10 Candidate Questions Thatll Make You Squirm (But Earn)

10 Candidate Questions Thatll Make You Squirm (But Earn) Theres nothing worse than working closely with a candidate and genuinely believing that youve found them the PERFECT role, only to confidently deliver them the offer and have a curveball hit you out of nowhere!  They tell you that theyve decided to stay at their current company, or that something else has popped up down the road, meaning  they can be home by 6pm to see their children for an extra hour (children, they didnt mention any children to you)? These nail-biting questions will ensure that you leave no stone unturned and will help to eliminate those nasty last minute surprises! 1. Why do you want to leave? Its important that at this stage you  assure the candidate its a  completely confidential conversation. What you dont want to do is put them forward for a role which could result in the candidate encountering the same frustrations and dropping out prematurely (it doesnt look good for  you or the candidate). Asking them this question outright will also give you a good talking point, allowing you to delve deeper into what theyd like to see from a new position. This also opens up a great opportunity to sell your role to them! 2. Take this role to one side, what would your perfect role look like? The best way of asking  this is to explain that you have a number of roles open constantly, and that you want to work out whether there is anything else worth putting them forward for. Okay sure, this can be difficult to digest as they  rattle off a list of  industries and responsibilities that theyd love to get involved in especially when that list starts to look like the polar opposite of the job description you recently sent through to them. The best tip? Be honest and push back on them. Ask,  why this role? They might surprise you when they describe to you one aspect which really interests them. If it really doesnt look like a match made in heaven, at least you save yourself the heartache in the long run from a rejected offer, and instead  form a list of target companies to proactively target on their behalf, based on what they are looking for. 3. Have you spoken to your boss about the fact that youre unhappy? Find this question difficult to ask? Dont! Sure, some candidates  are nervous about approaching their boss and tackling their frustrations head on, without the safety-net of a new job-offer lined up, but its good to have honest conversations to make sure everyone is on the same page. Explain the benefit to them of having this conversation up front. Why? As soon as  they hand in their notice, the likelihood is that this conversation will take place and the candidate will receive a counter offer. If your candidates issue with their current role is something that is easily fixed by their boss, you could end up in a sticky situation! Its best for everyone to find this out earlier on in the process! 4. Have you looked for other opportunities internally? Maybe the candidate is frustrated with the responsibilities of their current job role, but theyre fully immersed in the company, its values and culture (especially if theyve been with the company for a long time). If theyre applying internally, find out what stage they are at (many companies will prioritise internal applications over external ones) and talk to them about  the pros and cons of staying  with the same organisation. Make sure the offer you get them isnt going to just be a bargaining chip for them to get a pay-rise internally! 5. Are you in the process of applying elsewhere? Aside from the candidates application/s with you, what else do they have going on? Most active candidates in the marketplace will have more  than one iron in the fire (and thats fine, you want them to make a well informed decision!) However, there are a couple of additional questions that you can ask that will really help you gauge how serious this candidate is about their application 6. (If they are) Which role is currently  your preference and why? This is where honesty from the candidate is really important.  If your role is priority number 10, is it worth  your time and effort representing them? 7. How many other applications do you have? Ive personally been faced with that horrible feeling in the pit in your  stomach when a candidate tells you  that they have 8 or 9 other interviews within the next week. Why so many? Sometimes the most in-demand candidates can be the most difficult to work with. Getting a heads up on this is important, so you know youre probably going to have to exert extra control over the process. 8. Who else in your life will influence your decision? Partners, family members and significant others all play a huge role in peoples decisions when they  are considering making a big  change in their life. Hopefully, they will have spoken to their partner / family members about this role or at least about the fact that they would like to move. If they havent, this would be an alarm bell for me! (Ask them if theres any reason they havent, and whether they are serious about moving on form their current role). 9. Have you been turned down by another company recently? Why? I once had a candidate tell me that he got very nervous in a presentation, became flustered in the interview and referred to it as a car crash situation (he was actually attending a presentation-based interview for me the following week) and it had clearly knocked his confidence. To conquer this  I set up a meeting with him before the interview and had him present back to me first. We talked through the presentation and I threw tricky questions at him, but also assured him that it was a really good presentation!  So, when it came to the day, it seemed like a breeze in comparison to his last interview. If I hadnt asked, I wouldnt have known 10. Do you have any reservations in accepting this role if offered? **Close eyes and bite lip on the other end of the phone as you ask this question** Its such a powerful question to ask. Hopefully they will say no, but even if they say yes, these are things that you can still overcome before their mind is made up. Maybe they really like the role but it doesnt offer flexi-working (easily solved one phone call to the hiring manager to ask whether this is an option / how they could accommodate) and relaying this to the candidate. The most important thing to consider when representing candidates, is that you need to gather as much information as possible and make sure youve done everything you can to accommodate their need and reservations BEFORE delivering any offer of employment to a candidate. The last thing you want to be faced with is a candidate turning down the offer based on something that could have been avoided if tackled earlier in the process. Effective questioning and ensuring that the candidate is able to be honest with you are key components to understanding your candidates needs. From here it will be easier to manage the process between your candidate and client and  and ultimately understand whether  this is the right role for them!

