Interview Questions to Ask Yourself before You Hire

Interview Questions to Ask Yourself before You HireInterview Questions to Ask Yourself before You HireInterview Questions to Ask Yourself before You Hire DeZubeWhen hiringa new employee, fruchtwein employers focus on interview questions for the candidate. But some experts recommend asking yourself a few questions first.The answers can help nearly any employer develop better interview questions, regardless of company size or industry. Why? Because unless you know your companys values, culture as well as the jobs tasks the less likely you are to make the right hire.Those three questions are1. What are the five biggest problems the new employee will have to solve?2. What traits are shared by the best (and worst) people whove done this job?3. Should the new hire match the current company culture or expand it?Heres a closer look at why these queries can help you generate better interview questions and better hiring results.What Are My Five Biggest Problems?The five biggest problems form at helped the YMCA hire more than 100,000 camp counselors nationally. Its been used by In and Out Burgers, as well as companies seeking board members, entry-level accountants and call center employees, says Lou aar, author of The Essential Guide for Hiring Getting Hired and CEO of The Adler Group, an Orange County, California, training and performance-based Hiring(SM) consulting firm.Adler developed the five biggest problems strategy after he received a serendipitous call a few years back from a manufacturing client. The plant owner had a managerial candidate waiting in his office, but hadnt prepared for the interview. He asked Adler to quickly tell him the best interview questions to ask.Adler suggested he walk the applicant through the plant, stop at every problem area he passed, and ask two questions1. If you were to get this job, how would you solve the problem?The candidates response shows whether they understand and could solve the plants biggest problems.2. Have you ever sol ved anything similar to this problem? This questionreveals whether the job applicant had applied his solutions in the real world. Nearly everyone can envision a solution to a problem, even an entry-level person, Adler says. But if they havent done anything reasonably similar, it adds risk to the hiring.Take some time to think about your companys biggest problems and whether your next hire will be tasked with solving them.What Traits Are Shared By The Best (And Worst) People Whove Done This Job?Before you begin the hiring process, think about the employees whove held the position in the pas. Then list the traits shared by successful workers as well as the traits of those who failed, says Mark Murphy, author of Hiring for Attitude and CEO of Leadership IQ, Marietta, Georgia.For example, Murphy once worked with a small engineering firm owner who thought being smart was the most critical trait in the engineers he hired. When asked to paint a picture of someone who failed, the owner desc ribed an engineer who was smart, but arrogant, and often told customers they were wrong and he was right.The most successful engineer remained calm no matter how upset customers got, was caring and objective, and didnt take criticism personally.After making a list of these traits, a pattern was clear. Hed been hiring people that didnt work out because they were so focused on how smart they were and how dumb everyone else was that they failed, Murphy explained.Comparing past employees characteristics in this way will generate a list of must-haves (and must-not-haves), including characteristics to consider when writing job interview questions, Murphy says.In the case of the engineering firm, the owner asked behavioral interview questions aimed at uncovering negative, critical attitudes, such as Tell me about the most difficult customer youve dealt with? How do your skills compare to the rest of the people on your current kollektiv? Can you tell me about the weakest colleague on your b rde team?Do I want the new hire to match the current company culture or expand it?The third question worth asking yourself before your next hiring decision is whether the new employee should align with the company culture or be someone whos different enough to take the company culture in a new direction, says R. Wendell Williams, Ph.D., managing director of ScientificSelection.com, Jacksonville, Florida.One way to think about company culture is to ask What characteristics are most valued in my workplace?For instance, if your company is a startup, you may reward innovative thinking and agility. In contrast, a family-owned business might prize good teamwork and comradery. Before hiring outside of the culture, consider carefully whether someone whos radically different from the current staff will work out in the long term.I worked for a utility a long time ago and they were extraordinarily conservative, Williams said. They said they wanted to be entrepreneurial but they really didnt.A line manager might think he wants to hire someone who is off-the-charts entrepreneurial, but in fact hed be better off with someone whos just slightly more entrepreneurial than he is.To evaluate your owncompany culture, ask yourself these questions about your company How do we handle conflict or differing opinions?What employee accomplishments do we formally recognize?What behaviors do we reward monetarily versus those that generate promotions?What traits do we value in our employees? Such traitsmight include innovation, respect for authority, customer service, efficiency and speed, etc.Once youve identified your cultures traits, your interview questions can dig deeper into those traits What processes did you change at your last position? When you disagreed with your supervisor, how did you approach the situation? How does your average call time compare to the companys average call time?Taking the time to interview yourself before you hire will give you clarity about the next posi tion you need to fill as well as future hires.Are you looking to hire someone who will enhance your organizational diversity and align with your company culture? Learn to use behavioral interviews to build team diversity.

