by Dr. John Sullivan

For years, being secretive has been the status quo in succession planning and leadership development, and few argued against the standard practice of keeping the names of high-performers secret. According to Towers Perrin, “72 % of companies do not tell employees they have been labeled as high potentials,” which means that only 28% do. While the number of organizations that do share is growing due in large part to demands from the workforce for greater transparency, internal debates on this issue continue to be extremely difficult and controversial.

Many are cynical about transparency in people-planning processes because there are numerous real and imagined consequences associated with revealing the names of the chosen few. Regardless of where you sit personally on this subject, realize that the impact of both positive and negative consequences can often be negated with poor/great approaches to the practice. Doing anything exceptionally well requires foresight and planning, something I hope this list helps you accomplish.

(A future post will highlight the positive consequences of sharing high-potential status.)

Negative Consequences of Openly Acknowledging High-potential Status

1. The probability of poaching increases — if you tell employees that they are high-potentials, it is highly likely the news will spread both inside and outside the organization. In time, many external recruiters can put together a list of your high-potential talent, which may lead to increased poaching.
2. Increased frustration and turnover if opportunities don’t follow — acknowledgement leads to expectations, and unfortunately advancement opportunities do not always materialize as planned. Failure to deliver opportunity in line with the high-potentials’ expectations can lead to frustration and turnover.
3. Employees may not take development efforts seriously — if the individual is not aware of their status, they may not see the value in actively self-improving. In addition, because they don’t know the reason behind them, they may not take full advantage of any improvement and development opportunities offered.
4. Confusion over where to improve — if managers are not made aware, they may do little to develop the strengths of the individuals or improve their weaknesses.
5. Reduced effort after “making it” — following acknowledgement, high-potential employees may expect things to happen automatically, going into coast mode as they assume their future is set.
6. Ego issues — notifying high-potentials lets them know they are valuable, but may also create an ego boost that results in a change in behavior; i.e., arrogance, sense of entitlement, etc.
7. Increased expectation of promotions — while in many organizations the high-potential designation is a signal of potential, for some highly motivated employees it may be akin to saying “you are ready now,” leading to an expectation of immediate promotion, which may or may not be forthcoming in the flat and lean organization of today.
8. Increased expectation of more money and exposure — notifying high-potentials may cause them to expect more money and more exposure opportunities, leading to disappointment and disenchantment when those benefits don’t come as fast as they expect.
9. Career micromanagement may make them dependent — individuals who are on the HiPo list are likely to be given more attention. This can result in the micromanagement of their career by the development team. Providing HiPos with a development plan and career path may cause them to reduce the effort they put into their own development and career planning.
10. There may be sabotage — a HiPo could face subtle or direct attacks from individuals who feel that they don’t deserve the designation. Once identified, others within a competitive organization may work to slow them down or even sabotage them out of bitterness. Also, once they know that they are a high potential, these individuals may consciously sabotage the managers above them, in order to more quickly open up a position for themselves.
11. A HiPo designation may be permanent — once designated as a HiPo, they may remain a HiPo in perpetuity because many organizations have no formal process for removing individuals from the HiPo list. This can be problematic if the skill sets for the organization change in the future, and these HiPos have not developed these new skills.
12. Openness makes it difficult to later drop individuals from the list — once an individual knows that they are on the list, should they need to be removed in the future, you face the difficult task of informing them. By keeping the list secret, you avoid the difficult situation of having to confront individuals. Whenever you remove an individual from the high-potential list, you obviously need to plan for negative consequences, up to and including turnover.
13. Managers may not accurately identify high-potentials — if the nomination or selection of high potentials is made by individual managers and the names are revealed to all managers, selfish managers may purposely under-rate individuals. Individual managers may learn that nominating someone on their team for HiPo status results in the quickening of the loss of that individual to their team. The end result may be that individual managers may purposely hide or refuse to designate true HiPos in order to keep them “off the radar” longer.
14. Increased hoarding — if the high-potential designation is made by the leadership team, it may cause managers to realize the value of key talent and drive hoarding behavior. In order to keep them longer, managers may restrict their visibility and even consciously reduce their performance ratings to prevent them from leaving the team. Limiting their visibility and slowing their movement may result in the HiPo becoming increasingly frustrated.
15. Frustration among those not designated — if the selections are announced, employees may question the validity of the identification process. If the selection or calibration criteria for HiPos are either kept secret or if they are unclear, employees who are not selected may become frustrated. In addition, if the designation process is viewed by other employees as biased or not fair, the announcement of HiPos could cause a revolt among non-designated employees. Together these factors could lead to reduced productivity, increased turnover, or even legal issues.
16. The potential for class warfare — no one likes to be labeled as “low potential,” so announcing high-potentials can cause some employees to feel less valued. In addition, if the level of treatment between HiPos and non-HiPos is significantly different, the non-HiPos as a group may begin to think of themselves as second-class citizens. This can lead to reduced cooperation and collaboration and a “have” and “have-not” division between employees.
17. Others will treat them differently — if employees know that an individual is a HiPo, employees and managers may begin to treat them differently and align with them, so that they can take advantage of their new power and “move up with them.” This may result in a “self-fulfilling prophecy,” in that the designated individuals (even those that turn out not to actually be hi-potentials) will actually succeed within the organization simply because everyone begins treating them differently. The self-fulfilling prophecy may skew your metrics, so that your succession program appears more successful than it actually is.
18. Increased gravitation toward HiPo-rich groups — if your open designations of HiPos are concentrated in a narrow group of functions or business units, that concentration may send a signal to all employees that they must find a way to transfer into those business units. This actual or perceived designation as “talent launching pad groups,” may inadvertently weaken other important departments and functions (especially overhead and service functions). The net result maybe a disproportionate “draining” of talent from groups with no or few HiPo designations and an increased level of difficulty in recruiting new talent into these groups and functions.

Final Thoughts

Historically, there are many valid reasons why you should not tell hi-potentials about their designation, but the trend is moving towards openness and transparency. While social communication tools have played a role in making secret designations harder to maintain, there are a number of ways to mitigate the negative consequences discussed here as well as leverage the positive consequences of disclosure, which will be discussed in a subsequent post. Combined, these changes in the landscape of business are driving many corporate leaders toward transparent people planning.

Courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

Would you dump your life savings—every single dollar—into a single stock? Probably not; it’s far too risky to put all your eggs in one investment basket.

And yet, you’d be surprised how many people manage their careers with a single-stock mindset. They toil away, year after year, investing their talents in a narrow field of interest.

