4 Tips for Onboarding Remote Employees

4 Tips for Onboarding Remote Employees To adapt to new jobs, new employees need to undergo an onboarding program. Without it, they will have a hard time getting to know both their co-workers and their tasks. Local hires are usually welcomed in person so that employers can answer their questions and make introductions. However, remote workers usually have a less engaging orientation. As the barrier of physical distance makes communication challenging, remote workers cannot adapt to their new environment that easily. Let ´s take a look at why onboarding is important and what you can do to implement that process for your remote workers. The importance of onboarding Internet technology has brought about immediate communication over great distances, whether through chat or video conference. This has led to more and more organizations hiring virtual employees â€" the talent pool has widened and that’s a great thing.  However, it can be a struggle to onboard people from different cultures and time zones and sustain them as contributing employees. Employers find that remote workers tend to experience decreased involvement, so it’s important to provide a proper onboarding process which makes them feel more relaxed and integral to the team. Onboarding new hires involves introducing them to the work environment, colleagues, and business processes. Here are some best practices you can follow to make onboarding remote employees more effective. 1.  Meet face-to-face If it’s possible, consider bringing remote employees to the head office for the first week of orientation and training. At the least, use video conferencing to include them in meetings. Matching a face to the voice is important because it provides an opportunity to make eye contact and observe body language. That way, conversations become more meaningful and it’s easier to build relationships. When bonds are built and strengthened, remote workers feel more comfortable about asking questions and are more likely to become engaged. You could also give remote workers a virtual tour through the office. Have co-workers welcome the new hires and encourage them to open communication to keep them from feeling isolated. 2.  Be clear on what you expect Communicate your expectations to new hires so they can direct their efforts effectively. Discuss your companys organizational values, team objectives, and individual responsibilities. Confirm from new hires that they understand what needs to be done â€" this will give them sufficient confidence and focus when they begin completing their first tasks. You should also explain how to use the tools and systems theyll be working with, how to engage with key figures, and how to access resources. Work out timetables for team meetings and communications that take into account the remote workers time zone. Don’t forget to document and share these processes for future reference. 3. Assign a mentor Telecommuting is a drastic change from the shared workspace and it takes some time for remote workers to adapt. The best way to ensure that they fit in is to promote a healthy company culture where ideas and experiences are shared freely. As part of onboarding, pair the new hire with a mentor who can coach them on procedures and who will always be there when they have questions and dilemmas. This will enable a healthy relationship that leads to other avenues of communication. When remote workers feel they have adequate support, they will be more satisfied and their productivity will more likely blossom. In addition, make sure that the rest of the team accepts and understands the role of the new hire. You can also connect them with other members of the team over the first few weeks to provide opportunities to learn more about the workflow, business goals, and everything else. 4.  Assess and improve the process All processes require continual assessment and improvement, so make sure to always evaluate and refine the onboarding process in your company. Use your instincts and don’t be afraid to experiment, but place special emphasis on gathering feedback from the new hires. Once new employees have undergone a period of adjustment, ask for their views on the onboarding process. Make note of their observations and use them to improve the program and make onboarding even better for new remote workers that will potentially join your company. By constantly evaluating and improving your program, you make it easier for new hires to become acclimated and productive. Final thoughts Employees with top skills may be outside your local area. A solid program for onboarding remote workers will make them adapt with as little stress as possible, so make sure to have one. Try to meet your new hires and introduce them to the team. Let them know your expectations, and assign a mentor who can help them at all times. Its important to establish relationships so that remote employees feel involved. It is also important to constantly evaluate your onboarding program in order to make it even better. Establishing an effective onboarding program provides lasting benefits not only to the new hire, but also the entire company. About the author:  Jill Phillips  is a freelance writer from Buffalo, NY. She is an aspiring entrepreneur and tech enthusiast, who loves to share her insight on various topics. When she is not writing, Jill enjoys taking photos and hiking with her dog. Connect with Jill via Twitter  @jillphlps

