Alexandra Levits Water Cooler Wisdom Advancing Partnerships in the Workplace

Alexandra Levit's Water Cooler Wisdom Advancing Partnerships in the Workplace In their research, Gartner analysts Jeffrey Brooks, Heather Colella, and John Roberts found that CIOs believe current approaches to assessing executive satisfaction are missing something, and that IT organizations require a technique that puts the onus on line of business partners to articulate exactly what they need from IT. Gartner has developed one such technique, which involves understanding the importance of a reciprocal relationship, refining value-added questions for business executives, and initiating the conversation in a way that promotes maximum participation. Reciprocity According to the Gartner EXP report, The Politics of Powerful Partnerships: “At the heart of a powerful partnership between IT and the rest of the enterprise is reciprocity: the exchange of equivalent advantages or privileges. Without reciprocity, IT cannot move from order taker to powerful partner.” “Individuals decline to enter into reciprocal arrangements with those they consider significantly different in power and status. CIOs can create powerful partnerships between IT and other departments by systematically building IT’s power and status in key areas to reach equality with business peers.” One way to do this is through regular satisfaction surveys. By benchmarking IT through four types of satisfaction surveys, Gartner suggested that CIOs will be armed with the information they need to have meaningful conversations with their business colleagues. These types include: Measuring satisfaction when a service desk ticket has been closed Measuring satisfaction at the end of a project Conducting annual IT satisfaction surveys with business users Conducting ongoing surveys and conversations with business leaders to get their qualitative opinions about IT Value-added questions A key role of IT, said the Gartner analysts, is growing line of business technology capabilities. CIOs can do this by creating a few open-ended questions for business colleagues to gain a clearer understanding of what their people expect of IT. As stewards of their organizations, the business colleagues can then interpret that information for the CIOs. Finally, CIOs can work with business colleagues to redefine and rethink how technology enables the enterprise. Gartner’s thought-starter questions included the following: How is your personal success measured, and how well-positioned are you to achieve it? How do you leverage technology to drive better business results? IT tends to describe what it does in terms of services. What three services do you frequently use? If you could divorce IT, what would you look for in a new partner? If you were named CIO tomorrow, what would be the first three actions you would take and why?

The True Costs of a New Hire in the UK

The True Costs of a New Hire in the UK Hiring a new staff member costs more than just their salary. Here’s a breakdown of the costs you can expect when bringing someone new into your team. If you’re running a small business, at some point you’re going to need to hire someone. And while you might think you’ve budgeted for this, with their salary covered in your figures, there are a number of additional costs you need to factor in when adding to your employee roster. Recruitment costs Firstly, you need to get the right person. You can go down two routes. You can use a recruitment agency, which can cost around 20-30% of the final salary â€" on an average salary this would be over £5,000. Or you could do it yourself on social media and job sites. This usually costs around £200- £400 if you use LinkedIn and one job site. Estimated average cost: £3,000. Salary Obviously, this is the big cost. And while it very much depends on what sort of experience you’re looking for, what level you’re hiring at and the contract specifics, you can assume it’ll be in the tens of thousands of pounds. UK Government figures put the average salary at around £27,600. Estimated cost: £27,600. Bonuses Not all companies pay bonuses, but many are starting to come around to the idea as a way of rewarding good work and boosting employee retention. Government figures put the average bonus payment as 6% of total pay. Estimated cost: £1,656. National Insurance Every employer has to pay towards their full-time employees’ National Insurance (NI). The standard rate of an employer’s Class 1 NI is 13.8% of the total pay. This includes bonuses and any over time. Estimated cost: £4,037. Pension As part of the auto-enrolment scheme, employees are automatically signed up to a basic company pension scheme. This means employers have to pay a minimum of 1% of workers’ monthly salary towards a pension â€" rising to 3% by April 2019. Estimated cost: £276 (rising to £828 by April 2019). Training Most companies offer either in-house training or funding towards external training. Either way, this comes at a cost. It’s a vital cost as training can help improve employee retention rates. The average UK company spends over £1,000 per employee. Estimated cost: £1,068. Office space and equipment Unless you’re replacing someone, you’ll need to provide a new employee with desk space, computer and more. The IPD Blue Chip Office Index put the total property cost per occupant at £4,800. Estimated cost: £4,800. Other costs It doesn’t end there. There are an array of other costs to consider such as the HR costs to deal with new starters, holiday cover, cover for maternity leave, sick days, company cars, software licences and more. Estimated cost: £8,000. Total cost So, for your £27,600 paid new staff member, you’ll actually need to budget for something closer to £50,000 in their first year of employment. BE Offices HR Director, Nazia Ahmed said: The total cost of hiring a new member of staff can be higher than it first appears. Companies, small businesses in particular, need to budget carefully when taking on new staff to ensure they are not overextending themselves  and creating unnecessary financial strains on the company. However, employees are a firms best assets and will underpin its future growth therefore taking on new people is essential for expansion. Companies just need to be aware of the true cost of taking on new staff. To help guide companies through the associated costs of employing staff  BE has produced a simple infographic. About the author:  Andy Issott is the Marketing Director of BE Offices, specialising in online performance and brand growth in the commercial property sector.

