Top 3 Traits of Fantastic Creative Candidates

Top 3 Traits of Fantastic Creative Candidates No matter what field or position a candidate is applying for, they have to supply a resume that covers their background and expertise, however all recruiters know that intuition plays a key factor in selecting the right person for a role. When it comes to filling design jobs and other traditionally creative ones, theres even more importance placed on identifying the right person to fit the role and within the existing team. They will often offer a portfolio of their work with their application, however that can only go so far to tell you how they think, and how they work. Number one on my list when Im applying for a job is to go in with tremendous amounts of enthusiasm. Ive found that to be the greatest asset I can bring to the time Im visiting with recruiters and hiring managers. With rare exception, they will choose to work with friendly and pleasant people. Enthusiasm and energy can be a game changer, especially when you might be under qualified or a fringe candidate and youre looking to separate yourself from the pack. I recall several times being faced with questions during interviews I couldnt quite answer, but rather than duck and evade them or highlight other positive qualities unrelated to the inquiry at hand, I turned them into chances to talk about how much Ive learned and how quickly I can get up to speed. Nobody will get hired on enthusiasm alone, of course, but it can be a characteristic that helps you leave an impression on someone. Here are three other things to look for in a candidate during the interview that will demonstrate whether they will be a good fit within the creative department at your organization: 1) Collaborative: Freelancers and consultants can work well alone, but the majority of us feel relief in being a part of a bigger company. Theres no end to the benefits that come with participating in conversations with colleagues that will ultimately highlight everyones strengths and make your final product better. During the interview, you can get a sense of how the candidate will function within the team they are looking to join. Give them a chance to show how they problem-solve with a situation that requires multiple people and lots of attention. How they envision their role in getting everything in order will illustrate what they might be like to work with on a day-to-day basis. Its not just a role theyre filling; its a spot within a cohesive unit. 2. Assertive: Theyll need to get along with others, but also know when to hold their own and to speak for themselves. Its important that workers take ownership over their projects whenever possible, and having someone who is meek or standoffish could jeopardize your enterprise. Find someone who will make sure that the assignment not only gets done but also in its best form. They should take pride in what they do, and also in the brand they represent with their work. Make it clear to them from the start that your company will reward them however possible as they show their prowess for motivating others and keeping up the positivity. Be sure to bring up incentives and what they see as top motivating factors. 3. Humble: Even if they are masters at their particular field, they should know how to keep any unflattering arrogance in check. They should be able to seamlessly join a team and find their place. During the interview, especially on a follow-up one, you can learn more about them by asking them to describe times they failed and what they learned from the experiences. How they respond will reveal a lot. Listen carefully to what they choose, but also pay heed to how they say they grew from it. Even at high-levels of a company, errors take place, many of them unexpected. Overcoming adversity is key to a successful group. If you have the right people in place, when those issues arise, theyll be able to navigate around them together. A word of advice:  sometimes its the job descriptions that get things off on the wrong foot if the list of responsibilities and qualifications reads flat, youre likely going to get a set of candidates to match. When it comes to recruiting creative professionals, youll want to give them a glimpse up front of what you and your culture are like. Find ways to spice up the job listing to help yourself get in front of the right candidates. Dont forget that interviews and application processes are two-way streets and you should make sure you are also at your best. Some of the techniques that go into hiring tech or business people might not work for creatives. You, too, will have to do your homework and adapt to the clientele and audience whom you wish to reach. Author: Danny Groner is the manager of blogger partnerships and outreach for Shutterstock.