Improving Your Resume With a Funny Resume

Improving Your Resume With a Funny ResumeGetting your resume written by using the classic resume format is not enough to get a potential employer to call you. But, utilizing the power of sarcasm or the use of humor when you are talking about yourself can certainly make a lot of difference in getting the attention of the employer who will be reading your resume. Employers pay attention to personality and this is the key to getting them to call you. Using humor and sarcasm along with your resume can certainly help you get noticed and by utilizing humor in your resume, you can actually convey more than just a straightforward and honest description of your experience and skills.It is important to mention that there is likely workplace humor that you should avoid. Keep in mind that a sense of humor is a very positive thing and you should include it in your resume but avoid including a sense of humor that is too over the top. These types of jokes about specific characteristics such as the length of a man's penis are not going to be read by most employers.When you are writing your resume and making sure that you do not leave out any of the humorous aspect of your past that you are most proud of, make sure that you find ways to make your humor to be funny enough for the employer to read. One thing that you can do is to include your hobbies in the section that you put in your resume about the humorous experience. If you do not have any hobbies that will qualify under your hobbies section, then make sure that you include a small sentence stating something along the lines of 'In addition to my work, I enjoy spending time with my family.'What is more, if you do not like to tell funny stories, then list one for the employer to hear before reading what you have to say about yourself. Also, the humor or the humorizing side of you can be utilized in the statement about your accomplishments.This humorous statement about you and your work background can be something that may be read by the employer by way of a direct or indirect line from the interviewer to you. It is also advisable that you make sure that you do not forget to include your education background as well as awards and other similar information.While the humorous remarks that you make about yourself are best used with a sense of humor, there is no reason that you should keep your potential employer from hearing your very serious perspective. You can bring the humor to the forefront through using the sarcastic style of humor. In writing your resume, you can also utilize the sarcasm type of humor as well as include it in the summary and/or the statements that you make about your accomplishments.Again, while it is important to note that humor is always appropriate, you can still add the humor that you think is needed to stir up the feelings of the employer. When writing a humorous resume, you need to do it in a positive manner and without losing the seriousness of the facts that you are trying to convey. You need to be able to get your point across while being able to get the employee to listen to your message.The humor or sarcasm of your resume analysis sand particles is what determines how it will be perceived by the employer. Your own sense of humor or the sense of humor of others might be too much for the employer to handle so that they will get the feeling that you are not even trying. The more personal the humor is the better.

What Twitter Really Can Do For Your Life - Kathy Caprino

What Twitter Really Can Do For Your Life I follow slews of fascinating people through their blogs and Tweets, and today I read a compelling blog post written by Scott Stratten who runs his company, Unmarketing.      I simply love what this guy has to say!   I find his ideas and posts so interesting, authentic, funny, insightful and just plain old great. Here’s his latest blog about What If I Didn’t Use Twitter: http://www.un-marketing.com/blog/2010/02/22/what-if-i-didnt-use-twitter I was moved to write a comment on his post, which is here: Scott I love your description of what youve learned and received from Twitter.   My guess is that youre the kind of person who gets enormous benefits out of anything you dive into.   But that being said, theres something about the Twitter experience that helps you stretch into wild new territories that youve been deeply longing for, but didnt even know it!   Its so damn powerful to connect with thousands of people, to use your voice in new ways, to put your one-of-a-kind ideas out there, to develop a tough-enough skin so that you can shrug off the occasional snarkiness of others, and to feel the love and support of one-time strangers who become dear friends.   Love your work, Scott! When people ask me “Do I really need to use Twitter,” I have so much to say about it that I don’t know where to begin.   So I’ll begin here… Who Gets the Most Out of Twitter?   People who: 1) Have something of interest to say 2) Don’t care to just blather on about the everyday minutiae of their lives (most people’s lives are boring â€" let’s face it!) 3) Enjoy giving as much as they do receiving 4) Have a generous, kind spirit and can support others’ thinking and work 5) Understand that using Twitter effectively is about building relationships and is not a get rich quick” scam 6) Get the fact that what you put into something directly correlates with what you get out of it 7) Don’t use it as a way of talking about how great they are, and how they can make you rich 8 ) Do use it as a way to become better, bigger, smarter, funnier, more helpful   â€" more of who you really are at your core So, if you’re wondering what you can get out of using Twitter, I’d say this: With an attitude of openness, curiosity, commitment, and generosity, you can get:   New friends   New ideas for books, writing, projects, seminars, talks, etc.   New interests and passions   New customers and supporters   New ways to see yourself and your life and work   New coping skills for when strangers write you and say your ideas stink   New like-minded colleagues to partner with   New directions to pursue that light you up   New ways to make money   New, helpful insights about yourself â€" what you’re great at and what you’re not so great at It occurred to me that what Twitter has brought us might have some parallels to when television first emerged on the scene â€"  it opens up a fascinating new avenue through which you can connect to a whole new world of ideas, feelings, perspectives, teachings, directions, along with passionate, inspiring people who have so much to share and give.   That is, if you’re selective about what you choose to focus on. So have at it, friends!   And as Scott Stratten says, I LIVE for comments, so please leave yours.