Until recently, this approach made a lot of sense. Conventional wisdom dictates that if you do one thing really well, you’ll never be out of a job.

But times have changed, and so have strategies. While it’s still true that a solid career is built on a foundation of position-specific expertise, it’s become increasingly important to maintain a balanced portfolio.

When employers look for talent, they typically settle for people with the proficiency to perform certain tasks. But what they really want—especially in today’s hyper-competitive market—is an adaptable breed of cat, whose broad-based set of skills crosses over into a variety of disciplines.

Want proof? Poke your head into any meeting room in which star performers are present. You’re likely to hear a sales manager exploring the potential of XML technology; or an engineer debating the virtues of a strategic alliance; or a CFO pondering the benefits of a co-branding opportunity.

In other words, as organizations flatten, more is expected from each individual contributor. Which means that versatility is not only fashionable, it’s become a key ingredient in modern-day career progression.

Now, I’m not suggesting you spread yourself so thin as to master nothing at all. But in order to reach top-percentile status in today’s rugged job market, you’ll need an expanded arsenal of skills to deploy.

To round out your resume, look for areas of weakness (or “blind spots”), and try to develop them into strengths. For example, if you’re a design engineer and you want to improve your company’s product or advance its market position, here are some issues to consider:

By gaining knowledge in areas that were formerly considered the domain of “somebody else,” you’ll increase your overall market value. The more you can offer a multiple spectrum of knowledge—rather than a single color of skill—the less likely you’ll be to paint yourself into a corner.

via Career Strategy: It Pays to Diversify.

The best approach to putting the deal together is to decide whether you want the job before an offer is extended. This allows you to clarify whether the job suits your needs. Unless you’re motivated solely by money, it’s doubtful a few extra dollars will turn a bad job into a good one.

The term “bottom line” refers to the amount of compensation you feel is absolutely necessary to accept the job offer. If, for example, you really want $76,000 but would think about $75,000 or settle for $74,000, then you haven’t established your bottom line. The bottom line is one dollar more than the figure you would positively walk away from. Setting a bottom line clarifies your sense of worth, and helps avoid an unpredictable bargaining session.

I recommend against “negotiating” an offer in the classic sense, where the company makes a proposal, you counter it, they counter your counter, and so on. While this type of back-and-forth format may be customary for negotiating a residential real estate deal, job offers should be handled in a more straightforward manner.

Here’s how: Determine your bottom line in advance, and wait for the offer. If the company offers you more than your bottom line, great. If they offer you less, then you have the option of turning the offer down or revealing to them your bottom line as a condition of acceptance. At that point, they can raise the ante or walk away. And once the bottom line is known, you can avoid the haggling that so often causes aggravation, disappointment, or hurt feelings.

By determining your own acceptance conditions in advance, you’ll never be accused of negotiating in bad faith or of being indecisive. Whether you’re representing yourself or working with a recruiter, learning to differentiate between financial fact and fantasy will facilitate the job changing process.

If you feel the need to justify your salary request, you can itemize any loss of income that may result from a differential in benefits, geographic location, car expenses, and so forth.

Often, there are considerations aside from money that need to be satisfied before an offer can be accepted. Factors such as the new position title, review periods, work schedule, vacation allotment, and promotion opportunities are important, and should be looked at carefully.

You can use the this approach to quantify each consideration or “point” you need to satisfy as a condition for acceptance. Once you and the company settle on each point, you won’t need to go back later to negotiate “one more thing.” Knowing your bottom line puts you in a better position to get what you want, since you’ve established a set of  quantifiable conditions needed for acceptance.

via Salary Negotiation Techniques.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/yec/2011/11/02/5-ways-to-make-a-killer-first-impression/

Most people will judge you within the first second of meeting you and their opinion will most likely never change. Making a good first impression is incredibly important, because you only get one shot at it.

Princeton University psychologist Alex Todorov and co-author Janine Willis, a student researcher who graduated from Princeton in 2005 had people look at a microsecond of video of a political candidate. Amazingly, research subjects could predict with 70-percent accuracy who would win the election just from that microsecond of tape. This tells us that people can make incredibly accurate snap judgments in a tenth of a second.

How can you ensure people are judging you accurately and also seeing your best side? You never want to give people an inauthentic impression — many people can intuitively feel if someone is being fake immediately. However, any time you meet someone for the first time, you always want to start on the right foot. Here are a few ways you can make sure people’s first impression of you is a good one:

Set an intention. The most important thing to do for giving a good impression is to set your intention. This is especially important before any kind of big event where you would be meeting a lot of people — i.e. conferences, networking events or friend’s parties. As you get ready or when you are driving over think about what kind of people you want to meet and what kind of interactions you want to have. This can be an incredibly grounding experience and works very well to focus on what kind of energy you want to have for your event.

Think about your ornaments. Clothes, make-up, jewelry, watches and shoes are all types of ornamentation and people definitely take these into account when making initial judgments. I highly recommend getting some of your favorite outfits or ornaments together and asking friends you trust what they think of when they see them. For many men, they do not realize that their watch can say a lot about them. For women, purses and large earrings or jewelry can also indicate a lot to a new person they are meeting. Make sure that what you are wearing and how you do your hair or make-up says what you want it to say to the people you are meeting for the first time.

Be Conscious of Your Body Language. Body language is a crucial part of first impressions. Everything from your posture to how you carry yourself to the way you’re angling your body. Often, simply being aware of your body language can result in immediate improvements. Another way to examine your body language is to look at yourself on a video walking around a room. Subconscious cues to keep in mind include noticing where you point your feet, the position of your shoulders, and the way you shake hands.

Avoid bad days. People who go to cocktail events or mixers after having had a bad day typically continue to have a bad day. If you are in a depressed or anxious mood, others will pick up on this from your facial expressions, comments and body language. If you’re having a bad day, stay home! Otherwise, find a way to snap yourself out of your bad mood. I find working out or watching funny YouTube videos before events often gets me in a more social, feel good mood.

Be interested and interesting. If you are truly interested in meeting people and are open to learning about who they are, they will get this in a first impression. We have all had the experience of meeting someone and knowing instantly that they were dragged here by a friend and are just waiting to get out the door and head home. When you are meeting people for the first time approach others with a genuine interest in who they are. This is often contagious and you will have better conversations and lasting connections when you are interested because they become interested.

Vanessa Van Petten specializes in social and emotional intelligence research and development. She is the CEO of Science of People, focusing on research youth behavior and help adults keep up with young adults. Her company not only reaches out to families, but also works with brands and individuals to help them use social and emotional intelligence to improve website traffic, sales and branding.

