6 Easy Steps to Making Friends at Work

6 Easy Steps to Making Friends at Work Before entering the working world, sharing the same classes or living nearby to someone was a pretty sure fire way of striking up a friendship. But now that youre older and have your own life and clique outside of the office, its even harder for work friendships to blossom; its far easier to just keep to yourself. Here are    6 easy steps to making friends at work. So what is the recipe for a work friendship? Researchers at Washington State University found that, within their study, the transition from co-worker to friend was due to close-proximity, common ground and socialising outside of the office. But the most interesting point to take from their study is that sharing personal details, or even secrets, is the key to a closer and more genuine friendship. Thinking back to your school days, this makes sense, right? But in the working environment, the time and place for sharing secrets about your life is a lot harder to come by. The question, therefore, is how to perfectly curate a work friendship, without it seeming fake or forced. Heres how 1. Positivity Just like anything thats going to improve your life, you want to start it off on a positive note. Dont assume youll make friends by complaining in the hope that theyll reciprocate. Yes, work friendships are great for being able to have a moan away from prying ears, but if you can bring positivity to someones day, then youre the sort of person theyll want to spend more time with. After all, first impressions are very important. 2. Look for common ground By dipping your toes into the Netflix habits of your colleague, youll probably find some common ground to get you started. Failing that, just asking questions about their weekend, or mentioning yours will surely find a shared interest or love that you both hold. 3. Find them on social media You might already have them on Facebook because they popped up as recommended but dig deeper. Find them on other the networks you use; be it Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Vine, YouTube etc. The more you can learn about their out-of-work activities, the more youll have to connect over. Oh, and dont forget to interact with what they post! 4. Be patient Dont try and rush the process. While solid friend relationships need secrets to fully mature, you dont want to overload anyone too soon. Share small bite-size amounts of what makes you tick at first, and move onto the more secretive aspects of your life further down the line. 5. Dont just discuss work! Youve already established common ground that isnt your job, so make the most of it. By opening up about non-work topics, youll bring positivity to the conversation and even more mutual ground for you to bond over. 6. Spend more time together outside of work Start off with work get-togethers, like heading to the pub on a Friday, or management-organised events. As you get to know each other more, get their phone number. Make plans with them for lunch dates, invite them to your birthday drinks (but invite other work people, as they might not come alone), or attend work-based outings together. Plus, the more time spent bonding outside of the office means that, when at work, you wont appear to be excluding others (or wasting company time).

10 Job Interview Questions You Dont Have to Answer - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

10 Job Interview Questions You Don’t Have to Answer - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career During job interviews, employers want to learn everything they possibly can about the people they interview. However, sometimes their questions can cross the line and promote discriminatory hiring processes. There are a number of reasons job seekers should be aware of the types of questions employers can ask during a job interview. For example, in a recent study by Slater and Gordon,  40 percent of managers avoid hiring younger women to avoid dealing with maternity leave. Examples like this show how important it is for job seekers to be aware of the questions they can and cannot be asked. Questions about race, age, gender, sexual orientation, and marital status are off limits during the interview process. To avoid becoming a victim of discrimination during a job interview, here are 10 interview questions you don’t have to answer: 1. Are you married? Employers cannot ask questions about your marital status. Although an employer might ask this question to learn more about your time commitment, they cannot find out whether you’re married or single. 2. Do you have children? If not, do you plan on it? Again, employers tend to ask this question to find out about your availability at work. As stated in the study mentioned earlier, employers will (wrongly) use children as a determining factor of whether they hire a candidate or not. 3. How old are you? Age discrimination is a huge problem job seekers face during the hiring process. Employers cannot ask you about your age, how long you’ve been in the workforce, or the year you were born. 4. What religion do you practice and religious holidays do you observe? Employers may want to ask you about your religious practices to learn about your lifestyle and schedule outside of work. However, they legally cannot ask about your religious background. Employers can ask you if you could work on Sundays or a particular holiday, but they cannot ask any question that reveals your religious beliefs. 5. Do you have any outstanding debt? Employers cannot hold your credit history against your ability to perform in the workplace. When employers want to learn about your debt, they must ask for permission before obtaining a credit check. 6. Have you ever been arrested? Employers cannot ask you if you’ve ever been arrested, but they can ask you if you’ve been convicted of a crime. 7. What country are you originally from? If you speak with an accent, employers might want to ask where you’re from. Although this might seem like an innocent question, it is illegal because it’s asking about your national origin. 8. When was the last time you used an illegal drug? Employers cannot ask about your illegal drug use history, but they can ask if you currently use illegal drugs. 9. Do you enjoy drinking socially? Employers cannot ask about your drinking habits during a job interview. This question violates the  Americans with Disabilities Act. 10. Do you live nearby? Employers may want to ask about where you live to determine the length of your commute and availability. However, employers cannot use location to discriminate against you during the hiring process. They can only ask you if you’re willing to relocate for the position. Have you been faced with one of these questions during a job interview?

