Ten Worst Pitfalls To Avoid in Your Resume

Believe it or not, your resume has only a few seconds to gain the employer's attention. Today, most employers are flooded with resumes from eager job seekers. Therefore, to stand out from the crowd, your resume should be free of the common errors. Have you ever wondered what not to include in your resume? There are some blunders that will guarantee that your resume never catches the attention of the employers. A recent Accounting survey suggests that 28 percent of executives feel that job applicants make the most mistakes when writing their resumes. What are these mistakes? Here is our take on the top 10 worst pitfalls to avoid while writing a resume. 

            1.Too many personal details: Except from your full name, contact information, including email, phone number and address, you should avoid giving further personal detail in your resume. Information such as your age or anything about our family must be kept aside. It's you who is applying for a job position; you are what matters, not the history of your family.

           2.Unrelated information: Mention such facts that lend credibility to you as a job applicant. You should avoid stating information in your resume that has nothing to do with the job you are applying for. Very often job seekers make this mistake while telling about their hobbies or accomplishments. If you are applying for a software developer position, what sense it would make if you state that you were an arm wrestling champion as one of your accomplishments? Think about it.

           3.Highlight on duties, instead of accomplishments is a mistake: Resumes should primarily have high-impact statements about the job seeker's accomplishments that would sell his qualifications and present him as the best candidate. You must shun phrases like "responsibilities included" or "duties included" and focus on accomplishments that set you apart from other job candidates.

           4.A loose objective: The very first thing in your resume that your potential employers would surely look at is the objective statement. So avoid making vague statements like "Seeking a challenging position that offers professional growth". The employers come across such lines probably hundred times a day. Try to say something specific that would serve the employers' need as well as your own. If you are applying for a marketing position, you can state your objective as "Seeking an entry-level marketing position that allows me to utilize my skills and enables me to make a positive contribution to the organization".

            5.Using cookie-cutter resume templates: Most resumes created from a Microsoft Word template are easily recognizable to employers. Since the employers have seen a million of them, such drab looking resumes don't stand out. You're supposed to be uniquely qualified so the company will choose you among other candidates. Therefore use a little imagination while writing your resume. It'll surely help you a lot.

            6.Listing references directly on the resume: References are a good tool to increase your credibility in the eyes of your prospective employer. But you shouldn't list specific references directly on your resume. Instead, you must list them on a separate sheet. Even then, references should be given if specifically requested by the employer.

            7.Including salary expectations: Never include salary related points in the resume. It will distract the reader's attention and you may lose the chance to face the interview. It's better to keep it out of your resume, unless the employer asks for it. If you get a job requirement from a job portal, placement agency or direct recruiter, they may specifically ask your current salary and expected salary. In this case, it is recommended to include the details asked above in the cover letter.

            8.If you were fired from a job: Your resume should highlight your positive aspects and each and every facet that makes you the most deserving candidate. Stating that you were fired from your earlier job for poor performance or any other fault will not help you getting the job in any way. Yes, if you are asked to explain why you left a job, you need to be truthful.

            9.Poorly organized: While writing your resume, you should maintain a proper order of importance. Don't mention about your hobbies at the starting. Moreover, job titles are more important than dates of employment. It's better to put the educational details at the end. If you are a fresh graduate, then only you should highlight it. More significance should be given to those information that meet the need of the employers.

 

            10.Typos and Grammatical Errors: It may sound insignificant, but a small spelling mistake or grammatical error can cost you the job you are applying for. Your resume needs to be grammatically perfect otherwise it will create an impression of a careless person in the minds of the employers.

How to retain workforce in your company?

The bottom line is no industry will be immune to the workforce shortage issue. The demand for labour in general is expected to exceed availability. Factors like aging population; younger workers' shifting expectations for "work" are making workforce shortage a real thing, resulting in employers' inability to fill all the jobs. So, what should be done by the organizations to ensure that they have the talent they'll need for tomorrow?