Resume Writing Prompts

Resume Writing PromptsResume writing prompts can help your resume stand out and grab the attention of the reader. Resume writing is a complex process and can be very time consuming. For this reason, using resume writing prompts will greatly help you. In this article, we will be discussing some resume writing prompts.There are times when you might find yourself going back and forth with the words in your resume. You might want to edit and re-edit your resume until it looks good. But the truth is that this can take an extremely long time. When you are able to use resume writing prompts, you are in luck. The other resume writing prompts we discuss are: your skills, qualifications, work experience, as well as your education. Here are some resume writing prompts to help you with your skills section.Skills: Try and use the words' skill, expertise, training, and training from time to time. Your skill section should be very short and not more than two or three sentences. In fact, if it is po ssible, try and make your skills section very brief and focused on what you have accomplished or learned.Qualifications: For your qualifications section, you need to concentrate on the word qualifications. If you can't think of a single qualification that you possess, use 'brilliant' in place of qualifications. The important thing to remember here is that you don't need to write a whole lot of qualifications, just enough to qualify your statement about what you have achieved.Experience: Try and make the experience portion short and sweet. The experience portion of your resume should never take more than one page. The words experience should also be used sparingly because the resume writing prompt is for it to be short and sweet.Education: Again, for your education section, try and focus on the word education. Don't use the word college because the resume writing prompt is for it to be short and sweet. Make sure to keep your education section short and sweet and at the same time not too general in nature.Years of Experience: Use years only if they fit in the context of the purpose of your resume. Using years is generally used in cases when you are applying for a position that requires you to have over a year of experience or work history.Being able to use resume writing prompts is very helpful. However, it will take a lot of time and effort before you start seeing results. Use resume writing prompts and resume writing for resumes tips on a regular basis to improve your resume's appearance.