Click on the link above to view jobs.

By Bill Radin

 Provided by Bosco-Hubert & Associates, LLC

©1998 Innovative Consulting, Inc.

Career Development Reports

You and I are lucky — we live in a world rich in possibilities. Besides being able to select from an unlimited variety of occupations, we also have the right to find happiness in our daily work.

Naturally, everyone has a different definition of job satisfaction. For example, the job that seems fine to you may not be of much interest your best friend, and vice versa.

The fact that you live in a free society gives you the privilege to decide your own fate. You have as much power in determining where you work as you do in selecting a spouse, a home, a car, or a pet. Your choice of jobs really depends on how much you want to shape your career, and how much effort you’re willing to spend to make the necessary improvements in your life.

If you’re considering a job change, it’s probably for one of three reasons:

[1]     Personal — You want to change your relationships with others. For example, you may have discovered that you’re incompatible with the people in your company. Perhaps they have different interests than you; or they communicate differently or have different educational backgrounds.

[2]     Professional — You’ve determined the need to advance your career. For example, you’ve found that you won’t reach your professional or technical goals at your present company; or that your advancement is being blocked by someone who’s more senior or more politically oriented; or that you’re not getting the recognition you deserve; or that you and your company are growing in different directions; or that you’re not being challenged technically; or you’re not being given the skills you need to compete for employment in the future. Or you’ve simply lost interest in your assigned tasks.

[3]     Situational — Your dissatisfaction has nothing to do with personal relationships or career development; it’s tied to a certain set of circumstances. Maybe you’re commuting too far from home each day, or you’re working too many hours, or you’re under too much stress; or you want to relocate to another city (or stay where you are rather than be transferred).

Whatever your personal, professional, or situational reasons may be, you’re motivated by the desire to improve your level of job satisfaction and make a change.

A few years ago, when I packed up my bags and moved from Los Angeles to Cincinnati, my decision had nothing to do with my career or the people I was working with. My dissatisfaction was purely situational. I wanted to trade a high-stress, long-commute, manic routine for a more livable, slower-paced lifestyle. (And by making the change, I became a statistic in a larger demographic trend.)

The Complete Job Description

            In order to translate your needs into results, let’s begin by evaluating your present position — it’s the first step in any job change.

You’d be surprised how many people are unclear about what they actually do for a living, and the way their jobs make them feel.

For example, whenever I interview a candidate, the first thing I ask for is a complete job description.

“So tell me, Bonnie, ” I begin. “What is it that you do at your present company?”

“Gee, Bill, I thought I told you already. I’m a systems analyst.”

“All right, fair enough,” I reply. “But would you please describe to me in detail the following two things:

[1]     What are your daily activities? That is, how do you spend your time during a typical day; and

[2]     What are the measurable results your company expects from these activities? In other words, how does your supervisor know when you’re doing a good job?”

Often, I discover that people are hard pressed to come up with solid answers about the specific nature of their work. They’re not exactly sure about their job responsibilities, and their lack of focus results in stress or counter-productivity.

While a little bit of stress may is natural in any job, a steady diet of it can destroy your incentive to work. In fact, a recent study indicates a direct correlation between a person’s lack of task clarity and their level of job dissatisfaction.

Try this exercise: On a sheet of paper, write a complete, current job description in which you list your daily activities and their expected, measurable results. This exercise will not only help you clarify your own perception of your work; it’ll be useful later on when you begin to construct a resume and communicate to others exactly what you’ve done.

The Positive Power of Values

            Once you’ve described all the facets of your job, the next step is to understand the relationship between what you do and the way you feel.

I use the term values as a descriptor of personal priorities; as a yardstick to help you:

•     Understand what types of work-related activities you really enjoy;

•     Determine which goals or accomplishments are important to you and give you a feeling of satisfaction; and

•     Evaluate whether your personal priorities are in balance, or in harmony with your job situation.

Although it’s fairly simple to decipher which daily tasks you really enjoy, the task of scrutinizing your personal priorities can be tricky. That’s because there are often factors unrelated to your job that can come into play.

To demonstrate the importance of values in our decision-making process, consider the following:

•     I witnessed a job-seeker turn down a position because he was an amateur athlete and he didn’t like the air quality where my client company was located.

•     Not long ago, I placed a candidate who was a long distance runner. He took the position largely because his new boss was also a runner, and would understand his need to take off work twice a year to run the New York City and Boston marathons.

•     I arranged for an engineer to take a job with a company that offered him a demotion, since being highly visible within his current employer’s department made him feel uncomfortable.

•     I helped a radar engineer change to a lower paying job. The reason? The engineer was a member of the 1988 Olympic rowing team, and the new company was near a river.

•     I once found an excellent job for a chemist who was also an avid taxidermist. At the last minute, the chemist turned down the job, which would have required his relocation from Utah to northern California. The chemist explained that the climate in California was unsuitable for stuffing ducks.

Later, I discovered the duck-stuffer’s true reason for turning down the new job. He had a hometown mistress, and he couldn’t convince her to relocate to California with him.

The point is, we all have highly personal motivations which guide our career choices.

The Job Description Makeover

            Now that you know how to clearly define your values, the next step is to describe the changes you’d like to make in your new job.

To illustrate, listen to the way Pat, Craig, and Neil talk about their respective situations, and how they take their values into consideration:

Pat:         “I want to have more autonomy where I work. That would mean having a flexible schedule, working different hours each day at my discretion, without having to ask permission. I’d be able to leave early on Thursdays to take my daughter to her acting class, and in return, I’d be willing to spend several hours working at home during the evening and on weekends. With my personal computer, I’d have access by modem to the database in my department, and I’d be able to make a significant contribution to the workload, any time, day or night. Most importantly, I’d be evaluated solely on my performance, not by the number of hours I’ve punched on a clock.”

Craig:      “I’d prefer to work closer to my home. I didn’t think the amount of time I spent commuting was very important when I joined the company two years ago, but now it really wears on me to sit for an hour a day in traffic. It’s not only nerve-wracking to deal with all the crazy people on the freeway; I could be using the commuting time to be with my family. The reduction of stress would improve my attitude, and give me a higher quality of life. If I could find a job similar to what I have now within a few minutes of home, that would make me happy.”

Neil:         “I’m interested in my own career advancement. If I stay at this company too much longer, I’ll work myself into a corner technically and never achieve my potential. The people here are nice, but I don’t share their ‘lifer’ mentality. Look at Ed, my boss. He’s been here 17 years, and although he’s a really solid engineer, he’s not familiar with any of the latest advancements in technology. He’d have a hard time finding another job in this market, and it makes me worried, knowing I might someday be in his situation. Besides, I won’t be promoted until Ed retires. So I’d better leave soon, while I’m still attractive to other companies. That would give me the salary increase I deserve and the opportunity to learn new skills with people who are upwardly mobile and aggressive like myself.”

