Job Ads Decoded
Most of us know that online dating profiles are written in a special language that if you take the time to decipher it tells you a little more about the person posting it than they may have intended. The same holds true for some job descriptions. Decoding some of the language you encounter as you search for the right position may help you get a better idea about what you really might be in for. A basic primer:
“Great growth opportunities” – This line comes most often from smaller and startup companies whose dreams tend to be a little larger than their budgets. Roughly translated this phrase often means “if you work for us for 60 hours a week, for less than you were looking for, you may get to exercise some stock options when we go public.”
Before you consider a job like this think carefully. If it is in a field you truly love and your lifestyle can accommodate a little belt tightening it may very well be worth going for. If you need a little more stability though, growth opportunities don’t mean a lot if the company goes belly up in a year.
“Ability to Work Independently Essential “– Sometimes this phrase can be an indication that there is a lack of actual leadership at the company and that new employees have to be able to fend for themselves. For some people this might be a dream come true, no boss breathing down your neck every five minutes. If you snag an interview try to glean from your interviewer what the real day to day responsibilities of the position are. If she doesn’t seem to know (generate media coverage is not a good answer for instance) that’s a sure sign that you’d have to figure out most of it yourself.
“Flexible on Work Hours” – Although it is not always the case this line often means that the prospective employer wants you to be flexible, not the company. And by flexible they mean the willingness to come in on a Sunday afternoon on two hours’ notice or work long into the night to get a project finished. In other words they want you to accommodate them, not the other way around.
What Recruiting Firms can do for Employers
In a time when the economy still isn’t quite where everyone would want to be, companies who are still hiring may wonder why they should incur the potential additional expense of working with a recruitment firm rather than going it alone on the hiring front. However, whatever the state of affairs in the world there are still a number of excellent reasons that a company should certainly consider enlisting outside help when trying to fill vacancies:
Lack of Time – Much of the time a company has to hire quickly, to fill a void that has been unexpectedly opened up in the company, leaving others to fill in and perhaps even important tasks neglected. When hiring in a situation like this employers tend to “settle”, hiring someone who has most of the attributes they were looking for but not all.
Recruitment firms have a pool of prescreened talent and will usually only send candidates to be interviewed by their clients if they really are a match for the job requirements, increasing the chances that an employer will find talent that is truly capable of getting the job done.
Lack of Experience – As an employer you may know what you are looking for but that is rarely enough. Some people will say anything to get the job, especially in times like these. They will pad their resumes, make up degrees even have friends pose as references. Recruitment agency personnel are used to weeding these people out – they come across them all the time – and have the time to conduct the kind of in-depth background check that really needs to be performed, but the employer probably does not have time for.
Hiring from the Heart – In many companies, big and small, if there is a vacancy that desperately needs to be filled the boss will consider hiring a current employees mother, brother, sister , boyfriend, anyone if they seem to match most of the criteria. This however is rarely a good idea, how are you going to face Mars Jones, who has been with you for years, when young Wayne turns out not to be the man for job and has to be let go? Letting someone else locate and screen candidates for you takes much of the emotion out of the situation.
Tax Time Tips for Job Hunters
Job hunting can be a strenuous and sometimes downright depressing but, it does have its advantages when it comes to tax season. Knowing what you can (and cannot) deduct when it comes to filing is important. Here are a few pointers:
Travel Expenses – Traveling to interviews can take a real bite out of your budget but, much of it can be claimed back on your taxes. There are some rather confusing IRS rules you have to keep in mind though. If the sole purpose of your trip is to obtain new employment then everything – flight, meals, hotel rooms – can be deducted. However, if you went to Hawaii on vacation and decided it was so wonderful you cannot imagine leaving and then decide to look for a job, none of the expenses are deductible. Reason being the original purpose of your trip was pleasurable in nature. However, you can still deduct the cost of actually getting to the interviews (bus, rental car, etc.)
Job Board Scams – What You Need to Know
As more people join the ranks of those actively seeking employment, activity on online job boards increases. These can be great places to land a job (although competition is fierce) but, increasingly the scam artists are targeting them too.
Work from home scams, investment scams and the like are nothing new. However now they are showing up alongside legitimate job offers on sites like Monster and Yahoo and it can be hard to spot them at first.
Some job seekers assume that these big job boards vet all the employment offerings that are posted on their site but that is simply not the case, so it is up to the individual to figure out which ones are not legitimate.
The Importance of Thorough Background Checks
Filed under: Employment, New Hire, Orientation, Recruiting, Resources
Years ago, a hiring manager at a company would conduct interviews, pick the candidate that was best suited to their position on the basis of those interviews and their resume, perhaps make a few calls to the references provided by the potential hire and leave it at that. Sometimes things worked out. Sometimes they didn’t but that was just the way the world worked.
The Impact of Bad Interviewing Techniques
There are hundreds of articles written to help jobseekers improve their interview techniques. There are far fewer that address the damage a poor technique on the part of the interviewer can have on a company and its reputation.
Niche Job Boards can Maximize Employer & Job Seeker Benefits
Filed under: Employment, Jobs, Recruiting, Resources, Uncategorized
An essential strategy of HR departments and hiring managers is working with a well-marketed and high-quality niche job board to do a focused career search for their next new hire. These specialized sites can focus on a particular industry, a segment of a certain field, or even hiring for a specific position.
Your Life and Career Reassessed
Investing in a professionally administered career assessment is worth considering before you make your next career move.
How would you fight for the career you love? How do you be the best in school? Ever wondered how you can succeed in life? If you look at the mirror, the answer is just staring back at you. You are your best asset, and it is best that you know who you are and what you are capable of. Now that that has been taken care of, its time to make the most of your skills.
