Career Advice and Job opportunity Blog

Why Company Culture Matters To Your Career & Company by Hank Stringer

Traveling to the West Coast this week I had the opportunity to meet with the executive team of a dynamic global company, Global English, to discuss some recent work I completed for them in Moscow and the US. This is a company that not only have I found pleasure to work with as a vendor, but it is also a company that receives the same sentiment and support from among the employees. This is a company with a compelling and honest company culture and that’s no small achievement.

During my discussions earlier this week, the CEO described the culture as friendly, open, focused and accountable…and he forcefully stated what was not allowed: hidden agendas, unfriendliness or uncooperative attitudes. This all makes sense and to most should be the way all companies act. But they don’t and thus the reason for Glassdoor. It is becoming more important for talent to research information on company culture. Equally important, companies must view their competitor’s culture, compare it to their own, and be willing to make appropriate changes. Culture matters because attracting and keeping the most qualified talent is imperative to a company’s success.

So why is this specific company’s culture so successful and why on the one hand am I so high on the company yet frustrated because they are not the norm? As with any company, the culture emanates from the CEO, the leader. No matter the size, how goes this individual so goes the rest of the organization. The CEO I met yesterday was sure of himself, but open to other ideas and perceptions. He is centered and communicates in the moment.

If you are looking for your next career opportunity, take the time to read employee reviews at Glassdoor and look for a balanced CEO. By doing your research on your next employer to make sure the company is the best fit for you, the more likely you will increase your chances of finding a great place to work.

Job Seekers – 20 Ways To Brand Yourself On Twitter

Today’s job seekers face employers who are looking at more than their resume, and looking at more than just job applications to find candidates. This is good news for those who understand how to take advantage

of newly popular social media tools like Twitter.

Yes, Twitter can help you find a job … it’s not just for telling the world what you ate for lunch.

Yes Twitter is for adults … A recent study published by Pingdom.com established that 64% of Twitter users are 35+ and the average Twitter user is 39 years old.

Since Google, Yahoo, and Bing now index Twitter posts, using Twitter for your job search has become even more valuable in the last six months. Twitter can now help you get found, help recruiters find you, help you brand your subject matter expertise, help you increase your page ranking, and help you promote and find content.

If an Employer, HR staff, or recruiter Googles a job seeker by name, your Twitter profile will likely turn up in the results. Job seekers should assume that they will be searched online by recruiters, before an interview is scheduled, when making short list decisions, and before a final offer is extended.

In addition, recruiters and HR departments are not just searching to find dirt, but are using Twitter and Google more frequently to find new candidates. Employers, HR reps, and recruiters have increased their usage of Twitter in the past year to post jobs, find candidates, and search backgrounds. During 2009 & 2010 new tools and capabilities have emerged to make it easier and more powerful for employers to use Twitter in the search process.

For the job seeker, the greater number of Twitter followers you have, the more relevant your account is to Google, and higher your Twitter account will rank on Google results. You can also increase your Google rankings by posting comments, links, by having your posts reTweeted, and by being included on Twitter lists. Basically, the more you use Twitter, the greater impact your profile have on Google rankings. Twitter usage can also increase rankings of your blog, online portfolio, Linkedin profile, Facebook profile, and other online presence.

Here’s some steps of developing a well planned Twitter strategy to brand yourself as a candidate:

Inventory and Plan

1. Inventory & Search: If you have a Twitter account, review your past tweets. Then search Twitter for mentions of you by name or username. Anything embarrassing out there? Any mentions about how you hate your job, your boss, anything you wouldn’t want your Mom or boss to see? Create a spreadsheet listing any questionable items, including date.

2. Same or new account: Depending on what you’ve found in your Twitter inventory, you might want to start fresh with a new username. If there is a lot of content that isn’t boss or work friendly, unless it’s really old with LOTS of safe newer content in front of it, start with a new account. If you have many followers (many meaning thousands) a new user account should be balanced versus the effort to rebuild a follower base. If your existing account is used specifically for a hobby, side job or other use where you need to maintain existing branding you’ve built, then create a new account.

3. Passive or Active? Remember that Twitter is public, and that Tweets can’t be erased once published. Passive job seekers can still safely use Twitter, but with different tactics. Passive candidates might not want to use their name as a username, and might not want to reference their current company. Passive candidates might not want to Tweet that they are looking for a job (not the best idea whether active or passive), but can effectively use Twitter to promote industry expertise. Passive candidates can still do much on Twitter, as long as their username and Tweets don’t identify them to co-workers who might find their information.

