griebcw1, Author at Building Careers

3 Soft Skills You Need to Land a Remote Job

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The pandemic has permanently changed the professional culture. While many companies offered some flexibility and remote work options before the COVID-19 crisis, the pandemic accelerated that trend.

What that means for employees, job seekers, and soon-to-be grads is that remote work skills are key abilities to master. Here are three soft skills you need to land a remote job.

Soft Skill #1: Improve Self-Management Abilities

Even if you have an excellent manager directing your big picture moves, you must be organized and self-directed to be a strategic remote operator. That means procuring the supplies, tools, resources, and work environment that it takes to feel comfortable and focused.

If you want to land a remote job, it’s on you to make the arrangement work-troubleshooting challenges and manage them deftly so they don’t interfere with your ability to produce. Making this work means navigating the unique challenges to the arrangement and managing those as they surface.

Soft Skill #2: Expand Your Communication Skills

When you’re a remote employee, communicating clearly, concisely, and comprehensively is a “must-have.” Part of this awareness understands when a written message will get the job done and when you need to grab the phone and talk something, through.

When you are preparing written correspondence, recognize that those grammar rules that our high school teachers emphasized are not just an exercise in fussiness. They’re all about clarity. They show your reader how to make sense of the ideas you’re shaping.

Because remote operators rely so heavily on written correspondences, it pays to take a refresher course so that you can communicate with confidence. Grammarly and Grammar girl are a couple of helpful resources. Land that remote job and go the extra step in investing in on of the platforms.

Soft Skill #3: Be a Self-Advocate

When you telecommute, and the rest of your team is in the office, sometimes you can feel less visible than your colleagues, even when you’re doing great work. It’s on you to make yourself, and your needs are known. Working remotely benefits both you and your employer, so you don’t have to feel sheepish about your set-up. Expect to be treated just like any other employee.

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20 Ways to Be a Good Leader

Leave a Comment / Blog, Set Yourself Up For Success

Leadership isn’t for the faint of heart. It takes grit, hard work and passion, plus a lot of people skills. And it’s not about money or control, which is what way too many bosses get wrong in corporate America. In fact, it’s not even about the title—some of the best leaders aren’t in management. So, how can you learn how to be a good leader? Here is a list of ways you can be a good leader at your company.

1. Show Affection to Your Team

Your team members aren’t sales numbers or cogs in a machine. They’re people who have hopes, dreams, fears and struggles. Every single person deserves to be treated with respect, dignity and kindness. By doing this, you will create an incredible company culture where people care about each other and look forward to coming to work.

2. Provide Praise

Start making a habit of catching people doing something right—and let them know about it. A sincere compliment or acknowledgement of their hard work will go a long way to boost their morale.

A recommendation to get in the habit of this is each week, walk around your company and find a team member doing something great. Or take a few minutes and handwrite a personal note to someone on your team who’s been killing it week after week. While you’re at it, why not recognize them in front of their peers? It’ll make their day.

3. Be A Leader, Not A Boss

A boss has an iron grip on the team, expecting every team member to immediately jump at their command. Workers know the boss holds all the cards and will make sure mandates are followed. Disobey and you could be gone in an instant.

But where a good leader goes, people follow—not out of obligation, but out of genuine desire. Don’t boss people around or try to scare them by making threats. Instead, be transparent and explain why you do what you do. When people know the why behind your decisions, they’re more likely to understand and follow your example.

4. A Good Leader Trusts and is Trustworthy

Leaders should have the full trust of their team—but in order to get it, you need to behave in a trustworthy way too. You want your team to know you have their back and will support them no matter what. So follow through on your promises and mean what you say. Be a trustworthy leader they can count on. And if you feel like you can’t trust someone, don’t hire them to be on your team to begin with. Only hire team members you know will get the work done with honesty and integrity.

Another way to build trust is by being authentic. Don’t be afraid to be a genuine person—one who’s transparent about their strengths and weaknesses. Having regular one-on-one meetings with your team members and talking openly and honestly with them is a great way to create a strong, trusting connection.

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A Guide to Job Hunting While You’re Still Employed

1. Explore Options Where You Are

A big thing you want to consider first is why you’re thinking of leaving, and explore options for improving your situation where you are. Doing so will depend on the level of trust that exists between you and your manager; don’t go overboard and start telling everyone at the office.

