 You’re probably well aware that there is a worker shortage in the United States right now. Companies are in need of more employees, and not all of them are able to hire the workers that they want to hire.
One possible result of this is more work for everybody else at the company. And more work can mean more shifts and longer shifts. Perhaps you find yourself in this particular situation at the present time, or you anticipate it happening in the near future. If either of these things are the case, then you must prepare for the reality of working these shifts. That’s why we’re presenting three tips for working longer shifts for your new (or existing) employer: #1—Eat regularly and stay hydrated. When you work a longer shift, you’ll be expending more energy. And when you expend more energy, you become hungrier more quickly. So it’s important to not only bring enough food with you, but also to plan when you’re going to eat your food. The last thing you want to do is skip a meal entirely because you don’t have the time or you didn’t plan adequately. #2—Take breaks to refocus. Specifically, you want to take breaks to refocus your attention and your energy. It’s when you’re unfocused and lethargic that mistakes are made, and in an industrial setting, harmful accidents can happen. More than likely, you’ll have scheduled breaks in your shift, probably multiple breaks. Make sure that you take them and that you use the time wisely. #3—Get enough sleep and recuperate. This should go without saying, but we’re going to say it, anyway. And it involves two things. The first is making sure that you get enough sleep on the night (or day) prior to your shift. The second is making sure that you rest and recuperate on your off days. If you work a long shift or back-to-back shifts, then you’ll probably have multiple days off during the week, as well. Use those days to your full advantage. Last year, Time Staffing won ClearlyRated’s Best of Staffing Client and Talent Awards for providing superior service to their clients and candidates. ClearlyRated's Best of Staffing Award is the only award in the United States and Canada that recognizes staffing agencies that have proven superior service and quality based entirely upon ratings provided by their clients and job candidates. Time Staffing received satisfaction scores of 9 out of 10 or 10 out of 10 from 75.4% of their placed talent, significantly higher than the industry’s average of 45%. Contact us today to find out more about the employment opportunities that are available in your chosen field! Even though we’re in a tight labor market and job opportunities abound, that is no reason to “rest on your laurels.” If you want to get the best job possible in your field and grow your career the way that you want, then there are certain “soft skills” that can give you an edge over other job seekers and candidates.
Below are five critical skills that can help you get a good job in your field: #1—Communication This is one of the most sought after soft skills in the employment marketplace. Organizations everywhere are in need of employees who can communicate well and do so consistently. Lack of communication and miscommunications cost companies millions of dollars every year (and it may be more than that). Hiring employees who can communicate well is one way to reduce these annual losses. #2—Problem solving For employers, it’s all about solving problems. After all, that’s why they’re hiring people in the first place. They have a problem and they need to solve it. Problem solving is one of the most important skills, as well as one of the best forms of value, that you can offer to an organization looking to hire. Remember: there is an overabundance of problems in the world and a lack of solutions. #3—Initiative The desire to be a “go getter” is as important now as it was 50 years ago. Or 100. The last thing that you want to say to your boss or manager is “That isn’t my job.” Instead, in your never-ending quest to solve more problems—and provide more value to your employer—show initiative in tackling the problems that you do see. Regardless of whether or not they’re part of your official job description. #4—Adaptability (Resiliency) It’s quite possible that this is the skill employers cherish most of all. That’s because just like there are endless problems in the world today, adversity is inevitable. That certainly applies to the world of work and employment. As a result, if you’re able to show resiliency in the face of adversity and “bounce back” from setbacks, then you will offer more value and be more hire-able to companies. #5—Collaboration Not only do organizations want employees who can work well by themselves, but they want employees who can work well with others. If you can apply all four of the skills discussed so far to a group setting and use them to bring about favorable results on a consistent basis, then you’ve set yourself apart from others. And possibly put yourself on the path to a management or leadership position. Last year, Time Staffing won ClearlyRated’s Best of Staffing Client and Talent Awards for providing superior service to their clients and candidates. ClearlyRated's Best of Staffing Award is the only award in the United States and Canada that recognizes staffing agencies that have proven superior service and quality based entirely upon ratings provided by their clients and job candidates. Time Staffing received satisfaction scores of 9 out of 10 or 10 out of 10 from 75.4% of their placed talent, significantly higher than the industry’s average of 45%. Contact us today to find out more about the employment opportunities that are available in your chosen field! Pretty much everything in the professional world—heck, in the world at large—comes down to value. People hold in high value those things and those people that are valuable.
