Summer Job Searching – Worthwhile or Waste of Time?

Posted by on

Are you taking a break from the job search and surrendering to the lazy days of summer? The conventional wisdom is that almost everyone is in vacation mode. Consequently, many postpone job searching until September.
Is this a mistake? Could you be missing opportunities if you take the summer off?
Job seekers say that they want to take the summer off. By the time the summer ends, job seekers who took the summer off will be competing against even more job seekers who have followed the same strategy. A fair number of job seekers think that recruiters and hiring managers are unavailable during the summer. Therefore, many believe it’s a waste of time to job search from June through August.
Few people take long vacations anymore, so for the corporate world it’s business as usual in the summer. It may take a little longer to get internal consensus on a hire because of staggered vacations, but why waste three months when you can move things forward during that time?” Summer time can offer advantages to job seekers. Sometimes, summer’s quieter pace gives hiring managers a bit more ‘brain space,’ so they are more attentive to employment applications.
Summer can be a prime hiring season for some employers. Many projects hit the ground running in the fall, and employers want new people in place.

5  Summers Job Search Tips

  1. Capitalize on seasonal events. Summer is a terrific time to network. There are festivals, barbeques, weddings and other gatherings that can be a perfect time to connect. Using personal and social gatherings to let people know you are looking is an excellent strategy.
  2. Don’t get discouraged. Summer vacations may make reaching the right people more challenging, but don’t use this as a reason to back off. Be patient and consistent, leave polite messages and continue due diligence. Keep in mind that receptionists and other gatekeepers take vacations, too. You might connect with that otherwise hard-to-reach hiring manager while your competitors are lolling around waiting until September.
  3. Keep a job search schedule. Yes, it’s summer, but don’t be lulled into laziness. Even if it is just an hour a day, put structure in place to keep you going.
  4. Build a network. Form a group of like-minded job seekers to keep your summer job search on track. Meet regularly to share information on who’s hiring. A job opportunity not right for you may be perfect for someone in your network, and vice versa .
  5. Take stock of your resume and skills. Summer is the perfect time to assess and update your resume and skills. Review your resume and add any new accomplishments or training. Also, brush up on any skills that may be lagging. Take a class or two in the summer.

When it comes to your job search, summer doesn’t have to mean slow. While that perfect swimsuit may remain elusive, you can use the summer months to find an ideal career fit. Your time and effort can reap big rewards and even land you a new job before autumn.

FacebookTwitterGoogle+LinkedInShare

The 3 Key Questions in a Job Interview

Posted by on

Any question you’ve ever asked in any interview or been asked in any interview is a subset of one of three questions getting at strengths, motivation and fit.

1. Can you do the job?

2. Will you love the job?

3. Can we tolerate working with you?

Each question may be asked using different words, but every question, however it is phrased, is just a variation on one of these topics: Strengths, Motivation, and Fit.

Can you do the job? – Strengths

Recruiters want to know that you have the knowledge, skills, and management abilities to handle the job that is given to you.  You should highlight your strengths and if they ask you about your weaknesses, tell them what you have learned from your past mistakes.

Will you love the job? -Motivation

Recruiters want to know that you enjoy your job, your colleagues, and your environment.  If an employee is only motivated by salary, then he or she will soon be unsatisfied and leave the company.  To reduce turnover, recruiters look for employees who love their jobs

Can we tolerate working with you? – Fit

Recruiters want to know that as a new hire in a new environment, you will mesh well with your colleagues and the culture of the company.  During an interview, recruiters are not only evaluating your skill set but also your attitude and personality.

As you prepare for an interview, decide how you will answer each of these questions.  Be ready to provide relevant examples.  The questions may be asked in different ways, but all questions will circle back to these three main points.  Best of luck in your job search!

Questions to Ask Interviewers

Posted by on

One of the last questions the interviewer will ask you is “Do you have any questions?”  If you reply with a simple “No” you are telling the interviewer that you aren’t really interested in the job or the company.

Lets consider two candidates are in the interview in the sales department.

The first candidate is asking “Tell me about your company’s bonus system for the employees. How many vacation days are available per year?” Taking into account that this is the first interview, to ask about the bonus system and vacation period is too early. This approach can lead the interviewer to think you are too selfish and don’t have much interest in the work.

The second candidate:” No, I think you have told everything I would like to know. I am sure I will have more questions if I am hired”.

This approach is too flaccid and also doesn’t show interest in the work.

It is important to ask questions which will give you more information about your position and the nature of the company. It will demonstrate your interest, initiative and strategic understanding of the position and the company.

A proper answer should be as follows:”Yes, I have few questions. From your words I could make a conclusion that the company has a problem of retaining excising customers, hasn’t it? And if it is really like that what methods were used to solve this problem? Will the new employees work with the old customers or will be engaged in attracting the new ones”.