Now it’s your turn. As any advocate of goal-setting will tell you, the more specifically you’re able to communicate what you’re looking for, the faster you’ll be able to get what you want.

Naturally, you’ll want to be realistic with your expectations, and think like a grown-up when considering your gripes. I’ll never forget Barry, an engineering candidate I interviewed a few years back, who came into my office with a suicidal look in his eyes.

“Bill, you’ve really got to help me,” he moaned. “My job is ruining my life.”

“Your situation sounds pretty serious,” I replied in my most empathic tone. “How long have you felt this way?”

“Gosh, I don’t know, but I’ve got to make a change. My personal life is awful.”

“How do you mean, Barry?” I asked.

“I mean I’m never at home, and don’t have any time to spend with my wife and kids. My company makes me travel constantly.”

“Well, I can see how that might make you feel torn between your work and your home life. What can I do to help you?”

“See if you can get me a job where I don’t have to travel all the time. I just can’t stand the separation from my family,” he pleaded.

My heart went out to him. “Sure, Barry, anything to help. But first tell me something. Exactly how often is your company making you travel?”

“Oh, it’s terrible,” he cried. “They make me stay overnight in a hotel at least one night every three months!”

Your Job Changing Strategy

            Someone recently asked me whether I helped people get “better” jobs or jobs that made them happier.

My answer was that the two were the same.

Of course, if you were to look at your career from a purely strategic point of view, I could give you four good reasons why it makes sense to change jobs within the same or similar industry three times during your first ten years of employment:

[1]     Changing jobs gives you a broader base of experience: After about three years, you’ve learned most of what you’re going to know about how to do your job. Therefore, over a ten year period, you gain more experience from “three times 90 percent” than “one times 100 percent.”

[2]     A more varied background creates a greater demand for your skills: Depth of experience means you’re more valuable to a larger number of employers. You’re not only familiar with your current company’s product, service, procedures, quality programs, inventory system, and so forth; you bring with you the expertise you’ve gained from your prior employment with other companies.

[3]     A job change results in an accelerated promotion cycle: Each time you make a change, you bump up a notch on the promotion ladder. You jump, for example, from project engineer to senior project engineer; or national sales manager to vice president of sales and marketing.

[4]     More responsibility leads to greater earning power: A promotion is usually accompanied by a salary increase. And since you’re being promoted faster, your salary grows at a quicker pace, sort of like compounding the interest you’d earn on a certificate of deposit.

Many people view a job change as a way of promoting themselves to a better position. In most cases, I would agree.

However, you should always be sure your new job offers you the means to satisfy your values. While there’s no denying the strategic virtues of selective job changing for the purpose of career leverage, you want to make sure the path you take will lead you where you really want to go.

For instance, I see no reason to make a job change for more money if it’ll make you unhappy to the point of distraction. Not long ago, I placed a project engineer with a company that offered him a $47,000 a year job. Later, he told me that the same day he agreed to go to work for my client, he’d turned down an offer of $83,200 with another company. The reason? The higher offer was for a consulting position with an aerospace company in Detroit — a job that would have taken him down a road he felt was a dead end.

To me, the “best” job is one in which your values are being satisfied most effectively. If career growth and advancement are your primary goals, and they’re represented by how much you earn, then the job that pays the most money is the “better” job.

Your responsibility when contemplating a change is to evaluate what’s most important to you. Whether you focus on a single aspect of your job (like Pat, Craig, and Neil did), or on the overall nature of the job you’d like to improve,

The more clearly you connect your values with your work, the greater the potential for job satisfaction.

I’m on vacation right now.  I know, it’s hard to tell the difference between my work days and my vacation days since blog posts come up on the same schedule regardless of whether I’m slaving over a hot computer (seriously, it’s a laptop and it heats up something fierce) or lounging around the pool. The only difference to my reading public is that I’m not as diligent about responding to comments.

And with a lot of people, it’s hard to tell the difference between work days and days off.  We bring our laptops and Blackberries and check email and do “quick” projects.  At one memorable trip to Disney World both my husband and I passed the time standing in lines on conference calls.  (You hang up for the actual ride, although, I suppose you could just put the phone on mute and stick it in your pocket.)

We’re reformed vacationers, though.  No laptops come with us.  One regular cell phone, one iPhone and 2 Blackberries.  So, okay, we’re not completely reformed.  But, still, I’m a big believer in vacations.

When you negotiate a salary, you’re not just negotiating a paycheck, you’re negotiating all the benefits that go  with that–health insurance, 401k matches, pension (ha!  good luck with that), and yes, vacation.  You’d pitch a fit if your boss wandered in and said, “Hey, we said the salary was $75k a year, but instead, we’re going to pay you $70.” You’d go to HR, you’d go to his boss, you’d produce your offer letter (because you didn’t accept a job without a formal offer letter, did you?) and then you’d write me an email grousing about your boss.  (And you’d be so angry you’d forget to capitalize the first word of each sentence and you’d use commas instead of periods and I would grow so annoyed I would write back, “Well, if this is how you send emails, I’d lower your salary too!” So, that method wouldn’t help any.)

But, when your boss says, “Sorry, there’s no time for vacation this year!” you say, “okay.” Or even weirder, you don’t take vacation because you feel like it would ruin your reputation or something.  Seriously, would you hand back $5,000 in salary just to show you’re a slave to the company?  No?  Then why are you handing back something that is part of your compensation package?

Beyond.com took a survey, asking if people used their vacation.  Unscientific and all, but still, the results are interesting

Here’s what they found

· 52% said: I’ve earned it! Take every minute of it.

· 28% said: Too much to do at work. Use it sparingly.

· 4% said: Only use it when my boss is out of the office.

· 16% said: Technically I have lots of time but not sure if my boss would be too happy if I used it.

I want to talk to bosses for a minute here.  If you are offering vacation time when you are offering jobs, but then grouse when people want to take vacation, you deserve to be removed from management.  You are lying and purposely misleading candidates when you present an offer.  If you aren’t going to allow people to take vacation, or you are going to hold it against them if they do have the audacity to take vacation then it should be clearly stated in an offer letter.

I know there are times when vacations are not allowable.  If you’re an accounting firm, no one takes vacation or sick time or long lunches during March.  Just ain’t gonna happen.  But, there’s no reason why these people can’t take vacation in May.

