 Finding—and landing—a good job can be a difficult but rewarding task.
However, once you do that, the work isn’t done. In fact, perhaps an even more difficult task lies immediately ahead. That’s because a new job involves not one, but two “sells.” They are as follows:
That’s right, you must convince your new employer that the decision they just made to hire you was the correct decision. This is why companies often have a “probation period” for new employees. It’s so they can determine whether or not their hiring decision was a good one . . . or a bad one. As a result, as soon as you’re hired, your #1 priority should be to add as much value to the company as quickly as you can. Below are five ways that you can accomplish this:
Companies want employees who are always growing and evolving, and they especially want employees who grow and evolve as quickly as possible. That’s because the more quickly this happens, the more quickly they start to earn a return on their investment in those employees. In addition, striving to grow as much as you can when you first start your job will help to brand yourself to your new co-workers and supervisor in a positive fashion. They’ll associate you with an eager and positive attitude and as somebody who gets things done. Landing a good job is a rewarding task . . . but excelling at that job can hold even greater rewards. A job search can be a stressful, trying experience. However, some people tend to fare better during that process than others, especially in the face of rejection and adversity.
Why is that? A joint study by the University of Missouri and Lehigh University shed some light on this subject and might just arm you with the knowledge you need to make your next job search successful. According to the study, people approach their job search in two distinct ways: With a “know-it-all attitude” As an opportunity to learn and improve themselves Take a guess which group of people ultimately experiences more success during the process. That’s right: the second group, which the authors of the study described as having a “learning goal orientation.” What does that mean? Simply put, it means those people focus on learning above all else, even when they fail. The other group of people, meanwhile, tends to focus on the failure, since they started the process under the mistaken notion that they “know it all.” The underlying factor in these situations is emotion, specifically the contrasting emotions that these two groups of people feel and what actions those emotions prompt them to take during their search for a job. “Know It All” Group The people in this group tend to internalize any rejection they experience. Unfortunately for them, that produces a decrease in desire and effort, which adversely affects their job search. It’s a self-perpetuating cycle of failure. “Learning Goal Orientation” Group The people in this group do not internalize failure. Instead, they study and analyze it and ask themselves what they learned from it and what they can do better next time so that they’re more successful. Fortunately for them, this produces more desire and motivation, since they now believe they possess the experience to do what’s necessary the next time. Which group of people do you think you’re in? Which group do you want to be in? Conducting a personal inventory in regards to your attitude in this area could make all the difference in your next job search—and in your career. Click here to read a press release about this joint study. Hiring a new employee is a serious investment. As such, organizations should be doing everything they can to ensure that the employee is as successful as possible as quickly as possible.
That’s because the sooner they’re successful, the quicker the company can start receiving a return on the investment that it’s made in the new hire. However, organizations often neglect new hires without even realizing that they’re doing so. In some cases, they let the employee “fend for themselves,” and eventually they get up to speed and become more productive over time. But if they could have been more productive sooner, why wait? There’s really no good reason to do so. Below are five ways to help new hires enjoy success sooner . . . and start reaping the benefits of their employment: #1—Make sure they have everything they need. This includes equipment, paperwork, resources, instruction, direction, etc. Everything is new for them, so they’ll need an intensive amount of attention, at least for the first 30 days or so. Remember, though: this is not a cost, but rather an investment. #2—Communicate often. Continually check to see how they’re doing and genuinely listen to what they have to say. Make sure they know that they can approach you at anytime with a question or concern. This will make them feel more comfortable and more confident. #3—Set clear expectations. If an employee knows what to expect and what’s expected of them, then they’re more likely to perform at a high level and to do so quickly. This is also a great way to build trust with the employee, as long as you follow through on expectations and fulfill all commitments. #4—Set short-term and long-term goals for them. The short-term goals helps make the employee feel as though they’re contributing to the company right away. The long-term goals give them a greater sense of purpose and send the message that they’ll be expected to contribute more and that they’re part of the company’s future plans. #5—Make them feel welcome within the company culture. Every organization has special things that they do to help build camaraderie. It could be as simple as something like “Doughnut Friday.” The sooner you can make them feel like they’re part of the team, the sooner they’ll start producing like the rest of the team. You may have the knowledge, the skills, and the experience necessary to land the job, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that your resume will catch the attention of those most directly responsible for deciding who will receive an offer of employment.
The fact of the matter is that company officials receive a large volume of resumes, so much so that it’s actually physically impossible to read them all. So what does that mean? It means that if a hiring manager looks at your resume, they most likely are going to scan it, seeking out a reason to dig deeper into its contents. And since it would be to your benefit if they did so, you want to do everything you can to make sure that you “hook” them quickly. This is why the presentation of your resume is so important. It must be constructed in such a way as to grab the eye and hold the attention of the person perusing it—at least until they decide that you’re an interview candidate. Below are five ways to increase the chances that your resume will get noticed: #1—Use an appropriate font type. The best ones to use are Arial, Times New Roman, Garamond, Calibri, and Georgia. You definitely don’t want to get too cute here. You just want something professional that’s easy to read. #2—Use an appropriate font size. The smallest you should go with font size is 10, but if you can go bigger than that, do so. You want your resume to be readable, but you also don’t want to sacrifice space and perhaps exclude information that a hiring manager would consider to be important. #3—Be consistent. Make sure the headings follow the same style and that the dates are in the same place. Make it easy for the person’s eye to jump around the page so they can digest important information in a short amount of time. If you make it difficult, then they’ll simply discard your resume. #4—Emphasize where necessary (but only where necessary). Using bolding and italics is okay. However, using too much bolding and italics is NOT okay. If everything is important, than nothing is really important, and once again, going overboard will make the resume more difficult to read (or scan). #5—Utilize white space. Something else that hampers the readability of your resume is trying to cram too much information onto one piece of paper. Make the margins wide enough and use a minimum of words to convey what is necessary. If possible, hire a professional writer or copy editor to help you assemble (and polish) your resume. |
