Saturday, July 25, 2020

The five interview questions you must ask to secure the best candidates in the next era of work Viewpoint careers advice blog

The five interview questions you must ask to secure the best candidates in the next era of work As governments around the world slowly start to ease lockdown restrictions, for many leaders, focus is now firmly on how to return to growth when operating with backdrop of uncertainty and unease. This is a monumental challenge, but we can rise to it if we utilise our organisation’s most valuable asset â€" our people. Post-COVID, people will be the key to driving your organisation’s growth It’s your people and their uniquely human skills, that will play the most pivotal part in ensuring your organisation achieves the growth you’re aiming for, as our CEO Alistair Cox explains in his  LinkedIn Influencer blog:  â€œYes, your products, your services, your technology, your processes are important, of course they are. But, when it comes down to it, it’s your people, both current and future, that will really set your organisation apart in the next era of work.” Of course, this crisis may likely mean that large elements of your existing business model need to change. New markets may need to be explored. Perhaps, entirely different product or services offerings will need to be developed, and at speed. As a result, your organisation, post-COVID, may be a very different one. It’s inevitable, then, that the roles and skills needed to help you deliver on these changes in a meaningful, effective and sustainable way, will need to be different too. This requires a different approach to hiring. Hiring for the skills you need to drive growth, should be your priority now As I’ve said, now is the time to plan for growth as we enter the next, very different, era of work. After all, it’s the actions you take and decisions to take now, that will set you up for success in the future. At the heart of this planning, should be people. People are the beating heart of your organisation, and nothing will ever change that. So, spend some time mapping out which new roles will need to be created and which new skills you’ll need to help you realise your new vision for the future. This is a topic we’ve touched on in our guide  A New Era of Work: What to Consider Today Tomorrow. Once you’ve understood what your immediate and future workforce requirements are likely to be, now is the time to start the process. After all, you have a golden window of opportunity right now from a hiring perspective, for a few reasons, as explained  by our  CEO: The increase in remote and hybrid working, means that new talent pools could open up for you in different, now more accessible places, giving your organisation more access to the skills it needs The pandemic has given many the opportunity to  reflect on their working lives, re-evaluating how they contribute to the world via their work, and essentially, what they want to achieve in their chosen profession (or indeed, in an entirely different one) Many will also have been thinking about how they’ve been treated by their current employer during this crisis, as well as the long-term career prospects available to them going forward â€" some deciding that now could be a good time to consider searching for a new opportunity, or at least could be more open to hearing about them Think about how best to assess a candidate Once you have defined the roles and skills you require for a new era of work, consider what  type  of assessment works best, in addition to reviewing their CV and/or portfolio. I think it goes without saying that assessing candidates remotely, via email, video or phone call, is here to stay and has become more normalised during the pandemic. However, there are still a variety of options for how best to assess the specific skills needed for a role. For example, you might want to think about one or more of the below, and their corresponding considerations: Technical test: If a role requires a lot of technical skills, it might be worthwhile for candidates to take a test so you can assess these. You may want to consider providing a test in advance and giving candidates a set day and time to return their answers via email. Alternatively, if the role requires working to very tight deadlines, you may want to provide a test  during  a virtual interview, giving them a shorter amount of time to complete it and therefore seeing how they respond under pressure. If you do set a test during a virtual interview, it is a good idea to mute microphones and turn off all cameras â€" on both the interviewer and candidate’s computers â€" as this may be off-putting or distracting. Virtual presentation: If a role requires regular presentations, consider asking your candidates to prepare a virtual presentation. This is also useful if securing stakeholder buy-in is key to the role and it is a good way to assess their knowledge and approach to a particular topic. Provide them with a topic in advance (decide a suitable timeframe based upon what would be a realistic deadline in your organisation), as well as other relevant information, such as: What format the presentation should take and whether they should send it to you in advance How long the presentation should be How many people they will be presenting to What you will be ‘assessing’ them on (for example: content, use of data and the ability to persuade) Whether there will be a ‘question and answer’ session after their presentation It is also important that everyone assessing a virtual presentation is ‘grading’ candidates according to the same criteria â€" so be sure to clarify with other interviewers ahead of time what they should look out for, and how to feedback their assessments to you. Virtual panel or group interview: If a role requires strong communication skills or working with multiple teams, a panel or group interview may well be worthwhile. Of course, the number, roles and seniorities of other interviewers should reflect the job in question. You should clarify with candidates beforehand who will be interviewing and provide them with a bit of background about each person. You should also agree expectations with the other interviewers, such as: The order of interviewers: i.e. who will talk first How many questions each interviewer should ask, and on what topics The order of questions to be asked As before, what parameters they should assess candidates on, and how they should feedback their thoughts to you Virtual one-to-one interview: This is perhaps the most likely assessment to occur. Before a virtual one-to-one interview, you should of course ensure that the candidate is aware of your choice of video call technology. You should also ensure that you have a standardised set of questions ready to ask all candidates, and, as I go on to discuss below,  that these questions accurately assess the skills needed today. The interview questions you must ask to secure the best talent Of course, most candidates will still be interviewed at some point as part of their assessment process. As with face-to-face interviews, asking the right questions of candidates during remote interviews is, of course, an incredibly important part of finding the right person for the role