5 Things to Consider When Conducting a Video Interview

5 Things to Consider When Conducting a Video Interview Modern technology has made so many processes more flexible, and recruitment is no exception. Using a variety of mediums, it’s never been easier to make contact with a candidate face to face, even when you can’t be in the same room. A face to face interview is nearly always preferable as it’s possible to pick up more about their body language when you’re physically present, but a video interview can offer some different advantages plus some real insights into the individuals you are considering for the position. However, with video interviews it can be a little more awkward at times so it’s vital to be properly prepared. Here are five top considerations which you should always take into account when conducting a video interview. 1) Check your technology. There’s nothing worse than the agreed time arrives and your equipment letting you down when you need it the most. Before you start conducting interviews, you should thoroughly check your set up and have a back-up plan, such as a telephone number, which you can revert to if all else fails. Making sure you have the individual’s username, and carrying out a “dry run” with colleagues will satisfy you that you won’t be left with egg on your face when you’re trying to portray your company as a professional organisation. A test run will also give you a better idea of how you appear on the candidate’s screen and whether you need to make any adjustments. 2) Be aware of your recording space When you carry out a video interview, the attention of both the interviewers and the candidate is concentrated into a relatively small space. Without an entire office for your eyes to roam around, it’s easy for the smallest details to stand out more clearly. Your company is being interviewed in the same way that you are interviewing the candidate, so you should be aware of what might be presented on screen. Make sure the desks are clean, with no old coffee cups or even worse, confidential paperwork that could be viewed by the other party. Even if your space is clean and tidy, having too much in the background could be a real distraction. Minimise the clutter which can be seen and you will capture the candidate’s attention far more effectively. 3) …and take a look at theirs! Of course, by the same token, the recording space of the candidate can be very revealing! When you arrange an interview in your office, you won’t have the opportunity to see into the private world of the candidate so for this reason, a video conference provides an advantage. Use this advantage to try and learn more about the individual; are there any clues to their personality lying within eyeshot? Have they dressed professionally for the interview or have they tried to be sneaky and just smartened up their upper half, expecting the rest of their body to be hidden from sight? Are there any questionable items within the recording space? Video interviews can provide a much more intimate snapshot of an individual and a good interviewer can use this information to their advantage. 4) Ensure you won’t be interrupted. Although being interrupted during any kind of interview is less than idea, it can be catastrophic during a video interview. Someone walking into the room or even noises outside your window could be extremely disruptive to the person you are video calling. Make sure you treat a video interview with the same professionalism that you would a normal interview and make the same arrangements to ensure you will have peace and quiet so you both can concentrate. Another type of interruption but one that may be less obvious might be the lighting. Through a video camera harsh lighting from behind you could make you appear almost impossible to see which could impede communication. Close the blinds so that the candidate can see you more clearly on the screen and it should make communication much easier. 5) It’s not a mirror! If you’re not used to seeing yourself on screen while you chat, it’s surprisingly easy to get distracted and end up watching yourself on the monitor. The net effect of this is that it will look as if you are constantly looking away from the candidate rather than directly at them. It may seem strange to start with but you should look directly at the camera when you’re talking; by doing this it will appear that you are looking at the candidate and provide a better connection for communication. Conversely, do remember that it can be very disconcerting having someone stare at you without flinching or smiling, and looking straight down the camera without softening your gaze will be extremely intimidating. Remember to smile and break your gaze occasionally and you will achieve a far more natural effect that doesn’t terrify the candidate at the other end! Conclusion. Video conferencing is increasing in popularity, making recruitment more convenient and less costly. The above five top considerations will help make sure that any video interview is as successful as possible. Author: Nick Williams works for www.acuitytraining.co.uk in the UK and helps on their communication and assertiveness training courses.

