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

During the last few weeks, we’ve been delving into a series of blog posts about best practices for professionals during the job search.
 
However, now we’re going to “switch gears,” although . . . not really. That’s because we’re still addressing best practices, but we’re going to tackle them from a different angle. Instead of focusing on what you should do during your job search, we’re going to focus on what you shouldn’t do.
 
With that in mind, below are three things to NOT do during a job search, or worse, during an interview with a potential new employer:
 
#1—Not showing up for the interview.
 
This is also known as “ghosting” on the interview, and you can “ghost” on other things as well, including a phone screen or other communication. You can do it, but we would recommend that you do not do it. Regardless of whether or not you want the job, this is a personal branding disaster.
 
After all, you never know who somebody knows and you never know what the future holds. If you “ghost” on a job interview (or something else) now, then it could have ramifications for your career in the future. So why take chances?
 
#2—Speaking badly about past employers and/or co-workers.
 
This is an easy trap to fall into, especially if a hiring manager asks you why you want to leave your current position or asks about your work history. Remember: if you speak badly about your previous employers, then the people who are interviewing you are more likely to believe that you will speak badly about your co-workers if they hire you.
 
No company wants to hire job seekers who speak in negative terms about their employer, regardless of the circumstances surrounding the situation. Instead, they want to hire positive people who speak and act in a positive way.
 
#3—Conducting yourself in an unprofessional way.
 
Speaking of, well, speaking and acting, what you say and do, especially during the face-to-face or in-person interview, is critically important. Yes, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, some companies are choosing to conduct their interviews via Zoom or some other application over the Internet. However, this is not an excuse to not be professional.
 
And keep in mind that this extends to everything—from what you say to the way you look to your body language. So regardless of the way in which you are being interviewed, always strive to participate in the interview in the most professional manner possible.
 
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 the first blog post in this series, we discussed the importance of customizing your resume to the job opening for which you’re applying. In today’s blog post, we have another tip for job seekers and those looking to explore other job opportunities in the employment marketplace, and that tip involves how to navigate the applicant tracking system.
 
But what exactly is an applicant tracking system, or ATS?
 
An ATS is a software application that allows companies to handle their recruiting needs in an electronic fashion. With an ATS, an employer is able to automatically filter resumes based upon certain parameters and criteria set up by company officials, often the hiring manager.
 
Basically, hiring managers and hiring authorities use an ATS to make their lives easier, not necessarily your life easier. Unfortunately, an ATS sometimes “screens out” job seekers who otherwise would be good candidates for the position, and as a result, those job seekers are not seriously considered or even acknowledged.
 
How does this happen? The ATS only does what company officials tell it to do. If a resume does not meet the parameters set by the hiring manager, then into the wastebasket it goes (or into the trash folder, since we live in a predominately digital age.)
 
An applicant tracking system looks for certain things when it comes to resumes. In other words, these are the criteria that hiring authorities typically set within the system for the purpose of theoretically narrowing down their candidate pool (and once again, theoretically making their lives easier):
 

• Skills
• Years of experience
• Licenses and/or certifications
• Former employers

 
These are just some of the top criteria that hiring managers use. And more and more companies and organizations are opting to use an ATS for their hiring and employee management needs. That’s why there are two things you must do to successfully navigate the applicant tracking system during your job search.
 

1. Make sure that your resume contains the keywords that are also included in the job description. These are words that both the ATS and the hiring authority are looking for.
2. Make sure that your resume also contains the industry-specific keywords that exist in your chosen field of work. Conduct some research to find out what those keywords are, if you’re not sure.

 
When you’re conducting a job search, not only do you have to account for the hiring manager, but you also have to account for the applicant tracking system that person might be using to screen job seekers in their quest to find their next great 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!

​Welcome to a new series of blog posts at Time Staffing dealing with job search tips. It’s been a year since the COVID-19 pandemic started, and the employment marketplace and the job market are well on their way to recovery, as uneven as it has been.
 
The good news is that employers are starting to hire again, and in fact, hiring has been quite brisk in some industries. These include the manufacturing and light industrial industries. However, while this is certainly good news, it does mean a couple of important things:

1. After a year of largely “sitting on the sidelines,” people in the workforce are now ready to consider other employment opportunities and be proactive about exploring them.
2. Because people are open to considering other employment opportunities and are proactive about exploring them, there is renewed competition for current job openings.

 
This is why job seekers and other professionals in the employment marketplace must not only be proactive, but also vigilant in what they do during the hiring process. Any mistake they make can be magnified, and as a result, it can decrease the chances that they’ll be hired.
 
Considering all of this, it’s important to be as informed and as prepared as possible so that every time you apply for a position, you’re seriously considered by the employer that is looking to fill it. And the first step in doing this—and the first blog post in our series—deals with customizing your resume to every job opening to which you apply.
 
It’s definitely easier to send out the same resume and same cover letter for all of the job openings that interest you. However, the easy way is not always the right way, and that is the case in this situation. After all, a hiring manager or hiring authority is only going to spend an average of five seconds looking at your resume.
 
You might be asking yourself: “Why only five seconds?” The answer is that the hiring manager or hiring authority knows what they’re looking for, and what they’re looking for are the same words that exist in the job description. They’re looking to match up what is in the job description with what is in your resume.
 
And that is why it’s a good idea to customize your resume to the job description for which you are applying. If you don’t, then you increase the chances that your resume will be overlooked and your candidacy will be dismissed.
 
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 our most recent series of blog posts on planning for your job satisfaction and career growth, we’ve addressed a couple of important topics:
 
1.“Questions for Reflection and for Evaluating Your Job Situation”
2.“5 Steps for Short-Term Career Planning”
 
The third and final part of our series deals with long-term goals. If you remember, short-term goals include anything less than a year. Long-term goals, on the other hand, are anything over a year.
 
