Staying Motivated During an Extended Job Search

Searching for a job is a job.

And if you’re serious about finding a new position, you have to treat it like one. It takes organization, commitment – and a lot of motivation, especially since it comes with some pretty emotional highs and lows. Throughout the process, you need to keep your mood positive and your spirits up in order to maximize your chances of getting hired.

Be Realistic
Your new professional “fit” is not going to happen overnight and inevitably, there will be some setbacks along the way. Go into your job search with your eyes – and your mind – open.

The time frame for landing a job is about one month for every $15,000 in annual salary. So, for a $90,000 a year position, your search could likely take six months or more. Keep it in perspective.
Learn to handle rejection and then move on. Like a salesperson, realize that it’s a numbers game, where every “no” gets you a step closer to the “yes” you need. The sales “rule of 20” can be also applies to job hunting: For every 20 contacts made, a salesperson gets 15 “no’s: and five “maybe’s” that lead to one sale. So, you’d need 20 first-round interviews to get the five callbacks that result in one offer.

Take a Project Management Approach
Break your job search down into a series of goals spread over time.

Keep a calendar and make to-do lists. Check off each item as you complete it. For instance, give yourself one week to draft an updated resume and cover letter. Set goals such as face-to-face networking with 15 people during one month and securing three interviews in three months.
Keep records. Track the positions you’ve applied for, along with support documentation such as pdf files of job postings, contact information, and dates when you mailed resumes, made phone calls or interviewed.
Evaluate your progress. Take time out once a week to assess how your search is going and what strategies or tactics you may want to change going forward.

Believe in – and Take Care of – Yourself
The product you’re selling is yourself. Like any effective salesperson, you have to be convinced that your product is top quality and that by convincing an employer to “buy” it, you’re saving them from purchasing something substandard. Imagine acting like this at interviews – and you will.

Stay healthy. Eat well and get your rest. Exercise – it produces endorphins and stimulates brain activity. If physical or emotional challenges become overwhelming, talk to your doctor.
Take breaks. You can’t job search 24/7. Allow yourself weekends off, and perhaps two more weekdays a month to recharge your batteries.
Socialize with employed friends and positive people. The former will remind you that jobs do exist – and they’re the folks most likely to have the inside track on available or upcoming openings. The latter will make you feel good about yourself.
Learn something new. It can be work related – or just fun. This stretches your brain, adds to your skill set, and brightens your outlook.

A skilled recruiter or career coach can be one of your strongest job search assets. For more information, read our related posts or contact the team at PrideStaff Fresno today.

Interviewing Tips to Find the Right Employee

Making a good hire depends in large part on having positive interview experiences with your preferred candidates. An interview is the initial personal dialogue where both parties get a sense of whether they’re truly compatible. And yes, first impressions do count!

Build Questions around Success Traits
A success trait is one of three to five characteristics that are “must haves” in your ideal candidate. Once you nail down these critical characteristics, you’ll have a mental profile of the person you want to hire.

Success traits may be technical and industry strengths or soft skills such as the ability to work with demanding clients or carry out effective mediation.

Do your homework. Create interview questions based on success traits. For instance, if you’re looking for someone with a high level of determination, you might ask, “Can you give me an example of how you succeeded at a task when the odds were against you?”
Revisit your job description. Analyze how each credential, skill, and quality aligns with company priorities. Make this part of the criteria for a position’s success traits.

If you’re sure of what you want going into an interview, you’re more likely to find the candidate who fits the bill.

Have an Interview Guide
This is a structured, objective, and fair standard that enables you to select the best possible candidate while minimizing the impact of “gut feelings” in your hiring decision. Remember, when you hire, you want to avoid the potential pitfall of selecting candidates just because they mirror you, mirror your current best performers, or simply “feel right.”

Your guide should include:

Background questions: These help ensure that a candidate’s skills, education, and experience meet minimum job requirements.
Behavioral questions that tell stories: These are designed to elicit responses in the form of specific examples of a candidate’s success in situations similar to those they may face on the job. Ask for details and data. If a person can’t go beyond generalizations, they probably aren’t a good fit.
Questions to determine cultural fit: Do a candidate’s responses and behavior reflect your corporate values and the overall feel of your workplace?