The primary focus should be on employee retention. There is nothing more costly to a company than losing a critical employee. Retaining critical employees doesn't necessarily mean throwing money around. Successful retention is more strategic and has several key components. Here are five key management steps that can be helpful dealing with workforce shortage.

        1.Recognizing the generation Y: Generation Y will comprise a large percentage of the work force so the employers should be sensitive enough to their needs to reap the benefits of A-level talent in the increasingly competitive marketplace. Offering them the chance for professional growth and development can be very effective in this regard. Showing these workers appreciation for individuality and letting them be expressive will also keep them around.

    

         2.Reengaging and retaining mid-career workers: While the enthusiasm of the young employees can serve an organization well, the experiences of the mid-career workers can double the development in the organization. There are prevalent biases against older workers. Too often, employers feel that older workers are more expensive, lacking in fresh skills, less adaptable and less technology-savvy. More flexible approaches to work, careers and retirement in later life that meet individuals' and employers' needs can be effective in holding the experienced mid-career workers back.

        3.Implementing flexible work arrangements: Most of the surveys being conducted at high-technology companies have revealed that flexible work arrangement is introduced to retain the best brains. Compressed work weeks, job-sharing, reducing working hours and annualized work hours are a few tactics that can be employed to retain top talents, providing them comfort and convenience.

        4.Implementing employee compensation and benefits: Employers pay to provide worker's compensation, social security pensions and unemployment payments to their employees because the law requires it. Many companies offer other benefits beyond the minimum to help reduce turnover and attract the best candidates. Employee benefit programs usually include some form of basic health insurance, life insurance and other specialty benefits as a part of the overall plan. What makes an employee more tempting than others is its flexibility that would serve employees? Interest to the maximum.

        5.Understanding of the composition of the future workforce: In this regard, a clear assessment of future workforce needs is of utmost importance. The assessment requires leaders to think critically about how the organization will do business in the future. Apart from this, particular attention should be paid to identifying and projecting mission-critical occupations. Here, two components should be focused: first, the estimated workload and related staffing requirements; and, second, the likely competencies and skill sets needed. The organization should compare the current workforce inventory to the assessment of the future workforce needs to identify the human capital gaps that must be filled to achieve organizational success

10 Traits of Successful People

1. They Dream Big: All people who have touched the zenith of success have an inspiring dream that motivates them to move ahead into the future. They don't limit themselves to mere words like "realistic" or "possible". They go beyond them. They dream as big as they can and adjust their dream with an organized plan as they progress. They clearly distinguish between perception and reality. As Dhirubhai Ambani, who showed that nothing is truly unattainable for those who dream big, once said, "You should dream big, but dream with your eyes open."

2. They Think Outside the Box: "One needs to think differently to survive in the globalized world. To get success, innovation is the key. Think outside the box and do things which no one else has done before". This is what Wipro boss Azim Premji said and rightly so. To get the outcome that you have desired, you need to approach problems in new and innovative ways. This is not just a business clich", but one of the key success mantras that every successful leader follows. 

3. They Learn From Failures: As we go through life, we're going to make mistakes. But those mistakes provide us with a great opportunity to find a lesson and learn from it. Former President of India Dr. APJ Abdul KalamI once said, "I have gone through many successes and failures. I learnt from failures and hardened myself with courage to face them. This was my second stage, which taught me the crucial lesson of managing failures." Dr. Kalam's contribution to India's defense capabilities is very significant.

4. They Create and Seize Opportunities: A man of success is the one who has the ability to create and seize opportunities to act on a goal. Successful people don't wait for opportunities to knock at their door. They go and create opportunities for themselves and whenever they come across any, they seize it to make full use of it. 

5. They Never say 'Die': All people face challenges in life, but unlike others, successful people deal with situations with one view: Do it again if they are fail at their previous attempts. They don't tolerate flaws; they keep on working on them until they fix them. 

