How to crack strengths-based interviews-part 2

How to crack strengths-based interviews-part 2 Since I last wrote about Strengths, (How-to-crack-strengths-based-interviews ) there has been a steady increase in the number of organisations using Strengths-based recruitment in order to determine which candidates will be the best fit. According to the Association of Graduate Recruiters, around 40% of top graduate recruiters are now using a strengths-based approach. It’s therefore important that you are aware of how this impacts on the recruitment and selection process, as it’s different to the more traditional competency-based approach to interview questions. Which recruiters use strengths-based recruitment? Organisations  which have adopted  a Strengths-based approach include EY, Barclays, Nestlé, Sky, Severn Trent Water, Cap Gemini and Microsoft recruiters popular with many students. This post will therefore concentrate on how the process is designed to identify candidates who are the best fit for roles and organisations. However, be warned that unlike competency-based questions, strengths interview questions are not something that you should try to rehearse. The point of strengths questions are to elicit the authentic, not the ‘scripted’ version of you, as this clip demonstrates: How do competency and strengths-based questions differ? Competency-based questions provide an opportunity for you to give examples to demonstrate how you can do the job, by describing times when you solved problems, communicated effectively or worked as part of a team. In contrast, strengths-based questions will aim to establish your motivation and which particular qualities you will bring to the role and organization. Vin Bhabra, Campaign Marketing Manager for RBS, where Strengths questions are used at the telephone interview stage says: ‘We want to explore applicants’ career aspirations and find out why they see RBS as the place to achieve their potential. We take a strengths-based approach to the interview so we can find out what candidates do well and what they enjoy doing. Using or talking about strengths makes people feel energised and enthusiastic, and it gives us a chance to focus on what makes them unique- to understand their passions.’ The recruiter is likely to have a list of strengths that they will be recruiting against, so questions will be designed with these in mind.   Interviewers will not expect all successful candidates to fulfil each and every one of these. Rianna Powponne, Graduate Recruitment Assistant at Law firm Clifford Chance, says strengths-based interviews are used as part of their assessment process for summer vacation schemes and training contracts. She advises: ‘Do not over-prepare your answers to strengths-based questions as they are designed to catch you off-guard and are sometimes quite obscure. Remember the onus is on yourself to answer, so do give detailed examples and be positive when detailing your experiences, as body language and tone are also taken into account. Be honest! If it is not a strength of yours do not waffle trying to make something up on the spot. We do not expect candidates to always demonstrate strength in every competency we are looking for.’ How can I prepare? If it’s not possible to prepare for strengths questions what else can you do?  You may be able to de-code or find some of the strengths recruiters’ value by researching their websites. It’s worth reflecting on whether the description of the organisation and the job role you are considering fills you with energy or drains you. If you are applying for positions because you feel you should, rather than because you really want to, then the process will find you out! Consider saving your energy for those posts you’d genuinely enjoy and be good at. How can I succeed? So- what will help you crack-strengths based interviews?  Knowing what you are good at and enjoy will make it easier to decide what kinds of roles and working environment are likely to make best use of your strengths. Having an understanding of your particular strengths makes it easier to describe yourself authentically and with greater ease to others. You can complete a free online Strengths profile by registering with www.jobmi.com and  selecting ‘your abilities and fit’.

What Do You Learn From Writing a Resume?