Know Your Network 3 Personal Brand Musts To Share - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Know Your Network 3 Personal Brand Musts To Share - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career From the time we enter college as an undergraduate to the time we retire, we’re taught the importance of building a solid professional network. We send friendly emails to the names printed on business cards we collect at area networking events, and we issue expertise and job updates to former and current co-workers and bosses on LinkedIn. But building and updating your network on professional progress is useless if they don’t “know” you. To clarify, I don’t mean know your mother’s maiden name “know” you. I mean they know that one unique thing about your personal brand that sets you apart from their other connections. Sure, everyone you’re connected to probably knows your current position and where you’re located. But if your connection learns of a stellar opportunity within his company or finds a great position online, does he know to pass it your way? “Job seekers are primarily looking for positions for themselves and often don’t stop to really consider how their connections, other job seekers and professionals, might be able to help,” explains Sudy Bharadwaj, co-founder and CEO of Jackalope Jobs. “However, when your network knows you’re looking, they often tend to recognize that job that is perfect for someone they know.” So how can you make sure your network “knows” your personal brand and can identify the jobs that might be a fit for you? Bharadwaj outlined three personal brand “musts” professionals need to share with their network connections in order to pop into mind when a new opportunity appears. 1. Choose One Position You Want Them To Remember Professionals, especially young professionals, vacate positions often for a variety of reasons. Perhaps they’ve gotten a promotion within a company, relocated to a new city or even started a new company. Such frequent changes can leave your connections second-guessing as to where you’ve worked and what you do. To keep confusion of your personal brand at a minimum, choose one position you’ve held or currently hold that you always want your connections to remember. Perhaps you want them to remember a job with a high-ranking title or a job where you were given an exorbitant amount of responsibility. You want your connection to see a job with a vice president title or multi-tasking requirement and think, “Hey, that’s so-and-so!” 2. Choose One Skill You Want Them To Remember Say, for example, you’re a public relations professional. Chances are you have superb writing and editing skills. Chances are so does everybody else in your profession. You want to find one skill you possess that separates you from mostly everybody else in your profession. To continue the public relations example, do you know how to shoot and edit video? Or are you at ease answering public inquiries on camera? Not everybody in your profession has these skills. Choose one unique skill and make sure to build your brand around it. 3. Choose One Personality Trait You Want Them To Remember Skills and past work experience are only part of what it takes to ultimately land you a job; personality plays a large role as well. Companies, like people, have unique internal traits that distinguish them from their competition. Think of one personality trait you want your network to remember about you. Is it that you’re obsessed with your dog? Or are you a crossfit nut? The next time your connection finds a job at Marcus Thomas, LLC or hears his boss talking about how accomplished he feels for completing 100 burpees at his workout this morning, he’ll think of you. Remember to choose a position, skill and personality trait that best fit with the personal brand you’ve already spent time building. If you’ve constructed your brand correctly, choosing these three musts will be simple and obvious. Which three “musts” do you want your network to remember? How do they work with your personal brand? Author: Heather R. Huhman is a career expert, experienced hiring manager, and founder president of Come Recommended, a content marketing and digital PR consultancy for organizations with products that target job seekers and/or employers. She is also the author of Lies, Damned Lies Internships (2011), #ENTRYLEVELtweet: Taking Your Career from Classroom to Cubicle (2010), and writes career and recruiting advice for numerous outlets.

How to Make Your Company Friendlier to Working Mothers (and Why You Should)