4 Tips to Building a Killer Recruitment Brand

4 Tips to Building a Killer Recruitment Brand Between the candidate experience and all of the employer branding information out there, the  recruitment brand is often lost. It’s so much more than how candidates feel during the  recruitment process or the logo attached to an organisation. All these elements are important  and intertwined, but the ‘how to’ part of building a great recruitment brand is often forgotten in  the shuffle. So in order to build and sustain a successful recruitment brand, here are 4 tips to  help you along the way. 1. Consistent Information: Across the various platforms the department uses and throughout the recruitment team, internal  information and recruitment advertising information have to be the same. They need to have the  same purpose in order to be effective. István Matits (@IMatits) and Vince Szymczak  (@VinceSzy), Employer Branding and Social Media Specialist and Sourcing SME respectively  said: “Despite the complexity of contemporary recruiting, the most exciting innovations and  improvements focus on core concepts. One of these is communication. For instance, consensus  expressed at a recent European recruiting conference was that better communication between  the recruiters and the hiring managers is a key factor in acquiring the best talent in the shortest  period of time. Regardless of whether the recruiter is sitting in the same office as the hiring  manager, works at a different company site, or is actually employed by a different entity in an  RPO framework, there is room for better cooperation.” 2. Rejection? No problem: If there is anything worse for a candidate than not landing their dream job at the perfect  company, it’s when that “perfect” company doesn’t communicate the dismissal of their  application. Of the candidates who are rejected during the process, 51% never hear from the  organisation. And the candidates still in the running for the role often don’t hear back from the  employer when the shortlist gets filtered further. Don’t waste time and effort rejecting 1 in 2  applications, if you are then not going to do anything with the 50% you have retained as ‘maybe’  relevant for the job. Be consistent and ensure that the ‘maybes’ know their value to your  business. 3. Technology that helps, but doesn’t hinder: How many tools does your recruitment team currently have? Now, how many of these platforms  do they actually use? Large businesses use some type of HR analytics platform to assess their hiring decisions; but 37% of small companies do as well. With the plethora of tools available in  the HR and recruiting space to make the best and most educated decisions when it comes to  talent acquisition, organisations need to invest in the tools that are easy for their team to  understand and doesn’t hurt the budget. With the right tools in place, recruiters and recruitment directors can focus on what’s truly important: the interaction with the candidate and the strategy  behind talent acquisition. 4. There’s no “I” in “team” The recruitment brand isn’t solely on the shoulders of those in the recruitment department. It  involves anyone that might have contact with the candidate. Receptionists, interviewers,  company leadership, any employee that has some sort of direct contact with the client plays a  major role in developing and solidifying the recruitment brand. Make sure every employee is on  the same page when it comes to proper recruitment practices. The only way to do this is by  communication. However your team communicates, use that to get the word out. Email, social,  intranet or courier pigeon, they need to know the plan, in order to support the plan. Although inextricable from employer branding and the candidate experience, the way  organisations brand their recruitment platform, ie their career site, deserves specialised special  attention. First and foremost, the entire department has to be on the same page agree and  support with the recruitment strategy so the brand-message is consistent from each team  member. That strategy has to be relayed to employees outside of the department. Communicate with candidates about their status in the recruitment process even if you use  automated technology to take that burden off of the recruiters’ shoulders. Building and  sustaining a healthy recruitment brand doesn’t have to be painful.

