully handling rejection can have a positive effect on your job search. Your ability to grow from the experience, remain optimistic, and drive connections might put you at the top of the list for the next opening.
What To Avoid When You Don’t Get The Job is a post from: Glassdoor Blog
Related posts:
- 5 Tips To Avoid Fake Job Postings
- 8 Do’s & Don’ts After Your Job Interview
- After The Recruiter Says No: How To Handle Job-Search Rejections
The Inaugural UK Candidate Experience Awards
The first UK Candidate Experience Awards took place at a special ceremony held at The Brewery in London on the 26th February, 2013. Those companies who were identified as providing exceptional candidate experiences were named “With Distinction” honourees and were celebrated, along with all CandE winners. Open to organisations that recruit in the British employment marketplace, the UK CandE Awards follows the success of its North American counterpart. The U.K. programme recognises that candidate experience varies between companies and aims to enable companies to benchmark and improve the experience. Using a survey-based evaluation process, the UK CandE Awards consists of three rounds of review designed to identify organisations that provide a good candidate experience. The process includes surveying the candidates that applied to the organisations to verify how well they think they are doing. All participating organisations receive a report allowing them to compare their candidate experience against an aggregate of all the entrants.
All of the winners were evidenced as doing some great things to improve their candidate experience. They all focus on recruiting processes to create environments for better feedback, communication and transparency.
Some of the main research findings:
- 50% of candidates surveyed said they had a neutral overall experience that was neither negative nor positive. 39% said they had a positive experience.
- 49% of candidates claimed some relationship with the company they applied to including nearly 1 in 5 being an existing customer and 12% had family and friends working there.
- 73% of candidates surveyed would definitely tell their inner circle about a positive experience (62% would share a negative experience) and 28% would share a positive experience on Social Media (17% would share if it was negative.)
- A number of candidates were frustrated by the “black hole”, with 30% citing receiving a “do not reply” automated response and 31% receiving no response at all.
The 2012 U.K. Winners
Overall there were ten winners out of 24 total company entries. Of this ten, three of the companies were recognised “With Distinction” for what they are doing with their candidate experience. The 2012 With Distinction winners include business technology solutions provider, Avanade; GE Capital, one of the country’s most successful consumer finance lenders; and Risk Management Solutions (RMS), a world leader in catastrophic risk modeling.
2012 winners ‘With Distinction’
2012 winners
- Intel Corporation
- CA Technologies
- Empiric Recruitment
- The Carphone Warehouse
- Eaton Corporation
- Jones Lang LaSalle
- Utopia Resourcing
Following are some of their stories and innovative ways the With Distinction, winning companies, in the U.K. and North America, are improving the experience of their candidates.
Walk in the Candidates Shoes
Avanade, a business technology solutions provider, understands the needs of candidates and regularly test their own systems and recruitment processes and walk in the candidates shoes. Based on feedback from candidates about their application process they adopted a three click rule and shortened the process. It shouldn’t be difficult for employers to review their own recruitment process. Doing so may include searching for one of the company’s jobs on the web and following all the steps required to apply. Like 2012 winner, Avanade, companies can capture the number of page changes and number of times the candidate has to create an account or log in. Employers should also consider how long it takes to apply to the position. Would they be willing to do all of those tasks, all of the time? Employers can then create a list of changes that would simplify and enhance the process for candidates, positively impacting the impression they make on potential hires.
Avanade also focuses on open communication with candidates. The company provides contact details of recruiters in automated emails generated via the applicant tracking system (ATS) and encourage candidates to contract them. Two years of CandE research confirms that two-way communication is key to any successful relationship, but a high volume of response will significantly reduce the time available and opportunity for recruiters to do this. Full transparency in public channels reduces applications, because people choose to opt out or identify themselves as unqualified to apply. This creates the time needed to give a great candidate experience to those who remain in the process.
Hiring Managers are Accountable Too
GE Capital recognises the importance of hiring manager involvement in all stages of the recruitment process. Internally, the organisation awards a Candidate Experience Award to two hiring managers each year based on candidate feedback. The company has found that the more hiring managers are involved in the process in all areas including feedback and communication, the better the experience for the candidate. Without abdicating all responsibility, hiring managers are required to sometimes provide specific feedback, and in some cases to facilitate communication with candidates directly, or to be available for follow up.
