The Importance of Working Towards Early Talent Diversity

The Importance of Working Towards Early Talent Diversity The Early Talent market is changing and becoming increasingly competitive. In fact, in 2017, the number of students planning to go to university fell to its lowest level in 8 years. Companies are having to adapt and evolve to this changing marketplace where competition and demands are high. When it comes to making changes, increasing Early Talent Diversity represents both a priority and a significant challenge for many businesses.   Diversity within an organization is about encouraging a wholly-inclusive workforce â€" embracing employees of different backgrounds, ethnicities and cultural beliefs. Yet, Early Talent Diversity runs much deeper. It’s about recruiting people from different backgrounds and making your application process accessible to all groups who embrace different perspectives, ideologies, and beliefs about how and why things work the way they do.   Its about bringing different ideas and opinions together within your organization and allowing them to work cohesively towards common business goals. Adding value through diversity Part of the motivation for a company wanting to increase Early Talent Diversity comes in the understanding of how it truly adds value to the core business.   There is a number of concomitant benefits of a diverse Early Talent workforce which many businesses are surprisingly unaware of, including; Increased productivity, work rate efficiency; in fact, 72% of private sector companies said there was a direct link between diversity and productivity Innovative thinking; through alternative perspectives and ideas on the same issue Positive employer branding; once diversity begins to increase, it becomes easier to attract a more diverse pool of candidates Giving your business the competitive edge; diversity enhances the competitiveness of your business both within your workforce and as an organization Reduction in employee turnover; when compared to pre-diversity statistics Increased employee morale teamwork Without a doubt, diversity is and should be an organizational priority.   As an employer, it will be necessary to implement recruitment strategies and initiatives to help you achieve your diversity goals. But, given all of the above, it would seem crazy that a company wouldn’t invest resource and time into developing their Early Talent diversity. What can be done to attract Early Talent diversity? There is a vast pool of talent in schools and colleges, and these students need to be considered in order to create a more diverse workplace. Talking to students early on and engaging with them, will generate an interest in careers that they may not previously have considered. Engaging with new audiences mean a wider talent pool, and a step towards creating a more diverse workforce, as well as combatting the skills shortage that many industries are currently facing. If students have a great experience with an organization at any stage, it increases the likelihood of employees returning later. For example, a successful work experience completion can lead to an apprentice application, and an application to work full time within the business. We would also recommend making apprenticeships more attractive to candidates, and support teachers to feel confident when advising young people towards an apprenticeship. In 2011, a survey by YouGov discovered that 46% of students aged 14-16 had received no information about an apprenticeship. Another option could be offering workplace taster days, as this will enable candidates to learn and discover more about different industries. Companies can craft media content and public policy to combat industry stereotypes, for example, the social care and construction industries are both sectors where gender stereotyping is still in place, social care is seen as a predominately female sector, and a career in construction is often stereotyped as a ‘man’s job.’ By crafting content that potential candidates see on an organization’s website or within the career pages, it would encourage a more diverse workforce. Ultimately, organizations want to reach out to the best candidates, regardless of gender and class, and the recruitment process should be designed to discover and appeal to whoever this is. Organisations need to reach all potential applicants and make them aware of the opportunities open to them. If there is a demographic that a particular industry is struggling to reach, they can put more appropriate measures in place to extend this reach, and engage with the right people who can encourage a more diverse workforce. About the author:  Will  Shepherd is the Chief Executive of Cohesion.  Cohesion builds flexible and scalable end-to-end recruitment processes for organizations, delivering every part of the recruitment process, from advertising, screening, and assessment, to onboarding and retention.

