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Using Google Search Strings for Job Search Success

2013-02-27T00:00:00+1:00

Most job hunters use Google to search out new job opportunities. However, quite often these searches will be fairly basic and result in a broad set of results.

Used correctly, Google is a hugely powerful tool that can help you discover suitable vacancies with pinpoint accuracy.

By using more advanced Google search strings, you can cut through a lot of the noise and find jobs that:

1.) More closely match your experience and range of skills;

2.) Aren’t necessarily advertised on every job board going, therefore improving your chances of securing a job interview.

Building Your Search String

Google has a number of search operators you can use to improve the quality of your search results. For this example, we are going to use the ‘inurl’ operator. We've found this to be one of the most useful operators for identifying new jobs, though you may want to experiment with some others too.

The ‘inurl’ operator tells Google to only display websites that contain those specific keywords in the website URL. You just need to think about what words companies might typically use in the URL of their website’s careers page and try to use these with the inurl operator. For example:

inurl:careers OR inurl:work-for-us

At the moment, this search will still pull in a wide range of results so we need to tailor it for the type of job you’re applying for. Let’s say you are an IT support professional, it might be a good idea to add the following job title to this search:

inurl:careers OR inurl:work-for-us AND “it support engineer”

Although this search is better, it might also be worth specifying other variations of your job title so that you don’t miss out on opportunities that are described in a slightly different way:

inurl:careers OR inurl:work-for-us AND (“it support engineer” OR "2nd Line Support Engineer")

To make your search more tailored still, it is worth including a handful of your key skills. This will save you time in the long run by ensuring you don’t have to trawl through irrelevant job specifications.

inurl:careers OR inurl:work-for-us AND (“it support engineer” OR "2nd Line Support Engineer") AND (active directory OR windows 7)

By now, the number of results you are getting should be significantly reduced. The next step is to apply search filters to the results to ensure the vacancies being shown are for the UK (or whichever country you require) and have been posted recently.

Applying further filters

To apply a location to your search, click ‘Search Tools’ at the top of the browser and select ‘Pages from the UK’. You can then change the time of results from ‘Any Time’ to ‘Past Month’ (or whatever time period you require).

If you want results for a more specific location (e.g. London), then just pop this on to the end of your search string.

The beauty of Google search strings is that you can completely tailor them to your needs. By building your job search around you, you can spend less time sifting through reams of search results and more time honing your applications.

Give it a try and see what hidden gems you can find! Feel free to share your own lethal combinations in our comments section below.

inurl:careers OR inurl:work-for-us AND (“job title 1” OR "job title 2") AND (skills 1 OR skills 2)

The importance of your staff in reducing energy costs

2013-01-11T00:00:00+1:00

Your staff are your best asset. You have meticulously chosen them from a number of others and have placed your trust and time into each. They help to turn the cogs and are essential in the running of the business. Yet there is a little bit more that you can ask them to help you with; little being the operative word.

In the day-to-day running of the office, your staff are responsible for the equipment, furniture and other elements that make up the office space, so why does their responsibility have to end there? Saving energy and costs within the office needn’t be just the responsibility of the office or business owner, it should be a joint and team effort. Everyone can help each other when it comes to reducing energy wastage and it only takes a few simple steps to achieve. The following are just a few ways in which you can ask your staff to help you.

Switching off unnecessary equipment

Incentivise your staff to switch off the lights, vending machines, photocopiers, monitors and computers at the end of the working day and especially over the weekend. The computers especially can be your biggest outgoing if left on for a long period of time due to the number of computers that can be found in each office.

Each computer can cost up to £20 a year if it is left on standby overnight and at weekends; a cost which can quickly and easily mount depending on the number of staff in your office. Printers and photocopiers can also be expensive if unnecessarily left on standby. A photocopier can cost over £40 annually if it is left on, and a printer can cost over £20. It may not seem like a lot of money, but depending on the number of printers you own, the figures can rise dramatically.

With computers, each staff member often has their own, meaning that it becomes an obligatory responsibility to turn off their own equipment. Yet this is not the case for the communal printer and photocopier. In such a case, a rota system could be put in place whereby a specific member of staff checks that all of the machinery in their area is turned off with warnings for those staff members who do not comply.

