Top performers. They are most often the true indicator of a company’s culture and are part of the integral root  system of a company’s success. They are the first to speak up and also the first to pursue feedback. What they will not do is sit idle.

These individuals know how to push the right buttons of a corporation by continuously seeking improvement, not just  their own improvement but for the greater good of the company. The biggest risk for a company is to not create an  environment that supports their abilities. Their insights often could provide the means to key business improvements and directions. (https://coles-autorepair.com)

By understanding the nature of a top performer, you can take their energy and inspiration and use it to grow other  future top performers. Everyone can benefit from a mentor. These power employees know this value and seek out  mentors for themselves. Their thoughtful communication style engenders teams to them. People want to be in their keep.

Stack power employees together and you get phenomenal teams and powerful collaborators. They thrive on each other’s  energy and provide high level strategy and offer a boldness to try new things. They are innovators and executors.

When they set goals they think of them in terms of what they really need to be doing. These types of people think  about ways to maximize opportunities and leverage their potential. They visualize their success. They are seriously  good at measuring themselves for improvement and look for points where they can take calculated risks and prove successful.

Many of the companies that make it on Top 100 lists have an impressive roster of power employees. There’s a reason these companies can reach breakaway success in their industries.

What makes your power employees stand out?

Reprinted from WOW FUN PEOPLE

Related to Power Employees:

• Company culture as a recruiting technique
• Employee retention ideas – ideas for retaining top performers
• Effective mentoring – the structure of learning relationships

The post Power Employees- Who they are and what makes them great appeared first on BC Jobs Blog.

Some tips on how to avoid key mistakes.  Hey – it’s in the details.

Read the job description. Apply for a position that is relevant to your work experience. Don’t apply to jobs that are irrelevant or well beyond your experience level. If this experience has been gained through a co-op placement or academic courses, this should be highlighted in a cover letter. Be clear.

Highlight your experience. In this tight job market, the most clear and relevant resume will get face time. Think about your experience and highlight in a sentence or two where you have made achievements in the area related to the job you are applying for. Make sure that your resume shows no signs of the last job application you made – check for job objective and statements of your key skills. This is your chance to highlight key accomplishments that are measurable and endorsable by a reference.  You can translate past experience into relevant work or volunteer highlights by showing examples of skill. For example, “In my role at ABC Company, I took the initiative to change courier companies. This provided ABC Company with better service level and cost savings!” (Your initiative is what will stand out)

The cover letter.  And you thought preparing the resume was a drag. The cover letter is a key tool to getting short-listed. Too many people overlook this. It is the ‘executive summary’ of your resume. This is an opportunity for you to highlight your best points. If you are emailing your resume, you will want to treat the email body of the text as the ‘official’ cover letter – don’t add it as an attachment! This is the place where you can paraphrase one of your past employer’s or past professor’s statements about your skill set.

Keep track of jobs you’ve applied for.  Nothing is more embarrassing or unprofessional than sending off your resume, or applying for a job online, then getting a phone call from a prospective employer and having no idea who they are and what job it was you were applying for. Keep detailed notes of when, where and to whom you have sent your resume. Keep a copy of the cover letter or email text you sent each person. Do your research on the company so that you are informed. The internet is a gift.

Beware of carelessness when emailing attachments. Safest bet is to name your personalized resume for the specific job you’ve applied to by your first and last name and current year (i.e. Jane Smith 2009).  Save your resume as an RTF file – this way the reader cannot see all of your ‘work in progress’ changes made to the resume.  And I know I’ve said it before, but consider the photo you have in your Facebook or Linkedin profile – many companies now have the Outlook plug-in ‘xobni’ which attaches your profile picture to your email account. Only the xobni user will see this. Keep it professional – you can now be seen!

Too public, too hasty. Remember this when sending out your resume by email: if you send your resume to multiple unrelated prospect companies, including agencies, and cc them in the same email, you will most likely be deleted. This action shows a distinct lack of judgement and consideration of privacy, both theirs and yours. And read and re-read not only your resume but also the cover letter that goes in the body of your email. Grammatical errors will move you down the list very quickly. Consider getting one of your professors, past or current, to review it. They can also provide value by acting as one of your references.

Your job search is your recipe for success.  It takes time to get it right. Only you know the secret ingredients. And in this fast moving information age, take the steps to make sure you set up your ‘job search ingredients’ to get the best outcome!

Related to Be Strategic About Your Job Hunt:

• Writing a Compelling Cover Letter
• Skills Inventory
• Passing the Telephone Screening Interview

The post Be Strategic About Your Job Hunt appeared first on BC Jobs Blog.

Temporary staffing is an excellent resource to utilize during times like this. While many companies might not be hiring for as many permanent positions at this time, taking on a temporary assignment might actually win you a job in a great company!

How? You ask.  For starters, employers are more wary when considering new additions to their team. Getting a chance to ‘check out’ a prospect employee on the job is ideal.  In many cases the temporary employee is not doing work of their full capability. Adaptability to changing environments will be key in this new economy. What will stand out to a company is the individual’s ability to take on a variety of tasks with ease. Doing short-term work with a smile on one’s face and a ‘pitch in and help out’ attitude is exactly what is on an employer’s checklist. Times are difficult for everyone right now and true team players are critical to optimizing effectiveness in a company. No slackers need apply!

