?? Choose An Awesome Volunteer Job To Get An Awesome Paid Job

?? Choose An Awesome Volunteer Job To Get An Awesome Paid Job 216 Can volunteering lead to a paid job? Volunteer work can help you in your job search, if you take the time to search for the right volunteer work. Photo by Anna Earl Why volunteer when you're supposed to be looking for a job? Because it's the right thing to do? Because it will make you a better person? All true, but you need a job. You need to pay the bills, and how is an unpaid volunteer role going to help with that?eval Well then how about this- A 2013 study found that “volunteering is associated with a 27% higher odds of employment.”eval That study was conducted by the USA-based Corporation for National Community Service, who clearly want to encourage volunteering. How credible is the result? A similar organization out of the UK, the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO), published a 2018 research briefing that painted a slightly more complex picture, saying: Evidence shows unemployed people who volunteer frequently (on a weekly basis) reduce their chances of re-employment… The few studies looking at the impact of UK government volunteering initiatives on finding a job show that only a minority of people who complete the programme find a paid job and say that it was volunteering that helped them do so… However, volunteering can improve people’s skills, which may in turn help them find employment. Research suggests that volunteering improves both ‘hard’ skills, such as IT or customer relations, and ‘soft’ skills, such as teamwork and communication So volunteering can help your job search, if you choose wisely… I started volunteering at my local synagogue at a very young age when I could not have cared less about job search. That's ok! Donated time volunteering is never a waste, neither for you nor for the recipients. Being active as a volunteer is a great way to meet people and discover things about yourself that can then lead to job openings and even new career directions. Have these specific goals in mind when deciding on volunteer jobs that can best lead to employment. Have any past volunteer roles of yours led to a paid job? Yes No View Results 5 tough choices if you're wondering whether volunteering leads to employment 1) Aim for the right organization Volunteer at the place that will most help your personal brand and job search goals. If your goal is to be recognized as an expert, share your expertise on a regular basis at a local chapter of an industry association or chamber of commerce, or perhaps write op-eds or blog posts for that association. If your goal is to be recognized for a specific job, offer your services in that role to a large charity that e.g highlights its volunteers on its website. 2) Aim for the right role A volunteering position should appear on your resume just like any other position, and not all roles are equal with regards to your career. Which role will enable you to make best use of your skills AND provide great benefits to the organization? That combination is key to being a successful volunteer and getting recognition for it. 3) Aim for the right team This is a tough one, I admit it. Just like when you get hired for a job, you'll rarely be offered a choice of who your boss would be. Instead, practice your company research skills with this exercise: just like when you job search, before applying to volunteer for an organization, spend some time learning about the people whom you would likely work with and understand how they could help you in the future. For instance, an (older?) well-connected supervisor would be preferable to someone who's also just getting started in the organization. 4) Aim for the right recipients As part of the organization, who are the people or other organizations that you will spend your volunteer time helping? Look for a role where you will get to help recipients directly so that people can learn about you your work both inside AND outside the organization. 5) Aim for the right time to join This is more relevant in some cases than others. Some organizations have more volunteer opportunities during busier times of year, are only active seasonally, etc. Another angle is to consider: can a volunteer organization enable you to get into an otherwise inaccessible event, or even an otherwise inaccessible career, perhaps in an industry that's growing fast but where you lack experience? Do what it takes to be in the right place at the right time. Question of the article Have you ever tried to use volunteering as part of your job search? Did it help? Tell your story in the comments. What others are saying How Important is Having Volunteer Work on Your Resume? Volunteering and its Surprising Benefits 6 tips for turning a volunteer position into a job 3 reasons volunteering can put you ahead of the pack I originally published a version of this article on the terrific Personal Branding Blog. READ NEXT: 10 Best Practices to Volunteer Your Way To a Paid Job

5 Careers Frequently Asked Questions Answered - Career Geek