6. They Take Up Responsibility: Those who are really successful don't hesitate to take up responsibilities. They don't worry about blames or waste time complaining. They truly believe in making decisions and moving on. They take initiatives and accept the responsibilities of success. 

7. They Take Calculated Risks: All successful people inherently do take calculated risks all the time. They always assess what kind of a risk they are going to take. They know it well that risk taking doesn't mean jumping headlong into something that they don't know.

8. They Are Solution Focused: Successful people look for solutions and when they are focused on a solution, the rest of the world seems to disappear until they stop. They don't simply stop at finding or pointing out at a problem. They move ahead and look for better solutions for that particular problem. 

9. They Review and Celebrate Successes, Even Small Ones: Success matters a lot for successful people and they don't forget to celebrate for successes even if they are small. They truly believe that even the smallest success builds into the big picture. They list all the small steps they took that worked well or that they are pleased about. As Warren buffet, the legendary investor, says, "In the business world, the rear view mirror is always clearer than the windshield". 

10. They Ask the Right Questions: The simple "Why?" when asked about five times can help us get to the root cause of many problems. All successful people ask the right questions and try to find out the causes the put them in a productive, creative, positive mindset and emotional state. According to Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric, risk is stepping outside your comfort zone to a place where you cannot predict with any degree of certainty the outcome of your actions. Risk is taking on something that holds an enormous chance of failure. Most importantly, risk is the only key to outrageous success.

The Work Environment and Employee Productivity

Creating a work environment in which employees are productive is essential to increased profits for your organization, corporation or small business. Principles of management that dictate how, exactly, to maximize employee productivity center around two major areas of focus: personal motivation and the infrastructure of the work environment.

One of the key factors in leveraging human resources to produce the most is found through motivational incentives. While the most obvious incentive for increasing employee productivity is often thought to be based on salary and promotions, this is not always the case. In fact, recent thought on the true nature of optimal human resource management has concluded that in a large number of cases, salary has less to do with motivation than do other important factors

What are these factors that influence employee productivity?: To begin with, it is important to recognize the truly human element in workplace relations. Step back and think for a moment—what makes people work harder? Is pay the strongest motivating force in the workplace?

Many experts have noted that workers while on the job do not produce more simply because they are being paid more. After all, it is not expected that employees will constantly calculate the monetary value of every action they perform. Workers, for instance, do not keep a record of how much they earn every time they send out an email, approve a document or complete some other task. It’s just not human nature. 

How to motivate employees: What motivates good employees is the ability to see projects through to their completion. While the actual process of monitoring this flow may be the specific task of one employee—a project manager—it is important for this employee to, in turn, recognize that every employee involved in the workflow should be able to see the finished product once it is complete, and gain an understanding of his or her importance in the project as a whole.

In addition, a motivating work environment must be one in which employees are treated fairly. No matter what level of input a particular worker has in relation to the business processes as a whole, it is essential for a manager to give each employee a sense of playing a dynamic, integral role in something much larger. Indeed, engendering loyalty is a key element of motivating workers and thereby increasing the overall productivity of operations.

The power of praise: One important tool for motivating employees is praise. Effective project managers must learn how to cultivate this powerful method of worker motivation. While oftentimes largely ignored by managers in the workplace, this can be an extremely useful method of giving an individual worker a sense of worth in relation to the actual work being done. Praise has, in countless examples, been shown to dramatically increase productivity.

Setting Goals: In addition to praise, another important factor includes setting goals that correspond to the actual work being done Realistic objectives are able to ensure that timeliness and work quality combine, and that the employee can still feel ready for the next project once the original one has been completed.

Disciplinary guidelines in the workplace: Creating disciplinary guidelines is also instrumental to fostering a work environment that is productive. After all, motivation doesn’t always have to be positive. If workers are not faced with consequences for poor performance, then productivity margins can easily shrink at a devastating rate. While everybody’s worse fear is that they will lose their job, one of a manager’s worst fears is that he or she will lose valuable talent. Instead of letting employees go who might potentially turn around and perform well under the right conditions, a manager must be creative when it comes to finding other ways to penalize workers who bring down productivity.