If you’re working around the clock 365 days a year and no one can take vacation, ever, be upfront about it.

With no down time and no breaks your employees will not be performing at top level.  If you do something incredibly nasty like call an employee on vacation and tell her to come back, you will have lost the employee’s trust forever.  (There are occasional exceptions to this–such as the employee is one of two neurosurgeons in the world that can deal with a certain type of brain tumor and the other neurosurgeon was just diagnosed with this brain tumor and will die within days if your employee doesn’t come back from vacation early and perform the surgery.  Then you can call your employee back.  Otherwise, deal with it.)

And employees, stand up for yourselves.  This is part of your compensation.  If you’ve been granted vacation as a term of  your employment, you can take that vacation.  Don’t, of course, be stupid, and just not show up one day and leave a voicemail saying, “I’m on vacation!” Do plan in advance.  Do work around the busy times.  Do consider your coworkers schedules.  Do make sure you’re prepared before you leave.  Don’t pitch a fit about being asked a short question while on holiday.  Do accept that you may have to check email once or twice.  You be reasonable and hopefully your boss will be reasonable as well.  But, take that vacation.

For further reading:

How Can I Make My Employees Take Vacation?

What If You Had Unlimited Vacation?

Why You Should Be a Slacker

Photo by Ed Yourdon, Flickr cc 2.0

via Bosses: Let Your Employees Take Vacation | BNET.

Interviewing does not need to be a nerve-wracking situation. Sometimes, managers will have to do many interviews before they find the right person for their available position. They will need to do a lot of background checking and resume checking before they are even able to set up an interview. When you have become an expert interviewer, you will possess the experience to perform the interview without the need to follow a list or any kind of instructions. However, helpful tips are always nice.

A hiring manager must be detailed and organized. The process of finding a qualified employee to fill an open position can be exhausting and difficult, especially if there is only one position open and there are hundreds of applicants. The job can be tedious, but an efficient and organized hiring manager knows how to weed out the weak applicants and bring in the applicants whose resumes stand out for the actual interview. Everyone’s goal is the same; to fill an open position with a driven and capable employee.

Many hiring managers will have specific education or knowledge requirements they are looking for. This should be something they can tell about someone from their resume. All resumes that are in paper form should be organized so that the strongest applicants are on top and the weakest are at the bottom. Anyone who has outstanding skills should always be given top priority.

During an interview, the hiring manager will want to observe the movements, body language, facial expressions and tone of voice that is used by the candidate. One of the best ways to know if a person is truly qualified to fill a position is by listening to them talk. If they seem to know what they are talking about, and they can do it confidently, they will make their knowledge and skills obvious to the hiring manager. If they appear confused or lost, chances are they are not truly qualified to fill the position in question. Especially in times of economic despair, unqualified applicants can sometimes slip through the cracks, which is something that all hiring managers should be watching for.

An interview is the perfect opportunity to judge how a candidate will conduct themselves as an employee. If they did not have the qualifications on paper to do the job they applied for, they would not have been called in for an interview. Hiring managers should have good observation skills. The interview process is the opportunity to see who the person is behind the resume. It is important that the hiring manager place some judgment on the qualities and traits the person displays in their attitude and personality in order to successfully fill the position with the best applicant.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tony_Jacowski

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The next time you apply for a job, don’t be surprised if you have to agree to a social-media background check. Many U.S. companies and recruiters are now looking at your Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and other accounts and blogs — even YouTube — to paint a clearer picture of who you are.

“Almost all employers do some form of background screening because they have to avoid negligent hiring,” said Max Drucker, chief executive of Social Intelligence, a consumer-reporting agency. “An employer has an obligation to make the best effort to protect their employees and customers when they hire.”

And now the Federal Trade Commission has decided that companies that research how you spend your personal time and what your passions and hobbies are do not violate your privacy. The agency recently investigated Social Intelligence, which scours the Internet for the information, pictures and comments you freely share with the world and sells that data to your potential employers. The FTC found the company compliant with the Fair Credit Reporting Act. In other words, the Internet is fair game.

“When someone puts their public life out there publicly, it’s there to be evaluated,” said Kim Harmer, a partner at Harmer Associates, a Chicago-based recruiting firm. “You find out lots of things about people just by Googling them.”

It’s not the party photos

You can breathe a sigh of relief about those party pictures plastered all over your Facebook — most employers and consumer-reporting agencies will look past them, unless, of course, you’re underage.

“I look at their Facebook and see how they approach what they put on it,” Harmer said. “Is it immature? Appropriate or inappropriate? I’m not judging their activity but looking at how they communicate what they do and their thoughts and their judgments to the public as a reflection of what they will do with clients and team members.”

Drucker said he only searches for what the companies direct him to find and stays away from giving employers information that might be considered discriminatory to the hiring process. Employers, for example, cannot legally make hiring decisions based on race, religion, marital status or disability. But they can make decisions based on whether or not they like your attitude or your ethics.

A Social Intelligence report to a company would include racist remarks, sexually explicit photos or videos, or flagrant displays of weapons or illegal activity, Drucker said. And your decision to post a naked picture of yourself might not go over well with a potential employer.

“That might not be relevant to the job, but an employer gets to determine if that’s the kind of person he wants representing his company,” Drucker said.”We don’t make the decisions. We just generate the reports.”

He said he has been surprised by how many racist comments and flagrant displays of drug use people post online. “It’s not just smoking marijuana. It’s snorting cocaine, talking about doing Ecstasy on Twitter or a forum or message board, showing it in photos or video-sharing sites,” he said.

Some companies are mining photo- and video-gathering sites using facial-recognition software. If you were among those rioting in the streets of Vancouver after the National Hockey League championship, for example, a potential boss could find you the same way the police tracked down those responsible for some of the bedlam — in the pictures.

“We are going from the Web being a place of extraordinary anonymity to a place where your every movement could be traced if someone’s taking pictures of you and posting them,” said John Challenger, chief executive of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, an outplacement-consulting firm. “Job seekers need to be careful because of that,” so they don’t make a mistake and lose a job as a result, he said.

They also need to know that not all companies use reporting agencies like Social Intelligence. Some take a hodgepodge approach to mining your data.

“People are slowly becoming aware of the consequences of posting too much information on the Web,” Challenger said. “But they shouldn’t wait until they make a mistake and lose a job because of it.”

What you should do

Here are some tips:

– Make every effort to find out what’s out there about you. Anything that may be taken out of context should be taken down.