Tips For Writing A Career Goal Resume

Tips For Writing A Career Goal ResumeResume writing is not simply setting out a standard document to submit for a job interview. There are a number of factors that have to be taken into account when it comes to designing a successful resume for an individual who has many career goals. Many who do not follow their career goals may take the wrong steps when it comes to creating a career goal resume that will help them achieve their career goals. Below are some tips to help you make your career goal resume easier to read and to remember.Think about your career goals. Whether you are currently employed or looking for employment, chances are that you have goals to meet as part of achieving your goal. In other words, you might have some sort of personal or professional goal that will set the tone for you and the direction in which you want to move. In this case, the resume should highlight these goals so that they are easy to remember and understand.Your resume should be based on the infor mation you have available. It is important to remember that many of the facts and figures included in a resume are based on assumptions. Since you may not have all the answers, you may not be able to take the time to complete all the necessary details when it comes to your career goals. Therefore, the very first thing you should consider when writing your resume is the information you have available. As a result, include only the facts that are accurate and factual.Use a career goals section to explain what you want from your future career. It can be useful to use a section where you describe your goals in detail. This can help to develop a coherent resume.When you decide to change jobs or to pursue a new area of interest, you can go into more detail about your career goals and accomplishments to encourage potential employers to contact you. Employers want to know how to hire you. How to develop a plan to grow your business. It is important to keep your career goals in mind when it comes to your resume.Other resume writing tips are also helpful. You can use bullet points to help to organize your career goals. You should place your goals along the top of the resume and below these should be your objective statement, personal statement, strengths and weaknesses and special skills. If you are looking for work, the bullet points should help you to understand how to present yourself professionally to employers and to give employers a better understanding of you.When you have developed a better understanding of your career goals, you should be able to combine them with the information you have available. You should have the same amount of information for your objective statement and for your strengths and weaknesses. While it is true that you cannot change your objective statement after you have been hired, you can make changes to your strengths and weaknesses as you progress through your career.After you have developed a clearer understanding of your career goals, including them in your resume is a simple matter of following these tips. Use a career goal resume that works for you will be surprised at how easy it is to make sure that you are remembered for your accomplishments. Remember, there is nothing like a resume that is perfect for you and exactly what you need.

Must Have Cleaning Products In Your Office

Must Have Cleaning Products In Your Office Whether you’re a new startup business or a veteran business that’s looking to expand, every office or workplace needs the necessities before work begins. Starting work without these can often lead to messy situations that interfere with work, something that can be quite distractful especially when your business is starting out. With everything most likely going a hundred miles an hour at the creation of your business this is something that’s easily avoided with a little preparation before you move into your new workspace. If cleaning your own space isnt something you want to do and the budget can handle it, you can always hire an office cleaning service.   For the rest of us,  System Hygiene takes a look at what you should have when starting out in business and some products you may need to stock up on if you’ve ran out. Every Day Products Some of these products are common daily items that you’ll most likely be already using at your house so it’s only natural that you’d keep a small storage of them at work for simple spillages. Such products as simple surface cleaners are a must and are the most likely product you think of when you’re out to buy cleaning products. Since an office can build up mess rather quickly, especially desks where brews are left and people often eat their lunch at. Stocking up on surface cleaners and giving them a wipe down before you leave for work gives your office a nice shine to it. Keeping it free from build up and avoiding the awkward situation of showing a potential client your dirty workspace. Other everyday products include odor neutralisers that make sure that the office smells nice and fresh. Avoiding any unwanted smells from a small concentration of people working there for 8 hours a day 5 days a week. It’s been to get a neutraliser instead of other sprays as to avoid any conflicting allergies and preferences of your employees, staying with a neutral smell suits everybody. Emergency Products Sometimes it calls for certain products for unique occurrences that don’t happen that often, something for emergencies. Running an office without these can cause these emergencies to be much worse and slow down production by quite a lot. Such emergencies would include an employee or visiting customer becoming ill and being unable to reach the restroom in time, vomiting on the floor. Now this is a rare occurrence but without the products to properly clean it up, the smell alone would affect the entire office. As with any bodily fluid it’s important to properly remove it, to avoid any infections along with decontaminating the area. Covering the area in paper towels to begin to soak up the excess liquid and clearing the area to avoid any contamination. Ensuring you have a pair of rubber gloves at hand is vital, having a couple of these in the office is very important as a variety of situations can occur where they’re useful and using the same pair for multiple events is dangerous to peoples health. Having a dustpan and brush available to scoop it all up and flush it down the toilet makes the job much easier plus it’s also useful for many other cleaning duties. Keep some detergent in the office so that you can mix it with hot water to clean the entire area. Along with using a bleach solution to disinfect the area and the equipment you use to avoid carrying over any infections to anybody the uses them later. To double check everything is fine, purchasing some carpet shampoo and keeping it in the office is a great idea, to ensure your carpet isn’t permanently damaged from the accident. These are just a few products that you don’t want to be without in the event they’re needed, you’ll be thanking yourself later when the need arises.