What Do You Learn From Writing a Resume?What do you learn from writing a resume? You can see an application form and think that you've got it down cold, and the job is yours. If that were the case, then I suppose you should consider yourself lucky. There are many important things that you should consider when you write a resume, or any other type of document.In this article, I will show you some basic things that you should consider when you write your resume. We'll start with the formatting. You should be able to write your resume in a format that makes it easy for your prospective employer to read and follow.The formatting of your resume should be dependent on the last job you held and how long you've been employed there. Your most recent job should come first, and the longest time you've had there should come after that. Take your chronological order in which you have held different jobs into consideration. Also take note of any contact information you may have worked up about eac h job you've held. In your chronological order, your contact information should come before your best and last jobs.The third thing you should know about when you write a resume is the structure of your CV. This is very important. If you don't have the structure down, then your resume is not likely to be read, much less respond to. You need to know how to format your CV in a way that relates to it, and to make sure it looks the same on every employer that looks at it. This is very important because you want a consistent look.The fourth thing you should know about when you write a resume is what to include on your CV. You should include any skills you have that relate to the job. This includes such things as experience, education, and awards you may have won, if they were relevant. You should also include references that you have that were on the job during the time you held it. This is very important because a potential employer wants to know what they are getting when they hire you .The fifth thing you should know about when you write a resume is how to organize it. Your resume should go from the top down. You should start with the date, location, and duties, and work your way down. This is to make sure your resume matches exactly what you are looking for. Then you should highlight the most relevant skills that you have for the job.The sixth thing you should know about when you write a resume is that good references are extremely important. You shouldn't include a reference that may not be legitimate or has information that is not pertinent to your job search. You should provide a physical address that can be called if you want to call them, if you don't have one, leave a voice mail so that you can get a response if need be.Writing a resume can be a process, but if you follow these tips, you should be able to improve your chances of landing the job. It's always better to apply for more than one job to increase your chances of getting a call back.

Friday Spoing Mukthars Birthday - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Friday Spoing Mukthars Birthday - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog A group of Copenhageners surprise their bus driver on his birthday: Think that made him happy at work? I wish you a very happy weekend. Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related

