10 Tips to Hiring When Youre an Entrepreneur

10 Tips to Hiring When Youre an Entrepreneur As an entrepreneur you may be unsure about where to start when it comes to expanding your team and welcoming another person into your  business. Hiring new staff to join your staff can be risky at such an early stage in your companys life, so you need to be sure that the person is right for the job. The hiring process can also be very pricey; however there are a few ways that you can cut costs. Here are 10 steps that entrepreneurs can follow when hiring a new employee, courtesy of Nudj. 1) Decide what you are looking for Before you start your search, outline what your problem is and then identify what skills or requirements you need to solve it. 2)  Ask for referrals Do you know anyone who may know someone suitable for the job? If so get in touch and ask them for a referral. 86% of talent would accept a role through a friend, in comparison to only 45% who would trust a recruiter. 3) Respond to candidates You should always respond to people as quickly as possible, providing feedback to your friend and the applicant. 4) Offer a referral bonus If you offer an incentive for making referrals, people may feel more inclined to do so. This can be monetary or something more creative. 5) Try social media Social media can be a great tool for sourcing the right person for the role. You can use it to advertise the position or to reach out to potential employees. 6) Job boards If youre still struggling to find the right person, you could list the job on a specialist job board as it will target professionals in the industry. 7) Use a recruiter Recruiters are well practised at seeking out candidates, so if youre still struggling to find someone, they may be able to help. 8) Use an APS If youve got applications flooding in, manage them by using an APS (application tracking system). 9) Hold interviews Once you have identified suitable candidates, be sure to arrange an interview quickly. Provide them with timely feedback after your meeting. 10)  Welcome the new employee Help the new member of staff to settle in my introducing them to the team, showing them around and providing them with necessary training. [Top Image Credit: Shutterstock]

Tsotchke, chazzerai, schmate

Tsotchke, chazzerai, schmate I didnt notice how much Yiddish I use until I moved to Wisconsin and people had not heard any Yiddish. I keep using it, though because its a great supplement to English; almost all Yiddish words we use with English are actually extremely nuanced ways to express negative feelings about something or someone. Take, for example, tsotcke, chazzerai, and schmate. In this photo, the candlesticks are tsotchkesthey are stuff I dont need but I have in the house because I like them. In general, if its your stuff, its valuable or sentimental, but to other people, its just tsotchkes. The stuff in front of my candlesticks is chazzeraijunky toys. The kids still play with them, but only in so far as they are weapons to catapult into each others heads under the guise of a missed toss. Chazzerai is more negative than tsotchke. If its a tsotchke, everyone wants to throw it out except for the owner. If its chazzerai, even the owner will not rescue it from the garbage. Using Yiddish is a way to feel a sense of belonging through a common language. There are lots of ways to feel like you belong. When I work at a company I belong through a common goal. Last week I flew to Washington DC for a Brazen Careerist meeting, with Ryan Paugh. When he saw what I was wearing and he said, Nu? Whats with this schmate around your waist? He didnt actually say that. He might have if he were Jewish. Instead, he said, That sweater is pretty dirty. I put another schmate over my schmate because if you have one schmate its just a ragwhich is the literal translation of the word. But two schmates, I was hoping, is more Mary-Kate Olsen. I had a fun trip with Ryan. I was happy to talk about how to conquer the recruiting world with Brazen Careerists new product, Network Roulette. I liked being part of the energy a group has when doing something big. Then I went back to the farm, to the tiny town of Darlington. We live next door to the high school principal, who the farmer told me I would probably hate because the principal was the football coach for so many years. And, its true, I hate high school football. But in fact, I feel like I belong in Darlington because I adore our neighbors. They are dream neighbors. Heres an example: I needed a stick of butter and they werent home but they said my kids could walk over and take a stick out of their fridge. And my kids made themselves chocolate milk before they came back home. There has been only one time, ever, that the neighbors said we couldnt come over. It was a night they were having company. But the kids had already walked in their door by the time I caught up to them, so the neighbors let us stay. If there were a word that conveys houseguests who are schmates, I think me and the kids would have been it that night. But my neighbors didnt care. Numerous studies show that a sense of belonging is a hugely positive force in good health. When I had a nervous breakdown after my second son was born it was because it was clear to me that I was not ever going to be part of mommy groupsI just dont understand how you belong simply because youre a mom. But I also was not a part of the business world. I was disconnected from everyone. Then: despair. Im convinced that the initial slip toward despair is the sense that you dont belong. That sense of belonging I get from Yiddish is not language so much as Jews trying to figure out how to be Jewish in their life. Invariably, people who were brought up with Yiddish and still use it as adults are actively exploring religion and culture in a way that Brazen Careerist is actively exploring how to solve recruiting and social media. I think our strongest sense of belonging comes not from belonging by default, but belonging by solving problems together. Did you notice how I just did the redesign of this site and it could have been the perfect time to get rid of the workplace angle for my blog? After all, I dumped the moniker Brazen Careerist. But I want to keep writing about careers because I think the topic is actually mostly about belonging. We each want to contribute to something, and we each want to feel safe. Work is so much more than just earning money. Work is about figuring out where we belong in a wider context than our circle of friends and family. Writing about the workplace and careers is writing about belonging in the most fundamental sense of the word.