5 Ways to Keep Loving Your Job

5 Ways to Keep Loving Your Job Throughout your career journey, there are likely to be plenty of stops along the way. While you may not have your dream job just yet, today’s lagging economy means there are still plenty of reasons to be appreciative of the job you do have! In 2014, make a resolution to take significant steps to love your job dream job or not. Some minor tweaks and attitude changes can save you from getting stuck in a career rut or feeling unmotivated as the new year dawns. Check out these five ways to love your job in 2014: 1) Get motivated: Every day, vow to focus on the positive aspects of your job rather than the negative ones. Maybe your job allows you time to have a fulfilling social life. Maybe one of your coworkers is also a great friend. Or maybe you’ve completely mastered your everyday tasks. Keep your work life in perspective by ensuring you’re focusing on fulfilling activities when you’re out of the office, tooâ€"consider volunteering or joining a community club you’re interested in. RELATED:  How to  Motivate  Your Employees and Foster Innovation 2) Keep your eyes peeled for new opportunities: Too many people feel they have little control over their career once they’ve landed a job. Even if you’re not working at your dream company, there are still plenty of opportunities you can seize to keep your industry knowledge fresh and learn new skills. Take advantage of workshops, webinars, networking events, company social gatheringsâ€"anything to get you out of your comfort zone. In your career, any new opportunity can be a chance to learn valuable skills and glean new insight. 3) Vow to network more: Just because you have a job, that doesn’t mean you should stop networking. In fact, people who stop networking just because they’re comfortable in a job may end up hurting themselves if they’re back on the job hunt later. Be proactive about your networking efforts â€"attend networking events, reach out to professionals whose work you admire, invite longtime contacts out for coffee to reconnect â€" anything you can do to keep old relationships strong and seize opportunities to forge new ones. RELATED:  Is Networking a Selfish and Self-Serving Process? 4) Challenge yourself: Taking on new projects can be a great way to show your boss you’re adaptable and a valuable asset to the company. Offer to step in where you normally wouldn’t have responsibilities. Or, ask your boss if you can shadow a colleague in another department to learn how various aspects of the company work. Your boss will like to see you taking initiative to beef up your skills â€" and this can also reflect well on you come promotion time. 5) Ask about telecommuting: Determine if you have a job that would be suitable for working at home. Do you have all the necessary software? Can you keep to deadlines? Can you turn in projects electronically? Will you be able to keep your boss updated on your progress? Take advantage of our technologically-connected world by asking your boss if you can do a test run working from home one day. If it works out, you may be able to snag a few additional days each month during which you can telecommuteâ€"and this will do wonders for your work-life balance. Loving your job often takes nothing more than a slight attitude change and a motivation to seize new opportunities to help you grow. Consider these tips as you gear up for your career in 2017. Good luck!

