How to Improve Your Employability in 2022 and Beyond

If you’re a recent graduate entering the job market for the first time or even a professional with decades of experience looking for a career change, finding the right position can be a difficult task for any job-seeker. The process becomes even more challenging when you want to ensure that you will actually get hired for the position you were dreaming of. While some aspects of this procedure are entirely out of your control and in the hands of the employer, there are still some ways you can increase your chances of landing the right job. With that in mind, here are some simple methods for improving your employability this year:

Gain New Skills

When attempting to enhance your employability, gaining new skills and capabilities is one of the most important things you could do. Whether that means getting an MBA degree, deepening your technological knowledge, or simply improving your communication skills, each new ability will make you a better job candidate. It will also demonstrate to employers that you are a focused and ambitious individual willing to learn and grow, all sought-after qualities. Not to mention that personal satisfaction and career progression will also improve with personal development, as long as you invest enough time and effort.

Improve Your CV

Whether you’ve just begun hunting for jobs or you need an update due to your new skills, your curriculum vitae (CV) should periodically be reviewed and improved. If at all possible, aim to adjust your CV for each role you apply to, in an effort to increase your chances of success. After all, the CV is meant to present you in the best possible light and allow employers to get the right first impression, so make it count. Don’t overfill it with useless information. Instead, highlight the most relevant skills and experience for each position, and include any competencies or personality traits that make you a more attractive candidate.

Practice Interviews

It’s difficult to predict the exact questions you will be asked during a job interview. However, you can always familiarise yourself with the most common interview questions, and prepare yourself to answer them efficiently. Keep in mind that no employer wants to hear the same answers being repeated over and over again. Instead, try to be yourself, remain open and honest, and make your answers as unique as possible. That is how you stand out from the crowd.

Invest in Equipment

Although often overlooked, even smaller aspects could potentially affect your employability. For instance, you can purchase high-quality workwear in the UK and stay prepared for any job that may come your way. From cargo trousers and overalls to jackets and hi-vis clothing, being equipped with suitable workwear will convey professionalism, seriousness, and devotion to the job. This could be especially helpful if you’re a contractor or part-time worker, ensuring you are always ready for work no matter when you receive the next call.

Find New Hobbies

Job applications and CVs often have a ‘hobbies and interests’ section as well. While this might seem a bit pointless at first, it can actually be a great opportunity for improving your employability. Companies tend to look for well-rounded candidates, and a couple of interesting hobbies could help to demonstrate your suitability for a position. If you’re a performer in your spare time, for instance, you will show creativity and confidence, while those who enjoy reading and completing puzzles could demonstrate an inquisitive and analytical nature. Although these pastimes don’t have to be directly related to the role, make sure they do fit the company culture.

Follow the Industry

In case you’re actively looking for new positions, staying updated on the latest news and happenings in your sector can also be of great help. Visit industry websites regularly, read relevant magazines, and follow the events on social media to stay on top of topical issues and the ways in which they impact your field. Not only will this demonstrate interest and devotion to prospective employers, but it will also shape your development and keep your skill set fresh, thus making you more employable.

Prioritise Networking

There’s no better way to find new opportunities in your field than to build a good network. Attend conferences and networking events, connect with industry professionals on LinkedIn, or simply ask your current connections to introduce you to new and relevant people. Knowing the right people can open new doors for you, present unique opportunities, allow you to learn more about your industry, and enable you to engage further in your field. Good connections will also show potential employers that you have something valuable to offer.

Regardless of your industry or professional skill set, job-seeking can be a daunting prospect for anyone. To enhance your employability and increase your chances of landing the right role, follow the tips mentioned above and ensure your success.

Meaningful Paths: How to Choose a Rewarding Career That Helps People 

There are many careers that you can choose to earn loads of money. However, not everyone yearns just to earn money; some might want to help the people and give something back to society. 

If you’re one of those blessed souls looking for a career path that would help humanity, you’re at the right place. Here are some careers which are rewarding in both terms; they can help you earn big money while fulfilling your desire of giving back to the people. 

Teaching & education

Teaching is considered one of the noblest professions in many cultures and believes — and for good reasons. It could be hard finding a career better than spreading meaningful knowledge and education around the globe. 

As a teacher, you’ll get to teach what you have to your students. You will see them learn, progress, and achieve great levels of success — thanks to you. 

If you have a high-grade degree in a specific field like physics or chemistry, you can be a teacher in a college or university. Even if you don’t have a degree, you can still be a teacher in smaller educational institutes. You can even start an online blog and share your knowledge there for your students to see.

Nursing

Nursing is another one of those noble professions that put you in direct contact with the masses. You help them deal with medical conditions and in return, receive a lot of prayers and goodwill. As a nurse, you’d have tons of opportunities to help people inside and outside the hospitals, in communities such as independent living communities, and so on. 