Your mandate to optimizing your temporary staffing experience:

• Be flexible to the types of assignments you are offered, you never know what kind of company you might end up at and what opportunities lie within.
• Consider this work as a chance to expand your business network of contacts. In this market ‘who you know’ is more important than ‘what you know’!

Many of our temporary employees have commented ‘that was an amazing experience! Thank you for the opportunity!’ ‘I could never have done this without you’! A service oriented staffing agency can and will deliver results for you if you present an open mind and desire to experience new places and try out new roles.

Best case scenario: temporary employment also gives you a chance to check out a prospect company! They may not be on an active employee search but if you are well placed by the staffing agency and prove to be a great fit for the company there is a good chance that the company could find a spot for you. Worst case: the company loves you but just can’t add additional staff. You still make an income and also keep your skills sharpened by active employment. You will also take home a better understanding of your ideal work environment.

Maybe, after all, you really are suited to working in a more creative office setting. Unless you try, you will never know where you fit best.

Articles Related to Topsy-Turvey Job Market

• Planning a Career for the New Economy
• Networking Advice
• Skills Inventory

The post Topsy-Turvy Job Market – Temp it out for a change! appeared first on BC Jobs Blog.

Everybody e-mails everyone nowadays. Employers are constantly inundated with online information. In the battle for the best job you don’t want to be lost in your prospective boss’s e-mail inbox.

First stop: get carded. Get yourself some basic business cards. Your name, professional e-mail account and primary contact number are really all that is needed. If you have recently graduated, put your university or college and the graduation year. Keep it simple. At the job interview, don’t forget to get their business card so that you have the correct information for followup.

Next up, your resumé. Get someone who is good with details to review this most important document before you send it off to your prospective boss. Typos will lose points in this game. Spend a few extra cents and get good-quality paper stock. Regular printer paper can look flimsy. And while it is so easy to e-mail your resumé, you may wish to take home advantage and first drop off an original copy at the office. Attach a cover sheet as well as your business card.

Deliver the goods. This “delivery” gives you a chance to see the office environment for the first time and will certainly make you feel more at ease when you go in for the interview. For the boldest approach, ask to speak with the contact you were directing the resumé to. Your reason for stopping by: “I thought this would give me an opportunity to see the office environment before I come in for my formal interview.” The truth may get you far!

Say thank you. It’s such a simple concept and yet so overlooked in the generation Y era. That is, a thank you note not sent via cyberspace. A trip to the local card store will arm you with a box of basic thank you notes. For those that prefer a more personalized approach, you can order personalized note card stock. Keep your content short and simple and easy to read. If you have lots of business cards put another one in this note.

OK. Now you can e-mail. You are always welcome to send an e-mail version to your prospective employer. Mention in the text of the e-mail that you dropped off an original resumé and are sending the e-mail version as followup. The more chances you can get an employer thinking about you the better (and look thorough by doing so).
So, get out and conquer. And don’t forget to pick up some stamps on your way.

Sarah McNeill is the chief acceleration officer at McNeill Nakamoto Recruitment Group, a 12-year-old employment company known for its exceptional staffing experiences. For  more than 10 years, McNeill Nakamoto has been building a fan club by delivering consistent results –qualified talent that ‘fits’.

Articles related to Get retro not techno:

• Top Five Business Card Design Tips
• Resume Advice
• The interview is over – now what?

The post Get retro not techno: go old school in your job search appeared first on BC Jobs Blog.

Here’s a true story. After I hired a person who sailed through all of our interviews, I discovered that she was chronically late to work. On top of that, she had indiscriminate party pictures on her Facebook profile— photos she would routinely view on the company’s dime. Every day she would look at her pictures, check her profile and instant message (IM) friends. She was neglecting her responsibilities, and it wound up hurting my business.

In today’s business world, with technology racing at the speed of light, keeping up with online trends is becoming more and more relevant. I realized that in order to hire employees of value, I needed to use the Internet to my advantage. With so many members of Generation Y surfing the Web, it’s becoming necessary for entrepreneurs to leverage the Internet as an extra source of reference.

Nowadays, before I hire someone, I Google their names and check message boards and Web sites for anything that would alert a red flag. The popularity of social-networking sites like Facebook, Myspace and Friendster can tell you more than you ever wanted to know about your prospective hire. I also take a look at their e-mail addresses and IM names to see if anything seems out of the ordinary. It may sound like small stuff, but every detail matters.

As an entrepreneur, I’m continually faced with roadblocks when it comes to hiring the right employee. While there are no shortcuts to a perfect hire, leveraging technology will help me get a better understanding of social-networking sites and newer generations. After all, when it comes to your company, you can never be too informed.

Related to Social Networking and Your Staff:

• Company culture as a recruiting technique
• Four generations in the workplace
• Hiring Employees – Seven Winning Strategies

The post Social Networking and Your Staff appeared first on BC Jobs Blog.