This kind of answer will demonstrate your interest in the company activities, its problems and their solution methods and this will highlight your suitability for the job.

Prepare in Advance

You must decide what kind of information about the company activities will be useful for you. Make a list of questions in advance:

  • about the company, its achievements, problems and their solution methods
  • about the department activities of  the applied position
  • about the company business sphere situation

An interview is a two way selection technique – it’s just as important that you are able to make an informed decision about the company and the vacant position as it is for the company about you.

All you have to do is keep the conversation going. At its best, an interview is really just a conversation.

Graduates Employment Problems

Posted by on

It is very hard for graduates to find a job nowadays. First of all, as a rule the employers are seeking for employees with work experience. Second, very often after the study years the obtained profession loses its topicality.

The first problem is – lack of work experience, which is like a deadlock. You can not be hired because of the lack of work experience. But you can’t gain the work experience without a job. Then what to do?

It is not easy to find a way but it is not impossible. Don’t avoid starting working in an organization but with less salary. It mustn’t be exactly your specialization, it can be something very close to it. It is more important not to change the scope of activity. For example, if you are an accountant there is no need to work as a driver. The knowledge without experience very quickly evaporates and it would be very difficult to recover it.

You will obtain the required years of work experience, and may be also implement career growth. After that you will be able to apply for your desired position and salary with confidence that you will be hired because you already have work experience.

Most Common Resume Lies

Posted by on

On the background of the crisis and serious competition in the labor market employees are increasingly using “creative style” of making a resume, adding a bit of spice here and there in order to get the perfect CV. What items of candidates’ professional biographies should be considered carefully and more critically, and how to discover the main lie in a resume?

Work Hours
Personnel “surplus” has allowed employers to tighten the conditions of candidates selection, and the latest, in their turn, are trying to meet new requirements at least in making a resume.

Foreign language skills
This is the second most popular item, which the applicants consider their duty to embellish. Really, it is so easy to convert “read with the dictionary”  to “fluent” – the paper will endure everything.

Job Responsibilities
The aim to impress a potential employer, candidates will certainly ascribe a couple and dozens of other duties that they allegedly carried out in the previous job. It is considered to be  normal, when an employee lightly “customizes” his resume requirements for the employer, correctly placing the emphasis and highlighting his accomplishments. But in some cases the same person represents his resume as a business coach, then a sales manager and even as an HR-specialist.

Professional achievements
Any resume guidelines advices to describe your achievements as detailed as possible. In many CV-templates “Achievements” are recommended to be added into a separate partition. The most popular among these is the organization from scratch: every second candidate has created a department / project from scratch. It is just a sin to get a job and not to open a new department, which in fact appears to be founded long ago.

Among sales managers, marketing and other specialists whose work results are quantitatively measurable, as a rule exaggerate about the increase of customers, turnovers and attendances in two / three times”.

How to Choose the Right Resume Photo

Posted by on

Resume is not a social website profile and your photo on it must be appropriate. It can help you land or will it have an adverse effect and hurt your chances.

How to choose the right resume photo? Here is some advice from Accept Employment Center.

  1. A head and shoulders shot should be enough.   It mustn’t be a photo from a social event.
  2. Photos must be in natural colors. You better keep in your personal archive color processed as well as black and white photos.
  3. Remember that your face is more important than the background. The picture on the background of the monument or the Eiffel Tower is not a good idea.
  4. Make sure you wear something professional, avoid t-shirts and sleeveless shirts.
  5. Don’t frown or grimace your face. Always remember to look enthusiastic and smile.
  6. Your photo should be actual. It is not a good idea to use 5-10 year-old photos.
  7. Don’t cut up a photo of yourself  from your personal photographs, or photographs in social events. This will really look unprofessional and this would really make you undesirable as potential employee.

If you follow this advice then the results will worth the efforts.

Body Language

Posted by on

Did you know that your body language can say a lot more about you than your words during a job interview? Learn to speak through your appearance and body language and create a positive impression so that you land the job.

1. Appearance and dress

Before you even think about going on an interview, make sure you have appropriate interview attire and everything fits correctly, in which your body language will be more comfortable and easy.

2. Hold a talisman in your hand

Take with you some adornment, scarf or another trifle, that means something for you. It can help you in right time.

3. Feet flat on the floor

Place both feet flat on the floor. It conveys a confident and professional look during the job interview.

4. Sit relaxed and quietly

Don’t cross your legs and idly shake one over the other. It’s distracting and shows how uncomfortable you are. Sit quietly and don’t do unnecessary movements.

5. Hands on the lap

Do not exaggerate hand gestures when you are talking. It is better to let your hands lie loosely on your lap and don’t move your hands if it is not necessary.

