Career Confidant: Job Insight from Dave

Temping: It Could Be Permanent, Ensure Your Success

It seems a lot of applicants are hesitant or downright refuse temporary positions in hopes for permanent positions. However, temping is a great way to network in a familiar industry for future positions while adding relevant experience to your resume. Temporary positions are a great way to fill the time during your job search so that when you finally get that interview of your dreams and are asked "What have you been doing this past year?" the answer can be a positive one (with extra references to boot)

So, if you do decide to take up some temporary positions be sure to keep some of the following in mind to make the best of each experience:

1. Arrive at work on time everyday, try to be a few minutes early to allow yourself time to settle in before the day starts.

2. Be courteous to your colleagues and always maintain a positive and professional attitude. Your demeanor at work can make the difference in your assignment being extended or ended.

3. Keep in touch with your temp/staffing agency when anything happens that will cause you to miss work. Generally following up with the agency ensures a positive relationship where a strong ability to efficiently and proactively communicate can supercede coming in late or missing a day at work. Also, call your recruiter to share feedback about the assignment, positive and negative.

4. Refrain from handling your personal business at work - texting and checking emails are the worst offenses.

Some of those are so straightforward but everyday I hear about infractions of at least one!

Work Email—Do’s and Don’ts

E-mail should come with a warning label:

"Caution: Do not use e-mail without adult supervision."

Employees often make incorrect assumptions about e-mail usage in the workplace. Employees assume that because it's their work e-mail account, on their work computer, in their office space -- it's theirs. Wrong. Your work email belongs to your employer and should be treated accordingly. Email should never be used to: Discriminate, Harass, Disparage, Make obscene or vulgar comments, or Offend others. The next time you are sending an email from work as yourself these questions before hitting the send button:

1. Would I be comfortable if my e-mail appeared in the newspaper or on the Internet?

2. Would I be comfortable if my comments were quoted out of context?

3. Does my e-mail reflect positively on the company? On me?

4. Could this message be perceived in a negative or offensive way?

REMEMBER:

• If you send an effective e-mail, not only will you receive effective e-mail in return, you will receive FEWER e-mails
• If you’re sending an e-mail TO someone, he or she is your intended audience and you expect them to do something. If you someone is CC-ed (carbon copy), they are receiving the e-mail as an FYI. The BC (blind copy) function means BE CAREFUL!

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Avoiding the Monday Blues

  I must admit, Monday is the worst day of the week for me. Don’t ask me why because I just don’t know. I just have an aversion to going to work on Mondays. I guess I suffer from the “Monday Blues.” The Monday Blues have turned into an epidemic that seem to have swept the country. I say this because aside from Fridays, Monday is the day most people fake illness to get out of working. Try incorporating some of these ideas into your Sunday routine to help you prepare for Monday and the rest of the week.

·     Prepare to Be Happy: Happiness is choices, on Sunday, if you’re thinking about that annoying manager or customer, you’re letting that customer choose your happiness. You’ve got to take the choice back. Choose to be happy, passionate and organized, and what you want to accomplish will happen. So how do you -- and your family -- avoid lying awake Sunday night fretting? Write out what’s bugging you. “In so doing, you can solve your own problems,” he says.

· StStop Whining: This is an energy-drainer, so make up your mind not to do it. Does it help you? No. It does nothing and just builds stress.

· AAccept the Upcoming Week Will Contain Change: This constant in business and in life often is a source of stress. When you’re open and flexible to change, you reduce stress, and the passion starts coming up, which means you’re more productive and effective.

· DWhat’s Important First: The hours of 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. are often the most productive. Be ready to defend the morning strenuously from meetings and email, so you can get the most important work of the day done.

Spring Cleaning Your Social Networking Site for Prospective Employers

There is an ancient Greek adage that states – “know thyself.”  In today’s context however, it seems more important to “Know Thyself Online” – especially if you’re a job-seeking college graduate.  If you are one of the millions of individuals belonging to one or more social networking sites, be ready for an employer to review your online persona. 

While the legality of this type of scrutiny remains an interesting topic for debate, the mere fact remains that the scrutiny still occurs. According to a survey conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), 11.1 percent of employers indicated their intention to use social networking sites as part of their mechanism for vetting job candidates. The study also revealed that sixty percent of employers were influenced to some extent based on the information contained in a candidate’s profile.  What’s interesting is the extent to which recruiters and employers seem to decry social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook when discussing conventions for job seekers.  Yet, I could find few articles online suggesting the positives associated with having a profile in relationship to a job search.  When I meet with college grads, I tell them to play up any relevant work experience and interests they have so employers can gain a more holistic sense of the individual.   

A tastefully constructed social networking profile could very well influence an employer in a positive way.  Consider two job-seeking college graduates – Candidate A and Candidate B, both with similar credentials and both applying for employment as a legal assistant with the same international law firm. The law firm recruiter might look at both candidates’ resumes and see no fundamental differences.  The recruiter then goes online and discovers only one with a profile on a social networking site.  The profile indicates Candidate A has studied classical piano for 10 years and has traveled extensively throughout the world.  Although candidate B may not lack dimension, I would suggest that an employer might have a more favorable impression of a Candidate A prior to an interview.  An extracurricular activities sketch and personal portrait can provide an employer with important, and positive, means for differentiation.

So here’s the bottom line.  If you have a profile online, don’t eliminate it.  Nowadays many of the popular social networking sites give users greater control over content accessibility.  However, it is still important for job seekers to be aware of the content they have posted for public consumption -- lest the spring break photos you think are harmless may cause more harm than good.  A photo of you dressed in a revealing outfit dancing in a sea of foam at a bar may not translate into “hmm, what a fun-loving extrovert” in the mind of an employer.