The final interview guide component is a rating sheet to determine how well candidates fit the key attributes of the position. Various interviewers’ scores can be averaged for optimal objectivity, and any discrepancies can be debated and discussed.

Look for Passion
Make each candidate feel comfortable and help them to relax as much as possible during their interview. This way, they’ll be more likely to disclose their real interests and concerns – and the passions that drive them to achieve results.

Ask pointed, relevant questions. Successful individuals will be prepared without being rote. They’ll reveal themselves by their command of the issues, their suggestions, their humor, and the ease with which they communicate.
Pay attention to tone, word choice, and body language. Listen actively and process candidates’ responses. What’s being said? Equally important, what’s not being said? Afterwards, consult with others as part of the evaluation process.

As your staffing partner, PrideStaff can help you achieve success throughout your interview and hiring process. Contact us today to learn more about our strategic solutions.

Explaining Employment Gaps on Your Resume

Many of us take time off at some point in our careers. Sometimes it’s by choice – and sometimes not. Children are born, elderly loved ones need care, companies reorganize, economies tank … life happens.

And the harsh reality is: When a person has been out of work for more than six months, prospective employers tend to look negatively at them. These are the same prospective employers who spend between seven and 20 seconds perusing resumes for the first time.

With this in mind, what’s your best strategy for explaining employment gaps and turning them into positives as you seek your next position?

Redesign Your Resume
This is a good time to consider a functional – versus chronological – resume format. Do whatever it takes to guide a hiring manager’s eyes towards your accomplishments and achievements, versus specific employment dates.

On your Employment section, minimize gaps in your work history by using just years, versus months.
Avoid boldfacing dates and use a smaller font. Remember that seven-to-20-second rule!
Include any freelance, consulting or volunteer work you did during your period of unemployment. Regardless of the reason you left your last job, emphasize newly-acquired and updated skills, contacts and experiences that contribute to making you the perfect candidate for this job.

Take the High Road
A positive tone to your resume – and, by extension, your cover letter and job interview – is always important, but it’s even more critical when reentering the workforce after an employment gap.

If you were laid off from a previous job due to work force cuts, provide examples of your successful performance there. If possible, secure recommendations from that employer. (You also can utilize these on your LinkedIn profile.)
If you lost a job due to performance shortfalls, explain the steps you’ve taken to improve and emphasize how your skill set is better suited to the new job.
Never criticize your former employer. Prospective employers may know them or, at the very least, be inclined to take their side.
If you’ve taken a voluntary career hiatus, make it clear that it’s over now and that you’re ready to contribute to your new employer’s success.

Addressing employment gaps can be challenging and requires fine-tuned skills and maybe even some practice, as you plan your next career move. Consider working with a professional recruiter to be optimally prepared for this experience. Contact the team at PrideStaff Fresno and we can set you on the path to success.

Is it Rude to Wear Headphones in Your Office?

Headphone sales are on the rise, as the trend toward open office design continues. The jury is still out on whether headphones and earbuds at work are beneficial, practical, detrimental to productivity and creativity, or just plain rude.

What the Experts Have to Say
Recent research has uncovered little proof that listening to music improves concentration.

In a study of 102 college students, published by the journal Work, listening to music on earbuds was linked to lower concentration.
Listening to hip-hop music led to a significant decline in reading test scores among 133 adults in a study by the Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.
In a third study, of 89 students aged 19 through 28, it was found that workers who either loved or hated music being played while they were working scored the lowest on tests of attention, compared with those who had no strong feelings on the issue.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
The good news is that an increasing number of office workers are using headphones and earbuds. The bad news is that an increasing number of office workers are using headphones and earbuds.

