Five Ways to Overcome Procrastination

August 31st, 2010 by Kira

At some point or another we all get tempted by procrastination, whether it’s looking for your next job or letting go of an employee that isn’t right for the company. We simply need a strategy to overcome procrastination as soon as we recognize it. Typically, each person has a few procrastination crutches. You’ll notice yourself in Facebook constantly, hitting send and receive in your email, or even shuffling papers back and forth. Know what your signs of procrastination are and then apply one or all of these strategies to overcome it.

1. Clear your head and clear your space. A cluttered mind or environment is a surefire way to induce procrastination. The messier the world around you, the harder it is to stay focused. Take 15 minutes at the beginning or end of your day to clean up your space, get organized, and get focused.

2. Have a clear goal. The more clarity you have around what you want to accomplish, the easier it is to take action on it. Set a timeline for completion, create a clear action plan, and go for it.

3. Plan ahead. Don’t wait to figure out your day until the day actually happens. Plan your day the night before or even the week ahead.

4. Get accountability. Find someone who could hold you accountable for your actions. Report your goals to them and commit to a date for completion.

5. Visualize the outcome. When all else fails tap into the emotional aspect of where you want to go. Visualize how great it will feel to have your tasks complete and your goals met. See yourself completing all of the steps with ease!

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3 Signs it’s Time to Ask For a Raise.

August 23rd, 2010 by Kira

We all want them. We all need them. The question is when is it the right time to ask for one?

Here are three signs it’s time to ask for a raise.

First – you’re getting more and more work. Your boss is entrusting you with bigger projects that have a higher stake and you are pulling them off and getting great results.  On the other hand, more work on the lower scale doesn’t constitute as a time to ask for a raise.

Second – you’ve upped your playing field. You are over delivering, packing a punch, and bring more value to your employer. You’ve had some significant wins by either bringing in a big amount of business, reducing costs in a serious way, or some other great success.  Note: be sure that your employer sees this as a success as well.

Third – your opinion matters and is making a difference. The management team is noticing the good work you are doing and they come ask for your opinion on something. Not only do they ask, but they implement it and it works.  If you are being included in company changes, now may be the perfect time to ask for a raise.

Remember, the key to asking for a raise is to always showcase your value!

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Creating an Employee Attracting Company Culture

August 16th, 2010 by Kira

Have you heard of those companies where the company culture is so good, so grand, that it’s written about in books and talked about in movies? Some companies just get it, they understand that culture goes beyond offering two weeks’ vacation and a company holiday party.

The younger generation of employees aren’t willing to work for just anyone anymore. They want companies that are cutting edge, care about their environment, and care about their people. If you think your people should work long hours, forgo their family life, and never take vacation…well, you may want to think again.

Imagine a company with a company culture so grand that productivity is up, morale is high, healthcare costs are reduced, and the employees are more loyal than ever. Sounds delightful, doesn’t it?

It can happen and there are many company’s who can prove it.

 Take Patgonia, an outdoor clothing store. This company cares about the environment and its people. Employees can earn paid time off for a sabbatical after so many years of service. Clothing is made out of recyclable material and old clothing is accepted to be properly disposed of.

What about New Belgium Brewery – a brewery with happy and loyal employees who receive their traditional bike imprinted on their beer labels after a few years of service, along with other great perks and benefits.

 There are many companies out there who go above and beyond for their employee. To make your company stand out in a marketplace of qualified candidates create a culture where people fight for years to get in, and then never want to leave.

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3 Ways to Motivate Your Employees

August 9th, 2010 by Kira

Do employees need motivating?  Every now and again there comes a time when  a company must make the decision to train and motivate their team.

Employees get sucked down through the proverbial negative trees and one bad apple has a tendency to rot the entire bunch. We all know the scenario, so what do we need to do to fix it?

First, keep your word. Companies often make the mistake of implementing new procedures, rules, or other policies and then don’t follow through. This breaks the trust cycle with employees and the next time you come around wanting to implement the latest idea from the managers meeting, employees will roll their eyes. They learn fast and if you don’t follow through, they know that it’ll only take a few weeks for it to wear off.  Keep your word no matter what.

 Next, recognize good behavior. Acknowledge the people who are doing it right.  It doesn’t mean you need to ignore the others, but make the good employees a priority. Offer incentives for good work, high productivity, increased turnaround times, or whatever the team needs to get motivated.

Lastly, there’s no “I” in team. Teams should be teams and they should play like one. Despite recognizing the good behavior of individuals above, companies shouldn’t set up their teams to negatively compete against each other. Promote teamwork and office kindness by initiating do-good events for other employees. If Mary’s child is home sick because of a major surgery, initiate a potluck where all the food gets donated to Mary’s family.

These are just three small changes you can make in your workplace to help motivate your employees. You can always find good trainers and implement new thoughts and ideas into the workplace. No matter how unmotivated your team may seem, there’s always a way to turn them around.