How to Set Goals Actually ACHIEVE Them in 2013 - Margaret Buj - Interview Coach

How to Set Goals Actually ACHIEVE Them in 2013 Many people feel as if theyre adrift in the world. They work hard, but they dont seem to get anywhere worthwhile. A key reason that they feel this way is that they havent spent enough time thinking about what they want from life, and havent set themselves formal goals. After all, would you set out on a major journey with no real idea of your destination? Probably not! Goal setting is a powerful process for thinking about your ideal future, and for motivating yourself to turn your vision of this future into reality. The process of setting goals helps you choose where you want to go in life. By knowing precisely what you want to achieve, you know where you have to concentrate your efforts. Youll also quickly spot the distractions that can, so easily, lead you astray. Why Set Goals? Goal setting is used by top-level athletes, successful business-people and achievers in all fields. Setting goals gives you long-term vision and short-term  motivation. It focuses your acquisition of knowledge, and helps you to organize your time and your resources so that you can make the very most of your life. By setting sharp, clearly defined goals, you can measure and take pride in the achievement of those goals, and youll see forward progress in what might previously have seemed a long pointless grind. You will also raise your  self-confidence, as you recognize your own ability and competence in achieving the goals that youve set. Starting to Set Personal Goals You set your goals on a number of levels: First you create your big picture of what you want to do with your life (or over, say, the next 10 years), and identify the large-scale goals that you want to achieve. Then, you break these down into the smaller and smaller targets that you must hit to reach your lifetime goals. Finally, once you have your plan, you start working on it to achieve these goals. This is why we start the process of goal setting by looking at your lifetime goals. Then, we work down to the things that you can do in, say, the next five years, then next year, next month, next week, and today, to start moving towards them. Step 1: Setting Lifetime Goals The first step in setting personal goals is to consider what you want to achieve in your lifetime (or at least, by a significant and distant age in the future). Setting lifetime goals gives you the overall perspective that shapes all other aspects of your decision making. To give a broad, balanced coverage of all important areas in your life, try to set goals in some of the following categories (or in other categories of your own, where these are important to you): Career   What level do you want to reach in your career, or what do you want to achieve? Financial   How much do you want to earn, by what stage? How is this related to your career goals? Education   Is there any knowledge you want to acquire in particular? What information and skills will you need to have in order to achieve other goals? Family   Do you want to be a parent? If so, how are you going to be a good parent? How do you want to be seen by a partner or by members of your extended family? Artistic   Do you want to achieve any artistic goals? Attitude   Is any part of your mindset holding you back? Is there any part of the way that you behave that upsets you? (If so, set a goal to improve your behavior or find a solution to the problem.) Physical   Are there any athletic goals that you want to achieve, or do you want good health deep into old age? What steps are you going to take to achieve this? Pleasure   How do you want to enjoy yourself? (You should ensure that some of your life is for you!) Public Service Do you want to make the world a better place? If so, how? Spend some time  brainstorming  these things, and then select one or more goals in each category that best reflect what you want to do. Then consider trimming again so that you have a small number of really significant goals that you can focus on. As you do this, make sure that the goals that you have set are ones that you genuinely want to achieve, not ones that your parents, family, or employers might want. (If you have a partner, you probably want to consider what he or she wants however, make sure that you also remain true to yourself!) Step 2: Setting Smaller Goals Once you have set your lifetime goals, set a five-year plan of smaller goals that you need to complete if you are to reach your lifetime plan. Then create a one-year plan, six-month plan, and a one-month plan of progressively smaller goals that you should reach to achieve your lifetime goals. Each of these should be based on the previous plan. Then create a daily  To-Do List  of things that you should do today to work towards your lifetime goals. At an early stage, your smaller goals might be to read books and gather information on the achievement of your higher level goals. This will help you to improve the quality and realism of your goal setting. Finally review your plans, and make sure that they fit the way in which you want to live your life. Tip: If you feel that youre not paying enough attention to certain areas of your life, youll find articles on  The Wheel of Life  and the  Life/Career Rainbow  useful. Staying on Course Once youve decided on your first set of goals, keep the process going by reviewing and updating your To-Do List on a daily basis. Periodically review the longer term plans, and modify them to reflect your changing priorities and experience. (A good way of doing this is to schedule regular, repeating reviews using a computer-based diary.) SMART Goals A useful way of making goals more powerful is to use the SMART mnemonic. While there are plenty of variants (some of which weve included in parenthesis), SMART usually stands for: S   Specific (or Significant). M   Measurable (or Meaningful). A   Attainable (or Action-Oriented). R   Relevant (or Rewarding). T   Time-bound (or Trackable). For example, instead of having To sail around the world as a goal, its more powerful to say To have completed my trip around the world by December 31, 2015. Obviously, this will only be attainable if a lot of preparation has been completed beforehand! Further Goal Setting Tips The following broad guidelines will help you to set effective, achievable goals: State each goal as a positive statement  Express your goals positively â€" Execute this technique well is a much better goal than Dont make this stupid mistake. Be precise:  Set precise goals, putting in dates, times and amounts so that you can measure achievement. If you do this, youll know exactly when you have achieved the goal, and can take complete satisfaction from having achieved it. Set priorities  When you have several goals, give each a priority. This helps you to avoid feeling overwhelmed by having too many goals, and helps to direct your attention to the most important ones. Write goals down  This crystallizes them and gives them more force. Keep operational goals small  Keep the low-level goals that youre working towards small and achievable. If a goal is too large, then it can seem that you are not making progress towards it. Keeping goals small and incremental gives more opportunities for reward. Set performance goals, not outcome goals   You should take care to set goals over which you have as much control as possible. It can be quite dispiriting to fail to achieve a personal goal for reasons beyond your control! In business, these reasons could be bad business environments or unexpected effects of government policy. In sport, they could include poor judging, bad weather, injury, or just plain bad luck. If you base your goals on personal performance, then you can keep control over the achievement of your goals, and draw satisfaction from them. Set realistic goals  Its important to set goals that you can achieve. All sorts of people (for example, employers, parents, media, or society) can set unrealistic goals for you. They will often do this in ignorance of your own desires and ambitions. Its also possible to set goals that are too difficult because you might not appreciate either the obstacles in the way, or understand quite how much skill you need to develop to achieve a particular level of performance. Achieving Goals Mind Tools on Goal Setting: Goal Setting Main Page Personal Goal Setting Lockes Goal Setting Theory Golden Rules of Goal Setting Backward Goal Setting Making New Year Resolutions Using Well-Formed Outcomes in Goal Setting When youve achieved a goal, take the time to enjoy the satisfaction of having done so. Absorb the implications of the goal achievement, and observe the progress that youve made towards other goals. If the goal was a significant one, reward yourself appropriately. All of this helps you build the self-confidence you deserve. With the experience of having achieved this goal, review the rest of your goal plans: If you achieved the goal too easily, make your next goal harder. If the goal took a dispiriting length of time to achieve, make the next goal a little easier. If you learned something that would lead you to change other goals, do so. If you noticed a deficit in your skills despite achieving the goal, decide whether to set goals to fix this. Feed lessons learned back into your goal setting. Remember too that your goals will change as time goes on. Adjust them regularly to reflect growth in your knowledge and experience, and if goals do not hold any attraction any longer, consider letting them go. Goal Setting Example For her New Years Resolution, Susan has decided to think about what she really wants to do with her life. Her lifetime goals are as follows: Career   To be managing editor of the magazine that I work for. Artistic   To keep working on my illustration skills. Ultimately I want to have my own show in our downtown gallery. Physical   To run a marathon. Now that Susan has listed her lifetime goals, she then breaks down each one into smaller, more manageable goals. Lets take a closer look at how she might break down her lifetime career goal becoming managing editor of her magazine: Five-year goal:  Become deputy editor. One-year goal:  Volunteer for projects that the current Managing Editor is heading up. Six-month goal:  Go back to school and finish my journalism degree. One-month goal:  Talk to the current managing editor to determine what skills are needed to do the job. One-week goal:  Book the meeting with the Managing Editor. As you can see from this example, breaking big goals down into smaller, more manageable goals makes it far easier to see how the goal will get accomplished. Tip: A good way of getting going with this is to use the Mind Tools  Life Plan Workbook. Supported by worksheets and advice, this guides you through a simple 5-step process for setting your life goals, and for organizing yourself for success. This article has been published by Mind Tools  whose aim is to provide you with tools for an excellent career. To find out more go to: http://www.mindtools.com

