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Stop Crashing Your Career By Doing THIS!

By on August 8, 2015 in Career Advise, Others

You are sitting at your computer, ready to apply for your dream job. You have been waiting for the perfect job to be posted or the certain person to reach out to you and so you start to ponder your cover letter. The butterflies are in your stomach and anticipation of getting the job is in your head. You are sitting there thinking “What should I write in my cover letter??” Well, be relieved that as much as you hate writing covering letters, hiring manager hate reading them.

It takes 7 seconds to review a resume and 1 second to scan your cover letter. So the truth is if we see another cover letter that expresses the “desire to learn” or how your education and experience matches that of the job, or how you managed 15 people which can clearly be seen in your resume please, don’t shoot us, just pull our eyes out! As there is no such thing as an “eye catching” cover letter. Don’t be fooled by posts with information that must be in the cover letter. For the love of anything do not have one…it’s old school!

In the new school of thought, there is no secret to writing a great cover letter, except for not having one and here’s why:

Cover Letters Have Proven To Be Your Window For Error: Countless people make so many errors in their cover letter. Aside for the fact people still make spelling and grammatical errors, people also forget to ensure their cover letter matches their resume and social media platforms.

The ATS- Applicant Tracking System Is Against You- All recruiting firms and most companies use an ATS to make their recruiting efforts more efficient so your cover letter isn’t even kept! It gets deleted as your resume put into the system.

Your Resume Tells Your Story: We know your cover letter is full of jargon about how you want the job but would you apply if you didn’t want the job or work at the company your writing about in detail??

It’s So Damn Long!! What the heck are you writing?? You make it as though we have all the time in the world to sit an read a novel during our work day. If you can’t write quickly, what will it be like meeting you??

The Cover Letter Profiles Your Monotony: Everything you have written in the cover letter is profiled in the resume..we get it. You worked at a, b c company for x years, managed so many people etc etc…again there’s no need to reiterate it in your cover letter.

Your resume, if strong enough, will highlight the elements of your resume that will ensure you are the right match for the job and company you are applying for. If it doesn’t then revamp your resume. Gone are the days when it had to be one page. If you have experience profile it, highlight it, embrace it but let the cover letter die in peace.

If you want to get noticed, don’t write a cover letter write an introductory email about the person you are writing to, as it’s not all about you.

Jessica Glazer is the Recruitment Director/Founder of www.MindHR.com-a head-hunting and resume writing agency. She can also be heard on Montreal’s NewsTalk Radio CJAD and seen on BTMontreal and Global television speaking about employment related issues.

The Mental Plan To Stop Getting Fat At Work

By on August 7, 2014 in Others

I am not going to preach to an empty chapel. There’s nothing wrong with fat or sugar or carbs or protein, paleo or Atkins or Mediterranean or or or. There is something wrong however if you are no longer comfortable in not only your clothes but your own skin.Gaining weight changes you, not just your outside but your inside too. You not only become more sluggish but more irritable and less desirable for no one else but yourself.

So you have to change something. You don’t need a walking office treadmill, or a medicine ball to sit on, nor the the newest miracle pill. What you need is the internal motivation and drive to care about yourself more then you care about the food you are about to consume.

No one can watch you 24/7, even prisons have trouble with that, so what you need to do is watch yourself. Know what you are doing wrong to want to change it.

Don’t just go for the apple instead of the chips as you know you will want those chips later on, have a few from someone else and move on. My father used to tell me the greatest way to lose weight is to walk away from the table but we no longer only eat at tables. We eat in closets, at desks, outside, in restaurants..which is a table but no one removes a plate until it’s finished so that doesn’t help.

You need to think as you take a bite of something…do I want this? Am I worth the results I want to see in myself. You will think “I am not, there’s no point” But there is a point. You are the point because you want to feel good about you.

Your goals have to be realistic. If you work on the 31st floor, saying I will take the stairs is just not realistic but how about actually packing a healthy lunch, save money and truly not snacking at night time? That’s doable.