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How to Write a Cover Letter

August 3rd, 2010 by Kira

Writing a cover letter can often feel like a daunting task for the job seeker, yet it can be one of the best ways to get your resume some first class attention.

A cover letter is not meant for you to rehash your skills and qualification that are already listed on your resume. In fact, a cover letter is an opportunity for you to share more about who you are, why you are different, and what makes you a perfect candidate for the position.

Most individuals make the mistake of just re-telling what is already on their resume – instead see this as your thirty second commercial for your future employer.

If you walked into a room and only had one minute to tell your employer why you are different, what’s so great about you, and why they should at least call you in for an interview – what would you say?

Well then – say it.

I like to think that you can be “boldly appropriate.”  This means be bold but do so without moving into too much grey area.  Be yourself – show your personality.  Accentuate your assets! Ask for the interview. Put yourself out there.

Lastly, customize your cover letter. A cover letter just needs as much attention as your resume. Customize it to fit the company and their needs. A standard cover letter is only going to produce standard results.

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Job Search Tips – 10 Time Savings Tips to Speed Up Your Job Search

July 22nd, 2010 by Kira

(This was a great posting on About.com by Alison Doyle).

Is your job search off to a slow start or getting stuck? Here are some quick time-saving job search tips that will help your hunt for a new job go smoothly.

Be Prepared. Have a telephone answering machine or voice mail system in place and sign-up for a professional sounding email address. Put your cell phone number on your resume so you can follow up in a timely manner. This job search toolkit will help you get everything you need set for your job search.

Be More Than Prepared. Always have an up-to-date resume ready to send – even if you are not currently looking for work. You never know when an opportunity that is too good to pass up might come along.

Don’t Wait. If you are laid-off, file for unemployment benefits right away. You may be able to file online or by phone. Waiting could delay your benefits check.

Get Help. Utilize free or inexpensive services that provide career counseling and job search assistance such as college career offices, state Department of Labor offices or your local public library.

Create Your Own Templates. Have copies of your resume and cover letter ready to edit. That way you can change the content to match the requirements of the job you’re applying for, but, the contact information and your opening and closing paragraphs won’t need to be changed.

Use Job Search Engines. Search the job search engines. Use the job search engine sites to search the major job banks, company sites, associations, and other sites with job postings for you.

Jobs by Email. Let the jobs come to you. Use job search agents to sign up and receive job listings by email. All the major job sites have search agents and some web sites specialize in sending announcements.

Time Savers. Strapped for time? Consider getting help writing or editing your resume. Resume posting services that post your resume to multiple job sites at once can save hours of data entry.

References Ready. Have a list of three references including name, job title, company, phone number and email address ready to give to interviewers.

Use Your Network. Be cognizant of the fact that many, if not most, job openings aren’t advertised. Tell everyone you know that you are looking for work. Ask if they can help.

This tip isn’t a time saver, but, it will broaden your online job search resources.

Don’t Stop. Don’t limit your job searching to the top sites like Monster, CareerBuilder and HotJobs. Check the smaller niche sites that focus on a particular geographic location or career field and you will find plenty of job listings.

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Can an Outside Company Really Understand Your Hiring Needs?

July 12th, 2010 by Kira

 It’s hard to believe that someone outside of your company could often find that perfect match for your new hire when they don’t work in the company, fully understand the culture, and have hands on experience within the workplace.

Well, that’s one side of the argument.

The flip side to this is an objective, third party, who can understand the cultural dynamics yet still be able to choose a candidate solely on skill, qualifications, and personality without letting any previous discord get in the way.

If you’ve questioned whether or not it’s possible for a third party to choose the best candidate consider these factors:

1.  An outside company generally does the hard work for you – meaning they get to choose through the hundreds of candidates to find the few that are a good fit for your company.

2.  You still get to ultimately choose who is RIGHT for you – but it’s easier on your end because all of the backend work has been done for you. (They’ve been prescreened, pre-interviewed, and are already noted as qualified candidates).

3.  A lot of companies and hiring managers are more emotionally involved in the choice of the applicant, an objective third party is often able to see the potential pitfalls with a candidate and company match prior to the company being able to see them.

These are just a few of the differences that are seen when utilizing an outside 3rd party in hiring your next candidate.   To find out if FORTIS is right for you, simply give us a call or email to find out how we can be of service to you.

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How to Answer that Tough Interview Question “Tell Me About Yourself”

June 28th, 2010 by Kira

 One of the most frequently asked questions in an interview is “tell me about yourself.”  This is often the dreaded question by the interviewee – concerned about what the interviewer really wants to know, and how much should one really tell?

 Here are a few tips on answering that question while still gaining ground in your interview.

 First, remember you are still in an interview and while inserting something about your personal life is appropriate here it is not required, nor should it be the primary focus. The question is simply asked to get to know your personality better, your likes, dislikes, strengths, challenges, and weaknesses. 

