Age-Appropriate Summer Jobs for 13-Year-Olds

Age-Appropriate Summer Jobs for 13-Year-OldsAge-Appropriate Summer Jobs for 13-Year-OldsIn most states, the legal age to begin workingis 14, but a 13-year-old can still perform many part-time jobs, from taking care of younger kids to tending gardens.No set pay scale exists for most of these jobs, but a little research can help you figure out what the going satz is in your community. While there is no limit to how much a 13-year-old can earn, many states set a restriction on the number of continuous hours a child this age can work. 01Babysitter Maya Karkalicheva/Getty ImagesMany summer camps that cater to the under-12 age group are glad to offer programs for junior counselors (sometimes called counselors in training or CITs).Junior counselors may or may not actually get paid for their work, but either way, they gain valuable experience and references that can pave the way to future employment.

How to Set Realistic, Achievable Career Goals - The Muse

How to Set Realistic, Achievable Career Goals - The MuseHow to Set Realistic, Achievable Career Goals It wasnt working for my client, Miranda. Shed gotten herbei degree and was doing well in her role at a Big Four accounting firm, but something was missing. Sure, she could keep going, receive generous compensation, and continue to advance. But deep down inside, no fireworks were going off she couldnt see herself on this path for the long term. But like so many other employees who feel stuck, she didnt know how to make a career pivot. On one hand, she wanted to reach for the stars, but on the other, she knew that she had limited experience in a specific industry and needed to be realistic about what she could pursue. Ultimately, she wanted to land a financial leadership role in the healthcare industry. What Miranda learned is that if you want to change something for example, chart a new path, ditch a boring job, or pivot in your career, youve got to abflug by platzdeckchenting a goal. By working toward a goal, you end up getting much more than your desired outcome. Setting and achieving meaningful career goals provides three essential career nutrients increased job satisfaction, higher self-esteem, and improved quality of your life. But how do you form a right-size goal thats ambitious, but doesnt overwhelm you? Here are a few tips to help you truly understand how to achieve goals. You Need ClarityStudies show youre more likely to succeed when your career goals are specific. So, start by peering into the future and creating a vision for your ideal self and career. What would that look like in one, three, or five years?Ask yourself Whats your job like? What kind of skills and responsibilities do you have? Who is your employer, and what is your job like? What are you totally awesome at? What kind of team do you work with? When you clearly visualize your desired outcome, you begin to see the possibility of achieving it- and you can start taking steps to build your plan.Miranda wanted a role at a regional healthcare organization, where she would oversee financial planning and reporting as parte of a dynamic, progressive team- one with a culture that valued and respected its employees. And she wanted that position by June of 2017. WANT HELP REACHING YOUR GOALS?We know career coaches who do just thatHire one today It Has to Challenge You- But With a Realistic OutcomeIf youre in your second year of public accounting, and your goal is to become CFO of Apple by the end of next year, you have your head in the clouds. Although you may know the basics of accounting, you have a long road ahead of you before youll be the CFO of one of the worlds largest companies. Just sayin. Miranda realized that for her desired outcome to actually be realistic, shed need to acquire more knowledge and additional skills. So she did the research, spoke with people in similar jobs, and realized that by taking a few additional courses and volunteering as the part-time CFO of a small nonprofit, she could start acquiring the skills and knowledge to achieve her goal. And that made it imminently more realistic. You Must Be CommittedIve heard so many people say, I hate my job and need to make a change. But they take zero action to make that change happen. Theyll give you a hundred reasons why they dont go after that change, but you can boil them down to one They simply arent committed to that goal.If you believe your goal is important and attainable, you stand a much higher chance of succeeding. Miranda committed to her goal by adopting a mindset that set her up for success- she saw herself achieving her goal. She was clear in her desired outcome, and perhaps most importantly, she was willing to share her goal with others, which held her accountable to making progress along the way.You get commitment only when you are convinced that the goal is important to you and that its attainable. Feedback Is EssentialMiranda identified a couple of key mentors and co aches to share her goals with and committed to providing them with regular updates. To make sure she could provide a significant update every time she spoke with unterstellung mentors, she broke her ultimate goal into more bite sized action steps, which required shorter timeframes. For example, she set a goal to have one conversation per week with someone working in her desired industry and role. From those informational interviews, she identified potential target employers and what it takes to succeed in that role. Each time she made some progress, she shared her insights with her mentors, and they helped her make tweaks to her other action steps based on what she was learning. Having a feedback process allowed her to stay motivated, stay on track, and feel a sense of accomplishments throughout the entire process. You Must Create the Right Conditions for SuccessSuccessfully achieving your goal requires just two conditions time and practice. When Miranda set the goal to connect with one partie a week, she did it for a good reason It was a realistic goal that she knew shed have time to accomplish. She could have said, Ill connect with seven people each week. But given her current professional commitments, the complexity required to achieve that objective would have been overwhelming. By week two she likely would have fallen behind, become discouraged, and perhaps even given up. To avoid burning out and quitting on unrealistic goals, create intermediate objectives that you have enough time to complete, given your real-life commitments.Then, practice Miranda was getting great relationship-building practice in her weekly networking meetings. She knew that would be essential for any career move she made. She was also getting great hands-on practice creating financial statements in her volunteer position. This gave her time to learn, experiment, and fail in a safe environment, while she kept moving her career plan forward. Im highly confident Miranda is going to ach ieve the career goal she set for herself. And when she does, it will be a huge win for her. Not only because shell achieve her desired outcome, but also because shell have built a fabulous winning experience on setting and achieving a career milestone- one step at a time.