In order to be a licensed, professional nurse, you need to have the right qualifications and certifications. USMLE Step 2 CK is one of the most important of those. This test assesses your ability to apply your medical knowledge in actual, practical scenarios. You must pass this test to be certified as a professional nurse. A good way to help yourself would be to use resources by Osmosis to help you with studying and preparing yourself to get qualified to be a nurse. 

Psychology

Psychology has many sub-branches under it — and many of them involve helping out people. As a psychologist, you’ll help people improve their mental health by taking them away from stressful conditions. Moreover, you’ll also help psychologically weaker and damaged people.

You’d also have the opportunity to become an educational psychologist; they help children deal with disorders related to learning and memorizing. Moreover, people with brain injuries will also benefit from your career. 

Emergency services

Having a career in emergency services like police, fire brigade, ambulance, and rescue can help you serve your community directly. As an emergency service professional, you’ll help people out of potentially alarming situations and save them from troubles. 

Moreover, you can also save people from potential future calamities like terrorist attacks and extreme weather conditions. 

There are many branches under the emergency services tree. Explore your options and choose a field right for you. Some of the branches may require you to have a degree, while the others would just rely on your physical dedication and mental preparation. 

Science & technology

Not all the jobs in these fields are aimed to help people, but some are. If you choose your career and role wisely, you might get several opportunities to do something good for the people. 

As a scientist, you could be working on making new inventions or discoveries that could help humankind. As you’re well aware, we need many scientific miracles to deal with the ever-growing problems in our daily lives. Who knows, you could be the one to solve some of those problems, or at least, try to do so. 

As an expert in technology, you can invent new things to help humankind. Moreover, you can also save people from potentially threatening concerns related to tech. 

A career in science and technology will need you to have a degree. However, there are several smaller roles that you can get without having a degree. 

These two careers would fit especially those individuals who like to travel and visit new places since you will have to keep up with the new advances in these two fields. Imagine how rewarding it would be to go on a road trip abroad with your international driving permit to make new discoveries and come back home with a new innovation that will change human civilization!

---

Most people just work for money, but some want to do something good for society and the people. If you’re one of those lucky ones, choosing a career from the above-mentioned list can streamline your career path. 

While major roles in these fields require you to have a degree, there are certain associate roles that you can join without it.

Ways to Build a Successful and Fulfilling Career in Fitness

From the popularity of social media to recent global events, there are a number of aspects that encouraged people to become more health-conscious and invest in themselves in recent years. As a result, the fitness industry suddenly became more popular and lucrative than ever. Due to this reason, you might be considering a career in fitness as well, especially if health is something you’re already quite passionate about. This is truly the perfect moment to venture into the fitness industry, and here are some efficient tips that will help you build a successful and fulfilling career in this field:

Start by getting certified

Before you can start coaching others and gain credibility and trust among clients, you will need proof of your skills and knowledge. The ideal option would be to go back to school, where you could learn about anatomy, biochemistry, and exercise physiology in detail. A college degree provides more extensive knowledge and overall trustworthiness, but it is also quite expensive and time-consuming to complete. On the other hand, there are also plenty of alternative ways you could get certified as a personal trainer. However, keep in mind these certifications might not be quite as credible as a college degree, and it could also be difficult to find the right institution that will offer proper education.

Invest in your own body

If you’re starting a career in fitness, you have to remember that your body is your best advertisement. While it’s not necessarily true that the fittest personal trainers are the best, clients do tend to be more drawn to trainers that are in great physical shape, whether subconsciously or not. For that reason, investing in your own body is also an important requirement, one you can easily achieve during your educational journey. In case you’re not already healthy, strong, and quite athletic, focus more on your fitness and nutrition before you can pass your knowledge on to others.

Try different forms of training

Just like any other area of business, fitness also has a number of different niches you could focus on. Finding an aspect you’re particularly good at can make it easier for you to build a solid audience early on. For instance, many Australian trainers tend to try EMS Training in Melbourne for themselves. Feeling the tiny electrical impulses through their body as they lose fat, stimulate muscle growth, and boost their metabolism allows them to gain more practical experience before offering the same service to their clients. Whether you choose EMS as well, or even options such as strength training, aerobics, or flexibility exercises, trying different types of exercises for yourself is a brilliant way to gain more knowledge and skills you can easily pass on to your clients in the future.

Consider nutrition education

In places like the US, on the other hand, trainers and coaches are often expected to provide a more extensive, all-encompassing service. That is why many professionals in the industry decide to invest in additional nutrition education, and it might be a great idea for you to do the same. Nutrition is one area where people need the most help, not to mention that it could also significantly increase the effectiveness of workouts and show more visible results much more quickly. For that reason, including nutrition advice with your training service can be wonderful for boosting client satisfaction, motivation, and retention.

