Monthly Archives: February 2020

Why Company Culture Is Important to Job Seekers

Leave a reply

The term “company culture” is bandied about in the business world. But what is it, and why does it even matter?

A company’s culture refers to the way an organization presents itself to its stakeholders, including staff, and often includes components that affect workplace atmosphere such as work environment, flexibility, mission, and ethics. It’s similar to a personality—some will be attracted to it, others repelled. For example, if a company’s culture values a workplace in which all employees collaborate in an open workspace, that company’s culture will clash with an individual who works best alone. However, if an organization values community volunteerism and a potential hire possesses a solid volunteering track record, the two can be a good fit.

 

When an employee and a company are a good fit, the employee will be happier on the job and perform better. It works the other way, too. If the employer and employee fit is poor, the result will be subpar for both, so it pays for job seekers to research a company’s culture and look for elements that lead to a good fit.

 

Below are questions to consider when examining a company’s culture.

 

  • How does the company describe itselfto the world? What words does the firm use to explain who it is, what it does, and why it does it? The way an organization talks about itself is a good measure of the way it operates.

 

  • How do employees refer to their organization? Are current workers positive ambassadors of the company? What employees say about their firmshows a lot about how a potential hire can expect to feel working there.

 

  • Is turnover a problem? If a company churns through people, it’s likely that the culture is not supportive or worse, hostile.

 

We spend too many hours at our jobs to work in an organization that isn’t a good fit. Researching company culture before onboarding pays long-lasting dividends.

 

Discussion

 

  1. What are some ways to look into a company’s culture prior to an interview?
  2. During an interview, how could the job seeker learn more about the organization’s culture?
  3. How can you define what kind of a culture will be the best fit for you?

A company’s culture refers to the way an organization presents itself to its stakeholders, including staff, and often includes components that affect workplace atmosphere such as work environment, flexibility, mission, and ethics. It’s similar to a personality—some will be attracted to it, others repelled. For example, if a company’s culture values a workplace in which all employees collaborate in an open workspace, that company’s culture will clash with an individual who works best alone. However, if an organization values community volunteerism and a potential hire possesses a solid volunteering track record, the two can be a good fit.

When an employee and a company are a good fit, the employee will be happier on the job and perform better. It works the other way, too. If the employer and employee fit is poor, the result will be subpar for both, so it pays for job seekers to research a company’s culture and look for elements that lead to a good fit.

Below are questions to consider when examining a company’s culture.

  • How does the company describe itselfto the world? What words does the firm use to explain who it is, what it does, and why it does it? The way an organization talks about itself is a good measure of the way it operates.
  • How do employees refer to their organization? Are current workers positive ambassadors of the company? What employees say about their firmshows a lot about how a potential hire can expect to feel working there.
  • Is turnover a problem? If a company churns through people, it’s likely that the culture is not supportive or worse, hostile.

We spend too many hours at our jobs to work in an organization that isn’t a good fit. Researching company culture before onboarding pays long-lasting dividends.

Discussion

  1. What are some ways to look into a company’s culture prior to an interview?
  2. During an interview, how could the job seeker learn more about the organization’s culture?
  3. How can you define what kind of a culture will be the best fit for you?

Preparing Students for the Job Search

Leave a reply

Business communication instructors are in a perfect position to prepare students for the job search when they graduate. Below are ideas to bring into your classroom that will help students feel more able to tackle the onerous task of finding their first job.

Connect with your campus career resource center.Most campuses have dedicated staff to guide students about their future careers, offering testing services and other valuable resources. Ask a career counselor to visit your classroom to discuss finding internships, interviewing techniques, or networking.

Keep apprised of news items related to grads. Many media sources (including our own BizComBuzz) contain timely articles about what employers look for in new-hires, job statistics, or helpful hints for those actively seeking a job. Discussing these items with your students leads to active engagement with timely and relevant news that directly affects them.