Cut down on wastage

Encourage your staff to print a lot less. The public are generally more aware of cutting down on paper usage but sometimes this can fall on deaf ears in the office when paper copies are often required. If you opt to go paperless, it could save your business not only paper costs but printer costs, printer maintenance and ink costs. However, if you think this is a step too far at the moment, try to at least recycle any misused paper and to cut down on printing unnecessarily.

By monitoring the amount of paper that each printer is allotted, you could keep an eye on who is printing more than they could be and make an incentive for the members of staff who use the least. Furthermore, by asking staff to print in black and white or at a much lower resolution, money can be saved on black and coloured ink costs.

Communal coffee making

Staff are sometimes in the habit of brewing up for themselves depending on when they are thirsty. If this is the case, try to encourage them to boil the kettle for everyone and take it in turns to brew up. In large offices, kettles are often used around 10 times a day and can take around 4 minutes to boil, costing up to £54 a year for the business. If the office brewed up together, it would not only be a nice gesture but will save the amount of time the kettle is boiled. It may not seem like a lot, but it will save time, energy and costs synchronously.

Don’t let heat be blown away

Heating bills can be a large proportion of your energy bills and even the smallest changes can equal big savings. Just by turning the thermostat down by 1ºC can save upwards of 8% a year. Offices should usually be around 20ºC, and in most cases there is no need to be heating it more than this. After the room has been heated, try not to open windows as this allows all of the conserved energy to be immediately released and your money wasted. If it starts to get too hot, just turn the heating off until the room becomes more comfortable.

In the same way, air conditioning can also be a large outgoing. It should only be used when really needed, such as in times when there is no natural breeze outdoors and the temperature inside reaches over 24ºC. If the air outside is cool and breezy, why not open the windows and let the fresh air blow in? It will create a nicer environment in the room and save costs at the same time.

If the staff are aware of how much electricity and energy wastage is costing your business, they should take it upon themselves to help within the team. Just a small change to the closing of the office could make a massive difference alone, so why not ask them to help? Schedule a staff meeting and mention the benefits of cutting costs. You may find they are more concerned than you thought they were.

This information was provided by Business Electricity Prices, an electricity price comparison service for small and large businesses.

The company is an easy and useful service for any business that is looking to acquire the most competitive energy and electricity prices in the UK. They can be found at www.businesselectricityprices.org.uk/ .

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What George Osborne’s proposed ‘shares for rights’ scheme means for employees

Don’t let Facebook spoil your job search

2012-12-21T00:00:00+1:00

With the rise of social networking sites, hiring managers are able to access more information about prospective employees than ever before.

Right or wrong, companies are routinely harnessing the power of these networks to pre-vet candidates before issuing interview requests and job offers.

If you’ve got a Facebook account (and you probably do), the idea of businesses sifting through your bourgeoning collection of boozy personal snaps is likely to make you feel more than a little uneasy.
We’ve therefore put together a short guide to help you put your Facebook account in full ‘lockdown mode’, and ensure your job search isn’t ruined before it’s even started.

Changing Your Facebook Privacy Settings

Your Facebook privacy settings can be found by clicking the arrow at the top right of the page once logged in.

1.) Default post settings

First of all, you’ll want to change the default privacy of your next post (situated at the top of the privacy settings page). Rather than leaving your posts wide open to the world’s population, you’ll probably want to limit your updates to friends only by clicking the ‘Friends’ box.

2.) How you connect

If you want to make it more difficult for potential employers to hunt down your personal profile, go to ‘edit settings’ for How you connect. Change the ‘Who can look you up using the email address or phone number you provided?’ option so that only your friends can find you on search and friend finder.

3.) Timeline & tagging

The first page that hiring managers will come across when searching for you on Facebook will be your timeline, so you need to ensure there’s nothing on it that could be construed as offensive or paint you in a particularly bad light.

These are the settings you might like to adopt to keep your timeline under tighter control:

Friends, particularly close ones, aren’t always known for their thoughtfulness and sensitivity. Turning on the ‘review posts’ function will keep you out of trouble, letting you pre-vet potentially sensitive material before it appears on your timeline.

