5 Tips to Nail a Salary Negotiation

5 Tips to Nail a Salary Negotiation You have showcased an impressive C.V, navigated your way through the interview stages and celebrated receiving a job role.   However, the hard work has only just begun as you approach the task of negotiating a salary.  Discussing money can seem somewhat taboo in the UK as an air of awkwardness will inevitably ensure.  The prospect of salary negotiation can fill interviewees with dread as the discussion can reflect that of a poker tournament rather than the boardroom.   Here, the debt advisory service Scottish Trust Deed present their 5 need to know to negotiate the salary you deserve. 1. The past is irrelevant Candidates can be unsure of the questions that will be asked throughout the interview process.   However, ‘What is your current salary?’ is a question that is almost inevitable.   When this question arises, it is important to remember that you are not duty-bound to disclose this.   Some candidates fear that the answer will present the opportunity for the interviewer to move the goalposts in terms of the salary available which will mean you will obtain a salary falling short of what was previously designated for the role. A new position often equates to new accountabilities and expertise that rely on the knowledge gained from previous experience.   With this is mind, a salary should always reflect the needs of the role in hand and therefore, if your previous role is completely removed from your prospective one, it is completely irrelevant in terms of salary expectation.   When asked ‘what is your expected salary’? it is wise to answer with a statement that runs along the lines of, ‘A salary that is a fair representation of the knowledge and experience needed for the required role.’ 2. Well off the top of my head Always have an idea of your salary expectation BEFORE stepping into the interview room.   If you look like you have been caught off guard or that you are thinking on your feet then not only will you say something that you may regret, but it gives the impression that you will accept any proposal that is offered to you. Research similar roles in the industry and establish an average salary.   It is also wise to talk to a recruitment agency that is a specialist in your chosen industry.   They will be able to provide some clarity and reality on what to expect. 3. So, this is awkward Approach a salary negotiation pragmatically.   Everyone steps onto the career ladder with the objective of receiving a rewarding salary and the interview is under no illusions with regards to this.   Therefore, there is no reason to feel apprehensive when discussing your desired salary and the lack of awkwardness will project confidence. 4. Experience over salary Sometimes, the experience is worth more than its weight in gold and it is important to see the bigger picture.   If the salary is less than you were expecting but the experience and learnings offered are rare, then sometimes it is best to swallow your pride and accept the role. 5. Not just the money Remember, it is not just a salary that can be negotiated.   Work perks, bonuses, and annual leave are all things that can be negotiated.   In terms of gaining a work-life balance and quality of life, these can play a bigger part in your day to day life and wellbeing than a salary. About the author: Scottishtrustdeed.co.uk is a financial advice company specializing in debt advice for those who are struggling with their monthly debt repayments. Established in 2009, Scottishtrustdeed.co.uk’s aim was to help individuals who were in a black hole with their debts by negotiating with their creditors and bring them back to financial stability. It was originally owned by Simple Financial Solutions Limited before it was acquired by Paloma Digital Limited in 2015

