Archive for the 'Employer Advice' Category

During Part III of my conversation with “Working for You Isn’t Working for Me: The Ultimate Guide to Managing Your Boss” authors Katherine Crowley and Kathi Elster, we discussed actionable steps bosses can take right now to start on the path to becoming better bosses–and Katherine and Kathi offered bosses some unabashed advice on leading in today’s workplace environment. Read on for interview Part III (of three):

• Posted by: Amy Chulik on October 28, 2009
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• Categories: Employee Engagement, Employee Retention, Employer Advice

During Part II of my conversation with “Working for You Isn’t Working for Me: The Ultimate Guide to Managing Your Boss” authors Katherine Crowley and Kathi Elster, we covered everything from the failure of many bosses to recognize the non-business side of employee relationships, to bosses being terrorized, to what it means for employees to take back their personal power, to learning to accept one’s boss–and more. Read on for interview Part II (of three):

Continue Reading…

• Posted by: Amy Chulik on October 21, 2009
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• Categories: Economy, Employee Engagement, Employee Retention, Employer Advice

I recently talked with Katherine Crowley and Kathi Elster, co-authors of “Working for You Isn’t Working for Me: The Ultimate Guide to Managing Your Boss.” Katherine, a Harvard-trained psychotherapist, and Kathi, a management consultant, run K Squared Enterprises in NYC, running lectures and workshops and consulting with managers and executives about workplace relationships. “Working for You Isn’t Working for Me” serves as a handbook for employees struggling to deal with a difficult boss–but there is much that bosses can learn from this book, too.

During our conversation, we covered everything from boss attitudes in our current economy, to recognizing and understanding employee coping tactics, to the severe lack of communication in today’s workplace, to the one thing bosses need to do right now to become better employers–and more. Read on for interview Part I (of three):

• Posted by: Amy Chulik on October 14, 2009
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• Categories: Economy, Employee Engagement, Employee Retention, Employer Advice, Leadership Development

Life is full of clichés — but your interviews shouldn’t fall victim to them. The interview process is constantly evolving, and with it, you too must review your process — and yes, evolve. Don’t forget –  just as you are screening job seekers through an interview, they are also screening you.

Companies expect candidates to continuously advance their skills, be cognizant of industry news, and surpass expectations. It should come as no surprise, then, that candidates expect the same of the companies with which they’re interviewing. When is the last time you thought about the questions you ask candidates in an interview? Or changed them to stay current or reflect the changing attitudes and needs of the job seekers in today’s market? We’ve rounded up some of the most cliché interview questions, courtesy of the experts: job seekers themselves. Underneath each cliché, we’ve added a new twist on the old standard.

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• Posted by: Amy Chulik on September 30, 2009
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• Categories: Employee Attraction, Employer Advice, Interviewing

If you’ve ever skimmed the Eat This, Not That! book series (you can admit it), you know the premise of the books is to help you make healthier choices about the foods you eat.  Instead of consuming a thick, rich, creamy chocolate milkshake, for example, you could theoretically get the same delicious taste satisfaction – but fewer calories! – by eating fat-free, no-sugar-added chocolate pudding (theoretically).

Anyway, the list below aims to do for recruiters and hiring managers what these books do for conscientious eaters: Achieve the desired results by making better choices.  In order to achieve their goals of getting certain information out of candidates, recruiters and hiring managers need to be careful in the way they phrase certain interview questions; otherwise, they could face potential legal ramifications.   

Recruiters and hiring managers should already know that any question that asks a candidate to reveal information about his or her national origin, citizenship, age, marital status, disabilities, arrest record, military discharges, or personal information is a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. 

But while avoiding these subjects sounds easy enough, it’s not always glaringly obvious what questions might be construed as inappropriate – even when they seem harmless on the surface.  Below is a guideline to avoiding 10 potentially dangerous questions – while still getting the information you’re looking for. Continue Reading…

• Posted by: Mary Lorenz on September 24, 2009
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• Categories: Employee Attraction, Employer Advice, Interviewing

An interesting discussion started to develop the other day on our Twitter stream after we tweeted about a blog post regarding which information a candidate should include on his or her resume — and which should be ditched with yesterday’s “Top Chef” contestant.

Some of you think an objective is a necessary component of a resume, pointing out that it can provide an expanded view of a candidate’s experience as well as detail a candidate’s drive and vision — while others dismissed it as clutter or vague filler. Many of you were divided on whether candidates should send a resume to you in a Word document or in a PDF.

As evidenced by a CareerBuilder survey earlier this year, over a third (38 percent) of HR managers spend just one to two minutes reviewing a candidate’s resume before making some kind of decision about it. That’s not a lot of time for a candidate to put his or her best foot forward and make a strong impression. So how, exactly, should candidates make a (good) impression on you, employers?

In a recent CNN article, CareerBuilder’s vice president of corporate marketing, Jason Ferrara, offered five tips for job seekers to make their resume stand out:

1. Include a career summary at the top of a resume
2. Keep it up to date
3. Incorporate keywords
4. Use a functional resume
5. Include all relevant experience

And in an article on MSN careers, CareerBuilder writer Rachel Zupek, gives 10 resume tips for candidates to get a better response from employers. They include having a less-selfish objective, focusing on accomplishments rather than duties, and filling in any unemployment gaps.

Of course, resume information may also include things like social media info (a candidate’s Twitter handle or professional networking profile), volunteer work, awards, certification and training, work history, references (or stating “References available upon request.”

But the real question is, What information do you want to see in a candidate’s resume — and what are they better off leaving out like former Top Chef contestant Mattin’s undercooked ceviche?

• Posted by: Amy Chulik on September 17, 2009
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• Categories: Employee Attraction, Employer Advice