So You Want To Write A Book in 2017

So You Want To Write A Book in 2017 Want to write a book this year? Don’t know where to start? Get a journal.  Right now. Out ya go. Buy  a pretty, interesting, edgy, funny, odd journal and start writing. Take that journal with you everywhere as if it’s your best, coolest friend. Write in it at least once a day. What do you write about? Anything. Everything. What makes you cry? What makes you laugh? What is the worst thing that’s happened to you? What’s the second worst? What’s the best? Who’s your closest friend? Whose friendship have you lost and why? What are your secrets? How do they control you? What do you worry about? What do you like about yourself?  What are your faults? What do you want out of life? What does your dream home look like? What scares you? What do you have to change in your life to be happy? What makes you so angry you could pluck your own hair out of your head? Who ticks you off? Why do you hate them? Who do you love so much you would step in front of stampeding bulls for them? You need to pour heart into your journal as if it’s a liquid thing.   Why? Because your writing must come from an honest place. It must come from authentic emotions, tears, laughter, love, hate, vengeful thoughts, and feelings of passion and lust. If you are laughing when you write in your journal, super. If you are crying, even better because it means that your journal is helping you find more of the true you. You need the true you if you’re going to write. She’s gotta be sitting right beside you saying, “Be honest now. Go to those dark memories hidden around the corners of your brain and write ‘em down. Don’t lie to yourself, don’t be vague. Write about the adventures you want to have, the hope that still glows deep inside you, the losses of the past, the failures, the plans that you can’t share with anyone else.   Write about your childhood, including the shattering times. You have to. Do it. Write real.” When you’re ready, after a day, a week, a month, look through your journal. What strikes you the most? What interests you about your own life, your own self, so much that you want to explore it further? Run a yellow highlighter over it. If you’re writing fiction, as I do, give your character the issue(s) you deal with. Give her something from your past that you still wrestle with. Give her that horrid ex boyfriend of yours, but this time she slays that dragon, he doesn’t slay her. Give her that difficult, whiny aunt, or that whisky-drinking uncle, or that crazy cousin who works as a stripper. Give her a pet llama. Give her a life that has completely fallen apart, as yours did last year. Give her grief or self esteem issues or a wild streak that constantly gets her into trouble, but it’s so much fun. Go from there. Develop that character based on some of your answers above. Draw a picture of her in your journal. Then write down fifty different things about her, from where she lives to what toothpaste she uses to her pets and her job and if she likes sex or not. (Don’t worry, we’ll talk about developing characters next month.) Be open to visions, too, as you write in your journal. That sounds weird. But you know what I’m talkin’ about because you’ve had visions, too, I know it. Let me share with you one of my visions. When I was in college, I had a vision of a young woman throwing a fluffy, smothering white wedding dress into a scraggly tree on a deserted, dusty street in North Dakota. She was crying and flamin’ mad. She was trying to toss that wedding dress onto a branch but it kept floating back down on her head, which made her even madder. That vision made me ask, “Why the hell is she doing that?” Years later it launched my first book, “Julia’s Chocolates.” I gave Julia an abusive fiancé she was running from. I put her on a farm in Oregon with an Aunt Lydia who painted her house pink, “like a vagina,” and the front door black to “ward off seedy men.”  I put flowering toilets in her front yard and a rainbow bridge. I gave Julia three new friends â€" a minister’s wife who was suffocating in that role, a mother who was married to an alcoholic and couldn’t get the courage to leave him, and a psychic. I gave Julia a love of chocolate. All from that one vision. Sit quietly for a bit, every day, with your journal.   First, clear your mind. Then let the visions wander through. Embrace your visions, no matter how wacky, unbelievable, or ludicrous. Maybe your vision is a woman who makes donuts while crying. Why does she cry making donuts? Maybe your vision involves a crazy family. What are they hiding?  Maybe your vision involves life in the future. What does the future look like? Is there a threat to the planet?   Maybe there’s a magical element. What is it? How does it affect your characters? Maybe your vision is flat out frightening, and it would make a gripping thriller. Write those visions down in your journal. Start playing with them. Again, which one grabs you the most? Get out that yellow highlighter again. One more thing? Writing and art are closely related. In my journals I sketch pictures of people and cut out pictures from magazines for inspiration and ideas. Try it. Once a month we’ll chat about writing a book this year. If I can do it, you can do it. Truly. You can. Write on, friends. Cathy Lamb has written eleven novels and six short stories.  Her latest book is The Language of Sisters. http://cathylamb.org/ facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/cathy.lamb.9/ . Image credits: Main.  All others via Author..