Billable Hours in Consulting

Billable Hours in ConsultingBillable Hours in ConsultingBillable hours represent work hours that a staff member reports as being chargeable to a client. The concept is not unique toconsulting, as a variety of professional services firms bill clients by the hour. For example,public accountingandlegal servicesfirms also traditionally bill by hours of staff time. Understanding the concept of billable hours, including its application and its ramifications, makes good sense for those considering careers in these fields. Tracking Time and Activities As a consultant, for example, you would track billable hours for each specific engagement. Additionally, each member of staff has an hourly billing tarif reflects their job title and level of experience. Each member of staff must keep a detailed timesheet that breaks out their work hours by type of activity, client, and engagement. At any given time, a professional services firm could have multiple engagements running with a particular clie nt. Billing Activities At its most basic, a consulting, accounting, legal services or other professional services firm has employees allocate their time among several different categories of activity. Three of the most common internal billing categories include Billable work hours on client engagementAdministrative workUnassigned, vacation or sick time Depending on the firm, it may have further, more specific categories, but these are the most common and essential. Client Billing Rates A typical consulting firm may have a job hierarchy as follows, with hourly billing satzs rising steeply from bottom to top PartnerManagerSenior ConsultantConsultant Moreover, within each rung of the hierarchy, there may be multiple billing rates. Thus, a second-year consultant might be expected to carry a somewhat higher billing rate than a first-year consultant. A senior partner who is recognized as a sort of guru with particular expertise, acumen or notoriety might command a premium rate ver sus their fellow partners. It is not unusual for the top partner in a given consulting firm to bill at 3 times or more the hourly rate for the services of a first-year consultant. In any case, on a particular engagement, the client may have negotiated a discount off the standard billing rates, or some sort of cap on the total billings. Administrative Work Administrative, or admin, work contains a record of time spent that cant be associated with a specific client engagement. This category includes activities such as, but not limited to General office paperwork and filingEducation and training, including acting as an instructor for in-house classesProspecting for new clients and engagementsConducting research related to practice development As with the reporting of billable hours, members of staff typically are on an honor system with respect to categorizing time as administrative. Unassigned Time This category essentially means none of the above and often implies that the st aff member was sitting around waiting to be assigned something to do. It could also represent time out of the office due to vacation, illness or other personal leave. In some cases, reporting time as unassigned bears a great stigma because it produces no profit or other benefits to the firm, so staff generally avoids it at all costs. As a result, staff members who cannot assign billable hours to any engagement typically will characterize such unstructured time as devoted to administrative work, and thus must be prepared to justify this categorization if challenged. Implications for Compensation and Promotion Especially in firms with a strict up or out policy, reporting substandard levels of billable hours can be damaging to ones career progression. For one, each workers total billings frequently become a prime driver of compensation, especially at higher rank levels. Firms use a metric called utilization rate to judge the productivity of staff,and it often becomes a critical fac tor in decisions regarding compensation and promotion. Additionally, showing a significant proportion of unbilled time on ones timesheets gives the perception, fairly or not, that one is either not in demand as aworker or is not aggressive enough in seeking out billable work. As a result, staff often feel pressured to overstate billable hours, with the inevitable consequence that clients become increasingly skeptical of bills that they think are inflated.