you’re hiring for. But, you’re now hiring  in  a different world,  for  a different world. That means, it’s important to consider whether, the questions you’re asking during job interviews going forward, need to be changed too. Five interview questions to ask candidates as we enter the next era of work So, below I’ve outlined five interview questions to consider asking candidates, as you assess whether they have the right skills to help your organisation not only survive, but thrive in the next era of work: 1. “Do you prefer to work independently or as part of a team?” It is becoming increasingly likely that a  hybrid way of working  will become more common post-pandemic. By ‘hybrid’ we mean: part of a team will work from the office, and the other part will work from home. This will be an entirely new way of functioning for many organisations. So, when interviewing, it’s important to assess where the candidate would prefer to spend most of their time, and in which setting they might deliver the most value to your business. For many hiring managers,  â€œDo you prefer to work independently or as part of a team?”  was a common interview question pre-COVID, but the answer given in the post-COVID world, suddenly has far more meaning and importance as we enter the next era of work. 2. “How do you work productively remotely, ensuring your motivation remains high?” As Alistair Cox explores in his  blog, post-pandemic, remote working will no longer be seen as a ‘perk’. From now on, candidates will demand a higher level of flexibility, meaning they are afforded the autonomy by their employer to work remotely â€" whether that be from their homes, or somewhere else. During the pandemic, most managers have been pleased with the levels of productivity within their ‘suddenly remote’ teams. Most will attest to the fact that much of this has been down to giving their people the freedom to form their own new habits and schedules, helping them to work in a way that they find personally most effective. So, going forward into the next era of work, where remote working will become the norm, and pressure on your team to perform will be at an all-time high, it’s extremely important that you hire candidates who are productive, engaged and motivated whilst working remotely. For more advice on how to interview a candidate who will be working remotely full time, you may find  this blog  by my colleague David Brown, CEO of Hays US, helpful. 3. “How do you practice lifelong learning and continuous upskilling? The pandemic has emphasised the need for organisations to ensure their people are agile, adaptable and have the skills necessary to adapt to the challenges and opportunities that have come with the sudden transition to remote working, but also that are on the horizon as we enter into the next era of work. Of course, employees need to play their part delivering personalised and digitalised training and ultimately embedding a culture of lifelong learning into their organisations. But, it’s important, too, that employees are committed to their own learning that continuous upskilling becomes a habit and something they enjoy and get fulfilment out of. So, ask this question of your candidates to understand if they are committed to their own lifelong learning and if so, how they practice it. You could even ask them what new skills they’ve recently learnt independently, and how they went about learning them. 4. “Tell me about a time you’ve failed” There are many unknowns as we look to the future. Organisations are quickly changing direction, seeking out new markets and potentially new customers. All this change and uncertainty means that there will undoubtedly be bumps along the way as you start to re-align both your business and your people. Some things will go well, others won’t. And that’s ok, we are all learning as we go along here. As Alistair  Cox  says, “There is no instruction manual that we can refer to, no business school text, no management guru, to reassure us that we’re making the right decisions or that we are headed in the right direction. We can compare notes with others, but none of us have ever dealt with this before, so we are writing the playbook each day and each day brings a new issue to deal with.” To be successful in the future, the next era of work will demand an increased aptitude for learning, which we’ve already discussed, but also, a sense of being comfortable with being uncomfortable â€" with being out of one’s comfort zone. So, by asking your interviews to explain a time they’ve failed, you’ll be able to assess if they really do feel comfortable with failure. If, in fact, they see it as an opportunity for growth and learning, tackling unknowns or challenges with a  mindset of growth. 5. “How do you inject an element of creativity into your work?” As digital transformation and automation is set to accelerate even further post-pandemic, it will be our innately human skills that will hold the highest value and drive the biggest impact. In fact, we recently surveyed over 16,000 professionals and employers in the UK, and according to the findings of our  Market Insights Report, nearly half (48%) of employers say the ability to problem solve is the soft skill most needed in their organisation, and a quarter (25%) want creativity. All roles, now more so than ever, will demand an element of creativity, innovative thinking and problem solving. So, asking candidates how they inject creativity into their work will become increasingly important. For example, that could be by brainstorming with a colleague, listening to a podcast, or even going for a walk to ‘disconnect’, allowing the mind to relax and giving it the freedom and space to think creatively or find solutions more quickly. These are just a few examples of the types of interview questions that I believe hiring managers should be asking candidates as we transition into the next era of work. Of course, I haven’t covered all bases here. You may, for example, want to find out more about a candidate’s communication style â€" particularly when working on complex projects across dispersed, hybrid teams. Or, perhaps you’re keen to understand whether they are already competent in using the specific tools that have kept your business going over the past couple of months, for example, Zoom, Teams, Skype, Hangouts or Slack. Your business has changed as a result of the pandemic and so have your people â€" both current and future. So, it’s important the questions you ask when interviewing reflect that. After all, if you don’t ask the right questions, you won’t hire the right people to really help set your organisation apart in the next era of work. Did you find this blog useful? Here is some  related content  that you might find helpful during this difficult time: Find the best candidates with this telephone interview technique Inclusion and diversity during a crisis? We’ve been here before! Remote work after COVID-19: Five considerations for managers How leaders can demonstrate trust in their people during difficult times How to prioritise employee upskilling during COVID-19 and beyond A quick checklist to help you manage your remote team more easily Leading through crisis â€" defining reality and giving hope