Create a group project to clean up students’ social media. The importance of sanitizing social media is well documented, but students may not know how to attack the task. In a session similar to a peer edit, give students a list of items to remove from their social media accounts to guide them through the process. Working in small groups will help students see others’ accounts as models of what to eliminate and what to keep.

Practice networking techniques in class.Assign homework that requires researching the importance of networking. Then in class have students initiate conversations with one another in the “professional environment” of their classroom.

Share your stories. Students love to hear about their instructors’ life stories. Tell them about your job search, terrible interviews, or great work experiences. Then open up the conversation to the class so students can relate their own job search experiences.

Encourage participation in job fairs and professional organizations.Job fairs are a great experience whether or not the student lands a job—or even if the career fair does not focus on the student’s field. Just getting dressed for the part of looking for a job is beneficial. And professional organizations or clubs like Rotary are great spots for students to practice communication skills.

Emphasize the importance of research. Research is essential to the job search. Students should begin by researching fields of interest to them, learning about current and future opportunities in that arena. Once they have homed in on an industry, they should investigate specific companies for which they would like to work and become up-to-date on the firm’s latest developments.

The reality is that today’s students will likely be job searching for much of their lives. Giving them the tools they need to be successful in those searches can start right in your business communication classroom.

Hearing Negative Feedback is Good… Employers Changing Job Post Language… Walking the Fine Line Between Confidence and Arrogance

Leave a reply

Hearing Negative Feedback is Good

While no one enjoys being criticized, negative feedback can lead to growth. Below are some dos and don’ts to consider when receiving negative feedback.

  • Do listen politely and respectfully to the feedback, knowing that it may be just as hard for a supervisor to dole out negative input as it is for the receiver to hear it. Thank the boss for the information.
  • Don’t react emotionally.
  • Do allow some time to pass to evaluate the feedback objectively.
  • Don’t spiral into depression by remembering that negative feedback is part of working.
  • Do problem-solve ways to improve your performance. Then move on.

From payscale.com

Employers Changing Job Post Language

In an effort to attract a broader range of applicants, many companies are changing the way they reach out to new hires by writing more specific job posts. Some firms provide detailed salary ranges; others describe a typical week on the job. More are even bringing up the negatives of a position, such as having to deal with lots of e-mails or being on-call for many hours.

These changes have come about due to widespread dissatisfaction from both candidates and hiring managers alike over poorly worded job postings. Candidates have complained that many job specs are so vague that a potential candidate cannot self-select out. Recruiters admit frustration about their own non-specific wording, which doesn’t weed out unqualified applicants.

In an effort to attract more diverse and qualified applicants, companies have become more tuned in to how certain language in a job description can turn away or encourage applicants. For example, the terms “digital natives” or “passion for social media” in a job spec can discourage older applicants from applying. On the other hand, using gender neutral language tends to attract more qualified female applicants.

Experts claim that badly written, unspecific job postings failing to explain how a role fits into a company just won’t work in an economy that is vying for diverse and qualified new-hires.

From The Wall  Street Journal

Walking the Fine Line Between Confidence and Arrogance

Job candidates who exude confidence appeal to hiring managers. In fact, 42 percent of HR professionals in a recent study considered confidence one of the most desirable traits in new-hires. However, a whopping 72 percent of respondents to the survey rated over-confidence as “the biggest personality turnoff” during hiring interviews.

So how to walk the fine line between confidence and arrogance? Here are some ways to avoid appearing overconfident in an interview.

  1. Avoid sweeping general statements. Don’t describe your skills in general terms. Saying “I was born to sell!” or “I can sell anything!” without backing up such a statement with specifics makes you sound egotistical. Instead, use a quantifiable statistic: “I was named most improved new salesperson after only two months and increased my close rate by 30 percent.”
  2. Don’t stretch the truth. If you were part of a team that worked on a proposal, don’t claim full credit. Rather, explain your role and how you contributed to the effort.
  3. Demonstrate self–awareness. Show you know yourself by giving an example of how you are working on improving a trait. Everyone has weaknesses, so don’t deny having any.