Thursday, November 28, 2019

Three Steps to Rapidly Hire Summer Staff

Three Steps to Rapidly Hire Summer StaffThree Steps to Rapidly Hire Summer StaffThree Steps to Rapidly Hire Summer Staff MatusonSummer has unofficially started and horrors your business maystill be in need of summer staff. While it may be seasonally appropriate to stick your head in the sand, it wontget your summer hiring done before the last school bell rings.Heres the first thing to know the summer hiring landscape has dramatically changed and so must you.With no time to waste, here are some tips on what you can do to rapidly hire summer hiresin a hot and often arid labor market.Contact Everyone You Know for ReferralsNot every kid has left town for a dream summer European vacation. Some are still heavily involved in sports and studying for finals. Thats good news for you, as many of these students are open to taking on a summer job. They just havent had the time to look for a seasonal job.Make a list of everyone you know. It should include friends, acquaintances, former employees (who left on favorable terms), teachers, customers and peers. Reach out to these people, either through email or by phone.Ask them who they know that might be interested in a seasonal job this summer. Where appropriate, sweeten the deal by offering a referral fee or perhaps a gift certificate to your place of business.Leverage Your Social NetworkIncrease the job postings visibility through your social network. Include links to your summer job postings on social media sites like Instagram and Facebook. These sites tend to be frequented by the population who you are likely looking to hire.Consider Alternative Work SchedulesSummer doesnt seem to last very long these days, especially when students need to return to school early to participate in sports. Theres also the challenge of working in time off to recover from a fairly intensive school year. Thats where being different can pay off.Be open to an old idea whose time has come back around again job sharing.Job sharing is a work arr angement where two people typically are hired on a part-time basis to perform a job that is normally filled by someone working full-time hours. Compensation is allocated between the workers. Two friends could very well share one job.This approach gives both parties the opportunity to earn money and work experience, while also having reserving time to enjoy summer. Let summer hire applicants know this is a real possibility and encourage them to bring in a friend who is available to tag team with them.Forget PerfectionForget about looking for the perfect summer hire. That ship sailed several weeks ago. While you certainly dont want to skimp on necesary job requirements such as a lifeguard certificate for lifeguard positions, you can ease up on requirements that are nice to haves.For example, you might have hoped to hire someone for your ice cream shop that has experience sensationsmeldunging ice cream. Clearly this is one skill that can be taught. If a candidate has a can-do attitude, then by all means, scoop him up and make an offerConsider Non-traditional Summer HiresThere are many stay-at-home parents who have kids going off to camp this summer. Many would jump at the chance to dip their toes back in the job market.Its not uncommon for stay-at-home parents to hang with other parents who are in the same situation. If you can get one or two of these people to say yes, theyll recruit others on your behalf.Consolidate Your Hiring ProcessIn an ideal world, it would be great to conduct more than one interview with candidates you are considering hiring for a seasonal job. Todays hiring conditions are anything but ideal for employers.According to Trade Economics, the overall unemployment rate will hover near 5% this year with fewer adults seeking seasonal work compared with last year. This means you have no margin of error. Those that are taking too long to hire will no doubt find themselves coming up empty handed in terms of staff.Examine your seasonal hiring proces s with an eye towards significantly reducing the amount of time it takes for someone to go from the application process to being hired. Consider having candidates fill out an abbreviated application, which may help to increase your applicant flow.Interview seasonal workers on the spot and be prepared to make offers that very same day, contingent upon satisfactory references.Theres still time to fill your seasonal jobs. Look in places where others arent digging for talent, streamline your summer hiring process and be ready to extend an offer the moment that almost perfect candidate walks in the door.