4.) Past posts

Even posts made years ago can come back to haunt you if you’re not careful. Fortunately, Facebook has introduced an option to ‘Limit the Audience for Past Posts’ to hide older posts from prying eyes.

Clicking ‘Manage Past Post Visibility’ and then ‘Limit Old Posts’ will ensure posts you’ve previously shared with ‘friends of friends’ or publicly will only be viewable to friends.

5.) Hiding photographs

Unless you have already restricted who can see your photo albums, it is fairly likely that anyone can access them.

To change this, click Home when logged in and then ‘Photos’ on the left-hand-side of the page. You can then click into each of your albums and modify the privacy settings for each.

What George Osborne’s proposed ‘shares for rights’ scheme means for employees

2012-10-19T00:00:00+1:00

By Laura Jennings.

There’s been much consternation in the employment law world recently with the release of the Beecroft report, continuing changes to employment tribunal procedures, and the director of social forum Politeia stating that maternity leave is not positive but instead a “great burden” on new mothers. With all this in mind, it’s clear that something needs to be done to create a better solution for both employers and employees.

At the Conservative Party conference on Monday 8th October, George Osborne revealed, what he believes is a scheme to change the way employment law works in the UK.

As an employee in the UK you are entitled to a certain number of rights. These rights include:

• access to the National Minimum Wage
• holiday entitlement
• sick pay
• maternity, paternity & adoption leave and pay
• the right to claim unfair dismissal

You can read more about these rights on the DirectGov website: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/index.htm.

George Osborne’s new proposal looks to scrap some of these rights in certain instances by introducing an ‘employee-owner’ scheme where workers could be given shares by their employer worth between £2,000 and £50,000. Any gains on these shares would be exempt from capital gains tax but in return, employees would have to sacrifice their rights to unfair dismissal, redundancy, requests for flexible working and time off for training. New mothers would also be required to give employees 16 weeks’ notice before taking maternity leave – double the current 8 weeks.

This initiative will not be brought in immediately, but could be fast-tracked to ensure legislation is in place from April 2013. Existing employees would have the choice to opt into the scheme but from April it could be made a compulsory condition of employment.

This proposal follows the report made by the venture capitalist Adrian Beecroft, which advised the Government on how to kick-start the economy. This report included a proposed compulsory ‘no fault’ dismissals for employees. Although this was rejected by the business secretary Vince Cable, who said he was opposed to a hire-and-fire culture, this new scheme from George Osborne - supposedly supported by the Liberal Democrats - does little to turn away from the ‘hire-and-fire’ culture, and could potentially put employees in a rather uncomfortable and unsecure position.

The scheme would give employers the opportunity to dodge a number of employment laws by giving staff access to an initial £2,000 bonus. These laws that protect our statutory rights have been put in place for a very valid reason – to protect the interest of employees.
In his speech, George Osborne backed up his scheme with statements from a number of influential professionals – including Beecroft himself who called the scheme a “creative and exciting version of proposals made in my report”.

The proposal from George Osborne may well help the country on its way to positive economic growth, but it may could be at the expense of those in employment, removing access to important rights which could leave them in a financially difficult situation. A solution that benefits the economy, business growth and workers has to be out there, whether this is the right one or not, we will have to wait and see.

Laura Jennings writes on behalf of Gordon Dean Solicitors LLP, a firm of employment law specialists from Norwich

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The Top 5 CV No-Nos

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The Top 5 CV No-Nos

2012-08-24T00:00:00+1:00

The job market has arguably never been more competitive, with hundreds of individuals frequently having to fight it out for just a handful of roles.

Employers only have enough time to interview a tiny percentage of these applicants, so it’s imperative that your first impression – that is, your CV – is as good as it can possibly be. That means making no mistakes whatsoever.

Around half of the CVs we receive contain at least one kind of error. And even the smallest of these can serve to undermine your entire application and throw away what could have been an excellent opportunity.

We’ve therefore compiled a list of our Top 5 CV No-Nos, which should help you iron out any creases in your CV:

1.) Poor spelling and grammar.

The number one gripe of employers everywhere, spelling mistakes and serious grammatical errors will see your CV rapidly rejected. Look at it from the employer’s perspective: if you can’t even proofread your own CV, how are you going to identify important mistakes at work?