Is Networking Helping Or Hurting Your Career

Is Networking Helping Or Hurting Your Career You hear the word networking in a positive light most of the time, but think about it: Who are you networking with? If every conversation is gossip or complaining, then it has an effect on the way you think and act. In addition to how it affects you, theres an effect on how your employer or potential employer perceives your character. Its true; your online lifestyle can ruin a career opportunity. But the opposite is also true; the way you interact on social media can create and enhance a career opportunity. One way to do this is by curating who you follow on Twitter.  I dont mean you cant follow your favorite celebrity, but think about the type of information you are taking in. If you are reading blogs that you find beneficial for your career field, see if the blogger has a Twitter feed and get small chunks of inspiration throughout the day. You could even develop a relationship with that person as you interact. Youd be surprised at how many online mentoring moments take place when theres a two-way conversation about more serious topics than who got drunk at the party. Basically, the internet is a tool, and the way you use that tool reveals what you are interested in knowing more about. Thats why a lot of employers are so interested in the online brand of their employees, and its not going to change. The type of person you are online is how you might be in a stressful situation at work, and they know it. If you are not sure who would be good to follow on Twitter, I have a suggestion: the Savvy Intern at YouTern recently came out with their Top 50 Twitter Accounts Job Seekers MUST Follow (2014). I know that this is a good list not because Im on it but because I follow some of them myself.