Work with real people

Once you’ve spent enough time learning about nutrition, movement, and exercise, it will be time to learn how to coach clients in the most effective way. This doesn’t only mean knowing your craft well, but also understanding people on a deeper level, knowing how to connect with them, finding the best ways to encourage and motivate your clients, and even changing their view of fitness for the better. While you could always take psychology classes as well, the best way to learn how to work with people is through practical experience. If you can’t start coaching quite yet, even practicing with a friend or family member before you become a trainer can be of great help.

Utilize social media platforms

No business can truly succeed without marketing, and social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok can be a great place to start. Simply by posting pictures of your own body, short workout videos individuals can easily follow, or even before and after pictures of someone you’ve already helped, you can easily build a following before you even start your business. After you’re ready to launch your career as a trainer, you will already have a loyal, interested, and engaged audience that can easily become your client base as well.

Although quite popular, fitness is still a young industry, and there’s no particular path that can guarantee success. But as long as you are interested, educated, and motivated enough, you can easily make a name for yourself in this field.

How to have a successful trade finance career

The world economy is changing rapidly with the advancement of globalization, which causes easier and faster connections to international clients, as well as usage of advanced technologies in business. With it, the needs of participants and how certain professions work have also changed. Ten years ago, many economists deemed trade finance a dull profession that required tedious amounts of paperwork. However, trade finance has now been affected by the digitalization of trade which has reduced the piles of paperwork and made trading easier, more dynamic, and attractive. Whether you are a fresh graduate or an economist thinking of heading your business career in this direction, you will benefit from tips on how to use your potential in finance trading and be as competitive as possible in the labor market or more successful in doing your job.

What is Trade Finance?

Trade finance is a set of products and services that enable business deals of corporations engaged in international trade. Trade finance is usually provided by banks that act as intermediaries between two companies and guarantee the collection of trade receivables. During this process, banks provide their clients with access to financial resources and the stipulation of cash flow. The key task is reducing the risk of potential losses. In order to achieve this, banks have a number of financial instruments and products at their disposal. In addition, banks confer with clients to draft contracts that must comply with all national and international rules.

Keep Your Clients Happy 

The focus of a finance trader is clients and their expectations. To meet the client’s requirements, you’ll need to be familiar with operating challenges, as well as the tools you’ll need to solve them. The job of a finance trader also carries pressure. It’s a very responsible and dynamic job that often requires teamwork. That is why cooperation between your team members, between your team members, and the client, but also cooperation with the team of the other contracting party are highly important. This implies a high level of communication skills and developed networking. Banks perform hundreds of transactions every day and clients often insist on their affairs being completed within short deadlines. You will need to find the balance and set priorities. The goal is to satisfy your client and gain his trust while complying with the standards and controls of economic transactions.  This will require a lot of effort, hard work, and innovative thinking from you and your team. 

It’s a long road

It is not easy being visible in the labor market of trade finance. In a global industry such as trade finance, competition among employees is high. If a financial trader is your career goal, you’ll need high education, which means a master’s degree in economics. Finance traders often specialize in international trade and finance. To successfully perform this job, you will also need certain certificates. If you’re at the beginning of your studies, don’t be discouraged by the long journey to the trade finance profession. It usually takes two to three years of active work to become an associate. If you continue to develop your knowledge and show good results in an average of five years, you will be able to manage a smaller team.

The more languages you know, the more you’re worth

Trade finance is an international industry that requires daily communication with people around the globe. Knowing the language of the country which the client you’re doing business with is in contributes to better understanding and more prosperous trade. Being fluent in the business language is also highly recommended. It is useful to know several other languages. Sometimes knowing a certain language is crucial when choosing a job candidate.

Study the laws

Transactions with different countries require compliance with both national and international regulations. Violation of foreign trade laws can bring huge losses to your company in the form of millions of dollars. Therefore, the trade finance team works closely with the legal team in order to provide the most rational solutions and harmonize their tasks and goals. Although you’ll not be a lawyer, you will need to study regulations regarding your client’s deal.

Become a finance trader and discover the world

The nature of a financial trader involves frequent traveling. This will give you the opportunity to visit many countries. Traveling is a good way to meet new people and spread your professional network. Sharing experiences, business customs, and ideas with colleagues from other countries may help you in your future business. Salaries in the trade finance sector can be very high, especially for experts in this field. These factors, as well as the dynamic work environment, make trade finance tempting to many.

Working in trade finance provides many benefits, but it’s also a highly responsible and complex job. Before you start your career as a financial trader, you must acquire knowledge in the field of finance, develop your social skills and try to strengthen your networking. Show initiative in finding solutions to problems that you will encounter during business and your hard work and effort will result in career advancement.

What Professional Attire Entails in the Post-Pandemic World

Dressing like Harvey Specter or Jessica Pearson when you’re greeting clients on Zoom sitting in your own kitchen doesn’t feel as powerful as it should, does it? The Zoom shirt trend, on the other hand, has made employees feel less obligated to focus on freshly pressed fancy items and more on appearing professional while feeling comfortable at home.

