How to Know When Your Star Recruiter Has Checked Out - Spark Hire

How to Know When Your Star Recruiter Has Checked Out - Spark HireIt is difficult to find good recruiters. That is why it can be so easy to overlook signs that one of your star recruiters has checked out and is no longer engaged. Some of the signs are very easy to pinpoint, as long as you are keeping track of production numbers and taking notice of any changes in the recruiters work pattern.Production NumbersA recruiters production numbers are one of the first things you should always be keeping an eye on. For example, if you track presentations, interviews, and hires, it should be very easy to see any change in trends. If your star recruiter typically achieves 5 hires in a month, but you notice the number is dropping, take a look at the interviews and presentations. If you notice that all production numbers are low, its time to have a chat with your recruiter.If you are not tracking production numbers for your recruiting team, you must begin immediately. Lack of PassionTake notice of any changes in your recruiters habits and attitude. If your star recruiter typically shows up every day before 8AM, excited to start the day, it should be a red flag when that same recruiter begins showing up to work late and leaving right at 5PM. Most star recruiters are very passionate about their work, causing them to work far beyond the Monday through Friday, 8 to 5 schedule.Most of your best recruiters will have a true passion for the hunt and the recruiting business overall. This passion is not typically hidden and can be seen on the faces of many recruiters whenever a placement is made or lost. When your recruiter loses a placement, what is the reaction? If the reaction used to be disappointment but is now a nonchalant shrug of the shoulders, your recruiter may very well have checked out.Lack of ImprovementIn most instances when a manager notices changes in a recruiters performance, there is a string of conversations and or counseling that happens next. Quite often, managers will start with an open conversation with the employee. If there is no improvement, they will then move on with written counseling. This lets the recruiter know that you are serious and that the recruiter needs to get back on track or things could go south very quickly.If you see no improvement from your recruiter, in spite of several discussions and written counseling, you should begin searching for that recruiters replacement. One of two things will happen you will let the recruiter go, or the recruiter will resign. In either instance, you will need to hire a new recruiter.What are some ways you determine if your recruiter has checked out and how do you handle the situation? Please share your input in the comments below.Images starfotograf/BigStock.com

Do recruiters and employers check your LinkedIn How to leverage it

Do recruiters and employers check your LinkedIn How to leverage itDo recruiters and employers check your LinkedIn How to leverage itAccording to a recent study, over 70% of employers check social media profiles of candidates to learn mora about them. For those who think that they are better off without any digital footprint and have never created or delete their accounts, this is not a piece of good news. According to a recent survey, about 47% of employers said that they would not call a candidate for interview who does not have any social media presence.LinkedIn is possibly the best tool that a candidate has to showcase her professional persona. A well-customized profile attracts recruiters and potential employers who are looking for a suitable candidate. Sometimes all you need is to get your foot in the door, and rest follows.Being precise about the role you are looking for tops the list of things you might want to work on to attract recruiters on LinkedIn. Having clarity about yo ur desired career path speaks volumes about you and also helps in attracting the right recruiters and employers from your required industry. One of the most embarrassing things that often puts recruiters off is poor grammar and incorrect spellings. Proofread your profile for such mistakes and watch out for those repeated words. You also might want to consider sharing it with your family or close friends as running it by more eyes certainly helps.Keeping your status updated can be quite helpful. Creating a profile and then not logging in for months or years together shows a lack of interest in ones own career. Were you the employee of the month a couple recently? Did you just recently take up a course to become more efficient at your job? You might think of sharing it on LinkedIn as bragging, but it is better to stay active and current. Also, these achievements can be talked about without bragging as well. Same goes for showcasing your publications such as your own website, blog or a n article in a popular magazine.There are many other things that you can implement to your LinkedIn profile such as usage of Industry-specific keywords relevant to your roles. This would help you be found by recruiters when they search for those keywords. LinkedIn is a platform that allows you to stop being just another candidate and create your own brand. Stand out from the crowd and learn ways in which you can attract recruiters and employers on LinkedIn. Happy job hunting Checking out this infographic from CV-Nation for more.

