Developing a Strong Employer Brand with Research

Developing a Strong Employer Brand with Research This week we chat with  Susan LaMotte, CEO and Principal Employer Brand Strategist for Exaqueo, to find out how why putting the right time into researching and developing your employer value proposition is everything to your company. Have a listen to the interview below, keep reading for a summary and be sure to subscribe to the  Employer Branding Podcast. Listen on  iTunes,  Stitcher Radio,  Google Play  or  SoundCloud. In this episode, youll learn: How to reset your approach to your EVP Why you cant sell everything about your value proposition The role of research in employer brand management How to carry out employer brand research Whats the best place to start (Hint: Data, Data, Data) What pitfalls employer brand managers should look out for Why Marriot and Princeton are doing employer branding right Why research, influence, and technology are the next big things for employer branding. Connect with Susan on  Twitter, and check out  The Employment Brand Forum  on Facebook.

5 Ways to Relax Before an Interview Â

5 Ways to Relax Before an Interview   When preparing for a job or study interview, it’s easy to let nerves get the best of you. Regardless of how much preparation you put in or how qualified you are, the pressure to make a good impression is always there and this can sometimes hinder your performance. If you find job interviews particularly stressful, the best thing to do is take some time to relax before your interview, so you can enter feeling confident. Grab a Coffee A couple of basic tips for interviewees that we’ve all heard is to ensure you know the location of the interview, and to arrive early. Give yourself an extra hour or so to have a wander around the location and find somewhere you can sit and enjoy a hot drink the warmth will feel comforting, and you’ve got plenty of time to yourself to enjoy a snack, and read a book or call a friend. By the time your drink is finished, you’ll be ready to head off. Book a Spa Treatment If you’ve got a particularly pressuring interview, a relaxing spa treatment might just be the ticket to have you feeling your best self. If you’re off to an interview for a city job, the Moroccan Hammam spa at Harrods has a range of treatments ranging in duration from 40 minutes to 3 hours, depending on how much time you have ideal if you’ve been travelling far for your interview and have a day to spare beforehand. Catch a Movie A couple of hours of escapism can do wonders for pre-interview jitters and help take your mind off things. Again, be sure to choose a cinema within easy distance of your interview location, and think wisely about choosing a genre a harrowing sci-fi dystopia probably won’t help your nerves much! However, a good comedy can help to loosen you up and have you entering your interview with a smile. Get a Manicure or Haircut If a spa treatment is a little out of your budget, another small beauty treatment can do just as well. A trip to the hairdresser can do wonders for helping you feel confident for your interview, and your stylist can help you choose a hairstyle that complements your interview outfit. Alternatively, making a good impression with beautifully manicured hands goes down a treat, particularly if you are prone to nail biting when nervous. Exercise Get a natural boost by doing some light exercise before your interview and get those endorphins going. It’s worth ensuring that you have a space to shower and change clothes before heading off, but some light cardio like cycling or jogging; or more stretch-based exercises like yoga can loosen you up and use up some extra adrenaline.

5 Shopping Secrets You Never Knew - Classy Career Girl

5 Shopping Secrets You Never Knew Today, almost every nook and cranny in major cities are littered with malls. For some reason, people pay a certain reverence to them as if they were pillars of consumerism. Indeed, people with a penchant for shopping can be spotted in any of these cathedrals for consumption, but even more so during the major sales. After all, almost everyone wants to score a great deal. More often than not, there are things we want that are not necessarily the price we want. Unless youre an extreme couponer, its almost impossible to save on things you want to buy. However, unbeknownst to most shopping patrons, there are several tips and tricks stores do not want you to know. These secrets range from reading Sale tags to appropriately navigating a store and luckily for you, some of these even contain subtle secrets to giving you the best deals. Read on so that you would now be privy to some of the best-kept secrets of retailers. 5  Shopping Secrets You Never Knew 1.  Avoid Outlet Stores When Looking for High-End Fashion More often than not, shoppers look to outlet stores as a cheaper alternative for designer products like purses or outfits. These outlet stores often market their products as surplus or not meeting the designers quality standards. Unfortunately, the products found are usually never part of a designers line in the first place. Discount brands make these products specifically for outlets. Price tags may show you how much you are saving, but theyre completely made up. 2.  The Clearance Section Looks Messy For a Reason You often see the clearance section with a myriad of itemsâ€"from the clothes falling off the hangers to the items haphazardly placed all over the place. You may think the store employees would organize this site once in a while, but they actually ignore this section intentionally. This is to make shoppers feel as if they have searched and found a real deal in sifting through this particular section. So, when you find yourself digging through piles of items in the clearance section, stop and ask yourself if you are just cashing deals or if you really need the item. [RELATED: Five Days of Office Style On a Budget] 3.  If You Want to Get The Best Deals, Shop Mid-Week While most malls would start their sales on the weekend, some of them start way earlier. To appropriately prepare for the weekend, they usually start on Wednesday or Thursday. While you might usually spend your weekend  shopping to wrap up the week, try starting early so that you would be the first to grab the deals. If you wait too long or until the weekend, most of the best deals are no longer available. 4.  â€œShrinkflation”  is Real Many consumers complain about inflation and high prices. So instead of raising prices, companies have come up with a way to deceptively sell what would seem like the same product at the same price. However, the reality is companies repackage these items and give shoppers slightly less of the item than usual while charging the same price. Most products are subject to these, so keep your eyes peeled for those kinds of sales. 5.  Price Matching Many and most stores would match their competitors prices regardless of whether they are online or not. To make their items even more enticing, some offer an addition discount on top of the price match. So before you do any shopping, try to do your research first and resist the impulse to buy something straight away. Scan websites and flyers and ask for a price match to know if you are getting the best deal.  

