5 Simple Things Positive People Say Every Single Day

5 Simple Things Positive People Say Every Single Day When all else fails, your attitude  is what will truly define the final outcome. Some  people confuse positivity with ignorance, being unrealistic or naive. But in my eyes, it couldnt be further from it. Being positive  means having confidence in your own abilities, other people and your endeavours. It means being able to critically assess and address a situation, and keep spirits high. Negativity really is an ugly thing. In all situations its important to be realistic and have back-up plans, considering all potential scenarios, but believing something is doomed before youve even given it a chance at success is  a self-fulfilling prophecy. On the flip-side, truly believing in something means youre likely to give it everything youve got, therefore it will be more likely to work out in your favour. Peoples attitudes are  contagious. If you want to bring a bit more energy and positivity into your own life and others too try saying these simple things. But be warned, it has to be with a smile and the smile has to be genuine. 1. Hello Okay it sounds really obvious that any  given person would probably say hello on any given day, regardless of being positive or not.  But positive people tend to say hello in  situations where they  could easily not say it,  and ignore.  It doesnt matter whether its the person next to you in the lift or the guy  waiting for the same train.  Youd be amazed what simply saying hello can do for your mood and the recipients. 2. How are you? Go the extra step and ask how people are. Positive people tend to ooze a confident selflessness that makes others feel special and appreciated. Asking how someone is might be just what an upset person needs to pull them out of a black hole. 3. Sounds great Positive people arent naysayers. They dont critique peoples ideas unnecessarily nor do they try to bring people down. Instead, positive people always try to see the good in things; the potential that exists. They support people, and genuinely want the best for others. They arent the first to pick out errors or potential problems they offer sound advice, but only after showing their interest and encouragement. 4. Id love to Positive people dont close the door on unknown opportunities; they give things a go and give themselves as many chances at success as possible. They dont say no, no, no all the time; they get involved in a lot of different activities and benefit from all the new experiences and opportunities. 5. Thank you Positive people show gratitude where they should, and give credit where credits due.  Showing appreciation and saying thank you  makes  people more likely to want to help out again  in future. Saying thank you means the positive person has  identified the value someone has added, which in itself can lift their mood. It feels good to say thank you, both for the person who says it and the one whos receiving the message. Negative people are quick to judge, look for a hidden agenda or jump to conclusions, and failing to properly acknowledge someones work will likely discourage them from similar behaviours in future. Being positive can be easier said than done, especially when youre feeling like youre drowning in work or that what youre working on is totally hopeless. But changing your attitude and doing or saying simple things to lift your mood and those of others is a great place to start. Being open to new ideas and supportive of projects and ideas you hear about will set you with greater chances for success!