Build Your Professional Profile

4. Username, bio, picture, links, background, links: Again, your choices may be impacted by your status as active or passive job seeker.
If you’re active, I recommend that transparency builds trust:
* Use your name as username
* Write a brief bio – You only get 160 characters. If you need more, include links to profile, resublog, portfolio
* Use a recent picture
* Include a link to your Linkedin profile (http://recareered.blogspot.com/2010/02/job-seekers-20-ways-to-brand-yourself_25.html), resublog (http://recareered.blogspot.com/2008/05/you-dont-have-to-be-shakespeare-to.html), or online portfolio (http://recareered.blogspot.com/2008/06/how-online-portfolios-put-you-at-top-of.html.
If you’re a passive job seeker, be more discreet:
* Choose a user name that’s industry – related
* Make your bio broad
* Include an avatar or graphic as your picture
* use a URL shortener for your links (Tinyurl.com, Bit.ly, etc)

5. Settings:
* Name (Your name as opposed to username – Consider whether active or passive)
* Email notification – Do you want to be notified everytime someone follow you? It’s a great way to engage followers and make the first step from contact to relationship. Keep in mind that as your networking efforts grow this takes time, and it’s a tradeoff. (Ex: When I started Twitter, I sent thank you’s to every follower – as my followers and other social network activity grew, it became impossible to continue).
* Design – If you’re a designer, creative, or marketing professional then design will be critical. Design a custom background, or explore having a professional design for you. Otherwise, use one of Twitter’s standard designs.

6. Mobile? Location? Privacy? Do you really need to get updates on your cell phone? Do you really want to post your location with each post? I recommend starting with each of these features turned off – if you want to experiment with them, it’s easy to turn them back on later. Privacy – If you are a passive job seeker, one way to stay under the radar is to check “Protect My Tweets”, so only people in your network can see your tweets, and they’re not public. I don’t recommend this – it prevents your tweets from being indexed by Google, and from getting discovered by recruiters and industry insiders. I recommend that passive job seekers do not protect their tweets, but are careful about what they tweet. Tweeting as an industry or functional expert is ok if you’re passive – tweeting “I’m looking to get out of my dead end job” … probably not such a good idea.

Build your Twitter Network:

7. Follow & Be Followed: Following people allows you to see content. Being followed allows others to see your content. A good Twitter strategy is to start out finding and following some industry leaders to see what’s successful on Twitter. As you start to publish Tweets, it will be more important to encourage others to follow you – to get the widest distribution of your content. Others will follow you because you publish interesting content – chances are your lunch menu will interest a very small audience beyond your mom. Publishing links to relevant industry articles is one of the best ways to get started publishing content. If these are articles that you’ve written for your blog, all the better. If you’re not a writer, publish relevant industry or functional articles you find on the internet.

8. Build relevancy: Tweeting about the great movie you saw or the party you are on your way to may be entertaining for your friends, but it’s not building your industry relevancy. If you want to use Twitter to keep your posse updated on your every move, consider a separate professional Twitter account, to build industry relevancy. You can build relevancy by passing tips to others in your field, publishing links to interesting articles, writing your own articles, commenting on industry news. Notice that it probably doesn’t have much to do with what’s on TV tonight.

9. Subscribe to lists & get listed: Twitter Lists is a relatively new function, that allows users to publish lists of followers (http://recareered.blogspot.com/2009/11/how-can-twitter-lists-help-job-seekers.html. For example, I publish one of the largest lists on Twitter of job listing accounts (@philreCareered/jobtweets). If you follow these lists, you’ll get a stream of job tweets from hundreds of sources on Twitter, but the entire stream will be jobs – you can even take an RSS feed. Getting listed is even more powerful as you seek relevancy. You can start by requesting to be listed as a job seeker on @philreCareered/jobseekers, so subscribers (recruiters and hiring managers subscribe) can more easily see your tweets.

10. Industry recruiters: Search for recruiters in your industry and follow them. Many recruiters will also tweet jobs – might be a good idea for a list of your own, so you can easily separate these tweets from all the “stuff” on Twitter. Invite them to follow you back, so they can see the great industry content you publish. Note: Recruiters don’t care what you’ve had for lunch either.

11. Target companies: Search for employees of companies in your industry and on your target list. Follow and invite to follow you back. Tempt them with the great industry knowledge you publish, but start conversations with target company employees. Be a source of information to them, because eventually you’ll want information from them as well (http://recareered.blogspot.com/2009/11/guerrilla-job-search-tactics.html).