Jeffrey Pfeffer Why Employers Should Care About The Health Of Their Employees - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Jeffrey Pfeffer Why Employers Should Care About The Health Of Their Employees - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career I spoke to Jeffrey Pfeffer, author of Dying for a Paycheck: How Modern Management Harms Employee Health and Company Performanceâ€"and What We Can Do About It, about why he wrote the book, the employee burnout crisis, the importance of corporate wellness programs, what we can learn from other countries about creating a better work environment, and how to prevent ‘work creep’. Pfeffer is the Thomas D. Dee II Professor of Organizational Behavior at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He has authored or coauthored fourteen books and is a highly sought-after expert on the subject of power and leadership. He is widely considered one of the leading management experts in the world. Pfeffer has been a visiting professor at London Business School, Harvard Business School, Singapore Management University, and IESE. He has served on the boards of several human capital software companies as well as on a variety of public and nonprofit boards. Dan Schawbel: Why did you decide to investigate the impact of management on employee health and company performance? Did anything surprise you while research for the book? Jeffrey Pfeffer: As a member of Stanford’s committee on faculty and staff human resources, and after sitting on Hewitt’s Human Capital Leadership Council with CHRO’s of some of the largest companies, I was struck by the almost obsessive focus on health care costs on the part of these largely self-insured organizations. But in this focus on health care costs, the emphasis was mostly on prices for various services and drugs and plan design to induce more cost-conscious individual decision making. To the extent there was a focus on prevention rather than remediation of health care costs, it was on individual behaviors such as exercise, diet, and smoking. It struck me that employers were possibly missing the profound effects of work environments on both individual health-relevant behaviors and morbidity and mortality outcomes and costs. As I dove into the subject and began looking at the extensive epidemiological research literature, I also noticed that many of the things that drove unhealthy behaviors and caused ill healthâ€"job environment dimensions such as long work hours, an absence of job control, and work-family conflictâ€"were also workplace practices that did not really benefit employers, holding aside their effects on health and health care costs. In short, it seemed to me that much about contemporary work environments was creating a lose-lose situation in which employers were doing things that benefited no oneâ€"not them nor the people whose psychological and physical well-being depended in important ways on what happened to those people at work. Consequently, it seemed to me we needed to shine a light on this problem and spark a social movement, or maybe several such movements, to make employee well-being a more central focus of employer’s actions. Hence, Dying for a Paycheck. Schawbel: Our research shows that employees are working harder than ever before, with no additional pay, and its caused a burnout crisis. How does your research reflect this and what can employers do to solve it? Pfeffer: Your research is completely correct. Particularly in the U.S., where work hours have increased to the point where country is now ranked near the top on hours worked, people are working more and moreâ€"and not necessarily enjoying greater financial well-being. Employers need to recognize that at every, and I mean every, level of analysisâ€"nations, industries, and individual companiesâ€"there is extensive research demonstrating the truth of something that common sense suggests should be true: that as work hours increase, labor productivity decreases. I summarize some of this research in the chapter on work hours in Dying for a Paycheck. Thus, working people moreâ€"burning them out, in your termsâ€"does not increase productivity or, in many cases, even total output. Employers should reduce work hours and work pressuresâ€"which, in the end, make people sick and increase turnover. And the evidence is overwhelming that, no surprise, sick people are less productive. Schawbel: The stressed out workforce has given rise to the wellbeing/wellness industry and corporate sponsored programs. What is your take on this trend and the effectiveness of those programs? Pfeffer: Corporate wellness programs and the wellbeing industry are extensive, and costly. But the evidence on the effectiveness of such interventions is mixed, at best. And that’s because these interventions are, in my view, focused on the wrong things. We know, from extensive research summarized in Dying for a Paycheck, that individual behaviors such as overeating, smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, and drug abuse are related to the stress, including workplace induced stress, that individuals experience. So instead of trying to get people to engage in healthier individual behaviors, workplace wellbeing initiatives would be more effective if they focused on preventing the stress-inducing aspects of work environments that cause the unhealthy individual behaviors in the first place. Simply put, companies need to build cultures of healthâ€"and that begins by creating work environments that help people thrive both physically and psychologically. Not on trying to remediate the harm that toxic workplaces inflict through limited-intervention “programs.” Schawbel: Some countries have 5 weeks mandatory vacation (Finland, France, etc.) or free healthcare (Canada) while American is rated second to worst for worker protections. What can we learn from other countries about creating a health work environment? Pfeffer: In the U.S., approximately 50,000 people a year are dying from not being able to access health care because they do not have health insurance. I find that fact to be morally reprehensible. In the U.S., about a quarter of all employees have no paid time offâ€"neither sick days nor paid vacations. People are going to work sick, thereby making others, such as fellow employees and customers, sick by exposing them to things such colds and flu. That seems unconscionable. The U.S. stands out among advanced industrialized countries in its absence of employee protections. Two colleagues and I estimated that about one-half of the 120,000 excess deaths from workplace exposures annually was preventable. I find that toll appalling. The U.S., which claims to be “pro-life,” ought to worry about human life not just at its very beginnings and end, but throughout people’s lives, including their lives at work. Schawbel: Technology has expanded the workday to 24/7 since we are always connected. What can be done to limit work off the grid? Pfeffer: The idea that because one can be connected all the time one should be needs to be changed. Simply put, this is a matter of organizational culture and expectations. When Dean Carter, the head of HR for Patagonia, the clothing company, worked for Sears, he received an e-mail about work late afternoon on Christmas eve. When he replied the next morning, the response he got was, “what took you so long?” If someone did that at Patagonia, they would no longer work there. The expectation there, and at other companies that care about their employees’ well-being and work-life balance, is that, unless in cases of exceptional emergency, people should be “off the grid” when they stop their work dayâ€"and that downtime should be respected. France, of course, has instituted a regulation limiting employers’ use of off-hours e-mails to their employees. This is something that any employer canâ€"and shouldâ€"do. People do better work when they have time to relax, sleep, and refresh . Burning people out just drives them away and produces worse work output in any event.