A Promising Career in Building Information Modeling - CareerMetis.com

A Promising Career in Building Information Modeling If you have a close eye for details, the guts to face challenges, the expertise to handle intricate designs and proficiency in sophisticated software packages you can have a promising career in BIM. Haven’t heard about BIM yet? No worries, we can start with familiarizing BIM.What is BIM?evalBIM stands for Building Information Modeling and the textbook definition for it will sound something like “BIM Looks dorky right? Yeah, sure it does, lol. This dorkiness is the exact reason why most budding engineers stay away from BIM.Ok, let’s get going.Let’s say, you won a multi-billion bingo, and you decide to build a luxury apartment. You have a lot of plans for how it should look like in the end. Starting from what color should the walls be to the minute details in the nuke and corner of your house.You hire an engineer, and you explain your ideas and views, for which he nods his head. Then he comes up with loads of paper where lines are running in every possible direction and says th is is how it’s going to be in the end. Don’t you think that’s more than enough for a man with no technical exposure to freak out?On the other hand, imagine if some engineer could come up to you with an intelligent model resembling the way how Iron man designs his stuff. Seems cool, isn’t it?That’s what a BIM engineer does; they are all Tony starks and the software packages like Revit, AutoCAD, NavisWorks, and so on combines to from Tony’s Jarvis.What Does It Take To Have a Promising Career in BIM?The requirements for being the BIM guy in a company isn’t all about how skilled an engineer you are. The expertise in the latest construction software packages like Revit, CAD, NavisWorks, and so on matters equally.evalThough these are the minimum requirements to be a BIM engineer, to have a viable career growth you need to develop excellent managerial skills and organizational skills.The responsibility of a BIM engineer can range from designing a 3D model in Revit to carrying out coordination among the MEP, HVAC, Structural Architectural elements of the proposed design, figuring out the clashes between any elements, carrying out meetings to resolve the conflicts, and so on.This is why I believe being a BIM manager both is and will prove to be a genuinely promising career in coming years.The Potential Designations a BIM Engineer Can Have:BIM coordinatorBeing a BIM coordinator is the first step towards climbing up the ladder of BIM careers. The job profile, responsibility, and authority of a BIM coordinator varies depending upon the Industry he works within.evalThe mandatory prerequisite for being a BIM coordinator is to have an adequate level of industrial exposure, and in-depth BIM coordinators have to coordinate information and people to complete corporate and project objectives.You can’t handle this job unless you have considerable experience in the industry or you are coordinator trained for the specific designation by the more experienced project managers and coordinators.Their pay and duties can vary significantly from project management personnel to somewhat entry level designer.Part Time BIM managerEarning this post solely depends on how good your work is and how much loyal and trustworthy you are to the company. Once you are a part-time BIM manager, it means you are a trusted employee and has earned the employer’s trust.The responsibilities of a part-time BIM manager can include being responsible for standards, specific technologies, project setup, developing content, managing data coming in and out of the office, training, and much more.This is where having an adequate managerial skill set apart from the technical proficiency will be of use.Full-Time BIM managerThere is only a fine line of difference between a part-time and full-time BIM manager. The key difference is that a full-time BIM manager has to have a clear understanding of project workflow.These people have to work equally on both projects and technology, t raining, creating standards, supervising marketing initiatives, and so on.Full-time managers have additional responsibility for considering budgets, productivity, setting business goals and most importantly they should have the ability to carry out both “High level” and “Low level” technical conversation.The BIM DirectorThese guys come in the top end of the hierarchy level. They are either members of the senior management team or a trusted advisor to the senior management. This post is rare as only big firms with multiple projects happening simultaneously around the year hire them.evalThe vital prerequisite for this designation is to have excellent managerial and leadership skills. They will have to handle a team of BIM managers, along with managing the business team of a firm. These abilities come only with years of managerial experience in the AEC industry.BIM is a New Technology, So Who is Currently Working On It?BIM is the latest game changer in the AEC industry; some pe ople were working with the CADD industry shifting to BIM.These people are currently responsible for handling a plethora of responsibilities ranging from meeting with clients and contractors, doing a quality check on the BIM deliverables, running clash detection and coordination work and importantly managing the team of budding BIM engineers.They are also helping the new companies implement BIM and creating awareness among them about the benefits of implementing BIM.evalAre There Real Chances for Young BIM Engineers?The latest advancement in technology is revolutionizing the AEC industry. The industry is in grave need of young, experienced and qualified BIM engineers.evalEspecially in this period of transition, where someone who can manage development and be of assistance is critical.Creativity in young professionals makes it possible for them to push the AEC industry further forward, in turn, contributing to the growth of the global economy.With the induction of budding BIM engineer s into the industry, there is going to be a symbiotic relationship between the senior engineers and the lesser experienced ones. They both will have a lot to learn from each other.Future of BIM Engineers?Most of the European countries have already made it mandatory to implement BIM since 2016.India is a growing economy and with 11% of its GDP being contributed by the AEC sector apart from being one of the largest employers, will inevitably undergo modernization in no time.It won’t be long before the government mandates the implementation of BIM in major engineering projects. There is going to be an immense need for BIM engineers globally! If nothing else, thismakes BIM one of the highly promising career for engineers.In short, BIM engineers are going to have a successful career within a short span of 5 years. With most of the countries moving towards adopting BIM, engineers should start learning more about BIM. In addition, they should be improving their managerial skills.When BIM is the norm, they will be able to leverage their technical expertise and the managerial skills. This will allow any BIM Engineer to reap the best of their career, including you!

