Define Your Wish List Prior to Embarking on a Job Search

“I am underpaid.”

“I can’t stand my boss.”

“I HATE my job.”

These are very powerful statements that I hear on a regular basis from normal people all around the country. These statements come from actuaries, bankers, food production professionals and sales people who are frustrated. Normal, talented, hardworking people are humbled every day by confounding professional situations that affect them both inside and outside the normal work hours – these frustrations permeate their personal lives, affecting spouses, children and others in their wake.

Win Your Next Interview

Are you ready to win the interview? You might find yourself interviewing with the owner or founder of the organization you want to work for, and, as we learned in my last post, if you position yourself in the wrong light you could blow the interview and lose your shot at a dream job. This time we are going to explore how the entrepreneur sees things in order to prepare you for the interview.

There are three major things you need to know about the entrepreneur to win in an interview.

Tips for Dealing with Work Jerks

In my last blog spot, I examined the criteria Robert Sutton outlines in his book, The No Asshole Rule, which helps one identify certifiable a-holes in the workplace. We’ve all dealt with them before and there’s a strong likelihood we’ll cross paths with more of them in the future, as much as it pains me to admit. If only the workplace jerk was a species on the verge of extinction….

Feedback is a Gift

In the spirit of continuous learning and improvement, our team has recently been participating in a weekly training session. Over the course of the past few weeks, we have been exploring our perceptions of the strengths and weaknesses of our group collectively. Additionally, everyone has completed individual assessments ranking themselves in the same areas we previously assessed the team.

Defining the “It” Factor in a Great Employee

Think of your best employee or co-worker. Now, think about their most prominent traits. What makes them the valued business partner that they are? If they are a game changer in your organization it’s likely that there isn’t just one characteristic that sets them apart. There must be, however, a few ties that bind it all together. These overriding qualities displayed by the elite professionals you know are the “it” factor and are the traits that have you pining for more individuals just like them.

We decided to ask our top clients, across varying industries, this question recently: What are the top three soft-skill (non-technical) traits you find in your highest performing employees? Here is what we found, in order of frequency:

The Art of Professional Networking

I had one of those “ah ha” moments this past weekend, during a social gathering for an organization I’ve been volunteering with the past six months. The social was an opportunity for volunteers to meet one another and share experiences they’ve had through their participation in the program. I was looking forward to the event and shortly after I arrived, I found myself mingling with several volunteers and learning about why they chose to join this program. The gathering was proving to be a great success!

Hiring Turn Around on the Horizon

Over the past couple years, with an increasing number of employees being laid off and unemployment rates climbing across the country, we have been experiencing a primarily employer-driven market. Instead of posting job openings and praying that someone will apply, employers have been posting positions and then weeding through hundreds of resumes. Hiring managers have become more specific in their searches, screening out people who don’t have experience with the most recent version of a software package or who are missing one key word on their resume.

Two New Tax Benefits for Employers

Aimed at providing hiring incentives to restore some of the jobs lost in the latest economic recession, and to help put Americans back to work as soon as possible, the IRS recently updated language in the HIRE (Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment) Act, which offers employment tax incentives to businesses, established in March 2010.

This new $17.5 billion legislation (scaled down from an earlier $150 billion package) is of particular interest to businesses as it includes new tax benefits directly related to hiring employees and writing off investments in business equipment.

Email Pitfalls

Think of a time when you were minding your own business, right in the middle of your daily grind. Up pops the email icon on your PC, perhaps accompanied by that familiar written tone we all know so well. You stop what you are doing; knowing full well that whatever is in your inbox can surely wait, and rush to see what waits. It’s from your boss and the subject line reads “Report Question”. Your heartbeat ratchets up a notch as you go to click on the message. “What did I do wrong?” you wonder out loud as the email opens to full screen. You see the words “What is this?” with a print screen below showing the report you had just turned in.

The Importance of Emotional Intelligence in Leadership Development

There are undoubtedly many different factors that contribute toward someone developing into a great leader. In previous Aureus Group blog articles, we’ve addressed the importance of demonstrating effective communication skills when interacting with colleagues in the workplace. Well what about emotional intelligence? How does one’s emotional intelligence impact their ability to be a top performer in the professional world?