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Does your company appreciate you?

March 2, 2015 By Miriam Salpeter

business ownerPerhaps you are underappreciated and seeking a new job – hopefully, with a company that will be an improvement in the appreciation department. Sometimes, when you’re so focused on getting a job – just any job – it’s easy to forget that you should do a little research on your own to decide if you even want to work for the organization.

Dan Campbell, 2014 chairman of the American Staffing Association and CEO of Hire Dynamics – a staffing company often recognized on Best Places to Work lists – suggests the following tips to help decide if an organization will appreciate you.

Does the company make it its priority to not only attract, but also retain its talent for the long haul?

Is it pretty clear that the organization is a revolving door, where employees seem to come and go frequently? How can you tell? If most people you meet when networking or interviewing don’t have much experience at the organization, it may be a tip-off. You can certainly make a point to ask about the tenure of the typical employee.

“When searching for the right career, no longer are immediate opportunities the top consideration as continued growth has become increasingly more important,” Campbell says. Make it your business to find out if the organization’s culture supports promoting from within. Is there an internal job board? Do people move up the corporate ladder? Do managers support individual career goals? While you don’t want to engage with a supervisor by asking how long it will be until you can do something different, if you can get a sense of whether people tend to stay with the organization or not you’ll have at least part of your answer about if employees feel appreciated.

Identify if the organization is flexible.

Campbell points to a 2013 global generational study by PwC that discovered millennials believe “enhancing workplace flexibility and equity between work and home is one of the keys to improving job satisfaction.” Most people would likely agree that they feel more appreciated and valued when their organization provides at least some version of flexible work, whether it’s on a regular basis or during critical situations. Again, you shouldn’t go into an interview asking about how often you can work from home, but you can ascertain the company culture generally to determine if you would feel valued.

Facilitating a strong sense of teamwork is another way an organization can help its employees believe they’re valued. “A strong, cohesive, team-oriented workplace culture and opportunities for interesting work are important,” Campbell says.

Do benefits go beyond your salary?

“Companies like DreamWorks offer recreational learning opportunities to employees including painting, karate and sculpting,” Campbell explains. “Google, Zappos and Procter & Gamble have designated nap rooms where employees can take 30 minutes to reboot.” While these companies have pioneered the way, Campbell says, “more businesses across a broad range of industries are now warming up to these ideas.” If you like hands-on appreciation, you’ll want to find out the type of rewards the organization offers. In the application process you can usually tell if a company offers such rewards – like team contests for restaurant gift cards or a chance to win a half-day Friday – because the company will tell you. These perks give the impression that the organization appreciates its employees.

Get my free white paper: 5 Mistakes Preventing You From Landing a Job This Week 

Look online.

Online reviews on a website like Glassdoor.com will help you assess how good an organization is when it comes to showing appreciation for its employees. Seek lists of “best places to work,” as many of those companies likely do a good job recognizing its employees for jobs well done.

Originally appeared on U.S. News & World Report.

Filed Under: Career Advice, Drive Your Career Bus Tagged With: Career Advice, career coach, career expert, how to find your perfect career, job search advice, keppie careers, Miriam Salpeter, recognized at work

Job search horror stories: illegal interview questions

October 31, 2014 By Miriam Salpeter

spookyIf you’ve been looking for a job, it’s likely you have some horror stories to share. Have you ever encountered illegal interview questions? Read this story, from Natalie:

After waiting for awhile in a brightly orange-painted room, the interviewer calls my name and sits me down at a desk.

Normal thus far until he comments on my choice of wardrobe – a green dress. Literally he said “Natalie in the green dress in the orange room!” Then he looks at my resume – “So you’re from Utah, isn’t that where all of those Mormons live? Are you Mormon?”
 
I answer in the affirmative, and a little bell starts ringing – isn’t he not supposed to ask that? He starts asking me the interview questions and randomly pauses to ask me why I switched from crossing my legs to crossing my ankles and asked (maybe leered) – are you comfortable here with me? Got a little nervous that I may have gotten myself into a bad situation at that point.
 
I got the question that every interviewer has asked…”What brought you to San Diego?”
 
“My husband and I just moved here.”
Then he starts asking – “Oh you’re married, how long have you been married?”
After my reply of one month, he literally said, “Well you’re Mormon – you’re going to have children soon.”
Now – I know that’s not right – for an interviewer to ask an interviewee about children and upcoming life events that would affect employment. But we keep going.
 