Why Disability Insurance Is Essential for Your Family - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Why Disability Insurance Is Essential for Your Family - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Working yourself to the bone is an unintentional but seemingly necessary professional philosophy. Most of the time, people don’t invest in themselves because life is geared toward working yourself to death in the nine-to-five grind. So it makes sense that people invest in life insurance to protect their family and income in case of death. But what about protecting yourself if you get sick or injured? What do you think of as your most important asset in life? It’s likely your family. When you have children, taking out that life insurance policy is second-nature. But do you have disability insurance? Why You Need Disability Insurance You’re more likely to need disability insurance than you are to die anytime soon â€" and protecting your income and your family by getting both policies in place matters. The average life expectancy is 78.7 years for U.S. citizens and 115 people die each day. Rising healthcare costs and a failure to take preventative actions now decrease life expectancy. Focusing on protecting your income while you’re alive and in case you become ill or disabled is the best course of action when it comes to covering all the bases for yourself and your loved ones. In reality, inadequate disability coverage is the blind spot that poses the greatest danger. Over 51 million citizens go without adequate disability insurance in the United States each year beyond the Social Security Administration’s offerings and only roughly half of all Americans have enough cash in savings to cover three months of living expenses without any income. Here are a few other statistics to consider: Nearly half of Americans can’t cover unplanned expenses over $400 unless they sell something or apply for a loan. Among twenty-somethings, about 25 percent will miss work for a year due to a disabling condition before the typical retirement age. 5.6 percent of workers will have a short-term disability each year due to illness, pregnancy or injury, mostly non-occupational. The most common causes of short-term disability claims are digestive disorders, musculoskeletal disorders, pregnancy, cancer, mental health issues and other injuries such as sprains and strains. Many folks end up filing for bankruptcy due to medical bills, job loss and injury, with one study finding cancer patients having the highest rates of bankruptcy. Cancer patients were up 2.65 times likelier to be bankrupt in Washington State. Did you know it can take up to five months to get a decision on a claim for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI)? The processing time can take over a year. The SSDI benefits offered to many would place them at or near poverty level. As of January 2018, $1,197 monthly was the average SSDI benefit provided, which equals $14,364 a year. As of 2016, only one percent of Americans failed to attend work due to an occupational injury or illness, so you can forget Workers’ Compensation. These statistics illuminate a dire reality that you and your family must pay attention to before you pay with your health and struggle to fend for your livelihood. What You Should Know About Disability Insurance There are typically two different kinds of disability insurance: long-term and short-term coverage. These types replace your income up to a certain point and some policies offer additional services such as training to get you back on track at work. For example, federal employees may collect up to 65 percent of their income to a cap of $8,992 each month and a waiver-of-premium covers premium payments after six months of complete disability until no funds are left. Should you die, loved ones continue to receive benefits for the covered period. Different providers also define “disability” differently. Some pay if you can’t do any work and others provide partial disability since you can work part-time. Others will pay if you can’t do a job within your occupation while others pay if you can’t perform duties for any job that you would’ve previously qualified for. Long-term and short-term disability policies commonly pay up to an average of 60 percent of your base income, but long-term coverage will usually pay a smaller percentage. Short-term policies are usually a year or less with a two-week waiting period, while long-term policies last a number of years or until retirement and have a three-month waiting period. Each policy differs depending on the provider. Shop Around for the Right Fit Check with your benefits representative at work to see if you have access to employer-sponsored coverage or if you can purchase a plan through your employer. A professional association you’re a member of may also offer a group deal on disability insurance. When shopping for your own policy, you’ll turn to a broker like any other insurance transaction. Review all offerings before you make a decision and remember to shop around. Some policies allow for customization, such as yearly cost-of-living adjustments. You’re more likely to become disabled than you are to die, so make the essential investment of getting disability insurance to protect your most important asset in life.