Saturday, July 18, 2020

What Does Computer Skills Writing Mean When It Comes To A Resume?

<h1>What Does Computer Skills Writing Mean When It Comes To A Resume?</h1><p>What does PC abilities composing mean with regards to a resume? Indeed, that can mean a ton of things relying upon the circumstance you get yourself in.</p><p></p><p>Computer abilities composing is in reality quite easy to apply to your resume and cause it to be incredible. The primary thing that you have to do is build up your own announcement concerning why you are the opportune individual for the activity. This ought to be written so that is actually intelligent of you as an individual, and it should make you sound certain about you abilities.</p><p></p><p>Then after you have your own announcement, you have to proceed to discover something important to you that will make you stand apart from the remainder of the individuals going after a similar job. Presently, I am not saying to have something truly off-base, however at any rate something that will make you stand apart from the group. You can presumably attempt various things to a great extent until you discover something that you think will oblige your own statement.</p><p></p><p>Now, with regards to the resume itself, you should attempt to concentrate on your most important aptitudes and what you would bring to the table. So for instance, in the event that you are acceptable at time the executives and correspondence, you could remember these two things for your resume.</p><p></p><p>Now, in the event that you would find a new line of work where you would do figurings or programming for instance, at that point you would need to remember this for your resume. These are the sorts of things that ought to be incorporated and you can likewise incorporate insights regarding the ventures that you did in the past to make your resume progressively noteworthy. You can include insights concerning what number of results you got in your past activities, and what you are presently working on.</p><p></p><p>The primary concern you have to recollect when you're doing this sort of composing is to keep it quick and painless. You would prefer not to make the resume like it is only an extensive rundown of the things that you achieved or did. Keep in mind, your resume is simply to ensure that you landed the position, and since you have the activity, you despite everything have work to do.</p><p></p><p>Basically, you need to ensure that you manufacture a solid resume by utilizing PC aptitudes, composing and discovering increasingly about yourself. You can do everything inside a couple of moments of plunking down and putting on your innovative hat.</p>