Social Media Boot Camp Job Search Edition

Social Media Boot Camp Job Search EditionSocial Media Boot Camp Job Search EditionLeverage social media to advance your career and kick your job search up a notch.Jobvites most recent social recruiting survey found that 94 percent of recruiters use or plan to use social media in their recruitment efforts and 93 percent will look at a candidates social media presence.Translation All professionals should incorporate social media into their job-search and career advancement strategy. Here are a few of my favorite articles that explain how to effectively use the most popular social networks to both protect and promote your online brand.Get back to social media basicsIf you still think a tweet only comes from a bird, then this article is a must-read. Click on the following link to get a basic understanding of the Big Four social networks Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook and LinkedIn.Learn how to leverage social media for your searchIf youre not incorporating social media into your job-search strategy, you could unknowingly hurt your chances of landing that dream job. Learn how to utilize social media to promote your personal brand online, build out your network, and uncover job leads.Practice proper social media etiquetteA social recruiting survey found 70 percent of HR professionals and recruiters turned down a candidate based on something they found out about them online. Dont let your social media habits derail your job search. Click on the following link to learn the dos and donts of social media.Safeguard your personal brandDont feel obligated to incorporate all of your social media profiles into your professional brand. Learn how to protect the privacy of your personal social media accounts so they will be safe from the prying eyes of prospective employers.Search and connect on the goThe beauty of smartphones lies in their ability to allow professionals like you to maintain a job search whether youre waiting to board an airplane or sitting at your desk at work. Yo u can access the most popular social media channels right from your phone, through mobile applications. Learn how you can use these apps to increase career and job-search success.

What Successful Entrepreneurs Know - The Muse

What Successful Entrepreneurs Know - The Muse What Successful Entrepreneurs Know Racecar drivers say that the trick to managing speed at 200 miles per hour is to drive for daylight. They don’t focus on the lines on the pavement or their competition- they are going too fast. Instead, they focus on the horizon. Their hands follow their eyes. Creative business minds do much the same thing. They navigate around immediate obstacles by keeping their long-term mission in view. They drive for daylight. “You’ve got to look forward and drive forward,” Kevin Plank says about his company Under Armour. “You’ve got to dictate the tempo.” Like each of the 200 leading entrepreneurs I interviewed for The Creator’s Code: The Six Essential Skills of Extraordinary Entrepreneurs, Plank executes in the moment with a laser-like focus on what lies ahead. These entrepreneurial professionals don’t benchmark themselves against the competition or evaluate success based on industry norms. This kind of forward focus is distinctive. Psychologists at the University of Chicago conducted a study that shows that people who are committed to a goal have two ways of thinking. “To-go” thinkers like the entrepreneurs I studied are motivated by what remains to be done. “To-date” thinkers focus on how far they’ve already come. To frame it another way, let’s say you’re running a marathon and you’re at mile 18. Labored breathing and exhaustion kick in. But you’re determined to finish. How do you stay motivated? Are you thinking of the 18 miles you’ve completed, or are you thinking of the 8.2 to go? Creators who turn small notions into big businesses fall into the latter category. They stay focused on the horizon, and the challenge ahead propels them forward. Here’s how they do it- and how you can do it, too. Scan the Edges Like racecar drivers, creators also constantly scan the periphery. This allows them to detect new concepts as soon as they arise. “Good entrepreneurs are always looking around the edges to see if there’s any signal out there that says an original assumption is aging, becoming obsolete, or losing its appeal,” says Gilman Louise, founder of the venture capital firm In-Q-Tel. If senior executives in the car rental industry had been scanning the edges, they might have seen Robin Chase coming in 2001. Chase saw that mobile technology could be used to challenge the conventional wisdom that you could only buy, lease, or rent a car. Why not share it? Sure, there was a negative connotation around sharing something as personal as a car. But we don’t consider hotels as bed sharing or gyms as treadmill sharing. Surely, then, the social obstacle could quickly fall away. Her pay-as-you-go model took off. Avis purchased Chase’s company, Zipcar, in 2013 for $500 million. Chase was an early pioneer of the sharing economy that today includes companies such as Airbnb, Uber, and Rent the Runway. Her ability to identify a fringe idea and take it mainstream is available to all of us. Avoid Nostalgia Racecar drivers can’t spend energy obsessing over their last race; likewise, my research revealed that creators avoid nostalgia. They don’t get caught up in “what could have been,” or “what might have happened.” They avoid what academics call counter-factual thinking. This means they quickly learn from mistakes, but they don’t fret over past failures or glorify past successes. Don’t look back. Chipotle’s Steve Ells strives to make “the world’s best burrito” even better. He doesn’t allow managers to display awards for “Best Cheap Eats” or “Best Burrito” on the walls of Chipotle restaurants. “Yes, someone thought that we were best burrito, but that’s now irrelevant because we need to be better than that,” he said when we sat down at Chipotle’s New York City office. Those able to create and scale new ideas willingly abandon a legacy, even a powerful history that brought them to where they are today. Focus on the Horizon Elizabeth Holmes founded medical laboratory services company Theranos to fulfill her vision of beating disease by hastening its detection. The way we conduct blood tests has not fundamentally changed since the 1950s. A technician draws blood and then sends samples off to a lab; results arrive three to seven days later. By contrast, Holmes has designed a technology that uses DNA profiling and electronically sends physicians results within two to four hours. This kind of speed can make a huge difference in the treatment of even relatively ordinary ailments. Imagine a patient waiting seven days after a blood test and then finding out she has anemia. She then undergoes another test and waits several more days to determine what kind of anemia it is. Returning to see the doctor a third time, she is told that the results show that she does not have anemia at all, but rather an iron deficiency. The problem is solved. But the entire process wasted a lot of time and money and caused needless suffering and worry. Holmes cuts through all of these steps. It took Holmes 10 years of focused driving to advance her technology far enough to win a deal last year putting it into the giant Walgreens drugstore chain, and she still has her eyes fixed on the horizon. Think of the ramifications of extending Theranos’ speedy and readily available testing to the early detection and treatment of heart disease or cancer. Focusing on a long-term mission makes it easier to navigate around immediate obstacles. For those who want to turn ideas into enterprises, don’t benchmark yourself against industry norms. To set the pace in a fast-moving global marketplace, focus always forward on shaping what comes next. That’s how creators work. They seize the wheel, their eyes focused ahead, weaving around the potholes of naysayers and distractions. They have one objective: Success. And nothing gets in their way. Photo of race car driver courtesy of Shutterstock.