Remote work has its charms and perks. It lets your employees unwind, take breaks, spend more time with their families. It also eliminates the need for business attire in its traditional sense, even though many youthful companies have abandoned the shirt-and-tie policy a long time ago.

Today, businesses allow their teams to define the dress code of the office for a number of reasons. Now that some offices are reopening and others are sticking to the hybrid or remote model, the question of dress code is on the table once more. Here’s what we can expect the new normal to bring.

Yes, there are boundaries to remember

Before we delve into the changes expected to emerge in the post-pandemic world of professional attire, let’s get one main thing straight: some limits will remain, no matter if you’re going back to the office or developing a hybrid business model.

Employees are still expected to follow certain fundamental rules. The “no flip-flops” rule isn’t there just out of whimsy. It’s there to ensure certain levels of safety. The same applies to other dress code rules that every business will stay true to no matter the pandemic.

Functional minimalism on the rise

Over the course of these two years, people have redefined their priorities and investments. Instead of expanding their wardrobe with suits and ties, workers are investing in functional items that help them do their jobs with ease. Even more so, many are building what is known as a “capsule” wardrobe with multifunctional clothes and accessories that they can wear for almost any occasion.

Employees are refining their collections of workplace wearables with essentials such as minimalist wallets that they’ll use for office work as well as events, once they are possible once more. It’s more relevant to have a place for business cards than to have ten different, uncomfortable ties you never wear. This mindset among workers is helping businesses focus on what truly matters in their industry.

The combination of comfort and purpose

Workwear has a unique place in dress code policies, especially if some of your employees perform duties that require protection and performance-focused wearables. Add to that the pandemic, and you also need to think about prevention and wearable accessories such as masks and shields. 

Working with your teams and keeping in mind the necessary precautions prescribed by your government, start planning a fresh policy with purpose in mind. Your employees should be able to wear the clothing that lets them focus on work, and not on the discomfort caused by their high heels or tight-fitting shirts. 

At the same time, make sure that you’re investing in attire that is designed for your particular industry. Protective, durable, and visible clothing can mean the difference between safety and increased risk of injury. It’s obvious that one size definitely doesn’t fit all when it comes to performance.

Letting the employees determine the policy

As time goes by, employees have more of a say in what happens in the workplace. Since they are the ones shaping the success of the business in question, it’s only natural to see their interest rise over such a matter as their own attire choices. 

Giving your employees options is a great start. If someone wants to wear a turtleneck, then so be it, but if another employee feels better in a hoodie, that shouldn’t pose a problem if their job doesn’t require a uniform. 

To recognize employee voices, brands and HR teams are now collaborating with employees on crafting dress code policies that reflect these recent changes. Over the course of several meetings, your teams can share their needs and views, while you determine the best way to move forward – nothing has to be set in stone. 

Focusing on engagement over formality

Some companies place great stock in traditional dress codes that are associated with professionalism, a sense of decorum, as well as leadership. A person in an important meeting or a networking event representing your company ought to look presentable, so it’s natural that brands worry about appearances and impressions. 

Today, however, a high level of formality is unnecessary, as the culture of professional exchanges has changed to be less stringent. In response, employers are also more inclined to ensure employee engagement by enabling them to express their own preferences over following strict, unnecessary protocols. Although flip-flops are a no-no, you can still do a good job wearing jeans and a clean shirt in a professional setting, and brands are happy to accommodate their teams. 

Strictly speaking, the old dress code is most certainly out the window. Workers have shown a clear preference for a more relaxed, performance-driven approach over pure aesthetics. Arbitrary rules can no longer apply, especially if one cannot justify them with optimal productivity. 

Businesses are now facing a unique transition to more casual, comfortable, yet pleasant attire and accessories that enable employees to feel good while working. Trends are quickly changing, but how companies keep up and which ones they implement will depend solely on your own readiness to make your teams happy and to let them voice their views. 

5 Benefits of Technology for Lifelong Learners and Career Advancement

Lifelong learning is one of the healthiest habits any self-loving and goal-oriented woman can embrace. As if learning in itself isn’t a treat, a way to become a more fulfilled human being, and a way to expand your horizons, it serves a very concrete purpose for those among you who have high goals for career development, and want to acquire the skills necessary to become a leader, an inspirational figure, a specialist in a certain field, and more. That said, let’s not kid ourselves, learning takes time, consistency, effort, and usually money, none of which you might not be able or willing to give.

That’s okay, as always, technology is here to lend a helping hand. From those nifty laptops and tablets that make mobile learning a breeze, all the way to amazing new learning platforms that give you access to the world’s knowledge base, technology can help you achieve your goals, become a founder, or get a job at a reputable and responsive company – you name it, learning through tech can help you achieve it. Here are the five benefits of technology for lifelong learners and those seeking to advance their careers. 