Reviewing Career Development Resumes Templates

Reviewing Career Development Resumes TemplatesThere are many choices when it comes to resume templates but not all of them are the same. Since there are many of them available in the market, it is important to take a little time and compare different templates before choosing one that best suits your requirements.When selecting a template, you have to look at how the information presented is organized and how many different types of information are present in each template. Since there are many templates in the market, you have to determine what type of information you want to include in your resume. Some of the common templates that can be used include:-Previous Employment: This can be very useful if you want to make sure that you are presenting all the possible opportunities available in your job profile. If there is any opening in the organization that you belong to, you have to include this in your resume as well. Include all the positions you held for the past few years in the c areer section of your resume. You can also provide details about the company, its location and why you think you are the right candidate for the position.-Education Information: With these templates, you can easily write down the most important things that you have achieved while being a student. Include details of your diploma, the level of education you have attained, your college courses and other relevant information that can help you in your application. This should be a part of your resume as it contains all the important information that the employer is looking for.-Business affiliations: If you are a professional, then you must declare your association with various business establishments. You can also include the period of time that you have been with these organizations and the names of the people who were working under you at that time. Be sure to mention what kind of responsibilities that you are carrying in your previous jobs as well.-Interests and Skills: Having skills in different fields like cooking, art, fashion, sports etc will help you present your career experience in a better way. These career-specific templates have separate sections for each field. The key is to write down the information in a manner that can be easily understood by the readers.-Education History: In case you have not attended a particular college or university, the first thing that you should do is write down your education details such as the college grades and the required subject or subjects for graduation. The details about your college courses are also important as they can help the employer see that you have followed the rules of the job and are serious about it. Just because you are the right candidate does not mean that you have achieved everything.If you find yourself in a situation where you have not attended a particular college or university, these templates can be a good choice. These are easily customized and can easily be changed to fit the requirement of the job seeker. With these templates, you can present your entire career to the employers for easier placement.