5 Ways to Keep Loving Your Job

5 Ways to Keep Loving Your Job Throughout your career journey, there are likely to be plenty of stops along the way. While you may not have your dream job just yet, today’s lagging economy means there are still plenty of reasons to be appreciative of the job you do have! In 2014, make a resolution to take significant steps to love your job dream job or not. Some minor tweaks and attitude changes can save you from getting stuck in a career rut or feeling unmotivated as the new year dawns. Check out these five ways to love your job in 2014: 1) Get motivated: Every day, vow to focus on the positive aspects of your job rather than the negative ones. Maybe your job allows you time to have a fulfilling social life. Maybe one of your coworkers is also a great friend. Or maybe you’ve completely mastered your everyday tasks. Keep your work life in perspective by ensuring you’re focusing on fulfilling activities when you’re out of the office, tooâ€"consider volunteering or joining a community club you’re interested in. RELATED:  How to  Motivate  Your Employees and Foster Innovation 2) Keep your eyes peeled for new opportunities: Too many people feel they have little control over their career once they’ve landed a job. Even if you’re not working at your dream company, there are still plenty of opportunities you can seize to keep your industry knowledge fresh and learn new skills. Take advantage of workshops, webinars, networking events, company social gatheringsâ€"anything to get you out of your comfort zone. In your career, any new opportunity can be a chance to learn valuable skills and glean new insight. 3) Vow to network more: Just because you have a job, that doesn’t mean you should stop networking. In fact, people who stop networking just because they’re comfortable in a job may end up hurting themselves if they’re back on the job hunt later. Be proactive about your networking efforts â€"attend networking events, reach out to professionals whose work you admire, invite longtime contacts out for coffee to reconnect â€" anything you can do to keep old relationships strong and seize opportunities to forge new ones. RELATED:  Is Networking a Selfish and Self-Serving Process? 4) Challenge yourself: Taking on new projects can be a great way to show your boss you’re adaptable and a valuable asset to the company. Offer to step in where you normally wouldn’t have responsibilities. Or, ask your boss if you can shadow a colleague in another department to learn how various aspects of the company work. Your boss will like to see you taking initiative to beef up your skills â€" and this can also reflect well on you come promotion time. 5) Ask about telecommuting: Determine if you have a job that would be suitable for working at home. Do you have all the necessary software? Can you keep to deadlines? Can you turn in projects electronically? Will you be able to keep your boss updated on your progress? Take advantage of our technologically-connected world by asking your boss if you can do a test run working from home one day. If it works out, you may be able to snag a few additional days each month during which you can telecommuteâ€"and this will do wonders for your work-life balance. Loving your job often takes nothing more than a slight attitude change and a motivation to seize new opportunities to help you grow. Consider these tips as you gear up for your career in 2017. Good luck!

Building international career networks for our international students University of Manchester Careers Blog

Building international career networks for our international students University of Manchester Careers Blog Here at The University of Manchesters Careers Service, we  are very keen to harness the  wealth of  knowledge, expertise and connections across our international alumni community We are keen  to learn more about the global job market and to use this to  support the career development of our students.  A few initiatives  are already  in place to support this process and we have recently launched a couple more. Here is a summary of what is happening and ways  for our international alumni   to get involved: International Mentoring Manchester Gold our mentoring programme  has been running for over 10 years now and although it has grown considerably, there is always demand for more mentors. The programme matches a current student (mentee) with  a Manchester graduate  now working in the students career area of interest (mentor). This one-to-one relationship is about anything from sharing ideas, giving feedback, to suggesting connections or just listening. We now have over 500 mentoring partnerships per year of which 100 are with international alumni based outside the UK.  Although these international  relationships operate mainly via email, there are also options for skype calls, telephone  conversations and  some meet up in country, too. It is a hugely  valued resource by our students.      For more information about mentoring http://www.careers.manchester.ac.uk/recruit/mentoring/   Mentoring QA For those alumni who cannot commit to a 6 months relationship, there is alternatively the option to be involved more informally.  Our QA database is a listing of alumni who are happy to take questions from students. You can make yourself unavailable at any time for busy periods  and can set a maximum number of emails you would like to receive per month. We have about 200 alumni on the database already, despite this being a new service, but would be keen to grow our international database if we can. International Networks As LinkedIn grows as a key networking tool and recruitment resource across the globe, we are keen for our international  students to make the most of this resource from an early stage. To enable our international students to connect with alumni and prospective recruiters around the world, we have established 3 LinkedIn groups: The China Manchester Graduate Network; The India Manchester Graduate Network and the most recent group to launch is The Pakistan Manchester Graduate Network. These are  open to any students and alumni from the University who are keen to connect. Its already a becoming popular with our alumni for their own networking too! If we do not yet have an international network established for your country of interest, do let me know. We are keen to expand this resource. International Recruitment Each year we  circulate over 500 international  job opportunities to our international students ranging from engineering roles in Nigeria and  PR placements in the USA, to banking schemes in Singapore and legal trainee posts in Hong Kong.  The challenge, though is to put our international students in touch with more of these opportunities globally   as we have over 8500 international students now!   To support our networks, we recently held a recruitment event with Pakistan recruiters in 2012 and are looking to host another China event in October 2013. We are particularly keen to work with international firms to circulate their  jobs to our students and can offer a range of free recruitment services. Some recruiters are also using our LinkedIn groups (above) to connect with and hire our students. If you are from / or work with an organisation that is keen to identify and recruit international talent, please do let us know. You can find out more about our services at: http://www.careers.manchester.ac.uk/recruit/ Feedback we would love to hear from you! Many of our international graduates return home or head to a new country when they graduate, which can make it harder to keep in touch with current students. However, our students are always interested to hear about  your experiences both during and after University. If you would be happy to share information about your own experiences of job hunting in another country we would love to hear from you. There is so much that we can learn from your insights. We can profile you on our website or you can just tell us privately. Simply email Amanda Conway at careers@manchester.ac.uk to express an interest. I was recently lucky to visit China and the highlight for me was meeting alumni whilst out there and learning from their experiences. A big thankyou! If you already participate in any of these programmes, just to say a huge thank you for your involvement to date.  It has been so rewarding to see some of our international students obtain a mentor whilst studying in the UK, and then go on to be mentors themselves to new international students  once they are established. International international students