Learn on the go

One of the first and most obvious benefits of modern technology is that you can put all of your learning material on your smartphone, Kindle, tablet, or laptop, and take it with you! It’s a mobile world we live in nowadays, and there is no denying that many women are balancing numerous daily tasks and overcoming numerous challenges every single day – so nobody would blame you if you simply haven’t the time to stop, pull out a book, and read for an hour or two.

Instead of missing out on the opportunity to expand your knowledge base, why not use the tech you always have on you to take knowledge with you on your commute to the office, or anywhere else? This type of mobile learning is best reserved for subject matters you can memorize quickly, ones you don’t have to practice on a piece of paper, like math. 

Fit education into your busy schedule

Speaking of the hectic modern lifestyle, learning through smart technology allows you to manage your time more efficiently, consume the material in bite-size pieces for better long-term retention, and most importantly, pick up where you left off easily. This type of learning flexibility is one of the primary benefits of learning apps and innovative platforms, as it doesn’t really matter if you’re working from home or if you’re at work all day long. 

Modern applications and platforms specialize in condensing the material so that you can learn it easily, while giving you the opportunity to delve deeper into the subject matter if you so wish. By creating a profile on the platform, you can track your progress, save data, and receive professional guidance and support. In turn, all of this will allow you to fit education into your busy schedule.

Learn nuanced skills to propel your career

Another powerful advantage of modern learning platforms, one that many people fail to recognize at first, is that they allow you to learn very specific and nuanced things. Sure, general subject matters the likes of developing leadership skills, basic math, or music theory are still there, but what happens when you want to learn about molecular biology, astrophysics, or geodetic engineering? Or what if you want to contribute in the fight against the pandemic? Should you apply for college all over again?

No, you should search for those courses online and delve right in on your own free time. This is one of the best ways to upskill and even develop a new career path. If you’re looking to join the healthcare industry, for example, then getting PALS (Pediatric Advanced Life Support) certified and learning about PALS drugs and pharmacology can be your entryway into pediatrics and a way to join the battle against COVID-19. This is the type of freedom and flexibility that only technology can provide – the type of learning opportunity that can help you take your career in a completely new direction.

Diversify your learning material

Students, established business leaders, stay-at home moms who want to kick-start their own career, it doesn’t matter which group you’re a part of, what matters is that you should always strive to diversify your learning material in order to acquire knowledge from various reputable sources. This will allow you to a) compare and contrast, b) learn more efficiently, and c) retain information easily.

However, you also need to equip yourself with the right tech to make the learning process more efficient and effective. Some of the leading learning platforms will use a dedicated VoIP communication system that facilitates synchronous and asynchronous learning and allows you to communicate more efficiently with educators and other students in a virtual meeting room.

It is especially important to have such systems in place when you’re going over exceptionally difficult subject matter. In such situations, it’s also good to use various review materials, anything from videos, guided tutorials, hands-on projects, open-ended questionnaires, all of which can expand your knowledge and help you retain information faster. And all of that with a push of a digital button.

Access to renowned colleges and teachers

And finally, you’ve probably noticed that e-learning platforms and popular apps are now offering unprecedented access to world-renowned colleges, institutions and businesses, and that they are even partnering up with prominent figures from various industries in order to spread their knowledge across the world. This is your golden opportunity to learn from the best of the best, to consume knowledge that has been cultivated at top universities, and tap into the genius minds of your idols – so don’t waste it by sticking to the outdated learning methods.

Wrapping up

Technology has changed every aspect of our lives, so why shouldn’t it change the way we acquire knowledge as well? With these five tips in mind, go ahead and use technology to take your personal and professional life forward, and make lifelong learning a passion.

2020 The Year of Remote Work

It is only June, and thanks to COVID-19, people have declared 2020 as the year of remote work. While telecommuting seemed beyond reach in most industries only a few months ago, this year it has become a necessity. The pandemic has forced employers to come up with novel and successful ways to keep their businesses afloat. For this reason, many companies have asked their employees to work from home. Google has taken the whole matter a step further and advised remote work to its workforce for the rest of the year. Even though some might struggle with this work mode, it is actually quite beneficial for both employers and employees.

Most employees are used to going to work and spending eight or more hours in the office. At first, the sudden change of routine may be strange for them. However, once they recover from the initial shock, they stand to gain quite a lot.  Working from the comfort of their home can considerably boost their productivity and performance. Also, it can have a huge impact on their mental and physical health as well.

The employees no longer have to waste their time commuting. They will be more punctual because traffic jams and parking spaces don’t pose an issue for them in the morning. Once they log on to the selected platform, they are in the workplace ready to reach their daily goals. As a result, travel and accommodation expenses are significantly reduced. If the companies ultimately switch to this work mode, it will bring substantial benefits to the environment too. The reduction of toxic emissions and pollution raises awareness on environmental protection.

