Author: Tanya Ponton

30 Sep Five hard interview questions and how to answer them

Posted at 07:00h in Job Seekers

The process of finding a new job is never easy. But let's say you've done all the right things -- you've kept your LinkedIn profile current, been dutifully participating in networking opportunities and got the letters of reference in your back pocket. And now you've locked down an interview. Great work -- but are you ready? Interviewers can be tough, but the questions don't have to become stumpers. We discuss some common interview questions that can get you dinged or distinguished.

Here are five hard interview questions to prepare for:

23 Sep Hiring? Using Social Media for Recruiting Great Talent

Posted at 18:31h in Employers, Small Business Owners, Startups

You would have to be under a rock, inside a hole, in the middle of the desert to not know LinkedIn and Facebook. But, many people think of them as an individual user tools, for personal professional promotion and social use, and not enough for business recruiting purposes. But that kind of logic could cost you great opportunities to connect with the perfect candidate. LinkedIn has over 380 million members as of 2015, and over 100 million are in the U.S. And as we discussed in our article about jobseekers ditching paper resumes, LinkedIn profiles have essentially become the leading way to promote yourself in the job market.

Using social media for recruiting can be highly effective when done smartly.

16 Sep Recruiting Wrongs and Avoiding Them: Making the Right Hire

Posted at 07:00h in Employers, Small Business Owners, Startups

There is almost nothing harder than finding the right new hire for your team. Do they fit interpersonally? Will they be able to align with the mission? Do they have enough experience, or too much? Can they integrate into the culture? A dozen questions bombard the hiring manager as they meet each candidate. Unfortunately, the right candidate can be blurred by unimportant noise, or the wrong candidate can rise to the top for the wrong reasons.

Here then, are five tips on making the right hire:

09 Sep Calm Down: How to Manage Stress at Work

Posted at 07:00h in Job Seekers

Even the best of jobs can from time to time prove to be stressful. Before we know it, we can find that we’re dreading each morning, and exhausted by noon. So, how then, do we keep a balance of meeting the demands of work without succumbing to the stress that often accompanies it?

Here are five tips to reduce stress at work:

02 Sep Time to grow? Six things that will help tell you when to hire.

Posted at 07:00h in Employers, Small Business Owners, Startups

It’s lonely at the top. If you’re a solopreneur, an entrepreneur with a small team, or running a good-sized organization, you are used to making decisions that you are alone are qualified to assess. One of those considerations may be when to make a new hire. Whether it’s your first employee or your 50^th, you have to weigh if perception (yours’ or your employees’) that you need help is real or imagined. So how can you pressure test your company to see if it is time to start reading resumes?

26 Aug How to Get Noticed — Resume Tips to Get You Hired

Posted at 07:00h in Job Seekers

If you are out in the job market, or even thinking about getting out into the job market, you will certainly need an updated resume, LinkedIn profile or CV to help promote yourself to potential employers. And of course, it is key that it be free of spelling errors, have up to date contact information and use good grammar. That's the basics, however, and it will take more than that if you want to your application to be the one they notice. So how do you make sure that you emphasize the right skill sets and experiences to get a company's attention? Everyone wants to describe themselves as “effective” and “organized”. But the truth is, that doesn’t really mean anything if your resume doesn’t give some context to these adjectives. You are going to have to be more specific and give concrete evidence of your talent if you want to really leave an impact.

19 Aug 5 Tips For Keeping Employee Morale High

Posted at 07:00h in Employers, Small Business Owners, Startups

How do you promote employee morale? Employees are the heart of any organization. Keeping them enthusiastic about the company are your best public relations, marketing, and business development strategies. But how do you keep them at the forefront of priorities in balance with all the other day-to-day demands?

12 Aug Resumes are so 20th Century: Best LinkedIn Profile Tips

Posted at 07:00h in Job Seekers

The days of the mailed paper resume are long, long gone. But even the emailed variety is dying a slow death. Sure, interested employers still ask for a traditional CV once you are at the interview stage, but finding a job by sending out a cover letter and resume to dozens of companies is pretty old school. 93% of companies now use LinkedIn for recruiting purposes -- for not only searching for candidates, but also for publishing opportunities. In other words, get thee to a computer and polish your profile.

05 Aug Do You Know Temporary Employees’ Rights?

Posted at 07:00h in Employers, Small Business Owners, Startups

More and more companies are fulfilling short-term needs with temps and independent contractors. This can be a great way to meet your staffing needs efficiently – say, for seasonal work or if you want to hire conservatively as you grow your company. But just because you’re not their employer, doesn’t mean that you don’t have certain obligations. The commitments are reasonable and do not have to be an onerous task that should discourage you from using staffing agencies – just be aware that you do have some responsibilities.

29 Jul Temporary Rock Star: How to be a Great Temp

Posted at 07:00h in Job Seekers

Most people have a pretty good idea of what it takes to be a good team member of an organization. It’s about more than just what you contribute, but how you support your boss, your colleagues, even the greater mission of the company. Understanding the long-term goals and the core values of your employer help show that you are engaged and committed to the long term view. But what if you’re not in a role with a permanent commitment? What if you found a position with a staffing agency, and it’s only supposed to last six months, or even six weeks? Can you really make an impression? Yep. You really can – but you do have to adjust your expectations and how you make your contributions.