 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:
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! If you’re employed, then you’re more than likely trying to become a better employee. If you’re not employed, then chances are good that you’re currently trying to join the ranks of the employed in an effort to improve your life.
Regardless of the situation in which you find yourself, the bottom line is the same: success. And on top of that, more success. The rules for success are rather simple. By and large, everybody wants to be successful, and for many people, no amount of success is enough. No matter how successful they are, they would like to become even more successful. And even if you’re not uber-driven and hardwired for ever-increasing amounts of success, you probably wouldn’t mind your life, including your professional life, being just a little easier than it is right now. No matter your goals or your mindset, here are five key steps for being more efficient, more effective, and more successful: #1—Determine your priorities. You have to figure out what matters to you the most. It’s always a good time to take a personal inventory of your life and your priorities. Today’s fast-paced society has a nasty habit of knocking them “out of whack.” Make a prioritized list, if necessary. #2—Learn better time management. Some people are naturals when it comes to time management. Most, however, are not. Instead of hating the people who are good at it, set concrete goals and timeframes for achieving those goals. And don’t forget to reward yourself for reaching your goals. Procrastination is public enemy number-one. #3—Drop unnecessary activities. Get rid of anything that does not lend itself to increasing your productivity. This step is also a corollary to the first step on our list. Once you’ve identified what’s most important to you, then you can more easily eliminate activities that aren’t. #4—“Blow off some steam.” “All fun and no play make Jack a dull boy.” Rest and relaxation is like everything else in your life. If you don’t plan it, chances are good that you won’t actually do it. We’re not talking about a huge family vacation here, though. Just setting aside some time for exercise is good enough. #5—Communicate with your employer. If you want to know what will make you a more valuable employee, then you should ask what will make you a more valuable employee. It really is as easy as that. Strive to develop a good rapport with your supervisor (whether you like them as a person or not). If you are currently seeking a new job, Time Staffing’s team of qualified staffing specialists offers assistance to job seekers in the light industrial and clerical fields. We prep candidates thoroughly by answering their questions and addressing their concerns. 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 U.S. and Canada that recognizes staffing agencies that have proven superior service quality based entirely on ratings provided by their clients and job candidates. Time Staffing received satisfaction scores of 9 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 about the employment opportunities that are available in your chosen field! In a previous blog post, we discussed how your job and career constitute your biggest financial asset. Considering how important they are, wouldn’t it make sense for you to invest in that asset?
The answer: “Absolutely!” If you view your job and your career as an investment, then you should also expect to receive a return on that investment. Yes, that return does take the form of a weekly (or biweekly) paycheck, but it can be much more than that. When you invest wisely in your job and career, you give yourself the chance to grow. This means growing into new employment opportunities with bigger and better employers that have the means to reward you for the work that you do. Not only might you receive more in your paycheck, but you could also receive a great benefits package and other perks and amenities. So how do you get there? How can you invest wisely in both your job and career? Below are two easy and strategic ways to invest in your employment situation and “stand out from the crowd” in 2021 (and beyond): #1—Engage in additional training. Here’s an easy way to remember the importance of this step: “If you want to earn more, then you need to learn more.” It doesn’t get much simpler than that. There are many different ways that you can engage in training. It could involve webinars, classes, audiotapes (or audiobooks), or actual books. What certifications could you earn? Even with the pandemic, there are many training courses that you can take online. You can even ask your supervisor what you can learn to become more valuable to the company. Which leads us to our next point, which is . . . #2—Take on additional responsibilities. While you’re asking your supervisor about training, you can also ask them about this. Most organizations reward those who have done well when given additional tasks. If you want to earn more, then increase the amount of value that you contribute. Volunteer for the ugliest projects, put in extra effort, and make the projects a big success. Good leaders recognize those who do exceptional work and reward them with more money and/or a promotion. And that is the return that you will receive on your investment. If you are currently seeking a new job, Time Staffing’s team of qualified staffing specialists offers assistance to job seekers in the light industrial and clerical fields. We prep candidates thoroughly by answering their questions and addressing their concerns. 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 U.S. and Canada that recognizes staffing agencies that have proven superior service quality based entirely on ratings provided by their clients and job candidates. Time Staffing received satisfaction scores of 9 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 about the employment opportunities that are available in your chosen field! For those people who own a home, many of them believe that their biggest financial asset is their house. For those who do not own a home, but own a car, many of them believe their biggest financial asset is their car.