What worries employers the most in this situation is employee productivity and performance. There are many distractions at home and most employees are forced to turn their space for relaxation into an office. However, with the right internal communication app, the employers have nothing to worry about. Effective communication is one of the pillars of a successful business. These collaborative business solutions keep everyone well informed and on the same page. Dropbox, Google Hangouts, or Google Drive allows employees to communicate and cooperate on different projects and documents simultaneously. The social aspect of the workplace isn’t neglected as coworkers now use online group chats instead of the good old chatting by the water cooler. Still, for boosting employee performance, everyone has to agree on the preferred communication tool. Forcing tools and channels might cause the opposite effect.

While it seems the pandemic is coming to an end, its consequences are yet to be felt in the months to come. Among good things to come out of this mess is definitely a stronger bond between colleagues. When employees have good work relationships with their coworkers and managers, it positively reflects on the business. Friendship and team spirit largely contribute to creating a healthy work environment. Working under such optimum conditions improves employee productivity and spurs their collaboration. Managers now than ever have to invest time and effort in team building activities and a pleasant work atmosphere. As a result, the employees will maintain their sense of belonging and actively contribute to reaching the corporate aims.

In the long term, remote work may change the whole attitude about work and provide some new perspectives. Millennials are swooping in and along with talent, come with certain expectations about the workplace and work process itself. One of their priorities is having a healthy work-life balance. For this reason, the younger workforce is largely attracted by flexible schedules and working hours. This would enable them to provide for themselves and their families while also pursuing other activities. If the companies want to keep and compete for top talent in the future, they have to make fundamental changes in their management. Allowing the employees to plan their own schedule might prove to be crucial when offering jobs to potential associates. Similarly, instead of being compensated for the hours they spent working, they would like to be rewarded for their accomplishments.

To conclude, due to the unprecedented situation, most companies have started working remotely. Although it seemed quite a challenge, employers have discovered numerous perks of this work mode. Employees are right on time for work and the commuting expenses are significantly reduced. On the other hand, what is boosted are productivity, communication, and collaboration. Through proper communication channels, everyone gets timely updates. As a result, they complete work tasks promptly and without any delays. Besides, remote work enhances work-life balance which is one of the top priorities of the millennials. Their work-related expectations will without a doubt, shape the workplace and the whole work culture in the years to come.

New Recruitment & Training Techniques for HR Management

Staffing is one of the biggest employer challenges, especially in the growing healthcare industry, for example. The unemployment rate in the field has dropped to a mere 2.0%, making employee recruitment and retention critical to your organization’s success. Technology can aid your HR department in the process.

Recruitment

It’s important to understand who best fits your company’s culture (and what they’re looking for in return) to recruit the top talent in a competitive market. Ensure your efforts to attract and hire new personnel is well focused and that your organization understands a prospect’s needs.

Consider streamlining the hiring process by requiring prospects to test for the position. Doing so will save you time on meetings and interviews with individuals who may look good on paper but may not be a match. Culture indexing uses technology to assess and qualify top talent for better hiring. These short online tests determine whether or not an organization is the right fit for you and the recruit.

It’s also important to collaborate with other HR staff to understand what ideal hires look for in a new employer. To know what your target talent wants, it’s sometimes best to know what they don’t want. A report by the Work Institute listed the top reasons employees quit their jobs. Retirement and the work environment were among the top 10. While the former is unpreventable, the latter can be altered; use the information provided to find solutions to the main employee complaints and position your organization as one of the top companies in the field.

Career Development

The report found that the No. 1 reason workers leave is to further advance their careers (22%). Does your company offer benefits that allow for staff to train and move up in the organization? If not, start developing a system now. Otherwise, when recruiting, emphasize your company’s commitment to employee advancement and training programs.

Consider including the discussion of career goals as part of the regularly-scheduled employee performance review. Find ways to implement an online training program or on-the-job learning where staff can expand their current skills. The medical field is a busy and fast-paced industry. Asynchronous learning may be the best solution for employees interested in ongoing education because they can study around their busy schedules.

Help employees meet their career goals by assigning a manager or lead who can guide them and document the staff member’s career goals. Your organization may already have a system for HR files. Include a career goal profile in the employee’s personnel file so that HR and other support personnel can stay updated and track their progress. 

Work-Life Balance

Even the best personnel can experience burnout. The Work Institute’s report found that 12 out of 100 people left their job to attain a better work-life balance. Offering staff more flexible work hours using flextime, job sharing, or telecommuting where staff work from home (when possible) are some solutions to address the work-life balance challenge.

Telecommuting or remote work may be the best solution for personnel who may be in danger of burnout. Can your company implement processes and technology so that employees may work remotely from home? Airtasker.com surveyed 1,000 full-time employees and found that remote work made employees more productive and allowed them to have more time for their personal lives. 

Working from home saved employees an average of 8.5 hours per week previously wasted on commuting. And most importantly, remote workers were more focused and productive, with an average non-productive time of 37 minutes while at the office and 27 minutes while at home.

