Channelling Your Inner Recruitment Superhero

Channelling Your Inner Recruitment Superhero As I write this, I first need to point out that the real superheroes in life are those who work in the Police, Fire, Medical and Education services across the globe- those who choose a true vocation to dedicate their lives to, helping the people of the country they live in have better lives. However, I firmly believe that the life of a recruiter also has elements of being superheroes too, as we are also changing peoples lives- and it should always be for the better. You may be reading this thinking, what are my superpowers, how do I find out which cape to put on……So read on for my top tips on how to channel your own recruitment superhero and making sure the powers you spread are always good ones…. and never evil…. How should you channel your inner superhero? Decide what your superpower is: Whether it is finding the best top talent in your market, using Boolean searches, scanning your database, or proper headhunting for a specific brief, focus in on what you excel at and this should be where you dominate and become the “go-to” person for this reason. You can portray this by highlighting it on your personal brand on social media. Ask for endorsements from your customers to illustrate and reinforce what your claim for super-heroism is. Ensure the recommendations are authentic though- try to avoid ones from colleagues. External endorsements are always more genuine and sincere. Become the champion for your superpower Let’s say youve realized your superpower is developing new business- speak to your employer. Talk to them about how you could champion other people in your company in how to become the superhero for this skillset. Present at training sessions, leading by example and really teaching best practice in your chosen area or superpowerdom. And remember, no superhero knows everything be receptive to learning from your fellow superheroes! Find your fellow superheroes and form an alliance By coupling up with other superheroes who complement your strengths you could create between you a really exceptional, universe-beating team. For example, if you are the superhero of new business and you couple up with the superhero of candidate generation, you will become the winning partnership in delivering for the clients you win! These things will change; allow others into your power superhero circle as this will create a real champion like culture. Within your superhero, you should all be channeling the best practice for the areas you all have expertise in. This is very scaleable then for larger companies to replicate within different practice areas. Beat the villains Everyone knows that for every superhero, there is an evil villain counterpart, and it is only by allowing the superhero traits to shine across your world (recruitment desk) can you defeat and forever banish the villainy double-crossing recruiters, those who cut corners or undercut the market price; those who breach the law and best practise code. Your actions as a superhero, begin to educate your client and customer base so that they wont ever accept the business off those who should be banished to Krypton. What is your superhero power? Feel free to share this blog with a picture of your favorite iconic superhero.

Whats it like working for a small business or SME UoM economics Alumnus Tom tells his story University of Manchester Careers Blog