Here are some points in favor of this trend:

Headphones are a visual “do not disturb” sign. They block distractions and send a clear message to others that you need to be left alone to get work done.
Noise reduction is beneficial. Headphones can screen out up to 75 percent of office noise. They help ease the sounds of speech and other ordinary activities. This reduces fatigue for many employees.
We all need a little privacy. Organizational psychologists agree that talented, motivated people should be encouraged to work alone “when creativity and efficiency are the highest priorities.”

And on the downside:

Headphones build barriers to new ideas. Generally, innovation and collaboration don’t happen during organized meetings. The best concepts are born in informal settings, at your desk or cubicle, chatting with others. GlaxoSmithKline saved $10 million in annual real estate costs by shifting 1,200 employees at one site to unassigned seating. Subsequently, decision-making among staff rose 25 percent due to the resulting increase in good old-fashioned face-to-face conversation.
You risk missing advancement opportunities. Headphones are a deterrent to the natural ambiance of an office – random chatter, news bytes, and discussions. In your own little headphone world, you’re effectively out of the loop and potentially losing a part of your career development. At best, you miss the traditional, organic collaboration that is part of the DNA of office life.

A Healthy Balance
Headphones or no headphones? Seems it’s largely a personal or individual work site decision. Like so many things in life, perhaps the best answer is a compromise.

We need to accept the reality of our electronically networked workplaces and the preference of many for private digital media consumption. At the same time, we need to foster a work environment that includes physical interaction and communication. Regardless of the newly discovered devices involved, there is a happy medium!

For additional resources on workplace development, staffing, and related resources, turn to the expert team at PrideStaff. Contact PrideStaff today.

Crafting a Resume to Impress Hiring Managers

Demonstrating how you stand apart from the competition is key to landing your next job – and it all starts with the right resume. Your resume is the door opener to the next step on your job search: landing an interview and ensuring your spot as a top contender for the position on the table.

In recent years, as the trend has been towards large numbers of individuals vying for a limited number of jobs, employers have been more likely to zero in on candidates’ skill sets – both hard skills, such as technical, financial, and analytical abilities, and the soft skills critical to success.

Here’s a sample template of a resume that will highlight your qualifications and achievements:

Mary Jones
123 Anywhere Lane
Hometown, NY 55555
555-555-5555
Email address

Objective

Growth-oriented opportunity that utilizes my financial, accounting, and strategic business skills to drive organizational growth and profitability.

Achievements

Research Information and Analyze Data and Options

Identified and purchased payroll processing software that resolved ongoing inaccuracies and compensation issues. Decreased payment errors by 25 percent over a two-month time period.
One or two more bullets as appropriate

Manage People and Projects

Reallocated accounting department staffing resources – with staff input – to enhance workflow. Increased departmental productivity by 30 percent in one quarter.
One or two more bullets as appropriate

Apply Subject Matter Expertise to Influence Management Decisions

Defined parameters of capital investment needed for new accounts payable hardware system. Investment saved the company $50,000 a year in reduced overtime.
One or two more bullets as appropriate

Provide Effective Communication at all Organizational Levels

Conducted in-service training on new systems for senior management, as well as field service, sales, and customer service representatives.
One or two more bullets as appropriate

Experience

Firm Administrator, 2009 – Present
ABC Accounting, Ltd., Richtown, CA

Field Service Technician, 2005 – 2009
JKL Financial Management, Dollarbill, GA

Payroll Manager, 2000 – 2005
XYZ Company, Credittown, GA

Education

BS Accounting (Concentration in Management), 2000
Best University, Awesomeville, CA

Professional Development

ABC Accounting, Ltd. – Lean Six Sigma Black Belt

Closing Thoughts
Remember to tailor your resume to the specific job and organization – and while being honest and forthright, don’t hesitate to boast about your skills. Since hiring managers spend an average of between seven and 20 seconds on the initial review of each candidate’s resume, you want yours to instantly capture – and hold – their attention.

A professional recruiter or career coach can be your most valuable asset as you determine the best resume format and job search approach for you. Contact one of the experts at PrideStaff to learn more.

Using LinkedIn: Start Connecting Now!

