You probably don’t realise it but you negotiate with others all day every day – with colleagues, clients, managers and even your loved ones at home. Some conversations are easy and some are more difficult and it is normal to have conflict in a negotiation due to competing interests.
Here are our top tips for a successful negotiation outcome:
Plan Head
Understand what you are wanting to achieve and why. If you know why, you can explain it to others.
Stay Open Minded
Seeing the other’s point of view will assist in the negotiating process. If you have a closed mind so will they.
Identify Their Interests
You will need to consider the interest of the other parties. If you don’t understand, ask open ended questions and listen carefully to what they are saying.
Don’t Rush The Process
Be prepared to have numerous conversations to achieve an amicable outcome.
Deliver On The Agreement
This assists with building trust and respect for future situations that may arise.
Ask For Support
Only from trusted advisors. Don’t gossip and ask the whole office for their opinion as this will only confuse you more.
Don’t Be Afraid
If you use these tips, take your time and have a considered approach you will be just fine. Even if you don’t achieve the exact outcome you wanted, it is a character building exercise and no doubt you will learn from it in the future.
In all organisations there is constant pressure on bottom line profits. Employees are taking on extra responsibilities and at times are stretched to the limit, especially over peak seasons. Companies have a duty of care to the overall wellbeing of their staff and should have in place a culture that supports employees at critical times throughout the year.
Healthy workplaces promote mental health and wellbeing. They are positive and productive, and get the best out of everyone in the workplace. Businesses that care about good mental health and wellbeing attract and keep top talent because they’re great places to work. The facts are clear: as well as benefiting employees, a mentally healthy workplace is also better for your bottom line.
A recent PWC analysis found that for every dollar spent on creating a mentally healthy workplace, there would be a $2.30 benefit to the organisation.
Here are some simple and effective strategies that your company can implement, support and encourage straight away:
- Regular lunch breaks
- Encouraging walking / activity during the day
- Ensuring annual leave is used
- Time in lieu
- A complimentary day off
- Shout a healthy lunch or get weekly fruit boxes
- Standing desks
The benefits will improve your company morale and culture, which will increase productivity and lessen employee turnover!
Source: www.headsup.org.au; Creating a mentally healthy workplace return on investment analysis – PWC
Internships are on the rise within Australia- and its about time! We are playing catch up to the rest of the world who already integrated internships into their businesses years ago and have seen huge success with such programs.
Internships offer an economical and effective way of attracting Graduates before they have had a chance to really consider a competitor. The war for talent doesn’t just stop within the experienced employee market – its trickles down into the junior roles. Through offering internships that are meaningful and aligned to student career expectations, you can often have first pick of the type of people you want representing your organisation before anyone else can secure them.
More universities are integrating Internships into course curriculum to ensure their students are gaining hands on experience in a field related to their studies. Not only do their students come out more aware of work expectations and hence become more employable, the host company also has some high calibre help on internal projects.
By allowing keen and hungry students to concentrate on neglected (yet important) projects, you can in most cases receive some great solutions to ‘that thing’ that has been sitting on the backburner.
Internships must be looking very attractive by now! However, there are some legal considerations:
Paid Vs. Unpaid
There is a legal requirement that falls under the Fair work Act of Australia – any duties that directly result in revenue raising activities must be paid to the individual who undertook the duties. In most cases this would mean paying the intern an hourly salary to ensure you are complying legally and to ensure the intern is seriously considering your organsiation as a reputable full-time employer.
If you have a project within your business that would suit a smart and eager student, ask PATH4 how the internship process works and how you can secure one for your team.
The latest cohort of Food Science and Technology students have just completed their masters and bachelor degrees.
Congratulations!
All those late nights, extra coffees, nerves and perhaps a grey hair or two have been worth it. You’ve finished your study and have celebrated but now what?
You are likely on the way to looking for a starting point in your career or starting a new one; this is a wonderfully nerve racking and exciting time.
Things will start to change pretty rapidly when joining a new team and leaving the comfort of the educational environment. You may find that you feel like a “fish out of water” when you are joining a new team; there are new rules, politics, procedures, new team mates, new processes, policies, likes, dislikes and a totally new environment. Not to mention your Quality Manager boss who has sooooo much more experience than you.
This is all part and parcel of the change or start of your career as a Food Technologist. To help you through this we have put together some tips on making the transition a successful one.
