Ask James How do I answer this question about competition

Ask James How do I answer this question about competition by James Reed Put on the spot about whether a company is the right fit for you? In his monthly column, career coach and Chairman of reed.co.uk, James Reed, shares his expert advice to help you tackle your biggest career concerns.This month, James gives his top tips on how to handle talking about competition in front of a prospective employerThe questionHi James,During an interview last week, the interviewer asked me the question: If you could work for any company other than this one, which one would it be?. I completely floundered and didn’t know what to say. How do I answer this question without sounding keen to work for the competition?Best,AaronThe answerHi Aaron,You’re not the first person to be stumped by this question. It’s a difficult one to get right. You need to provide a sincere and enthusiastic answer, without seeming overly keen to work elsewhere.In today’s competitive jobs market, recruiters will expect you to have interviews lined up at other companies probably even competitors. So don’t feel like this is something you have to hide from them if you do.It’s easy to confuse this question with ‘what other companies are you interviewing with?’, but be careful because they aren’t the same. This question is asking which company you’d choose to work for, not what companies you have interviewed for already or are planning to interview with in the future.Although it can feel awkward talking about one company when you’re interviewing at another, it won’t look great if you’re asked this question and you’re unable to provide an answer.The majority of candidates, when asked this question, will probably reel off a list of the big players in your industry. But you don’t want to just blend in with the other interview candidates, you want to stand out, and this question is an opportunity to do so.Rather than viewing this question as a chance to ruin the interview, use it to your advantage. See it as an opportunity to show you r interviewer that you’ve done your homework and know your chosen industry well.Instead of picking the larger, obvious companies in your industry that everyone else wants to work for, choose one of the lesser known companies or startups to show that your knowledge of the industry goes beyond surface level.Anyone can Google ‘best companies for marketing jobs’, but very few will know about the up-and-coming firm that’s changing the face of the industry.When you are talking about competitors, don’t describe companies as interchangeable. Avoid any suggestion that companies all look the same or do the same thing. Apart from looking like you don’t fully understand the industry, you may end up insulting your potential employer. Every company has their own unique culture and selling points that distinguish them from the competition.One final thought. Even though your interviewer has specifically asked you to name a company other that the one you’re interviewing for, you can st ill use this as an opportunity to talk about the reasons you want to work for their company and what distinguishes them from the competition.Find their unique selling points, and highlight them.Best of luck in your next interview.JamesCommon interview questions and answersDifficult interview questions and answersIf you’d like James to answer your career query, tweet your question to @James_A_ReedLooking for more interview advice?   Download Why You? nowFind a job What Where Search JobsSign up for more Career AdviceSign up for moreCareer Advice Please enter a valid email addressmessage hereBy clicking Submit you agree to the terms and conditions applicable to our service and acknowledge that your personal data will be used in accordance with our privacy policy and you will receive emails and communications about jobs and career related topics. Ask James

Resume Writing About Integrity

Resume Writing About IntegrityMany writers question whether it is ethical to include a paragraph or two on personal statements about integrity in resumes. I've been thinking about this, and I've decided that I believe it's okay to discuss some of the challenges and obstacles we all face.Here are a few quotes from an essay by Robert Hale on the ethics of Personal Statements. Robert Hale states that: 'There is a time and place for telling the truth; I don't believe it's when you're getting hired.' And, I believe it's also a good idea to mention at the very least, we all do not know all of the facts.We all do things for reasons. It's okay to tell your story in a way that your readers can follow it as a guide, but, there is a difference between 'faking it' and being honest about who you are and where you are going.Finally, resume writing personal statements about integrity should be honest and always be direct. I encourage you to avoid hiding information, like your place of employment or how long you've been in your current job.Instead, tell the reader the whole truth in a very honest way. You should also be able to connect the 'truth' with your personal statement with ease.Here's an interesting side note about honesty. Have you ever noticed how often people include their employer in their cover letter, even if they've worked there less than a year?It seems like a common practice, but, many people are doing it because they want to appear more committed to their company, even if they've had other jobs before that didn't include that employer. So, it makes sense that you would include a reference to your employerin your resume. Some people don't consider it an ethical practice, but, I think it's one.Remember, resume writing personal statements about integrity is important, but, try to keep your sentences clean and easy to understand. Don't tell people that you 'just moved here' and haven't had any job experience before. That's something you'll have to explain.