High Touch Candidate Experience
RMS, a risk management solutions company, is a first year U.K. awards winner, but has also claimed a coveted With Distinction CandE Award in North America for two years running. The company understands that its business and the jobs for which it recruits are not for everyone. As a result, RMS seeks to find and engage with a targeted group of individuals that really fit what it is looking for.
Once RMS attracts these candidates, it’s important for them to make sure it remains engaged in the recruiting process. This has resulted in a recruiting process that is very high touch with candidates. RMS recruiters listen and provide a two hour daily chatter facility for all potential candidates to speak to a recruiter. Fifty percent of candidates using the chatter tool make it to the pre-screen interview with the hiring manager or recruiter. In addition, sponsoring social games that fit the skills and interests they are looking for in candidates, RMS strives to ensure that once the right candidates find the organisation, there should be few reasons for these candidates to fall off in the recruiting process.
Candidates Are Also Customers
Adidas, one With Distinction winner from the 2012 North American programme, sees candidate experience not only as a recruiting goal but one that’s integral to the company’s entire organisation as a whole. Adidas understands the fact that any candidate that applies for a position is probably a potential or active customer too. A negative experience in the recruiting process could reflect poorly on the brand and negatively impact its core business.
For every candidate that applies, it is mandated that the recruiting team must follow up with every single individual with a final response to their application. While some of those responses are unpleasant or uncomfortable, candidate feedback confirms that by closing the loop on every application, it results in a much better experience for them to at least know where they stand with the organisation.
Create a Better Referral Process
Deloitte, one of the North American winners, stood out from the pack with its focus on referrals. This is not a new strategy by any means for companies, but Deloitte takes typical referral strategies a step further. With nearly 50 percent of its hires coming from referrals, Deloitte have made it a priority to make submitting referrals as easy and transparent as possible. Every referral that comes into the organisation will know their status within 48 hours of the submission. In addition, Deloitte’s recruiting team informs both the referral candidate and the referee of the individual’s status to ensure they are in tune with the process.
This is also something on which fellow winner, RMS focuses. The organisation receives referrals from external candidates including those who were not successful in their application, which, for RMS is a true sign of how well the company manages its candidate relationships. This is an excellent example of how candidates leaving the process with a positive experience can still play an important role in an employer’s attraction strategies and recruiting results.
Delivering a Better Candidate Experience
Candidate experience has been a hot topic for many years and will be important for most organisations, the way that it is best structured will change and differ based on the inherent goals and challenges of the business.
For example, GE Capital feels that understanding a candidate’s journey through the recruitment process enables the delivery of an exceptional experience. Through regularly surveying candidates, including those who were not hired, they have developed systems and processes based on feedback, focusing on honesty, transparency and timeliness of communications.
Avanade strongly believe it is essential that the candidate experience doesn’t end as soon as they walk through the door on their first day – in their eyes there is no finish line. The recruitment team is actively involved in the post-hire experience and works in partnership with HR generalists and the business to ensure that they deliver upon the career promises that were made.
As an industry, human resources and recruitment professionals have some way to go to figure out the best ways to ensure a positive or neutral candidate experience. While the 2012 CandEs research (to be available at www.ukcandes.org) outlines areas within communication, expectations and process that leave room for improvement, the year-over-year North American data suggests that communication trends are heading in the right direction.
Candidates who participated in the survey were asked what they really want from the recruitment process. Overwhelmingly they said they wanted a straight forward process. Other main comments below:
- Be honest and transparent
- Treat me with respect – Call Me
- Remove the long winded application process
- Can I please get some feedback
Some organisations have really grasped candidate experience and understand its greater importance to the business as a whole. Starting with the basics and getting it right shouldn’t be difficult for any hiring organisation. We hope the CandEs, with its research data and benchmarking opportunities, will demystify some of the perceived challenges and help any organisation on its journey to improve its candidate experience.
The CandEs Awards and benchmarking programme is completely free to enter for all participants and is funded by donations from third-party sponsors. Support for the 2012 U.K. CandE Awards programme came from global sponsor, Monster; principal sponsor, Talent Collective; gold sponsors, ChangeBoard, KellyOCG, and Peer Group; plus silver sponsor, HireRight. The CandEs movement has enjoyed and appreciates their ongoing support.