How to Make Your Company Friendlier to Working Mothers (and Why You Should) Even if you don’t know it, there’s a good chance you have a mother working for your businessâ€"or you will in the future. According to the National Women’s Law Center, nearly 70% of women with children younger than 18 are in the workforce; nearly 60% of women with infants are, too. Not only is that a lot of working mothers, but that’s simply a lot of workers in general. And with unemployment so low, from a simply economic standpoint, you can’t afford to not be competitive to these candidates. Many of them are in their mid-to-late 30s, bringing significant experience, too. In order to make your company a desirable place for working mothers, you’ll likely have to make some changes to your company culture. These are more than just a few fringe benefits; they’re thoughtful changes with working mothers in mind. But they’re worth itâ€"both for the health of your company, and your bottom line. 1. Get comfortable with flexibility. Motherhood is unpredictableâ€"that’s simply the nature of the job (yes, it’s a job). Being a mother requires flexibility, so it follows that employers who want to be friendlier to mothers need to be flexible, too. That can be difficult for companies who are used to very structured work days, attendance policies, or in-office cultures. But, in order to attract and retain top talent, and compete with employers offering the benefit of flexibility, you’ll have to get comfortable with the idea, too. Often, the primary way that flexibility manifests, and that mothers request it, is with scheduling. As mothers re-enter the workforce after giving birth, consider a program that allows them to work from home part-time and readjust to office life gradually. In general, offering a more lenient remote work policy will allow mother breathe a sigh of relief on days their childcare flakes, or school has a snow day. Remember that the cost of childcare is prohibitively expensiveâ€"one of the top reasons why mothers don’t return to work after childbirth. 2. Create a private space. Although the Fair Labor Standards Act does mandate that all small businesses must provide nursing mothers a private lactation space for their first year of nursing, this doesn’t always happenâ€"and even then, what’s provided isn’t always enough. By law, the space must be something more than the bathroom, but some employers provide little more than a closet. The space you provide for mothers is a signal to how you value themâ€"their comfort, their lifestyle, and the difficulty of balancing home life and work life. Setting up a comfortable space where working mothers don’t feel harriedâ€"and even feel that they can get away for a momentâ€"can make a major difference, especially during a time in which they’re sleeping less and stressing out more. 3. Offer an education savings plan. Many employers have made strides with regards to creating better retirement plans and matching contributions. But parents are thinking bigger than themselves. Offering the option for an education savings plan, like a 529 matching plan for college, can be a substantial draw for working mothers. In a similar vein to 401ks and IRAs, 529 savings accounts are tax-advantaged plans geared specifically for paying for education. Offering the option at your company can send a message that you are a family-friendly workplace.   It’s the kind of perk you might even want to advertise in your job listings. 4. Consider reassessing your PTO policies. It’s a big culture shift to go from a finite number of vacation days to an unlimited vacation policy. But for working mothers, employers who aren’t parsimonious with their paid time off are highly desirable. There are a few key reasons for this. Among them, mothers need to plan their vacations around school holidays and vacations. It’s expensive to go away when everyone is planning vacations around the same times, and if they need to be counting their days, they can’t book in advance. Allowing them the leeway to know that they’ll be able to go when they have the small window to go is one fewer thing to worry aboutâ€"as well as money saved. Next goes back to flexibility. Say her child needs to go to the doctor one weekday. The last thing she wants to worry about is having to use one of her vacation days if she’s all out of sick or personal time. This kind of responsible leeway can make a world of difference. 5. Offer a shared assistant/amenities. If you don’t have the ability for your workers to get work done off premises, or want to go above and beyond, consider actually offering onsite services. This could mean childcare at work so mothers don’t have to time pickup, or fitness classes so they don’t have to worry about squeezing in time for a workout. You can even help alleviate stress by creating a shared concierge to run errands that can’t get done.   For example, things like picking up dry cleaning, receiving packages, or grabbing ingredients for dinner. *** Most importantly, one immediate change you can make is a simple change of mindset. Not every family unit is the same: Don’t assume she has a support network at home to help her out with basic tasks, or even an extended family or group of friends around to support her. In fact, make the baseline assumption that she’s raising her child or children on her own. Twenty-five percent of mothers are actually raising children on their own. When a working mother makes a request, there’s likely a good reason for it.   So be sensitive, and understand that when one job ends, there’s always another to go home to. This guest post was authored by Meredith Wood Meredith Wood is the Editor-in-Chief at  Fundera, an online marketplace for small business loans that matches business owners with the best funding providers for their business. Specializing in financial advice for small business owners, Meredith is a current and past contributor to Yahoo!, Amex OPEN Forum, Fox Business, SCORE, AllBusiness and more.

Software For Resume Writing Free Download - How To Write A Resume That You Can Be Proud Of

Software For Resume Writing Free Download - How To Write A Resume That You Can Be Proud OfAs a software for resume writing free download, this guide will teach you how to create the perfect resume that you can utilize to land that dream job. In the field of professional resume writing, this is a skill that every recruiter and hiring manager has in their tool box that they use to help find the right person for the job.What's more important, and in fact, more important than the resume itself is the objective that it is crafted to fulfill. That objective will define its worth as a tool that will help get you the job that you want. Without an objective, the resume is nothing more than a piece of paper that gets tossed aside, never to be seen again, and this is the reason why you should learn how to write a resume that has the potential to land you the job that you want.Before you begin to write your resume, you need to determine the person that you are going to target. This might sound o bvious, but if you don't know the person that you are writing for, the resume will not be any better than the other one. It's a good idea to try and write for a person that you have some connection with, so you will know what type of person they are and be able to write your resume more effectively.One of the most important things that you can do when you start a new resume is to carefully write the resume, so that it will stand out from the rest. This is the time that you should take the time to get into the mind of the hiring person and let them know that you have just been hired and that you are about to start on your new career. It's a good idea to place your experience as the beginning of your resume, before you talk about the specific details of the job that you are looking for.After you have a general idea of what you want to say, the program needs to be set up in order to send your resume to the recruiter. Your first goal is to get a good rating on your resume by focusing on the specific areas that you would like to have included. You want to focus on your skills and experiences in those areas and build your resume up to a point where it can stand out from the others on the table.The best way to accomplish this is to use the software for resume writing free download that has tools that will help you to build up your resume to a point where it can stand out and not be thrown to the side in favor of the other one. By taking the time to get into the right mindset, you will be better able to write the resume that you want.If you are struggling with this problem, then the best thing that you can do is ask someone else to help you to write your resume. There are many people that are willing to give advice and opinions, and they will often come from those who know you best. Your friends or family members can help you craft the resume that you want to have with the help of using software for resume writing free download.Whether you need to hire someone to help you write a professional resume, or you have someone that you trust to do it for you, take the time to learn how to use the software for resume writing free download to help you create the resume that you are looking for. You will be very glad that you did.