6 Google+ Features for Recruitment Marketing

6 Google+ Features for Recruitment Marketing Google+   lots of talk but very little action from the average recruiter. I ran a PR and Content Workshop with BlueSkyPR recently and the marketers in the room all frowned when the Google+ topic came up.  Many of you lovely people, just  havent engaged with the product BUT you may have ticked a box and set it up. There’s lots of content out  there re: the formidable Google+, but for now, let’s do what should never be done and focus on the features (and talk benefits later!) Yes, Google+  Ironically has Some Cute (and perhaps) Hidden Features I am going to tell you about  6 great Google+  features that can help recruitment marketers and recruitment consultants get a little more  engaged with the product. The power of Google+ lies in the SEO value that it adds to recruiters.  If you don’t know what that means, it’s basically getting your website / profile higher in Google searches. However, it is also an excellent way to share content and to get your content found and attract (which is a goal for ALL of my clients!) Here are 6 ways in which Google+ will help you to market vacancies and content to candidates and clients. 6 Cool Features of Google+ Collections   Google has changed some of its features. They have scrapped auto hash-tagging and their analytics tool ripple, replacing it with collections. As such, nobody really knows about collections yet! Collections is essentially like Pinterest. Users can post to individual collections so that people can follow whichever board takes their fancy. A nifty little tool if you want to filter posts by sectors to target candidates who don’t want to shift through the rest of your content! Bookmarks As if circles weren’t good enough already, here is another nifty little way to exploit them! Create a circle, add yourself. Now you can find some content and share it with yourself so that you have a nice little record of great posts and content. How could you use this for recruitment (and marketers, this is for you)? Use it to store content for you to use! Too much content will overwhelm candidates and sometimes you can create a backlog of content for a rainy day! Embed posts Get your posts embedded into your blogs and your website. This will drive traffic to your account, boost engagement and ultimately boost your SEO. Formatting your posts Add  bold,  italicised  and  strikethrough  fonts to your posts to make them appeal to users. Here is how you do it: *Bold* =  Bold _Italics_ =  Italics -strikethrough- =  strikethrough Google Mobile   Now â€" your mobile phone is far from hidden.   I’ve talked before about it being an extension of your body (read my blog about Jedi Mind-Tricking Talent with Google Analytics [link to UC article I wrote). But how about this… We know that talent is online when you’re not working.   You need to keep your profile front and centre, or at least just to their left so they see you in their peripheral vision. Open Google+ on your mobile and do this: Go to your Home banner and press the down facing triangle.   Choose What’s Hot and hey presto â€" content that (has been gathered by Google who is watching your every move) is here for reading / liking   sharing etc… My What’s Hot? Star Wars Back to the Future Mauritius Game of Thrones Recruitment (oh dear! And spooky!) Hangout banners: Give your Google hangouts a professional feel by adding your name, job title and company logo. This is an excellent feature when conducting an online meeting with new clients or  video interviews  with candidates. Google+ is designed to improve SEO and to enable effective sharing of content. Recruitment marketers and recruiters should master Google+ so that you can share content more effectively, be seen online  (attract) and boost your website’s ranking! It also helps if you look like you know how to use  the thing too!