The CandEs U.K. white paper contains the results of the 2012 research data and can be accessed on the Candidate Experience Awards website. The document aims to help organisations benchmark their candidate experience initiatives against the aggregate of those that took part. Those interested in accessing the research can register for a complimentary copy at www.ukcandes.org. There they can also access details on the upcoming programme, which will be announced in the United Kingdom and North America this spring. Organisations can register to participate in the 2013 programme on the website or contact Leigh Carpenter directly leigh@thecandes.org
Leigh Carpenter – The UK Candidate Experience Awards
Are Bad References Holding You Back?
This post is by Phil La Duke, a partner in the Performance Assurance Practice for ERM. La Duke has over 20 years of training, performance improvement, and lean manufacturing experience.
Many job seekers screw up what would seem to be a slam-dunk — providing references; it’s easier, and more common, than you might think. Picking the appropriate references can literally mean the difference between getting an offer or not. When picking references make sure that you:
- Choose people who know you well. It’s better to have someone who can provide clear insights into your character than someone who has a lofty title or a works for a well-known company. People who know you well are also more likely to advocate on your behalf.
- Choose people who represent you well. In many cases people chose people that they have known for years and years without considering how a potential employer might perceive the person. It’s not enough that a reference think well of you. Ask yourself how well your references will be able to articulately represent you and your interests.
- Know how they will answer the tough questions. Before selecting people as your references don’t be afraid to ask them pointed questions about yourself. Ask your potential references questions like: “What do you think is my greatest weakness?” or “How do I deal with stress?” If you aren’t happy with the answers your potential references provide you might wish to reconsider providing them to a potential employer.
- Be honest. If the prospective employer asks for a reference from someone who is not related to you, don’t provide a sister, brother-in-law, or uncle because you assume that because they have a different last name the prospective employer will be none-the-wiser. Asking for references is essentially the employer lobbing up softballs, why risk spoiling that by attempting to cheat the system. Beyond the obvious need to be straightforward with prospective employer, when you bring in relatives as ringers the lie is too easy to discover.
- Ask permission to use the person as a reference. The most common mistake that job seekers make when providing references is in failing to ask permission from the contact. Unless you ask permission and notify the contact that someone will be calling for a reference, he or she may be reluctant to disclose details. In addition to asking for permission to use someone as a reference, you should also provide a context for the reference and details about the job. If there are specific qualities that you possess and are important to the position, let the reference know of them, but don’t try to coach or lead them.
- Ensure that your contact feels comfortable providing a reference. Many people feel as uncomfortable providing a reference as they do loaning money. When you ask someone to provide a reference you are asking them to do you a favor. You don’t have the right to get angry if they don’t feel comfortable providing a reference, thank them for considering your request and move on without harboring ill feelings. Pressuring a friend or ex-coworker into providing a reference is a recipe for a poor reference.
The post Are Bad References Holding You Back? appeared first on MonsterWorking.
Recruiters now store your CV's on Cloud for Free
We have been constantly looking at the challenges faced by Recruitersand Hiring managers and have been working on finding smart ways of solving them
Some of the challenges that we repeatedly came across was,employers and Recruiters hoard CV's butfind it very difficult to organize them for Re-use at a later date. Here aresome Common problems
1) All CV's are noteasily searchable
2) Cannot tag CV's instantly
3) The CV databasenot accessible on the go
4) Filteringduplicate CV's and getting stats on theCV's stored
5) Cannot track Job Applicantsamong CVs Stored
We set about solving these problems and have some simple but elegant answers tomost of them. We have introduced is as the “CV Database” feature on Wisestep.comallowing recruiters to store and access their CV database on the Go.
Here’s what they Employers and Recruiters can now do
1) Recruiters canstore and search all their CVs in one place and create their own"Private" and "Searchable" CV data base based on keywords, Date,Labels, CV Source, Emails among other variables
2) To make backing upCVs Super fast we have made uploadingFast. Just Select and Drag into the Page and you can upload upto 5000 Cvs inOne go
2) Tag CV's with Labelsof your choice. Skills/Location/Job Title/Keywords help you search for any CVinstantly
3) All the CV's youupload onto Wisestep are your own private searchable database securely storedonto Amazon S3 (most trusted secure storage system) and not accessible to otherthan you and your Team
4) Once the CV's areuploaded they will be available for Search shortly thereafter. We will alsogenerate some interesting stats for yourDatabase like: Total Cvs, Duplicate CV's, number of Labels etc.