The same holds true in your job. You hold a certain amount of value as an employee. Perhaps you’re reaching your potential, and your value is relatively high. Perhaps your value is high, but you’re not reaching your potential. On the other side of the spectrum, perhaps your value is lower than you would like (and it’s lower than your boss would like, as well). Regardless of your current situation, there are things that you can do to change it, i.e., make it better. Below are six ways to increase your value as an employee: #1—Do NOT feel entitled . . . to anything. Okay, let’s get this one out of the way. This has nothing to do with the Millennial Generation. This generation has not “cornered the market” on entitlement. Unfortunately, people of every age can fall prey to this professional malady. A culture of entitlement very rarely breeds innovation, and the ability to be innovative is key to increasing your value (see #4). #2—Work hard. You might have heard the phrase, “Work smarter, not harder.” While that sounds nice, it doesn’t actually get you anywhere. The phrase should be, “Work smarter and harder.” There is NO substitute for hard work, period. You must be willing to roll up your sleeves (sleeves optional) and do whatever is necessary to achieve the desired results (see #4 again). #3—Under-promise and over-deliver. You’ve probably heard this phrase before, too, but don’t think of it as “sandbagging.” It’s simply the practice of only promising what you know for sure that you can deliver. This makes you a person of your word, which makes you trustworthy and increases your value. And when you consistently meet your promises or over-deliver on them? That increases your value even more. #4—Focus on solutions and results. Value is tied directly to results. Employers want results, and they want employees who are intelligent enough and innovative enough to achieve those results, regardless of the obstacles involved. They don’t want excuses. They don’t want reasons why something didn’t work or a deadline wasn’t met or a goal wasn’t reached. Providing results (and of course, over-promising on those results) increases value. #5—Become an expert. You could become an expert about a piece of software or about a process. The important thing is to become the “go-to person” regarding this particular area. When somebody has a question about it, they should know to go to you because you almost always have the answer. That is valuable to a company. #6—View adversity as opportunity. This is a mindset, but it’s about more than just being positive in the face of adversity. Being positive by itself doesn’t do much to change the situation. However, those people who can look at a challenging situation, see the opportunities for growth, and then act on those opportunities are the ones who bring tremendous value to any organization. So—how much value do YOU bring as an employee? Last year, Time Staffing won ClearlyRated’s Best of Staffing Client and Talent Awards for providing superior service to their clients and candidates. ClearlyRated's Best of Staffing Award is the only award in the United States and Canada that recognizes staffing agencies that have proven superior service and quality based entirely upon ratings provided by their clients and job candidates. Time Staffing received satisfaction scores of 9 out of 10 or 10 out of 10 from 75.4% of their placed talent, significantly higher than the industry’s average of 45%. Contact us today to find out more about the employment opportunities that are available in your chosen field! Unfortunately, summer is just about over. (After all, it is September 1.) As we head into the fall and winter months, perhaps you’re thinking about changing jobs and seeking out new employment opportunities.
If you decide to strike out in search of “greener pastures” at the end of this year or at the beginning of 2022, then you’ll need to stand out from everybody who’s doing the same thing. And that’s exactly what you don’t want to do: the same thing as everybody else. You’ll want to stand out to potential employers, and below are four tips for doing just that: #1—Be proactive. You can’t wait around for employers to post job openings. The best companies should always be on the lookout for great workers, whether they have an opening or not. That’s why you must be proactive in your quest to show your value as a worker and an employee. #3—Utilize ALL of social media. Finding a great new job isn’t just for LinkedIn. If you apply a strategic approach, you can use the other social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc.) to show employers your unique value. Each of these platforms have different tools and resources, and each should be researched and then implemented for maximum effect. #4—Get creative. In order to stand out, you have to do something that most job seekers do not. That is the very essence of standing out. (If you do what everybody else does, then you’re NOT going to stand out.) Put yourself in the shoes of an employer. What would make you sit up and take notice? 5—Play to your strengths. Remember, you want to illustrate the value that you can bring to a company. So it only makes sense that you’ll use your strengths in the form of skills and abilities when attempting to stand out. Your message should be, “This is how I could bring value to your organization.” And value is what it all boils down to. Companies want candidates who will bring them tremendous value as employees, so you must show that value before you’re hired and use the way in which you show it to stand out and grab their attention. Last year, Time Staffing won ClearlyRated’s Best of Staffing Client and Talent Awards for providing superior service to their clients and candidates. ClearlyRated's Best of Staffing Award is the only award in the United States and Canada that recognizes staffing agencies that have proven superior service and quality based entirely upon ratings provided by their clients and job candidates. Time Staffing received satisfaction scores of 9 out of 10 or 10 out of 10 from 75.4% of their placed talent, significantly higher than the industry’s average of 45%. Contact us today to find out more about the employment opportunities that are available in your chosen field! In recent blog posts, we’ve addressed the topic of being a team player and thinking of putting the customer first in just about everything that you do.