Management Trainee Interview Questions and Answers

Management Trainee Interview Questions and AnswersManagement Trainee Interview Questions and AnswersIf youre interviewing for a management trainee job, expect questions that focus on your ability to lead groups, delegate tasks, and perform other management duties. If youre a recent college graduate with limited work experience, prepare to use examples from summer work, school, or personal experience to answer behavioral questionsabout how you have handled challenges in the past. Below are a number of questions that you might be asked, along with suggestions about how to respond. This isnt a script. Consider it a thought exercise that will help you get ready for the interview. Management Trainee Interview Questions and Answers 1.Why do you want this job?Employers dont want to hire people who are looking for any job they can get. They want employees who are enthusiastic and passionate about this particular job and want to stay with the company for a long time. In your answer, empha size specific aspects of the job description, such as how you enjoy leading a particular type of project, or have experience with a certain product or industry mentioned in it. Show your interest by referring to a recent news story about the company or one of its products that helped motivate you to apply. 2.What have you learned from mistakes youve made in the past?If you cant think of a mistake youve made, you wont look credible. Describe a real mistake, and explain what you learned from it, and how you took steps to prevent it from happening again. Remember, youre proving that you can manage people, projects, and teams, as well as delegate and manage time. Think of a time when you made a mistake, learned from it, and became a better manager as a result. Stories from school are perfectly acceptable, especially since you probably didnt make your mistake when money was on the line. 3. What challenges are you looking for in this role?Prospective managers want to hear that you will no t shy away from difficult decisions. Emphasize your problem-solving skills. Talk about how you evaluate various options when faced with a problem. Focus on how your skills and experience can help you handle unexpected problems and still deliver results. Be honest and center your answer around challenges that genuinely excite you. The goal is not to fib your way into a job that will make you miserable, but rather to show that youre ready and able to make tough decisions. 4.What is your biggest weakness?You may have been advised to answer with a canned response like Im a perfectionist, or I work too hard. But employers are looking for honest answers. Focus on a weakness that is relatively minor and that you are actively working to overcome. For instance, you could say, Im nervous about public speaking, which I know is a problem for my career. Ive joined a local Toastmasters group to help me learn some tried-and-tested techniques. I also volunteer for presentations and speaking assignm ents to practice. The best answers to this question show that you are self-aware and willing to take responsibility for improving yourself professionally. 5.Why should we hire you?Use this an opportunity to showcase what makes you unique. Everyone who makes the short list will be knowledgeable about the company, but perhaps youre also really passionate about the organization and the mission. Or maybe your past experiences have given you greater insight into the industry. 6. Do you have questions for us?This is probably the last question in the interview, and its your last chance to really impress the hiring manager. Come prepared with a shortlist of questionsabout the company and the job role. You might ask what the companys main focus is right now, how much autonomy your team would be given, and what the biggest challenge is for a management trainee there. Remember, youre interviewing them just as much as theyre interviewing you. This is your opportunity to find out if the company is a good fit for you. Take advantage of it.