4 Perks that Attract Generation Z Talent

4 Perks that Attract Generation Z Talent Generation Z is most commonly used as the term to describe post-millennials; born in 1995 or after (up to the age of 23!). They are now entering the workforce in droves. It is therefore important that employers find out what their working desires are. As the younger workforce is more inclined to swap and change job roles throughout their career, which perks should you consider when it comes to attracting millennials and retaining them within the company? Here are four options to consider: 1.  Flexible working hours “Generation Z will not be constrained by traditional work institutions, policies, and norms” â€" Vanessa Marie Perry, Health Resource Solutions, LLC Gone are the days of having to be stuck to a desk from 9 until 5. An increasing number of companies are offering flexible working hours with added bonuses, such as earlier finishes on Fridays or being allowed to work from home one day per week. HR Executive found that: Gen Z are more willing to travel or relocate for a job They like remote working, whether that means working from home, co-working space or a coffee shop. However, they don’t want to work remotely full-time as they value relationships at work and on-the-job training and collaboration. 3. Training Research by Inspiring Interns found that in a survey of 1,500 graduates, the majority of respondents (33%) cited the opportunity to progress as the most important factor in a new job. Similarly, recruitment firm Robert Walters found that Millennials want more than just a job, with 68% reporting that growth and training was the most important factor and motivator in staying at a job. Giving employees the opportunity to take on training within their role will allow them to learn new skills and boost their confidence within the workplace, as well as being able to improve their CV with a host of new skills. Investing in your employees will make them feel a valued member of the company. If you notice a certain skill in an employee that you believe could be developed, acknowledge their strength and suggest they take part in a training course which will be funded entirely by the company. Robert Half found that Generation Z wants an individualized career path and performance-based advancement opportunities. In fact, 64% stated that career opportunities are important in selecting a job. 3. Travel Opportunities According to a study by Harris Group, 72% of millennials would be more attracted to a job if there were travel perks involved. Your business may have branches abroad where the employee can take on a temporary transfer to work in a new destination, or you may employees who have spent several years at the firm the chance to enjoy an all-expenses-paid-for mini break. If there is a great deal of traveling involved in the job role itself, include this aspect clearly within the job description. While it may appeal to some, it may not be a suitable opportunity for others. However, giving employees once-in-a-lifetime opportunities will not only attract a great deal of interest but should also keep employees intrigued about what could be offered to the next. 4. Commuting allowance Commuting to work can be costly, therefore providing an employee with travel expenses would be a huge perk to younger employees who are keen on saving cash. This could be reimbursements for travel cards, a bus pass or a petrol allowance.  If you want to be green-fingered, an increasing number of companies are offering Cycle to Work schemes, where you can get a bike plus equipment which is heavily discounted. Offering bonuses such as travel allowances will demonstrate straight away that you are willing to look after your staff. About the author: Laura Bill writes for Inspiring Interns, which specializes in finding candidates for their perfect  internship. To browse our graduate jobs, visit our website.

Who Are the Most Annoying People on Social Media

Who Are the Most Annoying People on Social Media I always like reading blogs and articles with titles like Top Ten Annoying Social Media Habits. They’re always accurate, and even though the habits are universally annoying, there are always so many violators. Many of the articles touch on the same subjects â€" we’re ALL annoyed with inappropriate LinkedIn photos, over-posting, too many hashtags, begging for likes and retweets, etc. So I thought I’d add my two cents and bring a few social media personality types to light that may not be quite as common as those mentioned above, but are every bit as annoying! Lyric Posters: These are people who have nothing of any real value to post, so they post song lyrics to a popular song. Inevitably, someone else responds by posting the next few lyrics, then someone else with the next few, and so on until they have nine or ten comments of song lyrics everyone knows, but no one really cares to read. I’m not sure what the poster gets out of this, other than the satisfaction that others see their post and feel the need to add to it. When you need to remind people you’re still active on social media but have absolutely nothing to say, lyrics are always a good fallback. Number Grubbers: These are the folks who are active on social media for one reason only â€" numbers. The more friends and followers they have, the happier they are. They live and die by their Klout score. It doesn’t matter that they don’t know 98 percent of their connections. It only matters that they have a network of thousands and thousands of people. That’s more than YOU have, and that means that they win. Job Posters: Ever seen a personal social media profile that contains nothing but job postings? Working in a recruiting department, I certainly understand the importance of posting job openings. But barring social media job sites that are created for this purpose, any personal profile that contains nothing but job after job after job gets old quick. Even job seekers appreciate some variation â€" helpful job search tips, resume advice, anything that breaks the monotony and shows that you put a few minutes of thought into your social media presence. RELATED:  6 Creative Ways to  Share Job  Ads on  Social Media Retweeters: Plain and simple, these Twitter users never have an original thought of their own. They simply retweet other people’s posts. A good Twitter presence should be based on interaction â€" engaging with other users and retweeting their thoughts, while others retweet yours. Without originators, there would be no retweeters â€" and one should never be only one and not the other. Commercial Posters: We’ve all seen this â€" increase your Twitter followers! 20,000 followers for only $300! Admittedly, many of these accounts aren’t even real people, but fake accounts set up to generate revenue. Regardless, if I see a solicitation for increasing followers, I can’t hit delete fast enough. Selfies: I know, this one has already been covered a thousand time but, in my opinion, it’s worthy of another mention. Unless you’re in middle school, you should have figured out by now that posting selfies is ridiculous. There are only a select few reasons to post a selfie: You regularly forget what you look like. You’re a true narcissist who craves constant self-assurance from so-called friends/followers/fans or You’re looking to attract the wrong kind of attention. Outside of these three reasons, do us all a favor and keep the selfies to yourself. So do you fall into any of these categories? How about your friends? Check amongst yourselves! If you’re guilty, no sooner will you change your habits than someone will pinpoint the next batch of annoying social media habits. Until then, let’s try our best not to annoy each other, okay?