3 ways to prepare so you can ace your next job interview

3 ways to prepare so you can ace your next job vorstellungsgesprch3 ways to prepare so you can ace your next job interviewSo, you are thinking its time to leave your current job to see if there is something that fits you better. Maybe you want to leave because you have a manager that makes too little time for you, doesnt encourage your learning and development, doesnt provide meaningful feedback or is cheap with praise when you do good work. Maybe you have grown as far as you can grow in the organization because the path for advancement will move you from your high-performance abilities to those that are out of your high-performance areas. Or, maybe youre just ready for a change.Regardless of the reason, its important to prepare for your future interview. Remember that an interview is an information-gathering-and-sharing event. You share information about yourself and gather information about the possible employer. When done well, both sides have enough of the right information to de termine if the role fits both of you.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moreConsider these three tips to fully prepare yourself to ace your interview.Invest in greater self-awareness to know your strengths, interests, and valuesThe interview is your opportunity to share who you are. This requires great self-knowledge, so take the time to really understand and articulate what you do well, your interests and what activates your best performance. You cant wisely assess whether you have what it takes to succeed in the role if you are unaware of your abilities. Consider taking an assessment, doing self-discovery work or working with a coach to get clear about who you are. This will also help you identify the right-fit job opportunities, ensuring your time is well spent at the interview.Create a list of what you want the organization to know about youThough all organizations interview, ther e are few that are effective or good at it. That means its extremely likely you may leave the interview without having shared the critical and important information they need to know about you to wisely consider you for the role. Gaining greater self-awareness (refer back to step 1) gives you greater clarity about your success attributes, attributes that are critical to share during your interview.Dont leave the interview until you share these attributes. You may even have to say something like, I wanted to share the three things about me (my three greatest abilities) that will show how I can add value and make a difference in this role. Would now be a good time to share these with you? Be prepared to share your greatest attributes during your interview, even if your interviewer hasnt asked for them.Create a list of what you want to know about the organization, role or managerUnderstand the organization and its focus, vision, and mission. Understand the role, what it does and its im portance to the organization, and get an understanding of the management style and culture of the organization. Create a list of anything you need to know to be able to say yes or no to the opportunity.Since an interview is an information-gathering-and-sharing event, take the time to really know yourself so you can be clear about what information you want your befhigung future employer to know about you, even if they forget to ask. Also, know what information you need to discover or confirm about them and, based on your self-awareness, know what youre looking for in an organization and the job that needs to be met for you to say yes to the job. The goal is to have enough of the right information to assess whether you fit them and they fit you. Do your homework. Preparation is key.As president and founder of the Forte Factor, and a certified executive coach, Jay Forte speaks to thousands of CEOs and Talent Management / HR professionals each year, introducing them to practical appro aches to hiring, engaging, managing, developing and leveraging talent. He helps organizations build high-performing teams through his coaching, educating, and consulting. He is the author of Fire Up Your Employees and Smoke Your Competition and The Greatness Zone Know Yourself, Find Your Fit, Transform the World. You can learn more about him and his services at www.thefortefactor.com.You might also enjoyNew neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happyStrangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds10 lessons from Benjamin Franklins daily schedule that will double your productivityThe worst mistakes you can make in an interview, according to 12 CEOs10 habits of mentally strong people