Proof-read your emails…
In this day and age of technology we generally utilise one device for multiple email accounts or even social apps. Not too far into my career I was using MS Outlook and managed to send a company email to several job seeking candidates from my personal Hotmail account.
Now whilst this is not the end of the world and wasn’t the end of my career it was embarrassing and awkward to explain (more than once). Obviously, we all make mistakes and it is how you learn and rise from them, but a simple check and double check of an email will go a long way to ensuring you start on the right foot.
Respond!
You have an email, you don’t know the answer, or even if you will have time today to try to find out. That is fine! If you can’t do something immediately or you need to find out more information ensure you respond to the request by email, or phone call. This lets the person at the other end know you have received their message. Let them know when you will reply with the work completed or information required. You do not have to have an answer right away, but you should set expectations for when you can get back to them. Ensure you get back to them when you say you will and if you can’t respond again advising you will need more time. Communication is key, always!
Prioritise!
Do you know what the most important task of your day is? Prioritising! That’s right. However if you aren’t sure what to do first don’t try to guess– just ask. A customer may be waiting on a new product trial, information that you may not have known when pushing that task to the bottom on the pile. Get the specifics on what tasks are expected of you and by when. Supervisors may not be fully aware of all the work you have to do in a day or week. Make sure you clarify your responsibilities and what the priorities are to ensure their expectations are being met.
Ask questions, but be resourceful
It is always refreshing when new employees or graduates try to find out information or figure things out on their own before asking a question. It shows enthusiasm and resourcefulness.
However, it is also ok to ask! Questions are important, of course it is how we learn. It also matters that you do your job to figure out as much as you can on your own. Hint: Google often.
Show initiative
The best employees and interns I’ve worked with go above what I’ve asked of them, I also try to be one of these employees. This doesn’t mean you need to work 20 hours a day in the office but it is certainly remarkable not to mention very helpful when someone sees a gap or task that needs completing and takes initiative to propose a solution – and maybe even develop an action plan – for filling that gap and if you are able to complete the task appropriately then even better!
Now, as was your first year of university there will be a lot of changes and adjustments to make but knowing a few of the main tips on how to navigate these changes will get you off to the best possible start.
Take the time to set yourself up for success. Congratulations Graduates, and welcome to work life!
Recruitment agencies simplify the recruitment process for both organisation and candidate. They become the sole point of contact to assist with the hiring process.
From the employer and their organisation to the possible candidate(s), a recruitment agency can be there every step of the way. A recruitment agency might just seem like the first step, but from the second they become involved, they become the sole point of contact to assist with the hiring process.
Employers are very busy people. From the second they make the decision to employ more staff, it can be a lengthy and time-consuming process. Recruitment agencies do the hard yards for everyone company to find the perfect person for the role.
If you are an individual struggling with your professional life, stuck in a rut of constant applications but hearing nothing, perhaps it’s time to try a recruitment agency. A recruitment agency may be able to match you with your perfect job faster than you could fill out your next application.
If you are an employer who has been struggling to find the perfect candidate and are sick of wading through hundreds (if not thousands) of unrelated, untailored and unprofessional applications – then a recruitment agency is what you’re after. An agency will go above and beyond to find exactly what you are after.
They will listen to your needs and concerns in regards to the role, and create an advert personally tailored to what your company needs. From that point on, they will be with you from beginning to end finding the ideal candidate who will not become another forgotten face in your company, but will become the missing puzzle piece.
How do you get excited when you’re feeling a bit lost? Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Recruitment agencies are experts at what they do and they do it well. They often will have people in specific sectors who have worked in those industries that you’re trying to break into. These people not only know the job market, but they know exactly what type of skills general employers and specific employers are looking for in their industry.
Not only can a recruitment agency provide helpful advice in regards to both specific and general roles, they can also help to negotiate the best outcome for all parties involved. A recruitment agency will match talent with opportunity. There should be no question of whether or not to use a recruitment agency – they save time, money and even, in some cases, your sanity. Recruitment agencies have the “what’s what” and know the “who’s who” in the industry. They know where to go if you don’t want to be doing endless searching with no results!
In our game (recruitment) people are frequently judged by their job title first and then maybe, if they are lucky, their experience.