How to Recognise Workplace Bullying

How to Recognise Workplace Bullying Bullying is something that most people have had either first or second-hand experience of at some point in their lives.  Don’t just think it’s something that’s reserved for high school. Bullying is something that most people have had either first or second-hand experience of at some point in their lives.  Don’t just think it’s something that’s reserved for high school. Workplace bullying is a common occurrence, with many employees who go through it too scared to speak up. To avoid these situations, below are some pointers on how to recognise bullying in the workplace. Anxiety For those who have never experienced anxiety, you may not even realise it’s happening. Common sensations for sufferers include a constant feeling of heaviness on your chest and the inability to take a full breath and calm yourself down. Anxiety will disrupt sleeping patterns and leave you unable to focus your thoughts. It can also make your feel nauseous and can even lead to severe health conditions such as depression. If you’re feeling the symptoms of anxiety during your workdays, it could be a signal that you are experiencing bullying in the workplace. Intimidation Just because someone might be your boss, does not mean they have the right to boss you around. Yes, they can allocate tasks and advise on where improvements can be made, but they can’t dictate to you, threaten you, or make you feel guilty about any aspect of your work. Intimidation can also occur with fellow employees. You are at work to do your job and anything in addition to your set tasks should be done at your own choosing, not because someone harassed or pestered you into doing it for them. The Blame Game Fear for being blamed or judged on your own work should not be a daily ordeal. You should never feel as though you can’t do anything right in your role because, if that were really the case, you wouldn’t have the job in the first place. Co-workers who criticise your work without ever giving praise or who drop you into the fire when they don’t want to take the blame for something themselves are perfect examples of workplace bullies. Aggressive Behaviour Yes, some people are just eternally angry by nature, but that doesn’t mean that these aggressive tendencies should ever be directed at you. Workplaces are all about dealing with various mixes of personalities. If there are cranky people about, you learn to avoid them unless you need them. If you are continually finding yourself in the firing line though, to the point where it is affecting your own work comfort, then this issue should be addressed sooner rather than later. You should not be afraid to go to work. With no simple definition of workplace bullying out there, it can be hard to be clear about what it is you’re actually going through. The best solution is to directly tackle any concern you might be having, no matter how silly it might seem to you. Then, if it turns out to be a misunderstanding, you can both move on. But, if not, the issue is out in the open and you can take the next step towards sorting through it and eliminating the bullying behaviour. If an instance or series of instances of workplace bullying has caused you significant emotional (or even physical) suffering, it could also be a good idea to contact a firm that specialises in personal injury cases, such as Patinos Personal Lawyers, to see if compensation could be worth pursuing. Have you or someone you know ever experienced bullying in the workplace? If so, how did you/they deal with it?  Let us know below!

How to Start Your Own Recruitment Business The Dream Continues...

How to Start Your Own Recruitment Business The Dream Continues... Thanks to everyone who read and shared my 1st article, I’m now 7 months into the process, which the eagle eyed of you may realise is a full month later than I was hoping, with the reason for this being how crazily busy my life has become! So, if you read the 1st part of this blog, which I’m sure will have been beautifully hyperlinked by Laurence [it sure has been Laurence], you’ll know that I quit the luxury of a paid job in recruitment (after almost 8 years with the same company) to go it alone.  And wow has it been some ride! The first deal: Where to start? Well, let’s talk about that first deal. It took me just over 8 weeks to get my first deal in as ABrecruit, which I think is pretty decent considering everything that I have done is new business â€" I had to start again without the database that I had come to rely on in my last role, and bringing in new clients when you’re a newly started company with nobody else firing you CVs or leads (as I had been used to) is very tough.  I managed to source a new company, and one of the first applicants I sent them ended up securing the role with a salary he was happy with. As I closed my first deal I had a sense of elation â€" I had done it working for myself AND generating cash flow! My kids were proud of me too, with my eldest making me a certificate to say well done which is now proudly sitting on my wall and will do forever more as a reminder of quite how hard I worked for it. It was brilliant to go out for a few drinks with the guy I placed, and he was genuinely made up for me too that he was my 1st placement as the new company. I’m pleased to say he flew through his rebate period too! I’ve managed to sign up a few clients on retainers, as well as securing contract business (I used a payroll factoring company for this, link available on request) which is great as it gives me a chance to learn their businesses far better and provide a great service to them. Touching wood as I write this (because I believe in all that mumbo jumbo!) but I’ve been pretty lucky with my clients paying on time, and nobody ignoring my calls for payment since I started.  I’ve made sure that every invoice I send out has a payment due date on it and refer to it in the email I send with the invoice on to just make double sure that the client are aware! Collaborating: Something I have been doing more of lately is something that I was told to avoid at all costs in my old company: collaborating with other recruiters! Yes, I’ve been put in touch with some really great people in the recruitment industry and as well as advice I have been lucky to have some roles that I am working on with these people on a split basis, and vice versa. Networking: I’ve also started my own MeetUp group which isn’t a .Net focus, but more agnostic in terms of skills. And as a result of my networking and starting groups like this I’ve been invited to another event that is usually only for developers â€" whilst it is great for networking, I’m genuinely excited to be learning more about the development process, and would like to be the type of recruiter that people can rely on to understand their technology requirements fully, instead of just another keyword matching drone. I’m still working crazy hours (I’m yet to be privy to the ‘golf day’ culture of many company directors I’m afraid), and I barely stop for a cup of tea; but I’ve managed a weekend away with my wife and kids recently which was great â€" I was checking my emails the whole time though and even managed to get an offer while I was away! Summary: So, to summarise, I absolutely love working for myself, I see my kids far more, spend more quality time with my wife, and the flexibility of my working day has allowed me to fulfil a dream of mine for a long time too â€" I’m now the manager of an U7 football team (which my daughter is actually playing in!), and am signed up to take my Level 1 football coaching badge.  Thanks for reading and the very best of luck if you decide to take the plunge! (P.S. If anyone reading this needs .Net developers, you know where to find me!) UPDATE: How to Start Your Own Recruitment Business Part 3!

