5 Tips for Settling into a New Job

5 Tips for Settling into a New Job Starting a new job can bring back memories of starting at a new school. Whether it’s your first job, or your fifth, the first few weeks can be just as intimidating as they are exciting however grown up and confident you are. As recruitment consultants we’re not just here to help people find a job. We also offer advice to help people settle in and make a good impression. Here are some of the tips we provide to those starting out in a new role. 1) Build respect There’s no better time to channel your inner extrovert, and to make use of your networking skills, than your first few weeks at work. Take every appropriate opportunity to introduce yourself and to ask people about their role. Don’t rely on others to make the introductions for you. You’ll probably find your new team welcoming and supportive. But if you are replacing someone they particularly liked, or your role is completely new, they may be initially suspicious and unforthcoming. Stay positive, remain professional and pay attention to the dynamics between people and teams. Build respect and trust by looking for ways to help out and by taking an interest in what other people are doing. Try to pick up on your new colleague’s working styles and adapt your approach to meet their needs. If you are a manager, take time to get to know your team as well as other senior colleagues. Building relationships will enable you to nurture a strong team spirit and establish yourself as a supportive leader from day one. 2) Understand the new culture Getting to know your new company’s culture will help you to adapt to your new working environment. Use your first few weeks to absorb what goes on around you in order to understand the organisation’s values and how it engages with its customers, employees and the local community. In many instances the culture will stem from an organisation’s origins. Read up on its history as well as any current mission statements, business plans and company handbooks. Also, look at how new ideas are developed and implemented, and understand who the key decision makers are. As someone with a fresh perspective you may also develop your own ideas on how to improve the company’s established culture and processes. But make sure you’ve taken the time to fully absorb everything about the working environment before you put forward any recommendations. 3) Get to grips with your job description A written job description is only one element of fully mastering a new role and understanding your responsibilities. It’s also important to establish people’s expectations, to fully understand the structure and skills within your team, and to identify who you need to establish relationships with, both internally and externally, in order to succeed. Although you will be expected to deliver results eventually, be patient and don’t rush with ambitious goals. Spend time developing your knowledge of the organisation’s industry, its customers, competitors, products, services and people. However much research you did for your interview, you still can’t know everything from the start. When you have absorbed the necessary information, you will be in a stronger position to really start performing at your best. 4) Build a rapport with the boss Request meetings with your boss on a consistent basis to review your performance, and also to establish a rapport. If they haven’t provided you with a list of expectations for your probationary period, take proactive action. Either ask your manager to write some goals and objectives for you, or write them yourself and ask for them to be approved. Make sure you schedule in an informal review of your performance halfway through the probationary period, so you can put yourself back on course if things are going wrong. Remember your boss is not a mind reader. Keep them informed of how you are feeling and any questions or support you need. Ask them for feedback and establish if there are any additional tasks or areas they expect you to be working on. But don’t take every little problem to the boss, for minor issues or questions, ask for help from co-workers.   5) Find a mentor As you get introduced to senior staff, start to look for those who could act as a mentor for you. Look for the stars of the organisation and those who convey reliability, confidence and initiative. It never hurts to have an experienced, knowledgeable, successful professional to bounce ideas off. Mentoring has numerous benefits, from a simple sounding board to someone who helps direct and advance your career within the organisation. People who have also recently started with the organisation may also be able to provide you with useful insights, especially in the first few weeks.

How to plan a romantic getaway in Samaná.