In 2012 a study was done in the US by TheLadders.com which showed that recruiters only spend an average of 6.25 seconds looking at a candidate’s résumé before deciding whether he or she is a fit for a role.
The study shows that recruiters spend 80% of that six seconds looking at just six things:
- Name
- Current title / company
- Previous title / company
- Previous position, start and end dates
- Current position, start and end dates
- Education
Apparently most recruiters don’t have time to read between the lines.
So if you are sending your resume out to the market how do you get the attention of the recruiter or the hiring manager if you have an average of 6.25 seconds to grab their attention?
In recruitment we spend a huge amount of time reading resumes, viewing LinkedIn profiles and reading cover letters every single day. At PATH4 Group we pride ourselves on our ability to find the best talent available and apart from speaking with thousands of people every year we utilise the latest in network search, Boolean search and of course referrals, networking and any other means to dig out the right people.
To be noticed quickly you need a hook, something to really grab the attention of the recruiter or hiring manager. Once they see the hook they will be more inclined to read on and hopefully read on in more detail. At PATH4 Group we look for hooks, we are always looking for that point of difference.
With that perfect job at stake, now is not the time to be left out because your profile did not catch the eye of the recruiter or hiring manager.
So have a look at a couple of handy hints for your resume:
- Keep It Short
- Get It Focused On The Role You Are Applying For
- Use Cold Hard Facts
- Get Your Skills At The Top
Writing a good resume is an art. You need to ensure that your resume is perfect, eloquent and well suited to each and every position that you apply for. Here is how to stand out from the crowd with your resume:
You can’t submit the same resume for different jobs
When you applied for your very first job, you probably didn’t have much experience to put on your resume. Perhaps a bit of volunteering, things you were interested in and education. But now that you’re in the process of refining your resume for your professional career, it needs to be a lot more than that. If you want to be seen as competition for a position, your resume needs to be perfectly tailored to the company and job that you’re applying to.
It takes skills and understanding of what recruiters are looking for.
In order to best capture an employer’s attention, you need to know the job and know how your skills are suited to it. Employers are always on the search for an ideal candidate for each position. If you decide to include an “interests” section at the end of your resume, are your interests something that would suit the position? If you’re applying for a job in HR or marketing at a gym, do you regularly go to the gym and understand the needs and wants of patrons? Likewise, the jobs that you worked when you were fourteen in hospitality or retail probably aren’t relevant to a position that you’re applying for in your twenties or thirties, unless it is related to hospitality or retail.
Drop the unimportant information. Employers only have a certain amount of time to wade through resumes, and yours is much more likely to be overlooked if you have lots of irrelevant information. It will say to employers that you are lazy and have just submitted a standardised resume to their position. They want to feel special and they want the bare basics, laid out in front of them in an easy to see way.
It doesn’t have to be long
Be concise. Cut the irrelevant information and stick to the basics. If possible, try to fit your entire resume on to one page, or two pages maximum. If you wanted to, you can always include a note to the employer in the cover letter or email stating that you can send through an extended version of your resume if they required further information, or that you would be happy to discuss it further if they had any questions.
Proofread
Write and re-write your resume. Read and then re-read it again. You want to make sure that your resume is perfect and that you will be the ideal candidate for the job. Resumes with spelling mistakes or out of date information look messy and employers will see that as lack of attention to detail. Proofreading is no fun, but it has to be done.
Don’t lie or embellish the truth
Employers do their research and they will find out, whether it’s prior to the interview, at the interview or when you get the job. It will make you seem untrustworthy and word might even spread within your industry. The best thing to do is to tell the truth. If the position requires someone with experience in a certain field, you can even add a section into your cover letter or resume stating that you are happy to learn any skills needed for the position, or brush up on existing skills if the employer feels they are not at the standard they are after.
Don’t make it overly fancy
Whilst you may be a fan of WordArt, fancy fonts and bright colours, try and keep them to a minimum on your resume (unless you’re applying for an artistic role and want to stand out). The best font for your resume is generally something “sans serif”, as it is easier to read. However, a pop of colour can be good to distinguish yourself, even if it’s just in the form of a border or lines to separate sections.
Keep it simple and relevant and you’ll be set!
You may think that your job is hard work, but do you ever think back to how hard it was to get one. Finding the right job can be hard work, but proving that you’re the best person for that role can be even tougher.