There’s a mindset that’s involved with doing this correctly. That mindset involves being proactive, and part of being proactive includes showing initiative. The problem—or the perceived problem—is that showing initiative translates directly into more work. And as a general rule, people avoid more work. It’s been said that some people are like water. In other words, they “take the path of least resistance.” The problem is that people who “take the path of least resistance” rarely excel at work to the point where they advance in the form of promotions. However, if you want to enjoy more success at your current job and also set yourself up for more career success and satisfaction, then you should consider showing more initiative. To help with this, let’s engage in more visualization. In this instance, think about what it’s like to be your boss or another member of management at your employer. Would they be more likely to recognize and reward somebody who shows initiative often and volunteers when needed to get work done in order to complete projects and meet deadlines . . . or somebody who doesn’t do these things? You probably already know the answer to that question. Something else to keep in mind is that there are two ways to show initiative:
You’ve probably heard somebody say, “That’s not my job” at some time or other during your career. Hopefully, you were not the person who uttered that phrase. If you’ve never said that phrase before, then good. But if you have, realize that it reflects the type of attitude that will help you stand out . . . But not in a good way. Last year, Time Staffing won ClearlyRated’s Best of Staffing Client and Talent Awards for providing superior service to their clients and candidates. ClearlyRated's Best of Staffing Award is the only award in the United States and Canada that recognizes staffing agencies that have proven superior service and quality based entirely upon ratings provided by their clients and job candidates. Time Staffing received satisfaction scores of 9 out of 10 or 10 out of 10 from 75.4% of their placed talent, significantly higher than the industry’s average of 45%. Contact us today to find out more about the employment opportunities that are available in your chosen field!. In a previous blog post, we addressed the importance of helping your colleagues and co-workers on the job. That’s because the more that you help them, the more that you’re really helping yourself, both in your current job and quite possibly overall with your career.
However, there’s a difference between thinking that you’re a team player and knowing that you are one. After all, it’s nice to think that you are, and the idea of something is almost always better than the reality of it. You’ve heard some of the phrases that people use, including the following:
These are pleasant platitudes, but that’s all they are. They’re just words. True teamwork demands action, more specifically targeted action that has a purpose. The first step in being a team player is realize that everybody has a role to play. Nobody can fill every role, so it’s important to not only recognize the role that you play, but also the roles that other people play. The next step is realizing how these roles fit together and complement one another. Here are some questions to help you gauge how much of a team player you are:
How many of these questions are you able to answer “Yes”? All of them? Most of them? None of them? Ultimately, being a team player on the job and in the workplace setting is not easy. It requires hard work—time, energy, and effort. And it requires these things on a consistent basis. So be prepared to put in the work and the effort necessary to be the kind of team player that helps your co-workers excel and your employer be successful! Last year, Time Staffing won ClearlyRated’s Best of Staffing Client and Talent Awards for providing superior service to their clients and candidates. ClearlyRated's Best of Staffing Award is the only award in the United States and Canada that recognizes staffing agencies that have proven superior service and quality based entirely upon ratings provided by their clients and job candidates. Time Staffing received satisfaction scores of 9 out of 10 or 10 out of 10 from 75.4% of their placed talent, significantly higher than the industry’s average of 45%. Contact us today to find out more about the employment opportunities that are available in your chosen field! In a previous blog post, we addressed the importance and value of helping your colleagues and co-workers in the workplace. But doing so, you brand yourself as a team player and increase the chances that you will be recognized by your boss and management.