5 Careers Frequently Asked Questions Answered - Career Geek This article is sponsored by  Localmart Jobs Sometimes you have a quick question and just need an answer to that, in which case our employment articles are handy. But what if you are in a Wikipedia mode, i.e. you want answers to a lot of career and interview questions? Well, (unsurprisingly) this article will answer and guide you through some of the most basic and frequently asked questions about careers. I am not going to dwell on the stats or beat around the bush; 5 questions, 5 answers. And a whole load of job search secrets to unravel. Q1) How do I find a job? Finding a job starts with applying for a job. Start applying for a job as soon as you finish this article. Visit some of the job sites you know of or Google job boards in your city'. Lots of companies advertise their jobs on job boards. It can be as easy as sending a CV or filling in a job application form. Q2) I dont have a resume, can you help me write one? I wont say I can literally sit down and write your resume for you, but I can certainly help. For a start, you can  download free resume template  and use it to get started. I USE that template even now and constantly update it. So you know you are using a template that a real person uses. Download the template and start filling in the information. Once you have done that you can read about  my resume mistakes  when I first wrote my resume. Download Free CV Template 32.54 KB | 25527 downloads DetailsDownload CV Template Additionally, you can read a 2000-word article about the  9 steps to perfect cv, and follow the tips to creating a resume from start to finish. If you are stuck at the end of this, dont hesitate to comment below with your question and I will be happy to answer and help you. Q3) I dont have a covering letter. What do I do? It isnt unusual not to have a cover letter or a personal statement before you start your job search. Covering letters are specific to a role and hence the content of the letter will keep changing to meet specific job roles. You can  download a cover letter template  to get started with creating your first cover letter. The good thing is, the template tells you what you should be writing and it will help you create one and then you can polish it up as you apply for more jobs, which is necessary for Q1. Download Cover Letter Template Download Cover Letter Template 13.83 KB 16213 downloads ... Q4) I have applied for lots of jobs, but I dont hear back. I am sorry to hear that. It is a question I often get asked, and honestly, there isnt much I can do about it. In fact, no one apart from you can do anything about it. But I do ask and I ask you too, when you say applied for lots of jobs, what do you mean? Do you mean you sent your resume to all the jobs listed on a website right from cherry picker to recruitment manager? OR youve applied to lots of jobs in the recruitment industry but havent heard back OR you applied to 30 jobs in one day and have been waiting since to hear back? If its no.1, then thats bad strategy. You need to focus on the industry you want to work in. Part-time jobs anywhere are different to looking for full-time employment. If its no.3, then thats crazy. Employment doesnt work that way you cant just shoot off 50 applications in one day and then do nothing. Youd much rather do 5 applications a day but focus on them. If its no.2, then maybe you need to pick the phone and call the recruiter you applied to, ask them for some feedback on why you didnt make the cut. If anything, he or she may just tell you that there is a different role and ask if youd like to interview for that one? If that doesnt happen, then work on the feedback they gave you.  How to work on feedback. Q5) I am scared of interviews, do you have any advice? photo credit: eworm Its not unnatural to be be worried about interviews. Nerves do come into play when you are sitting opposite an interviewer. But they know that and they will account for it. One of the things you can do is practise for your interview, so you are well prepared. It helps in the sense that you are not thrown off-target completely. And keep a tissue at hand to wipe your forehead before going into an interview. Its better to go in with a smile than be nervous and let your sweat drop off your forehead. And yes, that does happen. Whether its  preparing for a phone interview  or  preparing for a skype interview,  you need to be ready. Once you get to the final interview, dont forget to  look professional in your interview;  and lastly, heres how to conquer those  competency based interviews. This article is sponsored by  Localmart Jobs photo credit: photosteve101 via photopin cc 29

Do Feminine Work Outfits Affect Your Job Prospects

Do Feminine Work Outfits Affect Your Job Prospects In the canon of great nineties-noughties rom-coms, special mention must go to Legally Blonde. Reese Witherspoon plays a young girl who, after scoring 179 (out of 180) on the intellectually strenuous Law School Admission Test, scores a place at the exceedingly prestigious Harvard Law School. There, through diligence and intellectual ability, she gains an impressive and highly selective internship, callously cross-examines a witness to win a complex court case, and is elected class speaker. If you’ve seen the film, you might well be confused. This plot summary is technically correct, but it completely sanitises the strong characterisation of Witherspoon as a lovable ditz, obsessed with boys and shoes and makeup. We remember her fluffy pink pens, her pink and perfumed resume, her hot-pink skirt-suit, and the amalgamation of this image with the intellectual overachiever described above seems jarringly incongruous. The point is that the image you present can affect people’s perceptions of your work ability. In Legally Blonde, Witherspoon’s character first adopts and then espouses the drab, unfeminine workwear of her peers, deciding it is more important to be true to herself. But was she wise to do so? Does wearing feminine outfits hinder professional women? Or, conversely, does it help?   