How Do I Start A Career In The Trades - CareerMetis.com

How Do I Start A Career In The Trades Photo Credit â€" http://maxpixel.freegreatpicture.comSchooling is often focused on academic subjects and careers that involve working with your hands are taking a back seat. This isn’t always best for some people who are more suited to practical work.While they might not be advertised as well as they used to be, there are still plenty of different routes into a career in the trades.If you have decided that you want to do something a bit more practical with your time, here are a few ways that you can do it.1) Start At HomeevalevalBefore you start making any big decisions you should be completely sure that you are doing the right thing. Trying your hand at a bit of DIY at home could give you an idea of whether you are really cut out for a career like this.If you are considering being an electrician or a plumber, this isn’t the best idea because it is unsafe to be playing around with that kind of thing without any training. However, there are plenty of places online where you can fi nd tutorials on simple carpentry or building projects.Why not have a go at some of them and see whether you enjoy it, and more importantly, whether you are good at it? You’re going to be spending a few years training so making the wrong decision at this point will waste a lot of your time.2) High School DiplomaThe unfortunate truth is, you won’t get very far in any career without having a high school diploma and blue-collar work is no exception.It is also important to take your SAT tests and get good scores.If you go down the college route, they won’t matter as much, but apprenticeships will take these into account when deciding whether to offer you a place.3) Community College or Vocational College?Photo Credit â€" Flickr.comThe next step is to get some kind of formal training in your chosen area to study; community college and vocational college are your two main options here, but which one is best? Each of them has its own benefits, depending on your situation.evalCommunity college tends to be longer because you will need to take extra classes alongside training in your chosen trade. This will cost you more as you will be there for longer, and you also need to factor in the extra costs.You can buy your protective equipment and more from Steel Blue, you’ll need to this before you are allowed near any power tools, etc. Although it costs more money, and you will have to study for longer, you will come out with a degree.Vocational college only award you a certificate rather than a full degree, however, this doesn’t matter if you are dead set on pursuing a specific career. It’s a better option for people who have a smaller budget and want to get into a career as quickly as possible.4) ApprenticeshipsAn apprenticeship is a course that offers practical experience on the job, with some classroom learning to fill in the gaps. You don’t need to have a qualification from a college before getting an apprenticeship, so if you can find one that will take yo u, it’s a good way to get stuck in straight away.evalYou’ll be getting paid as well, making it a good choice for people with limited funds. Having said that, they can be quite competitive and having a qualification already will give you a leg up on the competition. Once you’ve completed an apprenticeship, you should be in a position to start working full time in your chosen field.