– Be concerned about the accuracy of what’s gathered. Drucker said his company looks at layers of social media to determine if the John Brown it is looking at is the same John Brown that the company is considering hiring. If his identity was stolen, John Brown’s information could be “correct” but inaccurate.

– Remember that bits and pieces of you are at a number of other sites, like LinkedIn, Craigslist or Foursquare, not to mention blogs, forums and wikis that you might visit.

– Check — and frequently recheck — your privacy settings on social-media accounts like Facebook and Twitter.

– Create a positive online presence by putting up your resume on a site with your domain name or getting it on forums of charitable organizations that you support.

– If in doubt, consider hiring a company like Reputation.com to help you present, well, a better you.

Jennifer Waters is a reporter for MarketWatch, where this story originally appeared. Write to her here; jwaters@marketwatch.com.

via Facebook, Twitter, Flickr Used by Recruiters for Background Checks – Finance and Accounting Jobs News and Advice.

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You may have come across the term ‘elevator pitch’ recently during your job search. Basically, this term refers to the brief sixty-second speech that people use to describe the product or service they offer to others. And while this speech may not be part of your regular discourse, it must be delivered in a very concise and compelling way, and have the necessary attracting points that will entice the interests of employers around you.

For all job seekers, it is important to learn how to create a compelling elevator speech. In order to do so, you must be familiar with the idea of professional branding and the concept of enhancing your brand to promote yourself as well as your career. More often than not, personal branding through a properly drafted elevator speech will allow you to create a good image for yourself which you can use for a successful job search. This will allow you to differentiate yourself from other applicants who may be vying for the same position.

You must understand that good personal branding will play an important part in your elevator pitch. This will serve as a mini presentation of what you can do to get over the all too common phrases like “what can you do for us” and “tell us about yourself”. An effective elevator pitch is capable of conveying to your audience that you are a professional, and this must be done in such a way that your speech will not only address your unique selling points but the concerns of your listener as well.

But how do you create an effective elevator pitch for your job search? With an honest evaluation of yourself and thorough introspection, you can develop your own elevator pitch even without the help of a career coach. To begin with, you need to ask yourself the following questions:

What is my main objective for my job search and what is my job target?

Who are the persons I am planning to talk to about hiring me?

What is my unique selling point?

What are the problems currently faced by my audience?

What can I do to help them solve it?

What are the characteristics I have that sets me apart from other applicants?

What are benefits of my work experience which I can bring in to my new work environment?

As you create your elevator pitch, try to incorporate all these elements in a short presentation that you can deliver in no more than sixty seconds. Once you assess the correct answers to the above questions, you will have everything you need to create an effective and compelling elevator pitch. Don’t worry too much about being eloquent because a concise and direct speech can help you get the attention you need to secure the job interview you have been waiting for.

Candace Davies, Owner of A+ Resumes for Teachers is a Global Career Management Professional dedicated to assisting educators worldwide leverage their strengths, accomplishments, and unique selling points to capture their dream career. Her team has successfully assisted 3500+ education professionals by transforming their talents into concise documents that secure numerous interviews.

Please visit her at http://resumes-for-teachers.com or send an email to candoco@telus.net

via How to Create a Job Search Elevator Pitch | Boomers Next Step.

I’m not prone to feel sorry for people who don’t put together a good resume and complain about not finding a job, just like I don’t feel sorry for recruiters who complain about bad applicant tracking software but who never took the time research such a crucial purchase.

But then again, I can’t tell you the number a times a recruiter has asked, “Why is it that the best candidate is never the guy/gal with the best resume?”

In other words, a lot of good candidates lurk behind those mediocre, poor, and maybe even downright awful resumes.

How do you find them without interviewing all of them? Assuming that a poor resume still contains all the basic information – education, experience, references – and is not padded, here are some good tips I’ve picked up for seeing a good candidate through all the dross:

• Look carefully at the work history. Two things speak well of a candidate: 1) A long time with one company and 2) No long periods of unemployment. Both suggest a solid work ethic, dependability, and initiative. Along the same lines….
• Look at the work history within a company. Did this person stay in the same position for a long time or did they steadily advance? If the latter, he or she is almost certainly skilled and is probably ambitious and eager for challenges.
• Study the time frame of graduate degrees. MBA’s are great, but MBA’s earned while working full-time suggest dedication and the ability to multi-task. On the other hand, a Master’s done between jobs can suggest a directed effort to enhance or even shift a career, and there are few qualities better in a candidate than passion for what they do. Likewise….
• Don’t dismiss “irrelevant” degrees. Everyone says that what’s most important is the ability to think and learn, but when it comes to hiring, most recruiters revert back to experience and relevant degrees – with “relevant” usually meaning something “related to business” like finance, accounting, or the ever-vague “business administration.” Philosophy and English Literature majors probably know more about analyzing an argument and communicating clearly than the average human resources major, so give them a break.

Have you noticed that I used the word “suggest” a lot? Like all good recruiters, I know that it takes a few interviews to know if a candidate is a good fit (and even then, every recruiter has a “He/She turned out to be a rotten employee” story).

There is going to be an exodus of workers soon from businesses all across the U.S. It seems that for all the work recruiters do at the front end, organizations are undoing it at the backend. Frustrated employees are seeking new opportunities in record numbers, but if you are prepared, your talent shortages may be over.

Earlier this week, Mercer released its What’s Working survey that found that “one in two U.S. employees [are] looking to leave or [have] checked out on the job.” Other surveys support these findings, including ones by Right Management.

Is this simply the grass-is-greener syndrome, or is there something else going on? Even though there are plenty of jobs for certain types of people — Amazon is adding 5,000 people, and McDonald’s, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Apple are just a few others that have announced fairly large hiring plans — we are not actually out of this recession, and changing jobs is a risky business.

While money and benefits are not the primary reason people leave their employers in normal times, these times are very different.

This recession has lingered longer than most and is impacting a generation of workers who have not suffered much from recessions in the past. Their tolerance is different, and so are their expectations.

Today I think there are four primary drivers of these rather frightening statistics. And these same reasons will eventually drive away the new people you recruit as well, unless you are candid and realistic right up front with the candidates.

The first driver is actually pay this time. For many employees it has been a long time since they have gotten much in the way of a pay increase. The recession is often used as a reason for not granting reasonable increases, and managers have been more focused on performance — of lack of performance as a way to hold down these increases.

Yet, employees see their organizations making good profits and in some cases even record profits. Corporate coffers are flush with cash, yet this has not translated into significant pay increases. At the same time, option grants have shrunk due to changes in how they are taxed, giving some employees even less reason to stay.

Employees perceive a unfairness in how they are paid compared to how firms are profiting.