Saturday, November 23, 2019

How to Prepare for a Skype Job Interview

How to Prepare for a Skype Job InterviewHow to Prepare for a Skype Job InterviewThere are no rules in todays job search, which means you have to be prepared for any situation. Many employers today are performing their first-round interviews through a video-conferencing tool rather than conducting a phone or in-person interview. If you have been invited to attend a virtual job interview, chances are good that you will be using the free cross-platform software, Skype. If youre in this situation, be koranvers to review these virtual interview tips specifically tailored for Skype.Download and install ahead of timeDo not make the mistake of downloading Skype only minutes before the interview is scheduled to begin. Depending on your Internet connection speed, this may take some time. Furthermore, before the first use, you will need to create a user account, which also takes some time. Provided the recruiter or employer gave you plenty of warning, you should download and install it hours, o r preferably days, before the interview is due to start.Configure on two devicesSkype is cross-platform, meaning that you can install it on your Windows-based desktop, Apple-based phone and even Android-based tablet. Installing Skype on at least two devices will ensure that if your default device fails, you can switch to your second device in seconds It simply makes good planning.Choose an appropriate photo and usernameWhen you first come to use Skype, you are asked to either log in or create a user account. The username you choose, as well as the nach eigenem belieben photo you upload, are visible by the interviewer. This is their first impression of you. Therefore, it makes sense to select a username and photo that are suitable for an interview scenario. Variants of your first, middle and last names work well as a screen name. As for the optional photo, a professional-looking headshot works best.Test the software When you first open Skype, you will see that you already have one co ntact in your contact list, called Skype. You can call this contact to test your speaker and microphone Simply double-click the contact and follow the instructions.Practice beforehand If you havent used Skype before, you are strongly encouraged to arrange a mock interview. Ask a friend or family member to video call you and asked a number of questions. Use this opportunity to practice using the software. Be sure to ask them for feedback on how you presented yourself and how you can improve.Minimize noise get rid of distractionsBeyond the very obvious steps of closing the door behind you, disconnecting your telephone, you should also take the time to close all non-essential apps and software you have open. The disruptive noise of a new email notification or tweet alert can be annoying and distracting to the interviewer.Dress the partDress as if you are attending a physical face-to-face interview. It will help you achieve the right state if mind needed for the challenge.During the Sk ype interviewAn important step is to establish and maintain eye contact with the caller. To accomplish this more easily, drag the chat window nearer the webcam location. Now, when you look at the chat window, you are looking at the webcam and making eye contact. In addition to maintaining eye contact, you should refrain from making distracting sounds. Avoid tapping on the table, typing on your keyboard, moving paper around, or anything that might create unpleased noise to the person on the other side of the line. You want your interviewer to focus on your knowledgeable and well-planned responses, not the annoying ping of your Facebook notifications.Good luck, and with these tips, youll have no technical surprises in your upcoming Skype-based job interview.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

How much should you should save in every state for early retirement

How much should you should save in every state for early retirementHow much should you should save in every state for early retirementWho doesnt want to retire early?Theres a new movement among financial advisors called FIRE (Financial Independence / Retire Early). The basic idea is to live below what you could theoretically afford, so that you can maximize retirement savings and exit the workforce as soon as possible. So how much money would it really take to retire as early as 55 years old? What about 45, or even 35 years old? You might not need as much money as you think to retire early, according to our new set of maps. Depending on where you live, you could retire on as little as $1.5 1000000 if youre 35 years old.Mississippi is the best state for early retirees, but Hawaii, California and New York are prohibitively expensive.GoBankingRatescollected the information from a few different sources. The researches started by figuring out the annual cost of living expenditures for peo ple at 35, 45 and 55 years old, which came to $69,034, $73,905 and $64,972 respectively. They then adjusted the cost of living on a state-by-state basis using data from theBureau of Labor Statistics 2017 Consumer Expenditure Surveyand theMissouri Economic Research and Information Center.They divided each states annual expenditures by .04, which is the rate at which savers would draw down their accounts each year. The result is a total savings figure, or nest egg, for each state.Granted, there are a few things to keep in mind about the data behind our maps. For one thing, our figures presume a flat 4% withdrawal each year regardless of what the market does. Theres no adjustment for inflation, and theres no flexibility to change the withdrawal from year to year. We also make the assumption that your cost of living will stay constant. If you retire at age 35, you probably have 50 or more years left. In short, theres no doubt were simplifying reality for illustration purposes.Our series of color-coded maps highlight a few insights about saving for retirement. $1 mio isnt nearly enough to last a lifetime, as we demonstrated in aprevious article. The South is cheaper than the Northeast and the West Coast, making it particularly attractive for retirees on a fixed income looking for warmer climates. Mississippi is the most affordable state in the country for all ages of retirees, and Hawaii is the most expensive.An interesting thing happens to Upper Midwestern states for older savers. From Wisconsin stretching west to Idaho, a number of states fall below $1.6M for early retirees aged 55, but not for 45- or 35-year-olds.. This means it gets relatively easier to retire the older you get in these states, both because youll have more time to save money, but youll also need a smaller nest egg to live comfortably. Financial independence doesnt always mean retirement, which itselfisnt funfor everyone. Instead, its knowing that youre financially secure no matter what the futu re brings.DataTable 1.1This article first appeared on HowMuch.