Generally, however, the value of consequences is not found in implementing them, but in establishing them so that the behaviors that would ultimately require their implementation simply don’t arise. It should also be mentioned that a manager will want to focus his or her workers primarily on positive reinforcement. Creating a system of tangible rewards is fundamental to

The office environment: In addition to a healthy level of communication and personal motivation in the workplace, the actual physical layout of an office is extremely important when it comes to maximizing productivity. While many managers and business owners choose to suffice with a certain minimum level of office accessories, they may be ignoring what can amount to a major obstacle on the path to increasing employee productivity.

Make sure that quality employees are given a workspace that they can call their own. Whether it’s an office, cubicle or even a desk in open space, there should be a high level of importance place on helping workers foster a sense of “place” in your company. Along with this place, office managers should ensure that equipment is ergonometric and sound.

Indeed, it has been found that a productive work environment requires management that is able to positively motivate its employees in an infrastructure that is amenable to employees’ needs.

When You Cease To Dream You Cease To Live

How to Give Effective Criticism to Employees

The truth is we don't like criticism. But the greater truth is flawless performances are only those that are tempered by the cutting edge of criticism. As Sir Winston Churchill says, "Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfills the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things." Yes, criticism does help in keeping things on track toward perfection, and in a workplace it can be a key element in boosting productivity. But if not done in an effective way, criticism may also harm the employees' morale. It may annoy them, instead of improving their work.

In an organization, it's the managers who are vested with the responsibility for giving criticism and feedback to employees. Hence, they should know the simple etiquette while criticizing a peer's work. As a professional, they should seek to speak in a manner that will provide optimal benefit to everyone involved. Here are a few suggestions that can be helpful in giving astute and insightful criticism.

1. A Constructive Criticism: Constructive is the word that should always be connected with criticism. Part of figuring out how to criticize a peer's work is learning how to frame criticisms in a way that is constructive, to deliver such words in a positive tone. Instead of crudely pointing out the mistakes, an open-ended question can be put. For instance, phrases like "Your idea is good, but what if you try this instead?" can be more effective. It's very important to choose words that are not provocative, so that the criticism nourishes the person's growth without destroying his roots

2. Criticize The Behavior Not The Individual: An employee with consistently outstanding performance may also show signs of disconnect. He or she may also develop a habit of tardiness and can go through a slow spell. In such a situation, the company must take some action to turn that around. But taking action doesn't necessarily mean criticizing the employee or even terminating the employee based on the tardiness alone. What is more sensible and in line with the company's best interest is to discuss the lateness with the employee and attempt to work on another arrangement.

3. Criticize, But Sandwiching It Between Positive Strokes: Sandwiching means to deliver information that could be regarded as unpleasant between two positive notes in order to reduce the negative impact. Here, a manager can open a conversation offering a compliment on the project. After that he or she can switch to the critique using an appropriate transition like "however", "but" or "although", and at the end closing the conversation with an affirmation of an overall job well done. It shows the employee that he or she is valuable to the company.

4. Don't Compare Anyone With Others: Never compare with others while criticizing as it can hurt one's self-respect. It's very vital to state the feedback or the criticism without threatening the self-respect of the person. If the feedback gets personal at some level, it will lead to into a sub-debate that will be counter-productive. Emphasis should be on one's strengths, rather than finding his weaknesses compared to others.

5. It Must Be Direct And Two-Way: As the message itself, the delivery of the message also matters a lot. If the feedback is delivered through e-mail, or in a simple document left on an employee's desk, chances are there that it will be set aside or even deleted. Therefore, while giving a feedback or criticizing someone, the manager should make sure that the conversation is direct and two-way. The employee should be given enough opportunity to lay sown his or thought.