What Does It Mean To Have It All and What Do Women Really Want

What Does It Mean To Have It All and What Do Women Really Want Todays post is written by Willie Pena, a writer who enjoys writing about business, marketing and career advice.   In her new book, Wonder Women: Sex, Power, and the Quest for Perfection,  Debora Spar tackles the female fantasy of having it all and whether it is realistic and feasible for the modern woman. Spar is the perfect woman to tackle this topic since she has achieved success as a wife, mother, and one of the youngest women to receive tenure as a professor at Harvard Business school and president of Barnard College. Despite the illusion of being an idealistic megawoman at home and in the office, Spar admits that aspiring to perfection in both domains is unrealistic and that women should instead seek a middle ground to find true happiness. What Does it Mean to Have it All? All has been defined by many women as a fulfilling career with financial success equal to men in their field as well as having motherhood, a successful marriage, and other thriving community relationships. Spar and other experts now encourage modern women to move beyond the legend of Superwoman and find career success by seeking balance and happiness.  She said piling on expectations can make women feel burdened.   Instead, Spar said modern women should realize they dont have to do everything perfectly and dont have to be everything to everyone. Spars views echo the voices of real women. Based on surveys done by Insights in Marketing, LLC in 2012, research found that everyday, modern women want to feel content with what they have and not feel they have to aspire to have it all. Here are a few key findings from those surveys: Key Finding #1:   All of the women IIM surveyed reported some level of frustration with the traditional definition of having it all and the majority of them said that they had redefined it into something that better fit their wants and needs. Indeed, 80% of women said that their definition was different than that of society and ALMOST ALL OF THEM said that happiness comes from something other than having it all. Key Finding #2:   What women said they wanted is to feel fulfilled and content by  having enough. You can read more about the findings in this study here). What is your definition of having it all?

Best Resume Writing Services in New York City Maintenance

Best Resume Writing Services in New York City MaintenanceThere are many New York City maintenance companies available to hire. Those seeking a job in the city might want to consider hiring a company to complete the process of creating a resume. This article will give you more information on what to look for when it comes to hiring one of these services.New York City is known for its high income levels. That being said, the city offers many people with opportunities to work at higher-paying jobs than many other parts of the country. Most of the employment opportunities can be found at local contractors. While the types of work available in this city is excellent, there is always the need for the human resource department to provide resumes for these positions.New York City is an exciting place to live and work. From the architecture to the television shows and even the books, it is almost impossible to find a shortage of things to do. So while the city maintains an abundance of employ ment opportunities, it also means that the employment opportunities are also plentiful.It's a good idea to maintain your skills well over a year after you have them. Having the knowledge and skills necessary to get a job when it first comes up is essential to keeping your job and to actually landing the job once it has been advertised. As such, it is smart to learn as much as you can about resume writing, application and interview techniques. This knowledge can come from college classes, tutoring, online training, or from others who have successfully done this in the past.One way to find one of the best resume writing services in New York City is by looking online. One way to gain access to companies offering resume writing services is to look for agencies. These agencies have offices that meet the standards that are needed to work with one of the companies. An advantage of using an agency is that the entire process is easier and more efficient.It is also important to choose the rig ht type of agency for New York City maintenance. Some agencies do not provide the type of service needed. The best option is to search online for the type of service you need and then contact the company that offers it.Resume writing services are also available in person in all of the boroughs of New York City. However, you should be able to speak with someone who works in the field of service management. This type of agency will be able to help you get into the right type of company.Resume writing services are all over the web. You just need to know which services to look for and which ones you are comfortable with. Take the time to figure out what you need and then use an agency that can help you find it.