Three Tools to Leverage Your Clients Brand - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Three Tools to Leverage Your Client’s Brand - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Competition is steep in today’s business world. People are constantly bombarded with advertisements, solicitations, and other marketing messages. It pays (literally) to know how to cut through the clutter to make an impact. One of the best ways to outshine the competition and differentiate your personal and/or professional brand is through directly leveraging your clients’ brands. Most companies focus on creating branded brochures and mailing tchotchkes with their own logos on them. However, if you want to make a lasting impression with potential clients, do the direct oppositeâ€"send them items branded with their logo and colors on them. Three Tools for Sending Customized Gifts and Cards Cookie Bouquet creates customizable cookie gifts. As long as your client is not on a special diet, a cookie bouquet can be a great way to show a potential client that you value them. My personal favorite is the Team Spirit bouquet. I request my logo on the cheerleader bears’ chests and the client’s logo on the football player bears’ chests. It wows them every time! SendOutCards allows users to create customized cards online that they then mail on your behalf. You can even add gifts or gift cards to your order! Do you have any funny pictures with your potential client? Did he/she mention something funny recently? I not only use pictures of my clients on cards, but sometimes I reference their jokes via funny Photoshopped images. Touchnote is a mobile application available on iOS and Android that enables users to create customized cards from mobile phone photos. You can then mail a card or postcard directly from your phone! Did you meet a great new contact at an event? Follow up with them immediately by mailing a card with a picture of the two of you. These are simply three of my favorites, however, the possibilities are endless. If your potential client owns a trucking company, mail a remote control truck painted with their logo. Include cookies and a copy of the contract! Customizing gifts alone will not seal the deal. However, providing the best product/service solutions coupled with your having a strong appreciation of their brand and culture will go a long with in strengthening your own brand and client relationships. Do you have a favorite customizable gift tool that you use in business? Leave it in the comments section. Author: Crystal Washington is a social media marketing strategist, speaker, co-founder of Socialtunitiesâ€"a social media instruction brand that trains Gen Ys-Boomers on the strategic use of social media, and the author of The Social Media WHY: A Busy Professional’s Practical Guide to Using Social Media Including LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, Google+ and Blogs for Business. She is hired by corporations and associations around the globe to provide keynotes, workshops, and webinars.

Some People Like to Fail - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Some People Like to Fail - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career The shocking, surprising, and sad fact is that few people do have fire in their belly from passion and curiosity. There are many reasons why: They don’t want the stress of success. They are comfortable where they are, and they don’t want to change their work, geographic location, colleagues, or much of anything else. They don’t want to have big goals only to fall short. None of their friends or family members are striving for more and better. They don’t think they are worthy or good enough. They think they are too young, too old, and too heavy, they are in the wrong function, or they have an inappropriate work pedigree. They are afraid that people will think that they think they are special. They tried once, it didn’t work, and they and don’t want to try again. They don’t want to work long, hard hours. They are satisfied with doing whatever is minimally necessary. They were told that people who make it to the top are thieves. They are scared. They have lost their ambition to do anything but tread water. They don’t know what to do next. If you have any of those unhelpful thoughts, you need to put them into your mental paper shredder. They do not support where you’re going in life. They might have come from your mom and dad or from some actual experiences, but you have to put a stop to them; otherwise, they will drain your energy. If instead, you get excited about doing whatever you are doing, you will get a sort of energy that puts you on an entirely different level than every other human being. Some People Like to Fail - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career The shocking, surprising, and sad fact is that few people do have fire in their belly from passion and curiosity. There are many reasons why: They don’t want the stress of success. They are comfortable where they are, and they don’t want to change their work, geographic location, colleagues, or much of anything else. They don’t want to have big goals only to fall short. None of their friends or family members are striving for more and better. They don’t think they are worthy or good enough. They think they are too young, too old, and too heavy, they are in the wrong function, or they have an inappropriate work pedigree. They are afraid that people will think that they think they are special. They tried once, it didn’t work, and they and don’t want to try again. They don’t want to work long, hard hours. They are satisfied with doing whatever is minimally necessary. They were told that people who make it to the top are thieves. They are scared. They have lost their ambition to do anything but tread water. They don’t know what to do next. If you have any of those unhelpful thoughts, you need to put them into your mental paper shredder. They do not support where you’re going in life. They might have come from your mom and dad or from some actual experiences, but you have to put a stop to them; otherwise, they will drain your energy. If instead, you get excited about doing whatever you are doing, you will get a sort of energy that puts you on an entirely different level than every other human being.