9 Career Opportunities That Let You Work From Home

9 Career Opportunities That Let You Work From Home Most of us today view career opportunities very differently than past generations. We don’t depend on one company for our entire lives, and instead opt for new and different ways to use the skills we’re continually developing.We also tend to look for flexibility in our jobs, often shying away from more traditional 9-5, punch a clock and go home positions. In fact, many of us are looking for career opportunities that let us work from home!evalAnd why shouldn’t we? Everything can be done online these days, and working from home gives us the ultimate flexibility.It’s not for everyone, particularly if you need to be around people to motivate yourself to work. But if you think this flexibility Being a customer service representative might not sound like the most exciting opportunity, but there are a lot more perks to it than you’d think. Thanks to email, online live chat, and VOIP calling, you could do this job from the comfort of your own home, or even from a Cabo tiki bar!Majo r companies like Apple and Amazon are constantly looking for employees to fill these remote positions, and full-time employees get benefits, along with the chance to work your way up the corporate ladder!Smaller business need remote workers to help them with customer service, too. You can check out these opportunities on sites like Proven and ZipRecruiter.2. Freelance CareerIt’s surprisingly easy to start a freelancing business! You can follow this step-by-step guide by the Small Business Association to set it up, and here’s how you can get clients or customers.Whether you’re a writer, designer, developer, marketer, photographer, editor, voice actor, or anything else that might come to mind as a freelance option, there is someone out there who needs your services. You just have to make it easy for them to find you!evalOnline hubs like Upwork, Crew, Freelancer, and ClearVoice are good places to start. Even LinkedIn might help! It will also be good for you to have a website and/ or portfolio to share around to prove what you can do.The real benefit in becoming a freelancer is that you get about as much freedom as is possible. You get to be your own boss, choose when you work, and â€" after a time â€" even who you work with!3. Online Store OwnerTo create and run an online store, you don’t have to worry about getting hired. You’re the boss! You’ll also have the flexibility to work when you want from wherever you want.evalEcommerce can be a great career opportunity, too, because the world is still moving more and more to online shopping. Thankfully, there are only 3 main steps to setup your store.Step 1: Create your websiteStep 2: Decide what to sell and find a supplierStep 3: Promote your site to start driving trafficEcommerce is such a large industry with several major platforms, but I don’t know anyone who makes each of these steps easier than Shopify.4. Operations ManagerBecoming an operations manager gives you the opportunity to collaborate with a team while working from home.Sales, marketing, product, or customer service operations managers are typically responsible for making sure everyone’s work goes smoothly and that various strategies are being implemented properly. This isn’t something you have to be in the office for!Normally, you can do all of this work with a few reports and emails. Though, whether you’ll be able to do it from home will depend on the particular company. For these positions, check out LinkedIn, Proven, and ZipRecruiter.5. Virtual AssistantevalDepending on the company, a virtual assistant is like a typical secretary, assistant, or customer service rep, except you get to work from home instead of in a cubicle. This career opportunity also comes with a couple of options.You can work remotely for one employer full-time, or you can work a few hours every week for several employers. Either way, Upwork is a great place to look for virtual assistant opportunities.If you start out part-time for someone and prove yourself, you might even get a full-time opportunity down the road! And when companies bring people on full-time from contract work, they normally offer a lot of perks, too.6. TranscriptionistevalHaving grown up in the digital era, many of us are decent You’ll be expected to be available outside of business hours, so that you can quickly respond to comments and questions as they come in, which inevitably means you’ll work from. This also means you’re likely to have more freedom during typical business hours!Good places to look for social media manager positions are LinkedIn, Proven, and ZipRecruiter.8. Life or Career CoachIf you’ve done something well, there’s an opportunity for you to become someone’s personal Tony Robbins! You’ll be able to work from home, and help clients achieve their goals.To get clients, follow a few simple steps. Create a website that describes you, your experience, and the value you can bring to others. Then start guest posting on var ious sites, sharing helpful information. People who want more from you will reach out through the info in your bio (which should include your website, too), and you’ll start gaining clients!Life or career coaching is probably one of the more rewarding work from home career opportunities, because your results are shown through the lives of others. That’s pretty cool!9. Ebook AuthorWriting and selling ebooks might not be as glamorous as having a printed book featured in Barnes Noble, but with the right output it can be a perfectly viable career!One perk of authoring ebooks is that your sales ought to increase with each self-published work. So if one ebook sales 10 copies a day, 2 ought to sell 20 a day, and so forth. The numbers are more art than science, but you should make more money as you publish more.Whether you write novellas, how-to books, or something in between, you can sell your ebooks through Amazon and Nook, which get millions of visitors every day!WRAPPING UPThere ar e plenty of career opportunities that let you work from home, so that you can enjoy all the freedom of self-employment and fulfillment of hard work. That’s the best of both worlds!If you’re not entirely sure which opportunity is right for you, just try one or two and see how it goes. Who knows, you might find a new passion, and it might lead you to other and better opportunities down the road!