But what about customers? Should you also be thinking about them, even if you don’t have any direct contact with them? The short answer is “Yes.” (In actuality, the longer answer is also “Yes.”) Once again, it pays to do a little visualization. For instance, think about a poor experience that you’ve had with a company, store, or vendor? How frustrated were you during that experience and how frustrated did you continue to be even after the experience was over? You were probably frustrated and annoyed to a very high degree. One of the aspects of your job is to make sure that the customers of your employer do not have that experience. Of course, you might not have any direct control over that. However, you might have direct influence, and at the very least, you have indirect influence. When you’re at work doing your job, think about how what you’re doing is ultimately going to have an impact on the employer’s customers. What can you do to help ensure that the customer has a better experience with your employer? Exceling at work is about more than just thinking about yourself. It’s even about more than thinking about yourself and thinking about your co-workers. It also involves thinking about the customer and realizing that putting the customer first is more than just a catchphrase that companies use in their attempts to grow their business. But think about it. The happier that customers are, the more successful your employer will be. And the more successful your employer is, the more successful you can be in your job. And not only that, but you will also stand out and will likely be recognized for your efforts to put the customer first in everything that you do. Even if you don’t work with them directly! Last year, Time Staffing won ClearlyRated’s Best of Staffing Client and Talent Awards for providing superior service to their clients and candidates. ClearlyRated's Best of Staffing Award is the only award in the United States and Canada that recognizes staffing agencies that have proven superior service and quality based entirely upon ratings provided by their clients and job candidates. Time Staffing received satisfaction scores of 9 out of 10 or 10 out of 10 from 75.4% of their placed talent, significantly higher than the industry’s average of 45%. Contact us today to find out more about the employment opportunities that are available in your chosen field! Obviously, you’re not going to land a job every time that you interview. That simply is not possible. However, what you can do is ask for feedback following every interview, especially in those cases when you do not receive an offer of employment.
When you receive valuable feedback following an interview, you can use that feedback to make adjustments and improvements so you’re able to perform better in the future. And your next interview might just lead you to the job that you really want! With this in mind, below are three tips for asking for feedback following a job interview: #1—Ask for feedback in an expedient fashion. You’re certainly not going to ask for feedback as soon as the interview is over, but you don’t want to wait too long, either. The longer you wait, the less that the hiring manager and company officials are going to remember about the interview. So if you don’t get the job, you want to ask for feedback as soon as you receive notification that you did not get the job. Talking on the phone for five or 10 minutes is the best way to receive feedback, but if email is your only recourse, then it is certainly better than nothing. #2—Maintain a positive attitude. If you do talk with the hiring manager on the phone, don’t be negative. Of course, not getting the job is a negative situation, at least from your point of view. But if you strike a negative tone, the conversation is not going to last very long and you’re not going to get what you want out of it. Instead, be professional and be positive. Your goal is continuous improvement, not to “grill” the person on the reasons why you didn’t get this particular job. #3—Focus on improvement and the future. Asking for feedback and having a conversation about your job interview is not about “living in the past.” It’s about the future. Specifically, it’s about your professional future and the future of your career. So frame your questions accordingly. For example, don’t ask what you did wrong or the mistakes you made during the interview. Instead, ask the person what you can do to improve so that you can have a more successful interview in the future with another employer that just might have the perfect job for you. Last year, Time Staffing won ClearlyRated’s Best of Staffing Client and Talent Awards for providing superior service to their clients and candidates. ClearlyRated's Best of Staffing Award is the only award in the United States and Canada that recognizes staffing agencies that have proven superior service and quality based entirely upon ratings provided by their clients and job candidates. Time Staffing received satisfaction scores of 9 out of 10 or 10 out of 10 from 75.4% of their placed talent, significantly higher than the industry’s average of 45%. Contact us today to find out more about the employment opportunities that are available in your chosen field! You went through the entire interviewing and hiring process and when you reached the end of it, the company offered you the job. Congratulations!