Think about what’s frustrating you at your current job and consider whether or not some changes could make things better. Would remote work or a few days of telecommuting improve your outlook? Could you move to a different department? What can you do to make your current work situation more enjoyable and rewarding? If the answer is no, or if changes aren’t an option, it’s okay to start looking elsewhere.

2. Consider Being a Boomerang Employee

If you left a previous job on good terms, it’s worth getting in touch with former coworkers to see whether there are new opportunities available. You won’t need as much time for onboarding, are already familiar with the company’s technology and culture and can often contribute much more quickly.

It’s also possible to “boomerang” with companies that didn’t hire you. If you’d interviewed with an organization in the past, or received an offer and turned it down, it’s worth revisiting those connections.

3. The Right Timing of Job Hunting

If you’re trying to land a job while you’re still employed, you need to minimize the competition for available roles; that means getting the timing of your search exactly right. Towards the end of summer is a prime time to start your search.

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Bored at Work? Here’s Why!

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Picture this. Monday morning arrives and you hit snooze on your alarm repeatedly. You feel sluggish and exhausted before you even get out of bed. Everything feels like a battle as you try to get ready for work. Then, when you get there, you’re so bored at work you don’t know what to do.

Does this sound familiar? Well, it’s likely that you’re here because you’re looking for solutions to this energy-sapping problem. In this article we’re going to take a deep dive into the reasons why you might be bored at work.

Why Do I Get Bored At Work?

While boredom is a common feeling it should not be ignored. Rather like the tip of the iceberg, it can be symptomatic of a deeper or more complex problem especially if it happens on a regular basis. Boredom occurs if a person is unsatisfied, unfulfilled or disinterested in something. Additionally, the feelings can arise when you feel full of energy but have no avenue through which to channel it, so you end up feeling frustrated and angry. Being bored often affects our behavior negatively and we end up becoming engaged in behaviors that are detrimental our wellbeing such as overeating or being argumentative.

So Why Am I Bored At Work?

There are several reasons why you feel bored at work:

1. A Lack of Mental Stimulation

You need to feel mentally stimulated. Not only is it important for your mental health and the maintenance of your cognitive functioning as you grow older, mental stimulation staves off boredom.

Do you have enough to do at work or do you find yourself pushing paper round your desk? Of course, you need a healthy work-life balance and you need to take regular breaks at work but when you have too much free time on your hands you begin to daydream. This can affect your sense of self-worth as you then take note of the fact that this is not a good use of your time. This can make you feel frustrated.

Maybe you have enough work, but are you being stretched? Do you regularly step outside of your comfort zone? Are you growing and developing? It’s important to feel that you are using are abilities fully and that you are being challenged regularly. When this doesn’t happen, you can become lazy and bored. Furthermore, you can find yourself struggling with motivation and, eventually, self-worth.

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Best Practices to Mitigate Ghosting in Your Organization

Leave a Comment / Blog, Employers, Industry Insights, Set Yourself Up For Success

What started as an annoyance in the hiring process has now become a major problem for employers. Each year, the number of dropped connections increases 10-20%! So, how do you mitigate ghosting among your applicants and new hires?

Ghosting in the Workplace

After the 2008 Great Recession, employers were flooded with applications and only responded to the ones they were most interested in. Thus began the practice of ghosting in the workplace. Job applicants had no way of knowing if there was a problem with their application or if the role had already been filled. They only knew they weren’t getting any feedback.

Now, it’s a candidate’s market. Unemployment is at historic lows, and the shoe is on the other foot. Applicants routinely fall off the face of the earth – and even new hires don’t show up for work or drop out in the first few days.

Many of these ghosters are young and just don’t understand how rude it is to abandon the interview process without notifying the company. They don’t understand that this behavior will cause long-term consequences for their careers. Nevertheless, you’ve still got to deal with the reality of unfilled positions and the damage ghosting can cause your organization.

Fortunately, there are best practices and strategies you can employ to mitigate ghosting and reduce the havoc you face in hiring and retention. Here are some of the best tips to incorporate in your CRE organization to keep applicants and new hires engaged, responsive, and committed.

5 Tactics to Mitigate Ghosting

1. Don’t Ghost

It’s called the Golden Rule. If you don’t want applicants to disappear on you, don’t allow this behavior from your hiring managers. Follow up with everyone to build a culture of communication.

2. Exit Interviews

If a new hire fails to show up on Day 1 or leaves at some other point during their employment unexplained, reach out! While they may not respond, asking for an exit interview to let them air their grievances may provide valuable information for future risk mitigation.

