Six Reasons to show a Candidate the Door…

You’ve looked at a dozen resumes for the same position.  They’re all qualified, and they’re all coming in to interview. 

First impressions are all-important. I’ve seen too many applicants who are great on paper blow their interview by making easily-avoidable mistakes.  Here are some red flags for any employers interviewing more than one candidate.  If they make these easily-avoidable mistakes, it may be time to show them the door!

1. BEING LATE:  I know they’ve heard this an infinite number of times, but it is still the most important rule!  Being late for an interview shows that a candidate is irresponsible or not serious about the job/company.  An applicant should get directions beforehand, check traffic, leave early, and if for some reason they ARE late, they should call the office/interviewer and ask to reschedule.

2. INAPPROPRIATE CLOTHING:  Also sounds like a no-brainer, right?  You’d be surprised.  Even if your work place is casual, an interviewee should dress nicely!!  No tank tops, no flip-flops, and no jeans!

3. WINGING IT:  It happens ALL the time.  Interviewees don’t even bother to look up the company they are applying to, or even worse, the position they want!  Knowing who is interviewing you makes a great impression.  Look for someone who knows some key facts about your company. This helps prove how interested they are in working for you. 

4. DANGEROUS SMALL TALK:  No politics, no religion, no hot topics.  The easiest way to turn someone off is to offend them.  Also, watch out for someone who treats you too casually.  You’re not their roommate from college, you’re a potential employer.  They should treat you with respect, and prove they are a professional who will be an asset to your company.

5. BAD-MOUTHING PAST EMPLOYERS: I have interviewed several applicants who, when asked about recent job history, have trashed the last company they worked for.  This makes a terrible impression on an interviewer!  It sounds childish and vindictive!  There is usually more to this story, more you don’t want to find out about.

6. ASSUMING YOU ALREADY HAVE THE JOB: Unless I tell an interviewee that the position is theirs, they should not assume anything!  This means not asking about salary and benefits until I bring it up first.  Be gracious!  I am looking for confidence, not cockiness!

A few more interview pet peeves!
-Not having a resume to look at!! An applicant should bring two or three copies of a resume to the interview, then even if there are several people conducting the interview, we will be able to look at their qualifications.
-To Interviewees: Brush your teeth before you leave!  Don’t eat on the way, and DO NOT CHEW GUM IN THE INTERVIEW!
-I love it when a candidate SMILES!  We know you’re nervous but try and smile at us once in a while.  We might return the favor.

Powerapplications.com Revolutionizes Recruiting for Employer

Power Applications, a brand new company with a fresh idea that’s redefining the daunting recruiting process for employers, is giving employers the opportunity to earn money simply by doing what they’re going to do anyway – recruit new employees. The service is offered at no cost.

Power Applications designed their process to not only boost revenue for its clients, but also to align them with more candidates by providing employers the opportunity to capitalize on traffic to their typical job ad. By utilizing Power Applications’ services, an employer can post ads on any job board they prefer, as they normally would. The only difference in the ad is the link Power Applications provides, which takes interested applicants to an application page designed specifically for the employer. On the application, the job seeker encounters opportunities from marketing verticals, which is where the potential revenue sharing comes into play.

Along with the unique money-making opportunity, Power Applications has a team of writers and media buyers, experienced in the employment industry, who can maximize traffic to your job ad. By writing an attractive job ad as well as aligning that ad with the most applicable candidates, employers will have the opportunity to retain the best-qualified candidates for their company – simply because they’ll be seeing more of them!

Power Applications is a privately owned company operating on the Internet at http://www.powerapplications.com .

PRLog

Minimizing Your Managing Headaches

Your title at work might be “manager” but do you know how to manage? Your role is vital to a company because you take the time to make a group of individuals more effective. You give other employees value by teaching them knowledge, preparation and time saving techniques. An ordinary manager can became an extraordinary manager by following four steps: plan, organize, direct and monitor.

First off, you have to have a plan to reach your goals. Whenever your boss gives you and your team of employees a goal you have to utilize the brains of the team to figure out the best way to achieve the objective. Compare the strengths and weaknesses of the employees. Who would be the most effective on which assignment? Who can handle the most pressure and the late hours? As a manager you need to assess all the probable scenarios and plan for them. What is the worst that can happen? What if the deadline is pushed up a day? Plan every step that is necessary in reaching the goal and involve your employees. Their input can be very valuable.