8 Ways Youre Sabotaging Your Work Reputation

8 Ways Youre Sabotaging Your Work Reputation8 Ways Youre Sabotaging Your Work Reputation Most professionals care what their colleagues and the higher-ups think of them. Thats because how people perceive you and your work is often the determining factor in whether or not you get a promotion , raise or access to leadership opportunities. Unfortunately, there are a lot of elements that go into determining what your work reputation actually is, and theyre not always easy to keep tabs on. The quality of your work matters of course, but the small actions you take each day add up to create a bigger picture about who you are. Ahead, find the most common pitfalls that people dont realize are hurting them. It might seem like being game for anything and everything asked of you, despite being busy, is a surefire way to earn a stellar rep, but it can actually pigeonhole you into a specific job longer than you want to be there - and make you look a little too eager. If you alwa ys take on tasks, there will come a point in time when you become irreplaceable - and not in a good way, says Leonard Kim, managing partner of InfluenceTree , a personal branding accelerator that teaches you how to punkt your brand, get featured in publications and grow your social media following. Oftentimes, when people say yes to every single task presented to them, they are seen as so good at their role that they become the only person who can do it. Theyre never promoted because they have become the best person in the world at filling that job role, Kim explains. In a sense, they become so synonymous with the role, that theyre no longer considered for opportunities to move up. So instead of biting off mora than you can chew, stick to projects that interest you and that you realistically have time to do.Theres nothing wrong with being focused, but its important to take stock of how you act in your day-to-day. If youre passing someone by, are you smiling? Do you say hi? Excus e me? Or do you seem rushed? Kim asks. Sometimes, keeping your head down and your eyes on the prize can be mistaken for a negative outlook or an unfriendly attitude. People take notice of all the small actions you make , so make sure youre aware of what youre doing and how it reflects on you. Your anfhrer isnt the only person who matters at work, Kim says. Your coworkers matter , too, and the last thing that you want them to do is to turn against you. So yes, its good to impress your boss, but dont do it at the cost of alienating your colleagues. The most common thing I see people do that ruins their reputation at work is when they take a job that doesnt fit with their personality, but dont try to adapt, Kim explains. Employers try their best to hire culture fits for their geschftszimmer, but sometimes it just doesnt work out. That means its up to you to adapt and mold yourself into your companys culture. Sometimes this situation can be tough to spot, but Kim says behavior that goes against the grain is generally an easy tell that somethings not quite right. Do you work in a fast-paced environment, but youre someone who takes things slow? Are you a stiff personality who tries to keep things all business in an office environment where everyone treats each other like family? Do you like to share stories about your weekends when everyone tries to be a bit more professional in the office? Chances are, youre destroying your reputation and you dont even know it.Theres a delicate balance between saying more than necessary and not saying enough, and its important to strike that balance. Lets say you hopped on a conference call and introduced yourself, but said nothing afterwards. Maybe you said one sentence. Or maybe you talked for the entire conversation. People will think you have nothing to contribute, your opinion doesnt matter or that you want to steal the show for yourself, Kim says. The key here is to learn to contribute the right amount - adding value but still listening to others - and then stay consistent.Dont get us wrong - if youre having a serious issue with a colleague that requires HR involvement, by all means, get your superior involved. But if its something small, like a team member not pulling their weight on a specific project or a one-off comment that didnt sit right with you, dont go straight to the top, Kim says. Being seen as someone who will run to their manager as soon as things get tough isnt exactly desirable. If youre having a conflict with someone at the office, try your best to resolve it on your own. If you cant, then just avoid the other person. And if it becomes too much for you to handle, it may be time for you to take a conflict management class. If youre sensing a theme here, its that little things matter when it comes to determining your reputation. Whether its chewing gum, smoking, wearing headphones at your computer, hovering over another coworkers desk or constantly being away from your desk, peop le take notice. Most of the time, the most subtle things are the ones that are holding you back from ultimate success, Kim says. It might seem difficult to figure out what your little habits are that could be damaging your rep, but Kim suggests you ask yourself how you want to be seen at work. Then think about how a person with those qualities would act at their office and compare them to your quirks. If the person youre imagining isnt chewing gum or hanging up cat pictures, then thats probably something you shouldnt be doing, either.Many people believe that working as hard as they possibly can and outperforming everyone else will put them on the fast track to success. According to Kim, this isnt always true. Sometimes, working harder than everyone else will work against you. You may be thinking, whats the worst thing that can happen if you perform at your absolute best? Well, sucking up didnt work in grade school, and it also doesnt work in an office environment. Kims advice is s imple Do your best, but dont go overboard. Be humble. Tone it down. Let your work speak for itself. That way, youll avoid any office politics.