High Heels Real as the short girl’s struggles to reach objects on high shelves undoubtedly is, most women would agree that their reason for wearing heels is largely aesthetic. They make your legs and bum look better, they make that awesome clacking sound when you walk down the hallway, and they look more professional.  According to 69% of interviewers, anyway. Heels seem to carry some sort of persuasive magic too. Wearing heels doubles the compliance rate when the women wearing them makes an unsolicited request, and improves the chance of being offered help to almost 100%. Useful in an office environment? Absolutely! There is a small caveat though; heel-magic only works on men. When women decide whether to help out another woman, they simply do not factor in her footwear. Why the gender disparity? Well, the same study found that men were also quicker to hit on a woman in high heels, suggesting that sexual attraction could be the deciding factor. Acolytes of Catherine Hakim’s theory of “erotic capital” will see this as a bias professional women can exploit to their advantage. Other women may find any encouragement of sexualisation within the workplace uncomfortable, especially for an aspect of dress code that many companies encourage or declare mandatory. And for some women, the psychological effects of high heels will not be as relevant to them as the discomfort and medical problems associated with them. So, should you wear heels to work? Yes… if you want to. No, if you don’t want to. Because regardless of the whims of male psychology, you will be at your professional best when you feel confident and comfortable. Makeup Studies have shown that the more makeup you wear to work, even into the realms of OTT “glamourous”, the more competent, likeable, and trustworthy you will be rated. On the flip side, wearing make-up regularly is going to suck a big chunk out of your day â€" 38 minutes on average â€" and a wear a b-i-g hole in your wallet: £100,000 over your lifetime. So should you wear make-up to work? Yes, if you want to. No, if you don’t want to. Because regardless of the implicit personally traits of eyeliner, you will be at your professional best when you feel confident and comfortable. Skirts Like a bit of skirt? Good news! A study has concluded that women who wear skirts to work are evaluated more positively than those who wear trouser-suits. Observers in the experiment classed skirted professionals as more confident and as higher earners. Hate a bit of skirt? Good news! Another study found the exact opposite.  Women who wore more masculine clothing to interviews were more likely to be hired by both men and women. True, they were regarded as more forceful and aggressive, but this was seen as a good thing because it indicated ambition. So should you wear skirts to work? Yes, if you want to. No, if you don’t want to. Regardless of the effect of your legs on bystanders, you will be at your professional best when you feel confident and comfortable. Pink What was good enough for Legally Blonde is not good enough for female executive â€" fewer than 1% of them regularly wear pink at work. Many of them agree with broadcaster Chrissy Iley that “it is simply harder to be taken seriously wearing pink”. Pink’s place in the workplace may soon be on the rise, however, because research has found that men who wear pink shirts earn an extra £1,000 a year, are more qualified, more confident, and more complimented. The colour pink has also been found to reduce aggression and suppress appetite in those viewing it. Okay, so that study was conducted in a prison.  But you could argue that women who wear pink will facilitate greater team cooperation and decrease the productivity crashes that occur with the 4 o’clock munchies. So should you wear pink to work? Yes, if you want to. No, if you don’t want to. Regardless of the tetchiness of your overfull co-workers, you will be at your professional best when you feel confident and comfortable. And The Answer Is . . . The complexity of human psychology means that both within the workplace and out, we make millions of implicitly or explicitly biased judgements about people because of what they look like. Unfortunately, these biases are impossible to accurately predict because all people react differently. Fortunately, in most instances the clothes you wear will never be as important to other people as your personality, your preservation, and your talent. So wear what you want, be who you want.  And whether you climb that career ladder in hot pink heels or flat brown loafers, keep believing in yourself. See you at the top! Beth Leslie writes graduate careers advice for Inspiring Interns, a graduate recruitment agency specialising in matching candidates to their dream internship. Check out their graduate jobs London listings for roles. Or if you’re looking to hire an intern, have a look at their innovative Video CVs. Image credits. Main.  Heels.   Executive.   Girl.