Connections and networking have always been key elements of successful job hunt strategies. In today’s increasingly competitive market, maintaining a profile on the social/business site LinkedIn should be a key element in your successful career path plan.

LinkedIn is not just another Facebook – so don’t confuse the two. Think of LinkedIn as Facebook’s more professional and business savvy cousin. Effectively utilized, LinkedIn is a media for you to post your resume, apply for jobs, connect to companies and hiring managers – and tell your lifestyle story as it relates to your career.

With more than 8.5 million professionals in 130 industries – including all of the Fortune 500 companies – represented, LinkedIn is an invaluable tool for developing business relationships that fit your long-term career goals.

An Online Resume – And Then Some
All LinkedIn content is searchable, so a well-executed profile optimizes your chances of being found by people and organizations in need of your skill set and abilities.

Here are some tips as you create your LinkedIn self-portrait:

A picture is worth a thousand words. Use a good, tasteful photo. It doesn’t have to be a formal shot, but you must appear professional. Model your photo after those in established business periodicals and magazines. Dress professionally and avoid looking dated or fatigues. No vacation beach party shots.
Introduce yourself. Begin your Background Summary with your name on a line all its own. Then include all relevant educational, professional and volunteer roles and dates. This way, you’ll be easily found by those who overlap with you.
Tell your success stories. Lots of people may have professional responsibilities similar to yours. Distinguish yourself by emphasizing your personal accomplishments. On LinkedIn, you can share more details and compelling vignettes, which are not easily accommodated on a resume.
Put references to work for you. LinkedIn’s endorsement feature has yet to show substantial value, but solid, well-written references are priceless. Keywords used by colleagues who recommend you appear in your profile and are commonly searched by recruiters and hiring managers.
Be a joiner. You can be a member of 50 LinkedIn groups at a time. Join these industry, professional and skillset-based groups to further enhance your profile.
Share your interests. LinkedIn is a social site, so you can be a little more personable – without sacrificing your professionalism. LinkedIn Career Expert Nicole Williams tells the story of a friend who was weighing two equally qualified candidates for a job. On LinkedIn, they learned that one had volunteered with an animal rescue organization. The hiring manager was an animal lover, so guess who got the position?
Keep your profile up to date. Post regularly and wisely. For instance, “I’m off to Philadelphia for a few days to attend an international public relations conference.” Your update can include links to articles and other pertinent Web content. As Williams noted, “If you share something just once a week, you are 10 times more likely to have your profile viewed by a hiring manager.”

Clearly, LinkedIn can be a critical tool as you promote your personal brand and value. To learn more about this and other career path strategies, contact PrideStaff Fresno today.

Ending 2013 Successfully: Quarter 4 Tips

So … where did this year go? Now that the fourth quarter has begun and a new year – and business plan – are imminent, where do you stand in meeting your 2013 objectives?

As you break the year into quarters, or “90 day runs,” the end of the third one is particularly significant. It’s time to take stock by asking yourself which goals you’ve achieved, which milestones you’ve failed to reach, and most importantly, what you can do better going forward.

Questions to Address
There’s a well-known business formula based on these four steps: Plan. Do. Review. Adjust. Now is the time to zero in on the third element in that equation and review, for a status update on your most recent results, in relationship to those defined in your annual business plan.

Start by asking yourself and your leadership team the following questions:

Are you satisfactorily completing your year-to-date goals?
Do your performance numbers accurately reflect your success?
Are you crushing some goals, but falling short on others? Why?
Which goals do you still need to meet before the year ends?

Once you have these answers, your next step is to prioritize those goals remaining for this year’s fourth quarter. Go back to your main business strategy for the year and identify which goals will help you contribute to the overall success of your 2013 plan.

