Full Disclosure & Your Job Search….

ThinkstockPhotos-516391729Many of us have a need to be fully transparent when it comes to job interviews and telling a recruiter or hiring manager the entire history of our job search. Others take a different approach, leaving clues and hints like a murder mystery trail yet to be solved. There are no right or wrong approaches to speaking your mind. You are the only one who knows how much is too much when it comes to disclosing information during your job search. Do you tell the recruiter that you are interviewing for multiple jobs? Do you tell your supervisor you are a finalist for a job offer? How much negotiating of your salary do you do BEFORE you get a formal offer?

When it comes to setting the stage for a job offer negotiation playing your cards close to the chest is not a bad strategy. Sometimes in our need to be transparent we can reveal too much. Here are some examples of when less is more when it comes to negotiating your next job offer:

  1. I’m So Popular! You may be interviewing with many companies and the job offer you receive from a company may be right but not perfect. You wonder whether you should leverage your current employer knowing it could back fire or, play hardball with the prospective employer until you get the offer you really want? It’s not wise to negotiate with a prospective offer if you are ultimately going to use it to leverage your current situation. Many times this approach can backfire. If you are interviewing for a new job and are up for a promotion at your current job and are wondering which road to choose it’s best to lay out your terms clearly so you are not playing both sides against the middle. Know what you want and what it would take in order for you to make the move and know what your bottom line is so if the new job offer does not meet your expectations no matter how badly you want to make a move, then sit tight and play out your current opportunity. Just because all things don’t fall into place at the moment you want does not mean you are stuck forever. Playing one employer against the other is a tricky game and unless you are a master negotiator, save that move for the experts.
  2. Let’s Make A Deal! When it comes to negotiating what you want whether this includes money, title or even reporting relationship, again, make sure you have your priorities straight and only ask for what really is a deal breaker for you. Whether you are negotiating a promotion or a new job, knowing what you are worth and playing that hand when the opportunity is right makes you a valuable asset no matter what side of the desk you are sitting on. You can have what you want you just need to know how to set the stage in order to make sure you do not come across as too demanding or unappreciative. Doing your homework, stating that you have interviewed for similar jobs in the industry and the going rate is X, makes you look like you have done your research and you know what you are worth on the open market. Don’t even begin the process of negotiating unless you are very clear on the market salary and in the end what will make you happy and accept the job offer.
  3. Don’t Settle for Less! Unless you have been on the job market for a long time or have no relevant experience in an industry you are trying to break into, accepting less in terms of title, salary or position is not the way to go. Letting people know your worth also means setting the boundaries of what you are and are not willing to accept in a job offer. It does not mean you have to play hardball out of the gate with a list of demands, but you again need to be very clear on what you want by having done the research and leveraging your skills in an appropriate and professional way. People respect you if you are able to stand up for yourself especially if you are being given an offer that is much less than you expect. If you have a good job but are looking for more, don’t panic, make the most of what you have while you have it and it’s okay to let the hiring manager know what you expect from your next career move-even if it’s more than what they want to pay you.

Full disclosure means that you are calculated in your response to your job search and negotiations and are not giving the information away just to make a point. If you are unhappy and are making a decision out of desperation it will show. If you are confident and know your market value than you are in a better position to ask for and get what you want.

Looking for a job?  Find us at www.greenlightjobs.com

Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/lisakayeglj

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Copyright © 2024 Lisa Kaye - HR & Business Consulting - The Career Rebel

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Spring Into Your Job Search ….

ThinkstockPhotos-511239833It’s that time of year when losing one hour sleep to gain more daylight and herald in the spring seems like a welcome relief to winter. For some losing that one-hour sleep may feel like a take away no matter how warm the weather is outside. Getting that spring in your step may be a slow start for some but getting up and moving is important if you want to get a jump-start on the college grads looking for work in a few months.

Springtime is a wake up call if you are in a job you hate or are about to embark on a job search for the first time. You need to find the right motivation and deliberation when it comes to your job search. Procrastination seems like a noble cause when the weather outside is delightful and your job search prospects are frightful. You don’t need an excuse to put off updating your resume, searching the job boards or following up on a job lead when all you really want to do is to go out and play.

Like the inevitable spring cleaning and filing of your taxes, procrastination has a way of keeping the spring out of your step no matter how badly you need or want to change your career. Nothing makes it harder to motivate you to get going on your job search than a beautiful spring day or friends calling you up to hang out. Finding a balance between work and play may mean you have to dedicate a few hours each week to helping you stay on track with your job search.

It’s never easy making change and procrastinating is just one way to avoid taking the reins of your career and moving forward. You don’t need to drop all other activities to get going, but devoting a few hours a week or even 20 minutes a day will help you move the ball a little further down your career court. Making a list each week of the things you need to process will make it easier for you to feel like you’ve accomplished something especially when you check off one item or so each and every week. You don’t have to make great strides in pushing your career search along but one step at a time will work wonders in keeping you moving forward and motivated when the sun is shining bright.

Your career search does not have to feel like a work out or a chore when all you want to do is play. Make sure you have fun while looking for your next job and find ways to invigorate your job search activities that make you feel good about what you are doing and not like you are piling on more work. It’s time to make the most out of spring and balance life’s pleasures with the goals and dreams you set for your career. Who knows, you may just find the perfect job while having a great time just when you least expect it?

