How your personal brand can help you climb the career ladder

A strong brand is crucial to any business, but how important is it to brand yourself? Does it matter what kind of content you are posting online?

If you want to climb the career ladder, it’s crucial to create a polished brand - without one, you might find yourself struggling to progress or change jobs. You could even find yourself without a job at all if you’re not careful about the content you post online.

So, what can you do to keep your online image in check?

Be consistent and be yourself

One of the most important steps in maintaining your personal brand is to stay consistent. Any tweet or content you write online could potentially stay in the digital world forever. This means that any time you post an update on social media or interact with an audience, think about the message you are trying to convey. Keeping your personal brand consistent will help others to recognise you.

Actively promote yourself

It’s unlikely that if you write an article or start a blog you’ll acquire an immediate audience. You’ll need to actively promote yourself through all your channels to help spread the word. If your content is uploaded online, think about all the different avenues you can use to share it. Social media is an obvious one – but could you consider adding a video or vlog to the post to achieve a wider reach?

Similarly, if you want people to interact with you, it might be wise to interact with them too. Could you write a guest blog for a larger brand or join a relevant online community?

Google yourself

One of the most important steps to refining your personal brand: - Checking your online reputation through a simple Google search.

According to various sources, around 70-80% of hiring managers will Google you or check your social media profiles at some point during an interview process. Therefore, if there’s any negative information to be found, it could damage your chances of being successful.

Take time to search your name on Google and see what information is out there already. And yes, that could include really old but embarrassing information you may have forgotten about - MySpace anyone?

Check your privacy settings

It’s likely that you won’t be putting the same content on Facebook that you do on LinkedIn, and vice versa. However, if you’re privacy setting aren’t up to date, you may find that employers will find photos of you on the town, rather than your corporate headshot.

Get to know the ins and outs of the privacy settings on each of your social media profiles, and be sure to stay up-to-date on any privacy policy changes announced by the platforms you use.

Make valuable connections

It's important to promote yourself, but it's just as important to promote others. One of the best ways to connect with people and establish your personal brand authority is to recognise the work of peers in your community or industry. Whilst it might seem odd to promote others, rather than yourself, sharing the content of others can help you form deeper relationships.

If you do find something negative online, but can’t delete it, you can at least ask Google to remove it from search results. Use the link below for more information:

https://support.google.com/websearch/troubleshooter/3111061?hl=en

Your job descriptions could be hurting your hiring pipeline

Finding great people is a top concern for businesses across the Midlands. Waheed Nazir, Birmingham City Council’s strategic director, recently cited that the one thing that keeps him awake at night, is the lack of necessary skills that could potentially stop the city’s firms from growing.

In most industries, it’s therefore crucial that businesses hire (and keep hold of) the talent they need to expand and develop.

Yet for all the worrying about keeping a high-quality candidate pipeline, many of us are making the similar mistakes: Writing job descriptions that turn off a large percentage of the candidate pool.

With that in mind, here are four areas to look at:

Use caution with qualifications

The qualifications section of a job description tends be treated as a wish list: everything that would be “nice to have” gets thrown in. Why not? Setting a high bar for talent is good, right? Won’t making it tough to qualify ensure we find the best candidates?

Unfortunately, not all the time. Even though there might be wiggle room on qualifications (unless you’re a doctor / lawyer etc) that’s not always how candidates interpret it, particularly women. While men apply for a job when they meet 60% of the qualifications, women tend to apply only when they meet 100%.

Therefore, a long list of ‘must haves’ will actually deter female candidates from applying. Problem!

Also, watch out for one word in particular – ‘expert’. Some candidates will consider themselves experts, but many qualified, talented candidates won’t identify with that descriptor, or might even be intimidated by it. Do you really require an inbound marketing expert or do you require someone who has the potential to become an inbound marketing expert? Importantly, what is an ‘expert’ anyway?

Check for gendered language

Gender also plays a big role in how language is interpreted in job descriptions. Certain words and phrases resonate with men more than women, and vice versa.

Many people write job descriptions as they would talk, and normally that’s a good thing, but not when it comes to job descriptions. Phrases and jargon like “killer business instinct” might feel fun and colourful, but they send subtle messages to the applicant about the kind of team they are signing up for.

Highlight benefits for all ages

Annual trips to Vegas might be a dream come true for a 20-something graduate, but when you’re starting or growing a family, paternal leave and healthcare are probably a lot more important at work than boozy nights out.

Be careful when highlighting “shiny” perks. You may be missing the opportunity to connect with candidates who bring years of experience to the table, as well as recent university leavers.

Watch out for corporate-speak

Insider language is a quick way to make someone else feel like an outsider, but if you’re not careful, acronyms and jargon will inevitably creep into your job descriptions. Job seekers reading descriptions are usually still in research mode, so feeling like they don’t speak the language of a company makes it easier for them to cross that company off their list.

It’s understandable that you’ll want to put some candidates off applying, particularly if the quality of CVs coming through your door is generally low – but by putting yourself in your candidate’s shoes and taking the time to reflect on your job descriptions, you’ll inevitably enable more of the most talented individuals to click that submit button to apply.