Build and Promote Your Expertise:

12. Use Twitter as a megaphone: Once you’ve built followers, start publishing. Twitter is a great megaphone, to share relevant content widely. Whether it’s to build readership for your resublog, or to build relevance on Twitter, Twitter is a great tool to tell lots of people that you’ve written or found something interesting, that you think they’ll find useful also. The better the content is that you tweet, the bigger and more focused your followers will be. A-List Twitterati have huge followings either due to great content published on Twitter like Gary Vaynerchuk (and his 850K followers of his postings on wine) or pre-existing celebrity like Ashton Kutcher (and his 4.6M followers of his postings on … Ashton).

13. ReTweet others & get ReTweeted By ReTweeting other’s content, you increase your relevance to your defined market and build goodwill with other users. Later, ask them to ReTweet what you’ve posted, to increase the reach of your megaphone.

14. Hashtags: Look for the hashtags used in your industry, job function or specialty. Searching for hashtags can help you find content, and can help other users of that content to find you and your tweets. For example, I use the hashtags #career #jobs #jobsearch and #jobseeker for my tweets.

15. Find content: Finding relevant content that others have posted can help you in a number of ways:
* Identifying content for you to ReTweet
* Identifying industry leaders on Twitter who you might want to follow
* Identifying the audience of the industry leaders, who you might want to invite to follow you. You are likely to find industry and target company contacts in industry leader audiences
* Building a relationship with industry leaders can give you the ability to learn how they use Twitter effectively

16. Twitter is just part of your strategy: Twitter by itself has limited power. Its true potential is seen when used in combination with other social media tools – Linkedin, Facebook, Blogs (http://recareered.blogspot.com/2010/03/5-ways-social-media-gives-job-seekers.html).

For Those Not Comfortable with Social Media:

17. Twitter is a time waster: It can be, if you hang out on Twitter all day to see what Ashton’s up to. Twitter can also be productive if you use it to build an audience and share relevant content.

18. Hiring managers aren’t on Twitter: While many hiring managers don’t hang out all day on Twitter, that’s changing. Twitter is now almost twice the size of Linkedin, and has similar age demographics. As businesses are seeing new business uses for Twitter, more hiring mangers are using it to find out industry information, gain quick answers to questions, market products, and to find candidates. In the past year a number of companies have launched applications using Twitter to help hiring managers find candidates, and publicize jobs. Twitter is still early in it’s growth stage, and is comparable to Facebook 2 years ago. You’d find that establishing your expertise now will be much easier than waiting until you’re between jobs to start Tweeting.

Twitter is Just One of Many Job Search Tools

19. What Twitter won’t do: Twitter won’t find you a job – only you can find yourself a job. Twitter is a tool that can help you network and build your social brand (http://recareered.blogspot.com/2009/12/why-use-social-branding.html).

20. Twitter isn’t the only answer: Twitter is just one tool – it’s not a magic pill, and it won’t solve all your problems.

One of the best things about Twitter is the ability to build your online brand much more quickly and with less time investment than Linkedin or Facebook. Twitter helps job seekers control and promote their personal brand very effectively, to a wide audience. In addition, a well designed Twitter strategy can get your information into the databases of many industry leaders, recruiters, and contacts, increasing your chances to “get lucky”.

This helpful article is by Phil Rosenberg

A boom is never forever: HR Head

“Recruiters need to be innovative all the time by looking for cost – effective ways of hiring.
Some suggestions:
1.Check ROI carefully
2. Use referral systems
3. Network
4. Have strong internal databases
5. Keep in touch with all the past applicants/ employees
6. Use sites to attract attention of prospective candidates, etc.” said Mr Elston Pimenta, HR Head, Cybage Software Pvt. Ltd. during a Live Chat session on the possible hiring boom in India in 2010. It was organized by TimesJobs on Jan 20th, 2010.
Other highlights of advice that Mr. Pimenta gave to candidates include:
“Branding is vital for any firm. Work on this aspect and grow through networking.”
“Look at how “employable” you are at the moment. It has always been a challenge and it will always remain so. That is the “spice” of work-life. If you have kept abreast with technology advancements, you will not face a problem.”
“Unfortunately a boom is never forever. It will iron out in due course of time as…the “demand” and “supply” stabilize.”
“Do not compromise on quality and at all times maintain internal equity first, before being influenced by the industry.”