2.) Superfluous information.

A candidate once sent us a CV that was 20 pages long and included his favourite singles, albums and films for every decade since 1950. Yes, it can be great to showcase some of your interests, but don’t let them overrun your CV. Remember, if a piece of information doesn’t strengthen your application, it probably shouldn’t be there.

3.) Clichés.

This is an easy trap to fall into due to the many poorly written CV templates floating around the internet. Rather than using dull, second-hand phrases, try to include very specific details about your abilities and experiences. Steer well clear of statements like ‘I always give a 100%’ (or, worse still, ‘I always give a 110%’!).

4.) Inappropriate fonts.

You want your CV to stand out, but not because you’ve used an extravagant, extra-large font. Arial and Times New Roman are two of the most readable typefaces, so there’s usually no need to break from tradition (the exception being if you’re a designer flaunting your creative abilities). Size 10 or 11 is appropriate for most CVs.

5.) Photos.

You’ll only ever be judged on your ability to perform the job for which you have applied. As such, there’s absolutely no need to include a photo in your CV. It takes up valuable ‘real estate’ in your CV that could have been used to communicate your key skills in greater detail.

Making your business a healthy workplace

2012-08-14T00:00:00+1:00

By Pierce Boylin.

Whether you’re a small, medium or large business, creating a healthy workplace for your employees is important. A healthy workplace is one in which your employees are fully engaged and committed to the business, and one that is free from debilitating conflict.

It has been shown that a large driver of growth and success is a workforce that is fully engaged with the company. Productivity goes up, innovation occurs, conflicts are easily resolved and efficiencies are achieved through employee engagement. And at the end of the day, it is all reflected in your bottom line.

Working smarter

Increasing productivity does not mean working longer and harder. It means working smarter and better to increase output, production and commitment. Indeed, a truly productive workforce is an engaged one.

It’s not about being a tough boss, but one that really leads his team towards achieving the company objectives. Engaging employees requires taking an active interest in your employees professionally and personally. There are many different HR solutions at your disposal to foster this sort of environment and creating a healthy workplace is an extremely effective one.

A healthy workplace is one in which your employees are happy. They enjoy coming into work, interacting with co-workers and clients, and feel satisfied in completing their duties. Often this sort of an attitude is best achieved by engaging your workforce. Thus, engagement and healthy workplaces go hand in hand.

Making employees feel valued

Making your employees feel as if they are an important and valued part of the organization is the first step. Taking an interest in their lives and development, both personal and professional, is a great way to do this. Personal fulfillment is something everyone hopes to achieve. Caring about the fulfillment your employees feel helps to create a healthy environment and an engaged workforce.

Creating a healthy workplace starts by really identifying the true culture that currently exists within the company. Sometimes it is best to hire outside HR consultants to get a truly objective picture of the company culture. At times, management and even employees can be too close to the organization to be objective about it. Once this has been realised, it’s important to take steps to remove destructive and unproductive conflicts that may arise because of it. Even if you feel your employees have a high tolerance to conflict, it should still be addressed.

A key priority

Consider implementing a number of HR solutions that are at your disposal. A “respectful workplace policy” would be an example of this. This is a set of guidelines that should steer employee conduct in the workplace. It should outline as much or as little as you feel necessary to address any potential issues your employees may face.

Creating a healthy workplace is an important part of running an effective and successful business. A positive working culture increases employee engagement, reduces absenteeism and lowers costs. Not fostering a healthy environment can actually limit the commitment and motivation of your employees. This is not an area any business owner should neglect.

Pierce Boylin is an author and blogger from Canada. He often contributes posts to various websites about business management. Learn more about human resources solutions from People First HR Services.

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5 ways to sell yourself effectively

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5 ways to sell yourself effectively

2012-07-23T00:00:00+1:00

By Bev James.

Whether you are looking for a new career opportunity, a promotion or trying to break into a new industry, your personal attitude and actions will be vital in creating a good impression.

In the case of interviews for a job, when times are competitive, you need to remain consistently alluring to employees and know how to impress. Here are 5 tips that can help you sell yourself effectively without stumbling over commonly-made mistakes.