Here are five of our top tips for job seekers:
Have an updated resume
Remember that job you had when you were 15 that you were so proud of getting? Yeah…We’re sorry to say that it’s probably not relevant and needs to be cut from your resume. Employers are busy and time poor. The last thing you should be doing is wasting their time with a resume that it too long or out of date. Make sure all of the years are correct and have the same formatting throughout. Cut irrelevant achievements and awards you received at high school (to be honest, you can probably cut everything from high school if you graduated ten years ago).
Your resume needs to be about you and why that particular employer should choose you over everyone else. It should be one page long (two maximum) and contain relevant jobs and volunteer projects from the past few years. If you completed a course which is relevant to the job you’re applying to, include that. If you’re a recent graduate, make sure your resume is updated to say that you’ve graduated and that you’re not still studying. Proofreading it is essential.
Brush up on your interview skills
Interviews are extremely tough, and the best way to become good at them (and therefore succeed), is to practice. Now, obviously it won’t be possible to practice with multiple employers in real life situations, but try practicing speaking in the mirror. Use eye contact. Be calm. Remember to smile.
If you have enough time, you could also create a list of questions that you think an employer will ask and pull them out of a hat to answer in front of the mirror as a mini impromptu speech. You can tape yourself and play it back to see if you can hear the smile in your voice if it’s a phone interview. Really, whatever works for you. But if you practice, you will seem prepared. Know what you want to get across whilst also knowing what your interviewer will be looking for.
Research the company
There is almost nothing worse and more unprofessional than turning up to a job interview unprepared. The fact that you may have had multiple interviews that week or day is no excuse and a potential employer will not let that slide. Try and find out as much about the company as you can. Have you seen one of their recent projects you think you could assist with? What is their motto? Their aims? How do you fit into their equation and how are you their missing puzzle piece? Be ready to sell yourself.
However, it’s not possible to sell yourself if you can’t sell the fact that you know about their company. At the end of the day, if you don’t do any research – you’re selling yourself short. You may have been the best fit for the job, but you need to appear intelligent by doing your preparation.
Make a wish list
The best way to look for a job is to know what you want. Make a list of what kind of jobs you’re looking for. The skills they require. The salary and benefits packages. Do you want jobs that offer more holidays or would you be prepared to go for one with less holidays if it paid more? How about working hours? Do you want 9 till 5 or something else? Weekends or not? There are so many options out there for jobs and you will find your perfect fit if you know what you’re looking for. If you’re not fussy, you could make a list of what you don’t want as it might be easier to rule out some jobs if there are too many options.
Engage a recruitment agency in your desired industry
If all of the above doesn’t work or you still need an extra boost with your job seeking, a recruitment agency who specialises in your desired industry can help. Engaging a recruitment agency can help to take some of the stress out of job searching. Recruitment agencies can match your skills to jobs that are currently available, thus finding the best person for the job.
As we said before, job seeking can be hard, but it doesn’t have to be!
Professional life can be hard. There, I said it. It can mean long hours with little to no recognition for your work ethic. Though your work may advance the company, it can often feel as though it goes unnoticed. Sound familiar?
It sounds as though you’re suffering from being stuck in a professional rut.
A professional rut could also be described as being in a funk, down in the dumps or just feeling a bit low in regards to your career and professional life. A professional rut can happy to anyone and at any point in their career. Things might be going great, you might have received a promotion or praise for some excellent work a while back…but now what? You might feel as if there’s nowhere else to go.
But the only way is up, my friend, and you won’t be stuck for long! You must actively seek out new methods to un-funk yourself and rediscover your groove (so to speak).
To start, you could try re-arranging your desk. Make some new charts or a to-do list, bring in some extra photos or buy some new stationary. Break the norm and tedious, daily routine and try and find some inspiration in your own space.
If you’re part of a company that does the technique known as hot-desks – where you switch every day to try and boost employee productivity – try to sit beside people who you don’t know anything about or haven’t spoken too much. If your company is relatively small, you could take time out of your day to discuss a bit of what you’re doing with the person beside you to see if they have any ideas or ways to help you better complete your workload.
That professional rut hanging over you still? You might feel like your career is a bit stagnant or not stretching you as much as you’d like, but once again – there’s a simple solution. It might sound strange to ask your boss for MORE work, but explain to your boss that you’d like to broaden your horizons. Not only will your boss or manager probably praise you for taking initiative by asking if there’s anything you can help with, you might land up with something on your desk which is new and interesting. Of course, asking the boss if there’s anything extra you can do never goes astray either and won’t go unnoticed.