5) You can Create Team accounts for your Teamand they can also see and search the Common CV Database making it easy to workacross teams and locations
Cool Jobs: Spring Photography Edition
The first official day of spring has finally arrived and depending on where you are located in the US, you are either still shoveling snow, or lucky enough to see the first buds of flowers starting to appear. If you’re really lucky, you’re able to attend the myriad of Cherry Blossom festivals happening now through mid-April in Washington, DC. Nothing signifies spring more than the beautiful sight of the cherry blossoms. And what better way to catch the beauty of the new season than in a professional photograph. Photographers creatively capture memories year round but this time of year in particular provides a gorgeous back drop for photographers. Capturing a job in capturing memories by entering the photography field is also a smart career path considering the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects a 13% job outlook increase in professional photography jobs over the next 7 years.
This week, we are featuring 10 of the coolest jobs at cool companies hiring photographers.
1.) Photo Director – Uline (Chicago, IL): Direct photo shoots at Uline as Photo Director.
2.) Easter Photo Staff – WorldWide Photography (Charleston, WV): Come to work with a smile on each day as an Easter photo staff member for Worldwide Photography:
3.) Easter Bunny Photo Set Characters – Sepia Photos (Natick, MA): Make children smile as a part of the Easter Bunny Photo Set Characters team at Sepia Photos.
4.) Photographer – Lifetouch Portrait Studios, Inc. (Fargo, ND): Express yourself as a Photographer Lifetouch Portrait Studios, Inc.
5.) Senior Photographer – Picture People (Wellington, FL): Join Picture People as Senior Photographer (Wellington, FL)
6.) Staff Photographer – Sandals Resorts (Miami, FL): Work in paradise as a Staff Photographer at Sandals Resorts.
7.) Studio Photographer – Heritage Auction Galleries (Dallas, TX): Have photography experience? Join Heritage Auction Galleries as Studio Photographer.
8.) Bilingual Photographer – Mom365 (Saint Charles, MO): Capture memories as Bilingual Photographer @Mom365.
9.) Photo Studio Operations Manager – TJX (Memphis, TN): Manage photo shoot production at TJX as Photo Studio Operations Manager.
10.) Photo Retoucher – Creative Circle (Chicago, IL): Work on a variety of projects as Photo Retoucher at Creative Circle.
The post Cool Jobs: Spring Photography Edition appeared first on MonsterWorking.
How To Tell If A Company Is Good Fit Before Accepting A Job Offer
Many times, job seekers will make quick decisions when accepting a new job only to become unhappy shortly after starting with the company. The majority of the time, it is not their fault.
For many applicants it can be difficult to differentiate great companies from the subpar ones because they must form their thesis based limited interviews and even less interaction with most of their future co-workers or managers.
Despite the difficulty to recognize these nuances, there are some concrete signs which will inform whether you are about to accept a job at a company that you will not enjoy or if you are about to make the right employment decision.
Knowing that you will have limited time and interaction with the interviewers, you must take it upon yourself to make the most of your time to determine if you are about to accept a job offer at a bad company. To ensure that this is not the outcome, look for the following:
1. Smart People. While you don’t need to be working with individuals who have genius IQs, you are more likely to be happy in an environment that is made up of smart employees, thus making the environment intellectually stimulating and one that fosters learning.
Additionally, intelligent people tend to make a higher salary than a group who is less smart. This is not always the case, but the odds are with the group who has a higher IQ.
2. Strong Leaders. Whether you like the firm’s senior leaders can be measured in two ways: Do you like them as people? For example, from what you know about them, the individuals seem to have integrity, care about the well-being of their employees, and are likeable people. Secondly, do they have strong leadership skills? The best companies to work for have great CEOs and leaders, and you can decipher them from the average manager very quickly by assessing such things as self-confidence, industry knowledge and an optimistic attitude.
3. A Solid Product or Service. If you don’t believe in your potential employer’s product or service, and from your perspective, see no rational need for it in the marketplace, you are going to lack passion at your job, which will result in long, not stimulating and morose days at the office.
Prior to accepting a job, make sure that you buy into what the company provides. Either you’re going to have to be a believer, or you’re about to accept a job offer at a bad company.
4. Fair Compensation. The only thing worse than being underpaid is being under appreciated. While you don’t have to be the richest person in the office, your new employer should provide you with what you feel comfortable living on. If they don’t, try not to take it personally and politely decline the job offer.