Recognize when you are stress eating. Often we eat not because we are hungry but because we are bored or stressed. Not only that but when we are stressed we don’t metabolize food as we should, so our body stores the fat…isn’t that wonderful..storing when we want it the least!I recently found myfitnesspal app a wonderful tool to track what I take in and don’t starve yourself. It is important to eat. You can slip up but that’s ok because you didn’t slip up, it’s lifestyle changes, as long as you realise it’s ok.

This isn’t I’m going to lose 5lbs it’s I’m going to make chicken and salad for lunch and “if I go out for lunch, I will plan ahead”. Look online what the menu is and think what is best for your body and mind. Feel free to leave over some of it…it’s okay. I love big portions but the reality is… they often are too big. As well, don’t eat at night, supper is supper and then you are done. Small goals each day make it easier and more realistic to make your bigger goals.

Remember as well, free is free for a reason, because it isn’t worth anything. When the free food is left in the office, or the muffins and donuts served in a meeting… Don’t touch it!! It’s free. If you are a germaphobe think “who the heck has been touching it??” If your not, become one. The same goes for networking events. You know you will never get full off of the horderves so don’t eat them. Plan your meal after or before but don’t eat during…unless it’s a sit down event, then just literally watch what you eat and ask the waiter in advance what is being server. Think before you put what’s in your mouth.

Believe in yourself and know you are worth it and you can do it, if you really want to. You don’t NEED to be at the gym to lose weight and feel great, you just need to change your frame of mind.

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Learn To Keep Your Employees!

By on May 9, 2014 in Others

You have employees, you are growing, you want to grow, that’s all great! Nerve wracking but great!! The only problem is, everyone is different and every company is different so as much as it’s fabulous to want to add employees you need to go about it the right way!
So what can you do to actually keep employees so people like me don’t take them out???

A steady job and paycheck is not enough to keep them happy.
Here are some not deep pocket examples that can help employees feel warm and fuzzy inside:

Relax on the dress code once a week or provide a free lunch of Fridays…offices love free!! Free coffee, free donuts, free time!!

Keep them motivated, keep them educated!
Lunch and learn sessions: The government of Quebec provides grants to companies that provide training. Take advantage of it!! It will save you money in the long run as well! If you need more information please do feel free to send jessica@mindhr.com an email. She will put you in touch with the right person.

Offer a flexible work schedule. I have a client that has a 7.5 hour work week. Everyone has to be in at 10am but they can come in anytime before and leave 7.5 hours later.

Don’t yell, it’s not good for you and it’s not good for the morale of the office. Keep calm and work on!

Dangle a carrot in front of the right people. Everyone has different motivations so work with what those differences. It’s not discrimination if everyone has something to look forward to. I worked with a sales woman who was motivated by time off. She didn’t care about the commissions, she wanted a half day off for every sale made. Not the end of the world.

Celebrate occasions and offer the option of It’s your Birthday take the day off. With smart phones we are always available, so a day off is never really a day off.

Participate in community events. Events bring up team spirit. You don’t have to make it mandatory but you can make it an option. Building a sense of community and family makes it harder for people to leave.

As a manager or an owner, bond with them and get to know them. You don’t have to be best buddies but you can get to know their favorite color.

If you can and have the space, offer gym memberships or provide the time for your employees to get out and exercise. Healthy body healthy mind

Work with your employees to show the progression of their work and the company, if that is something that interests them. Don’t worry, NOT everyone wants to the be chief and not everyone wants to be the soldier.

Don’t forget to congratulate successes not everything has to be about money, a simple well done, is really enough sometimes.

The employers who treat their employees the best will not only keep their current staff but also find the best employees flocking to them.

Happy flying!

Protect Your Ass..ets

By on November 15, 2013 in Others

You have been with your arse more than you have been with any employer or any company so protect you ass…ets.

We just had a candidate tell us the most horrific story I think I have ever heard in the business, and I have heard a lot!

Recruiters change lives. People want to change jobs like they want to change houses, so working with a recruiter you trust is important. You don’t need to work with one agency but you need to know who you are working with.