Give Your Work Space a Promotion!

Give Your Work Space a Promotion! Now this is the story all about how my life got flipped, turned upside down. And Id like to take a minute, just sit right there, Ill tell you how I became the… queen of the cubicle? I don’t know about you, but Spring Fever is coming on pretty strong lately (hopefully the weather gets a little warmer). Probably because I sit in a cubicle at work all day and have no view of the outside world. I’m also not the most organized girl in the world, so last week I took advantage of my light work load and reorganized/decorated my cube! Here’s what I’m working with…  My company moved in just over a year ago. I guess it didn’t take me long to make myself at home! As you can see, it’s a very dull, drabby, boring brown cubicle. I NEED COLOR! Thankfully, my Pinterest-obsessed sister made me a few items to give the space some color, including a picture frame cork board and a homemade pencil holder. When I was at Home Goods last weekend, I bought a fake bouquet of flowers for only $7! (It may sound tacky, but everyone thinks theyre real). For organization, I bought some items from At-a-Glance, including two calendars: one for day-to-day reference, and the other so I could see the entire year “at a glance”. I also got a super cute monthly planner (because I am all about making lists and checking things off) and a matching notebook portfolio so I am beyond prepared for client meetings well I’ll at least “look” prepared! I also landed some great finds from The Office Stylist, including some sticky notes (because I can’t live my life without them), a bright mouse pad and some pretty file folders to not only help me organize, but give the back of my desk some nice color! I am so much happier now that I have a bright, pretty place to work. If you’re feeling a little seasonal depression and think you need a cube makeover, take 10 minutes to shop online, you’ll be surprised at the cool things you’ll find while still pinching a penny! I love how I’ve styled my work life!

Pros and Cons of Using Slideshare Resume Writing

Pros and Cons of Using Slideshare Resume WritingIf you have been looking for a free way to make your resume look more impressive, it's time to think again about using Slideshare resume writing. This is a paid service that lets you do some cool things that you can't do for free. It gives you the tools to create a great resume that will help you land the job you are looking for. Here are some of the ways it can help you.In addition to providing you with high quality files, SlideShare provides you with the ability to create a wide variety of resumes from simple to complex. Your ability to create a resume from the beginning is your number one advantage. SlideShare is very easy to use and allows you to make changes as needed to make the resume exactly what you want it to be. When using this service, be sure that you take some time to learn the tools available.SlideShare also includes several different types of file formats and the ability to include captions. This is very helpful for busi ness owners and corporate managers who may need to communicate directly with the recruiters. It also helps make your resume appear professional and gives you the ability to state your case without using any paper.Slideshare is the most popular online service used by employers because of its uniqueness. It does allow you to have creative fun with your resume, but it also allows you to present the correct information in a professional manner. It's fun, but it's also helpful for creating an effective presentation of your skills and experience.Another benefit to using Slideshare resume writing is that it can be accessed from anywhere. This makes it much easier to get the information you need quickly and is much more convenient than making phone calls to recruiters. It is also a lot less expensive than hiring someone to come to your office and review your resume.A benefit to using the slide format is that it is very user friendly. With this, you can actually keep track of the information that you are including on your resume. You can change it and have it look completely different than how it originally looked because of the drag and drop method that is used. This makes the process a lot easier to handle than manually editing a resume.Easy updates are a great feature that comes with the software. Once you start using the software, you will find that you will want to update your resume easily. As long as you have the Slideshare software, you will never be limited by how often you update your resume.For students or new employees looking to change their resume for the first time, it is definitely worth considering using a service like this. With the help of the technology that is available, you will find that you can create a professional resume in no time at all. All of the tools that are available will help you get started and ensure that you are presenting yourself correctly.