Speeding Up 3D Printing By a Lot

Speeding Up 3D Printing By a Lot Speeding Up 3D Printing By a Lot Speeding Up 3D Printing by a LotAnyone whos watched a 3D printer in action knows the whole experience is one of excruciating boredom. It can take hours for a standard a standard printer to create a simple figurine. Yawn.Maxim Shusteff, a staff engineer in the materials engineering division of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and his colleagues, were just as bored with the process as the rest of us. So they found a way to speed things upby a lot.The question we put to ourselves was could we take the next leap in additive by making 3D structures all at once, Shusteff says.By using laser-generated 3D images flashed into photosensitive resin, researchers were able to build complex 3D parts in a fraction of the time of traditional layer-by-layer printing. Image LLNLTo do that they turned to that ever-useful phenomenon, light. Stereolithographic printers already use light to cure polymers. But they do it at a snai ls pace, layer by layer. Shusteffs kollektiv hoped to eliminate that annoying limitation. Borrowing from the techniques of holography, they created a 3D-printing process that uses lasers to cure every part of an object at the same time.The Livermore researchers call the method volumetric printing and have used it to print beams, planes, struts, lattices and other complex and curved objects in seconds. Their paper was recently published in Science Advances.In essence, Shusteffs volumetric printer sends multiple laser beams into a vat of photosensitive liquid polymer. The polymer hardens where the lasers intersect and the light is at its brightest. It takes a certain dose of light to cure the material, Shusteff says. We are trying to shape the light pattern so that it all reaches a certain dose at the same time.The printer uses a primary laser beam that has been expanded to about two inches in diameter. Other beams are reflected to intersect with the wider beam to create the right int ensity. Watch the process here.For lasers to reach all points of an object at once, the polymer they transverse needs to be transparent. Right now that means the object thats 3D printed has to be transparent to the visible eye. As a result, the items the lab has printed so far have a clear, icy quality to them. But future versions of the printer could, conceivably, print in color, mainly because visible light is only one type of radiation and many materials are transparent in some wavelengths but not others. Transparency is not as narrow of a category as, intuitively, we think it is, Shusteff says.Once the printer is automated, it will be able to cure an entire action figure, phone case or whatever in about ten seconds or so.In addition to revolutionizing the speed of printing 3D objects, the new process will also fix some other problems. Spanning and overhanging structures, which are difficult to create with traditional 3D printers, would be no problem for a volumetric printer. And the size of a printed object is theoretically unlimited. To make bigger parts, all you need is a bigger tank of resin and a more powerful light source both are widely available, Shusteff says.With a seconds long print time, volumetric printing may eventually take 3D printing fully out of the prototype realm and straight to manufacturing. But that revolution will have to wait till theres been a little more development.What we did is take a first stab at seeing whats possible with this technique, says Shusteff. We havent had a chance to push the wertzuwachs matrix to any great degree. Can we do a part in a second? Can you do it in a tenth of a second? Who knows? Theres plenty of work to do.Michael Abrams is an independent writer.Read more about new advances in manufacturing and design on ASME.orgTo just make bigger parts, all you need is a bigger tank of resin and a more powerful light source. Both are widely available.Maxim Shusteff, Lawrence Livermore

New Article Reveals the Low Down on Resume Experience and Why You Must Take Action Today