It doesn’t look good when your resume shows that you have bounced from position to position frequently. Therefore, be meticulous and patient before accepting a job offer. It can mean the difference between a happy career and a regretful one. – Originally posted on Personal Branding Blog by Ken Sundheim
How To Tell If A Company Is Good Fit Before Accepting A Job Offer is a post from: Glassdoor Blog
Related posts:
- Seven Company Culture Questions You Must Ask Before Accepting A Job Offer
- Congratulations, You Got A Job Offer. Now What?
- Negotiating Salary? Three StepsTo A Bigger, Better Offer
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.
- 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 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.
Why Investing In Administrative Staff Is An Investment In Your Company
Are you interested in boosting company profits? Improving employee productivity and morale? Increasing employee retention and reducing sick days?
If the answer is yes, read on.
The secret to achieving these goals is to provide solid and professional development opportunities for your administrative staff, one of the most powerful and untapped secret weapons in your company. Here are four ways to invest in your administrative staff to help achieve company goals:
1. Invest in Training. Invest in supplemental in-house classes and workshops in both soft skills (communication) and hard skills (technology).
2. Support Event Attendance. Support and fund the administrative staff to attend at least one professional meeting or conference per year. After their participation, ask for a short presentation to the staff about the conference and what was learned.
3. Promote Networking. Provide regular opportunities for networking and the sharing of information among the administrative staff. Supply the space and the food.
4. Value Their Opinion. The most powerful question you can ask a member of your admin staff is: “What do you think?” Then listen.
In most companies, the administrative staff is a traditionally under-trained and under-served group of extremely bright and resourceful women (the profession is 95% female). They have succeeded in their roles in spite of the lack of support and training rather than because of it. This is true coast to coast, in companies large and small.
As a trainer of assistants, I hear regularly from staffers whose companies have never offered any training for the administrative staff. Managers will argue that they cannot quantify the return on investment (ROI). I argue that these staffers are the backbone of your company and that supporting them to develop their skills is very smart business.
The benefits of providing professional development opportunities for the admin team go far beyond the actual knowledge that the staff gains. Your staff will feel a sense of ownership in your company and a feeling of loyalty since you are demonstrating your belief in their talents and respect for their value. This feeling of respect is the antithesis to feeling like a number and that you are “a dime a dozen.” On top of all that, the most important benefit of providing training is self-confidence and self-esteem, which are priceless.
While compensation has always been an excellent incentive for employee retention, the number one motivator for the administrative staff costs nothing. It is respect. If you doubt this, just ask them and give them license to be candid without repercussion. Training is a strong demonstration of respect.
Job satisfaction for your admin team has everything to do with feeling valued and respected for their role in the company. Saying “please” and “thank you” goes a very long way (cost: $0). Adopting a zero-tolerance policy on bullying goes even further (cost: $0). The ROI of publishing this policy on your company’s website will come back exponentially, especially if you back it up with action.
When you support these strategies, keep in mind that you will be saving even more money by not having to replace staff who quit or having to pick up the slack for staffers who are out on medical leave from stress-related illnesses caused by bullying.
The most profoundly meaningful investment you can make in your staff, and in anyone for that matter, is to believe in them enough, trust them enough and support them to learn. Knowledge is power, and it is also a bottomless source of loyalty, commitment and profits.
Why Investing In Administrative Staff Is An Investment In Your Company is a post from: Glassdoor Blog
Related posts:
- How To Honor Your Administrative Professionals
- Why Company Culture Matters To Your Career & Company
- How to Interview The Company: Part 1
#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.
How To Write An Effective Job Ad
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, especially when it comes to a job listing. If you want to attract the right employees, then you have to view the job ad as a marketing tool rather than merely a help wanted ad.
“A spec should be an advertisement for your company,” says Mark Jaffe, president of Wyatt & Jaffe, the executive search firm. “It should be a net in which you catch the right fish rather than a screen designed to filter out people.”
Often times when companies set out to find talent they use the help wanted ad as a way to discourage unqualified people from applying. They’ll use phrases like “must have” or “minimum requirements” and set specific years of experience. They figure by being very specific they will weed out the under-qualified and speak to the qualified. A few weeks later when the position sits unfilled they wonder what they did wrong.
“If the whole focus is on weeding out the unqualified, it prevents people from applying because they find the job boring,” says Lou Adler, author of The Essential Guide for Hiring & Getting Hired. “The ad should emphasize what is in it for the candidate.”