How to plan a romantic getaway in Samaná. When going on a romantic getaway, it’s important to book adult-only hotels. Not only are adults-only resorts generally more quiet and relaxing, these are usually the resorts that are intentionally romantic. They’re designed  to ooze luxury and romance. Afterall, luxury and romance go hand-in-hand. Dominican republic all inclusive adults only  resorts in Samana are particularly unique. Hotel rooms at the Bahia Principe for example are particularly focused on couples. Rooms are spacious and premium and have personalized service. Here, there is an opportunity to have privacy; rooms overlook the beautiful and tranquil sunsets as the hotel sits on the coast facing south. Samaná What is important with romantic getaways is an element of exclusivity. Having space for you and your partner to enjoy fine dining and leisurely activities in peace in the most important thing. Luxury resorts in Samana tend to have incredible food, too, with blends of  authentic local cuisine and recipes from other cultures. Don’t forget, you end up just eating in your resort rather than finding other restaurants because the in-house options tend to be high quality, nearby and plentiful in choice. This is how to redefine paradise on your romantic getaway. The resort is the most important aspect (although not the only aspect of course). Indulging in luxury means to have a variety of facilities available on-hand. To give you some ideas: a la carte pillow options, butler services, pool bars and private beaches are some things to consider when booking. Thankfully, there are plenty of opportunities for this as the Dominican Republic remains one of the most popular destinations for honeymoons. Before heading off, excursions should be planned and pre-booked. There is a lot more activities and day-out opportunities in Dominican Republic than people expect. Purchasing beforehand is a good way to weigh up all the opportunities, and it also means you save time when you get there. This is a great way to save money, as the prices are usually higher when there (i.e. with most walking tours). Samana bay also has the Cayo Levantado island nearby also known as Bacardi island. Samana and Cayo Levantado island are 7km apart, so this is an obvious choice for a day out. The island is only 3 square kilometers in size, but it has an incredible beach and small-island feel to it. The sand is pure white and the ocean waters are astoundingly clear. There are both a public beach and a private beach that is just for Bahia Principe guests. Fresh fish and gorgeous seafood can be enjoyed along with some tropical cocktails. A perfect way to end the romantic holiday in Samana is to visit the Santa Barbara which lies in the same city.  If you’re feeling adventurous, you can jump in The Lemon Waterfall. Humpback Whales can be discovered on a romantic boat trip, too, and Los Haitises National Park isn’t too far away either which has a couple of endemic species. La Churcha is a popular attraction, a 19th century church which was constructed by freed slaves. This is symbolic of Dominican freedom and Santa Barbara has various other sites too! You can also find shopping centres such as La Plazita which still remains a cozy square and has a wide variety of stores.

Top 7 things I hate to see in CVs

Top 7 things I hate to see in CVs Sometimes a CV is a thing of beauty, smart, professional, with correct grammar and spelling, evidencing great work experience and acquisition of skills. A CV like these cries out “Employ me!” and sooner or later an employer will heed that call! Sadly I see a lot of CVs which don’t quite hit the mark, so here’s my personal hate list. The space filler. Sometimes students don’t feel that they have much to say in their CVs, so they set out to try to cover two pages with virtually no information. I have seen names in font sizes of over 60 (against the 14 I would normally recommend) and acres of white space. A CV like this doesn’t fool anyone. It looks as if you haven’t got any relevant experience! Instead of spreading out a few comments, why not look at the competencies for the job which interests you? Think through every area of your life and work out where you might have learnt the skills. Youll probably find that you have much more to write than you thought. The “pretty” CV. Now there are jobs for which you need a really creative CV. If you want to work in art or design or marketing you’ll need a CV which stands out, so my comments here don’t relate to those sector areas. I don’t like the “pretty” CV which you’re using to try to get yourself a job in a very traditional industry. Banks, accountancy and law firms aren’t expecting you to use bright colours, borders or Peanuts cartoons and I’ve seen them all! Make sure that your CV stands out for the right reasons! The CV riddled with errors. This is the one we talk about all the time. Evidence shows that employers spend no more than 30 seconds deciding whether to consign a CV to the bin or put it to one side for further consideration. Over and over again employers tell us that they stop reading at the second mistake and bin the CV. We all struggle to proof read our own work. We tend to read what we thought we wrote, rather than what we (or autocorrect on the computer) actually wrote. Why not get someone to look through your CV before it goes off? The scruffy CV. These appear with surprising regularity. Often dates and headings don’t align. Sometimes the font might change half way through the document (probably betraying a bit of copy and pasting!) and the overall effect is scruffy. It’s likely to make an employer think that you can’t pay attention to detail. Try really looking at your CV to avoid this. Print it out. Get someone else to have a look at it and ask them for their honest comments. Find the perfectionist who’s going to be honest with you. When you’re applying for the dream job you don’t want to rely for feedback on the person who always proffers you praise and affirmation! The cliché and hyperbolic CV. My former colleague Helen Stringer has blogged about this  before  and I can only suggest that you read her excellent and amusing post. Are you guilty of this? It’s one thing to make sure that you use a few power words but avoid the cliché! The lying CV. There’s a world of difference between being very positive about your past experience and lying about it! If you over exaggerate, an employer is going to know that you are being (at best) disingenuous. When you did the vacation internship in HR you did not personally handle a redundancy selection process for 50 staff. You might have observed it and that would have been valuable experience for your future career â€" make sure your CV expresses what you actually did. If you embellish the truth, you risk being caught out at interview. Don’t be “creative” with examination marks either. When you get a job you’ll probably have to produce evidence of your performance and if you gave incorrect information you  might find that the job offer is withdrawn. The generic CV. I see lots of these. My first question when I am asked to look at a CV is “What are you using this for?” Very often students put together a generic CV and use the same one for everything. It’s not a good idea! Each job calls for a different set of essential and desirable skills. If youre using a CV to apply, then you need to make sure that you evidence all those requirements in  that CV. You need to make it as easy as possible for the employer to see that you can meet the demands of the person and job specification so that he/she has to interview you. The generic CV is not going to “fit the bill”. So this is my list of personal hates. I think they are shared by many employers. How can you avoid putting together a less than ideal CV? If you’re at Warwick have a look at our Moodle CV  course. Generally careers services are able to help with CVs, why not take all  the support that’s available to maximise your chance of making a successful job application?