New Article Reveals the Low Down on Resume Experience and Why You Must Take Action Today Quantify your accomplishments naturally, a number of your job descriptions will just explain the duties you performed. Skills are another significant part your career, which is the reason why they ought to be included on your resume, however long youve been working. You should get a job which will nurture your career and you wont find yourself on the exact same rank after sometime. If you receive a chance for an internship, take it. Most Noticeable Resume Experience The response to said question can vary from very easy to overly complicated. Job descriptions are fantastic sources for the keywords your potential employers want. There are many answers for how to construct a perfect resume it can be simple to get caught up in the information. Getting ready for the questions interviewers may ask can help you give great answers. The New Angle On Resume Experience Just Released The job mu st also provide you enough room to learn about the approaching medical technology and also assist you in building your resume. An accomplishment is understood to be something was achieved successfully or the successful achievement of an undertaking. Since you may see, showcasing experience on your resume is quite important. When showcasing experience on your resume, make sure to list the appropriate jobs. Want to Know More About Resume Experience? In plus-rechnen to that, you may also receive pay based on the apprenticeship. Highlight Your Positions Though youve been with the identical company for some moment, you most likely havent been in exactly the same position for the length of your stay. At the close of the day, the only means to discover is to ask the possible research advisor. Quite often, customers expect more than that which theyre paying for. The Appeal of Resume Experience If youre offered the ability to modify workplaces in the center of your co-op then do so . You need to search for a job which has got regular shifts so that youll be in a place to balance your very own personal life and the work. The significant change is that people are nowadays seeking out industry particular recruiters. If you get a strong work history regarding the job which you are seeking, start with that. Resume Experience at a Glance Experience is a benefit. Experience The most essential part of the resume is experience. So even when you dont require an advertising apprenticeship its totenstill possible to learn updated information and earn experience. Even after the apprenticeship is over, however, it is still possible to keep in touch with the business proprietors to do anything you want. Resume Experience Can Be Fun for Everyone You see, there are quite a few factors which should be taken into account when updating a resume. Finding another pair of eyes on your writing, even merely a review, can help you to find issues. There are lots of opportun ities during the job phase to have a huge influence on the outcome. You might believe you want to join the very first organization that catches your eye, but its crucial to explore every one of the organizations to make certain you find the proper fit. What the In-Crowd Wont Tell You About Resume Experience Theres always a Solution. Focus on the authentic job title that youre generally searching and utilizing the resume for. Designing a fantastic problem is important to success. Your cover letter is a superb chance to highlight relevant skills. The very best thing about online digital marketing and advertising apprenticeships is that theres no busy work. With your qualification and skill there is not any reason why you will not find work. There isnt any reason why you must not receive your dream job, consult career experts to acquire the assistance you demand.The salary calculator can help you to understand exactly how much your skills are worth in the market today. If you re asking for work in the finance business, only incorporate the most crucial finance jobs you have worked during your career. Moreover, copywriting ought to be exciting Top Choices of Resume Experience It can be exceedingly simple for a new developer to become caught up on HTML and CSS because thats what they are comfortable with. Recruiters (and ATS) will look for specific software program names and kinds of software. If, naturally, you dont understand how to format a resume correctly, you could save yourself time by employing an online resume creator which does the task for you or download a resume example with the fundamental structure already set. Free Resume Templates offers you the ideal solution in addition to quick fixes to your resumes. Resume Experience Ideas You dont have to be an expert to write on the internet you only need to be in a position to write well enough. For instance, if a number of the previous jobs are highly relevant for the job that youre apply ing for, you can think about putting them at the very top of the list under the Relevant Experience section. Social networking is about connections and communication. Though paid social keeps growing, organic social networking management remains important also Even if youre handing the resume to a contact at the prospective employer, odds are that the document will nonetheless wind up in an ATS. If youre interested in more than 1 form of position, prepare an alternate resume with the correct objective stated. You might want to make certain that your present skills appear transferable to a new kind of employer. From here it is contingent on the choices available to you, and your preferred career path. The Hidden Facts on Resume Experience Exploring opportunities is vital since if you decide you are likely to spend a whole lot of time and energy in an organization, then you would like it to be something which you truly care about. Businesses are constantly searching for more business. Individuals always tend to pick the simple way out. They always tend to take the easy way out. Resume Experience - Dead or Alive? One of the most significant aims of obtaining a job is to receive a great remuneration package however, you should also consider different things. Rather than mentioning things you learned 25 decades before, it would be better to just speak about the ongoing tasks you had the ability to do as a consequence of that training. If you wish to be hired in the field of game development you have to demonstrate how youve already performed successfully in game development. Being employed for a protracted time period is a very good thing.

If Youre Not Listening for These 4 Phrases When Hiring Teachers, Youre Missing Out