Finding Your Dream Job In Todays Job Market

Finding Your Dream Job In Todays Job Market It’s a hard-enough task figuring out what you want to do in life. Once you’ve done that soul searching, there’s a lot that goes into pursuing the career path you’ve chosen. Not least the (seemingly endless) hunt for the perfect job that offers the right opportunities for personal and professional growth. A ‘dream job’ comes in many shapes and sizes.   For some, it’s being the CEO of a company they’ve founded and fostered. For others, it’s finding the flexibility and freedom that comes with a great work-life balance. Some of us thrive in being an integral cog in a massive machine made of workers while the rest of us love being our own boss and setting hours and tasks to suit only us. But, how can we make that happen? We asked Tom Froggatt, Director of Singular Talent, an agency focused on hiring top talent, to provide some tips on how to find and secure your dream job in todays job market. Act confident Speaking as part of the Hiscox Formula for Business Success campaign looking at the traits needed to become a successful CEO, Froggatt explains that “successful people are, almost uniformly, confident. That doesn’t mean they never have doubts.   But that they back themselves to deal with challenges that arise and to find solutions.” That’s why our first tip is to “act” confident â€" even if you don’t feel confident. Particularly when you’re starting out, genuine confidence might be hard to come by. So, instead, we fake it. And, as Amy Cuddy explains in her TedTalk, when we consciously alter our body language to make us appear more confident than we really are, we can actually make ourselves more confident. Just before you go in for that job interview, remind yourself to broaden your shoulders, stand up straight and exude success. Communicate clearly Whether you’re the boss, a worker or a hopeful candidate, the work environment is all about people and communication. It goes without saying that every job involves one or more of talking to your colleagues, communicating with customers, clients and stakeholders to keep them happy and being forthcoming about your own skills and expertise. At job interview stage â€" including how you build your CV â€" good communication skills are essential. Being able to communicate clearly means you’ll be able to explain your school and career history in your CV and interview, easily build a rapport with the person interviewing you, integrate more quickly into the workplace once you’re hired and showcase your skills and expertise to your colleagues so you can start to make yourself indispensable. Never stop learning Froggatt says while “there are some positions that have qualifications as a pre-requisite, most don’t. You can get to a certain point in your career by applying and developing what you learned at school and university.   But after that you have to continue working on yourself to progress. “What’s essential to business success,” continues Froggatt, “is an ongoing commitment to personal development.” So, as you look to secure your dream job, put yourself above all candidates by making sure you can demonstrate that hunger to learn. Whether you’re taking classes to develop your skills, attending seminars and workshops or reading (or, even better, contributing to) industry blogs, figure out what you can’t learn in a traditional classroom or workplace setting and find a way to get that knowledge. Outline these efforts in your CV and you’re sure to stand out from the competition.  Dreams Jobs Still Exist in Todays Job Market Whatever you’re looking for in your dream career, the journey to finding and securing the perfect job can be both difficult and overwhelming. Hopefully, with the tips above, you can restart your search with renewed vigour and confidence. Keep up the tips above throughout your career and not just at job interview phase.   You could find yourself climbing the career ladder faster than you’d thought. About Tom Froggatt Tom Froggatt is an executive recruiter, talent advisor and consultant to a vast range of Pharma Biotech companies.   Hes also the founder of Singular Talent. His track record of successful hiring spans the UK, Europe, the US and Africa.   His advice has been employed by organisations from brand-new startups to FTSE 100 corporations. Got tips for others seeking their dream job in todays job market?   Leave a comment!