According to recruiters and human resources experts, the person reading the advertisement has to envision doing the job rather than making sure they meet all the qualifications. Instead of focusing on a job title, Pat Sweeney, human resource manager at Old Colony Hospice and Palliative Care, says the ad should include four or five active words that describe what the person will actually be doing. If you want somebody that can communicate technical terms then say that, says Sweeney. If you are looking for someone that can teach a new computer program, list the program in the ad. She also says it’s a good idea to stay away from any jargon, which can easily be misinterpreted by job seekers unfamiliar with the terminology.
Before a company can even start to craft a good job posting, it has to first figure out what goal it is trying to achieve by filling the position. According to Jaffe, the company has to ask itself what it wants the new hire to accomplish and how success will be measured. Instead of worrying if the candidate needs to have a VP title or ten years of experience it has to focus on how the objectives will be met. “You don’t want someone with a mechanical engineering background applying for a marketing role, but you also don’t want to eliminate an unlikely candidate that might bring wonderful experience to the table,” says Jaffe. He says the job posting should be like something the job seeker tries on. “‘I like the way I look,’ is what the qualified candidate should be saying,” after reading the spec, he says.
Companies also worry about going afoul of labor laws when writing job ads, and that’s why they list objective criteria like an MBA or five years of experience in their ads. But, according to Adler, if a company is looking for an accountant, stating the person will be in charge of upgrading the accounting system by year end meets the labor law requirements. “Increase sales by 10% is equally objective as five years of sales experience,” says Adler.
Long gone are the days when companies would place help wanted ads in newspapers, which had limited space. In today’s world, all of the postings are found online, which means employers don’t have any space constraints. Because length isn’t an issue, companies also have ample space to make a job posting that isn’t boring. After all, the whole idea behind the ad is to sell the company and the job to the best candidates possible. Because of that, it’s a good idea to put some flair into your ad. When Adler was tasked with finding a controller for a Los Angeles-based company, he made it creative by putting Oscar Winning Controller or Director of Accounting in the headline. In the advertisement instead of saying the candidate needs to have a degree in accounting, 15 years of experience and previous management background, he described the tasks the candidate would be in charge of during the first year. “Companies should emphasize the employee value proposition,” says Adler. “Highlight the work they will be doing and minimize the skills.”
How To Write An Effective Job Ad is a post from: Glassdoor Blog
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- Get Noticed: Write A Cover Letter That Makes You Stand Out
- How To Write An A+ Resume
- 5 Tips For An Effective Thank You Note
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
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- Is Your Cover Letter Compelling?
- Get Noticed: Write A Cover Letter That Makes You Stand Out
- Four Cover Letter Secrets That Will Open Doors
Glassdoor Shaking Up Social Recruiting At ADP’s Meeting Of The Minds In Las Vegas
Cool Jobs: NCAA Tournament Edition
The NCAA basketball tournament begins this week and as athletes across the country are sharpening their game skills, it’s a great time to do the same with your job hunting tactics. March is a key time for hiring, according to the Huffington Post. Become a part of the madness and excitement in sports careers by working directly with athletes and playing a key part in their championship endeavors.
This week, we are sharing 10 of the coolest jobs from cool companies hiring in sports careers.
1.) Sports Travel Agent – Worldtek Travel & Event Management (Park City, Utah): Provide unsurpassed service in planning travel for athletes at Worldtek Travel & Event Management as Sports Travel Agent.
2.) Sports Trainer – Absolut of Dunkirk (Dunkirk, N.Y.): Evaluate & provide therapy to patients as Sports Trainer at Absolut of Dunkirk.
3.) Entry-Level Sports-Minded Marketing – Revolution Rapport (Florence, S.C.): Join Revolution Rapport’s Sports Marketing team in Florence, SC.
4.) Sports Coordinator – City of Oxford (Oxford, Ohio): Plan & organize events as Sports Coordinator at City of Oxford.
5.) Athletic Trainer – Boston University (Boston): Work with student athletes as Athletic Trainer at Boston University.
6.) Head Boys’ Basketball Coach – Crawford Central School District (Erie, Penn.): Become a basketball coach for Crawford Central School District in Erie, Penn.
7.) Basketball Coach – Oak Park Unified (Oak Park, Calif.): Coach the girls’ Junior Varsity team at the Oak Park Unified school district.
8.) Industrial Athletic Trainer – The Industrial Athlete, Inc (Vernon Hills, Ill.): Provide services to athletes as Athletic Trainer at The Industrial Athlete, Inc.