5 tips to engage your audience when presenting

Presentations are a common part of business, whether internally or as part of a pitch. Usually, this can evoke the thought of dread between staff – sitting through an endless series of PowerPoint slides can even drive a few people to sleep.

So, how do you make presentations land? And why do speakers frequently face tuned-out listeners, who are too busy checking their phones and watches to pay attention to the important information being conveyed?

With a combination of powerful data and the right messaging strategy, you can hold your audience's attention and make your business presentations a success. Follow these five tips to keep all eyes and ears on you:

Know your strengths

Before you start preparing, take the time to reflect on your personal style of presenting. If you’re not an overtly funny or bubbly person, it’s advisable to stay clear of forced humour and over-enthusiasm. Work out your particular strengths and capitalise on them.

Tell a story

Statistics and facts are important to any presentation, but without a good story behind them, the charts and tables you painstakingly created will mean nothing to your audience.

Using a story is a great way to make an audience receptive to the content - but don't tell stories just for the sake of telling them: Make sure they have a point. A confusing story will only lead to a disengaged audience.

Most importantly, don't just read off of your slides. Your presentation should support the slides, not the other way around.

Be aware of your body language

Nerves can be a real problem if you’re speaking in front of a large audience. Particularly if you’re not used to being the centre of attention. But, remaining calm and in control of your body movements and tone of voice is imperative to establishing yourself as a strong presenter.

Try and look people in the eye, keep smiling and don’t be afraid to use your hands to express yourself - or even move around a little. Being natural instead of stiff can transfer through to your voice. If you’re standing rigid, chances are your voice will be stiff and monotone too,.

Let the situation guide you

Every presentation will be different, and as such, it’s wise to tailor yours towards each situation. If you’re in front of a small audience, who know your topic and who know you, it will be a lot easier to connect than if you’re presenting in front of 200 people, who are coming in cold.

Have a think about your presentation goals and what you’re trying to achieve. Is there an opportunity to have dialogue with your audience, or is there only likely to be a chance for a monologue? The success or failure of your presentation will depend on how well you can adapt.

Practice, practice, practice

They say that practice makes perfect, and this is especially true for presentations. Before you go up in front of the audience, go over the data you're presenting and the notes you've written. If possible, test out the technology you'll be using to make sure it works. Rehearse your speech in front of a test audience, and ask for feedback. The more prepared you are, the more likely you are to gracefully handle any unexpected hiccups, tangents or audience questions.

Finally, whether you're giving a guest lecture at a convention or just presenting some company data, remember to be passionate about it. If you’re not interested, your audience won’t be either.

Will job-hopping eventually make you happy? Or is it career suicide?

How often is too often, when it comes to changing jobs? If you’re in your mid-twenties and your career history is as chequered as a chess board, how likely is it that potential employers will be chucking your CV straight in the bin?

Job-hopping is getting a lot more frequent. Particularly with Gen’s Y & Z, who are used to everything in their life being as disposable as an iPhone. With the temptation of higher salaries and better perks around every corner (and the growing expectation that ‘work’ should be almost as much fun as a day on the beach) it’s unsurprising that some of us are throwing in the towel as soon as the working week starts to become a drag.

But, will job-hopping make you happy in the long-run? Or can it actually damage your career prospects? We look at some reasons for job-hopping, to understand whether they are valid or not:

The economy

If you worked for a residential house builder or high street bank circa 2007, chances are your job was in the firing line at the time. In these circumstances, it’s very unlikely any potential new employer would be put off if you jumped ship before it was too late.

Bad career choices

You decided that you wanted a job where you were selling on the telephone for most of the day, because a) you like to talk and b) those sales bonuses look amazing.

In reality, you realise that a) those sales targets are so unachievable they make you want to hide in the toilet, b) it’s tiring and c) you actually don’t like to talk that much.

Again, don’t worry – if this sounds familiar, it’s not going to be healthy for you to stay.

Bad bosses

If your boss is any of the following:

• Chauvinist
• Micro-manager
• Degrading
• Bullying
• Lazy
• A gossip
• The type that wants ‘everything’ in an email, so he / she can blame you if you didn’t do something properly
• Incompetent

It’s quite fair that leaving your job is the right thing to do. Get out whilst you can!

It’s absolutely fine to admit you’ve made mistakes. Nobody is perfect. But, if it looks like you’re going from industry to industry for no reason other than boredom, chances are that it won’t look good on paper.

If you do need to job-hop; try and steer your career in a direction where others can see the reasoning behind it, particularly if you are side-stepping or even taking a step back. Plus, if you are making a change, it may be wise to stick at it for at least a year or two. If you’ve got a CV where you’re moving around every six months, hiring managers will just assume you’ll continue that pattern - so you may find that those job offers will be difficult to come by.

3 ways to give your employees incentives that they actually want

Photo courtesy of Social Chain

Employee incentives often sound like a failsafe method of motivating your workforce - particularly the younger ones who might have friends who are reaping the benefits of free gym memberships or a giant slide and ball pool.