1. Know your worth.

Being able to evaluate your own strengths and weaknesses objectively can be a tough job but you need to be realistic to successfully sell yourself.

Let’s say you are shopping for a new washing machine and you head to an electrics store to make a purchase. If the shop assistant can’t give you a detailed summary of the machine’s capabilities and features, then how can you know which model is best for you? It’s exactly the same in a hiring situation. If you can’t voice accurately what your best features and skills are, you will lose your chance at securing the job.

2. Practice common questions.

Doing your research reflects well on your first impressions. It ensures you are able to talk confidently about the market.

For example, one particularly common question is ‘why do you think you’d be a good candidate for the position?’ – It’s easy to list your skills and leave it at that, but if you’ve done adequate research, you can be more specific. Perhaps you will know which areas in their company they are looking to develop. Is this an area your expertise fits in? Maybe you have read new data regarding this market and have some suggestions from experience on changing working methods.

By doing your homework, you are far better equipped to answer questions in a way that shows off both your skills and interest in the role.

3. Always be yourself.

It is never a good idea to lie on our CV, no matter how tempting it might be. You will always be caught out.

If you manage to cheat your way through an interview thanks to a falsified CV, chances are you will forever have to be on your toes to cover up a lie, and it’s not worth the hassle.

Employers know their industry inside and out and will know when you aren’t being sincere. If you feel like you haven’t got as much experience or qualifications as you think they are expecting, play on your other strengths and give an example of how you are able to better yourself instead. What they want is an adaptable employee, not a liar.

4. Market yourself.

In sales, products are marketed to enhance their visibility and increase units sold. Think of yourself as a product in the same way. Make efforts to ensure others will see you in a positive way and consider you for jobs. This could be on social media or through a networking event. Your CV will be the first thing a potential employee will know about you, but point them in the direction where they can find out more, and you will stand out amongst the crowd, particularly if you are already engaging in their industry.

5. Sell yourself through questions

In an interview situation, there will be opportunities to ask questions. Never neglect this opportunity. By asking questions, you automatically show your enthusiasm for the role and company.

If you don’t have any questions regarding job details, why not get more information about the company? They will be flattered that you’ve asked and you can show that you see a future at the business if you’ve asked questions about long term plans.

No questions can easily translate into ‘no interest’, so plan ahead, and pick some questions.

Bev James is MD of The Coaching Academy, a life coaching training school based in the UK.

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What not to do in an interview

2012-06-21T00:00:00+1:00

Most hiring managers appreciate that interviewing can be a stressful experience.

For this reason, many are happy to overlook the odd mistake or two when quizzing candidates on their suitability for a role.

However, some slip-ups are not so easily forgotten and can undo an otherwise impeccable interview in an instant.

To help ensure your interview goes according to plan, we’ve put together what we believe are some of the worst offences. These should be avoided at all costs (don’t say we didn’t warn you!).

You should never:

1. Lay into your previous boss.

However difficult it may have been working under your last boss, you’re playing with fire if you dwell on this point. It can give the impression that you find it difficult taking orders, or that you may voice discontent a little too freely in the future. It’s much better to focus on positive reasons for seeking a job change, such as a fresh challenge or the desire to develop new skills.

2. Bring up salary.

Of course money will be a key factor when weighing up new opportunities. However, you need to show you are genuinely motivated by the opportunity in front of you as opposed to just the financial reward. Unless the company brings up the issue themselves, it’s safer to leave salary negotiations for another time. You’ll also be in a stronger negotiating position once they’ve decided you’re the best person for the job.

3. Forget to ask good questions.

At the end of an interview, you’ll almost always get asked if you’ve got any questions. Whatever you do, don’t say ‘no’. They will expect you to ask at least a few relevant questions to show you’ve considered the job seriously. It offers you a fantastic space to sell yourself, so make this a priority when preparing for the interview.

4. Stray from the question.

Interviewers spend a lot of time putting together questions they feel will help them identify the right candidate, so they won’t appreciate you skirting around them. Always listen carefully to what you are being asked and make sure you consistently provide concise and relevant responses.