5 Ways Your Personal Brand Can Bring Up the Quality of Your Website - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

5 Ways Your Personal Brand Can Bring Up the Quality of Your Website - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career A professional website for your personal brand is important in building a professional reputation and attracting the visitors. The graphics and content are also the point of reference from which all other of your online properties tie into. By using the latest templates and responsive designs your brand can bring more visibility at a much lower cost that what used to be. Your content should be stand out to both search engines and potential subscribers. Here are five ways to improve your website for better conversions: Quality is key In order to be noticed your articles and pages should be focused on fresh and original information that your target market finds useful. Include images and bold headlines in order to break up your text this is especially important for readability on mobile devices. Always check for any spelling and grammar errors and keep the length of your posts limited to no more than 1600 words. Check your headlines Make sure your titles catch the readers eye right away otherwise they may head off quickly to your competitors website. Google also takes notice of this and also checks for content relevance as it relates to your headline. Include facts and figures Re-purpose old content into infographics, slideshows, or videos. This makes the content more fun and interactive for the reader and encourages your visitors to subscribe for more information. Share these visuals on places like Pinterest, Google Plus, and YouTube for more visibility. Use a creative opt-in box This is one of the most important elements of a branded website, and should be simple yet very clear about what a visitor is signing up for. Be sure that your opt-in box matches your logo and color schemes, and is prominently placed on your landing page. Show real testimonials You want your audience to see you as a trusted, professional source that can show real results. Provide actual case studies or feedback from real clients that can be verified online. This will also humanize your brand and take out any guesswork for your visitors. A stand-out website that gets noticed pays attention to having a modern design with well-optimized content that is original and engaging to readers. Invest the time to to implement these steps and gain more loyal subscribers with higher rankings in search.

Twin Twitter Executive Job Search Tips - Executive Career Brandâ„¢

Twin Twitter Executive Job Search Tips Youve got a good handle on todays executive job search. You know what you need to do to land your next job, and youve set about doing it. Youve already done the following: Compiled a list of 15-20 target companies that are a mutual good fit. Researched each companys current needs and challenges, and how you can help them solve their problems. Identified a few key decision makers within each company. Started  connecting with these key people through cold contact,  introductions, and/or other networking methods. Take your social networking beyond and at least dabble with Twitter. Here are 2 easy ways to use it to accelerate your job search. Of course, youll first have to join Twitter and post a relevant key word-rich bio: 1. Search Twitter  for your same target list of companies and key decision makers. Follow them if theyre there. Listen in on their conversations to get a feel for the corporate culture and for job opportunities, market intelligence and due diligence. Follow the people they follow. Retweet (RT) them regularly (to get on their radar and stay top of mind). Send them an @reply or @mention from time to time, but dont overwhelm them. Both include that persons @username, so will show up in the @Mention tab of their home pages. Theyll notice you. Direct message (DM) them to make contact, if theyve followed you back and when/if you’re comfortable reaching out to them. 2. Use s Tweets Application. You can choose to display your most recent tweets on your profile. I suggest you be  careful with this. I find that not all tweets are -worthy. Another important feature of this app is that it gives you instant access to the updates of people you are following on Twitter and the power to tweet, reply, and re-tweet â€" all from your home page. Related posts: Twitter Turbocharges Executive Job Search and Personal Brand Visibility Twitter Executive Branding Strategy: The Beauty of a Retweet 14 Reasons I Won’t Follow You On Twitter Are Your Target Employers on Twitter? 55 Top Job Search Experts To Follow On Twitter 10 Ways I Use Twitter to Build My Personal Brand Does Your Twitter Bio Pack an Executive Brand Punch? Photo by Meg Guiseppi 00 0