Whats it like working for a small business or SME UoM economics Alumnus Tom tells his story University of Manchester Careers Blog If youre debating whether to work for a big corporate or a smaller organisation often called an SME (Small to Medium Size company) Tom has tried it out and has some advice. So what do you do at the moment Tom? My current role is Head of IT and Reporting at Click Travel. Click Travel is a business travel management company based in Birmingham and highly technology oriented, with our own team of in house software engineers and travel experts. So how did you find this job? I found this job by  chance through monster.com whilst I was job hunting. I started out as a trainee business travel consultant, fresh out of university after graduating.  I didnt specifically look for a job in the business travel industry or IT, it was purely incidental that this role offered a chance to put my skills to use such as customer service, problem solving and working with data which was something I was particularly keen on during university. In fact, I did a data heavy dissertation, requiring some statistical skills which came in handy as my interest in using IT to collect and analyse data grew. I actually got bored very quickly in this role but this was quickly spotted by my manager who recognised that I had an interest in analytics and working with data. It was then that I was promoted to the company’s Data Analyst. I stayed in this role for 3 years, which was really enjoyable, everyday was different and I always had something to do. I did a lot of self-learning in analytics, namely mysql, tableau and advanced excel to help me grow into the role as I went along. What are you working on at the moment? I currently manage the IT team who look after all the business’ internal facing systems; this includes our CRM, data analytics tools and telephone contact centre software we support 120+ users; some who are at home and some in our Birmingham office. I am also on the senior leadership team, who work on strategic projects affecting the longer term profitability of the company, something I see as a great achievement for someone my age. Further to this I am working on launching a new product as the Operations Manager. The product is positioned almost as a start up from within Click and through this I’ve had the opportunity to work with departments across the business, including marketing, sales and software engineering to help them build and design the new product in an emerging online market. Working for an SME,  I have a variety of “job titles” and responsibilities, I’m not tied to just one area of monotonous work. This might seem confusing to someone who doesn’t know what I do but essentially my role differs from project to project. What are the highs and lows? My lowest point was leaving university without anything in place, I applied relentlessly for jobs and was frustrated with the length of time the process can take, with no guarantee of even a response from some of the most highly competitive schemes. This is where SMEs were different most of them got back to me really quickly. I chose Click Travel out of a handful of SMEs who offered me interviews after I worked this out. A year or so into my role as data analyst I spotted an opportunity to make a big change to the way in which we report our service levels in the reservations contact centre. I scoped out the change, quickly got approval and set to work learning how to do it I managed to figure it out and the change I made means we are now ahead of our competition on reporting service levels. Being able to create my own work and deliver it on an important project like that was a high point in my career, it lead to me receiving industry recognition for my work being identified as one the 30 Under 30 Future Leaders in Travel Trade Gazette magazine. What training or experience are essential to get in? It’s hard to say if there was a need for a degree in my job as it ended up being very much tailored to suit my skills, but I found that the knowledge that I gained at university prepared me for the world of work. On top of that, I did a lot of self-directed learning whilst on the job and having the dedication and determination to do that was also something that I picked up while at university  (anyone who has ever done a dissertation will know what I mean!) What about attitude, personality or interests? I think that working in an SME, it’s vital to have a good work ethic. Everybody has a part to play in order to get the things going but at the same time, there’s the benefit of freedom compared to more corporate industries. There’s room to be creative and the company supports you in continually developing yourself whether that’s through an official training course or if you just need some spare time to experiment, as long as you can justify why you’re doing it and how it can benefit your work!  What advice would you give someone considering a similar career? I would say if you are ambitious and want your work to be exciting, definitely look to work for an SME, as that will give you the chance to grow alongside a growing business. It’s going to be hard to judge at first but there are lists, such as the Sunday Times Best 100 Small Companies, which will give you an idea of the standard that you can expect from a genuinely caring company. There is the perception that bigger companies will give your CV a boost and provide a kickstart to your career, however my personal experience has shown that an SME can provide all of that and more the promotions that I’ve received at Click Travel have put me well ahead of where I expected to be at this point in my career had I taken a place on a graduate scheme at a large corporation. I now have real responsibility here, making decisions that will affect the long term performance of the company, something that is very difficult to achieve in a larger organisation. The fact that I can keep learning and working with cross-functional teams, keeps my job varied; not only getting to know more people but also understanding what they do. If anyone is interested at all, I would recommend taking a look at our current graduate scheme on offer. It’s called Click Start   CareersLink vacancy ID   52369      there’s a variety of career paths within the scheme including, sales, finance, account management and business analysis. Finally If you are not sure what to do with your degree, are considering a change of direction or thinking about working for an SME have a chat with us to see how you can take your first step. All Careers advice Graduate Undergraduate Undergraduate-highlighted careers job hunting my story small and medium size businesses SME

Hate Your Job Hell be the Judge of That!