However, it really doesn’t matter if you own a house or a car. That’s because your biggest financial asset is your job and/or your career. Your job is an asset, which means that it has value. As a result, it goes up in value when you get a raise or promotion, and it goes down in value when your income is not keeping pace with inflation or with what other employers will pay for your skill set and experience. Think for a moment about your job, but think about it like any other investment, such as real estate or even stocks. The investment that you make in your job or career is similar to a home purchase. How is it similar? While you should use dollars and cents in your decision-making process, you should also consider other factors. That’s because while logic is one of the foremost factors in making a decision regarding a financial asset, how you feel about the asset is also important. To put it another way, how you feel in a job or your career is actually more importantthan what you think about that job or your career. That’s why it’s important to take a step back and consider your employment situation, specifically how you feel about it. And when you do that, you should ask yourself four questions about that situation in relation to how valuable it is as an asset:
What does “renovation” mean? Specifically, it means actively investing in your asset. If we’re talking about a house, it means making renovations in the form of upgrades or additions. If we’re talking about your job or career, we’re talking about continuous training and education. Upgrades and additions increase the value of a house, while continuous training and education increase your value and worth as a worker and employee. In this way, renovating your employment situation and by extension, your career, is much like renovating a house, with the ultimate goal to increase the return that you receive on your investment. Your job and/or career is your biggest financial asset. Start treating it as such, and do what is necessary this year (and every year) to receive the biggest return possible on your investment in that asset. If you are currently seeking a new job, Time Staffing’s team of qualified staffing specialists offers assistance to job seekers in the light industrial and clerical fields. We prep candidates thoroughly by answering their questions and addressing their concerns. 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 U.S. and Canada that recognizes staffing agencies that have proven superior service quality based entirely on ratings provided by their clients and job candidates. Time Staffing received satisfaction scores of 9 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 about the employment opportunities that are available in your chosen field! Nobody can avoid making decisions. It is a part of everyday life, and that includes both your personal life and your professional life.
The average person changes jobs at least five times during their life, and for some people, that number represents the low end of the spectrum. In today’s whirlwind market, fraught with a global pandemic and economic uncertainty, change is the rule, not the exception. There are two main types of bad decisions: when you take action and when you don’t take action. Some people mistakenly believe that the only time they make a truly bad decision is when they take action when they should not have. That’s just half of the equation. A person can also make a poor decision when they don’t take action when they should have. These are the poor decisions that we’re going to address in this blog post, the ones in which action is not taken when perhaps it should have been. We’ll refer to these decisions as “pitfalls,” because they’re not that obvious, but they can still have a negative effect on your job situation and career. With that in mind, below are three career pitfalls that you should absolutely avoid in 2021: #1—Clinging to the status quo Allegiance to the status quo is one of the worst reasons to make a particular decision. If you’re unhappy where you are and decide to stay with the “devil you know” as opposed to the one you don’t, you might regret it later. Which brings us to. . . #2—Allowing fear to rule your decisions Making a decision based solely on the fact you might regret it in the future isn’t a sound decision. You’re not robbing a bank. You’re building a meaningful and satisfying career, so don’t be tempted to think that you should “just be happy to have a job.” #3—Being overly confident or cocky Confidence is good; overconfidence is not. It can cloud your judgment and make objective thinking nearly impossible. To safeguard against this, seek the consul and advice of others before making a final decision regarding your job situation or your career. Not taking action is not the best way to avoid bad or poor decisions. Sometimes, not taking action is the worst thing that you can do. So analyze what you’re doing (and not doing) and make the proper adjustments to ensure maximum career growth and satisfaction in 2021. If you are currently seeking a new job, Time Staffing’s team of qualified staffing specialists offers assistance to job seekers in the light industrial and clerical fields. We prep candidates thoroughly by answering their questions and addressing their concerns. 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 U.S. and Canada that recognizes staffing agencies that have proven superior service quality based entirely on ratings provided by their clients and job candidates. Time Staffing received satisfaction scores of 9 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 about the employment opportunities that are available in your chosen field! Well, 2020 is over . . . finally. While that may signify plenty of good news, the New Year is here, and 2021 will undoubtedly bring its own set of challenges.