How to Feng Shui your office to attract success

How to Feng Shui your office to attract success How to Feng Shui your office to attract success Feng Shui is not just about moving furniture around, knocking walls, hanging lucky trinkets and getting rid of mirrors. It’s used all over the world by big companies, major corporations and the rich and famous around the globe to improve their lives and businesses.This 4,000-year-old practice is highly respected and considered a sacred practice in China. It’s a practical and tangible method for increasing abundance, health, and wellbeing.The irony of our lives in the modern day is we spend most of our entire lives struggling to increase our abundance and then spend billions of dollars universally trying to improve our health. However, there is an ancient tool that can support you to do just that with ease and flow.If you want to attract success, getting your office in order is a must. Your office is the visual representation of your business. The space where you work must spark joy, creativity, and abundance. So, let’s get to work, shall we?DeclutterFirst, we need to declutter. Clutter not only increases stress levels, affects focus and clarity, but it also causes you to feel stuck professionally, creatively, spiritually and financially. So, if you want to attract more clients, feel lighter, and welcome in new opportunities, it’s time to get your hands dirty.Decluttering can seem like a stressful endeavor, so break it down into manageable chunks that you can do one step at a time. Start with paperwork, then books. Then, move on to office supplies and anything that isn’t related to your business (we all know suitcases, kids’ toys, and exercise equipment work their way into strange places). Finally, make sure to get rid of anything that’s broken!And don’t forget about digital clutter. Your computer screen and hard drive should be clutter-free, too. Delete old emails and files that you no longer need. You might also want to create a digital vision board as your desktop background.The way you file your paperwork matters! Yes, you can Feng Shui your filing system by color coding your files to energize them for success.So, here are file colors that will help you attract more abundance, clients, and success to you along with decreasing bills: Investment and banking account information and statements in red folders, this is fire energy and it adds energy to them. Bills into blue or black folders so they aren’t energized. Clients in green folders for growth. Prospective clients in red folders because red attracts money. Things you would like to manifest go in purple folders; purple is the color of magic. Finally, when organizing your books, place them at the edge of your bookshelves. This serves to keep at the forefront of your mind.Seating optionsNext, let’s talk about chairs.If you’re going to be in control, you need a seat that says, “I’m the boss.” A supportive chair with a high back is ideal because it gives you support physically, emotionally and spiritually. Additionally, you should place your desk and chair so that there is a solid wall behind it also signifying support.Desk placement matters. Your desk, which should be made of wood, should not be placed in front of a window or with a door or window directly behind it. There should also be no exposed beams overhead. If you work in a space with multiple desks, arrange them so they all facing the same direction to avoid office politics.Picture thisFinally, let’s talk about artwork.The art you hang in your office should lift and nourishes your personal energy. Whether life imitates art or art imitates life, be sure t hat the pieces you choose to have in your environment reflect the kind of life you want to enjoy. It should represent the values you cherish and resonate with. To create better teamwork in an office, have a group picture of all the staff together. Place a picture of a solid mountain behind your desk this gives you support and protection against office politics and helps get your work and efforts recognized. A picture of stormy weather will lead to stormy business. A picture of boats tied up against a dock indicates a company is stuck.By making these small changes in your office, you’ll be working in the energy of abundance and flow, therefore attracting what it is you want into your business â€" success! There are many more ways you can set up your office for success! Visit PatriciaLohan.com for more tips and tricks.Patricia Lohan is an author, speaker and Feng Shui Expert. She is renowned for helping thousands of people understand and embrace Feng Shui to create their dream lives by tapping into the innate power of their homes and turning their living spaces into supercharged magnets for manifestation. Patricia lives in Bali with her husband Ken. You may have seen her in Forbes, She Knows, Essence, Mind Body Green, USA Today.