Are These Time Eaters Destroying Your Productivity at Work

Are These Time Eaters Destroying Your Productivity at Work Photo Credit â€" UnSplash.comAs leaders, we motivate team members to grow: we guide and support, we teach rather than preach, and we understand their mindsets as well as areas for improvement. It stands to reason we want our mentees to be successful.The question is, are we the same?Leadership is not a gift but a set of skills to acquire. We know that, so we hurry up to craft those skills for better life. We work like beavers, willing to have 48-hour days at hand.evalWith tons of duties and responsibilities young leaders face in this fast and furious world, we take a lack of time for granted.I felt that pain, too. Books and courses on time management help a bit, but they would hardly save me from procrastination and chaos if I didn’t realize the fact of life:We should love Time.I use a capital letter here because I perceive Time as the animate object. He lives his life, struggling with severe monsters for us to lead and succeed; so we should help him: knowing the enemies by sight, w e get a chance to control them and save Time for productive work and successful life.Who Is the Enemy?evalChronophages, or time eaters, are something/somebody who wastes your time or, figuratively speaking, eats it. In his book An Art of Living, André Maurois cites Henry de Montherlant, describing them as follows:“It is the duty of the worker to keep clear of time-wasters. They are pitiless. From the man who does not resist them, they will take the last moment of his time without considering that if left alone he might do valuable work. They are unscrupulous. The hardened chronophage will go to the chief of the army general staff the day a war is declared to describe the military situation according to his janitor. Chronophages function by visit, by telephone, and my mail. Kindness and patience with them are grave faults. They must be treated ruthlessly, since accepting them would be suicide.”The best way to beat chronophages is finding and neutralizing them.evalClassical chron ophages are indeterminate goals, random approach to work, and bollix. Ineffective meetings are time eaters, too: leaders should know how to organize them for better productivity.To find your chronophages, start documenting your days. Write down everything to understand what tasks to delegate, what work to postpone, and what tasks to do faster. I do believe that time management is a habit to keep an eye on Time and think how to expand it.Meet Your ChronophagesWe all are different, and so are our chronophages; and yet, the strongest time eaters are common for Gen Y. When I tried to find my chronophages, the most active one appeared to be my favorite music. It was guilty in my missed departure, meetings with friends, and unexcused tardies.Oddly enough, my another time eater appeared to be… reading. When a student, books saved me during boring lectures; and now, I had to struggle with them to win some time for sleep. I read until 4 am despite my wake-up time was 7 am; so no wonder I w asn’t able to lead successfully, plagiarizing ideas without thinking of consequences instead.Most of us meet chronophages every day, and the most dangerous of them are:evalWay to work and back. How to defeat: listen to audiobooks if a driver or read e-books if a passenger. Alternatives: brainstorming, making a to-do list, or relaxing.Mass media. Your TV kills time with no mercy. How to defeat: get rid of it, make a list of favorite shows instead â€" and watch them with no ads on your way to work and back.With poor organization, it becomes a severe chronophage, too. How to defeat: set time limits on working with emails. 15 minutes on mornings would work best to reply urgent messages, and 4-5 pm is time to answer long ones.Computer games. A geek who can’t live without fictional worlds? You’ve got your time eater! How to defeat: limit playing time, bringing it to naught step by step.Social networks. This one is among the most powerful chronophages. You take a 15-minute coffee bre ak to relax, open you news feed on Facebook â€" and those 15 minutes turn into one hour of scrolling and liking your friends’ vacation photos. How to defeat: limit your time on social media, and if your work has nothing to do with social networks â€" go cold turkey on them.Next time when visiting online communities, ask yourself: why you need it, what problem you solve there, what benefit you get, and what will happen if you don’t visit the forum right here and now.Web-surfing. A tricky one, this time eater creates an illusion of productive work. When catching yourself in planless web-surfing, ask questions from the previous item to organize it accordingly.Let’s face it, your smartphone is your best friend: you use it for both work and personal communication, texting your friends as well as checking emails every time when get notifications on incoming messages. How to beat: turn it off if don’t wait for urgent calls, and ask friends to not disturb you during working hours.Do n’t Give Them Any ChanceHere come more time eaters to beat with no mercy. Check if any is yours:AimlessnessDisarranged prioritiesMultitaskingLack of plan for goals achievementInability to say no and delegate tasksNo self-disciplineLack of interestFor better leadership, successful work, and happy life, we need to defeat some of the aforementioned chronophages forever, and yet gain over others to use them wisely.As you know, procrastination isn’t that bad and it can work for our benefit when used right. For instance, it boosts imagination, improves memory, encourage strategy generations, and helps us see prospects.However, efficient leaders don’t allow procrastination to gain an advantage of their time. To stay productive, develop your emotional intelligence to understand when time eaters come over you and when you need to concentrate and use your willpower for success.What are your time eaters? What tricks do you use to manage them?