Not hired Heres an Action Plan

Not hired Here’s an Action Plan There’s a big difference between a single, quick interview and a long, intensive interview process. At the end of the long process, you may have met with several managers. You have information about the company from the interview team, and you may even have an idea about how many people you’re competing with and their backgrounds. You’ve invested a lot after several interviews: time, energy and perhaps even a sample of your work or a plan for what your first sixty days will look like. If you don’t get selected, it’s bound to be a letdown. It’s easy to start second guessing yourself. You have my permission to stop beating yourself up. There are many reasons you might not get the offer: an internal candidate may have the inside track, or the job may have been redefined in some way during the process that made you a weaker match. Or, you were a great match, but someone else was even greater. Or, when you discussed salary, they decided they couldn’t afford you. If you got a callback, you were a strong candidate; the rest was probably out of your control. Rather than spend time on that, here’s an action plan that may help you get your next job. Embed from Getty Imageswindow.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'KIjMogVZTrRyMbxhgDxmXQ',sig:'XCbjz56kPQzSjj6GwMnEw8wklf7M6rNqwiA9SkLzoBk=',w:'507px',h:'338px',items:'168359868',caption: false ,tld:'com',is360: false })}); Take time to warmly thank the interviewing team for their time and for giving you an opportunity. Swallow your disappointment and tell the interviewer how much you enjoyed learning about the company and how you hope that if a future position comes up, you might be considered. Ask if you can stay in touch; send an invitation to connect on LinkedIn. Here’s why: recent studies show that 46 percent of new hires fail within the first 18 months. Most of those (40 percent) will leave voluntarily within the first six months. Some candidates have been known to accept and offer and then get the offer for their real dream job, quitting before they start. If you were a strong second choice, you may have another shot at the job if you stay open and stay in touch. If you’re using LinkedIn to its full potential, you’ve been following the company. That means that you’ll be able to see who got the job as soon as he or she updates the employment information on his or her profile. You have a couple of opportunities here. You can take a look at the final selected candidate’s profile and look at her previous job. You may find clues to why she was a stronger choice: years of experience, or education or a credential you don’t have (yet â€" that’s a hint.) Don’t forget â€" there may be an opening at her previous company. It’s worth some research time. Marc Miller, author of Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide for Baby Boomers, even suggests that you reach out to the candidate who was hired. You may add a new and valuable asset to your network, and he may be willing to refer you to other opportunities once he gets to know you. It is possible to move forward in your career plan by looking in the rear view mirror, as long as you work on other strategies as well.

Dealing with Social Networking Burnout - Executive Career Brandâ„¢

Dealing with Social Networking Burnout Grumblings about social networking overload have been growing among colleagues of mine. Were spreading ourselves too thin between , Twitter,

Top 5 reasons why The customer is Always Right is wrong - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Top 5 reasons why The customer is Always Right is wrong - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog When the customer isnt right for your business One woman who frequently flew on Southwest, was constantly disappointed with every aspect of the companys operation. In fact, she became known as the Pen Pal because after every flight she wrote in with a complaint. She didnt like the fact that the company didnt assign seats; she didnt like the absence of a first-class section; she didnt like not having a meal in flight; she didnt like Southwests boarding procedure; she didnt like the flight attendants sporty uniforms and the casual atmosphere. Her last letter, reciting a litany of complaints, momentarily stumped Southwests customer relations people. They bumped it up to Herbs [Kelleher, CEO of Southwest] desk, with a note: This ones yours. In sixty seconds, Kelleher wrote back and said, Dear Mrs. Crabapple, We will miss you. Love, Herb.' The phrase The customer is always right was originally coined by Harry Gordon Selfridge, the founder of Selfridges department store in London in 1909, and is typically used by businesses to: Convince customers that they will get good service at this company Convince employees to give customers good service Fortunately more and more businesses are abandoning this maxim ironically because it leads to bad customer service. Here are the top five reasons why The customer is always right is wrong. 1: It makes employees unhappy Gordon Bethune is a brash Texan (as is Herb Kelleher, coincidentally) who is best known for turning Continental Airlines around From Worst to First, a story told in his book of the same title from 1998. He wanted to make sure that both customers and employees liked the way Continental treated them, so he made it very clear that the maxim the customer is always right didnt hold sway at Continental. In conflicts between employees and unruly customers he would consistently side with his people. Heres how he puts it: When we run into customers that we cant reel back in, our loyalty is with our employees. They have to put up with this stuff every day. Just because you buy a ticket does not give you the right to abuse our employees . . . We run more than 3 million people through our books every month. One or two of those people are going to be unreasonable, demanding jerks. When its a choice between supporting your employees, who work with you every day and make your product what it is, or some irate jerk who demands a free ticket to Paris because you ran out of peanuts, whose side are you going to be on? You cant treat your employees like serfs. You have to value them . . . If they think that you wont support them when a customer is out of line, even the smallest problem can cause resentment. So Bethune trusts his people over unreasonable customers. What I like about this attitude is that it balances employees and customers, where the always right maxim squarely favors the customer which is not a good idea, because, as Bethune says, it causes resentment among employees. Of course there are plenty of examples of bad employees giving lousy customer service. But trying to solve this by declaring the customer always right is counter-productive. 