Hit Send Too Soon

Hit Send Too Soon I’ve been waiting to see what happens when Generation Selfie and the Working Establishment collide. This story was inevitable. A 23-year-old Chicago resident landed a job at a St. Charles, Ill. company in August. After accepting the offer, he mistakenly sent two naked selfies over the course of three days to the human resources manager who offered him the position. According to reports, immediately upon receipt, the HR manager phoned the police. And rescinded the offer of employment. Embed from Getty Imageswindow.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'uDdCcIK4TMFuCUfNrV4hyQ',sig:'4ZTimoCd-rtqkfrF4BQE1gytU1fdI5k-ABs52PH5baY=',w:'376px',h:'255px',items:'160078023',caption: false ,tld:'com',is360: false })}); The speed of our communication has increased exponentially, and we’re communicating more often from a tiny screen (usually while doing something else, like driving.) It’s easy to mix up business and professional activities with what I’ll call (euphemistically) leisure activities. But it’s the speed that is really the problem. Yesterday I received three emails within 40 minutes or so. One announced an event. The next one, 15 minutes later, corrected the event. The third cancelled the event, with apologies for all the changes. I could imagine the frustration the sender felt. A few extra minutes for checking and rechecking can save you that kind of frenzied frustration. The same afternoon, I received a daily email push from a publication with a major typo in a headline. I propose an addition to the texticon: HSTS (Hit Send Too Soon.) Email is full of peril for jobseekers. It’s often sent form a mobile device and feels casual, so it’s seldom checked as thoroughly as it should be. I’ve seen jobseeker communication that is full of typos and empty of punctuation. “iam a recent college graduate and interested in speaking 2 u about a job.” (actual quote) HSTS.

The Purpose of a Resume and Why Your Resume Needs Helps

The Purpose of a Resume and Why Your Resume Needs HelpsIf you're in the market for a new job, there's a chance that you've been approached by an employer who wants to review your resume. Many employers want to look at every applicant's resume to determine if they're a good fit for their position, and they don't want to waste time on applicants who do not meet their standards. Thus, they may request that you send them a copy of your resume.There is some confusion about the purpose of a resume. Some people believe that it serves the same purpose as a CV - which it does - but that it isn't important, since employers often get CVs by request. While it is true that the content of a resume is important, the person reviewing your resume should be checking your overall formatting and spelling skills.Well-written resumes can give a prospective employer a very good idea of the candidate's strengths and weakness. Knowing these two things helps the employer to make a determination as to whether or not they are a good match for the position. At the same time, if the resume is concise and to the point, it is less likely to cause the employer to feel overwhelmed with too much information.Perhaps the biggest problem employers have when reviewing resumes is the amount of time required to evaluate each one. If you are filling a full-time job, it's going to take time to send out an entire resume and then get back the results. However, if you're filling a part-time position, it's also likely to take time to get back to you. It's important that your resume be efficient in both cases.In order to avoid unnecessary time spent reviewing your resume, you should ask for help from a professional resume writer. Although there are many resume writing services available, there are also only a handful of people who are good enough to deliver writing services at a price that you can afford. Moreover, they will do a much better job than anyone else you could hire.If you have the money to hire a professional resume writer, you should choose someone who has experience working with manufacturing employers. The reason for this is that they will know how to properly write a resume based on the information that they already know about a specific manufacturing job position. They also understand how to create a professional appearance for a resume.Once the resume is sent, it's time to review it. Depending on the level of the resume, you may need to contact the company to find out more information. Sometimes, a phone call will be enough. In other cases, you may need to email the information, or schedule a face-to-face meeting to review the resume.Remember that it's very important to ensure that your resume is formatted correctly and it doesn't contain grammatical errors. Employers want to send their resumes as quickly as possible, so they won't be able to check the resume until they are actually interested in it. Failing to follow these tips will delay your progress in your search for a new job.