There are multiple other ways to work yourself out of a rut that don’t involve work. You can up a new activity outside of work to reduce stress and meet new people. Whether it be yoga, running, painting, it doesn’t really matter if it’s new and exciting. Less stress at home means less stress for you in the workplace, which might help you to calm down and focus on the tasks at hand.
Of course, if your job is not your dream job, then your life is too precious to waste doing a job that won’t make you happy or help you get to a job that will. It might be that you’re stuck in a professional rut because you feel like you’re wasting your time doing something that you hate. If this is the case, then there are always, always, always solutions. You are a skilled and capable individual with a plethora of talent to offer. Scope out new jobs or approach a recruitment agency to see what your skills would be best suited to and the best way to get to your dream job.
In the words of the great Dr Seuss – “You’ve got brains in your head, you have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.” Professional ruts are not the end of the world and they can happen to everyone. Ask for assistance and change up your life a bit and see what happens – you might be surprised!
When trying to find the correct fit for your business, there are so many options. Do you hire someone who has interned but never worked? Bachelors or Masters?
But one of the biggest decisions is whether or not to hire a graduate. Hiring a graduate might be a daunting option, but it doesn’t need to be.
Here are five reasons why you should consider hiring a graduate for your next position:
Motivated attitude
Graduates leave university, fresh faced and ready to face the world. They leave with a “go-getter” attitude and an up-to-date resume. They are ready to do absolutely anything and if you hire them, they are the kind of person that you want in your company. If you want someone who is passionate, eager and motivated, a graduate could be your best option.
A graduate’s view of the working world is not yet tainted by bad bosses and unfair working hours. Treat them right, and they will remember that and you will be rewarded. Even if they leave you behind after a year or two, they will always remember you as the boss who first gave them a chance and experience to showcase their skills.
Up to date skills
Speaking of skills…a graduate who has just left university has a plethora of skills which employees who have been in the industry for a while may lack. Graduates are taught skills to suit a twenty-first century market which will give you the cutting edge in your field.
Employees used to be like wine and cheese – the more mature they are, the better. And whilst this may still be the case for mental maturity and (sometimes) experience in the industry, sometimes a new bottle of wine will surprise you.
Graduates often complete a number of internships whilst at university and are taught skills relevant to today. Maybe your industry progressed from print to online and you need someone to step you into the twenty-first century. It might be their first job, but they’re no fool! A graduate will often know more about the methods of the twenty-first century than one of your more senior employees, so give them a chance! The fresh pool of talent will help everyone.
New ideas
A newbie in the industry will actually often help to give you an advantage. Say you’ve been stuck on a project for a while and the deadline is creeping closer. You’ve exhausted all of your ideas. A graduate might be able to shed some light or a new perspective because of their difference in life experiences.
They might have recently travelled after university which opened their mind to the world, or they might have interned for someone who does it a different way. No matter what, a fresh perspective is often just what you need to kick-start a new chapter of your business – whatever that may be.
Their references will be recent
If you hire a graduate, the chances are that their references will be recent. You’ll be able to track down the boss from their most recent internship or the manager from their most recent part time job.
You’ll know exactly what you’re getting before you get it. Of course, everything comes with experience. Internships teach a lot, but don’t be surprised if a graduate is a bit green on their first day. Everything comes with time and they’ll soon get into the swing of things, helping and growing your business and prospects.
They are the future of the industry
Think about your very first day of your first job out of university. You were probably nervous. Maybe you were wearing a new suit or dress. Everything was a bit intimidating. Now think about where you are. Ten, twenty, thirty years down the line and you are exactly where you want to be.
These graduates will one day be you. Everything that they learn will come from starting at the bottom and working for people like you. They are the future of your industry and their future starts now. Teach them the important parts – the bits you wish you had known at the beginning, what to do, what not to do – and they will be forever grateful.
Your industry will prosper from the work that you have done and the legacy that you will leave behind in the form of a graduate who was given a chance.
So next time you’re hiring, maybe don’t put “2-3 years of experience” necessary on an entry-level position and instead encourage graduate applications. You might be surprised.