Looking for a job?  Find us at www.greenlightjobs.com

Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/lisakayeglj

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And, on LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/pub/2/abb/50


Copyright © 2024 Lisa Kaye - HR & Business Consulting - The Career Rebel

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Your Job-Without A Doubt…

ThinkstockPhotos-479189577It may seem like you know who you are and what you want and have always found it easy to find the path along the long road to your career. You may not have had to struggle along the way or you may have what others call, “an easy time of it.” Where ever your journey has taken you your job, your career, your calling has been one of the most important roads you’ve ever traveled in your like-without a doubt.

Now for the rest of us that road has been filled with challenges, uncertainties, and even wrong turns. Even when we thought we knew what we wanted life revealed a few other options for us to ponder and we were all to glad to try. It’s not that you lacked focus but doubt became the compass by which you navigated your career choices. You may have made some questionable decisions along the way, but you learned, grew and had at least some funny stories to tell about your crazy boss and your long suffering co-worker.

Even though you may have suffered the consequences of your questionable choices, your doubts about what you wanted steered you mysteriously into trying new careers, working in new industries and taking on jobs others would have naturally turned away from. You have been the master of your career destiny but what would you do differently if you knew for sure the career that was right for you? If you had the chance to choose again would you go to school, study a trade and apply your skills to a profession that would last a lifetime?

With doubt, comes an innate ability to push fear aside and try new things because we have no preconceived notion that we might fail if we give it a shot. When we have doubt about our choices, it helps us to weed out what we most like about what we do from those things we hate. Choosing your career when you are not so emotionally tied to the outcome may actually yield some interesting opportunities. Although I’m not suggesting you adopt a career strategy that employs a trial and error approach. But for those of you willing to take a gamble, are given a rare glimpse into new possible careers and fields of work to explore.

You may not think you’ve got it all figured out when it comes to making the right career choices. Maybe you would have been better off sticking to one thing and mastering your skills in a career that would span a lifetime. Just because you may have taken the scenic route along the way to your next job, you knew there would be many exits along the way for you to explore until you discovered what it was you really wanted to do. Having doubt makes it easier for you to try new things even if you are not sure what it is you really want. It does not mean that job-hopping is necessarily the way towards career advancement, but it sure makes for colorful reading on your resume.

If you feel that you have made choices based on doubt, uncertainty or just plain “luck” then you can count yourself among the vast majority of people who sometimes need to figure it out along the way before making a firm decision-without a doubt.

Looking for a job?  Find us at www.greenlightjobs.com

Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/lisakayeglj

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Copyright © 2024 Lisa Kaye - HR & Business Consulting - The Career Rebel

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Job Hop …

ThinkstockPhotos-76730702It use to be that having more than one job in a five year period of time was considered “flighty” and that you were labeled a “job-hopper.” No one wanted to look at your resume unless you can show longevity and commitment to a job. Getting an interview if you were not seen as a lifer was next to impossible if you could not prove that you had a valid reason for leaving your job in a short period of time—which was like five years or less! Job-hopping is not something you do with the Easter Bunny-it’s something you do when you are trying to figure out what you want or, you are so good at what you do everyone keeps offering you a job you can’t seem to turn down!

When you are an expert “job-hopper” you have taken the best of your current situation and are looking for the next best gig just like an Easter egg hunt gone awry. You may stumble from one job hole to another but hey you are having fun right? The job –hopper profile goes something like this:

  1. You need to keep moving otherwise you feel like you are stagnant and are not going anywhere in your career.
  2. You want to be liked so when someone offers you a new opportunity you don’t want to say no.
  3. Because it’s shiny.
  4. You may not have won at every game you played as a kid and you feel like it’s a race to fit 10 jobs in 10 years on your resume.
  5. You never liked staying in one place too long for fear of unhealthy attachments.
  6. You are a go-getter no matter how many times you like to run and fetch things.
  7. You don’t like to stay too long at the party- no matter how popular you have become.
  8. Change is good and you like to learn new things even if it has nothing to do with what you studied in school.
  9. Working in a variety of places makes you feel like a well-rounded person with much to offer someone new given the next chance.
  10. If you don’t like it you can leave.

Being a job-hopper these days is not a negative sign as it once was. Working in many places shows that you are curious by nature and have the ability to fit into new environments and to move with the rolling tide. As long as you know how to effectively “spin” your many career choices over a short span of time, most employers these days don’t necessarily look poorly on someone who has had many jobs. As someone who likes to move from one place to another knowing that about yourself is a huge plus in choosing the type of jobs you want and the type of people you would like to work for.

Just because you like to move around a lot does not mean you would not make a valuable addition to any team. You just need to make sure you don’t hop yourself off the career trail because you can’t seem to stay around long enough to offer up your contributions in a meaningful way. Have a list, check it off and hop on to your next great career adventure!

Looking for a job?  Find us at www.greenlightjobs.com

Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/lisakayeglj

Follow greenlightjobs on Twitter http://twitter.com/greenlightjobs

And, on LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/pub/2/abb/50


Copyright © 2024 Lisa Kaye - HR & Business Consulting - The Career Rebel

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