I have participated in quite a few training programs over the years. I have been fortunate enough not to have any that I found disappointing. Not everyone is so lucky. Starting on a new entry level job is always scary, and training classes can be stressful, especially when they're poorly managed. Maneeza Aminy, client support manager of training for Advent Software, in her article, Your Top 10 Training Mistakes, says that often the culprit in disappointing training programs is none other than the trainer himself.

Aminy lists the primary reasons many training programs fall short of the intended mark from the lowest to the highest - a la David Letterman.

10. If I can't hear you, I will stop listening.
9. Don't set the expectation of failure. In other words, don't walk in the door making excuses if you know you'll be teaching under less than ideal conditions. "If things are not going great, but you're doing great with what you have, that speaks very loudly," Aminy says.
8. Who is in charge? YOU are! There's usually at least one person in every training class who tries to steal the show. A strong, confident trainer will know how to nip this in the bud in a way that earns the respect and cooperation of the entire class.

Continue reading "Top 10 Training Don'ts From Someone Who Knows" »

Posted by Candice Arnold on February 11, 2009 at 9:05 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

In a previous post, I wrote about how important it is to engage new hires the moment they walk in to start their new jobs. Lee Salz of SalesArchitecture.com wrote an article for ERE - "The New Employee's First Day" - that illustrates that point beautifully.

Salz created a composite character, Steve Harmon, and sent him to work for a company -probably also a composite - called Newman Industries. Newman Industries did everything right when they recruited Steve, a much sought after candidate. Sadly, Newman Industries made the mistake that many employers, according to Salz, make when recruiting top candidates - they didn't follow through.

Like a lot of employers, Newman Industries put all of their time, money and effort into wooing Steve away from the job he already had and completely forgot about making preparations for his first day at work. As a result, Steve introduced himself to a receptionist who had never heard of him, got assigned to a cubicle that still contained the belongings of the previous occupant - which he was asked to throw away - and spent all day trying to meet with his elusive mananager, Jamie. And those are just a few of the indignities Steve suffered.

By the end of the day, Steve was thoroughly disillusioned. Newman Industries wasn't what he thought it would be when he first accepted their offer. When his wife asked him how his first day of work went, Steve replied, "'I'm really happy that I didn't pull my resume off the job boards or tell the recruiters that I was off the market, because I don't know if this is going to work out. We'll have to see.'"

"The company thought they had Steve when he accepted the offer. That was their error. They failed to recognize that they had only completed the next step of the process," Salz explains. What Newman Industries lacks is a program that will preserve the positive impression made during the recruiting and interviewing process once the new employee arrives on his first day, he concludes.

Although Salz's scenario was specifically about recruiting and hiring salespeople, I believe his advice applies to any employer trying to recruit and hire the best college students looking for internships and recent college graduates looking for entry level jobs.

It should also be noted that Steve was a "passive candidate," which probably made Newman Industries feel even more proud of their accomplishment. Unfortunately for them, all that time and money was in danger of going down the drain before Steve had even been given a company email address. In this economy, it's safe to say that companies can ill afford to make such a costly mistake when hiring new employees.

Posted by Candice Arnold on January 5, 2009 at 2:18 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Reprinted courtesy of TheCareerNews.com

SPRING LAKE, MI --When you start a new job chances are you may make a mistake. If you do, the best thing to do is take responsibility for the mistake and report it immediately! Most employers understand that accidents happen, but lying or covering-up the mistake will never work and could cost the company as well as you. If you make a mistake at your job, you can recover well by doing the following:

Continue reading "Mending mistakes when you start a new job" »

Posted by Sarah Ennenga on November 26, 2007 at 1:41 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

As graduation approaches the stress of finding a job builds and worry and fear tends to consume the days and nights of students. If there was a way to banish this worry, wouldn't you jump at the opportunity? Many students would and they are realizing that they can avoid all the fears and worries by taking part in internships while still in school. And, on the flip side employers are also starting to realize that student interns can be the answer to filling their open positions. This topic was discussed on College Recruiting in A Great Internship is a Great Path to a Great Entry Level Job.

Continue reading "Best Bet For A Job Right Out Of College" »

Posted by Sarah Ennenga on October 31, 2007 at 10:42 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Reprinted courtesy of TheCareerNews.com

NEWARK, NJ -- You've got a great new job. Now what? How do you parlay the wonderful impression you created in your interviews into success during the first few weeks on your new job? Here are a few tips on how to do that:

Continue reading "Starting a job on the right foot" »

Posted by Sarah Ennenga on October 15, 2007 at 8:29 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Whether you were a liberal arts student or a business major, chances are the degree you got in college did little to prepare you for the new situations you’ll face during your first week at a “real” job after graduation. The first day at work can easily feel like the first day of kindergarten. Someone directs you to your assigned seat, and you don’t know most of your co-workers.