3. Shorten Hiring Times

Long periods of time between the interview and job offer allow applicants to lose interest or respond to other opportunities. Working with a professional headhunter in the CRE industry will help you lesson this time period and snatch up top talent quickly while they’re still hot.

4. Get Onboarding Right

Approximately 20% of employee turnover occurs in the first six weeks due to poor onboarding. Don’t just sit your new hire at a desk with a stack of forms to fill out on Day 1. Perfect your hands-on onboarding process to ensure your new hire feels engaged, valued, and part of the mission from the start.

5. Do Your Homework

To mitigate ghosting in your hiring process, do your due diligence to find out if candidates have ever ghosted before. Search Glassdoor and LinkedIn for signs of ghosting in the past. If need be, weed out questionable candidates from your short list.

Remember, you cannot completely prevent ghosting. It’s becoming more and more common in the workplace and hiring process. However, following these critical steps can help minimize exposure and disruption. For a minimal investment, your organization can sidestep much of this problem and maximize engagement for those seeking to join your team

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The Rise of Life Sciences Real Estate

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Recent life sciences real estate reports paint a picture of overwhelming demand and a great opportunity for new developers. The rise of life sciences real estate reports show a record $26B of venture capital funding poured into the sector in the first six months of 2021, according to Newmark, setting loose scores of well-capitalized startups seeking lab space. CBRE found that the 15.6M SF of speculative lab construction underway nationwide is nearly 30% leased, signaling developers can’t keep up. The overall vacancy rate for the top 12 biotech clusters, per CBRE, is just 5.6%.

But the reality is a select few developers have been able to cash in. In addition to difficulties finding talent, and the special requirements and expertise required to build lab spaces, the cost of such projects is prohibitive and the risk of failure is much higher than traditional office buildings.

As other smaller firms seek to expand or break into life sciences, they may run into similar problems. Newmark Associate Director of Capital Markets Research Daniel Littman said costs are a key barrier: Even office-to-lab conversions often come in at $100-$150 per SF for base building costs, and then $250-$300 per SF for a tenant retrofit. And that’s if you can acquire assets; especially in top markets, available assets are few and far between, and there is a lot of money chasing the space.

Harborth underscored that in addition to the difficulty finding talent, getting expertise in different markets is another hurdle. Real estate is such a local business, and even for firms seeking more national exposure, there’s a need to know local players. Transplant talent can’t instantly operate at the same level in a new market.

Carly Glova, president of commercial real estate talent firm Building Careers, said that the drive for talent has led some firms to bend their criteria, prioritizing life sciences experience over someone who is a perfect fit for a particular role, and sweetening employment offers, allowing staff to work remotely, increasing compensation packages or allowing for equity opportunities.

Due to the rise of life sciences real estate, there’s also a shortage of experienced architects and designers in the field.

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How to Stay in Touch Professionally with Your Dream Company

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When you absolutely know where you want to work next, but you’re not hired yet, it pays to know how to stay in touch professionally. After all, if you want something, you’ve got to work for it, right?

But what are some good ways to keep that steady drip contact without coming across as a stalker or something? What’s the etiquette in play here?

Whether you are actively in the interview stage at a favorite development company or strategizing a future move to a really great CRE investment firm, you’ll appreciate these tips for keeping in touch. Let’s dive right in.

Keep Your Eye on the Goal

Over the past year or two, people have had an opportunity to stop and reflect on their ideal career path. The commercial real estate (CRE) space is always evolving. But even within that greater evolution, there are numerous career paths that may appeal to some more than others.

Maybe you’ve had a chance to realize what it is you really want to do in CRE, and you’ve even identified a dream company you are branding yourself to work at in the near future. Now what?

How do you get on and stay on their radar? Maybe you’ve already interviewed for the role, but didn’t get the job. Don’t give up! This one may take time and perseverance. Keep your sights on the target, your eyes on the goal. And implement some of these helpful tips and tricks to stay in touch professionally over the long term.

Networking

Your professional network is your professional net worth. Let that sink in.

It’s all about who you know. So, leverage networking to get that job with your dream employer.

Discuss your goals with friends and family who might have connections there. Check your alumni networks. Did any of the leadership at your target company go to your alma mater? Perfect that elevator pitch, and put yourself out there. Talk to anyone from that company you can get on the phone with.

Follow Up

If you’ve interviewed or connected with a hiring manager there, invest in that relationship. Follow up a few days after an interview and again ten days out. From there, check in two or three times a year.