The Trick To Answering Trick Interview Questions - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

The Trick To Answering Trick Interview Questions - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career It is hard enough to get interviews in today’s extremely challenging job market, so when you do get on the field of play, it is absolutely critical that you make it count! Notice I said, “field of play.” If you have been following my blogs and/or have read “Headhunter” Hiring Secrets: The Rules of the Hiring Game Have Changed . . . Forever!, you know that the best way to win new career opportunities is to view the hiring process as a “game,” because that’s what it is! And you must further realize that this game, like all games, has rules, many of which are new and all of which you must learn to effectively play by if you want to land a new job in today’s job market. The rules of the game In this blog I am going to address one of those rules: If a candidate selection comes down to just two finalists, both of whom have essentially equal talents and skills, the hiring company will almost always select the candidate who comes across as the most positive when answering interview questions and/or otherwise interacting with the hiring manager and others at the hiring company. How is that determination oftentimes made? Usually, it’s during the final “questions and answers” phase of the candidate interviews. One of the key points I make in “Headhunter” Hiring Secrets is that, today, companies don’t play “fair” when it comes to the “hiring game,” and certainly they don’t! This fact is clearly illustrated during the final interview stages, when the questionsâ€"“trick” questionsâ€" asked are designed to accomplish one primary goal: To “trip up,” if possible, the unwary candidate, thereby providing ample reason(s) to eliminate one candidate and choose another for the position under consideration. The tricky questions The hiring company’s job search has winnowed down to two final candidates, both of whom could easily be selected for the available position. The hiring manager poses this question to each candidate: “Why would you consider leaving your current company?” Candidate one: “My current company just doesn’t seem to ‘get it.’ There are so many opportunities in the marketplace today for the company to make a real difference, especially in the service department, but the company just keeps messing up. So that’s why I’m now looking.” Candidate two: “I have really enjoyed working for my current company and have learned a great deal. That is why I am impressed with your company. I view your company as one that is making a real difference in the marketplace and, at the same time, providing great service to your customers. I am excited about the possibility of bringing my skills and experience to a culture like yours.” Who fell into the trap? Can you detect the differences between these two responses? Candidate one clearly brands himself as negative, while candidate two clearly brands herself as quite positive, even though it could easily be inferred that she probably has as many “issues” with her current company as candidate number one has with hisâ€"otherwise he wouldn’t be looking for a new job in the first place! She simply chose to take “the high ground” and emphasize the positive over the negative. Smart move. Unfortunately, even the best-coached candidatesâ€"and we thoroughly coach all of our firm’s candidates on the best, most effective ways to answer such “trick” questionsâ€"can easily fall into the same “trap” that candidate one fell into. Why? They “want to be honest,” they “want to be themselves.” Certainly a laudable philosophy, but just as certainly, a negative answer such as the one given by candidate one will quickly get you eliminated from further consideration by the hiring manager because he/she will quickly move to eliminate “negative Nelly” candidates! (Just coincidentally, it’s significant to note that nothing in candidate two’s answer was “untruthful,” “dishonest,” or not “being herself.” She simply emphasized the positive and didn’t even mention