3 Signs Its Time for a Career Change - CareerAlley

3 Signs Its Time for a Career Change - CareerAlley We may receive compensation when you click on links to products from our partners. Never too old, never too bad, never too late, never too sick to start from scratch once again. Bikram Choudhury. Many of us are unsatisfied with our jobs. Thats just the way things go sometimes. However, it is important to determine if your dissatisfaction with your job is something that can be remedied or if it is time to consider a change. It makes sense that so many of us fuss about disliking our jobs. We set goals and aspirations in our mind that are always one step out of reach. This is good. It keeps us trying. However, it is important to realize that just because your job isnt your dream career doesnt mean you have to hate it or even dislike it. Be sure you are getting the absolute most that you can out of your work experience. Pinpointing whether or not it is time to consider a career change is a difficult process. Pay attention to these four signs that you might want to consider a new job or profession. You Dont Fit In This can mean several different things. Getting along with your peers and your boss at your job is a very important aspect of your job satisfaction. If you find that you have little in common with your coworkers, it can be a good sign that you just arent a good fit with them. Of course, you dont want to make your entire professional decision based on how many friends you have at work, but if you find that you are feeling isolated or excluded from the inner workings of your organization, thats not a good sign. Even more significant, if your values do not align with your companys values, that can be a sure sign that you need to consider a new path. Feeling morally secure about your career is a very important aspect of remaining happy with yourself and your job. Your Work Doesnt Demonstrate Your Full Potential We want a position that uses and showcases all of our best qualities. There is nothing more disheartening than performing tasks that are significantly below your ability over and over again. Though it means more work, you want to receive projects at work that challenge you while also highlighting your strongest qualities. Repeatedly getting projects and assignments that play to your weaknesses or are beneath your level is a good sign that you should look for work elsewhere. Working in an environment that continually asks you to perform tasks that dont interest you or that discredit you is not a sustainable situation. You Only Think About Work from 9 to 5 Individuals who are truly passionate about their work think about their jobs outside of their regular work hours. Part of being excited and passionate about what you do is dreaming up ideas and strategies on your down time. If you find yourself only thinking about your work when you are at work from nine to five, you may want to evaluate your work situation. You may just be skating by with your job, rather than feeling truly passionate about your work. Do you take time outside of your work hours to learn more about your industry or area of expertise? If you do not, you may not be as inspired by your work as you should be. It may be time to look for a position or career that will truly ignite some excitement and inspiration in you. Alvina Lopez is a freelance writer and blog junkie, who blogs about accredited online colleges.She welcomes your comments at her email Id: [emailprotected] This is a Guest post. If you would like to submit a guest post to CareerAlley, please follow these guest post guidelines. Good luck in your search.Visit me on Facebook

Questions to ask when networking -

Questions to ask when networking - This is the third in my series about networking. Now that you have the keys to researching your networking targets, and know the fundamentals, you need to consider what to ask when you meet them! The number one thing to remember when networking is that most people have a favorite topic of discussion themselves! GL Hoffman had some useful advice at his blog, What Would Dad Say?: It truly is not about you. It is more about the other person. Ask questions, find their interesting story, learn from them, ask advice. Strive for a conversation that is 25% you, 75% them. Remember your manners. Smile a lot. Say please and thank you. Hold doors open. Make eye contact. Say “and” more than you say “but.” Be positive. These are the things your mom taught you. These are great launching off points to consider before thinking of what to ask at an informational meeting. Dont forget that its important to assess what you want to know! There is nothing worse than having a meeting and walking away without accomplishing your goals. So, have some goals! Need help learning what to say when networking? Find tips and scripts for in-person and online networks in my new book: 100 Conversations for Career Success Figure out what you need to know about the organization or the person things that you cannot find out by a quick Google search. Consider asking about the persons (or organizations) values, important skills needed to work there and about how they do business. Ask the nuanced questions you want to know. For example: What are your biggest challenges? (Or those impacting your field/company/organization?) What is the best (and worst) part of your job? What would you do differently (if anything) if you were starting over in your field? At the same time, in case you have a contact who likes to ask a lot of questions, be sure that you can also discuss your unique qualities your unique selling proposition. What are YOUR skills. Why are you interested in this field or organization? What do YOU have to offer? Be sure to bring along your resume, just in case your networking contact asks for it, or if you have an opportunity to ask for input and advice. In the long run, what exactly you ask is less important than HOW you ask it and how well prepared you appear. It is really true that you have one chance to make a first impressionBe interested and interesting and you wont have to worry! Feel free to share your great question ideas and success stories in the comments! photo by leo reynolds