Keep your emails or messages brief. Remember to ask about how they are doing, and when possible, discuss their interests. Always use their preferred channels of communication, whether that’s meeting for coffee or messages in LinkedIn. Show interest in their life and deepen the relationship.

Whatever you do, don’t let the conversation turn stale. But of course, give them space. If they stop responding to your communications, wait a few months before trying one last time. Then move on to another contact at that company.

Ask For Interview Feedback

Again, assuming you’ve already interviewed with your dream company, a great way to stay in touch is by asking for interview feedback.

Drop the hiring manager a simple email stating your desire to better understand how the interview went. Acknowledge that they may have chosen someone else, and ask what areas you might improve in your interview skills or past experience.

Keep in mind that, while many companies have the expectation of hiring in a couple weeks or so, the process often takes 60-90 days. That being said, top priority candidates are often hired during the process. If this happens, and you were a close runner up, asking them to re-examine their interview notes for feedback is a great way to subtly remind them that you are a) still in the running, and b) a great candidate.

Keep in Contact with Recruiters

It goes without saying that recruiters are your best friend. If you have something to offer a particular company, staying in touch with their preferred search firm is as good as hanging out in the hiring manager’s lobby (and less creepy). Here are some tips for making a good impression and keeping in the wheelhouse of recruiters on your way to that dream job:

Talk at networking events, then send a personalized LinkedIn message and connection request.
Occasionally comment on their LinkedIn posts.
Send them a quarterly update email to mention something you’ve recently accomplished and remind them of your interest.

Remember Etiquette

Of course, remember to keep it classy at all times. Follow common-sense rules of business etiquette. For example, remember to be considerate of their time and interests. Don’t always ask for favors; sometimes send them an interesting article to read or a holiday card or a congratulatory message about an acquisition they just closed.

In your communications, keep in mind what you can do for the company and those involved in hiring. When meeting in person, always make eye contact and take notes. Speak positively about previous employers and colleagues. Keep a grateful tone in all messages.

The power of asking nicely cannot be overstated!

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The Best Salary Negotiation Tips

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Are you negotiating a job offer or a raise in pay in your current role? If so, a lot depends on what you do right now, before you even begin salary negotiations. Do your homework and learn about these salary negotiation tips, and you could wind up with more money in your pocket and maybe some life-changing perks and benefits, too.

How Much Are You Worth?

Especially if you’re negotiating with a prospective employer, you need to find out how much your skills and experience are worth in today’s job market. Take the time to research salaries long before you even begin discussing pay. That way you will be prepared to make your case and land a job offer that’s realistic and reasonable.

What Are Salary Negotiations?

Salary negotiations involve discussing a job offer with a potential employer to settle on a salary and benefits package that’s in line with the market (and hopefully, that meets or exceeds your needs).

The most productive salary negotiations occur between people who realize that they have a common goal: to get the employee paid appropriately for their skills and experience.

Negotiations can include all aspects of compensation, including salary, bonuses, stock options, benefits, perks, vacation time, and more.

How to Calculate Your Take-Home Pay

When you’re considering a job offer, it’s important to know the bottom line. How much will you be bringing home after taxes, FICA deductions for Social Security and Medicare, and contributions to health insurance and retirement benefits?2 That number is your net pay.

You can use free salary and paycheck calculators to estimate your net pay and figure out roughly how much you’ll bring home in your paycheck. It’s important to get a ballpark figure before you negotiate or compare job offers.

Salary Negotiation Tips

1. Know Your Responsibilities: If you are negotiating for your current role, you should review your current job description and note what you are doing above and beyond that.

2. Wait for the Appropriate Time: Once you know what you should be earning, how do you go about getting it? Start by being patient. When interviewing for a new position, do your best not to bring up compensation until the employer makes you an offer.

3. Resist Throwing out the First Number: If you’re asked what your salary requirements are, say that they are open based upon the position and the overall compensation package. Or tell the employer you’d like to know more about the responsibilities and the challenges of the job prior to discussing salary.

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4 Benefits of Using Employee Engagement Surveys

Employee engagement is instrumental in employee retention and effectiveness. But why engagement surveys? What role do they play in the ongoing search for high retention and productivity rates? Below are four key benefits they provide:

1. Starting Point for Growth

The following top employee engagement questions establish a benchmark. When you receive honest and detailed feedback about employee concerns, ambitions, and questions, this builds trust and fosters a growth environment by setting the starting point. Knowing what you are working with and should build on is great!