Second, and not completely separated from pay, is the amount of work that is being asked of employees. Many people I speak with are really doing what two or more would have done prior to this recession. Managers have asked for more and gotten it as employees fear there are few other jobs.

Yet the perception about jobs is changing, and many are starting to make a move if for no other reason than to lessen their workload or find a more flexible employer.

A third growing issue is the attitude younger workers, especially those in the Gen Y category, have about work. They feel their personal freedom is threatened by restrictive social media polices. And they are unhappy with the unwillingness of many firms to allow flexible working hours. They are also inclined to want open, authentic cultures and this recession has caused firms to tighten up communications, keep more secrets, and allow much less open discussion. This is all negative to the younger folks who will seek out more open and flexible environments.

A fourth element is lack of development. Many surveys have pointed out that Gen Y in particular, but all of us at some time, want to take on new responsibilities and learn new skills. During the recession organizations cut back on training and limited development opportunities. In some cases when development was available no one could take advantage oif it because of high-demand work requirements that left no time available. This has resulted in frustrated and bored employees who are looking for a change.

In reality, it’s not hard to see why these surveys are showing a potentially devastating amount of turnover about to happen.

I also realize that while there may not be a lot you can do about these things; there are always creative tactics that can help. Here are some thoughts.

First of all, make internal mobility the most important thing you focus on. Helping employees find new positions may be the best and most direct way you can influence them to stay. Yet, most organizations either erect numerous bureaucratic hurdles that make moving around tough, or they simply do not offer any simple way for an employee to learn about possibilities.

The intranet or some other internal website should be designed so that employees can learn about open positions and can apply for those positions. Work with HR to take down barriers and make it as easy to move between positions as it is to move outside the firm. This probably means that many current practices will have to change. Organizations with low turnover generally follow several rules that guide the internal application and transfer process.

1. Employees should be able to interview for new positions without permission from anyone.
2. They should not have to complete any sort of application form, and resumes should be very simple, if used at all.
3. They should be able to leave their current position within a maximum of two weeks after accepting another offer — even if their old position has not been filled.
4. Salaries offered should be similar to those an external hire would receive.

Second, help hiring managers reposition jobs to match the available skills rather than seek out only those who are perfect fits.

Don’t go for the exact match. Encourage hiring managers to be more open to giving internal candidates an opportunity. Exact matching is expensive and pays little in return. No one is good enough at predicting what the exact set of skills are going to be for every project and job. Hiring internal people with basic qualifications is often the better decision as these people not only bring enthusiasm and freshness, but also fit the culture. Recruiters need to encourage managers to experiment and realize that most of us are not doing the exact job we were trained to do or even the work our degrees prepared us for.

And, finally, be open with potential candidates about what’s going on in the company.

When you set realistic expectations up front, you lessen the disillusionment that will come after the new hire starts. Strive for authenticity. Encourage them to talk to employees who are happy and engaged. Make sure candidates are good culture fits and that they are fully informed about the work they are going to be expected to do.

Working with the hiring managers is key to success, as talent shortages are partly caused by lack of imagination. Jobs can be tailored to fit candidates, job descriptions can be changed, and managers can be flexible. It takes negotiating with them and providing them information about what’s going on. Turnover may happen, but you may be able to lessen its impact or bring in new people better fitted to your culture.

With this being said, paper resumes have become significantly less popular among employers looking to hire new employees. People tend to ask, “Why is this?” Let’s take a look at why paper resumes have become less popular among people on the job hunt, but actually more effective in landing that job of your dreams.

It is obvious that uploading a digital resume to ten different online job applications is far easier than addressing ten envelopes and mailing them to different companies with your resume inside. This is one of the reasons that many people seeking a job have turned to digital resumes. They don’t require a printer or paper and can be uploaded to a job application in a few seconds time.

After looking at the increase in convenience of digital resumes it is a wonder that anyone would send a traditional resume to a potential employer. If you take the time to send a paper resume to a potential employer you may very well benefit from the effort put forth. Most CEOs of large companies say that receiving a paper resume, among the hundreds of resumes submitted online, is a refreshing and eye-opening event. Basically, a paper resume can cause an applicant to stand out from the large crowd of other applicants.

You must remember that most business owners and heads of the hiring departments have been in the business for years, meaning they tend to be old-fashioned. Just because technology has advanced far past their technical skills doesn’t mean their mindset has advanced at the same pace. The bottom line is that, in general, employers love to see something traditional, like a paper resume.

Tips for Sending a Paper Resume

If you feel the need to set yourself apart from the competition, in regards to other applicants, then there are a few things that you should consider before mailing a paper resume to a potential employer:

1. Don’t get fancy with the font. Picking a fancy or unique font will often times act as a detriment because of the fact that they are not typically easy to read.

2. If your cover letter and resume combined are more than two pages then you shouldn’t fold them up in a traditional envelope. Buy an envelope that allows the papers to lay flat.

3. Use a high quality type of paper to give your resume a better sense of credibility and prestige.

Jason Kay is a professional resume writer and regular contributor to JobGoRound.com, which provides job search tips, interview advice, and resume builder reviews.

Regardless of our ambitions, our career spans through a series of jobs and experiences that truly polish our personality and will. While we all have defining moments that will determine our core beliefs around hard work, persistence, determination, etc., these are all simply components of a greater foundation that defines ‘you’. A rocking rise through corporate ranks involves a radical understanding and possible change in your attitude and behaviors.

There are millions of brilliant people who pursue aggressive career paths and have their sights set on great achievement. While their ability is nothing short of genius, many lack the soft skills that could put them over the top. These are the traits, qualities and understandings are what make good people great. Practical and time tested, mastering and practicing the following qualities will make if difficult for success to elude you.
Out of Box Thinking
Many dislike this term but the concept is for real. All it requires is thinking of problems though a different set of eyes, or different dimension. This is why many brainstorming sessions fail; most people sit and think of work problems in the context of what it means to the company, not the user, not the environment, etc. Sit back and try to solve the problem from the eyes of a 6 year old, turn things upside down, and absolutely challenge the norm. Go outside and sit in a subway station (or somewhere you generally don’t sit to work) and think about why other solutions not worked? What has worked?

Remember the best ideas come from people who are hands-on with their work. When everyone thinks and recommends a lackluster way, lackluster results will follow. Change your surroundings, change your views, change your thought process and come up with a killer idea!

Taking Ownership
When no one is willing to own it, be the first to grab the opportunity. A process involving various stakeholders normally loses vision and momentum. A process with a good leader, input from others, and true direction, has a much better chance of success. Be the person that jumps in and takes on a new project (just don’t over-commit). An ability to own and work towards success is a skill which gives long lasting returns.