How Do We Catch Up at This Point?
Sure, the clock is ticking, but it’s not too late to translate your evaluation process into results that can be actualized before the calendar turns to 2014. Here are some steps you can take:

Bring in trusted advisors. Start with your senior management team, for a review of progress to date and a brainstorming session on steps to take between now and December 31. Then, for a total team support effort, call in your CPA, attorney, banker and other outside experts as needed. You may even consider a half or full-day off-site retreat to focus efforts solely on business planning.
Put your new plan in writing. This will help the entire team to stay focused.
Revise systems as needed, or develop new ones. This way, you get everyone involved in doing things the same way, to produce consistent results.
Implode. That’s right. Take whatever hasn’t worked so far this year, and make changes for the better, based on the input garnered from all your subject matter experts. Take the team back on site, get the word out, and get it done. Remember to keep it positive and enthusiastic; for instance, offer rewards for tasks well done and a celebration at the end of the year for everyone who played a role in your business success.

Pat yourself – and your team – on the back for everything you’ve accomplished in the first nine months of 2013. Then prepare for the final lap – and run! At the finish line, you’ll be well prepared for the next race: 2014.

For more information, read our management posts or contact us today for more tips on improving your business practices as you plan for success in Q4 of 2013 and beyond.

Employment in Fresno, CA

The economic hub of the San Joaquin Valley, the Fresno metropolitan area is home to more than one million people. Its leading employers encompass a variety of industries and predominant among them are agriculture, manufacturing and health care.

Here’s a snapshot:

Talking Turkey – And Then Some
One of Fresno’s employment success stories is Foster Farms, whose core business since 1939 has been raising and distributing poultry products. Foster has been family owned and operated since its inception and through the years, has made a number of acquisitions in California, the Pacific Northwest and beyond. The company awards college scholarships annually and this year became the first major poultry producer in the West to complete rigorous certification by the American Humane Association.

Other agricultural industry employers in the region include:

Save Mart (retail growers)
Valhalla Select Marketing (fruits and vegetables)
Sun-Maid Growers (raisins and dried fruits)

Manufacturing Opportunities
At its Clovis campus, Pelco by Schneider Electric develops and manufactures video security and surveillance systems. Founded in 1957 as Pelco, the company joined forces with global energy and security specialist Schneider Electric in 2007. As part of its comprehensive benefits package, Pelco stresses wellness with an employee fitness room, bike parking and its own intramural sports program. Through the Schneider Electric Community Partnership, the company encourages volunteering for organizations including Toys for Tots and the International Red Cross. Its Go Green Program supports environmental initiatives through innovative measures such as the installation of solar panels in low-income housing.

Additional Fresno manufacturing employers include:

Quinn Manufacturing Group Holdco Ltd. (building products, chemicals, glass, packaging, plastics and radiators)
Guardian Industries (glass)
Anlin Industries (vinyl windows and doors)
Grundfos Pumps & Manufacturing (water pumps)

The Healthcare Employment Arena
The Fresno-based Community Health Care Network encompasses three hospitals, as well as a spectrum of long-term care and outpatient facilities.

The Community Regional Medical Center is home to the network’s physician residency program in conjunction with the University of California, San Francisco. Among its clinical strengths are the region’s first Lung Nodule program to expedite lung cancer care, the Central California Neuroscience Institute, and one of the state’s largest birthing centers.
The Clovis Community Medical Center is nearing completion of a $300 million expansion to become the first area facility with all private rooms. A family-oriented suburban hospital, Clovis Community sits at the base of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Its specialty services include women’s care and minimally invasive surgery. For the past two years, the hospital has been ranked best in the state of California for low turnover, with more than 200 employees with tenures of 20 years or more.
The Fresno Heart and Surgical Hospital is a small, specialized facility with luxury accommodations for patients and families. It boasts a five-star cardiac, vascular and bariatric surgery program. In 2011, its cardiovascular intensive care nurses won a Beacon Award for Excellence from the American Association of Critical Care Nurses, one of only 15 bestowed nationwide.

The Kaiser Fresno Medical Center and St. Agnes Medical Center are among other healthcare employers in the region.

Partnering with the right staffing firm can help you grow your career in the Fresno area and beyond. To learn more as you develop your career path, read our related posts or contact a recruiter at PrideStaff Fresno today. Let us put our knowledge and expertise to work for you today!