Work Environment

Several of the reasons employees quit their job have to do with the work environment itself. The reasons employees left included:

• Manager behavior: 11 out of 100
• Well-being: 8 out of 100
• Job characteristics: 8 out of 100
• Literal work environment: 5 out of 100

Reducing conflict and high-pressure in the work environment may be difficult in certain healthcare facilities like an urgent care facility or an ambulatory surgical center. Still, it’s worth the effort if your organization wants to attract and retain employees. The benefits go well beyond team morale — improving the work environment can enhance the quality of care and reduce costly errors. Consider how the following improvements can benefit your company:

Redesign the Office Layout

Improve flow by separating patient traffic from areas where medical staff frequently access. Separate entrances make it easier for staff to enter and exit patient rooms and work with less interruption. Besides separating patients from staff, give management their own area away from staff, so that team members can work freely without feeling overly observed.

Create an Environment With Well-Being in Mind

A calm and inviting environment is ideal for patients, but consider your staff’s needs as well. Repaint walls in a soothing neutral color; there are many options, from soft whites to bolder grays. Simple improvements like natural or improved lighting, live plants, and ergonomic office furniture add comfort and function in the workspace.

Improvements Start at the HR Level

Attracting new hires and retaining existing personnel is essential to your company’s growth. It’s one of the most important tasks of the HR department. Implementing new ideas and technology to create an ideal work environment can better position your company as one of the most sought-after in the job market. 

The Future of Work: What Will Jobs Look Like in the Coming Decade?

Once upon a time a farmer grew up in the fields, owned a family farm, and bequeathed it to his offspring upon his death — offspring that were raised with the singular purpose to carry on the family tradition of farming.

While being “born into an occupation” is a concept as old as time itself, though, it has never been more outdated than the present. The modern work world is awash with change. Everything from workspaces and tools to employers and the employed themselves are all in a state of flux. The 21st-century has already witnessed shocking developments that have rewritten the employment script, and the situation only looks primed to heat up heading into the 2020s.

A Look at the 2010s

While it’s interesting to consider where the future of work will take us at this point, the speculation is made especially poignant when it is juxtaposed against the backdrop of the previous decade or two.

There’s no doubt that the 2010s (and to some degree the decade that preceded it) were times of incredible change for the average business. The steady creation and proliferation of new technological marvels — things like social media, smartphones, and cloud computing — served up a steady hum of digital disruption that turned the average workplace on its head.

Many of these shifts focused heavily on communication. Video and text-based electronic communications, the internet, and the instant transmission of news around the world forced companies to adapt to a more global business mindset. Even the marketplace as a whole shifted as consumers began to rely heavily on mobile phone usage. They shopped online and adjusted to free two-day shipping expectations. By the end of the decade, even traditional, non-digital advertising spending had been surpassed by its online counterpart.

To further complicate matters, the incoming millennial generation prompted a dramatic shift in workplace culture and expectations. Topics like work-life balance and addressing a toxic workplace environment began to take the front seat.

Corporate social responsibility percolated up the ranks to upper management, and businesses began looking for ways to reduce their carbon footprint through things like eliminating waste or shifting to solar power. Even small items addressing work-life balance that had previously been brushed under the rug, such as bringing your dog to work, were brought up and addressed.

From one end to the other, the first decade or two of the 21st-century was riddled with transformation, experimentation, and in many ways, a complete overhaul of the traditional workplace.

A Look at the 2020s

With so much change in the rearview mirror, a question that must be asked is if the trend shows signs of slowing in the future — and the short answer is: not likely. The 2020s promise to be at least as transitional if not more than the previous two decades combined.

For instance, the millennial generation served, in many ways, as the guinea pigs of a technological world. They were born into a world with corded phones and boomboxes, only to have things like social media, self-driving cars, big data, and widespread internet use thrown in their face.

In contrast, the 2020s will be Generation Z’s chance to shine. As the first generation to completely grow up in a technologically steeped world, Gen Zers won’t have to face the need to learn to adapt. They’re already used to it.

Rather than shift the job landscape out of a necessity to adapt to change, Generation Zers are likely to take the workplace by the bit and bridle and turn it to their own will. They expect job stability, diversity, social responsibility, and flexible schedules, and they’re not afraid to question the benefits of technology.

Many Gen Zers have also eschewed a traditional degree, focusing, instead, on more entrepreneurial opportunities. When commenting on the termination of Doritos’ popular “Crash the Super Bowl” crowdsourced commercial contest, chief marketing officer Ram Krishnan pointed out that, “If you look at when we started the program, millennial consumers were the target…[Now] Our Doritos target is Gen Z consumers and they’re already content creators.” This recognition of their creative abilities speaks volumes to their potential as entrepreneurs in the 2020s job market.