9.) Grounds Athletic Field Specialist – North Orange County Community College District (Anaheim, Calif.): Maintain athletic areas North Orange County Community College District as Grounds Athletic Field Specialist.
10.) Certified Athletic Trainer – Take Care Health Systems (Georgetown, Ky.): Develop & implement Occupational Injury Prevention Programs at Take Care Health Systems as Certified Athletic Trainer.
The post Cool Jobs: NCAA Tournament Edition appeared first on MonsterWorking.
3 Secrets To An Influential Resume Summary
Writing a resume ‘summary of qualifications’ that stops employers cold and makes them realize you’re the right candidate can be challenging. After all, you’re good at what you do, but can be tricky to boil down your ROI to concise statements in hopes of standing out.
For most people, writing a summary of qualifications is such a major task that they look around at other resume examples to get ideas.
Here are some insider tips to creating a summary that exemplifies your personal brand in just a few words – making employers take notice:
1. Lose the Boilerplate Language. Today, every professional is self-motivated and results-driven (and if they aren’t, they’ll be spending the majority of their time job hunting).
Copying generic summary phrases from other resumes is one of the worst sins you can commit, because it’s a sure way to tell employers that you’re identical to everyone else.
Shake things up instead by making a list of your top value-added skills employers need. Do you complete projects faster or more accurately than colleagues?
Have you been promoted quicker, due to your business acumen or leadership skills? Are you able to spot new business opportunities and close deals that are lucrative for your employer?
This list will give you ideas to use in writing your summary—concepts and skills unique to YOU that most likely won’t show up in the resumes of your competition.
2. Pull in Quantifiable Facts. Employers aren’t hiring just to have a potential source of help – they need the ROI you can deliver. So show them your value in figures and metrics from throughout your work history.
This example of an Operational Safety Manager resume summary provides a quick snapshot of consistent value, backed up by metrics:
“Safety advocate and operational leader who influences profit (up to 20% single-year increase) by fostering productive, engaged employees. Hands-on manager with strong financial acumen, delivering regular cost, efficiency, and volume forecasting improvements throughout 80,000-square foot plants.”
As shown here, quantifiable achievements in your resume summary help to quickly distinguish you from other candidates – even in a crowded field with hundreds of applicants.
3. Drop Names. Marketing copywriters have known for years that name-dropping gets attention. Now, you can take a cue from these professionals to amp up the volume in your resume summary section.
If you’re in a sales leadership role, you can mention names of major clients, with a line such as “Closed high-value deals with Apple, Cisco Systems, and Oracle.”
Even if client names are confidential, your summary can use the information in a different way, such as “Created millions in key partnerships with Fortune-ranked corporations in the technology industry.”
Not in sales? You can still reference the names of partner alliances, past employers, or vendors to show collaboration and leadership skills, as in this example:
“Senior Vice President commended for turning around performance through sourcing negotiations with Baptist Health System, Medical Center of Austin, and the Mayo Clinic.”
In conclusion, your resume summary isn’t the place to be modest and toned-down in describing your brand value. Instead, consider boosting its effectiveness with well-placed, strategic information on your specific value-add to employers. – Originally posted on onTargetjobs by Laura Smith-Proulx
3 Secrets To An Influential Resume Summary is a post from: Glassdoor Blog
Related posts:
- 3 Resume Secrets To Make You Shine
- 10 Great Keywords To Use On Your Resume
- How to Replace Deadly Resume Phrases
Changes to Wisestep Job Posting Policies
Attention Recruiters !
We have made a few changes to our Job posting and publishing policies in the last few days based on the feedback from our members. Our Support team has received many complaints about inaccurate and in many cases misleading job posts. Some recruiters were using our Free Job ads for publishing things that were not quite jobs or employment opportunities. We've cleaned up and removed the jobs that did not qualify with our new critieria for posting a job.
Here's a quick guide on what Jobs will not pass through
Jobs that are NOT ALLOWED :
a) Work from home / Virtual worker/ Telecommute jobs or variations of theseb) Commission only jobs
c) Adult companionship seeking jobs.
d) Jobs asking for applicants based on Religion, Age, Gender, Visa status or sponsorship
e) Business or franchisee Job Opportunities. Train and Place Jobs will also not be allowed.
f) Don't mention your email address or Phone Numbers in the Job post
Finally we reserve the right to remove your Job post at our discretion for reasons that may not be mentioned here but that we think may be offensive or unacceptable to our users.We are keen to offer our members a professional and relevant experience in their job seeking experience and we hope that all Recruiters will use as much of our Free Offerings as possible to make their search for Talent easier and faster.