The Sole Method to Use for Chicago Resume Writing Services

The Sole Method to Use for Chicago Resume Writing Services The 5-Minute Rule for Chicago Resume Writing Services There are several reasons why you might want to work with professionals on your resume. When you're matched with a professional resume writer, you're getting the expertise of somebody who has made executive-level hiring decisions throughout their very own career history. Other important areas in your work experience will likewise be explored to highlight your credentials and make a stand-out resume. Due to cut throat competition in the marketplace, people must be more professional and creative to sustain or to receive a job. Make certain that you give yourself every chance to receive that new job! Resumes must be spectacular enough to find the interest of the recruiters. You therefore must be certain that it's perfect and that it gives all of the info it needs to give in all the correct ways. To guarantee the optimum outcome, there are some suggestions to follow to ascertain the best resume writing service. The service is likely to make sure to format your resume the direction you want it. Our proofreading services offer a last check of pre-production content to make sure that all errors are caught and corrected and no extra errors are inserted in the last formatting approach. If you wish to land the job that you want, then you want to submit a high quality resume. For the reason alone, it is rather important to select a professional resume service that has experience writing resumes in your specific industry. The service makes certain your paper will shine over the rest. If you're interested in our resume-writing services, please look at our website to find out more. You understand how important it's to get a well-written application and resume when you start to look for work. A search for an expert curriculum vitae services near me feature isn't a lousy idea for a superior curriculum vitae. It is essential that you proceed thr ough all the templates that may be found online so you settle on the one which you feel can help you get the job which you're applying for. There are several different forms of templates for different job titles. The Little-Known Secrets to Chicago Resume Writing Services Career objective section in resume will incorporate the facts of your future accomplishments that you want to accomplish working on the specific position in the organization. Executive resume writing consists of an in depth description of knowledge and distinctive skills. Resume is not only a simple write about someone to satisfy the first formalities to have a job. As you can picture, feeling overwhelmed in tackling the job of updating my resume was an acceptable understatement. Because you're likely to handle people every moment, communication skills are critical.

The One Thing to Do for Writing a Resume for Enginnering

The One Thing to Do for Writing a Resume for Enginnering The work experience section should consist of information regarding your work history. There are a couple of things that are indispensable for any resume and should always be included. Resume writing A great resume is the very first step towards acquiring a job. A good resume may be the 1 thing that determines success in acquiring a job. Writing a Resume for Enginnering: No Longer a Mystery A sample resume shows a sample of the way the full version will appear. As soon as you have written and organized your information according to the kind of resume you've chosen, make certain to format it according to typical professional standards. Spelling errors on your resume can force you to appear like you've got inadequate attention to detail. While writing resume, you might earn a list of various activities which you have done over time. Also be sure your formatting is consistent. Rumors, Lies and Writing a Resume for E nginnering If you are searching for a true home based job that you're able to complete online, then employed as a digital administrative assistant is a fantastic way to earn. Writing a resume for employment in the art industry can be difficult. Writing a resume geared towards the work experience may be an effective method to get work. There are lots of basic forms of resumes used to make an application for job openings. Things You Should Know About Writing a Resume for Enginnering Possessing a crystal clear and professional resume is important in the health care field. For professionals, it really is useful to get a skilled design since it will provide a productive impact to any of your long-term businesses. For professionals, it truly is helpful to have an expert layout because it can give a fantastic impression to any of your long-term businesses. Understanding how to tailor your resume will obviously provide you an advantage. A Startling Fact about Writing a Resume for Enginnering Uncovered It is essential that the resume submitted ought to be made to impress the hiring manager initially glance. Don't neglect to incorporate any award or accolades and should you are in possession of an expert blog, guarantee that the recruiter knows about it! The key phrases or action words linked to the industry of engineering also needs to be included. You may also have information on the subject of the particular achievements and honors received. Writing a strong application is a challenging procedure and we would like to make it simpler. You are able to look at generic resumes, but engineering resume samples will be the absolute most useful due to their specificity to your area. Facts, Fiction and Writing a Resume for Enginnering For this reason, you must understand how to compose an effective resume. A history of employment indicates to a prospective employer that you're, in reality, employable. A straightforward Google search can result in a treme ndous amount of information on how best to create a resume, how to design a resume, the way you can make an impression on employers. Writing a Resume for Enginnering What you exclude is at least as crucial as what you include. It's also wise to mention whether you are searching for an entry level position. A brief description of the qualifications have to be mentioned right at the start of the resume.