the negative.) When a hiring manager hears an answer such as the one given by candidate one, this is what he/she usually thinks: “Then, if this candidate doesn’t like what we do here at our company, he will end up leaving us, too?” On the other hand, when the hiring manager hears an answers such as the one given by candidate two, here is what he/she is likely to think: “Oh, wow! she obviously believes in a culture like ours and clearly seems to appreciate what we do. She could be a good addition to our team.” Another example of a game eliminating question Let me give you just one more example of how easily a candidate can be “tripped up” by a final interview question and be quickly eliminated from further consideration. This example involved an actual candidate of ours whom we presented to a client company. The position would have required our candidate to move from Minnesota to Missouri, so the hiring manager asked the candidate this quite obviously pertinent question during one of the final interviews: “So, how does your spouse feel about the move?” Despite the fact that our candidate had been thoroughly coached on how to answer questions involving a job change move, once he was “on his own,” here is how he in fact answered the question: “Oh, I will be able to talk her into it.” About a thousand alarm bells suddenly went off in the hiring manager’s head, and the candidate’s chances of being selected for the position quickly and irrevocably evaporated into thin air! Following our candidate’s interview, the hiring manager called me up and asked me to keep looking for candidates to fill the position. Why? Here is what the hiring manager told me, “Skip, while he is an otherwise excellent candidate, if we hire him, and six months down the road his spouse becomes unhappy with the move, he will simply quit and go back ‘home.’ Then, we will have to start our job search all over again. I’m not going to risk that.” So, what answer should our candidate have given when asked this question by the hiring manager, in order to stay in the running for the position? While there are no “magic words,” a far better answer, one that would have significantly improved his chances of “staying in the game,” would have been one like this: “I understand your concern, but please be assured that my family enthusiastically supports my career and they are as happy and excited about this opportunity as I am. There will be no problems whatsoever in making this move, if I am your candidate of choice.” Obviously, I’ve only addressed two examples of “trick” questions you should anticipate during final job interviews. Let me assure you, there are many, many more just like them, and you should be prepared to answer them correctly during job interviews. Otherwise, you risk being quickly eliminated from further consideration. (The full range of these types of questions, what I refer to as “Gotcha!” questions, as well as the best ways to answer them, is covered in “Headhunter” Hiring Secrets, of course.) The winning move So, the secret to winning in an interview is always to brand yourself as someone who sees the proverbial glass as being “half full.” Brand yourself as a positive, upbeat, energetic professionalâ€"not as a whiner or malcontent in your current position, or, perhaps even worse, as someone who likely would become more of a liability to a hiring company than a valuable asset. Hey, the job market today is already tough enough! Don’t add to your difficulty and the challenge by “fumbling the ball” on the playing field! Use this secret about answering “trick” questions as just one more secret that can help you turn your job search into a job found! Author: Skip Freeman is the author of “Headhunter” Hiring Secrets: The Rules of the Hiring Game Have Changed . . . Forever! and is the President and Chief Executive Officer of The HTW Group (Hire to Win), an Atlanta, GA, Metropolitan Area Executive Search Firm. Specializing in the placement of sales, engineering, manufacturing and RD professionals, he has developed powerful techniques that help companies hire the best and help the best get hired.