Victims Don?t Get Jobs

A recent quote in an article in the Wall Street Journal was a perfect summation of something I think has been coming to a boil over the last 6 months. Colleen McCreary, the head of HR for Zynga, was talking about mistakes that jobseekers make when applying online. Colleen’s warning to jobseekers was direct and dire: “You are going to be remembered – and not in a positive way.”
What does this mean? I think it means that recruiters and HR professionals are starting to point out that in this economy jobseekers should beware thinking that populist rage is a solid strategy for finding a job.
According to many “experts”, jobseekers are getting screwed by (take your pick): incompetent recruiters, stupid management, ignorant hiring managers, HR dullards, bad processes or general incompetence. Reading these “You should be mad as hell and not take it anymore!” screeds are intended to make jobseekers feel good about where they find themselves. “It’s not you, it’s them!” Wrong. Recruiters and HR professionals are getting tired of taking it on the chin.
If you are serious about finding a job you need to drop the victim narrative. For every jobseeker who is angry because of their job hunting experience, there is a recruiter who is just as mad because of jobseeker behavior. The experts are stoking a blame-delegation and finger-pointing exercise that can only lead to fewer real solutions and more bad blood. And in this economy the jobseeker is going to be the ultimate loser.
Think that the jobseeker is the only one with a right to complain about the awful recruiting experience? Think again:

* Do you hate it when companies post jobs that aren’t really open? How is that different than a jobseeker applying for a job that they really don’t want? Every recruiter I know has to sift through hundreds of applications from candidates who later admit “I didn’t really want that job; I just thought I would get noticed if I applied for everything.” You will be remembered for all the wrong reasons if you are applying for jobs in batches.

* Do you hate it when companies put all this great language in the job description about how wonderful the job opportunity is, and then you take the job and find out that the “marketing language” was nothing but baloney? How is that any different than a jobseeker making a community college algebra class into a “training in advanced mathematics?” You will definitely make an impression (the wrong one) when the recruiter finds out you “exaggerated.”

None of these behaviors is acceptable by either party. Recruiters shouldn’t do it, jobseekers shouldn’t either. When jobseekers spam resumes, batch apply, exaggerate (or worse) on resumes, and fail to show up for interviews or phone calls they waste recruiter’s and hiring manager’s time. This is time that should be spent responding to jobseekers who have an honest shot at the job, guiding people through the recruiting process, answering questions and otherwise creating a superior jobseeker experience.
Does this mean that jobseekers are to blame for the poor state of recruiting? Of course not. But so what? Does your indignation about the recruiting experience increase your probability of finding meaningful employment? No. All you can control is your beliefs, perspectives and behaviors. So let me give you an alternative point of view which can help you skip the cynicism and frame your interaction with recruiting in a more positive light.
Most of the people I know in recruiting and employment pursued their profession because they love the feeling of finding someone work. They believe that they are helping people, doing good things for jobseekers, companies and hiring managers. It genuinely hurts them when they have to tell someone they are not qualified for a job. They really do want a good outcome for you. Not all of them, and not all the time, but most of them and most of the time.
Recruiters are going to make mistakes. So are you. We need to cut each other some slack and focus our time and energy on getting you a job and fixing the system, not on blaming each other for a crappy reality. Please, be remembered – positively.

Interesting Article.......Companies beat upcoming attrition with generous pay-hikes

Good news is back as it looks like salary hikes will be used by HR managers as a technique to retain their work-force, and reward their employees for sticking with the organization during the financial market-slump.
Recently, livemint.com published an article in which they estimated that in 2010, industry-wise salary hikes could likely be as:
“Auto/ auto components, consumer goods, pharmaceuticals – 12%
Information technology/ telecoms – 11%
Financial services, manufacturing – 10%
Others – 9%”

They quoted their source for these findings, as: Mercer India Monitor – October to December 2009.

There are reports that some companies are planning to up the pay hike till as much as a 20% increase. “Brokerage firm Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd, for instance, plans to give an average raise of 20% to its 1,250 employees in April. Sudhir Dhar, head of human resources (HR), said most brokerages would offer 15-20% increments as the business was doing well on the back of robust stock markets.” livemint.com said.

While employers and HR managers get busy with assessing current salary packages and industry pay-norms, employees are silently rejoicing. This upcoming pay-hike will make up for the lack of increments they have been facing over the last year and some change, as well as tide them over in the rising inflation.

However, it may be as a preemptive measure, that companies are promising such generous salary-hikes. With the market boom rearing its promising face, organizations are steeling themselves for the expected oncoming attack of attrition. Employers realize that for the want of a small salary hike, their talented employees may just switch jobs. Hence, they are willing to provide their employees with this awaited increment.

THE BEST QUESTION
What is your worth, when you are negotiating salary.

SIMPLE ANSWER

Make a note of all the fixed expenses that you have.

Multiply the fixed expense with 2 that should give you your survival rate.

Multiply this with 2 and you get yout minimum survival salary.

Living a good life with enough to spend and save would be fairly challenging without this amount.

Calculator can be emaled if so desired.