Job Searching Take a cue from the Boy Scouts - Sterling Career Concepts

Job Searching Take a cue from the Boy Scouts Job Searching? Take a cue from the Boy Scouts As a member of the  Career Collective  community of resume writers and career coaches, this post is one of many today covering the topic of how to prepare ahead of time for an interview. I encourage you to visit other members responses linked at the end of my post and follow our hashtag on Twitter: #careercollective. The Boy Scout motto, Be prepared,  applies very well to many situations, not the least of which is job searching. Think about the following two scenarios: Positive Patty envisions herself getting called for interviews and prepares herself ahead of time. She gets a call for an interview later this week and spends the next two days reviewing her answers and customizing them for the employer.  She pulls her interview suit from her closet, has time for a test drive to the company, and goes in the following day confident and relaxed. Negative Ned thinks hell never get a call for an interview in this job market. He tells himself its a waste of time to prepare before he has anything set up, since it might be weeks or months from now.   He gets a call for an interview early next week and has to scramble to pull together an appropriate interview suit and goes on the Internet to start researching possible interview questions. Hes still thinking through his answers to standard questions the night before the interview and realizes he hasnt even read up on the company yet. He goes in to the interview the next morning tired, frazzled, and unsure of his answers. Which scenario do you want for yourself?  Once youve  been called  for an interview is not the ideal time to begin preparing for an interview, like Ned. The bulk of your preparation should have already occurred to allow yourself to fine tune your answers,  conduct company research, and get yourself in the zone, just like Patty. To get you headed in the right direction, here are my top five actionable suggestions to prepare before the phone rings: LinkedIn recommendations. The modern-day approach to professional references is to ask past colleagues to recommend you on LinkedIn, think of it as references 2.0.     Theyre online, easily accessible to people, and serve as a great third party endorsement of your capabilities and strengths. Professional references available upon request. The more traditional approach to  professional references is to create a sheet with the contact information for 3-4 colleagues, have its header, format, and font match that of  your resume, and have copies ready to bring with you on an interview. I wouldnt say one method of collecting references is better than the other. Its smart to do both. One note on who youre including on the reference sheet, be sure you have their permission to list them (most importantly so theyre not caught offguard with a reference call) and include only professional contacts, preferably including at least one manager and one peer-level colleague. Interview preparation is key.  This is  so easy to do nowadays with all the lists of interview questions available online. Two of my favorites are HR Consultant.nets list of 2,000 questions and About.coms  list of questions and  suggested best answers. I recommend my clients get a notebook or a stack of index cards and write out answers to commonly asked questions to start familiarizing  themselves with possible questions and the different ways a question can be asked. Having your answers in a notebook or on a stack of index cards is also great to review the night before it also makes it easy to put away and pull out for the next time you find yourself in job search mode. Theres no reason to recreate the wheel and think through answers all over again. Just review your notebook or index card stack and  update answers, as appropriate, for where you are now. Dress for success. Assemble a professional  interview outfit now, dont wait until youre called for an interview. Invest  in a classic, well-made business suit in either dark gray or navy blue and a white dress shirt or blouse. The shoes are not to be overlooked. They should be well maintained and professional. A womans heel should be an appropriate height and accessories and perfume should be  minimal. Dont have a good interview suit already hanging in your closet?   Go out now and shop for one. Its not worth the risk of trying to find one last minute. Get paid what youre worth. Salary negotiation can be a stressful part of the interview process. Invest now in Jack Chapmans book,  Negotiating Your Salary How to Make $1,000 a Minute    for your personal library. Its  considered by many to be the leading resource on the topic. * * * Posts on the same topic from my esteemed colleagues in the Collective:   Sit Down and Panic. The Interview is Yours @GayleHoward How to Stand Out in a Job Interview @heathermundell Avoid These Reference Mistakes @DawnBugni Unspoken Secrets of Job Interviewing Prep: How Your Nonverbal Presentation and Behaviors Impact the Impression You Make @KatCareerGal Prep for Interviews Now: Snuff out the Elephant in the Room Later! @chandlee What Should Job Seekers Do Now to Prepare for an Interview @erinkennedycprw Take a Ride in the Elevator Before You Interview @barbarasafani Are You Ready for the Elephant in the Room? @WorkWithIllness Tell Me About Yourself (Oh, Yikes!), @KCCareerCoach The job interview as a shared narrative @WalterAkana Prepare your references for job search success @Keppie_Careers No Pain No Gain In Job Search and Interview Prep @ValueIntoWords Preparing for Career Success Starts with Interviewing the Employers @JobHuntOrg  

Top Thing You Should Never Do in a Job Search

Top Thing You Should Never Do in a Job Search Top Thing You Should Never Do in a Job Search The top thing you should never do in a job search isnt a secret.   But many people do it anyway. It something that is so alluring that its almost irresistible.  It preys upon our hope and our fears at the same time. What is the top thing you should never do in a job search? Its to stop looking once you have a tangible prospect in the pipeline during your job search. You know youve done it. We rationalize the sequence of events should we receive multiple job offers. Things look so promising with the current prospect that it seems that everything is coming to fruition. We are afraid that this might be the only job offer in the works, so we pretty much put all the eggs into one basket, cross our fingers, and hope for the best as we progress through interviews at the target company. And much to our chagrin, things dont work out the way we wanted them to and because we have stopped our job search and held our breath, waiting. Which ends up being our undoing. Because we hit pause on a job search because of that surfacing prospect, it means that when things dont work out, we have to start over from scratch. So you should always KEEP LOOKING even if you are currently interviewing. Its much better to have multiple options than none at all. The top thing you should never do in a job search is to put a hold on it for any reason. And more importantly, top careers industry experts recommend that even if you arent actively looking for a job, you should always keep an eye open for possibilities. Otherwise, you lose forward progress, and the juicy prospects will pass right on by. Is that a risk you are willing to take in your career?