10 Great Skills You Can Teach Yourself

10 Great Skills You Can Teach Yourself10 Great Skills You Can Teach YourselfIn a competitive job market, employers typically encounter many highly qualified candidates with impressive resumes and interesting backgrounds- particularly among MBA candidates. When making the tough decision between one excellent candidate and another, a hiring manager will often look for something that sets you apart- fluency in another language, for instance, or a special skill.Many of the skills that stand out to hiring managers are taught in class or learned throughout your career, but taking the initiative to teach yourself new skills is a great way to bolster your resume. You can find anything on the internet these days. Platforms like Coursera, Udemy, or edX offer a bevy of free or low-cost courses that you can take at your own pace, and there are many other websites and products dedicated to teaching specific skillsets.If youre looking for ways to bolster your resume and stand out from the crowd, h ere are ten great skills you can teach yourself.1). CodingEven if you didnt pursue your MBA with the intent to pivot to a career in web development, basic coding is still an excellent skill to have- especially if you work in the digital or tech spaces. Codeacademy and The Odin Project are two great, free platforms (although Codeacademy does have a paid option) that can teach you HTML, Javascript, CSS, and a variety of other coding languages.2.) Graphic DesignEmployers love to see experience in a wide variety of programs, and if even basic Photoshop skills are something you can add to your repertoire, youll be able to demonstrate versatility and creativity. Format Magazine (a publication of Format, the portfolio-building platform) compiled a great list of 11 free online graphic design courses, which even includes a course from MIT OpenCourseWare.3.) Content Management Systems (CMS)A content management system is a platform that manages the creation of digital content for a website. Wh ile many companies use their own in-house, proprietary CMS to host their website content, many others use services like SquareSpace or WordPress. Because every CMS is different, learning how to use one is specific to each. However, platforms like WordPress offer free or low-cost tutorials to teach you how to use them (check out WP 101 as an example). Being familiar with the features of at least one CMS puts you at an advantage when its time to learn a new one.4.) Microsoft ExcelThis seems either obvious or clich (and it probably shouldnt go on your resume), but there is no overstating the importance of knowing at least a few handy Excel formulas. With enough formulas to fill an entire spreadsheet (theres a reason Udemys course contains 16 hours of videos), theres virtually no limit to what you can do with Excel. Knowing your way around a workbook will make your job much easier.5.) Search Engine Optimization (SEO)Search engine optimization is an essential component of any companys on line success. SEO is essentially a multidisciplinary strategy for optimizing a website in order to appear on the first page of Google when somebody searches for a term relevant to your business. Its a booming and rapidly changing industry, and employers are always on the lookout for people who keep up with it. Moz, a leading SEO platform, has a free Beginners Guide to SEOand a truly insightful blogthat offers plenty of resources.6.) Marketing AnalyticsUnderstanding how to analyze a companys performance with respect to its marketing efforts, and gleaning insights from trends, data, and user behavior is a highly impressive skill. Google Analytics, which is one of the fruchtwein popular tools for measuring marketing performance, has a free online class called Analytics Academythat can teach you the basics or help you refine your advanced skills. The Moz blogalso has an extensive analytics section.7.) Social Media MarketingA brands reputation and growth on social media depend on so much more than posting content. Successful social media marketing is an entire strategy that depends on following trends, analyzing data, and maintaining a relationship with your followers. Again, Moz has an extensive section on their blog devoted to this topic, and DIY Genius has a great list of 10 free online courses for social media marketing.8.) CopywritingBeing able to write professionally is absolutely essential copywriting, however, isnt a skill that everyone has. The ability to write persuasively and with purpose, particularly for the web, is definitely a skill that might come in handy when you least expect it. Copy Hackers has an entire suite of copywriting tutorials, articles, and other resources.9.) Stock TradingWhether youre in investment banking or stock trading, knowing how the stock market works is an invaluable tool, both personally and professionally. Investopedia, StockTrader.com, and Morningstar, Inc. all offer great information to help get you started. Your bank may also provide resources and advice.10.) BlockchainBlockchain is the ridiculously complicated technology behind bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, which is arguably one of todays buzziest industries. The FinTech industry, especially, is looking for people who keep up with this emerging technology. Coursera has a Blockchain Basics course, and Mediumalso points to some good resources.