 If you answered the question by saying in my personal life I don’t do much, but watch a lot of TV and hang out with my friends – well, I’m not so sure it would look that great.  That’s totally okay if you do, but remember the place and the setting of your answer!

Tell the interviewer something they can work with – I love to travel, most recently I went to X. I have the work hard, play hard mentality. Or perhaps you could say that you enjoy being spontaneous and creative, the last trip you took you simply went to the airport and chose a city to travel to.

This question gives you an opportunity to focus on your strengths and talents while utilizing personal examples or professional ones.

You can also answer this question by saying what you like in professional settings. For example, you could say I really thrive in a team environment; I like working with others, and having the ability to brainstorm and feed off each other. I’ve always been a team player. I played sports growing up and a team environment reminds me of that camaraderie.  

Think about some of your strengths and talents and see how you can turn those into a story to answer this question.

Some people get caught up when asked what are your top 3 strengths or challenges and rattle off a few things, but this question and the stories and illustrations you can use here can either support that or discount it.

Finally, just be yourself. This question also gives the interviewer a chance to connect with you on a personal level. Interviewee: I want to Xyz College Interviewer: I went there too, or my wife, or my niece, etc – you get the picture!

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Should You Practice Interviewing?

June 21st, 2010 by Kira

 Does the old saying “practice makes perfect” really matter in your job interview? It’s a common concern for most interviewees, worried about how they come across in their interview and how they’ll answer those seemingly tough questions – so the question remains should practice be a part of your job search strategy?

 

“If you‘re not practicing, somebody else is, somewhere, and he’ll be ready to take your job.” Brooks Robinson

 

While the quote may seem a bit harsh, in reality if you aren’t taking the time to polish your interview skills – someone else out there probably is and it can be the deciding factor for what makes your interview go from slightly okay to stellar.

 

If nothing else, practice for confidence. The more you rehearse and visualize the interview process, the questions being asked, and the free flowing articulate answers that you will give – the more confident, calm, cool and collected you’ll be during the interview.

 

Studies have shown that simply visualizing an activity and running through it in your mind can have the same effects as actually going through something physically. The subconscious mind doesn’t know how to tell the difference between something real and perceived – it’s the exact reason we hear about basketball players imaging that smooth “swoosh” of the net.

 

When practicing your interview questions and answers don’t worry about knowing what exact questions they will ask you. What you are looking to do is increase your confidence in your responses, answer slowly and precisely, and be able to think on your feet.  You don’t want your answers to sound scripted and perfected – you want to be real and genuine and practicing too much could make you sound like a professional interviewee.

 

Practice for the sake of practicing, not perfection.

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Job Seekers – 11 Critical Success Factors!

June 17th, 2010 by Kira

Critical Success Factors Exist in Everything We Do; How Are Yours When It Comes To Your Job Search?

Critical success factors apply to everything we do in life and our job search is no exception. Have you ever taken time to categorize and understand what job search, not employment, but job search skills you must have to be successful?

Critical Success Factors

The Critical Success Factors that a job seeker must possess include:

  1. The ability to move on and leave the past behind you.
  2. The understanding that spending your time blaming something or someone will not move you forward.
  3. A personal network that can be tapped for information and help.
  4. The ability to grow and develop a network where sharing and caring are mutual.
  5. An appearance and wardrobe that are appropriate for the opportunity. If you are not sure what is appropriate, contact someone that works there or camp out in the parking lot and observe the people coming and going.
  6. A specific goal. If you present as a “jack or jill of all trades” that will be the type of job and pay level that you receive.
  7. A value proposition. What makes you different and sets you apart? Why should the hiring manager; hire you?
  8. A resume that tells the YOUR story.
  9. Interviewing skills.
  10. A learning mentality
  11. A Social Networking presence that compliments YOUR resume.

This next section addresses a couple of these success factors in more detail. Watch for future discussions of the remaining factors.

My Job Is Gone – Now What?

Many jobs that disappeared will never come back. Either they have gone off-shore, been replaced by technology, or it was determined they did not provide the value to keep them. This does not mean that the person in the job was not valuable, but that the position did not provide the necessary value.

If your job was out sourced overseas or replaced by technology; you must be looking at how you can transition your skill set to another career. You may find a similar position, but chances are that, at the new company, the position will eventually be replaced and in the meantime the pay is most likely not at your previous level.

You Must Constantly Be Updating Your Skills

We all must be continually updating our skill sets. If you are not moving forward, there is no standing still; just falling further and further behind. The ball is truly in your court and you must make the most of it. You can ONLY do this by building your skills.

Continuing education speaks to recruiters and hiring managers. They want to know that they are hiring someone that cares about their own well being! If you are not working to improve your skills, do you really care about YOU? Are YOU important to yourself? If you do not care about yourself, why should the believe that you will care about your job and their business? The action of not participating in self improvement speaks volumes.

Copyright Tom Staskiewicz

About the Author

“Who Knows You?” and “Are You Attracting the Attention You Want?” Following the critical success factors can help you get the following you want and create the brand you need.

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