2: It gives abrasive customers an unfair advantage Using the slogan The customer is always right abusive customers can demand just about anything theyre right by definition, arent they? This makes the employees job that much harder, when trying to rein them in. Also, it means that abusive people get better treatment and conditions than nice people. That always seemed wrong to me, and it makes much more sense to be nice to the nice customers to keep them coming back. 3: Some customers are bad for business Most businesses think that the more customers the better. But some customers are quite simply bad for business. Danish IT service provider ServiceGruppen proudly tell this story: One of our service technicians arrived at a customers site for a maintenance task, and to his great shock was treated very rudely by the customer. When hed finished the task and returned to the office, he told management about his experience. They promptly cancelled the customers contract. Just like Kelleher dismissed the irate lady who kept complaining (but somehow also kept flying on Southwest), ServiceGruppen fired a bad customer. Note that it was not even a matter of a financial calculation not a question of whether either company would make or lose money on that customer in the long run. It was a simple matter of respect and dignity and of treating their employees right. 4: It results in worse customer service Rosenbluth International, a corporate travel agency, took it even further. CEO Hal Rosenbluth wrote an excellent book about their approach called Put The Customer Second Put your people first and watch?em kick butt. Rosenbluth argues that when you put the employees first, they put the customers first. Put employees first, and they will be happy at work. Employees who are happy at work give better customer service because: They care more about other people, including customers They have more energy They are happy, meaning they are more fun to talk to and interact with They are more motivated On the other hand, when the company and management consistently side with customers instead of with employees, it sends a clear message that: Employees are not valued That treating employees fairly is not important That employees have no right to respect from customers That employees have to put up with everything from customers When this attitude prevails, employees stop caring about service. At that point, real good service is almost impossible the best customers can hope for is fake good service. You know the kind I mean: corteous on the surface only. 5: Some customers are just plain wrong Herb Kelleher agrees, as this passage From Nuts! the excellent book about Southwest Airlines shows: Herb Kelleher [] makes it clear that his employees come first even if it means dismissing customers. But arent customers always right? No, they are not, Kelleher snaps. And I think thats one of the biggest betrayals of employees a boss can possibly commit. The customer is sometimes wrong. We dont carry those sorts of customers. We write to them and say, Fly somebody else. Dont abuse our people.' If you still think that the customer is always right, read this story from Bethunes book From Worst to First: A Continental flight attendant once was offended by a passengers child wearing a hat with Nazi and KKK emblems on it. It was pretty offensive stuff, so the attendant went to the kids father and asked him to put away the hat. No, the guy said. My kid can wear what he wants, and I dont care who likes it. The flight attendant went into the cockpit and got the first officer, who explained to the passenger the FAA regulation that makes it a crime to interfere with the duties of a crew member. The hat was causing other passengers and the crew discomfort, and that interfered with the flight attendants duties. The guy better put away the hat. He did, but he didnt like it. He wrote many nasty letters. We made every effort to explain our policy and the federal air regulations, but he wasnt hearing it. He even showed up in our executive suite to discuss the matter with me. I let him sit out there. I didnt want to see him and I didnt want to listen to him. He bought a ticket on our airplane, and that means well take him where he wants to go. But if hes going to be rude and offensive, hes welcome to fly another airline. The fact is that some customers are just plain wrong, that businesses are better of without them, and that managers siding with unreasonable customers over employees is a very bad idea, that results in worse customer service. So put your people first. And watch them put the customers first. Related posts If you liked this post, theres a good chance youll also enjoy: When is it time to leave a bad job? Find your quitting point. The cult of overwork Why ?Motivation by Pizza? Doesn?t Work Top 10 reasons why happiness at work is the ultimate productivity booster NB: This is a re-run of a previous post while Im away from the blog for a day. Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related Top 5 reasons why The Customer Is Always Right is wrong - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog When the customer isnt right for your business One woman who frequently flew on Southwest, was constantly disappointed with every aspect of the companys operation. In fact, she became known as the Pen Pal because after every flight she wrote in with a complaint. She didnt like the fact that the company didnt assign seats; she didnt like the absence of a first-class section; she didnt like not having a meal in flight; she didnt like Southwests boarding procedure; she didnt like the flight attendants sporty uniforms and the casual atmosphere. Her last letter, reciting a litany of complaints, momentarily stumped Southwests customer relations people. They bumped it up to Herbs [Kelleher, CEO of Southwest] desk, with a note: This ones yours. In sixty seconds, Kelleher wrote back and said, Dear Mrs. Crabapple, We will miss you. Love, Herb.' The phrase The customer is always right was originally coined by Harry Gordon Selfridge, the founder of Selfridges department store in London in 1909, and is typically used by businesses to: Convince customers that they will get good service at this company Convince employees to give customers good service Fortunately more and more businesses are abandoning this maxim ironically because it leads to bad customer service. Here are the top five reasons why The customer is always right is wrong. 1: It makes employees unhappy Gordon Bethune is a brash Texan (as is Herb Kelleher, coincidentally) who is best known for turning Continental Airlines around From Worst to First, a story told in his book of the same title from 1998. He wanted to make sure that both customers and employees liked the way Continental treated them, so he made it very clear that the maxim the customer is always right didnt hold sway at Continental. In conflicts between employees and unruly customers he would consistently side with his people. Heres how he puts it: When we run into customers that we cant reel back in, our loyalty is with our employees. They have to put up with this stuff every day. Just because you buy a ticket does not give you the right to abuse our employees . . . We run more than 3 million people through our books every month. One or two of those people are going to be unreasonable, demanding jerks. When its a choice between supporting your employees, who work with you every day and make your product what it is, or some irate jerk who demands a free ticket to Paris because you ran out of peanuts, whose side are you going to be on? You cant treat your employees like serfs. You have to value them . . . If they think that you wont support them when a customer is out of line, even the smallest problem can cause resentment. So Bethune trusts his people over unreasonable customers. What I like about this attitude is that it balances employees and customers, where the always right maxim squarely favors the customer which is not a good idea, because, as Bethune says, it causes resentment among employees. Of course there are plenty of examples of bad employees giving lousy customer service. But trying to solve this by declaring the customer always right is counter-productive. 2: It gives abrasive customers an unfair advantage Using the slogan The customer is always right abusive customers can demand just about anything theyre right by definition, arent they? This makes the employees job that much harder, when trying to rein them in. Also, it means that abusive people get better treatment and conditions than nice people. That always seemed wrong to me, and it makes much more sense to be nice to the nice customers to keep them coming back. 3: Some customers are bad for business Most businesses think that the more customers the better. But some customers are quite simply bad for business. Danish IT service provider ServiceGruppen proudly tell this story: One of our service technicians arrived at a customers site for a maintenance task, and to his great shock was treated very rudely by the customer. When hed finished the task and returned to the office, he told management about his experience. They promptly cancelled the customers contract. Just like Kelleher dismissed the irate lady who kept complaining (but somehow also kept flying on Southwest), ServiceGruppen fired a bad customer. Note that it was not even a matter of a financial calculation not a question of whether either company would make or lose money on that customer in the long run. It was a simple matter of respect and dignity and of treating their employees right. 4: It results in worse customer service Rosenbluth International, a corporate travel agency, took it even further. CEO Hal Rosenbluth wrote an excellent book about their approach called Put The Customer Second Put your people first and watch?em kick butt. Rosenbluth argues that when you put the employees first, they put the customers first. Put employees first, and they will be happy at work. Employees who are happy at work give better customer service because: They care more about other people, including customers They have more energy They are happy, meaning they are more fun to talk to and interact with They are more motivated On the other hand, when the company and management consistently side with customers instead of with employees, it sends a clear message that: Employees are not valued That treating employees fairly is not important That employees have no right to respect from customers That employees have to put up with everything from customers When this attitude prevails, employees stop caring about service. At that point, real good service is almost impossible the best customers can hope for is fake good service. You know the kind I mean: corteous on the surface only. 5: Some customers are just plain wrong Herb Kelleher agrees, as this passage From Nuts! the excellent book about Southwest Airlines shows: Herb Kelleher [] makes it clear that his employees come first even if it means dismissing customers. But arent customers always right? No, they are not, Kelleher snaps. And I think thats one of the biggest betrayals of employees a boss can possibly commit. The customer is sometimes wrong. We dont carry those sorts of customers. We write to them