How to answer confidential questions on an employment application - Sterling Career Concepts

How to answer confidential questions on an employment application How to answer confidential questions on an employment application Filling out an application can be filled with land mines if you’re conducting a confidential search, and filling in an application online can be even trickier if the fields require a certain type of answer before letting you progress. This topic was a recent conversation on one of my professional e-lists, and what follows is a summary of my colleagues’ suggestions on how to answer (or avoid answering) some common application questions: Name of Supervisor: Job search is confidential. Will provide at a later date. References: Will offer list at the interview” Salary Desired or Salary Expectations: Will discuss at the interview Even if your search is not confidential, it’s strategically smart not to divulge all the details of your salary history or expectations up front. Alternate solutions are to provide a range for your salary expectation or to write “open.” If the application is online and requires a single numeric answer, try using $1 to get through the applicant tracking system, with the reasoning being that, at the end of the day, few employers will disqualify a top candidate because no salary is specified. If your qualifications and background have caught their eye, almost all employers will call you in for interview and readdress salary expectations later. Finally, another option for filling in the salary blank is to conduct salary research to identify the current market rate in your area. To start, Indeed.com has an option (on the left-hand side) to select a desired salary range to generate search results that include positions likely to meet the desired salary level. Salary History: “Confidential” or “will provide at a later date.” This may be especially appropriate for an employee with an existing non-disclosure agreement. With the strategies listed above, you have an arsenal of tips and phrases to help you through the difficulties of your next employment application. Have I overlooked any other tricky questions? Email me or post your question in the comments section and I’ll offer my suggestions.

Resume Writing For Stocking Shelves

Resume Writing For Stocking ShelvesWhen you are searching for resumes, it can be a lot of hard work for a job seeker and resume writing for stocking shelves may not seem like the most important things. However, the importance of your resume should not be understated.A resume is the first contact a potential employer has with you. It can help you land the job, or at least move closer to getting the job. Even if you are not hired, the experience you have gained in the past will help you land better jobs in the future.There are many ways to get your resume to employers, and some ways that are much more effective than others. A resume that does not meet these requirements will only hurt your chances for employment.One of the first things that you should do is write your resume exactly how you would like it to be written. If you are a female looking for a job, your resume should include a section for 'motivation'. It should make a point to give a good description of the specific things th at attracted you to the position, and why you thought it was a good fit for you. If you do not put your career goals into your resume, then the recruiter will never see them, unless you are hired.The information in your resume should match what is on your transcript. A great idea to use in your resume is the words 'school'work'. If you attended a high school or college that is over a certain age, put this information into your resume and say something like 'schooled in Economics at the University of Houston', this will get you a great number of interviews because it shows that you took your time, and that you know what you want out of life.Writing an introduction to your resume can help you get past the initial screening. If you have been working for the same company for a while, mention this in your introduction. Do not use this as your one-sentence introduction.A resume can be the difference between finding the job and not finding the job. If you make the most of your resume, it w ill land you the job that you are looking for. Make sure you are doing everything possible to make the most of your resume.Being prepared is key when it comes to getting your resume in front of the hiring manager. This is one area that most people overlook when they write their resumes. Knowing what you need and why you are applying for the job will not hurt you in the long run.