Eagerness to Learn
After a certain period, a job becomes monotonous and people become bored and eventually even lazy. They lose all the zeal to learn new things and although they won’t admit this, their actions would make you believe they have thrown in the towel and are satisfied with a status quo life and career. If you really want to move ahead, don’t get into this rut. Don’t tune out.

Always remain eager to learn; you never know what knowledge or capability will push you up in your career. Remember, you need an open mindset and positive attitude to approach work. If you are constantly learning, it will be tough to be or appear to be interested in mediocrity.

An Eye for Detail
If you are hands on with your work there is no reason why you won’t know the intricacies involved. Therefore, have the confidence needed to make difficult choices. When you master something and know the minute details, your logic and ideas will be highly regarded. While people love to argue, they get easily impressed by intelligent reasoning too.

Willingness to Help
Much of life is give and take. Work is no exception. If you are the person that is constantly stepping out of your comfort zone in order to help others, people (most) will return the favor when you ask. That’s the key though, you have to be willing to help someone and not too proud to ask them for help when you need it.

Networking
Your network should never be restricted to people in your domain but it should span other departments too. Again, break away from comfort and get engaged with someone from a different department. When you sell yourself in the market, you need people who can vouch for you and the broader the network, the better. A strong network always gives you an upper hand, not only to receive but also influence the information flow.

Solution Seeking Mindset
People love to mention and talk about problems. However, when you ask for their solutions to those problems, they aren’t willing to go on record with sweeping changes. The majority of employees lack an attitude to solve issues and love to keep them burning for long time, almost to encourage sympathy. It is these times that a positive mindset can send the right vibes across and can really give you a lot of attention. Don’t avoid complainers, listen to them just long enough to hear the problem, then try to come up with a solution.

Humility
Arrogance has its own advantages but it never attracts more people than the magic done by humility. When you know your work and are humble about it than there is no reason that you would not get the desired appreciation. Humility needs to be pitched with much care lest it lets people take undue advantage of you. Strike the right balance and you would see its real magic.

Being Practical
Human beings are emotional and many fall for popular decisions. A practical decision made at right time with right attitude has the ability to shower you with long lasting fame. Remember, the people who are at the top are nothing but practical.
It is a jungle out there where you not only need to survive but flourish too. Develop the killer attitude for success and no one would ever dare to stop you.

Always
Work Hard
Make sure the world knows about it
Make sure to sell it in right manner to right people
Go, Get Success

Written by Amit Gupta. Amit is the author of Mystic Madness, a personal development blog related to professional life. The blog aims to develop an attitude and soft skills which are nothing but practical. The blog strives to live by its motto: Think Different. Rock Life.

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Cover letters have a specific format that must be followed, and each paragraph serves a different purpose. Follow the guidelines below to craft the perfect cover letter for your next application:

• The header. Your cover letter should have a header with your name, address and contact information at the top that matches the header on your resume. The body of the letter should include the current date, the name of the hiring manager, the name of the company and the company’s address. Look up the specific spacing requirements online to make sure you’re following them exactly. Address your letter “Dear (Mr. or Ms. Name).”

• The opening paragraph. This paragraph needs to briefly address the position you’re interested in and state why you are qualified to do it. Take this opportunity to note your interest in the company and mention one or two specific things you like about their mission, business ventures, goals, etc.

• The second paragraph. Use this paragraph to give a clear picture of what you have to offer the position and the company. Feel free to use bullet points for skim value and readability. This section needs to radiate confidence (but not cockiness) and show the prospective employer why your skills and experiences make you an asset for this position.

• The third paragraph. This paragraph should offer additional background information that’s relevant to the position. Don’t repeat information from the previous paragraph, and try to insert keywords and phrases from the specific job description where possible.

• The closing. This short section should thank your reader for their time and consideration and invite them to learn more about your skills and experiences in your attached resume. Also be sure to inquire about a face to face interview or phone call to discuss career opportunities.

Although cover letters follow a specific format, there is plenty of room for creativity and personalization. It’s your first chance – and may be your only chance – to make an impression on your prospective employer, so it’s essential that you take the time to craft an effective, straight-forward and thoughtful cover letter for each position you’re seeking.

Darlene Zambruski is the Managing Editor of ResumeEdge, a leading online provider of professional resume writing services. The company’s hand-picked team of resume writers specializes in 40 different industries and works to provide professional resume and cover letter writing services for people seeking employment in a wide variety of fields.

We all know that certain positions and industries suit particular personality types better than others. While your skills, education and abilities go a long way toward determining an appropriate field for you, they don’t tell the whole story–you can be very “good” at something that isn’t ultimately a good fit. Consider yourself as a whole package when choosing a career.Testing your personality can lead to surprising insights and sometimes, unexpected career possibilities!

An important part of career testing involves personality typing, a measurement of your personal traits, motivation, attitudes and needs in the workplace. One of the most popular tools is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), a personality inventory that many people–job hunters and employers alike–use for making career and hiring decisions.

The MBTI is based on the psychological theories of Carl Jung’s and developed by Katharine Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers. The test identifies crucial preferences that categorize indivuals by personality. Their preferred methods of doing work and other activities indicate personality characteristics that remain surprisingly constant over an individual’s lifetime, giving us a powerful tool for career testing.

The Four Preferences

Extroversion v. Introversion. How an individual “energizes.”
Sensing v. Intuition. The way a person perceives information.
Thinking v. Feeling. A person’s decision-making process.
Judging v. Perceiving How a personal lives his or her life.
In career testing reports, eight letters represent each preference. The four preferences chosen by the person make up his or her personality type. There are 16 distinct combinations possible.

The sixteen possible personality types are unique. The four preferences that determine your personality interact with each other so that you’re more than just the sum of four aspects. Each type is essentially equal in value, as each has important predicted strengths and weaknesses. Some types are naturally suited to certain roles that other types would struggle to fill. Certain work environments are a better fit for different types, and the types themselves interact to create different kinds of working relationships. This kind of career testing can go a long way toward optimizing your work style, as understanding your personality type can give you a clear idea of what you need from and offer to others.

When you take the MBTI test, you’ll receive a report containing your personal four-letter code and an extensive description of your type. A list of common and popular career choices will probably also be provided, and also ideas for what you might avoid. While each of the four preferences are crucial in determining your personality, the middle two are the most important when choosing a career. They determine how you perceive information and how you make decisions, two aspects which are very central to career testing.

Employment Digest