and say, Fly somebody else. Dont abuse our people.' If you still think that the customer is always right, read this story from Bethunes book From Worst to First: A Continental flight attendant once was offended by a passengers child wearing a hat with Nazi and KKK emblems on it. It was pretty offensive stuff, so the attendant went to the kids father and asked him to put away the hat. No, the guy said. My kid can wear what he wants, and I dont care who likes it. The flight attendant went into the cockpit and got the first officer, who explained to the passenger the FAA regulation that makes it a crime to interfere with the duties of a crew member. The hat was causing other passengers and the crew discomfort, and that interfered with the flight attendants duties. The guy better put away the hat. He did, but he didnt like it. He wrote many nasty letters. We made every effort to explain our policy and the federal air regulations, but he wasnt hearing it. He even showed up in our executive suite to discuss the matter with me. I let him sit out there. I didnt want to see him and I didnt want to listen to him. He bought a ticket on our airplane, and that means well take him where he wants to go. But if hes going to be rude and offensive, hes welcome to fly another airline. The fact is that some customers are just plain wrong, that businesses are better of without them, and that managers siding with unreasonable customers over employees is a very bad idea, that results in worse customer service. So put your people first. And watch them put the customers first. UPDATE: This post has spawned a great discussion here and one some other websites. Digg One of the consistent back up statements of The Customer is Always Right is the amount of dollars it costs to replace a customer. It costs more to replace a customer than to retain one most times. However, it also costs a lot more to recruit, hire, and train a new employee than it does to keep one happy. Kinkoids Unite a site for Kinkos workers In my region, when an employee is mentioned in a customer complaint, he/she has to apologize to all 11 center managers in a conference call whether they were wrong or wronged. AdultDVDTalk (huh?) Unfortunately though, most companies in the customer service arena no longer even teach the basics of customer service. They just assume that it is a common-sense thing. Having spent 20 years interviewing job applicants, I can also say that there is no such thing as common sense! Just take a look at the high school and college grads showing up for job interviews in jeans and tee-shirts or chewing gumor my favorite was the young lady who excused herself to answer her cell phone and carry on a brief but totally unnecessary conversation! Reddit On a very, very small number of occasions in my various service roles over the years, Ive asked customers to leave the establishment because they were incorribly belligerent, hostile and abusive, and flat-out refused to accept any attempt to satisfy them. In these cases, the people were shopping for a fight rather than a commodity. If you liked this post, theres a good chance youll also enjoy: When is it time to leave a bad job? Find your quitting point. The cult of overwork Why ?Motivation by Pizza? Doesn?t Work Top 10 reasons why happiness at work is the ultimate productivity booster Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related

Manufacturing Resume Writing Examples - Helping You Write Your Own Resume

Manufacturing Resume Writing Examples - Helping You Write Your Own ResumeGetting a job in the manufacturing industry has never been easy. Many employers think that manufacturing employees are just at the bottom of the totem pole when it comes to their skills, qualifications and experiences. This is because they lack passion and dedication, not to mention the common misperception that manufacturing jobs are not as flexible as their service oriented counterparts.The misconception may be alive and well but the best way to change that is to provide an extensive resume highlighting all the qualities that you have, like your experience in one or more of the leading manufacturers in your area. You may also be able to offer a specific service that will be of use to your potential employer.If you're lucky enough to be a factory employee then you'll get to prove your worth in two ways. First, the new management will check your name and see if you have demonstrated professionalism and loyalty. Second, they'll give you a chance to prove your name and all your abilities. Remember that a manufacturing company is all about the new products that it is able to produce and pass on to the market.Don't forget to put your work history in the resume and offer your training in terms of any graduate degree, and any specific relevant experience like working in a shop that supplied high quality products. When you're at the factory floor, you should show how your abilities can help you work well with other employees. This will allow your potential employer to know that you have the ability to adapt to the business and work together with them on a daily basis.One of the main points to emphasize is the fact that you are enthusiastic about your work and have plenty of positive qualities. For example, don't just put a smiley face on your resume because it will cost you more in terms of your chances for employment.Don't forget to take into account that there are certain gaps on your resume th at you can fill by giving details about your efforts and achievements. Remember that, when you are given a job offer, you need to use the opportunity to prove your worth. Remember to put your best qualities first on your resume.To prepare your complete manufacturing resume you can consult resume writing samples on the Internet or you can look for printed materials on the Internet. Remember that the words on your resume have to portray a certain professional image and a calm self confidence. You'll be surprised to see that your resume is almost just as important as your first impressions.