If Youre Not Listening for These 4 Phrases When Hiring Teachers, Youre Missing OutFinding and hiring top teachers is one of the most important recruiting jobs. Youre the ringleader of the show when it comes to who will be educating our future leaders. Unfortunately, it isnt boom and suddenly youre hiring teachers who are the best on the job market. Hiring future-molding, groundbreaking teachers requires a deep focus and attention to even the smallest details. To catch those tiny details, its critical that you understand the constant changes and immense pressure teachers absprache with on a daily basis. While a recent report from EmeraldInsight found districts are asking principals to make the final hiring decisions, those final calls are only as strong as the candidates given to them. As youre tasked with the challenge of narrowing their options down, you must familiarize yourself with everything from new state programs to qualifications, education, and backgrounds. To dig deeper and find those inspirational and dedicated teachers, know these four key phrases1.Im trained in interdisciplinary teaching approaches.When hiring teachers, you need to first understand the needs of students currently in the school system. The world is constantly changing around us, so its necessary to find teachers who have the ability to evolve and relate with students. Todays youth, for example, are dealing with complicated, multifaceted challenges due to various cultural and social aspects. According to a 2018 case study, the opportunity for learning is limited by these cultural and social differences. Interdisciplinary teaching, however, creates a virtual third space where students are influenced by multiple teachers, perspectives, and teaching styles. The case study found this third space stimulates critical thinking, develops knowledge, and helps students open up to different perspectives. Hiring teachers who are willing to collaborate with others on one subject matter shows thei r open-mindedness is evolving with the times. As you look for educators who have the ability to nurture students into a better educational and social future, this is an important phrase to keep in mind. Teachers trained in interdisciplinary teaching are empowering students. recruitingClick To Tweet2. Ive noticed that Education is an ever-evolving field and top teachers focus on those evolutions and changes. This means, as youre interviewing teachers, you need to determine how in tune they are with the world around them. Listen closely. When you ask them to explain what inspires them to teach, are they giving you generic answers? They want to motivate students, they love nurturing, this was their one true calling and the list goes on. Or are they going beyond those statements and sharing a story with you. For example I love motivating my students. Ive noticed the more excited I am to teach them a lesson, the more excited they are to learn.Ive noticed students are coming to school mo re drained and exhausted than ever. My goal is to nurture them and make them feel comfortable in their learning environment.This always felt like my one true calling but as I see the impact of my work, I realize just how much I care for each individual student.Those who go deeper into their surroundings prove theyre focused on both their students educational outcomes and their own personal goals. 3. I altered my approach becauseTeachers are the ultimate motivators of change and the masters of change itself. As they motivate students to deal with unpredictability, theyre tackling it themselves, constantly. Its their duty to lead by this moral example in their own teaching methods. Hiring teachers who are able to adapt and teach students how to do the same will mold our future leaders into the ultimate influencers. This result will come from students seeing their teachers and mentors using appropriate coping mechanisms and altering their original approach until the desired results are achieved. During the hiring process, keep a keen eye out for those who use phrases like, I altered my approach, I looked at it from a different angle, Together we found a better solutionFind the change agents of the future to inspire your students. teaching recruitingClick To Tweet4. Through peer-mentoring, I helped another teacher or Through teamwork, we accomplishedA mindblowing 90 percent of open teaching positions are created by teachers who leave the profession entirely, according to a 2017 Learning Policy Institute report, Teacher Turnover Why It Matters and What We Can Do About It. The report found one of the key reasons teachers are leaving is due to a lack of administrative support. To put out this retention fire, the Brevard Federation of Teachers (BFT) is using a three-year, $600,000 grant from the NEA Great Public Schools fund to create a union-run orientation program where veteran teachers create meaningful mentorships with new teachers. Through this program, theyre finding new teachers feel supported and ready to take on another year of teaching. Seek out teachers who are already onboard with mentoring colleagues. Some applicants may stand out because they have the perfect qualifications, education, and skill set. However, if theyre unwilling to create a better school system through teamwork and mentorship, theyre not the best pick for your district. What keywords or phrases do you watch out for when hiring top teachers? Teach us your secrets

How to Use Personality Traits to Recruit an All-Star Team

How to Use Personality Traits to Recruit an All-Star TeamHow to Use Personality Traits to Recruit an All-Star TeamNo one hires in a vacuum filling an open position requires strategy and research. You are placing a new hire onto an unfamiliar team and into a new professional culture. You want to make sure that you maximize the opportunity and onboard a candidate with the skills to do the job and to enhance the functionality of your unit.A team operates best when fueled by an array of talent, including the soft skills that support its internal operations. Soft skills such as flexibility, diplomacy, empathy and likability are to people operations what lubricants are to machinery. They reduce friction while enhancing cohesion and harmony.Soft skills help individuals predict and snger others behavior by intuiting their feelings. This skill set is increasingly in demand, because soft skills can help defuse interpersonal issues and they strengthen relationships.In order to fully embrace the opportunity your open position presents, first analyze what you soft skills your team needs. Then create a recruitment strategy that seeks out those qualities. Identify gapsA team might encounter certain communication obstacles if it is largely comprised of the same types of communicators. If thats the case, it may be obvious what your team is missing.If youre not sure, examine performance appraisals or other devices that you use to chart your teams successes and areas of challenge. Do you find common areas that need to be strengthened? For example, would your team benefit from a candidate who drives projects along, is creative, incorporates different viewpoints, slows everyone down and encourages the team to think through their decisions or someone who has a strong track record for successfully collaborating with other units? It may also prove helpful to have the members of your team take turns leading a meeting while you observe so that you can watch your teams dynamics in action . Observe how they interact with each otherwho dominates? Who facilitates? Who seems engaged and who does not? This exercise will give you a sense of what soft skills you team has and what capabilities could enhance the mechanics of the group.Target soft skills Gear your interview approach towards finding a candidate with the soft skills you are missing. Use your own soft skills to get your applicants talking about theirs during interviews. Ask about volunteer work they undertake, teams they play on, or any extra activities they do. Find out what they like about this workwhy it excites them.This can be an informal conversationan ice breaker. But it will also clue you into what motivates them. If they are volleyball players, for example, they may have a good sense of teamwork. If they serve as mentors or volunteer as Big Brothers/Sisters, they may have a care-taking or community spirit that is just what your group needs.PromptsAnother helpful way to learn about your candidates soft s kills is to use prompts that give you a sense of how they use soft skills at work for example Example (Empathy) Describe a time that you had to help a customer or client who welches disgruntled for reasons that you thought were understandable. Were you able to calm that person down? Were you able to win him or her over? If you could do it again, what would you change?Example (Team player) Describe a time that you had to help out a coworker who was struggling. How did you do that in such a way that your colleague felt supported but not embarrassed? These prompts are open-ended. They leave plenty of room for candidates to discuss processing and feelings. You want them to discuss both so that you can get a sense of how they intuit others feelings and how they operate from those assumptions. RememberSoft skills may be subtle, but with some careful analysis, you can target and track the ones you need to round out your teams skill set.