Useful Tips for Writing a Technical Writer Resume

Useful Tips for Writing a Technical Writer ResumeWriting a resume for a technical writer requires the same basic skills as writing a resume for a general technical writer. The information provided on the resume is of a similar type and will often be the same. However, there are also some additional items that you should include in your resume.First, you should note that an entry-level technical writer has no direct contact with the customers or clients that he/she writes for. There is no time to build good relationships. In other words, you should avoid having a close personal relationship with your employer as this can hurt you. So, do not follow the lead of tech writers who have been doing it for many years. In fact, many technical writers have a lot of work, including network management, so they need people to do the job for them.Second, you should only be too busy to know the time to call in. If you don't have the time to talk to the person who will be reviewing your resume, this is okay. In fact, most employers will tell you that you do not really have to make an effort to know their needs. If you call to ask a question, it is seen as a time waster.Third, if you have problems with saying the right things at the wrong time, this is also okay. This is especially true when you are supposed to be relaxed and friendly. If you are not able to complete your work as quickly as they expect, then they will never hire you for your resume.Fourth, if you want to get the technical writer job, you will also need to be able to write well. Many technical writers just write fast for the sake of speed. While they can write fast, it does not mean that they can write well. Therefore, you will need to write well.Fifth, you should have a good idea of the company's history. There are many people who go into business for themselves without actually knowing what they are getting into. If you do not know about their past, this could hurt you when you are applying for a job.Sixth, yo u should have a technical writer resume and several samples of resumes written by the company. It is often difficult to read a technical writer resume. By having several examples of technical resumes, you will be better able to recognize how the writer should be worded.Seventh, you should not make your technical writer resume too detailed. Some technical writers will be so proud of their resumes that they fill them full of little details that it will make the resumes less readable.

Clothes To Keep Your Job Search Under The Radar

Clothes To Keep Your Job Search Under The Radar Clothes To Keep Your Job Search Under The Radar While being employed makes you more appealing to employers, looking for a job while you’re already working has its own set of challenges. Finding a way to take calls from recruiters and interview, and still keep your job search under the radar. While sneaking out of the office for interviews can be tricky, other things, like being dressed appropriately for a job interview, just need a little planning. If you work in a casual office wearing an “interview outfit” will likely be a red flag to your current employer. Just as someone coming into a casual environment for a job interview is easily spotted by everyone else working there. We’ve all been there, giving the guy in the jacket and tie the once over because we might soon be working with him. So when you suddenly show up to work in dress slacks and a jacket instead of a shirt and jeans people will notice. One of the keys to keeping your job search confidential is to start upgrading your wardrobe BEFORE you start looking for a new job. Substitute a nice pair of slacks for jeans one or two days a week. Start wearing a jacket now and then. Leave it over the back of your chair. Insert some collared shirts or blouses into your weekly rotation. Try a casual skirt instead of slacks a few times a month. Forgo your favorite sneakers or walking shoes for something more substantial. While you can’t plan for everything, for example recruiters may call at inopportune times, many parts of the job search process are under your control. (Read How To Keep Your Job Search A Secret.) Stay under the radar by never using your office computer for your job search, scheduling recruiter calls when you can be away from your desk, and keeping your job search activities to yourself. Gradually taking your wardrobe up a notch or two well before you start looking will help avoid raising any red flags when you do start interviewing.

The Ultimate Guide To Background Checks - Margaret Buj - Interview Coach

The Ultimate Guide To Background Checks If you’re job hunting, you’re probably rehearsing interview responses, researching the company, and selecting just the right outfit. Yet even the most carefully composed candidates can find their hopes dashed by something from their past. That’s because those people weren’t prepared for a background check. Many companies today go through a candidate’s history as a matter of due diligence. For anyone on the hunt for a new position, understanding how the process works and what it can uncover is essential. For example, depending on where you live, the laws regarding such investigations may be different. Information such as military records or medical histories might be off-limits to employers without your consent. It’s also important for you to know your rights when it comes to erroneous results. In some cases, it could be the employer’s responsibility to correct any discrepancies uncovered during the check. Putting your best foot forward as a job seeker involves more than polishing your resume or gathering references. It also means being ready for an employer looking into your history and how that could affect you. The accompanying guide contains more about what you should know to protect yourself and your reputation. The Ultimate Guide To Background Checks from Global Verification Network Author bio:Christian Moore is COO at Global Verification Network. He has more than 20 years of investigative and business experience with competencies including surveillance, competitive intelligence, pre-employment and course-of-employment background screening.