Friday, July 10, 2020

The Right Ways to Leverage LinkedIn for Getting Your Dream Job - Margaret Buj - Interview Coach

The Right Ways to Leverage LinkedIn for Getting Your Dream Job With more than 6.5 million openings, LinkedIn is the place the chances of getting your fantasy work are quite high. Along these lines, in the event that you can make LinkedIn work for you, you will unquestionably have potential businesses contending to carry you to their meeting table, paying little heed to how their enlistment procedure functions. Here are 6 brilliant tips to make your profile stick out and appear at the highest point of LinkedIn pursuit of employment results: Make a Profile that Justifies Your Knowledge, Skills, and Experience In light of what you are searching for and the business you need to work in, conceptualize the aptitudes you need to feature in your resume. This will assist you with fitting your LinkedIn profile appropriately and assist scouts with discovering you quicker. Peruse through the profiles of others who are working for top associations in your favored industry as it will assist you with improving your own profile. While including your scholastic subtleties and past work understanding, make certain to feature your key aptitudes and accomplishments and back up your announcements with statistical data points. This will authorize the way that you know your activity and you're acceptable at it! Streamline Your Profile by Adding Relevant Keywords so it Stands Out Selection representatives use watchword search to recognize up-and-comers who coordinate their prerequisites so incorporate industry-explicit catchphrases in your feature. Making an inquiry inviting feature with applicable data in the title box will show that you are an ideal counterpart for the applied position. Utilize the outline space to portray a convincing story and use visual cues in the center to underwrite your USP. Present day spotters use candidate following programming to limit their ability pool so be certain you don't leave anything to risk. This noteworthy post can make your resume come up in the indexed lists whether or not it is being screened physically or by a machine! System with People Working for Your Dream Company Try not to stop at basically utilizing LinkedIn to get a new line of work. Follow the organizations you try to work for and join discussions where you can share your brilliant experiences. Cooperate with compelling individuals on proficient gatherings and grandstand your achievements, bit by bit meshing your way into the system. Begin building proficient associations with expected bosses, individuals working for those likely managers, and colleagues by sharing important substance or thoughts on the best business rehearses, recent developments, or systems. This will mirror your industry information and show that there is substantially more to your LinkedIn profile. At the point when you react to discussions and conversations and effectively take an interest in an expert way, it shows that you are included as well as have the information, experience, relational abilities and the capacity to react in an intelligent and attentive way. At the point when your associations and industry pioneers will see your latent capacity and your energy for your calling, it will enormously expand your odds of finding that fantasy work. Keep Your Persona and Cover Photo Professional The absolute first thing that a selection representative or a potential boss will see is your persona and your photograph. Since LinkedIn is an expert system, abstain from utilizing a causal photograph where you're chilling at the sea shore with a mixed drink in your grasp as it won't cut the mustard for you. Utilizing an expert headshot will show enrollment specialists that you are not kidding about utilizing LinkedIn to get a new line of work. The equivalent goes for your persona since it gives out your initial introduction even before you go to a meeting. Also, your advanced impression is hard to change much after your expected boss or enrollment specialist meets you by and by. So ensure your persona leaves an enduring initial introduction. Join a Forum or Create Your Own Joining a gathering on LinkedIn isn't care for joining a standard online gathering. LinkedIn bunches are made for important and purposive conversations and thoughts that address industry issues. At the point when you put out your musings, arrangements or perspectives on LinkedIn gatherings and associate with similarly invested individuals having comparative vocation objectives, it attempts to improve your validity and authority. What's more, who knows, a discussion that began online can quite on the meeting table! Solicitation Recommendations as They Can be Powerfully Persuasive Tributes and suggestions are extremely helpful and persuasive so you ought to request that individuals suggest you on LinkedIn. One new suggestion consistently is incredible for your profile. At the point when an enrollment specialist looks for you on the web, your LinkedIn profile is the main thing to spring up and this is extraordinary, so make certain to help your profile with proposals. With the digitization of the enrollment procedure, potential businesses are presently becoming more acquainted with you even before you face the individual meeting. So pay attention to your LinkedIn profile since it very well may be your portal to an extraordinary profession! Creator Bio: Kelly Barcelos is a dynamic computerized promoting director work in HR and is liable for driving Jobsoid's substance and web based life group. At the point when Kelly isn't building efforts, she is caught up with making content and planning PR subjects. She began with Jobsoid as an online life tactician and in the long run assumed control over the whole computerized showcasing group with her imaginative methodology and specialized aptitude.