But now the real work is set to begin. That’s because you must start your new job and start it the right way. The reason for this is simple. Just as you are looking for validation that you made the correct decision in accepting this job offer, your new employer is also looking for validation that it made the correct decision in hiring you. The best way to accomplish this is by providing as much value as you can possibly can and to provide it as quickly as you can. This will help you make the best impression with your boss and co-workers. Below are four action steps for making your first week on the job a great week: #1—Be friendly and positive. This is the cornerstone of personal branding, which is the experience that you provide to other people. When you are friendly and positive, you typically provide a good experience for others and your coworkers and colleagues will want to be around you and interact with you. #2—Listen more than you talk. Your first week at your new job represents a great learning opportunity. Ideally, you want learn as much as you can in the shortest amount of time possible. And since everybody around you theoretically knows more than you do—about your new job and about the company—it makes sense to hear what they have to say. #3—Watch more than you act. This is a corollary to #2 on our list. Listen more than you talk and watch more than you act. Observe your coworkers closely to see how they approach their work and the things they do to be successful on a daily basis. After all, they’ve been working at the company longer than you have. #4—Ask as many questions as you can. Asking questions is definitely part of the learning experience on your first week on the job. While you want to make sure you ask questions that are going to help you be successful and add value quickly, you also don’t want to ask so many questions that you become an annoyance. Your questions should be targeted, practical, and productive. Last year, Time Staffing won ClearlyRated’s Best of Staffing Client and Talent Awards for providing superior service to their clients and candidates. ClearlyRated's Best of Staffing Award is the only award in the United States and Canada that recognizes staffing agencies that have proven superior service and quality based entirely upon ratings provided by their clients and job candidates. Time Staffing received satisfaction scores of 9 out of 10 or 10 out of 10 from 75.4% of their placed talent, significantly higher than the industry’s average of 45%. Contact us today to find out more about the employment opportunities that are available in your chosen field! Social media is an unmistakable and—to a certain degree—unavoidable part of life. It’s also very subjective in the sense that some people love social media and use it all the time and some people do NOT like it and rarely use it. (If ever.)
However, LinkedIn is the professional social networking site. This means that even if you don’t like social media and don’t like to use it, you should probably have a profile on LinkedIn. You must remember that when you apply for jobs, hiring managers routinely check applicants’ social media profiles when trying to decide whether or not to consider them. Below are three simple ways to instantly improve your LinkedIn profile: #1—Upgrade your profile picture and/or cover photo. First, if you don’t have a LinkedIn profile, then it’s a good idea to create one. Second, if you have a LinkedIn profile, but you don’t have a photo associated with that profile, then you should post a photo to your profile. Third, if you have a LinkedIn profile and you do have a photo, but that photo is not as professional as it could be, then upgrade that photo with one that is more appropriate. And when we say, “more appropriate,” your work attire is just fine. But make sure that it’s a close-up shot, a head shot in high resolution. #2—Focus on skills. Sure, you must post job titles, both with your current employer and also with past employers, but these do not convey the true value that you can offer. That’s why you must not only list the many skills that you possess, but also feature them as prominently as you can on your profile. That’s because, as we’ve pointed out in previous blog posts, everything in the employment marketplace comes down to value. You could call it your “professional capital.” #3—Consistently share content. It’s not enough to simply just have a profile. If you create a profile and then you don’t do anything with it, that’s nearly as bad as not having a profile at all. The good news is that you don’t have to do a lot to keep your profile looking engaged and active. In fact, all you really need to do is share one item or post one update per day (or once every other day). LinkedIn is not a social media platform that demands that you post multiple times per day in order to be effective. The idea is to share content that is related to the field in which you work or just the employment marketplace overall. Use these three simple tips to upgrade your LinkedIn profile instantly and position yourself for more professional and career success! Last year, Time Staffing won ClearlyRated’s Best of Staffing Client and Talent Awards for providing superior service to their clients and candidates. ClearlyRated's Best of Staffing Award is the only award in the United States and Canada that recognizes staffing agencies that have proven superior service and quality based entirely upon ratings provided by their clients and job candidates. Time Staffing received satisfaction scores of 9 out of 10 or 10 out of 10 from 75.4% of their placed talent, significantly higher than the industry’s average of 45%. Contact us today to find out more about the employment opportunities that are available in your chosen field |