What Not to Do When Searching for a Job

Searching for a new job can be a stressful, demanding and sometimes disappointing process. Even though there’s usually a light at the end of the tunnel i.e. the hope that you’ll land a great interview, the experience itself is emotionally draining and often discouraging.

But it certainly doesn’t have to be. By taking measures to refresh your job search strategies, you can ease some of the job-seeking anxiety.

Here are a few ways to reevaluate your job search process and make some key improvements.

Limit Your Search.
Far too many job seekers get overwhelmed by thinking that they should apply for everything and anything in their field. This is a surefire way to burn yourself out and stretch yourself too thin. It’s impossible to write a quality, customized application when you’re applying to hundreds of open positions. Rather than broadening your search arbitrarily, consider going narrower. Focus in on the companies that you really want to work for. Take the time to craft a beautiful application that truly represents you as a professional. Don’t waste your time applying to positions that aren’t right for you and instead devote your full attention to those that are.

Look Beyond the Computer Screen.
You can’t just post your resume on a few of the big job sites and expect your inbox to fill up and your phone to start ringing. You need to be as proactive as possible when you’re job searching and consider using all of the job resources available to you. This might include staffing agencies, job fairs or even making some cold calls to companies that you really want to work for.

Make Sure Your Application Package is Spotless.
You’ve probably heard it a million times over yet it’s still the number one thing that job seekers fail to deliver on. Nothing is more important during your job search than having a perfect resume and cover letter. Perfect means a document absolutely free of typographical or grammatical mistakes. Perfect also means that it is well-written, persuasive and full of personality. Even if you’ve spent a lot of time on your cover letter and resume, it never hurts to go back and take another look. You want your application to jump off the page and convince a prospective employer to give you a shot. These two documents are your one chance to blow them away. Make it count.

For more information on the job searching process, contact PrideStaff Fresno. Experts in staffing the Fresno area, let us help you with your next job search.

Boosting Morale for Temporary Employees

It’s not uncommon for temporary employees to feel a little awkward in the workplace. Especially in an environment where staff has been together for many years, it’s easy for a temp to feel like the odd person out. While everyone else is familiar with each other’s personalities, working styles and probably even personal lives, a temporary worker is always a bit of an outsider.

This feeling of not belonging can have a significant impact on productivity levels. Even though a temporary employee is by definition a temporary part of your team, it’s important to make them feel as though they’re no different from anyone else.

So how do you start boosting their morale? Here are a few great ways to help your temporary employees feel at home in the workplace.

Start at the Top.
Boosting morale always has to begin with the employer. Make sure that all of the senior members of your management team are committed to making any new employee—whether temporary or regular— feel as comfortable as possible. Learn their names right away. Stop by to check in whenever you can. Don’t always make the conversation focused around work and show genuine interest in getting to know your temporary staff on a personal level. Plus, when this type of attitude towards temporary employees starts at the top, your other staff members are much more likely to follow suit.

Offer Some Employee Perks.
All employees want to feel appreciated for their efforts—especially temporary employees who will likely be working extra hard to impress you. Consider providing a few extra perks for your staff on a regular basis. From the occasional free staff lunch to casual Fridays to staff picnics and/or sports leagues, simple workplace activities can do wonders to boost morale. Many of these events are also a great way to get your temporary employees to socialize with your full-time team.

Encourage Communication.
Sometimes when a temporary employee is hired to complete a special project, they end up spending a lot of time working on their own. This can be both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, it keeps your temporary staff focused and on task. On the other hand, they may start to feel a little isolated over time, which can have negative effects. Try to ensure that your temporary staff is always communicating with other members of your team. Involve them in relevant company meetings. Team them up with another employee on a particular job. Even if most of their work needs to be completed in a solitary setting, it’s crucial to make them feel involved whenever possible.

For more tips on integrating temporary staff into your workplace, contact PrideStaff today. Let us put our expertise and knowledge to work to help with your management practices.