Set Yourself Up For Success Archives - Page 8 of 16

What You NEED to do if You are Laid-Off or Fired

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What do you do when you have been laid-off or fired? When you get the unfortunate news that you have lost your job, there are some very important and necessary tasks to tackle. First of all, don’t panic.

Take it step-by-step so you can take care of the basics. This will ensure that you receive your final paycheck, benefits and pension funds, unemployment compensation if you’re eligible, severance pay if your employer provides it, and more.

You also want to make sure you get references from your employer, if possible, so that you are ready to begin your job search. Once you’ve taken care of these matters, you can then prepare to start a job search.

Follow this list to make sure that you have dealt with everything you need to when you’ve been fired or laid off. This will allow you to begin to focus on finding a new job.

How to Handle a Termination

When you’re terminated from employment, it makes a difference whether you are laid-off or fired for cause. If you have been downsized or laid-off for lack of work or any other reason, you’ll be entitled to different benefits than if you were fired.

Severance Pay

Severance pay (as well as severance benefits) may be given to employees upon termination of employment. It is usually based on length of employment. If you are laid off from your job or your position is eliminated, the employer may provide severance pay, but this isn’t required.

The Final Paycheck

Before you leave your job, make certain you know when you are receiving your last paycheck, and how it will be delivered to you. In some states, employers are required to pay it immediately. In others, there may be a lag.

You may be entitled to accrued vacation, sick leave, overtime, or back pay when you lose your job.

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7 Signs You’re a Workaholic

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Workaholic: Sure, it’s a buzzword in corporate America, but it’s not just a trendy word or a go-getter attitude. It’s an addiction that can seriously affect both your personal and professional life.

If you think you may be a workaholic, there’s no shame here—but let’s take a closer look at what that means and how to overcome it so you can get healthy and start truly enjoying your job.

What Is a Workaholic?

A workaholic is someone who feels a compulsion, or an irresistible urge, to work whether they want to or not. It’s not the same as really loving your work, and it’s not the same as being overworked—it’s a legitimate addiction.

When you’re overworked, the problem comes from an outside source (in most cases). For example, your boss might be demanding and putting pressure on you to work overtime, or you might be trying to complete a difficult project with a tight deadline. Being overworked can sometimes go hand in hand with workaholism, but workaholism can also exist in very healthy work environments. Being a workaholic is more about your personal work habits and motivations.

Signs You’re a Workaholic

If any of this is starting to sound like I’m reading your mail, but you’re still not sure if you meet the criteria, here are some more signs that can help you figure it out.

Constantly Working Vs. Spending Time Elsewhere

There are 168 hours in a week, and a full-time job should take up about 40 of them, more or less. That’s only about 24% of your week! If your work percentage is way more than that—and you’re saying no to other things like important events, sleep, errands or time with your family so you can get more work done—there may be a problem.

Work is Brought Home

“I’ll just finish a few things at home” can easily turn into another three hours of work in your home office after dinner. I get it, folks. There might be some times throughout your career when you really need to hustle and get your project done. But it shouldn’t become a habit.

And these days, it’s easier than ever to constantly check your email and work messages from your phone and not be fully present (even if you’re trying to do something fun), so the habit becomes even harder to break.

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20 Ways to Be a Good Leader

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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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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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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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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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Hate Networking? Try This!

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Before you say it, I know. You hate networking. Networking really can suck sometimes. Even the most extroverted and outgoing among us feel a pang of anxiety, distaste, or resistance when it comes to the idea of milling around an event, seeking the important connections, and grasping for business cards or, even worse, trolling the internet (LinkedIn) for strangers who can help you and then trying to quickly ingratiate yourself so as to elicit a favor in your job search.

Hating Networking is a Mistake

It’s a mistake not because it is critically important to the rest of your career. It is critically important to the rest of your career, by the way. The more senior or entrepreneurial you get, the more your opportunities will depend on who you know and who knows you than on your resume or accomplishments. Having a robust cadre of friends and associates who like and want to help you is key.

But if you are anything like me, knowing that something is good for you makes no difference.

I know that hitting the snooze button on my alarm 5 times every morning makes me groggier and less enthused to start my day when I eventually do grudgingly put my feet on the floor.

But, oh! The heaven of just 10 more minutes in that sweet cocoon of blankets; I can just shortcut my shower. I can just take out the trash tonight after work instead. I can drink the crap coffee in the break room instead of stopping for a latte. I always find new and creative ways to hit that button.

And so do you sometimes! Because we do what we want in any given moment, not necessarily what we think is good for us. This is why there is so much attention to creating positive habits in the recent self-development literature. Because the only way to make sure you do something regularly is to turn it into the thing you want in those moments. We are genius at getting what we want!

So the reason not to hate networking isn’t because it’s good for you. The reason not to hate networking is because you have misunderstood what it is in the first place and you are throwing out the baby with the bath water. Let me explain.

Hate Networking? Here’s Why:

Standing around possibly trying to balance a plate of appetizers and a glass of wine while still keeping a hand free for shaking and business card collecting, wondering if you look stupid or if there is spinach from the mini-quiche in your teeth.
Trying to strike up conversations with strangers – some of whom could potentially make or break your career – without having any obvious common ground.
Asking for someone’s business card knowing that it will either end up in a useless pile in the corner of your desk or that you will soon be reaching out as a supplicant for a huge favor because you want them to help you get your next job.
Following up with those important people and then trying to worm your way to that favor: “I’d love for you to refer me for this job!” Or “Could you please help me get an interview?” knowing full well it is too soon to ask a relative stranger for something like this.
Or if you didn’t meet someone at a live event, cold reaching out to them via LinkedIn or email with the extraordinary burden of trying to prove your value AND convince them to help you in the 150 words or fewer recommended word count for such emails.

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How To: Present Leadership Skills on Your Resume

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Leadership is an essential function of successful management that helps to maximize work efficiency and to achieve organizational goals. Regardless of the type of the job you’re looking for or a company’s size, leadership skills are paramount. They belong to the group of the most sought-after soft skills that employers look for in candidates.

Your first contact with a hiring company or organization is through the job application and resume, so how can you demonstrate leadership skills without speaking with an employer or recruiter? It all comes down to the way you write the resume. Here are some top tips on how to optimize your resume with enhanced leadership skills.

Supply Examples of Leadership Skills

An average employer or recruiter gets hundreds of resumes for any given job position. The chances of getting an interview increase for those who stand out. The most important thing you can do when showing off leadership skills on a resume is to provide specific examples. It’s common for applicants to state they have great leadership skills without providing evidence. To stand out, mention some leadership-related accomplishments from a previous job. Ask yourself two questions: what did I do and how did I do it.

Here are a few examples:

Coached my team and to adopt a new business strategy (mention details about the strategy)
Successfully organized seminars, meetings, team-building activities, and collaborations with other companies
Had to quickly adapt to changes (include specific example) and prepare for unforeseen circumstances

Quantifiable Results

Qualities of a good leader don’t stop with the ability to motivate and lead others, they also extend to work efficiency and specific, measurable results. When writing about achievements from previous jobs, always quantify your results with statistics and hard numbers. In fact, avoid vague descriptions entirely. Employers appreciate concise writing and resumes that get straight to the point.

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