In-Tray Tips - How to Pass Your Next In-Tray Exercise - How 2 Become

In-Tray Tips - How to Pass Your Next In-Tray Exercise - How 2 Become If you’re applying for a graduate job or a graduate scheme, it’s possible that you’ll face an In-Tray exercise as part of the application process. In-Tray exercises are testing environments which assess your ability to receive, prioritise, and then complete a variety of tasks under a specific time-frame. Here, we’re going to be taking a look at the top 3 tips for passing any In-Tray exercise.Read the Background Information â€" In-Tray Exercise TipsWhen heading into the In-Tray assessment, it’s vital that you understand the role that you’ll be playing during the exercise. Everything you need to know about the role you’re taking on will be made clear in the background information stage of the In-Tray assessment. This will usually include your job title, the scenario, key upcoming events, the names and positions of colleagues, and more. This section may also include details on company policy or other protocols which you might need to follow during the assessment.Many peopl e might be tempted to briefly skim the background information, or skip it altogether, since the clock is ticking. However, the In-Tray assessment is about more than simply completing the tasks. The assessors want you to show that you’re capable of reading, interpreting, and implementing information to arrive at the best courses of action and correct answers. For this reason, you must read the background information closely so that you pick up all of the key information. If it helps, underline or circle key points so that you can refer to them quickly.If the background information is quite dense, quickly write down some notes containing the key details so that you can refer to them easily. This way, you won’t have to keep trawling through the entire background information section of the exercise while completing tasks.Prioritise Your Tasks â€" In-Tray Exercise TipsThis has already been mentioned briefly in the previous chapter, but it’s extremely important that you prioritise e ach task set out before you. Generally speaking, there are three criteria which you should use in order to prioritise your tasks:1. Urgency â€" The closer the deadline, the sooner it needs to be done. As a rule, you shouldn’t leave any of these tasks until the last minute, because you never know if another task might appear and take precedence. Complete tasks based on their urgency as much as possible. 2. Size and Complexity â€" The bigger a document, or the more complex a task, the more time it’s going to take to complete it effectively. You should try and complete the bigger tasks as soon as possible so that you can get them out of the way, making room for the smaller tasks. 3. Importance â€" This is slightly more abstract than the other criteria, since the importance of a task will depend on your scenario. For example, if you receive a task from the director of the company you’re working for, then it might take precedence over a task assigned by a team-mate. There’s no re al trick to this: just use your own judgement to figure out which tasks are more important than others.Read Every Item Before Starting â€" In-Tray Exercise TipsWhile a lot of the key information will be supplied in the background information document, there might be more key details in the other items for the entire exercise. Therefore, it’s important that you read every document before you get started, since some new information in a document could change everything about how you approach the tasks.In addition, reading every item before getting started allows you to prioritise everything effectively. You don’t have to read each piece closely before starting since you’ll do that later, but at least skim through each document for important details before starting on anything.For more guidance on passing In-Tray Exercises, check out our book: In-Tray and E-Tray Exercises. This entry was posted in Testing. Bookmark the permalink. Jacob Senior Kent Test Results Day 2018 â€" What Comes Next?Metropolitan Police Selection Process 2018: Clusters and Values

LinkedIn Has A New Tool To Use

LinkedIn Has A New Tool To Use LinkedIns popular Whos Viewed Your Profile just added a new feature: How You Rank. It provides a lot more insight on the way you stack up in this essential network, and thats good because it also provides suggestions for improving your ranking. I sure hope you have a profile on LinkedIn because, if you dont, you are missing out on the best way to network with potential employers, clients, colleaguesand all the rest of the professionals who have joined. Networking is important because the reason why strangers dont get good jobs  is measurable: 92% of recruiters and hiring managers said either they knew the person or the person was referred by a co-worker or other trusted source. What’s even more interesting â€" and far more important â€" is that the primary decision to hire these people was on their actual ability to do the work and excel at it, not on some arbitrary list of skills and experiences. (Lou Adler did this survey and explains it in the linked article.) So the research shows that people who are even vaguely familiar with you are more apt to see your value, and the How You Rank tool gives you a customized list of ways to improve your ranking. Improving your ranking means that more people are looking at your profile, which means that more people will be familiar with you. The more people, particularly professionals in your career field, that are familiar with you the more apt you are to get a job when you apply. The customized ways to improve your ranking are pretty important because this is LinkedIn telling you how to get higher rankings on LinkedIn. That means you should pay attention to their suggestions since they know the algorithms for the site. And I like how you can use the tool to track your networking progress and analyze the results. You can even look at the higher ranking people in your network and see how your profile and activity compares to theirs and get a few more ideas on improving yours. If you want an even more individualized strategy for your LinkedIn enhancement, consider our LinkedIn Profile Development service. The How You Rank tool is good, but a professional evaluation that works with you to improve your online brand is better.