Friday, July 3, 2020

How to become an Air Traffic Controller

How to become an Air Traffic Controller Believe that the sky’s the limit? You should become an Air Traffic Controller… Air Traffic Controllers use advanced radar systems and sophisticated communication equipment to help pilots take off and land planes safely, also making sure arrivals and departures are on schedule. By co-ordinating all air traffic effectively, they are able to ensure planes are always at a safe distance apart from each other.They work from control towers, approach control facilities, or en-route centres, depending on the particular air traffic control specialism they’re involved in. These could include, area control, approach, and aerodrome control.Typical duties for an Air Traffic Controller include:Giving airline pilots take-off and landing instructionsTracking and monitoring the movement of aircraftsArranging aircrafts into the best order of landingEnsuring all ground traffic is under controlKeeping pilots up to date with important news updates (weather, runway closures etc.)Effectively managing communications throughout all areas of traffic controlIs it right for me?An ability to communicate effectively, work as part of a team, and exhibit a high level of concentration are all essential to becoming a successful Air Traffic Controller. If you’re easily distracted, this role probably isn’t for you.As a large portion of the job is based around quick decisions, you’ll need to be able to think fast in unforeseen circumstances, and have the ability to alter the schedule last-minute to ensure the plane remains safe.You’ll also need to be able to calculate speed, time, and distance accurately, meaning advanced skills in maths are vital.An Air Traffic Controller will also need to be:A great problem solverAble to stay calm under pressureSkilled at using technologySpatially awareAble to work flexiblyPhysically dexterous  Career Progression Junior Air Traffic ControllerUp to £12,000 Air Traffic ControllerUp to £50,000 Senior Air Traffic ControllerUp to £100,000What's it r eally like? When I was little, my favourite part of going on holiday was always being at the airport and watching the planes go by. Somehow, I was lucky enough to turn it into a career, and after a total of three years of training, I’m now a fully qualified Air Traffic Controller. The working hours are varied, and the job can be full-on at times (especially if the weather is against you), but I really enjoy it. You even get in on a fair bit of jokes when you’re chatting with some of the pilots, which definitely makes the time go quicker. All in all, it’s safe to say the job definitely keeps me busy, and it’s a great way to combine my love of maths and technology. And, you know, planes. Get qualifiedYou’ll need to be over 18 years old, and have at least five GCSEs (grade A-C), including Maths and English to be accepted onto an approved training course, which will allow you to gain an air traffic control license and begin your training.