Jobs & employment blogs

  Customer satisfaction has always been important for businesses. But in a world of social media and online reviews, it’s more vital than ever before for organisations to make each interaction positive. For the latest issue of the Hays Journal, we spoke to global experts to discuss how this can be embedded in the culture of a business.   Top down encouragement It may sound...

  Have you ever wanted an opportunity so much, that during your interview answers, you ended up listing every single reason why you were the most suitable candidate for the job, shoehorning in points which weren’t even relevant to the question? This is common trap that many candidates fall into, especially when they are feeling particularly nervous. During my years in...

  Everyone with ambition needs a good career mentor. It’s as simple as that. Your career mentor is that confidential advisor who can objectively help you to overcome your professional hurdles in order to meet your goals. And yet you still don’t have one. Why not? Perhaps it’s because career mentoring is prone to the following myths: 1. Mentoring is reserved for the most senior and...

  The pandemic crisis has brought about overnight change and disruption to the world of work. Of course, some of these changes were bubbling away in the background in the pre-crisis world, but these have now been accelerated – alongside a multitude of completely new changes. Employers, therefore, are increasingly looking for professionals who have the soft skills required to succeed in...

  Are you wondering why this title is in quotation marks? Well, that’s because it’s not just your friends and family who may want to know why you are thinking of leaving your current job. And, while it can feel easy enough to answer when someone close to you has asked, it can be far harder to articulate your reasons when it’s an interviewer posing the question, and when the answer you...

  People automatically look to their leaders in times of crisis, and the last few months have certainly delivered some of the greatest challenges those leaders have ever faced. However, once the immediate tests posed by the pandemic have subsided, leaders will need to be equipped to succeed in a significantly transformed world of work – one in which remote, hybrid and flexible working...

  With it often being one of the first questions asked in a job interview, how you answer, “Why should I hire you?” could really help you set a positive tone for the rest of the meeting, whilst engaging the interviewer in what you have to say from the outset. So, it’s important to understand that the way you respond to this interview question will have a huge bearing on the extent to...

  The ongoing coronavirus crisis has left about 20% of the global population under lockdown, with this percentage looking likely to rise even further. By ‘lockdown’, I mean that we are confined to our homes, only being permitted to leave for essential reasons. This, in turn, has left many of us bored and worried about ourselves and our loved ones. Another effect it has had for a...

  “What is Area 51?”, “How to eat pineapple”, “How to floss dance”. These are just three of the most searched for questions and phrases of 2019. In fact, every second of every day, we ask Google over 40,000 of these factual, monotonous, fun, interesting, and, quite frankly, bizarre questions, making it the most visited site on the planet by far.   It’ll be no...

  Whilst we continue to navigate our way through constant change and a great deal of uncertainty, many professionals are experiencing a dip in self-confidence. So today, we’re joined by self-confidence coach Jo Emerson, who is here to share her expert advice to help those looking to increase self-confidence in their professional lives.     1. To begin with, could...

  The pandemic has upended our working world, impacting labour markets and the expectations professionals have around work – therefore, in order to attract the best talent, the style and tone of your organisation’s job adverts may need to change. For example, to reach relevant job seekers and rank well on search engines, job adverts must include keywords – such as key industry...

  How has the pandemic impacted your employer brand?   Your employer brand can be described as the “face your company shows its employees.” So, the first step in ensuring you make it stronger is to assess and understand how the pandemic may have shifted how that face is perceived by your current and future employees. After all, over the past few months, your employer brand...

    It’s safe to say that the pandemic has thrown talent planning in the air. With increased uncertainty, it is tempting for organisations to focus all efforts on the immediate talent challenges – how to manage remote working and how to create as much job security as possible. These are all important, but we also need to be keeping an eye on the future. We need to be exploring...

  “So, how did it go?” This was probably one of the first questions your recruiter, friends and family asked you after your recent job interview. Hopefully your answer was that it went well, and if it was, their next question may well have been: “Would you take the role if you were offered it?” Well, would you? No doubt you’ll be feeling drained, with plenty of thoughts, feelings and...

  The pandemic has undoubtedly brought tragedy and turmoil, there’s no understating that. However, some genuinely positive changes have come about as a result of the disruption. In the early stages of the crisis, you might have understandably imagined that the initial interruption to our lives would only be temporary, and that after a little while, things would generally return to...

  None of us asked for the iPhone. Just 20 years ago, we were all happy using our mobile phones simply to make calls and send text messages, blissfully unaware of their untapped potential. Fast forward to the present day, and the smartphone is now integral to the functioning of our day-to-day lives. Apple did what all long-standing, successful businesses should do: they anticipated...

  Pandemic has driven demand for digital and technology talent globally in 2020.  Here’s how businesses can stand out in a competitive market. Demand for technology talent has evolved rapidly since the start of the pandemic. At first, there was a hugely increased demand for candidates that could enable remote working – people with cloud-based skills that could deploy systems...

  “So, what are your salary expectations?” You know you are going to get asked this at some point during your job search – it’s a key piece of information for both the recruiter and hiring manager. And yet for many, being asked this question is still enough to make you shift about uncomfortably in your seat. You’re not alone – many candidates find discussing their salary expectations...

  Many organisations have made good progress in improving the diversity of their workforce in recent years. But could understanding and embracing intersectionality help them improve the experience of all employees? Diversity is not a linear issue. As companies seek to be representative of the communities they operate in and that make up their workforce, many still consider their...

  Since early 2020, we’ve all experienced or witnessed considerable change in the world of work, leading many careers to take unexpected twists and turns. In some instances, this has made it harder for professionals to feel as though they can effectively plan their careers in a way that they might have done pre-pandemic. So, today, we’re joined by Eliza Kirkby, Regional Director...