Missing Too Much Work Common Reasons Why We Are Taking Time Off

Missing Too Much Work Common Reasons Why We Are Taking Time Off It’s always stressful when we have to take a day off work. After all, for a lot of employees, it means at least one day off unpaid. But more and more employees are having to regularly take days off work for health issues. Here are some common reasons why we are taking time off, and ways to solve it so that you can return to work ASAP. Flu At this time of the year, you are more likely to get the flu. After all, you are bound to know at least one friend who has the pesky bug right now. And at your workplace, it’s so easy for the germs to be spread around. Before long, you are off work with the flu. And once you have it, it’s hard to get rid of. In fact, some people suffer from the flu for several weeks. The best way to get rid of the flu is by tackling it with products from the pharmacy which will help the flu to pass quickly. Also, you need to wrap up warm and eat a healthy diet to ensure you recover ASAP. To prevent the flu, you might want to get a vaccination. It will stop you from catching it during the winter months. And remember to always wash your hands after sharing pens with other employees! Pixabay Migraines Headaches are bad enough, but migraines are taking the pain to the next level. Alongside a painful head, people suffer from nausea and vomiting. And once you start experiencing migraines, it can become a regular occurrence. A poor diet, too much alcohol, and caffeine can all cause the pesky headaches. You might want to make changes to your lifestyle to ensure you remove them from your life. For other people, they can occur through stress. The best way to ease the pain is to find some form of treatment. Talk to your doctor about medicine you can take to ensure you don’t miss work. Or you could even look into a holistic treatment such as acupuncture which can help ease the pain! Menstrual pain When it comes to our time of the month, it can be a painful time for women. For some ladies, their menstrual pain can be unbearable. And it leaves them having to take time off work every month. Although it can be down to underlying conditions, for some ladies there is no explanation. If you are having severe period pain, it’s best to talk to the doctor about a long-term solution. They might look at putting you on the contraceptive pill which can ease your period pain. Stress You might be surprised to know that a high proportion of people take time off work due to high stress and anxiety. In fact, the number is rising every year as employees struggle to deal with their career. And it results in them having to take time off to recuperate. If you are struggling with stress at work, the best thing to do is talk to your HR colleagues to find a way around the stress. Or look for a new job; after all, your health should be your number one priority! flickr Hopefully, you can work through these issues, so you are back behind your desk earning money ASAP!

Being Nimble with Your Personal Brand - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Being Nimble with Your Personal Brand - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Known as the simply insightful relationship manager, Nimble is the answer to the white noise that is ever pervasive in today’s excessive social media world. Including email, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and inter-office programs, trying to keep up with current contacts as well as grow individual networks has become â€" for lack of a better word â€" challenging. Nimble, however, has created a setup that unifies everything into a single view. Their belief in relationships over contacts is what has driven their award winning program. Apart from organizing everything in one location, it comes with a set of rules that learn as you act, helping you identify potential leads while increasing the relevancy of any searches you perform. It reminds you if you’re losing touch with anyone while giving you the capability to schedule meetings or messages to current or soon-to-be current contacts. With Nimble, it seems networking is easier than ever before.   And, that’s important.   You lose momentum when you’re trying to connect with someone or build a relationship and you have to continually find their most current information or do research that expends lots of time and energy . Relevancy Networking with Nimble is made a lot easier through the use of algorithms that drive your networking success. Instead of showing everything and overloading you with useless information, it isolates the relevant information based on what data it has on you and what your current user habits are. With regular, continual usage, a profile is developed that accurately determines who would be a great match for your network. Known as the Rules Engine, it is an advanced equation that learns about your preferences in what are known as “virtuous cycles”. Each time one of these happens, your actions are integrated into the search conducted by Nimble. With time, Nimble does the networking for you, helping you find common threads and connections, telling you insightful things about your network that you didn’t already know. It alerts you to who you should reach out to and, more importantly, why they should be contacted. In short, Nimble helps you network by taking out the guesswork and the need for research. Fantastic Features In most social media sites, there are notifications. Whether on a new tab entirely or provided through a drop down menu, to check every single one means logging into each and every account not to mention the time it takes to sift through actual notifications versus very obviously placed advertisements. Instead of forcing yourself to tread through the over saturated mire of Facebook and LinkedIn, Nimble uses the information it has on you to stitch together a Today Page consisting of Engagement Opportunities, Milestones, Deals and a To Do List. Organized into these four categories, you get to decide what type of networking you want to take care of first. Maybe you want to go through birthdays first because those are the easiest to finish. Maybe you want to take on Engagement Opportunities because that would leave more time in the day for further connecting with these people. Either way, it’s less time you have to spend navigating seven different sites and more time you get actually connecting with people. Organization, however, is not a new idea. What is new (and perhaps the most intriguing) part of Nimble is what’s known as the Signals Tab. Still in beta, this gives you all the notifications and automatically creates contact reminders for you geared at getting you to stay in touch with contacts that are in need of connection. In essence, it’s an alert should someone happen to fall off of your radar, further helping you foster a healthy network. Individualized Data Networking is mostly used to discuss the larger picture featuring numerous people and the web of connections. However, actual connection takes place on an individual, one-on-one level. After all, without any sort of ability to build a comradery, partnerships cannot be forged. Even though most sites try to keep online profiles separate, Nimble knows that your ability to understand your contact, to know them, is what gives you the edge when building a relationship. It gives you the chance to be genuine, to build trust. Apart from collecting all of the contact information and storing it one place (as so many other programs do), Nimble also collects and stores all of your online interactions with that person, providing you with a full collection of everything that has happened. With the click of a button, you can immediately catch up with your contact without needing to speak to them yet still knowing what direction you would like to further your relationship.