I’ve interviewed more than 200 young people facing the post-graduation work force for the first time. Many of them have told me, “I’m not prepared for a real job,” even if they’ve done well in school and have a great track record at the internships and part-time jobs they had during college. The good news is that most employers take the time to train you. But the training manual and orientation sessions probably won’t tell you the best ways to make the most out of those first nervous days. Here are my tips for success:

10 Tips for Getting Settled in a New Job

Continue reading "First Week on the Job" »

Posted by Sarah Ennenga on September 4, 2007 at 9:45 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Transformation is the key to taking you from where you are at the first days on a new job, to where you dream to be. Here are time honored techniques and tips to practice a resiliency that allows us to recognize our best professional selves:

1. Release guilt over past performance, hurts, and pains.. focus on learning from those who have accomplished what you aspire to do-- genuine interest will open many doors.
2. Anger over unfairness can result in indulgent 'repeat performances'. Every try to 'stop' being late? Instead of the 'being' of late, embrace the 'abundance' of time when you are prepared.
3. Beliefs create outcomes.. Pessimism left to simmer, can start to infiltrate your belief system.
4. Fear can cause us downright counterproductive behavior.. Taking a heaping dose of negative feelings to a new job is like trying to hail a cab dressed as the Grim Reaper.
5. You have performed many things in life to this point... Something new does not need to be uncomfortable and that uncomfortable feeling of gloomy uselessness is optional.
6. Challenge yourself. Do a little each day to appreciate growth, and stretch yourself.
7. Recognize counter productive activities, and identify action steps to manage it.
8. What would perfect execution consist of? Take some time to envision your dream work.
9. "Feeling" or"Being" stuck have the same source, and persistence and consistent action removes it.
10. Consciously spend more time planning for and appreciating positive attributes that can cultivate momentum.

Tips to embracing our personal best in the workforce

1. Performance grows to the extent that we are willing to grow and change- understand where you are and embrace your capability to improve..
2. Freedom stems from knowing where we are, and where we aspire to do, recognizing we have everything we need, and we own the steps to get there.
3. Identify your self talk and brainstorm resources to embrace a different approach.
4. Optimism is the art of focus on strengths and opportunity, despite our weaknesses. Be willing and interested in learning from others. Every day, introduce yourself and get to know one new person, how they got here, and how they were successful.
5. Put first things, first--- plan and manage progress on the highest payoff tasks that are most important being done, creates momentum.
6. Break the larger impossible tasks into bite size pieces or visual milestones along the path-- we are never given a dream without the equal capacity to make it come true!

Continue reading "Transformation Technique and Tips" »

Posted by Dawn Mular on July 8, 2007 at 12:16 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Jim Durbin is an employment blogger and former recruiter whose claim to expertise including once being a college student and graduate.

I hired over 20 fresh college graduates from 1999-2001 as a recruiter in Los Angeles. Their skills and aptitude varied, as did the pedigree of the institutions they attended, but a few things stick in my head to this day as a cautionary tale.

The following is only anecdotal, but the more distinguished the school attended, the less likely the graduate had mastered basic office skills.

One young lad from Berkeley is probably the best story. We hired him because he was smart, ambitious, negotiated well, and well, he went to Berkeley. There was a strategic (and wrong-headed) assumption that we could improve the quality of the office personnel by increasing the number of people who graduated from private and top-ranked colleges.

It was insulting to the number of highly successful state school graduates we had in the company, but it was a mistake many companies made (and still make). Anyway, our young graduate was a recuiter, and back in those days, we made paper copies of the resumes that people brought in.

The copier we had was relatively new, but pretty straightforward. It had a top-loading section for automatic copies and you could lift the lid for manual copies. It also had the occasional problem of jamming....

Continue reading "Learn Basic Office Skills" »

Posted by James Durbin on November 29, 2006 at 1:14 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Recently I had the chance to catch up with a Microsoft Program Manager that just started a couple weeks ago straight out of school. Volt is mostly known for their ability to place program managers in temporary, contract roles but frequently we end up sourcing for full time positions, not to mention the high rate of conversions that we are seeing in today’s heated job market. I figured that it might be helpful to summarize his take on the first couple weeks for the benefit of future new employees. Keep in mind that the opinions expressed are not necessarily my own, I am simply a messenger.

Continue reading "Conversation With A Microsoft Program Manager" »

Posted by Volt Technical Resources on August 5, 2006 at 10:23 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

One of the biggest questions a new soldier has is: "What's it like being a soldier?" I would like to start off with life in basic training and provide you with a typical nine week schedule of what you will be doing. This will be a series of informational post in the coming weeks. When a new recruit decides he or she is going to join the army, thoughts of basic training are the first thing that concern them. Either they have seen movies where basic training is depicted to be a torturous event, or they have heard stories from friends and families that may not be accurate.

Continue reading "What's It Like Being A Soldier? - Basic Combat Training" »

Posted by SoldierNow on August 5, 2006 at 8:50 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

A lot of things have changed since I first went through basic training as a private three years ago. So my advice is based off my own experiences. Let me start off by saying that the Army Drill Sergeant has one of the best jobs in the army. They should not be feared, but RESPECTED. They are your mentor, advisor, teacher, and disciplinarian all in one.

Continue reading " Drill Sergeant, Why Dont You Leave Me Alone?" »

Posted by SoldierNow on July 27, 2006 at 8:53 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Ever wanted to get a better feeling for what it is really like to work in a particular career field or for a particular employer? Then you may want to check out the Alumni Career Reality Videos on the web site of the University at Buffalo, which is a State University of New York school. The videos show University at Buffalo alunni in real workplaces and are designed to help students make better career decisions by providing insightful information regarding their professions.

Current videos include alumni who are accountants, mechanical engineers, physical therapists, district managers, entertainment and marketing coordinators, and pharmaceutical sales representatives.

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on April 28, 2006 at 6:26 AM | Leave a Comment (0)