I have to admit it was a little weird when he asked me if my husband had more than one wife…I tried to politely educate him – but seriously – no SERIOUSLY?! The interview was awkward and concluded. He then walked me outside, saying he wanted to see what car I drove. Okaaaayy…then he asked what was on my ipod.
 
Maybe he didn’t like that I said Fergie mixed with country because he called a few hours later to say I didn’t get the job. Needless to say, despite wanting income, I didn’t want to work with him anyway.
 
Ah…the true horror story, complete with the illegal and generally inappropriate/irrelevant interview questions. Clearly, the main (and key) outcome here is that Natalie would not have wanted to work for this person, regardless. That is important. It’s key for job seekers to maintain control of their own destinies by refusing to work where they know they are likely to experience inappropriate behavior. Don’t ignore interview warning signs.
It’s up to you to NOT jump from the frying pan (a bad job or no job) into the fire – a horrible job!
So, how could Natalie have managed these questions? Did she have to answer? Follow this link for information about how to handle illegal interview questions.
Have you ever been confronted with an illegal or inappropriate interview question? Share your experiences in the comments!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: career expert, how to get a job, illegal interview questions, job search advice, keppie careers, Miriam Salpeter

How to be ready for the interview

November 29, 2012 By Miriam Salpeter

Contrary to popular belief, the holiday season can be a great time to look for a job. Hiring continues right through the end of the year, so you’ll want to be ready for interviews. Since you will no doubt be busy and distracted by activities that may seem more important than your job search, this is a good time to get your interview preparedness kit ready. [Read more…] about How to be ready for the interview

Filed Under: Career Advice, Interviewing Tagged With: how to get a job, how to prepare for an interview, job search advice, keppie careers, Miriam Salpeter

Is job hopping an issue for job seekers?

December 5, 2011 By Miriam Salpeter

Is job hopping an issue for job seekers? This was another of Quint Careers’ questions for those of us selected as “Career Masterminds” as part of their 15-year anniversary celebration. [Read more…] about Is job hopping an issue for job seekers?

Filed Under: Career Advice Tagged With: career coach, career speaker, how to find a job, how to get a job, job hopping, job search advice, keppie careers, Miriam Salpeter, Quint Careers

Management makeover: lessons from SHRM Atlanta

October 30, 2011 By Miriam Salpeter

Do you attend professional conferences and events? You don’t always have to travel for them…Depending on how large of a city you live in, it’s possible there are local organizations — or even regional ones — putting on events and programs encouraging networking and information sharing.

I recently participated in SHRM Atlanta, which I attended as a specially invited blogger and tweeter! (You can still view tweets from the conference via the hashtag, #SHRMATL11.)

A few lessons from:

Management Makeover-30 Days to a New Leader | Speaker: Marjorie Treu, PHR, Team Fusion

The session summary: Managers are often not provided with practical tools to consistently build high functioning teams. These struggling managers unconsciously create teams with low employee morale, high turnover, and increased employee relation issues. Team Fusion shares the 30-Day Management Makeover Plan to steer floundering managers back on course!

Marjorie Treu reminded participants of an important lesson for job seekers and all careerists: People perform better when the job requirements are a strong match for their natural skills. She explained, “Employee satisfaction + customer satisfaction = organization satisfaction. Keep this in mind if you are looking for a job; it’s a reminder that employers are looking for people who have exactly the skills they need to do the job; they’re less interested (in general) in your unrelated accomplishments. Their goal is to identify a solid connection between what you’ve done and what they want you to do.

Treu’s talk covered a variety of areas having to do with leadership and management. She believes the biggest manager mistakes are: 1. Being too egotistical. 2. Micromanaging and 3. Being the “missing” or absent manager.

She believes emotional intelligence is a key skill for a manager and reminded us, “55% of your communication is non verbal, most of it is in your face.”

She touched on good listening skills, stages of team building (form, storm, norm, perform) and culture issues.

Treu reminded us that low morale is an employee relation issue; high turnover come from bad management.

Learn more about leadership and management on the Team Fusion website/blog and by keeping up with Marjorie Treu via Twitter.

Filed Under: Career Advice Tagged With: career expert, career speaker, job search advice, keppie careers, Marjorie Treu, Miriam Salpeter, SHRM Atlanta 2011, Team Fusion

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