Apart from the generation change, there are several other major factors that will likely shape the next decade of jobs, starting with the gig economy. In the waning years of the 2010s, the gig economy exploded. Remote work had become both easy and expected — by 2018 70% of the global workforce worked remotely at least once a week — and the rise of the freelancer began to erode the remnant of the traditional work office environment at an accelerated pace.

While controversial laws have recently been enacted looking to bring gig economy workers under the umbrella of common workers’ rights, it’s unlikely that they’ll fully bring a stop to the freelance movement.

How will this movement look over the next decade? While only time will tell, there are several likely adjustments coming down the pike including a proliferation of entirely remote offices and a further elimination of the need to commute to work. And then there’s the topic of automation. While automation already wrested numerous low-skilled jobs from workers throughout the early 21st-century, the trend only looks likely to accelerate going forward.

Balancing out the effects of automation and the gig economy is a natural rise in the demand for more skilled professionals. As employees prioritize work-life balance and flexibility, more skilled professional positions are becoming available in fields like technology, data science, and skilled trades.

Also adding fuel to the first is an increased pressure for businesses to shift their operations to more sustainable methods. Solar power and other alternative forms of energy are being pursued more aggressively than ever as part of larger business objectives. Waste is also being systematically eliminated, as has been clearly demonstrated by the coffee chain Starbuck’s continual efforts to increase the sustainability of its operations.

All Hail the Ever-Changing Changing Business Landscape?

With so much change continually swirling, a natural question that arises is whether or not things will ever slow down again. The 2020 election is already setting the tone for the future, with employment remaining a hot topic and some candidates pushing fairly radical agendas, such as Andrew Yang’s plan for universal basic income.

While many of these changes are easy to predict in general, though, time will only tell how the specific changes in the workplaces will play out as the 2020s unfold.

Image Source: Pexels

STEAM Vs STEM: Adding Tech Skills to Your Resume

STEAM — science, technology, engineering, arts, and math —  is becoming a popular topic of discussion in educational institutions, but there is somewhat of a disconnect between education and the workplace. STEM careers prioritize technical skills, especially in the hiring process, which can make students rightly wonder what the point of additional arts and humanities training is.

In an educational environment, adding the “A” to STEM means students gain vital critical thinking, discourse, writing, and leadership skills, as well as greater understanding of arts and culture. This makes them excellent candidates for leadership and mentorship positions, and key allies in reducing employee churn. But when it comes to job applications, they know that recruiters and algorithms are both looking for mainly technical skills-related keywords.

The value of STEAM educated employees

Employees with a background in the humanities have a ton to offer, even (and especially) in technical roles. STEAM is about much more than learning art; the arts, humanities, and languages teach students about thought, logic, argument, ethics, and many other aspects of humanity. According to Concordia University the STEAM job market in the United States will grow by 14% by 2020, and even employers in highly technical fields are beginning to see its value. The arts give students a grounding set of both soft- and social skills, and arms them with different modes of thinking about the world. However, not everyone is convinced yet, and graduates entering the job market can be hesitant to express these skills in a job search.

If you’re into recruiting leaders, and people who improve the work environment around them, STEAM candidates are highly prized — or should be.

People don’t need to be in leadership roles for their leadership skills to be valuable. There are many different styles of leadership, and some of them don’t require a position of authority to be effective. Transformational leadership, one of the most effective styles, involves lifting up other group members and transforming the work environment to better achieve organizational goals and uplift other employees. Some of the most important characteristics of these types of leaders are emotional intelligence, mediation, and the ability to think in new and transformative ways. These are all skills honed in the study of the arts and humanities.

Another key trait possessed by people who have training in the arts is increased exposure to new and foreign ideas. These are people who have been taught how to learn, and learning is a skill in and of itself. So if you’re looking to hire people who will make learning new things a priority, who seek experiences outside of their comfort zone, and who will respond well to internal uptraining, the answer is STEAM.

If you’re looking for employees that will stick with you, and improve the performance of everyone around them, hire people with additional background in the arts and treat them right.

Attracting STEAM candidates

The trick is convincing students and job seekers that employers see those additional skills as valuable. It’s not enough simply to start looking for those skills. There are new generations of tech workers going through their training that need to be convinced to invest time and energy into the arts, or simply told that those interests are valid to pursue.

This means outreach during college career fairs, on websites, and on job descriptions. Start actively supporting and looking for the “A” skills in candidates by putting them into job posting descriptions. Start highlighting the value of these employees internally and externally, at company events and conferences, and build a culture of support and confidence.

As you build out culture and PR that values soft skills as well as technical skills, it may be necessary to retrain recruiters, interviewers, and adjust any keyword scraping algorithms. Many people groom their resumes specifically for certain keywords they believe companies want to see. A common strategy is to pick out keywords from the job posting into their applications. So changing those keywords is a great start.

In the end, the people you hire create your company culture. A culture infused with not only the skills that come from the arts, but the beauty and soul that comes from communities who are passionate about arts and humanities — that kind of culture sets employees and companies up for long-term success.