How to Maintain A Healthy Work-Life Balance as a Freelancer CareerMetis.com

How to Maintain A Healthy Work-Life Balance as a Freelancerâ€" CareerMetis.com It can be difficult to keep work and life matters from becoming enmeshed in a sticky web of overwhelming, unprocessed thoughts. Working as a freelancer, in particular, can often make the struggle of keeping up that all-important work-life balance even more challenging.That’s not to say that the freelance life isn’t a good one. In fact, the option to work remotely can be a particularly excellent choice. It provides a greater level of personal space and typically doesn’t revolve around social office functions.evalBut freelancing can be a double-edged sword, as the freedom to dictate your own schedule can make it difficult to prevent work from seeping into every aspect of life.If you’re a freelancer who is struggling to strike a balance between your professional and personal life â€" all of which largely takes place within the same space â€" don’t despair. There are ways to create a sense of purpose and structure that will provide both productive work time and genuine rest.Why Work-Life Balance Matters?evalThere are many different reasons that attaining a work-life balance is important.It doesn’t matter if you head to the office each day or roll out of bed, open up your laptop, and start typing away in your pajamas on the couch, creating a sense of “work time” and “personal time” has a myriad of different benefits.For example, chronic stress and its many physical ailments â€" things like acid reflux, heart and blood pressure concerns, and chronic pain â€" are major issues for professionals in the modern work world. In addition, things like burnout and lackluster employee satisfaction or engagement are increasingly common concerns.Finding a work-life balance often addresses all of these issues and can restore interest, productivity, and efficiency to your work, while keeping your personal life unadulterated by your professional pursuits.Work-Life Balance: Freelancer EditionThe poster child of the ideal remote work situation is the modern freelan cer â€" although the truth is, many different industries are allowing employees to work remotely these days.evalFor this army of remote workers, whether freelancers or contractors, the challenge of properly extricating oneself from work and truly striking that balance becomes much more difficult. They work on their own schedule, often from home, and manage an unpredictable workload that can fluctuate wildly.If you find that you need a little inspiration in order to bring some much-needed balance to your freelance life, try implementing some of the suggestions below.Manage Your TimeTime management is a difficult skill to master. And yet, the proper use of one’s time is a critical tool for a freelancer to develop. When you don’t work a 9-to-5 job, it becomes even more important to find ways to organize and manage your time. This helps to provide momentum, gain direction, and allow you to nip procrastination in the bud.If you haven’t made a meaningful effort to manage your time a s a freelancer yet, here are a few ideas to get the ball rolling:Take some time to set “office hours” and try your best to stick to them. Yes, there will be times that you have to work beyond them, but having that structure can make a huge difference in allowing yourself to check out of work at the end of a long day.Turn off your notifications when you can. Constant distractions are an easy way to be derailed by both work and personal concerns. When that happens, it’s easy for work to take much longer than it reasonably should.Take breaks. It may seem counterintuitive, but taking a break from a task every 90 minutes or so can do wonders to keep up your productivity and manage your work time.However, you choose to go about it, make sure to find a method of time management that suits your specific needs.Keep Tabs on Your BudgetevalThis may sound unrelated to work-life management, but the truth is, the freelance life can be filled with financial concerns. There are obvious things like wondering if you’ll have enough work lined up to pay the bills, but even when finances are healthy, the natural instability of freelance work can still be a bit disconcerting.In order to help bring some order and stability to your finances, try to create and stick to a budget. Even if you don’t know exactly how much money is coming in, knowing how much is going out can help provide peace of mind.It doesn’t matter if you’re a young graduate struggling with debt, a single, career-focused professional, or a parent with a young family to care for, setting up a budget can help youto genuinely make a dent in your financial goals.evalAvoid DistractionsImage Source: Pixabay.comIt’s easy to stay focused on your work at an office where the boss is present and there are fewer interruptions. The home setting, on the other hand, can be an incredibly distracting place to work from.That’s why it’s important to set up boundaries. Turning off notifications was already mentioned, but in addition to that obvious one, it’s important to make a conscious effort to treat work-time as dedicated time to be focused on work â€" so, no side chores in between work tasks.And it’s not interruptible unless there’s an emergency. It’s critical that you make sure your family is aware of these boundaries as well.If you find that you need a more creative atmosphere, another option is to try to get up earlier or stay up later â€" whichever one works better for you â€" when you won’t have as many distractions.Another option is to head to a local coffee shop where you can tap into some processing disfluencyto spark that imagination.However you go about it, look for ways to make your work time truly work time.Tailor-Made Detoxing TimeevalOnce you’re done working, it’s important to find your own, unique ways to disconnect from work. Creating rituals and routines can be extremely helpful here.Some options include:Finding a good (non-work related) book to read.Taking a bath.Going for a jog.Whatever works for you, the act of setting up a purposeful activity that allows your mind to rest and disengage can be the perfect way to create that hard line between work and life.Finding Your Ideal Work-Life BalanceIt may be easy to identify and address work-life balance for those who physically enter an office space on a regular basis. The situation tends to be a bit more difficult, though, when it comes to those who work remotely.However, often all that is needed is a little purposeful effort to structure and separate the two elements of life. If you take some time to implement things like creating a budget, practicing good time management, and so on, you’ll likely start feeling the benefits of a rested, productive mind very quickly.