Dont Be A LinkedIn Ignoridiot! - Pathfinder Careers

Dont Be A LinkedIn Ignoridiot! - Pathfinder Careers Dont Be A LinkedIn Ignoridiot! I just got back from a presentation where I asked audience members to raise their hands to show if they were LinkedIn and as usual, several people simply sat that question out and avoided eye contact with me. As a follow up, I then queried the group as to who had made their profiles robust and updated them recently.  A large number of hands came down at that point.  After the program was over, several people came up to me and said that they had a profile up but it wasnt something of which they were particularly proud, but they knew other LinkedIn users were looking at them, based on the stats. My message? WAKE UP!  Dont be a LinkedIn Ignoridiot! Folks resisting technology and plugging their heads into the proverbial ostrich hole and other people who just post up the minimal content are completely MISSING THE BOAT. Looking for a job? Many companies are ONLY using LinkedIn to post employment opportunities, preferring the six degrees of separation aspect of how candidates might be linked to their company.  But only people who are already LinkedIn users can apply, which means you are shut out of that process completely. Not looking for a job?  Many recruiters are prowling LinkedIn looking for industry talent. Dont you want to have your door open to these offers? The point is that if you arent on there, they cannot find you. And what you post on this social media platform on there profoundly impacts how others see you.  It is critical that you view LinkedIn as one of the main cornerstones of your career marketing materials much like you would view your resume or cover letter. But heres the catch: LinkedIn is on there 24/7/365 and anyone in the world can find you.  And if you arent on there, theres a major door to your career future that hasnt been opened yet. Some people scoff and see LinkedIn and all new technology as a contrivance, but from everything I have heard, learned, and listened to from industry experts, it is a fallacy to believe that you can still be out there working and not have an active, completely filled out profile. A careers industry colleague, Jason Alba, who is recognized as one of the countrys top LinkedIn experts, recently provided a great example of a top-notch LinkedIn profile check this out so you can see what one looks like.   While this is an excellent example, there are still some things that can be done to fill out the entire profile itself, but it is a good start. Some tips to avoid being a LinkedIn Ignoridiot: 1) If you arent on there, get on there. You are only hurting yourself and keeping yourself shut off from opportunity. 2) Add a photo.  Dont be a blank egg humans are visual creatures.  For your photo shoot, dress conservatively like you would for an interview.  Because it is.  LinkedIn is like an interview that is available year-round, 24/7.  Please DO NOT go to Glamourshots.  Please do make the best clean-cut appearance possible with minimal jewelry.  You only get one chance to make a first impression. 3) Add a headline. Dont list unemployed because unemployed is not a direction.  You want to point to the positive goal you are aiming towards, so create a job title headline.  Then you can list that you are available underneath that. 4) Get a personalized url. LinkedIn provides this option. It is a heckuva lot easier for an employer to type in your name than the lengthy default number, letter, and symbol URL that LinkedIn assigns. 5) Create a compelling summary.  Saying that you are an experienced blah blah blah manager is NOT good enough anymore.  This is social media, folks, and that means adding a warm touch.  Use this summary to convey a bit about your personality and unveil some of your passion for your field. 6) Add some bling. Make sure to add links that augment and enhance your profile.  Use SlideShare to include a presentation that enhances your credentials.  But whatever you do, make sure that the links that you include lead to useful, polished, and relevant information. 7) Make sure to include your specialties. (Pssst. heres the secret- this is your keyword search area)  Dont know what those are? Go to onetonline.org and type in your job title.  Presto!  Make yourself searchable. 8) Tell a story about each job record.  Of course you are limited with the number of characters so you only want to include the biggies about your accomplishments, but toss a bone to your former employer and make yourself look good: lead off with a story talking about what the biggest takeaway and / or lesson you learned at that company.   Its a win-win situation you look generous, your previous employer looks good, and the potential employer feels like they have a future employee in front of them who is a learner and adapter. 9) Dont forget the awards.  If you have any specific accolades in your field, make sure you list them. In essence, this is how you have separated yourself from the crowd.  Remember, the cream rises to the top. 10) Education.  Besides the good old-fashioned book learning, leverage (if possible) what you learned in school and provide a good example of how you have been able to apply it in the real world. Employers LOVE that! But please dont list what year you graduated LinkedIn lets you choose the blank option.  This will help avoid potential age discrimination problems. 11) Volunteer.  Being engaged and involved in your field or industry shows traction.  Remember to keep track of these engagements. 12) Get recommended.  By asking others to make a recommendation (no scratch my back and Ill scratch yours), you are actually leveraging their reputation to endorse you, which also gives you a boost in credibility.  Think supervisors, former bosses, colleagues, mentors, industry partners, or subordinates.  But please do not have your best pal or family members recommend you. Just dont. 13) Join industry groups.  Keep on top of trends and share ideas. Hmm all very attractive things to employers. 14) Answer or ask questions.  Being part of an active online dialogue is a great way to boost your own profile and subject matter expertise. Better yet, if your answers get rated as best responses, you gain little stars in expertise. 15) Update your status regularly.  If you dont use your profile, how do you expect others to?  Just remember, if the lights are on and no one is home, employers will move along to someone else who will answer the door. Cultivating an active LinkedIn profile requires vigilance, persistence, and resolve.  But by doing so, you avoid becoming an Ignoridiot and instead open the doors to who knows what kind of opportunity. Its your choice. What are you going to do about it?

Tech Tools to Take Your Job Search to the Next Level - CareerEnlightenment.com

without having to go to multiple places â€" calendar, Facebook, LinkedIn, or emails â€"   to check your meeting requests. Plus, if you find yourself unexpectedly free because of a layover or canceled appointment â€" LetsLunch has an instant meetings feature that allows you to arrange last minute appointments to make every moment an opportunity to network.Best tool for resume creation:My Perfect Resume is a resume builder and step-by-step wizard that guides users through an easy process to create a professional resume section-by-section. Jobseekers can use expert text samples, tips, and pre-written content to make their unique resume shine. My Perfect Resume separates itself from its competitors with its personalized user experience. Those jobseekers looking for their next great position can choose a customized resume design based on not only the job they seek, but also their experience and education. What’s more, the tool provides jobseekers with a list of personalized keywords th at recruiters will expect to see on a resume.