5. Turn up late or far too early.

Arriving late for an interview is the cardinal sin of interviewing, but turning up way too early can really irritate employers too. You need to bear in mind that your interview is unlikely to be the only one that day. The hiring manager will be working to a tight schedule, so make sure you get off to a good start by turning up a few minutes before the scheduled time.

6. Fail to prepare.

Interview preparation takes many forms, from carrying out company research to assembling a body of work. If you haven’t sufficiently prepared it will become painfully obvious to the hiring manager. If you’re doing a PowerPoint presentation, don’t assume everything will run smoothly; as well as putting your presentation on a USB stick and sending it to your e-mail address, be sure to print hard copies to cater for technical mishaps.

7. Dress inappropriately.

There’s never an excuse for turning up to an interview looking scruffy or unprofessional. Your appearance is the one thing you have full control over for an interview, so don’t waste all your hard work by getting this part wrong. Even if you’re only invited in for a ‘casual chat’, it’s advisable to dress as if you were attending a full interview.

8. Overrun your allotted time.

If you’ve been asked to do a ten minute presentation, make sure you keep it to ten minutes. Failing to do so will make it seem like you’ve not really practiced beforehand. It’s great if you’ve got loads to talk about, but keeping within the time limit will show you can both follow instructions and get your message across effectively.

If you’ve got any other interview hiccups you’d like to throw into the mix, please leave a comment below!

25 Twitter Job Search Tips

2012-06-07T00:00:00+1:00

With 400 million tweets sent every day, Twitter is not only a highly effective networking tool but also one of the most powerful search engines out there.

Despite this, it remains largely underutilised by those looking for work. Used in the right way, Twitter can be more effective than traditional job search methods, and help savvy jobseekers discover new opportunities long before anyone else.

To set you on the path of Twitter job search success, we’ve put together our best 25 Twitter Job Search Tips:

1.) Put a CV link in your bio. You can put your CV online with free services such as Dropbox.

2.) Utilise Twitter’s in-built search to find relevant opportunities. Use key phrases such as ‘we are hiring’ or ‘vacancy for a’, along with a location, to discover suitable job ads.

3.) Look out for Twitter IDs on business cards, e-mails and websites to grow your network. You never know when these contacts may come in handy.

4.) Set up Twitter application Twilert to receive automatic e-mail alerts when individuals tweet certain keywords and phrases e.g. ‘hiring a web developer’.

5.) Save your searches for future use. Just click the cog to the right of the search box, and your search criteria will be readily available next time you log in.

6.) Follow recruiters within your niche. Many will tweet new job opportunities as they become available.

7.) Use Twitter search engine TwitJobSearch. This cuts through a lot of the noise on the Twittersphere to display jobs relevant to you.

8.) Engage with individuals involved within your subject area. Building a rapport with key contacts could serve you well in the future.

9.) Tweet about opportunities you’re interested in. Many recruiters will keep a watch out for updates like these, and will get in touch if they have anything suitable.

10.) Don’t be controversial. Remember that your next employer could be reading your tweets, so it’s best to steer clear of offensive language or anything else that could cause a stir.

11.) Follow companies you’re interested in working for. They are likely to post up new jobs from time to time, and it’ll also help you get a feeling for their brand.

12.) Make sure your contact details are easily available, either in your bio or on a CV you link to. Don’t rely on companies to contact you via Twitter alone.

13.) Sign up to directory Twellow to improve the chances of your Twitter profile getting found.

14.) Link to your LinkedIn profile in your bio. LinkedIn offers more space to highlight your business achievements, and will help companies judge your suitability for new roles.

15.) Personalise your profile background. This is a great opportunity for you to showcase your creativity – something that will be particularly relevant to graphic and web designers.

16.) Use Topsy to discover historical tweets. Individuals who were hiring before may well be hiring again in the future, so it’s worth following these.

17.) Don’t overdo it. Too many job-related tweets could make you seem desperate, so limit these to a sensible amount and combine them with more informative tweets.

18.) Make full use of hashtags. Most companies use hashtags when tweeting new jobs (e.g. #wearehiring or #jobs), and searching against these is a good way of quickly finding new roles.

19.) Upload a profile picture. Again, best to keep it professional, which generally means no drunken photos or strange poses.