You might be wondering what you can do to boost your career and put yourself on the “fast track” to success in the coming year. Well, the good news is that there is plenty that you can do, and you can start today! Below is a list of three great ways to boost your job situation and your career in 2021: #1—Invest in yourself. What does this mean, exactly? It means continuing training and education. If you invest in yourself, then it’s more likely that employers will invest in you, as well. Training can encompass the following:
Your primary goal with training is to become as educated, knowledgeable, and well-rounded as you can be. Remember: you’re only as strong as your weakest link. #2—Find a mentor. You need to do this for a couple of different reasons, so you may need more than one mentor. Those reasons are as follows:
Maybe your employer has a formal mentoring program. If so, great. If not, there are plenty of books and resources about mentoring that you can consult. Or you can go to your boss and ask them who can provide some leadership training for you. #3—Check out the job market on a regular basis. It’s always a good idea to see what kind of employment opportunities are out there. Remember, it never hurts to look, regardless of how long you’ll think that you’ll be with your current employer. Ideally, every job that you take should be better in some way than the job you had previously. That’s the path to career growth and satisfaction. Yes, 2020 is over, and while the New Year will bring its fair share of challenges, it will also bring with it plenty of opportunities for those who are willing to look for them and seize them. Don’t miss your chance to improve your job situation and your career in 2021! If you are currently seeking a new job, Time Staffing’s team of qualified staffing specialists offers assistance to job seekers in the light industrial and clerical fields. We prep candidates thoroughly by answering their questions and addressing their concerns. 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 U.S. and Canada that recognizes staffing agencies that have proven superior service quality based entirely on ratings provided by their clients and job candidates. Time Staffing received satisfaction scores of 9 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 about the employment opportunities that are available in your chosen field! It’s the end of the 2020 (thank goodness), and although not all organizations conduct employee performance reviews at the end of the year, some companies do.
Performance reviews are one of the major ways that company officials determine whether or not employees receive an increase in their annual compensation . . . and how much they’ll receive. As with many aspects of your career (and life in general, for that matter), the key is preparation. You do not want to walk into your review cold. You should treat your review almost like a mini-interview. You’re not interviewing for the purpose of being hired, but you are interviewing for the purpose of receiving more compensation. True, actions speak louder than words, specifically your actions during the past six months or year, but how you conduct yourself in the review is also extremely important. Make sure you give adequate attention to each of the seven steps below. #1—Review yourself first. Before you step into that room, make sure that you’ve already conducted a self-audit and self-inventory. It is extremely important, of course, that you remain as impartial as possible when evaluating your performance. It might be a good idea to make a few lists—one of the goals that you’ve achieved since your last review, one of your strengths, and one of your weaknesses. When listing your weaknesses, also list ways in which to improve in those areas. #2—Follow company procedure. Perhaps your company has specific forms that are distributed beforehand. Be sure to complete any forms that are mandatory for the review. There may also be forms passed out that are optional. If possible, fill out these forms, as well, and make copies of all completed forms for your own records. #3—Discuss your goals in the review. This refers to both your professional and personal goals. Your manager should realize that you won’t be truly happy in your job if your personal life is suffering as a result of it. Discussing your personal life in a performance review shouldn’t be taboo. In fact, it’s something that should be done. If you aren’t free to do so, perhaps you should consider employment at another company. #4—Prepare a list of questions that you want to ask. The interview process is a two-way street, and so is your performance review. You may have pertinent questions to ask about the company’s goals, the direction it wants to take, and how you fit into the overall picture. Asking these questions will indicate that you’ve thought about your role in the future success of the company. #5--Be professional at all times. You may hear some things in your review that you don’t agree with or that you don’t understand. Remember to stay calm. Also remember that this review is about you, so don’t make reference to a co-worker’s performance (or in your opinion, their lack of one). #6—Offer solutions, not excuses. Be prepared to discuss any problems that may have occurred during the past year. If there are certain things you feel that you need in order to do your job in a better fashion (a new software program, a training course), bring this up. You’ll impress your manager more by devising solutions to past problems than by saying “It was all Bob’s fault.” Even if it wasBob’s fault. #7—Come to a consensus and keep an open mind. Communication is always important, but especially so during your performance review. Make sure that when the review is winding down that you and your manager are on the same page. Once you’ve done that, keep an open mind about the merit increase you do receive. (If you do receive one.) Don’t dread your annual performance review, especially if it’s just around the corner. Prepare for it, and make it the best review you possibly can. If you are currently seeking a new job, Time Staffing’s team of qualified staffing specialists offers assistance to job seekers in the light industrial and clerical fields. We prep candidates thoroughly by answering their questions and addressing their concerns. Earlier this 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 U.S. and Canada that recognizes staffing agencies that have proven superior service quality based entirely on ratings provided by their clients and job candidates. Time Staffing received satisfaction scores of 9 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 about the employment opportunities that are available in your chosen field! |