Scottish company BrewDog begins offering pawternity leave to U.S. employees who adopt a pet

Scottish company BrewDog begins offering 'pawternity leave' to U.S. employees who adopt a pet Scottish company BrewDog begins offering 'pawternity leave' to U.S. employees who adopt a pet Looks like having a furry friend around is not just fun - it’s good for you, it might be a plus at work, and you could even get paid for it. A Scottish brewery, opening its first US office, is trying to bring “puppy leave” -  playfully nicknamed “paw-ternity leave” - to the States.Employees over at Scottish craft beer brewer BrewDog, which is opening its first US location, now have the option to take a week off to play with and train a new dog in the comfort of their own homes, while still collecting their paychecks, the company said in a statement and video touting its pro-puppy agenda.The company is bringing Puppy Parental Leave - an idea from the UK - to all of its international locations, including the US headquarters opening on 42 acres of land just outside of Columbus, Ohio. The new brewery will boast a new, 100-barrel brewery, office spaces, a restaurant and taproom - and will welcome dogs to its bar.BrewDog, a Scottish company known for its marketing stunts an d high growth, has been a champion of man’s best friend in the workplace for a while. The founders’ late dog, Bracken, was called “commander in chief” and “when he wasn’t stealing the brewers’ lunches, chewing CAMRA’s sandals or snoozing on malt sacks, Bracken liked nothing better than to pop into one of the BrewDog bars to give the staff a high five, meet some of his fans and do a spot of bar snack quality control.”The BrewDog founders gave Bracken something of a corporate mythology, tracing his high productivity and influence at work. “Our secret weapon in tough business deals, Bracken could turn on the puppy dog eyes and win any negotiation. Below that lovable chocolate coat was a lean, mean analytical business machine. Warren Buffet often consulted him for advice.”BrewdogThe BrewDog founders paid tribute to Bracken when they announced their new policy. “Ever since Bracken, the original Brew Dog, first watched James and Martin mash in batch number one of P unk IPA back in 2007 dogs have been central to our way of life. Puppy Parental Leave will support nervy canines and their owners alike in those all-important first few days of the greatest relationship a person can have (except children),” the company said.So it makes sense that along with beer production, the critters remain at the heart of its company culture. After Bracken passed, the company adopted Simcoe, a “hop pup.” Employees are already allowed to bring their dogs to the office, and the company’s bars are open to the furry creatures.Outside of BrewDog, however, pet leave is rare.BrewdogPets improve the physical and mental health of workersIt is undeniable that American workers work long hours and are  always looking for emotional support, including from “work spouses.”  Naturally, we rely on pets for additional companionship.As of 2015-2016, some 79.7 million American homes had pets, with the majority of 54% owning dogs and 43% with cats. Once you include other animals, from horses to freshwater fish and reptiles, roughly 65% of American homes own pets, according to the American Pet Products Association.Not surprisingly, studies have shown that pets have a positive impact on mental health.It’s common for pet owners to think of their animals as members of their family, and pets may even benefit the heart, according to a study by Karen Allen of the State University of New York  at Buffalo. Allen found that there is evidence for the “pet effect” that leads to lower blood pressure and higher resilience to heart attacks among pet owners. Pets can also help children with autism and benefit the mental states of people struggling with chemical brain imbalances, studies have shown.Pets are also a positive influence on productivity at work, as many dog-friendly employers have found out. (There are fewer cat-friendly employers, perhaps because cats tend to sit on keyboards, which prevents humans from being as productive.) People reported being less stressed at work when their dogs were present, as opposed to non-pet owners who said their stress levels rose at work without an animal nearby, said a study by Virginia Commonwealth University.Pet accommodations are still rareEven with all the benefits of pet ownership, however, not many US workplaces make accommodations for people to incorporate pets into their lives.While the death of a pet can be as devastating as losing a human friend, for instance, few employers offer bereavement leave for a dog or cat’s death. One of the few that does is Mars Inc., which does “offer one day or more off, flexible hours or freedom to work from home after a pet’s death,” the company told The Wall Street Journal.Will BrewDog’s policy start a US trend of pet-friendly policies in the workplace? It may be an uphill climb, but given how much pet ownership contributes to the physical and mental health of employees, it couldn’t hurt.