A Fair Vacation Policy Can Help Prevent a Summer Staff Meltdown

A Fair Vacation Policy Can Help Prevent a Summer Staff MeltdownA Fair Vacation Policy Can Help Prevent a Summer Staff MeltdownA Fair Vacation Policy Can Help Prevent a Summer Staff Meltdown RossheimSummertime - high season for sunburns, cookouts and vacations - can mean high anxiety for managers. Nearly every employee wants to take a good chunk of time off, but most geschftlicher umganges cant allow customer service or any other core function to lapse just because its beach weather. Not to mention who will helpmanagethe business while youre on vacationThese tips will help you keep the trains running through summer without alienating the rank-and-file.Codify your vacation policy. Even if business in your industry slows in summer or you offer unlimited PTO, its wise to maintain a formal vacation policy. Be aya to put it in writing and then distribute it to all employees annually and whenever a substantial change is made.Structure is important, says Nancy Saperstone, senior HR busines s partner at Insight Performance, a menschlich resources consulting firm. Fair vacation policies are not loosey-goosey.Dont be arbitrary. Make sure that vacation requests are granted or denied judiciously. Managers reviewing time-off requests must be consistent to avoid the perception of favoritism, says Jennifer Gunter, secretary of the HR Florida State Council.At small companies in particular, its important that all employees vacation requests are solicited before any summer time off is granted.Be transparent. If you want to keep your employees, dont offend them by handling their vacation requests with a because I said so attitude.Transparency is key, says Saperstone. You have to let people know how youre making these decisions, so people understand and respect how its done. David Galic, a spokesperson with employee-scheduling software vendor Humanity.com, gets to the heart of the matter of a well-managed vacation policy Managers should give reasons for declining vacation requests .Enumerate the criteria for reviewing vacation requests. Employees will be more likely to make workable vacation requests if they understand the deciding factors in your vacation policies. You dont want to only reward senior employees, says Saperstone.You might, for example, prioritize requests that come in early, or reward high performers with first choice of vacation date, or set up a regular rotation to determine whose requests will be considered first.Encourage communication among team members. We have an HRIS system where employees can make vacation requests, and also a shared calendar, says Loni Freeman, vice president of human resources at public relations firm SSPR. We ask employees to communicate with their account team to ensure client coverage.Make flexibility a two-way street. If you give employees some flexibility in the workplace, youre in a position to ask them for flexibility of their vacation arrangements.We have core hours, but otherwise employees can decide at wha t time they arrive at the office and leave, says Freeman. Because we allow daily flexibility, employees may be willing to take a 15- or 20-minute client call on a PTO day, says Freeman. But take care to strictly define responsibilities that carry into vacation time and to limit work during vacations to the absolute minimum.Consider summer Fridays to build good will - and cooperation. Some 42 percent of employers will give employees Friday afternoons off this summer, according to a recent CEB survey. Given that many employees minds will already be at the beach after lunch on TGIF day, formalizing this bonus time off may cost little in productivity while keeping employees engaged all summer and help generate cooperation to manageeveryones PTO requests.Be upfront with your vacation blackout policy. Unless your business depends on seasonal hires, a vacation policy with blackout periods is likely to sow employee discontent. What do you do if an employee has a family wedding during the blackout? You could create an exception, but that might breed additional resentment among other employees.If you must ban time off at certain times of year, its really important to let employees know during their onboarding that the company sometimes needs to have a blackout period for vacations, says Galic.Offer rewards for those who work sought-after days off. Consider giving employees special consideration if they agree to work certain days that most people want to take off. This can be especially important at small businesses, where co-workers are familiar with the comings and goings of people, which can easily develop into time-off envy.You can pay time-and-a-half for certain days, such as July 3rd this year, which falls in the middle of what many employees will see as a four-day weekend, says Saperstone. Or give them an extra day off think creatively.Consider summer stay bonuses for high-turnover hourly jobs. Small businesses who depend onhourly workerscould suffer high turnov er. Its wise to offer bonuses to workers who stay with the company through the summer and take time off only when it has been requested and granted well in advance.Regulate unlimited PTO. Frankly, when it comes to summer vacation, unlimited PTO has its limits.Our guidelines say that the time off must not be detrimental to the business it must be scheduled in advance, and is subject to denial, says John Sickmeyer, president of marketing agency Postali. But we havent had this happen yet. Our shared vacation calendar creates a sense of group accountability. Managers look at the vacation calendar regularly to ensure nothing could be problematic for the company.Cross-train in anticipation of heavy PTO periods. Cross-training, which goes hand-in-hand with professional development, can be a tremendous boost to your vacation policy.Cross-training is particularly important with our largest clients, where there are two or three people on the team who know as much about a given client as the l ead person does, says Freeman. Cross-training is also critical at small companies where many tasks are often carried out by just one employee.