Guest Post How to Start an International Career

Guest Post How to Start an International Career Blogger Candace Moody at the Equator in Ecuador in 2012. My career remains U.S. based, so far. A guest post by Katherine HackettWhen thinking about starting a career abroad, the first thing to think about is whether living abroad is right for you.  Do you have the skills necessary to adapt to another culture? Are you open to new challenges? Can you live without your favorite U.S. amenities, food and friends? If so, here are some tips on how to start an international career. If you have lots of experience Whether you’re looking for a PR role in Shanghai or a bar job in Brazil, having lots of experience in your home country is important.  Many people land international work by working for a large company, so if your company has offices overseas, make sure your bosses know that you’re keen for an international move if one comes up! Before you start applying, research job postings carefully. It’s all well and good having 10 years of HR experience   and glowing references, but if the job requires fluent Cantonese (and you only speak English) you’ll be wasting your time applying. If you don’t have much experience… If you don’t have a great deal of work experience, or are fresh out of University, a great way to get international work is by Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL).  TEFL teachers mostly need a degree but don’t need to have any teaching specific qualifications. They also don’t have to speak the countrys language; they are being hired for their English ability after all. Opportunities for teaching abroad are available worldwide, but you’ll find that most jobs are in Asia, Europe and South America; where you look really depends on what you want from a position.  It’s also important to consider whether you’re the type of person that will make a good TEFL teacher. You’ll need to be ready to live in and adapt to a foreign country â€" and you’ll also need patience by the bucket load. Most contracts last for around a year, but in Europe you can often find shorter term work. Here’s a quick overview of the most popular options and what you can earn. Europe â€" A fairly easy adjustment for most Westerners, Europe offers cultural experiences and, for many Americans, also a sense of familiarity. The strongest job markets here are Spain, Italy and Poland.   Many people start work here by taking on a paid summer camp position. Asia â€" A long-time favorite for expats.   Salaries, like everything else in Asia, vary widely. You could work in a kindergarten in rural Thailand earning $1000 dollars a month, or in downtown Tokyo  earning $3500. The most important thing to remember when considering salaries is that cost of living also varies widely. Research carefully before you choose a job based on pay. South America â€" Really popular with TEFL teachers looking to live off the beaten track.   Salaries in this part of the world are quite low, so if you want to live your life with some Western comforts, you’ll probably need to supplement your income with private tutoring work. If you have always dreamed of traveling abroad, but wondered how you could accomplish it on your salary or work  schedule, working overseas may be a great way to get the best of both worlds. Guest Author: Kat is a former TEFL teacher in Korea who now works for i-to-i . When she’s not spending her time cooking up Korean food, you can usually find her with her nose in a travel guide!