Hate Your Job Hell be the Judge of That! Today, I spoke to Vincenzo Migliore, who is a Manchester (England) based recruitment veteran and founder/director of the website Judge the Job. Tell us Vincenzo, what is Judge the Job all about? Judge the Job is an anonymous employee review site that allows users to discover the real best companies to work for. How does it help people out there? We all know how difficult it can be to make a career move or decide whether or not to join a particular company, so the aim of Judge the Job is not to replace, but to provide another trusted and unbiased source of information, that helps in this process. Actually its a little bit like therapy, helping you put things into perspective by encouraging you to take time out, to think about all the elements good and bad that make up your job. And actually after leaving a review… Well, it’s kind of satisfying. How many reviews are listed? We currently have almost 100 live reviews for a range companies from Lloyds TSB, British Airways, BT Group and more. What do companies think about being listed? Aah yes, interesting one! It really varies, some feel a little uncomfortable with the loss of control and concerned about what people will say, now that we are giving them the chance, whereas other companies, believe it or not, have actively asked their employees to visit the site and get involved, which is great! Does it cost anything? No, its completely free to use and I quote, we will never charge users to access reviews. In fact all we ask is that you submit a quick anonymous review in return for 12 months full access to the site. Reasons you started it up? Having worked in the recruitment industry I was becoming a little skeptical of so many companies offering so called great opportunities, and I realized it would be helpful if there was somewhere people could actually read first hand experiences for themselves. I also noticed how much time people seemed to be spending reading/writing reviews about holidays, restaurants, and even smaller purchases such as books and CDs. Yet there seemed very few places for people to review one of the biggest parts of their lives, their jobs. So I set about creating Judge the Job; allowing users to anonymously discuss their experiences of working at particular companies. Is Judge the Job just for people to complain about their company? Well some might think so, but this something we work hard to avoid, were aiming for balanced reviews of the workplace. Ok we understand people like to moan about work but on JudgetheJob, companies deserve a fair trial which is why we insist people put the good and bad points before completing their review no company deserves 0%. After all theres always something good about your job even if its just the people you work with. Admittedly it is up to the users to make this work, the more information they share the more useful it will become as a career tool. But judgethejob.com isnt about anonymous ‘revenge’; its about honest, open reviews and sharing of that information. All reviews are personally read and approved before they go live on the site. Weve also put some pretty strict guidelines in place to make sure people treat the community and members with respect. Where are you taking your site next? The natural step for us is to include vacancies, something we are looking to introduce fairly soon. Were also constantly exploring new ways of developing and improving the site and in fact have something very special planned for the coming months.so watch this space! Give me 3 reasons why people should go to your site right now? You can access all reviews free of charge, you can read inside information on the companies you want to work for and finally you can get that much needed career therapy! Vincenzo Migliore is the founder of Judge the Job, a site that allows employees to anonymously read/write impartial reviews about their place of work. [UPDATE: Judge the Job is history and Vincenzo now works for LinkedIn, find him there instead!]

HOW TO Develop and Maintain Your Personal Brand on Twitter - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

HOW TO Develop and Maintain Your Personal Brand on Twitter - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Twitter rose to fame in 2007 as a hip, 140-character “microblogging” network. The free service has a multitude of uses, including social/professional networking, live blogging, news sourcing, and pure communication. Some professionals have struggled using Twitter, attempting to strike a balance between business and personal, while developing or maintaining their personal brand. Developing your account Your Handle: Your Twitter handle (username) is how you are found and identified on Twitter, so it should reflect you. Simplicity is usually the way to go (i.e., your name). Your Avatar: Your avatar, the small photo that shows up next to your tweets, should be professional â€" not the default picture. This is how you are recognized as a human and not a computer! A recent, appropriate headshot is a great choice. Your Bio: The bio is an important way for other “tweeple” to identify with you. This should be a short “elevator pitch” â€" or a 30-second “who you are” and “what you do.” If you are an expert in a field â€" say so! Your Privacy: Leave your account public in order to increase traffic to your page and expand your network. Using your account Be Consistent: Linking your tweets to Facebook and other updates is a simple way to make your brand more cohesive and to update all of them more often. Have a message and communicate it to your audience. Stay on message and “in character” â€" your brand should be reflected in person, online, in and out of the office. Be Interactive: It’s important to tweet personal thoughts to connect with your followers, but also tweet relevant industry information and updates. Use the @ symbol to tweet specific people and make sure you answer tweets to maintain relationships. Be Relevant: Update your account regularly to be a reliable source of up-to-date information for others to seek out. Following and tweeting others in the same field positions you as a constant source of industry information. Basics Use hashtags (#word) to allow others users to search a term and find your tweet. Connect with other professionals in your field. Locate yourself on your profile. Link to your blog or website. RSS your Twitter feed to your blog or personal website. Customize your background to reflect your brand. Research before tweeting â€" being credible is key. Share relevant images/videos from your phone or online. Author: Heather R. Huhman is a career expert and founder president of Come Recommended, an exclusive online community connecting the best internship and entry-level job candidates with the best employers. She is also the author of #ENTRYLEVELtweet: Taking Your Career from Classroom to Cubicle (2010), national entry-level careers columnist for Examiner.com and blogs about career advice at HeatherHuhman.com.