How to Quit Your Job Without Burning Bridges - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

How to Quit Your Job Without Burning Bridges - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career People leave their jobs for a variety of reasons. An opportunity more in line with career goals. Better pay. Shorter commute. But sometimes people leave because of difficult managers or colleagues,  feelings of not being valued or appreciated, or being passed over for raises and promotions. Regardless of the reasons for leaving a job, quitting should be done with respect and professionalism, even if the employer doesn’t deserve it. Review your HR documentation for policies regarding resignation. When you took your job, odds are you were given a manual or training regarding employment policies. Review this information to determine the amount of notice and any additional terms you need to give your boss before quitting. Write a letter of resignation, but deliver the news in person. Regardless of the relationship you have with your employer and managers, they deserve to hear about your leaving in person, not through the grapevine. Telling your supervisors in person can prevent ill-will and avoids them getting the wrong information about why you’re leaving. Give your boss adequate notice to fill your position. In this economy, you might think it will be fast and easy to hire for your job. But even when there are lots of candidates, it takes time to hire. Your boss needs to pull out the job description, advertise, weed through resumes, interview and hire someone new. If these tasks are done by a committee, it can take even longer. Finish up current projects. Leaving work unfinished is unprofessional. If you’re angry at your boss and feeling “done” with the job, remember that leaving work behind is more likely to hurt and annoy your colleagues or the new hire who will be the ones who have to finish what you started. Your commitment to your work doesn’t end when you give your resignation, it ends when you leave the job. Train or leave behind information to help your replacement. You’ll make the transition easier not just for your boss and your colleagues, but also for the new hire if you personally train or leave behind a list of steps and things to know. Don’t gloat. Even if you have a better job or are the one who’s able to escape a bad job, gloating only creates ill-will and could follow you into a new job. Be positive. Instead of gloating, try to stay positive about your work, colleagues or other aspects of your job that you can be positive about. This will make your last days go by quicker and with less resentment. Being positive includes not posting negative comments on social media, which will likely get read and undermine any efforts to avoid angst during your last days on the job.

Resume Writing the New Objective

Resume Writing the New ObjectiveIn resume writing the new objective needs to be as comprehensive as possible. It needs to be a good reflection of your position and how you would best serve the organization. Because an organization is looking for someone who will fit in, people who will serve their company, not just one who can mime be someone they want to hire, this part of the resume writing should be well considered.Because this part of the employee's resume should reflect the real you, it is important that the information is authentic. So before you write this part of the document, it is important to make sure that the new objective is really true, that you can actually meet the job description, and that you are willing to do the job for the organization.The new objective should then be presented in paragraphs. It is very important that each paragraph include both the duties that need to be done, as well as the salary required. This is how you will show that you can do the job and that you are worth the pay. Having a full discussion of what your strengths and weaknesses are, along with exactly what you will bring to the job, will help your prospective employer to see your worth.The next paragraph of the new objective should give a summary of the major benefits of your qualifications. It should describe what this person is capable of doing for the organization, as well as what they are looking for in their new hire. This is where you make your big 'wow' statement.Then in a short paragraph you should give a synopsis of your accomplishments and previous job. This is very important because it will help the hiring manager makes a decision on whether or not they want to have you on the team. In the summary you need to give them a few examples of what you have done and what you can do for the organization.Finally you need to spend a paragraph describing why you should be hired and the position you will fill on the team. When describing what you can bring to the job , you want to do this in such a way that you have a strong relationship to the employer. You need to present your strengths and give some examples of what you can do for the job.Your resume should consist of the following information: the date you submitted it, the position you are interviewing for, your name, contact number, resume and cover letter. In these documents you should always include the new objective as well.After you have listed your skills, training, and education, it is important that you add the new objective to the end of the document. Remember, in writing this part of the document you need to be honest, straightforward, and genuine.

