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Spring into Spring

Happy first day of spring! Since the weather is already cooperating I think that we're all long overdue to come out of our New England hibernation.  That includes our offices, so in the spirit of spring let’s get to work.

Spring Cleaning for the Office

1. Grab your Windex and paper towels and get those windows clean! Once clean take the next step and open them up and let that fresh air in! Oh and keep in mind that this should reduce your utilities bill...just wanted to put that out there.
2. Spring is the freshest and most lively time of the year and its time your office space reflected that.  Take the time to clean the walls or maybe even put a fresh coat of paint on to brighten things up.
3. Next complete the illusions with a few plants...and yes I mean real ones.  Its a small investment and it not only brightens the mood of your office, but it also improves the quality of air you and your employees will be breathing all day.
4. Next bring your employees into the mix.  Hand out the Clorox wipes and the file racks and de-clutter all those desks! There is nothing like a clean space to help improve workplace production.
5. While they're at it have them clean out their virtual desktop as well. You know those 75+ identical sales letters that will never be used again? Time to put them in the trash.
6. Now for extra credit.  When you place your next office supply order make sure to order all your employees only bright spring post-it-pads.
7. Extra, Extra Credit: Get involved with a community outreach effort. Say perhaps the City Personnel "Suit Up RI" Imitative. A feel good activity for employees and a tax write-off for owners

Say Yes to Temp!

“I’ve always been hired directly by the company”, “I will only consider permanent work”, “A temporary job isn’t a real job.” Recruiters everywhere, including us, hear phrases like these almost every day.  Getting candidates to consider temporary work is tough.  A lot of the time candidates just simply don’t understand or have not been educated as to how the market has changed and how temporary work can benefit them. 

According to a survey done by CareerBuilder and the American Staffing Association, less than a quarter of employers intend to hire full time, permanent employees in 2012.  However, the same survey revealed that 36% of employers intend to hire contract and temporary workers.  Of the employers who plan to hire temporary or contract workers, 35% of them say they plan to make the temporary role permanent if everything works out.

To translate that into City Personnel terms, 35% of the employers surveyed intent to hire for temp-perm positions in 2012.  A temp-perm situation makes a lot of candidates nervous, however there is less reason to be nervous than they think.  A temp period really isn’t so different from a probationary period and as we tell all our candidates, if you do a great job you’ll have a job.  The huge upside of this arrangement is that both candidate and employer get a change to evaluate one another before making any long term costly decisions.  A good job, as everyone knows, is important in one’s overall happiness.   For an employer the benefit is clear, no great financial risk until you know the candidate is exactly what you want.

Out of Date Resume Practices

Job searching is an area that the tried and true tactics do not always ring to be the best.  In fact, there are quite a few of these practices that are actually hurting your chances of getting a new position.

Dear Sir or Madam: Dear applicant, please, please do not address your cover letter in this fashion. When was the last time you used these titles in real life? Probably not recently and there is good reason for that.  It’s a dated way to start your letter.  Also not a terrific opening is, “To Whom this May Concern.” Today information is at our finger tips.  Odds are you can find the hiring managers name or at least the department and address your letter that way.  As an added bonus the employer already knows you have some initiative.    

Paper Resumes:  I absolutely beg of you to PLEASE put away the beige, pink, blue, and grey resume paper that is left over from the late 1980’s, early 1990’s.  Fancy resume paper is no longer worth your while, especially because you should be submitting your resume electronically.  As a recruiter when we receive mailed or faxed resumes a red flag goes off in our head.  These practices don’t denote that you’re old, however they do send the message you are out of touch with the current practices.

Pages and Pages of Bullets: Now don’t get me wrong on this, bullet points of your job responsibilities in past positions makes things easier to read and saves recruiters time, however you should limit each position to 2-3 bullet points.  Once you’ve gotten past that number you’ve lost your audience and seem to be just listing for the sake of listing.  Use your own voice in the bullets, make it natural, and only the highlight the big stuff that really defines your time in the position.  “Customer Service” is simply not worth a bullet point.

Interviewing? How to Make a Killer Impression

Yesterday I spent the day down at URI conducting mock interviews for the School of Business.  For all my companies out there reading this, it is definitely worth your time to work with the local schools.  The programs they are trying to build for their upper classmen will not only benefit the students, but it will also benefit employers by teaching kids early whats expected in the working world.  Enough of my PSA though.  Almost all the students I interviewed said their number one concern is preparing themselves to make a killer impression on a potential employer.  This tip sheet is for them.

5 Steps to Making a Killer Impression
(Forbes)

1. Go in with a clear intention: Before you get in front of your interviewer think of what points you would like to get across and how you would like to be perceived.  Mentally visualizing these things will help you be able to convey them when it comes time, I.E. in your interview.
2. Think about what you're wearing: Before you get dressed be aware of the message your clothes, make-up, jewelry, watches and shoes are saying about you.  Your outward appearance is the first thing an employer will see and like it or not establishes some type of a judgment about you.  Make sure your outfit is saying what you want it to.
3. Body Language:  Be aware of what you are doing and how it can be perceived. Stand up straight, angle your body towards your interviewer. The way you physically respond can say a lot.  Slouching can be taken as low confidence, sitting angled away from the interview disinterest, and the list can go on.
4. Avoid Bad Days:  If you're having a bad day sometimes it can be hard to shake it.  The results can be written all over your face in terms of frowns, swollen eyes, etc.  Either figure out how to shake the mood or reschedule. The last thing you want is an employer to feel this is your day to day mood.
5. Be Interested and Be Interesting:  Make eye contact, listen to what the other person is saying.  We have all been taking to someone and known they are uninterested in what they are saying. Its a turn off.  Also be interesting.  Open up about what makes you unique.