3 Signs Youre Wasting Other Peoples Time at Work - The Muse

3 Signs Youre Wasting Other Peoples Time at Work - The Muse 3 Signs Youre Wasting Other Peoples Time at Work You pride yourself on being punctual. You always leave a cushion in case there’s traffic. And yes, sometimes you arrive so far in advance of meetings- and social get-togethers- that you have to kill some time so as to not be awkwardly early. And as someone so very aware of time, you consider other people’s schedules, too. You’d never dream of being the person who texts that she’s “five minutes away,” when she’s actually just leaving her apartment, nor would you change meeting times around, forcing a contact to rearrange his whole afternoon. And while those basics are appreciated, it’s possible to be punctual and still be labeled a time waster. How so? Because even if you keep every 30-minute meeting to a half-hour, people will feel like their time is being wasted if they don’t accomplish what they’d planned to. Here are the signs you’re (unknowingly) being a time waster- and what you can do about it: 1. Your Networking Contacts Aren’t Staying in Touch Do people say, “let’s stay in touch” and then seem to dodge your calls and emails? You know you’re not supposed to let your network grow cold- but you also don’t want to cross over to sending threatening or ominous emails about getting together. So, why won’t this person respond? Here’s what could be happening: If you spend so much time gabbing that you never have time to discuss anything of professional substance, the nature of your relationship will change. Mentors usually like to know what’s going on in their mentee’s careers and how they can help; that fellow conference attendee who works the same job in the same industry probably wants to talk some shop. So, if you spend the entire time talking about your upcoming vacation plans, your contact may say, “let’s get coffee again sometime,” and never follow up. The Fix To salvage this situation, the next time you get in touch, reach out with a specific, career-oriented idea, question, or article. Pass along something relevant- and succinct- and have a productive exchange over email before you ask to meet up again. Then, for future meetups, try to limit personal updates to the first third of your time together. 2. Your Co-workers Are Always Redirecting the Conversation It’s awesome that you actually like your co-workers. It’s even better that you have a good rapport with them. And it’s great that they inspire you to brainstorm. However, during meetings, have you found that you often spend so long discussing items one and two that you never get to the rest of the agenda? Or maybe you’ve noticed that mid-point, when you stop to breathe, someone jumps in, says that’s a great idea, and immediately suggests moving on to the next item? As someone who thinks- and talks- at a million miles a minute, I too have had to work on this. I know that you’re not trying to steamroll your colleagues: You’re just excited. Here are a few things I do when I think I may have fallen into hogging the conversation. The Fix For starters, unless you’re giving a presentation, your talk time shouldn’t outweigh that of any of your colleagues. Just like you want to avoid being the first (or last) person to leave a party, try to avoid talking the most. If you chimed in a lot on one point, back off a bit on the next few. What if you’ve already spoken (a lot), but now you have a brilliant idea? Often, you can avoid this feeling by reading the agenda in advance of the meeting. If you have strong opinions on the third item, focus on being a good listener for the first two points and save your floor time. If there was no agenda, ask yourself if your idea could wait. If a decision is going to be made, by all means, share your thoughts. But if you could just as easily follow up over email, let your colleagues speak so that everyone can be heard and cover the topics they’d hoped to. (Bonus: Many times a colleague will have the same idea or question you had, so it’ll still come up!) 3. Your Boss Is Micromanaging You Maybe your boss is a classic micromanager and wants to see everyone’s work before it goes anywhere. But if you get the feeling that he seems to be helicopter parenting you more than your co-workers, there might be more to it. Especially if he does things like provide feedback on how you can trim down every email or wants a run through before you present in any meeting. Sure, you could keep bucking the system and continue to send your manager five paragraph essays to cut to three line emails- and 22 slides for her to trim to 15. Or, you could beat her to the punch and do it yourself. The Fix One way to start is to ask yourself what the vital points are. Let’s put it another way: If you wrote a tweet about this email, what would it say? You can keep that five paragraph email in a Word doc, or that long presentation under a different name, but run through it yourself and cut any lines that are there simply because they “sound good,” as well as those that only provide unnecessary context. Remember, this is not the only email you ever get to send. If someone wants more information, they’ll often ask. In the meantime, you won’t be seen as the person who send time-wasting emails (that probably won’t be read anyhow), and your boss will stop asking to be CCed on everything. Translation: Everybody wins! Even if you’ve developed a reputation as a time waster, you can take steps to change how you’re seen. Your contacts, colleagues, and manager will thank you- and more readily ask for your opinion. Photo of garbage and an alarm clock courtesy of Shutterstock.