Happiness at work marches on - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Happiness at work marches on - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog Project Happiness at work took a giant leap forward last saturday. Id invited some people whove been following the project or who liked the idea of doing an effort to promote happiness at work, and we spent four hours refining the project and coming up with a game plan for the next three months. The highlight of the meeting for me was to see how the idea of spreading happiness at work grabs people. To know that the project is now more than just my dreams and ideas. To hear people say We as in We need to find ten companies willing to give this a try. How do we do it?. To see people assume ownership and leadership in different areas, and to see each contribute according to their interest. (Need I say that the meeting was an Open Space meeting? Of course it was). But mostly: Thanks the people who came. Its a great feeling for me to know, that Im no longer alone, and that its no longer just my pet project. I look forward to spreading some work-happiness along with you guys, and along with anybody else who wants to help. Thanks! Click more to see pictures. Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related

How to Keep Your Employees Motivated Every Day

How to Keep Your Employees Motivated Every Day If you are managing a team, it is important that you pay attention to the needs of your employees, and listen to their suggestions, or they will end up leaving you or caring less about your business. If you are a business owner, one of your most valuable assets is your organizational knowledge and your employees. They represent your brand in front of your customers, so you have to look after them. Lead By Example Image via PxHere One of the reasons employees think they get away with slacking work or not paying attention to the instructions is because they see the leadership do the same. If you would like to become an exceptional leader, you should learn how to lead by example, and get to know as many processes and techniques as possible, so you can show that you don’t shy away from work. Help Them Become More Productive It is crucial that you are supporting your employees, so they don’t feel lost and alone. One of the main reasons why workers quit their job is that they don’t feel appreciated and cared for. You will need to implement a training and development program that will allow you to deliver value to your employees, which they can later on pass on to your customers. Don’t make them feel like they are in a dead end job; get them to strive higher. Create a Reward System To motivate your employees every day, you will need to create an advanced reward and recognition system, so your employees know what is classed as standard work and what counts as going the extra mile. You don’t necessarily need to create a bonus scheme; early finish or flexible working will have just as much motivational power. Get Rid of Distractions It is crucial that you eliminate the major distractions at work. This doesn’t mean that you should ban people from chatting to each other; simply ensure that productivity doesn’t suffer. Social media can be very distracting, so you have to eventually make a decision whether or not to restrict the use of these sites to lunch breaks. Set daily targets and measure productivity on an individual and team level. Automate Boring Jobs Image via Public Domain Pictures There are some jobs that make employees bored and losing the will to live. If you are asking them to schedule meetings or social media posts all day, or crunch numbers, you will have to ask yourself whether there is a more effective way of doing the job. You should talk to an IT professional at www.frontlineinc.com to find out which small business software can make your life and your employees’ easier. If you would like to make the most out of your business and keep your employees happy, it is important that you implement systems that allow you to measure every business process and collect feedback. Give your employees the chance to grow personally and professionally, so you can make the most out of your time and your human resource costs.