2. Employee Voice

Giving employees a voice to vent or contribute builds company morale. This opens a channel of communication for collaboration and employee buy-in.

3. Easier to Be Proactive

Problems that go unaddressed and unnoticed grow in complexity and strength. However, when you’re able to identify them early on, this allows more proactive management and fine tuning.

4. Objectivity

Management can easily lose touch or develop subjective perspectives. A regular inflow of honest feedback allows for an objective grasp of office situations in real time. It allows you to process loads of information from different perspectives and get a high-level understanding.

8 Top Employee Engagement Questions

Recently, Culture Amp pulled and analyzed employee data from Glassdoor ratings, Mattermark Growth scores, and other sources. Crunching this data, they put together a highly insightful report on what drives employee engagement and what the top employee engagement questions are for 2021. Below are 10 questions they argue should be in every employee engagement survey – whether in CRE or any other industry:

1. Are you proud to work for this company?

Would your employee be proud to mention your company if asked about work at a neighborhood barbecue? This does not focus directly on engagement, but rather on a desired outcome of engagement. Beware if fewer than 80% of employees answer in the affirmative.

2. Will you likely be working here in two years?

Employees not currently searching for a job elsewhere may not necessarily see themselves at this role in two years. Again, this focuses on an evidence of strong engagement. And 65% or more is strong retention indicator.

3. Do company leaders keep you informed?

It goes without saying that communication is a key strength among successful CRE businesses. A score of 70% is optimal and shows strong engagement with leadership.

4. Is your manager a good role model for company employees?

Asking about management’s effectiveness in the broader context helps set a benchmark for the direct-report relationship. A score less than 70% may indicate a need for additional management training.

5. Do you have what you need to perform your job well?

This question focuses on enablement and gets at the fundamental need for the right tools to drive engagement. You should expect a high percentage of affirmative answers to this one – at least 75%+.

6. Do you have the learning/development tools to perform your job well?

Similar to the last one, this question goes deeper to determine if employees feel they are supported in their ongoing development at this company. Can they grow here? 70% is a normal percentage.

7. Do you receive appropriate recognition for your work?

Acknowledgement and praise are fundamental drivers of employee engagement. This question reveals whether this need is being met. Aim for at least 75%.

8. Do you know how to be successful in your role?

Asking this opens up the employee’s perspective of how he or she directly contributes to the success of the company. Alignment of the individual to the team mission is crucial, so a return of 80% or more should be standard for every survey.

No matter how large or small our CRE organization, taking the time to ask these top employee engagement questions in every survey will open new conversations, thus leading to enhanced performance, retention, and innovation.

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Prepare to Answer the “Why Should We Hire You?” Interview Question

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Every interview question is an attempt to gather information to inform this hiring decision. Many interviewers will also specifically ask you to make your case with one of these questions:

Why would you be a good fit for this position?
What makes you unique?
Why are you the best person for this job?
Explain why your background and experience would be a good fit for this job.

To close the deal on a job offer, you MUST be prepared with a concise summary of the top reasons to choose you. Even if your interviewer doesn’t ask one of these questions in so many words, you should be prepared to tell them about yourself and communicate your top reasons for why you are the best person for this job.

The interviewer’s job is to hire the best person for the position. Most of the candidates that make it to the interview stage are qualified for the job. The winning candidate must be more than qualified, especially in a very competitive job market.

With this question, your interviewer is asking you to sell him on you and your status as the best person for the position. Make his job easier by convincing him that:

You can do the work and deliver exceptional results
You will fit in beautifully and be a great addition to the team
You possess a combination of skills and experience that make you stand out
Hiring you will make him look smart and make his life easier

Why Should We Hire You?

This is your chance to wow them with your highlight reel. Your answer should summarize the top three or four best reasons to hire you. It’s better to have three or four strong reasons with memorable descriptions and/or examples than to rattle off a laundry list of twelve strengths without context.

This is an opportunity to reiterate your most impressive strengths and/or describe your most memorable selling points, tailored to align with the top requirements in the job description. Your 3-4 bullet points could include a combination of the following:

Industry experience
Experience in performing certain tasks or duties
Technical skills
Soft skills
Key accomplishments
Awards/accolades
Education/training

Accomplishments and success stories are always good bets, especially if you can describe how a key accomplishment (a successful marketing campaign, for example) demonstrates a desired competency (creativity, results-orientation).

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