The Supreme Approach for Resume How to

The Supreme Approach for Resume How to The Good, the Bad and Resume How to Possessing an updated Resume is critical in the present job marketplace. Career websites is what youve got to turn to if youre looking on the internet for some help. Developing a student resume isnt as difficult as you think that it is. Starting your resume can be challenging. With the chronological format, you have to list off your work experience. A great standard template will offer guidance on how best to compose your resume objective statement. When you compose a resume choose an easy format. There are 3 unique types of resume formats youll be able to utilize to create a resume. Resume How to the Ultimate Convenience Use the highest quality paper you are able to afford. The fundamental principles behind how to compose a graphic designer resume are just like a resume for any expert job. So if you become stuck writing your resume, think about using a basic resume template to receive your cre ative juices flowing. Most people neglect to include achievements on their resumes since they just dont understand how to communicate them. Your transferable skills related to your career goal has to be listed in detail. You also need to draw lists of all your technical abilities and individual traits that you believe is essential for the position youre applying for. Because of the character of elementary teaching jobs, you will need to get focused and show schritte in your aims, achievements and experience. Type of Resume How to If you care for your cover letter with the exact same amount of importance as you treat your resume, you will receive more interview calls and you will receive the job you are searching for. Resume writing needs to be completed to be able to sell yourself in market. So as to do a job resume, you must be aware of how its supposed to look like. Your resume should be formatted in an easy, professional way. Whispered Resume How to Secrets The chronol ogical resume is perhaps the simplest of the three to write and it is likewise very popular and simple to read. If you arent delighted, you dont need to pay, its as straightforward as that Once you have prepared your email, you must carefully proofread it. So make certain that your resume is specific. By first assembling a complete collection of your qualifications, you can start to edit them, including whats uniquely you. Instead, you have to take into consideration why youd be an excellent candidate for each employer. Bear in mind that though you wish to make sure that you dont miss any crucial information resume, its equally as important to be certain you dont put an excessive amount of info and your resume. The information that you provide to every prospective employer should differ. You simply get one option to earn a fantastic first impression, and thus dont waste it. When youre thinking about how to compose the ideal marketing resume, then there are numerous distin ct matters that you may want to consider. If you would like to change jobs or even when you need to get started searching for one, the most essential thing you will need is a resume. There isnt one job at which you might have to do the identical thing over and over again. A great deal of job seekers do not understand how to prepare a resume. Since you might not have lots of work experience now, maybe it doesnt look good for the employer. If youve got several years of experience, you can opt to drop experience at a particular point before. Your previous employment will be another very critical portion of your overall resume. New Step by Step Roadmap for Resume How to After you are finished writing your resume the next issue is to join with a job listing company. There are lots of books and much details on the net about ways to compose your own resume. Theres a lengthy collection of font but you need to use the typical font utilized for resume writing. If you would like to understand how to post your resume for a work then youll find out how in the next paragraphs. Resume How to - Is it a Scam? If youre more specific, it supplies the employers a better probability of assessing your appeal for a worker. Therefore, you can express that youre a valued employee of the organisation. Whats more, employers could be reluctant to select and read long resumes. It is possible to now state to your prospective employer you want to improve yourself. In spite of the fact that it is optional but a very clear objective will permit the employer know what job you wish to wind up with. Many employees wind up feeling that their existing employers cant offer what they want to find and proceed to scan the marketplace. The employer will appreciate the simple fact that you played an active part in protecting the nation. Even greater approach to impress the prospective employer is to demonstrate your positive approach to the organization youre applying.

The 2015 Staffing Industry Trend Report [WHITEPAPER] - Spark Hire

The 2015 Staffing Industry Trend Report WHITEPAPER - Spark HireIts that time of the year againwhen all of ushere at Spark Hire make our predictions for what can be expected for the staffing and recruiting industry in the upcoming year. After a ton of research and hours of analysis, Spark Hire recently published the whitepaper entitled The 2015 Staffing Industry Trend Report which details the importance of active and innovative staffing solutions.A few trends will remain the same as last year, like social, mobile, big data, and video interviewing for staffing firmsand will continue to see a rise in usage throughout 2015. In 2015, the way staffing and recruiting professionals reach their candidates will need to be adjusted and advanced by utilizing new strategies that attract top notch job seekers, says Josh Tolan, CEO of Spark Hire. In this whitepaper, staffing and recruiting professionals will learn how these advances will help increase placements, drive mora revenue, and ultimately beat the competition.One of the greatest adjustments we can expect to see in 2015 is the focus on passive candidates. Since there are mora passive candidates than active (75 percent of professionals categorize themselves as passive candidates) the way we communicate and market to candidates will change. We will start to see more and more recruiters target those who arent necessarily looking for new opportunities, but would still be open to taking one if the right opportunity presented itself.Another new up-and-coming trend to watch for in 2015 is gamification. This is a new one for many staffing and recruiting professionals, but can prove to be extremely important to attract the type of candidates they are looking for. Making the recruiting process more appealing to candidates by engaging them in game-like behavior (like points, rewards, and badges) will be a powerful tool to better assess job candidates ability to accurately complete challenges. Recruiters will also spend more time on these marketing opportunities to better show what job seekers can be a part ofmaking the candidate experience more enticing.To see the full report, download the new whitepaper, The 2015 Staffing Industry Trend Report, from Spark Hire to learn more about the advancements recruiters and staffing companies can expect in 2015.