So the story:

A candidate we met today indicated a recruiter in the Montreal area placed him at a company and did not tell him the salary he was going to be earning before he started. On the 2nd day of work, the candidate went in to sign papers as the candidate was signing he noticed it was 10k less than his original asking price and 15k then the recruiter presented him at. When the candidate called the said recruiter the recruiter apparently replied “Well….you were offered less because you did not have the technical skills required”.

Starting a career without a signed contract I understand, it happens, especially with smaller companies…btw this was with a large organization but how the candidate went to work without knowing his salary is inexcusable.

When accepting a career be sure if nothing else a recruiter or the company about to hire you sends you an email to confirm you salary and your start date this way you know what you are getting into. Protect yourself as at the end of the day, it’s your day that matters most.

 

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Contract VS Permanent Careers-HuffPost Article

By on November 12, 2013 in Others

Why Having a ‘Contract’ Job Instead of a

Permanent One is a Good Thing 

Michel Kelly-Gagnon President, Institut économique de Montréal

Posted: 11/11/2013 5:12 pm

There are still some people, including government officials, who look at any job which is not full-time and permanent as a non-standard or undesirable job. But these people should know that “non-standard jobs” are actually more numerous in Canada than the standard ones.

2013-11-11-Graphagencesdeplacement.jpg

This change has happened mostly because it is a desired phenomenon. Indeed, many people yearn for such jobs because they want to balance work with family obligations, with the pursuit of their studies or with gradual retirement. In fact, three quarters of people in such “non-standard” jobs are choosing this course.

When they answer people’s needs, there is no way that we can characterize these changes as “undesirable”. On the contrary, the flexibility now offered by the labour market is a good thing.

Rigid regulations cause unemployment

Adapting and evolving are central aspects of the concept of flexibility. More flexibility does have the effect of increasing uncertainty for both employers and employees. But rigid labour market rules and regulations are not a solution since they generate structural unemployment . In Europe, where the regulation of labour market is very heavy, we see that unemployment rates have been higher than in United States or Canada. The scale of unemployment among the youth and immigrants is alarming in several countries.

The reason for this can be grasped very easily from the point of view of an employer: if hiring someone ties your hands for the future, it creates a risk for your business, and the decision to hire won’t be easy of frequent. Hiring and laying off employees are two intimately connected decisions and both are necessary to adjust to an ever-evolving economy. So regulations should preserve flexibility.

Staffing services on the rise

Change in the labour market goes hand in hand with the continuous rise of staffing services. In Canada, this industry’s operating revenues have gone up considerably in the last dozen years, reaching $10.6 billion. So have salaries, wages and benefits paid by staffing services.

This raises a tough but legitimate question: are businesses using staffing services to subcontract jobs and pay lower wages? When asked about their motivations , American businesses cite these various reasons: to deal with unexpected business growth (52 per cent); to fill long-term absences (47 per cent); while waiting for permanent replacement (47 per cent); for special projects (36 per cent). Also, 21 per cent use staffing services in order to pre-select candidates for regular positions. No mention of lowering wages here.

A German study went a bit further by examining the behavior of companies making extensive use of staffing services, meaning that they find more than 20% of their labor force that way. The conclusion of the authors is that they do so only temporarily, making it unlikely to be part of a low labour cost strategy.

A springboard for the unemployed

One of the least-known facts about staffing services, that we see confirmed in various studies, is the “springboard effect” for the unemployed.

In the U.S., the overall impact of staffing services was quite impressive after the last recession. Even though they account for only 2 per cent of total employment, the industry was responsible for 12 per cent of net job creation over the past three years.

In Canada, 60 per cent of previously unemployed people who found a job were hired for “non-standard” work. Compared to staying unemployed, working for an agency increases the probability of finding a job, and also the prospective salary, as shown in a Dutch study. This positive causal effect was also raised in an Italian study.

In other words, some people chose to work part-time or temporary contracts. But even for those looking for a full-time and permanent job, staffing services offer a leg up.

It is especially true for immigrants, the reason being that when they graduated or were trained abroad, they have a harder time convincing future employers of their skills. Staffing services provide an opportunity to be evaluated on the job.

All in all, there are no real downsides about having a more flexible labour market. It gives everyone the opportunity to achieve what they want. And the possibilities abound.

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