Here's a quick recap of what you can do for FREE ON Wisestep.coma) Unlimited Job Posts
b) Publish your jobs on your Social Network Feeds of Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter
c) One Click Job sharing on upto 50 Linkedin Groups
d) Built in Applicant Tracking System
e) Build your own Jobs page and plug it in to your Website. Convert Passive Visitors to Job Applicants
Do write to us with your feedback on support@wisestepmail.com or share in your thoughts in the commenting section belowThanks for your support
Team Wisestep.com
Recruiter Signups touches 10,000 mark !
We are extremely happy to announce that the total number of Recruiters on Wisestep.com has crossed the 10,000 mark this week. This is a milestone our entire team is very proud of. With your continued support and Feedback we hope to hit much larger numbers in the coming days but now is also the time to take a few moments to cherish this acheivement.
Over the past many months, Wisestep.com has put together a combination of unique Recruitment tools that we hope have tremendously improved their productivity and helped them hire quicker and faster.
As more and more people spend time on Social Media, Recruiters need to use tools that help them reach people where they are most likely to be found. On Social Networks. IF you are not making your jobs visible on Social Media, you are losing out on some easy to get referrals and Job applications.
At Wisestep.com recruitment is inherently Social with Jobs being easily shared on Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter (with a few more to follow soon).
We've also added the ability for you to share jobs on
Multiple Linked in Groups with a single click and flag it as a job or as a discussion depdnding on the preferences of the moderator of the group. If you haven't tried this out yet, you are still spending probably an hour doing something that should take less than a couple of minutes.
Some of the enthusiasm with which recruiters use our tools by the number of shares is also visible on our
Recruiter home page.
As we continue to add more cool features that helps you hire faster and makes you look goo, we ask all our users and supporters on supporters to do us a favor: Please don't keep us a secret. Tell all your friends and colleagues about us. Like us on
Facebook!
You can be Famous too!
Hi all,
Do you have great career and professional insights? Ever wondered why you can never get them published? We say, you deserve your chance to fame.
If you feel that you have a few thoughts to share - career development tips, job market trends, recruitment and hiring outlook, and all that jazz - write a short 400-word article and mail it over to us. We’ll go through it, select the best entries for the week, and post it on Wisestep as a Featured Article.
Your article will be reviewed by our Editorial Panel, and if selected, added to our Columns Section. Talk about exposure! It will even get a place in the Wisestep Homepage for a week. These articles will be visible to people who really matter - Industry Leaders, potential Contacts, Employers and Recruiters - and generate discussions which can positively impact your Career.
Besides, you can even use your Article to drive traffic to your website. Add a couple of links that track back to your blog or website. We’ll even provide a Badge which you can add to your website, bragging that you were featured on Wisestep.com.
The rules are simple. Jot down your thoughts, and send as many articles as you wish to editor@wisestepmail.com. Just make sure your work is original and previously unpublished.
So, get started; and let the creative juices flow!
The Wisestep.com Team
Now Post your Jobs on Linkedin Groups
A recent survey revealed that Linkedin beats Facebook, by quite some way, when it comes to social recruitment activity. 79 percent of all Recruiters use Linkedin to source Candidates, while hardly 35 percent depend on Facebook. This comes as no surprize to any seasoned Talent Manager. Linkedin, after all, is a purely professional online network.
However, all those Recruiters posting Jobs on Linkedin isn’t exactly great news. That implies that your jobs will get lost within similar traffic and lose out on the attention it deserves to get. Besides, your inbox gets flooded with Job Applications from scarcely qualified Candidates. This has forced Recruiters to turn to more inventive methods for sourcing high-quality Candidates from Linkedin.
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!
Jobs published in this manner will receive a more relevant audience of Referrers and potential Candidates. You can now get the attention of second and third-level Connections - Professionals who do not belong to your immediate network. These Jobs can also be Shared over social networks, giving it a wider reach than ever before. What’s better, you won’t have to display your email address and invite spam. All Applications and Resumes will be saved for review on your own Wisestep Dashboard.
Social Recruitment is smart. We just try to make it smarter.
Power your Linkedin Job Publishing with Wisestep!
All’s fair in love and interviewing. No tips, no tricks (short of lying), and no source for help is off the table. With that in mind, here are some links with some sneaky suggestions you might not have considered before.