Next you have to organize. This step is important in making sure the plan is able to be carried out. You have to make sure your employees know the directions, know how their role in the project fits together to help the team, and that they possess the right equipment and materials to go ahead with what they are assigned. Organizing you and your employees minimizes headaches and lets there be a clear communication path between all parties.

Now for your most important role as a manager (and sometimes the toughest): directing. You need to tell people what to do. To be a good manager you have to know how to delegate. You’ve already given all the workers the plan; now you just have to put it into action. All of your employees have been assigned a task that they most likely excel at or have a strong understanding of. If they need help they will ask you. Manage but don’t micromanage. There is a fine line between the two, but in order to be a good manager you need to trust your employees instead of hovering over them.

The final step is to monitor your employees. Once they have the ball rolling you just need to make sure that it keeps rolling in the right direction. There might be a few bumps in the road but that is why you are there. You can step in at any time to help out, smooth things over and give new directions. Just remember that things can always change. Managers need to be ready to adjust to the last minute alterations. Even though being a manager is tough and it takes lots of practice, you will eventually improve on it just like any other skill.

The Technology of Long-Distance Partnerships

With technology today it is possible to run a business from virtually anywhere in the world. But what happens when your business partner moves away or you work in a different country then the rest of your company? Technology has become the saving grace for long-distance partnerships to work in today’s society.

Twenty years ago long-distance partnerships might have been a rare and difficult business venture. Today with lots of planning and the use of technology, long-distance partnerships are able to blossom. The tricky parts to these partnerships are the frustration that comes along with the time difference and the reliance on iffy technology. You might have to get up in the middle of the night just to communicate with you partner. Communication can range from your cell phone, to ichat, or Skype, but they are all prone to failures now and again. Furthermore, trust becomes the number one factor in the success of your partnership. It’s just not going to work if you have to fly out to see your partner every week because they aren’t pulling their own weight.

The value of technology allows one partner to be in a major market while the other partner is in another market that’s just as important to their business. Tools such as Skype allow the partners to see each others faces and have video conferences as often as they wish. By using different technologies partners can go months without seeing each other face to face. The personal connection is still vital to revive every few months in order to spark up new energy and new ideas. The bottom line is that technology is shaping the way businesses and partnerships are able to run without being in the same city as one another. If your husband or wife has a job transfer don’t be so quick to give up hope on your business venture. Make use of new and improving technologies to jump start a modern and high-tech partnership. The 90’s were so yesterday. Welcome to a new era of fancy machinery.

Team-building or Harassment?

Employers love to motivate their employees by using team-building activities and trust exercises so that everyone feels comfortable with one another and is motivated to work together. But what happens when team-building goes too far? Last week CNN featured an article about a lawsuit due to an extreme team-building exercise gone wrong.

Chad Hudgens sued his former employer when a fun and lighthearted team-building activity turned into a motivational tool previously used as an army technique. The trip became quite the “bonding” experience when Chad’s arms and legs were held down by co-workers while a gallon of water was poured into his mouth and nose so he couldn’t breathe. The president of the company said the exercise was meant to channel Socrates, who had been known to dunk a student’s head underwater to make a point about wanting to learn as bad as you wanted to breathe. Waterboarding is considered torture by most people, but to the president it was supposed to make Chad want to fight for sales as hard as he fought for air.

Team-building is about building trust, communication and tolerance with your co-workers. Are you building these values when you are being waterboarded? Or are you just the victim of a bullying technique? Unfortunately, employers can want the best for their company so bad that the results are negative. The team-building activity probably wasn’t planned as a malicious one, but the bottom line is that it hurt people in the end. Employers need to be very careful when it comes to these activities. They need to be safe and respect the participant’s dignity.

As an employer you need to always think about consequences and your employees’ wellbeing. Not only do you have to consider legal penalties but you also need to think about your company’s image and how employees will view you as a boss after such an incident. Try and think of fun and harmless team-building activities that won’t be detrimental to anyone in the company. Problem solving, role playing, and non-invasive trust exercises are great ways to build trust and friendship within a company. Think about your employees’ feelings and the results of your actions. Remember that you are trying to have people bond, not form lawsuits!