Once again, this is subjective and can change, depending upon the person involved and their specific goals. You’ve probably heard people talking about their “five-year plan.” You might even have been asked this question by a hiring manager: “Where do you see yourself in five years?”
 
Five years is certainly one standard by which you can measure the length of your long-term goals. Other common time frames include three years and 10 years.
 
It’s important to reiterate that these goals depend upon the person who is setting them and trying to achieve them. What one person thinks is a sensible, long-term goal, another person might not. Preferences and personalities are part of the equation.
 
It’s also important to note that a person’s long-term goals should be an extension of their short-term objectives. At the very least, they should connect to each other in some way and make sense from a big-picture perspective.
 
It’s not very useful to set a series of short-term goals for job and career growth and then set long-term goals that are not in any way related. All of this might sound like common sense, but it is information that you should keep in mind while thinking about your goals and planning for them.
 
With all of this firmly in mind, below are examples of three long-term goals for job satisfaction and career success:
 
#1—Obtain any and all professional certifications in your field.
 
You might already have some certifications and licenses. However, do they represent all of the ones available to workers in your field? Conduct some research to discover which ones you don’t have and create a plan for obtaining them.
 
#2—Position yourself for a leadership role.
 
Promotions and raises are fine and dandy, but what about a leadership or management position? This definitely falls into the three, five, or 10-year time frame necessary to qualify as a long-term career goal.
 
#3—Reach a certain level of compensation.
 
Or perhaps you have a financial goal in mind. This certainly applies, as well. However, as with any goal, you must be specific about what it is you want to achieve (in this case, a certain amount of money or other compensation) and the steps involved in getting there.
 
If you have long-term goals at this point, one or all of these might already be included in them. Or perhaps none of them are. What’s important is that you do have long-term goals for job satisfaction and career success and that you’re working steadily toward achieving them.
 
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 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 examined questions for reflection and for evaluating your job situation. That represents the starting point in terms of achieving job satisfaction and career success.
 
What are the next steps? We’re glad you asked, because we have the answer! There are two more steps. They are focusing on short-term growth and success and planning for long-term growth and success.
 
In this blog post, we’re going to discuss the steps involved with the former. We’ll tackle the steps associated with the latter in a future blog post.
 
You might be thinking, “What exactly is short term?” Well, the short answer is anything from a year to less than a year. The long answer is that it’s up to you. It could be a month, it could be six months, or maybe it is a whole year.
 
Below are five steps for creating short-term goals for job and career success:
 
#1—Start your day earlier.
 
You know how it goes . . . “early to bed, early to rise.” Even if you start your day early by just one hour, it can make a difference over time.
 
#2—Make an effort to get to know your co-workers better.
 
Job satisfaction and career success are all about relationships. The better your relationships, the better your chances for success. The people who are in your immediate circle are your co-workers, so it makes sense to build and cultivate relationships with them.
 
#3—Identify your productivity markers.
 
By what standard is your productivity measured at work? In other words, which numbers is your boss interested in the most in terms of your productivity? These are the things on which you should focus the majority of your daily efforts.
 
#4—Improve your performance.
 
Now that you have your productivity markers, what must you do to improve them? Are there certain steps you can take or additional things that you can do?
 
Implement a plan for impacting these numbers in a positive way. This will increase both your productivity and your value as an employee.
 
#5—Try to learn something new on a daily basis.
 
If you’re truly serious about growing your career, then you should also be serious about the idea of continuing to learn new things. Continuous training and education is a must, and it can be as simple as learning a new skill or even a piece of new information.
 
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 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!

​The past year has been a tumultuous one, that’s for sure. The coronavirus and the COVID-19 pandemic have affected the job market and the economy tremendously. Perhaps you have been affected on a personal level, a professional level, or both.
 
As we pass the one-year anniversary of the coronavirus appearing in this country, this might be a good time for reflection. Specifically, it could be an opportune time to reflect and evaluate your job situation, whatever that situation might be.
 
Below are five questions for reflection and for evaluating your job situation:
 
#1—What do I enjoy about my job?
 
This should be a relatively easy question to answer. You could simply write down the reasons on a piece of paper. (Hopefully, there are reasons you like your job.)
 
If you are currently unemployed, then think about jobs that you’ve had in the past. What did you enjoy most about them? Even if you are currently employed, you can draw upon past work experiences when creating your list.
 
#2—What unique skills do I possess?
 
There are probably certain skills that everybody at your employer possess. But what might you possess that others do not? These skills represent value, and if you have unique skills that others do not, that means you have value and can offer value that others can not.
 
#3—What certifications or licenses do I have?
 
Depending upon the industry in which you work, it may be important to have certain certifications. In fact, there are some certifications that might be mandatory. Do you have those and do you have any certifications beyond those, because once again, they represent additional value.
 
#4—How would I describe my ideal job?


Based on your past jobs and your current job, if you’re presently employed, what has been missing from those jobs? What are the things that you desire most in a job?
 
Once again, if it helps, you can simply write down the answers to these questions on a piece of paper. Documenting your vision is an important first step toward realizing it.
 
#5—How does my current job stack up to this ideal job?
 
This is where “the rubber hits the road,” so to speak. While doing this comparison, you can get a better idea of where you are and where you want to be. The only thing left is to figure out how you’re going to get there.
 
There’s an old adage that states, “You can’t get where you’re going if you don’t know where you are.” While that may sound quaint, it has real-world applications, including with your current job situation. This is why it’s important to ask yourself these questions and answer them honestly in the pursuit of greater job satisfaction 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 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!