A Job (Does not Equal) a Career

A Job (Does not Equal) a Career Job and career I hear many people use these two terms interchangeably. I believe sometimes they can overlap, but they remain quite distinct. The term job was originated in middle England and wasnt used in everyday language until the 1900s. This makes sense given the industrial revolution where it created jobs outside the home. These jobs were paid employment, for a brief time. The term career comes from the French word, carraria, which was commonly used to describe a cars journey from one place to another or wide road.  The idea that a career was a movement over a period of time, where it had intention for a destination.  Now the term career is commonly used to describe a lifes journey or progress over a span of time with the intention of getting better at a certain skill.   The difference then between a job and a career then is the following: A job is relatively brief and a career is over ones lifetime A job doesnt necessarily mean progress towards an end goal and a career is progress A job is known to be paid whereas a career could be paid or unpaid Job versus career These differences can clarify the direction or changes you want to make towards your job and/or career.   I like to differentiate jobs and careers in this way. A job is something you get paid to do that supports the lifestyle that you want. It includes the tasks (that could very well be part of your career) that youd prefer not to do. This could include something like, updating spreadsheets, taking out the trash, sitting at the front desk, managing employee differences, performance reviews, or making the coffee. A career is something that you may or may not be paid for that you are intrinsically motivated to do.   Maybe you have a career in painting, sculpture, wedding planning, golf, or video gaming its something you can identify that youve made progress over time and that you are committed to over the span of your life. It could be in politics, history, science, teaching, or writing. Heres an example of how a job and career can overlap. Lets say, youre a professor. Your career is in teaching biomedical engineering and researching the latest models and forward thought. You teach 4 courses in different areas and must grade 400 papers per semester. In this case, the job is grading and the career is research and teaching.   Its true that perhaps you get better at grading over time, however, usually its something to get done and move on from a task.   On the other hand, research and teaching have infinite room for progress. Do you want a job or career? Now the question for you is: which do you have?   A job or career? Which do you want?   What changes do you need to make to get there? Most importantly, what kinds of skills do you have that you can improve over time? To answer these questions, its important to throw out oughts and shoulds. Everyone needs to make money for the lifestyle they want. So, the majority of us need a job.   However, most people dont know what skills they have or what passion to pursue. One reason is because we live with a lot of oughts and shoulds. We shake off what we like because its impractical. We say we should pursue our passion but then we dont. If you can answer these questions, then its time for a career change. Look for positions that offer money for the skills you have and can develop over time. Its time to identify what you want and what skills you are good at and then create an action plan to find the position that puts these two together. Think.Inspire.Change.Grow By Dawn Shaw|2017-04-21T18:09:19+00:00May 3rd, 2016|Career Change|0 Comments

How to Write a Beowulf Resume

How to Write a Beowulf ResumeMany employers will be wary of any resumes that contain any sort of Latin wordings, but a Beowulf resume is one that they will welcome. An all-Latin Beowulf resume can highlight your communication skills and translate into an interview for you.A Beowulf resume looks great on paper, and it could make for a little distraction when you are trying to concentrate on getting your words down correctly. It does not, however, need to be just a rich language. An all-Latin version will at least display some basic knowledge about the strength of the English language.The very best idea for a Beowulf resume would be the use of a Latin translation of the opening paragraph. Use a text and sentence structure that convey knowledge and understanding of the written material. Begin with a one or two line introductions and a declaration of intent. This is essentially the preamble to your resume, and it may be one of the most important parts of your entire document.You should b egin your first sentence with a letter of introduction. You can add a bit of humor in this section, but there should be nothing too 'off' about it. Also, do not use slang, use a unique accent or even consider using 'he'. In other words, don't try to sound like Shakespeare, but do try to get your voice across with a good example of the regional or native dialect of the writer.Next, go on to your two paragraphs of body and your last paragraph's introduction. Make sure to use a clear summary for the introduction as well. Be sure to write from the point of view of the reader. Readers do not want to read about how you found your job, but rather they would like to learn more about what the position is and the reasons why you are a great fit for the company.The next section will feature a section that will show the employer your ability to communicate in a variety of different ways. This section needs to be looked at closely. Most likely, the job is located in a field where you would be sp eaking in a dialect or regional accent. A good example of this would be someone who lived in northern Europe but who had also been involved in sailing for many years.You can include the type of communication required by the job that you have listed in your Beowulf resume, but it is also a good idea to offer samples of the type of communication that you are able to provide for them. It might include pronunciation of names, basic greetings and conversation techniques. Include not only the work experience and education, but also the work history that include your accent.A Beowulf resume should contain plenty of information about you and your abilities. This is something that should be given care to and taken very seriously. Always make sure to highlight the items that are most important to the company and also the ones that you feel will be most beneficial to them.