Are exclusion and pride hurting your executive job search - Hire Imaging

Are exclusion and pride hurting your executive job search - Hire Imaging My client Paul, a Chief Operating Officer, found himself unemployed when his position was eliminated after his company’s acquisition and merger early this summer. From our first coaching conversation, I felt he would be getting in his own way with a perception that was a double-edge sword: His perception that he should confine his networking to associating with other executives. His perception that his unemployment was an embarrassment to be kept secret. Paul’s mindset was severely limiting his networking possibilities and his windows of opportunity. ·           Connect across boundaries Paul’s not alone. Many job seekersâ€"particularly executives, are often inclined to want to network only with other executives.   Bad idea! Over many years as a coach, I’ve helped recently- and involuntarily unemployed executives. They often came to me with a notion that their job-search support had to be within the confines of the executive circle. They turned down participation in outplacement which had them in the trenches. To be fair and clear, they weren’t turning up their noses at non-executives in a similar situation; they just had the false idea that only those at their levels and roles could really be of help in the job search. It goes deeper than that. This way of thinking was often shaped earlier during their employment. It was reflected in executive-level training programs, in meetings, in who they had lunch with; you get the gist. I’m not judging here. I get it. If this is you and you’re comfortable with sticking to it, do. But here’s the deal. If you are an executive in job search mode and you conduct your networking in a segregated manner, you will frankly miss a lot of useful informationâ€"resources to leads. Paul began to connect across job role or level, class or generational lines. He talked to everyone from his former CEO to his former assistant; to a circle of people that included his minister and his butcher. He found that there is no correlation between the source of information and the value of that information. ·           Come out of the closet When you are in a job search, you are in a marketing campaign. Don’t hide it! This is important: Everyone you know should know that you’re in the job market, your talents and your targets. Then ask, “Who else do you know that I should talk to?” I saw a client’s ah-hah experience with this about a year ago. A friend of mine, Patty, called me one night. She was worried about her fiancé, Dan, a CFO who had since she’d known him, been a confident leader and extravert, always up for a challenge and typically a positive guy. This wasn’t the guy she was seeing now. Dan’s employer, a manufacturer in the construction industry, had suffered some blows in the recession two months prior; Dan was one of the victims. Patty said that Dan seemed withdrawn, reserved and unengaged. She confided that one of her red flags was that he had not been telling anyone he was unemployed. When asked, he was saying “Oh, I’m working on some initiatives I can’t really talk about.” Anyone hearing that would naturally assume he was working. Who would think to help him even if they had help to offer? No one, of course. As a gift, Patty gave him a career package and reluctantly, Dan began working with me. By that time, he had three months of unemployment under his belt. During this time, he had spent most of his search time at his computer, applying for advertised openings. He had no LinkedIn presenceâ€"no social media presence at all other than outdated content about his former employer (which still mentioned him as CFO). His days consisted largely of receiving “thanks, but no thanks” lettersâ€"sometimes. More often, he heard nothing. He had sent out about 100 resumes; he had zero interviews. His search was as dead as a doornail. It drained him physically and emotionally; and it was a vicious cycle, because he changed nothing to show he was on the market! Through our conversations, I learned that Dan was telling Patty even less than she realized. I listened in disbelief when Dan told me that he had been in a men’s vocal group for years. They practiced twice a week and performed around town. Not one of his fellow singers had a clue he was on the hunt for a new career opportunity. Dan and I developed his positioning statement that clearly articulated to folks that he was a talented CFO, an available oneâ€"and for what! He used it repeatedly in mock role-play scenarios with me. I could hear the octave-lift in his voice. He said he felt ready to restart his search with newly-found energy and confidence. He committed to it. He fleshed out his strategies and a plan, including a detailed networking map of every person he’d ever worked with. One by one, he contacted them.   And he let the guys in his singing group know exactly what was going on. He said that was very liberating. No one in the group was in a position to hire him. But to a person, they had tips, names and support resources. One of those tips led to a controller job with a building materials distributor.  It was a landing he would not have made, had he not talked to people  outside his executive circle; and more importantly, not talked to people, period! Photo: Brett Jordan

Why Hire Free Professional Resume Writing Services?

Why Hire Free Professional Resume Writing Services?Free professional resume writing services have emerged as the best solution to overcome the difficulties of managing a career and job search. Employers who have resources are well advised to engage these services to reduce the burden of analyzing and evaluating the information that they require from the candidates.Businesses are finding it increasingly difficult to find qualified individuals to fill vacancies. Many companies, particularly smaller enterprises, have insufficient human resources to keep up with demand. Apart from the high cost of paying salaries to highly-skilled professionals, maintaining separate HR departments, it is becoming increasingly expensive to hire separate HR staff to handle each employee's personal documents, management information, and professional credentials.It is becoming increasingly difficult to conduct thorough job screening. For example, in a certain department, a temporary employee might take up th e post due to redundancy and vacancies might come up unexpectedly. Although this individual has gained experience in certain aspects of the job, a closer examination will reveal some deficiencies and problems.A new employee may not know about the rules, policies, and practices of the organization. If the company does not have a fixed timetable for hiring, the company may run out of manpower before the new employee is fully ready to begin work. The business may lose money, lose prestige, and even lose the opportunity to choose the most appropriate candidate.Companies need to be able to make smart and informed decisions without the help of highly-skilled personnel. Therefore, a number of companies have found that hiring these professional resume writing services to handle their recruitment has become more than helpful. For most companies, an applicant's professional credentials and experience are of utmost importance.To ensure that candidates who are seeking jobs in a company have rec eived suitable job offers, and thus, that businesses are not losing opportunities, resume writing services have emerged as one of the best solutions. In the majority of cases, these services also provide cover letters, cover letters templates, resume samples, and sample resume samples that are useful for employers. The best part is that these services have the manpower to manage the entire job search process for you, for a nominal fee.There are two types of free services - the online service and the offline service. The online service involves job portals that display available vacancies in their database and list them on their websites. A user can visit the site and then search for the specific category or career-related keywords.Alternatively, one can avail the services of the local resume writing service providers who are located near their offices and work on a one-on-one basis. The resume writers can then provide recommendations and detailed advice about how to write a resume a nd in which category an applicant should apply.