How to Succeed in Going Global [Infographic]

How to Succeed in Going Global [Infographic] When a  business has plateaued their growth in a local or national scale, the next logical consideration is taking the company to a global market. This often requires a big leap of faith. And if youre not careful, it could result in significant losses and bruised reputations.  It isnt unheard of with large corporations going multinational and falling flat on their face losing billions in the process.  And sometimes damaging their brand on the home front. If you’re going to take your business to a global level, you need to do your homework first.  And calculate how likely it is that your company will succeed on the global stage. Not understanding the differences between doing business domestically versus overseas is the number one reason businesses flop in their attempts to go global. Cultural differences, and the resulting consumer behavior in other countries is likely to differ greatly from what you experience and deeply understand in your home market. So you’ll need to forensically study any market into which you’re hoping to expand. Before you jump in blindly and start tackling your global launch remain cautious and get laser-focused. Concentrate diligently on a small pool of foreign markets at first, instead of casting a wide net and trying to to far too fast. It will also take much patience; a return on your investment wont sprout overnight. To be effective in any major expansion effort you need to be in it for the long-haul.  Anything less that that and youll get clobbered by the competition. For more details check out this infographic from All Finance Tax (http://allfinancetax.com/corporation-tax-returns/).  It offers a comprehensive overview of pointers for businesses considering global expansion. There are numerous case studies of companies who have gone before in trying and failing to become a worldwide success, so instead of adding your business to that unenviable long list, take the time to evaluate all the pros and cons of going global before you take the plunge. Enjoy!

Job lock vs. flexicurity. What would you prefer - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Job lock vs. flexicurity. What would you prefer - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog I rarely go into politics or public policy on this blog, but Im going to make an exeption today. Ive been following the US debate on health care pretty closely and the biggest issue currently in play is whether or not the US government should offer health care in addition to the private insurance companies. In the current US system, where there is no so-called public option, many people have health insurance through their workplace and this system has one serious often overlooked drawback, namely job lock: Millions of Americans are in whats called job lock. They cant leave their jobs because they feel they cant get the same health insurance benefits on their own or at the next job. A new poll by NPR News, the Kaiser Family Foundation, and Harvards Kennedy School of Government shows that one out of four Americans has experienced job lock, in the last couple of years, or someone in their immediate family has. Thats despite legislation enacted six years ago to deal with the problem In other words, you may hate your job but if you quit you and your family no longer have health insurance. This article looks at job lock in detail. In Denmark on the other hand, we have pretty much the exact opposite: Health care is public and paid for through our taxes. In addition, Denmark has a unique labor market approach called flexicurity. Flexicurity means that on one hand its easy for companies to fire employees but on the other hand, you get very generous unemployment benefits, ie. 90% of your salary. The drawback to this system is obvious: Very high taxes. The advantages are many, though. First of all, the Danish economy has been doing very well. Even now, during the financial crisis, were doing better than most of Europe and unemployment is still below 5%. From a standpoint of happiness at work, there is no doubt that the Danish system is best. When its easy and safe to quit a job there is much less risk in leaving a job you hate. Even if you choose not to quit, just knowing that you could makes things more bearable. Hating you job AND knowing that you cant quit makes everything worse. Even the fact that its easy to fire people increases happiness at work. Seriously! It means that companies can fire employees who dont perform well or who dont fit in. In countries with very strong labour protection laws, it can be almost impossible to fire anyone meaning that underperforming employees stay in their jobs and everyone else has to pick up the slack. Also, remember that unhappiness at work is highly contagious, so one unhappy employee can easily drag down the whole department. So in my opinion (and I am NOT an economist, so take this with a grain of salt) the flexicurity model makes Danes happier at work and as Ive previously mentioned happy workplaces are more productive, innovative and profitable. The American model on the other hand, makes people less happy at work and thus decreases productivity. Your take What do you think? Have you ever experienced job lock? What advantages or drawbacks can you see to the US or the Danish model? Related posts The 10 worst excuses for not quitting a crappy job. Top 10 signs youre unhappy at work. 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