Writing a Government Resume - How to Make the Most of Your Resume

Writing a Government Resume - How to Make the Most of Your ResumeWriting a government resume requires the candidate to be cautious. In order to maximize the chances of getting a good job, the goal of the resume should be to show employers that they have a sound understanding of the employer's position and their career expectations. Government resumes are usually quite lengthy and they need to be well-organized. The candidate must be sure to follow the rules laid out by the hiring organization.In order to write a government resume, it is important to know what your expectations are before you start the process. Before you begin writing, it is a good idea to create a list of the tasks that you would like to accomplish during the interview process. The first thing that you should do when you are creating your government resume is to identify the purpose of the resume. This will help you make sure that the information that you include in your resume is relevant and effective.Remember, a resume must be personal as well as professional. It needs to be concise but detailed. Your goal is to tell the hiring organization everything that they need to know about you. When you write a government resume, you need to think of the audience you are writing for. It is helpful to think of your target audience as someone who is looking for a professional with a reliable resume.It is also important to write a government resume based on the needs of the company. Some organizations focus on one or two industries, while others are all over the place. It is very important to know what it is that you are targeting when you write a government resume. It is important to research and understand the requirement that you are going to address before you start writing.It is important to know what your target audience needs and how you can fill the gap. You may want to talk about the experiences that you have had, why these experiences were valuable to you and how these experiences can help you in the future. Keep in mind that your resume should provide a great deal of information, but it should be short. No one likes to read through a very long resume. It is helpful to make your resume brief and easy to read.The structure of a government resume is pretty simple. A well written resume will be focused on a particular aspect of your skills, such as experience, education or training. You should also make sure that you address every element of the content that you have written. For example, if you have written about your educational background, make sure you include all of the areas that you have gone to school in.When you are preparing your resume, it is important to write down what you learned during the education that you completed. You should also include all of the work experience that you had while in school and the training that you received. If possible, include all of the training that you completed while you were in school.Another part of writing a government resume is to include your career goals. Knowing your career goals before you begin to write a government resume will help you to think of how you can prove that you have what it takes to be hired for a specific position. When you are setting your career goals, remember that you are looking for something specific. It is a good idea to take stock of your skills and see if you meet all of the requirements of the position.

Resume Phrases That Drive Me Crazy

Resume Phrases That Drive Me Crazy Lately, Ive been seeing so many hackneyed phrases on resumes, even at the executive level. Here are some of the words and phrases that are starting to drive me crazy.trustworthyteam playerflexiblegood communicatorproblem solverworks well under pressureThese examples of personal attributes rarely elevate the quality of a resume because they are boring, overused, and in some cases, just plain silly. A hiring authority expects you to have all of these traits and detailing them in the resume is redundant and a waste of valuable space on the resume. Do hiring authorities care about these traits and look for candidates that possess them? Absolutely. But listing these words on the resume doesnt make them true. A better strategy is to showcase a story of success that proves the degree to which you possess these traits. For example:Instead of saying trustworthy, say:  Selected by CEO to start up XYZ sportswear brand based on exceptional success managing ABC dress shirt line launch and ability to market product lines effectively across several retail verticals.Instead of saying strong problem solving skills, say:  Improved quality control measures for jewelry production as much as 60% by developing companys first formalized manufacturing guidelines for factory partners.Instead of saying works well under pressure, say:Under aggressive 3-week timeframe, staffed 100 people for six retail stores across the U.S.  Instead of saying good communicator, say:            Instrumental in reducing the number of unsold current accounts from 15% to 4% within one year by discovering and working to address individual client needs.

Woohoo - we got to visit Ben and Jerrys - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Woohoo - we got to visit Ben and Jerrys - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog We finally got a chance to visit Ben and Jerrys global HQ in Vermont and it was AWESOME. Not only did we get to hear about the companys mission to create a better world, see how the ice cream is made and visit the famous flavor graveyard we even saw a man propose to his girlfriend in the middle of a tour. She said yes :) Here are some impressions from our visit. Proudly written on the walls: Business has a responsibility to give back to the community. If its not fun, why do it? The flavor graveyard is where Ben And Jerrys celebrate their mistakes by honoring every ice cream flavor that failed.?It looked very pretty in the snow. You can also find it online. This is brilliant instead of hiding or punishing their mistakes, they celebrate them. Here are 5 reasons why every workplace should do that. All in all we got a very positive impression of the culture at Ben and Jerrys. The employees we talked to clearly loved their jobs, they do their utmost to make great ice cream while protecting the environment and also have a mission to create Linked prosperity for their entire ecosystem, including suppliers, farmers and the local community. Its inspiring to see a company so focused on creating a happier world, which is also why their mentioned in my latest book Leading With Happiness. Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related