However, not all benefits are as beneficial as they seem. The team at ESA Group speak to many HR managers who have used perk programs, which are too complicated, or are simply a waste of money.

Make them relevant

It seems, the key to engaging your employees into using their incentives, is to make sure they care about them.

Whilst it could be a barrier for larger companies to find a recognition programs that are all things to all people; smaller companies have the benefit of being able to ask their employees what kind of perks they’d like. Using an employee survey, for instance, could reveal what benefits would be the most important to your team. For the younger members, discounts on health insurance is likely to be less interesting than a yearly subscription to Netflix.

Consider low cost perks:

Research suggest that three quarters of companies are planning to expand their recognition programs within the next year. The most influential of these perks are performance awards, service anniversary awards and personal awards, such as ‘employee of the month’.

However, none of these necessarily have to be financially disruptive. Some of the most popular rewards with employees include early work day finishes or extra holiday. A little extra cash can always help though. Some simple, low cost perks could include:

• Gift cards
• Restaurant vouchers
• Entertainment vouchers
• Subscription services, such as Netflix or Spotify

Make them accessible:

There has been an abundance of employee ‘perks’ companies popping up all over the internet, such as Perk Box and The Work Perk, offering to manage your employee recognition for you.

Whilst these can certainly work, a recent SheerID survey revealed that only 22% of workers regularly use their discount programs, however 46% of staff said that they would use their perks more if they were easier to access or manage.

So, if your employees have to logon to a complex website every time they need to search for a discount, and if that website is difficult to use, chances are that they’ll give up before they find that 10%- off holiday voucher (that was probably already available elsewhere).

Want to work with the best of Generation Y? Here’s how to attract the top talent.

Retaining and attracting the best talent in any business is difficult and it’s even more important for a growing company in a competitive marketplace.

Smart companies know that they're only as good as their most gifted workers, and will therefore prioritize seeking out the best of the best for their organizations.

As technology continues to evolve, it will play an increasingly important role in the way companies and HR teams approach the talent search and the hiring process. So, what's on the horizon for this important area of business operations?

The future is digital

When LinkedIn and online job applications first emerged, they were seen as supplements to the traditional paper résumé and in-person interview. Today, the world of recruiting is nearly 100% digital.

CVs are starting to be displaced by evolving digital representations of an individual’s experience, skills, and aptitudes. Innovative tools that use social media, big data and other tech will give hiring managers detailed insights into a person’s aptitude that was never possible before.

Not even twenty years ago, the résumé was just a piece of paper. And most people would struggle to verify that even half of it was true. Now, recruiters can assess whether a person will ‘fit’ with the personality of their business, and accurately learn whether they have the right skills for the job by using a wide array of digital tools.

Want to hire somebody from another country? Now there’s no need to fly them in at great expense. Simply use a video based interview over Skype or similar, along with a variety online assessments, and you can quantify your candidates just as efficiently as if you met them in person.

Streamlined applications

Today's job seekers know their worth and are aware of the competitive landscape. They see opportunities everywhere, and if one employer takes too long to respond or makes it difficult to apply, they'll quickly pass it up for another job opening.

Talent acquisition has suddenly become a seller’s market. One way to address this is by using recruitment marketing technologies such as candidate job portals, employee onboarding and specialty tools that foster employee referrals.

Although some small employers can’t afford sophisticated tech, they can still use the basics. Even by posting a job ad on their own website, together with a campaign on any existing social media networks, they can still reach job hunters with an engaging and simple process.

Maximise your employment brand

Savvy candidates will evaluate company brands before applying to or accepting a job, much in the same way they evaluate consumer brands when shopping. They’ll be researching you just as much as you are them, so it’s important your public facing brand meets their expectations.

A poor website or inactive social feeds will soon turn a potential employee off. They’ll want to be actively engaged with you company before they apply, or they’ll be unlikely to understand whether their personality will work with yours.

Similarly, don’t forget that there are even digital hubs out there that are starting to review how good your employees perceive you as a business. Sites such as Glassdoor are becoming increasingly important when it comes to looking after your brand.

Focus on passive candidates

As the number of Generation Y — and soon, Gen Z — workers continue to increase, recruiters are learning that these employees' expectations about the hiring process differ from those of older generations.

Those who’ve been raised on technology don’t really accept the legacy concepts of recruiting and many are used to head hunters coming to them, rather than vice versa. This is even starting to become true for junior roles too.

It’s becoming more and more important for a recruiter to be proactive when finding candidates, such as through LinkedIn and other social profiles. Today’s professionals take their online positioning very seriously and many even have their own website to showcase their work.

Whilst digital tools will never fully replace the human instinct necessary for identifying the right candidates, an ability to stay on top of technological trends could be a company’s biggest advantage going forward.

Taking advantage of tools which go beyond paper will help you ensure you make the right hire and ultimately save your business time, headaches and cash.

To find out how ESA Group can use digital tools to find you the best candidates, contact us today for a free consultation.