From the President February 2015

From the President February 2015 From the President February 2015 Resetting the Future in 2015 This year, the United Nations Millennium Development Goals will enter their next phase of seeing major improvements in alleviating poverty and improving quality of life globally. Technology itself is central to many of these efforts with broader public use of 3D printing and its revolutionary influence on manufacturing, the application of newer technologies in urban centers, and favorable trends in renewable energy technologies and sustainable practices. From May through October, the city of Milan will host the Universal Expo, displaying technologies for developing economies aimed at poverty reduction, food production, water management, and health. Exciting breakthroughs in recycling systems, solar-powered water desalination and other green energy technologies will be a part of the first fully sustainable, zero-carbon, zero-waste city, Masdar City, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Demonstrated technologies will include upgrades in mass transit and personal rapid transit technologies. Also expected in 2015 is the first large-scale solar updraft towers to become operational in Arizona, combining the technologies for wind turbines and greenhouse chimney effects to drive them, working in any weather condition and at night. Other visionary technologies will contribute to more efficient automation combining micro-electromechanical systems with wireless devices, machine-to-machine communications and advanced sensors, smart homes and advances in medical care. To keep pace, engineers will need more exposure not only to the trends themselves, but also to the bigger (and tougher) questions. In other words, engineers will need to keep an expanded worldview that gives shape and form to integrated systems and broader understanding of risks. ASME conferences, publications, and digital platforms, including ASME.org, are keys to keeping us linked to these evolutionary technologies. For ASME, engineering remains the heart of essential improvements in the human condition. We function best at the crossroads, linking multiple industries in a cross-pollination of ideas and their applications. The focus of our strategic themes in energy, advanced manufacturing, workforce development and the global view helps engineers bring practicality to tomorrow's solutions. What can ASME look forward to through the coming year? We can get a glimpse of the future through events such as ASME's Innovation Design Simulation Challenges, which lets students showcase their simulations at the ASME 2015 International Design Engineering Technical Conference / Computers and Information in Engineering Conference (IDETC/CIE) and the Additive Manufacturing 3D printing (AM3D) Conference in Boston in August. IDETC will also host more Social Meet-ups and Mini-talks, similar to those now online. Just as the ASME Human Powered Vehicle Challenge has continued to grow globally, into Latin America and India, ASME's Innovation Showcase goes global in significant ways this year beyond the United States (in May) and to India and Kenya in June. You can follow its progress on Twitter @asmeishow. The IShow focuses on hardware-led social ventures for individuals and organizations bringing physical products to market. Exploration of the universe will also continue to inspire and awe as probes reach unexplored destinations beyond planet Earth. Part of this universe, the winners of NASA Making Tools, were recently announced, wherein students are creating 3D models designed for use on the International Space Station. The ASME Foundation provides key support for this initiative. Through my travels and correspondences, I am enjoying the work of engineering that shapes the future and the role of engineers as co-creators of how we live, in both urban environments and developing economies. As engineers, I hope you are engaged and helping to shape the larger worldviews that are being envisioned today. J. Robert Sims ASME President