6.  Lean slightly forward

Relax and lean slightly forward, about 10 degrees, towards your interviewer. This gives the message that you are both interested and involved. Leaning back makes you appear too relaxed and casual

7. Arms folded across chest

Sit with your arms folded across your chest. You’ll appear unfriendly and disengaged.

8. Control bad habits

Don’t drum your fingers and play with your hair, then tie it back. You probably know you bad habits. Avoid them at least during the interview.

9. Hands in the pocket

If you are standing during the interview don’t put your hands in your pockets. This can be considered unprofessional.

10. Personal space of interviewer

Everyone has his personal space, and there is no need to overstep this line. Establish a comfortable amount of personal space between you and the interviewer. Invading personal space could make the interviewer feel uncomfortable and take the focus away from your conversation.

11. Props

If you’re playing a balancing act with pens and other paraphernalia, you look ill-at-ease, clumsy, and unprepared.

12. Don’t stare at the interviewer

If the interviewer is talking and you want to show that you are actively listening, you need to instigate direct eye contact and maintain it. Avoid appearing as if you are staring aggressively by blinking at regular intervals and moving your head every now and then, such as giving a small nod.

Reasons for Not Getting Hired

Posted by on

  • Being late for the interview
  • Lazy handshaking
  • Poor communication skills, inability to express self clearly, poor grammar or diction
  • Poor personal appearance or inappropriate dress
  • Lack of vitality and enthusiasm
  • Lack of activity
  • Lack of sincerity
  • Lack of self balance
  • Avoiding questions and giving not clear answers
  • Lack of planning for career. No purpose, goal or direction
  • Lack of orientating quickly
  • Lack of self-confidence; nervous or ill at ease
  • Leans toward making excuses; evasive about past history, or hedges on explaining unfavorable factors about past
  • Lack of maturity
  • Lack of social graces; discourteous or ill-mannered
  • Cynicism
  • Lack of discipline
  • Unwilling to learn
  • Intolerance
  • Lack of ability to accept the criticism
  • Lack of interest; passive or indifferent to company employees
  • Condemning past employers or employees
  • Too much financial expectations
  • Unwilling to start at the bottom of the company
  • Failing to ask questions about the company

Do You Know Who Becomes a Recruiter?

Posted by on

Many researches of personnel matters are full of opinions and advice about Human Resources.  And what is the main activity of these specialists?  According to employers Recruiters’ main activities are:

  • Key competency profile formation for the vacant position
  • Vacancy application placement and CV retrieval on the internet or other resources
  • Telephone or private interview with the candidate
  • Complex assessment of candidates for vacant places
  • Candidate data base maintenance
  • Personnel assessment and motivation system planning
  • Co-operation with employment agencies
  • Labour market monitoring
  • Making reports

Typical representatives of this profession are young women with higher education. The percentage is  shared like this:

  • Women  are 88%
  • Men-12%
  • 72% candidates – young people under the age of 29
  • 80% specialists have higher education.

Recruiters can become the candidates with:

  • Incomplete higher or higher education and communicative skills
  • Candidate selection methods knowledge
  • Personnel assessment methods knowledge
  • Minimal work experience in recruitment area

Human Resource Manager can become a specialist with:

  • Higher education
  • At least 3 years work experience
  • Personnel assessment methods knowledge
  • Ability to maintain and fulfill  a large number of vacancies at the same time
  • Abilities to work under pressure
  • Psychological and HR Management education (is an advantage).

HR Manager

Posted by on

“HR Mangers’ roles and responsibilities in a modern organization” is a big issue in almost every company. General concept understanding is the main part of the discussion, which being relatively “new” profession in Armenia, doesn’t exist. Fortunately our western colleagues are always ready to come to a rescue. They define HR managers as follows.

  • Storming
  • Forming
  • Norming
  • Performing

Some Armenian company heads have their own imaginary “perfect” HR Manager:

  • Partner
  • Strategist
  • Leader
  • Innovator

But is it really imagination? When does the company head realize he really needs professional HR manager in his organization?

Internet forums are overloaded with the phrases like: “HR Manager? Our company is too small to need HR Manager Services and we are more concentrated on our activity and such kind of responsibilities we can easily “shift” between the secretary and accountant”. But later in “Garbage in, garbage out” system the lack of professional knowledge and performance of the employees become visible. However we must take into account that HR Manager makes comfortable atmosphere for company employees and we can mention 5 main responsibilities of HR Manager:

  • Efficient  solution to the company problems
  • Manage a team of staff
  • Conflict resolution
  • Maintain healthy company atmosphere, in which action consequences, common sense, corporate culture and mutual understanding are important.

We can still speak a lot about the advantages and disadvantages of HR specialist’s  role in the company. But facts are more convincible.