Some important Do's and Dont's of an Interview. INTERVIEW DO’S

1. Do have the exact address and the concerned persons name for the interview.
2. Do dress the part for the job, the company, the industry.
3. Do plan to arrive about 15 minutes early. If you are running late, do phone the company.
4. Do greet the receptionist or assistant with courtesy and respect.
5. Do bring 2 extra resumes and 2 photographs to the interview.
6. Do read about the company
7. Do greet the interviewer by title (Ms.,Mr., Dr.)and last name or the name they introduce themselves with.
8. Do shake hands firmly. Don't have a limp or clammy handshake!
9. Do wait until you are offered a chair before sitting.
10. Do make good eye contact with your interviewer(s).
11. Do show enthusiasm in the position and the company.
12. Do have a high confidence and energy level. 13. Do make sure that your good points come across to the interviewer in a factual, sincere manner.
14. Do show what you can do for the company rather than what the company can do for you.
15. Do stress your achievements.
16. Do ask intelligent questions about the job, company, or industry.
17. Do close the interview by telling the interviewer(s) that you want the job and you will do justice to it.
18. Do try and get business cards from each person who take your interview.
19. Do write thank you letters within 24 hours to each person who interviewed you.
20. Do brush your teeth, use mouthwash, or have a breath mint before the interview.

INTERVIEW DON’T’S

1. Don't chew gum during the interview.
2. Don't rely on your resume doing the selling for you.YOU will need to sell yourself to the interviewer.
3. Don't tell jokes during the interview.
4. Don't smoke, even if the interviewer does and offers you a cigarette.
5. Don't smoke before hand so that you smell like smoke.
6. Don’t use poor language, slang, and pause words (such as "like," "uh," and "um").
7. Don't act as though you would take any job or are desperate for employment.
8. Don't say anything negative about former colleagues, supervisors, or employers.
9. Don't ever lie. Answer questions truthfully and frankly.
10. Don't over-answer questions.
11. Don't offer any negative information about yourself.
12. Don't answer questions with a simple "yes" or "no." Explain when possible. Give examples.
13. Don't bring up or discuss personal issues or family problems.
14. Don't answer cell phone calls during the interview, and do turn off your cell phone.
15. Don't inquire about salary or other benefits until after you've received an offer.
16. Don't pass strong/contradictory comments on your social presence since employers also read social media before calling you.

Some important Do's and Dont's of an Interview.

INTERVIEW DO’S
1. Do have the exact address and the concerned persons name for the interview.
2. Do dress the part for the job, the company, the industry.
3. Do plan to arrive about 15 minutes early. If you are running late, do phone the company.
4. Do greet the receptionist or assistant with courtesy and respect.
5. Do bring 2 extra resumes and 2 photographs to the interview.
6. Do read about the company
7. Do greet the interviewer by title (Ms.,Mr., Dr.)and last name or the name they introduce themselves with.
8. Do shake hands firmly. Don't have a limp or clammy handshake!
9. Do wait until you are offered a chair before sitting.
10. Do make good eye contact with your interviewer(s).
11. Do show enthusiasm in the position and the company.
12. Do have a high confidence and energy level.
13. Do make sure that your good points come across to the interviewer in a factual, sincere manner.
14. Do show what you can do for the company rather than what the company can do for you.
15. Do stress your achievements.
16. Do ask intelligent questions about the job, company, or industry.
17. Do close the interview by telling the interviewer(s) that you want the job and you will do justice to it.
18. Do try and get business cards from each person who take your interview.
19. Do write thank you letters within 24 hours to each person who interviewed you.
20. Do brush your teeth, use mouthwash, or have a breath mint before the interview.
INTERVIEW DON’T’S
1. Don't chew gum during the interview.
2. Don't rely on your resume doing the selling for you.YOU will need to sell yourself to the interviewer.
3. Don't tell jokes during the interview.
4. Don't smoke, even if the interviewer does and offers you a cigarette.
5. Don't smoke before hand so that you smell like smoke.
6. Don’t use poor language, slang, and pause words (such as "like," "uh," and "um").
7. Don't act as though you would take any job or are desperate for employment.
8. Don't say anything negative about former colleagues, supervisors, or employers.
9. Don't ever lie. Answer questions truthfully and frankly.
10. Don't over-answer questions.
11. Don't offer any negative information about yourself.
12. Don't answer questions with a simple "yes" or "no." Explain when possible. Give examples.
13. Don't bring up or discuss personal issues or family problems.
14. Don't answer cell phone calls during the interview, and do turn off your cell phone.
15. Don't inquire about salary or other benefits until after you've received an offer.
16. Don't pass strong/contrdictory comments on your social presence sinceemployers also read social media before calling you.

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