Did another job slip away from you? Did you feel like you got fired before you got hired? Ever wonder why? There are so many dos and don’ts when it comes to jobsearch etiquette, yet many fail to mention painfully obvious and everyday things that could actually cost you a job. There was a day when securing a job meant you had two or three neat references, a well-presented resume and a professional home-phone voice mail. With technology racing ahead at lightspeed, an audit of your online persona needs to be considered. Consider it boot camp for your career.

With companies now using the Internet as an additional reference source, is your online presence squeaky clean? Have you considered Googling yourself or considered your profile on message boards? The popularity of social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace and Friendster may leave you without the job you desire if you don’t consider what prospective employers might not want to know about you. Take a few minutes to assess your social networking profiles and limit what the outside world might be seeing. Consider the photos you attach to written accounts as well as your profile photo – every picture tells a story. What’s yours saying? You may have a clean profile but remember, not everyone you know may have your best interests in mind. Remove any inappropriate tags in other people’s photo albums. Everybody doesn’t need to know about last weekend.

That little sidekick of yours, namely your Blackberry or cellphone, must reflect the person you wish to be, not the party animal you were on Saturday night. A voice mail greeting bellowing“Hey, hey, you know what to do,” will not inspire future bosses to leave you a job offer. Consider your ringtone if it were to go off accidentally at your place of work. (https://www.wmpg.org) Is it appropriate? Converting instant messaging identities to e-mail addresses? Did you ever stop to think if ‘cutiepie’ or ‘j4zzdude1087’ was going to land you the job? Perhaps try ‘yourname@gmail.com’ instead. See if you get any callbacks.

Blogging on public sites can be so cool but so permanent. Those inspired late-night blogs may leave you with a bad feeling the next time you remember to check what you’ve pontificatedon. Would your boss approve?

Be safe and keep political and personal issues out of your online conversations and postings. Also, blogging about how much you despise your current job situation or boss is a definite no-no.

A quick checklist to ensure your online persona is employment-ready:
• A conservative e-mail address;
• A professional outgoingvoice-mail message; and
• A clean Internet profile.

If you don’t want the world to read about it or see it, don’t post it. The Internet is public and information found on it is, inmany cases, permanent. And don’t forget about your personal blog. It may make you hip in your social circle, but if it is accessible to the general public you may wish to do some serious spring-cleaning or plan on keeping that dead-end job. And like the dentist, don’t forget regular online check ups. It’s your career.

Related to Online Audit:

• Resume Advice
• Employers are searching your online profiles

The post Online audit of Internet persona appeared first on BC Jobs Blog.

Brand.
Companies have them. At least, the good to great ones do. But have you ever considered if you have one and what people think about you? Some people might call it your image.
I see it as far more than that. And the proof is found when good to great companies connect with you. In these uncertain economic times, the best opportunities will be few and far between. That is the current reality. Companies will only bring on superstars that can positively affect their bottom line. If you are not clear on who you wish to be or to become then you might lose out on some great opportunities.

What can you do?
Consider how you can stand out from the pack. I’m not talking about buying a bright red tie or wearing edgy glasses. Your brand can be found in your steadiness and trustworthiness in doing what you say you will do. Take time to shortlist your strengths and talents. What makes you feel most empowered? Take note of what you are doing when you feel that way. Perhaps it is from the compliments you receive from others where you will begin to define your brand.

What makes you memorable and irresistible to an employer?
Know this sweet spot and you will have your choice of excellent job offers. Your brand is also your track record; what your references say about you and the consistent themes that emerge define your brand. Your references are your most important ambassadors for future employment opportunities.
Make sure to stay in touch with past supervisors and keep them updated on your career. Don’t leave them without any contact for years only to have a potential employer call them out of the blue and leave them grasping for memories they may have of you. A courtesy call to your past supervisor when you are interviewing with a company will help you more than you could imagine. Give them the summary of the job you desire and how you feel you fit the bill. Make it easy for the references to rave about you.
When you are in the spot-light of an interview and the inevitable ‘tell me about yourself’ statement comes up, the way you define yourself will make or break your potential with that employer. Your statement should be relevant to your audience a.k.a. your new potential boss.
If you are interviewing for a position in sales and the fact you knew from childhood that your competitiveness in sports would lead you to pursue a career in sales make this a story worth telling. Just remember the context and the time you have to tell it. You define your own success.

Who do you think you are?
This is a question you should ask yourself many times as you progress along in your career. As you grow and evolve, the more you will understand yourself, your strengths and your vision of career success and happiness.

This is a lifelong adventure! Expect it and embrace it.
Enjoy your brand!

Sarah McNeill is the chief acceleration officer at McNeill Nakamoto Recruitment Group, a 12-year-old employment company known for its exceptional staffing experiences. E-mail askme@mcnak.com or visit www.mcnak.com

Related to  Brand You – Who do you think you are?

• Clues to your Strengths & Passions
• Your Job Search Elevator Pitch
• Meet 1000 people — become a connector

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