20.) Make sure your bio contains your job title and a few key skills. This will improve the visibility of your profile on both Twitter and Google.

21.) Reach out to key individuals. By this, we don’t mean direct message everyone asking them for a job. Instead, try asking them for advice or offer them your opinion on a specific topic to get a conversation started.

22.) Make sure you don’t miss any important messages or updates by logging in on a regular basis. If you own a smartphone or tablet, it’s worth downloading Twitter’s official app.

23.) Use your real name. Companies may want to do a bit of research before they contact you.

24.) Follow events within your industry. Meeting like-minded individuals in person can be a great way to learn about new opportunities.

25.) Follow @intapeople for regular job advice.

If you’ve got any more suggestions on how to use Twitter to find a job, we’d love to hear them. Please add your comments below!

Should I accept a counteroffer?

2012-05-08T00:00:00+1:00

The situation is a familiar one. After months of craving a fresh challenge, an improved financial package, and a role that better suits your skills, you land a job offer that seems to tick all the boxes.

Your resignation letter in hand, you build up the courage to tell your boss the bad news and get ready to start an exciting new chapter of your life.

However, just when you think the hard part’s over and done with, you’re hit with a counteroffer that seems to change everything. But does it really?

The answer is, most probably, no.

Of course every counteroffer should be judged on its own merits, and you should always think carefully before making decisions of this nature. But more often than not, it’s going to work out better for you if you resist the flattery of the counteroffer and move on to pastures new.

These are our top five reasons why you should probably reject that counter offer:

1.) Why didn’t it come sooner?

If your employer is so quick to offer you more money, why didn’t they do it earlier? It is a clear indication that they probably knew your true worth all along, but have opted to do nothing in the hope that you wouldn’t bring it up. It shouldn’t take a resignation letter for you to secure a pay rise.

2.) More work heading your way.

Sure, you’ll be financially better off than you were before, but you can expect to be a lot busier too. You’ll be made to earn the extra salary - meaning your days are going to be longer, your deadlines are going to be shorter, and your workload is going to be bigger.

3.) Your card is marked.

If you think things are going to carry on as they were before, think again. Now you’ve handed in your resignation, you’ll be forevermore viewed as a defector. This means that if your company ever needs to make cutbacks, your head is likely to be first on the chopping block ahead of ‘more loyal’ employees.

4.) The last pay rise for a long time.

The counteroffer may give you a decent pay rise for now, but think how difficult it’s going to be wangling another increase at a later date. With a new job, you won’t have this weighing on your mind when making future pay requests. Additionally, you’ll probably see your pay automatically bumped up within six months or so anyway.

5.) The root issues remain.

Getting counter-offered might make you feel warm and fuzzy inside, but it’s important to remember why you resigned in the first place. Many individuals move on because they feel they are poorly managed. Others because their talents are underutilised or unappreciated. Just because your boss has suddenly decided to flash the cash, don’t think that these issues are going to disappear.

Attracting top talent (and keeping it there!)

2012-02-29T00:00:00+1:00

There may be high rates of unemployment across the UK, but the ‘war for talent’ is just as competitive as ever.

Individuals with specialist skills continue to be in high demand, with businesses looking to innovate their way through tougher economic times. And just as important, of course, is hanging on to those individuals who are already considered ‘key players’.

We've put together a short infographic that summarises the talent attraction methods that are currently working the best for other businesses, and why staff retention is so important in 2012.

Please click here, or on the image below, to access the full-size version of the infographic.

Blog for us

2012-02-28T00:00:00+1:00

We are always keen to hear from individuals and businesses interested in blogging for us.

If you would like to contribute some content to the IntaPeople blog, please send your ideas through to website@intapeople.com and we will get back to you as soon as we can.

Blog posts are on a voluntary basis, but we are happy to link back to your website at the bottom of the article.

Please note that posts should be:

• A minimum 400 words in length;
• 100% original and exclusive (please don’t distribute elsewhere afterwards);
• Written to a high standard of English;
• On a recruitment-related topic (either aimed at job seekers or companies taking on staff)

It is worth dropping by http://www.intapeople.com/blog/ to familiarise yourself with the type of content we’ve published in the past. If you’ve got any questions, please get in touch!