Summary Sunday Career Trends and Job Search Strategies

Summary Sunday Career Trends and Job Search Strategies So much is changing with careers and job search today! This weeks collection should help bring you up to speed on some of the important trends and strategies youll need to manage your career.   This week, Im sharing more articles than I normally would. Thats because some need to be read together. Get tips on how to ask for a raise, conduct a stealth job search and learn about skills you may want to begin acquiring to stay in-demand. Youll find all this and more! CAREER TRENDS These two articles go hand-in-hand. Please, learn about new collar jobs and the demand for digital science and analytics skills! We need to fill new collar jobs that employers demand: IBMs Rometty by  Ginni Rometty, CEO, IBM, Special for USA TODAY Rommetty says: As industries from manufacturing to agriculture are reshaped by data science and cloud computing, jobs are being created that demand new skills â€" which in turn requires new approaches to education, training and recruiting. Investing in America’s Data Science and Analytics Talent: A call for Action by PwC and Business-Higher Ed Forum This joint report by PwC and Business-Higher Ed Forum outlines 8 ways training and recruiting for new jobs need to morph.  The report says: The current shortage of skills in the national job pool demonstrates that business-as-usual strategies won’t satisfy the growing need. If we are to unlock the promise and potential of data and all the technologies that depend on it, employers and educators will have to transform. The report shows the various types of analytics jobs and what they are called and salary information. Image credit: Investing In Americas DSA talent 2017 Big Data Is a Big Deal for Career Opportunities Heres the article I wrote for US News World Report this week on the topic. FREELANCING Get a Side Hustle, You’ll Need One by Jeff Shuey | Personal Branding Blog Ive been saying this for years! Never put all your income sources in one basket! Heres what Jeff says: In this day and age there is no such thing as a permanent job. There is no such thing as a forever job. There is no such thing as employee or employer loyalty. How to Get Started as a Freelancer by  Adrianne Bibby | FlexJobs Freelancing makes a wonderful side-hustle, so heres how to get started. UNDERCOVER JOB SEARCH Networking in a Stealth Job Search by Liz Ryan | Job-Hunt.org Here are tips on how to reach out to your network and target potential employers while keeping your job search confidential! Dont miss the other related articles referenced within this post! NETWORKING How Introverts Can Network Powerfully: 5 Key Ways To Rock At Networking When You Hate It by Kathy Caprino | Forbes Kathy interviews Dorie Clark about how introverts can network! See, theres hope for us introverts after all! ASKING FOR A RAISE The Big Question: Should You Ask for a Pay Raise [Infographic] Infographic by PayScale on YouTern Infographic by PayScale

How to achieve a big goal -

How to achieve a big goal - Whether you are old or young, the overwhelm of  achieving a big goal  can thwart your efforts and even prevent you from accomplishing your plans. For some people, just the thought of a big goal is enough to send them rushing the other way. It could  make you happier  to check off some big items on your to do list. How can you get started? Structure your project into steps Make sure you understand exactly what you need to do and what steps you need to take to finish. Review your assignments and goals. Create a list of everything you need to do. Make sure you have a complete picture of the tasks and create a time frame for each step. Break down the project into natural segments. Prioritize the segments and think about how much time each piece will take to complete. When you think of your goal as being comprised of many steps instead of one, huge feat, it may be much easier to motivate yourself to get started. Rome wasnt built in a day, and you wont accomplish a huge goal in a day, either. Create a Deadline Most of us will never finish a project without setting a deadline. However, make sure your deadline is realistic, or youre only setting yourself up to be disappointed. If you know youre planning your sisters baby shower and have a huge project at work coming up in the same month, dont add another deadline to your to do list. On the other hand, keep in mind another time worn adage, Theres no time like the present. Most people have busy lives and there may never be a perfect time to get started on a huge task. The difference between accomplishing your goal and not is sometimes that very first step. Dont fool yourself into believing you can never move ahead, or you will stay in one spot forever. Tap into Your Natural Habits If you like to check a lot of things off a list, front load your project with a lot of small steps first. Perhaps it will motivate you to include some fun or simple tasks right away. If you know youll feel more accomplished and motivated if you overcome a difficult hurdle early on, go for it and bask in your success once that step is finished. Recognize and allow yourself to go with your own flow and do whats right for you. Seek An Accountability Partner For some, it makes sense to hire a coach to keep focused. (This is why so many people rely on fitness trainers to keep them motivated and on track.) For others, a good friend or colleague can fill the role of accountability coach. Make sure the partner understands exactly what you are trying to do and is willing to touch base and keep you on track. Leverage your Network You dont have to do this huge task alone. Look around you and see who might be able to provide some support, advice or other assistance. Whether you need information, an introduction, someone to read and critique your writing or just a new set of eyes on your project, youre bound to have someone in your network who could help. Offer your help in return, and a partnership may be born. Dont Give Up It sounds obvious, but youll never accomplish a goal if you give up. Stick with it and you wont be sorry. More advice Easy ways to expand your network Best employee qualities How to make more money Originally appeared on AOLJobs.com.