9 Things to Talk About in an Executive Job Interview - Executive Career Brandâ„¢

9 Things to Talk About in an Executive Job Interview

Why arent you asking for a promotion - Margaret Buj - Interview Coach

Why arent you asking for a promotion If you want to move up at work, but youre going nowhere its time to take a hard look at what you might be doing wrong. Doing work that is OK, or acceptable may be enough to keep a job, but its usually not enough to be promoted to a job with more responsibility. Are you visible enough? Do you really believe youre worthy of a promotion? If you just keep your head down and do your job without creating visibility for yourself, and if you are not asking for more, your boss will assume that you are happy with your current job. Why then, dont we ask about opportunities to move up within an organisation? Our hesitancy to ask for a promotion is more than likely related to our overall fear of self promotion. When we contemplate asking for a promotion, that nagging voice in our head chimes in with, Who do you think you are?, Do you really think youre worthy of a promotion? Your boss will laugh at you!, Arent you full of yourself? However, listening to the negative self talk is sabotaging your career and can very well stand between you and a promotion. Has it ever dawned on you to be proactive and take control of your career and actually ask for that promotion? You need to do what you can to get noticed by the people who have the power to promote you. When something youve worked on goes exceptionally well, write a memo to management praising the team youve worked with. Our hesitancy to ask for a promotion is more than likely related to our overall fear of self-promotion. Dont be afraid to tell your supervisor about your career goals. Talk to your boss. In preparation for this meeting, I recommend you do a bit of homework. Write out your achievements at work Describe how the work you do benefits the organization and your boss or department in particular. State up front that you enjoy working with him/her and love the organization and are interested in new opportunities to rise to the next level. Ask for information about new opportunities and what, if anything, you need to do to move up. Once you set your sights on a specific position, put a strategic action plan in place to communicate your value proposition to the key influencers and decision makers. Make sure youre visible. If advancing your career is what you want, you need to take an action. Continue to do a great job in your current position. Dont assume that your boss knows that you are interested in moving up. Asking about new opportunities will lead to a dialogue about what is available and what you need to do to get promoted. Patience is a virtue, even when seeking a promotion. Be realistic with yourself about your qualifications and job performance, and dont get frustrated if you get passed over for a promotion. Wait for the right opportunity and go for it. If youd love some help in creating a plan to get noticed and promoted, Id love to talk to you! I offer a complimentary 25-minute strategy session â€" you can apply at http://www.talkwithmargaret.com Warm regards, Margaret

Top Rated Resume Writing Services - How To Pick A Company That Will Help You

Top Rated Resume Writing Services - How To Pick A Company That Will Help YouThere are many NYC top rated resume writing services that can help you find the right job for you. But, the question remains, 'Do they really deliver?'Many of the companies that offer these types of services in NYC are very experienced and trustworthy. The reason why these companies become one of the top rated resume writing services in NYC is because they are willing to work with you to make sure that you are receiving the best possible result.If you have already decided to use a top rated resume writing service, you should at least get a few tips from other people who have used this service in NYC. Remember, when it comes to finding the best one, you have to try as many as you can.To help you, here are some of the things that you should look for in your best choice. The first thing is the fact that the company's internet presence is complete. The other thing is that they have a customer support.You should b e able to contact them and speak to someone during a live chat and they will gladly give you an answer. This is not always the case with some of the companies that you choose. The reason for this is that the people there might not speak English or might not have the ability to contact you in a live chat, even if they have that capability.You can also see if they have a free trial period that allows you to try their services before committing to any contract. They should be able to provide this to you as they have done it themselves.The third thing to look for is if they have the ability to make changes to the resumes or if they are limited to only making it look like it was written by another person. They should be able to change or delete whatever is written on the resume if you wish to do so.With the many companies that offer these types of services in NYC, it is important that you only choose those that you can trust. If you do this, you will find that you will receive a better c hance of getting a higher paying job than you ever thought possible.