Quicksilver New ways and old ways - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Quicksilver New ways and old ways - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog Heres some info on the writing of Neal Stephensons latest book Quicksilver from his new website: The manuscript of The Baroque Cycle was written by hand on 100% cotton paper using three different fountain pens: a Waterman Gentleman, a Rotring, and a Jorg Hysek. It was then transcribed, edited, formatted and printed using emacs and TeX. When it was totally finished, the TeX version of of the ms. was converted to Quark XPress format using an emacs LISP program written by the author. Some share of credit thus goes to the people who made the GNU/Linux operating system and to the originators of LISP. I just love the idea of that kind of mixture of new and old. Fountain pens and TeX, 100% cotton paper and LISP programs written by the author. 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

Getting Feedback On Your Resume

Getting Feedback On Your Resume If you are applying for jobs but aren’t being successful, then it is time to look at where you could be going wrong. The job market is tough so if you aren’t doing what you can to beat the competition, then you are really ruining your chances of being successful. There are several things that can help or hinder your job application success rates and if you are having problems in getting your dream job, then you need to look at these and how they can be improved. One of the main things you need to look at is your resume and making sure that it does you justice. There are several ways that you can get hints and tips on how to have the perfect resume and the changes you can make to ensure that your resume is doing the best possible job for you. However, when you are simply reading other peoples advice and trying to put that into place with your resume, it can be difficult. Knowing what your resume should be like and how to improve it is hard, but it is a vital step to job success. If this is something that concerns you or you feel like you could do with help improving your resume, then why not get a professional on board? By getting someone who knows what they are doing to read over your resume and make any improvements that are needed, you are giving yourself the best chance of job success.

How Much Can You Charge For Resume Writing?

How Much Can You Charge For Resume Writing?Can you charge for resume writing? Can you charge for writing or editing a resume? If you are charging for writing resumes then you are not just charging for the resume, but charging for the entire resume service package. That means the person hiring you is paying for your resume services, not you.So, how much can you charge for resume writing? It all depends on the person hiring you. As a writer you would need to be very patient and be able to think outside the box to come up with ideas for a resume that would grab the attention of a hiring person. And if you had done all the hard work for the resume you could charge for that too.A resume would include all the qualifications you submitted for your job, plus your career history. When you were hired your resume would be reviewed by the hiring manager to see if you have what it takes to be a potential employee of the company. After the hiring manager has approved your resume then you would be offered a job.The resume also includes all the contact information that you provided about yourself, the company you worked for and your interest in joining the company. The resume has to be able to convince the hiring manager that you have the right qualifications to do the job. Also, the resume must be crystal clear and have good information. The company needs to know what they are getting, and how much they are paying for it.You must also be able to get the employer to agree to pay you a retainer for your job. The company would pay you per each job you did, for example. If you were good at your job then you would charge for a particular job, if you were not then you would not charge. The retainer would be used to pay you. People need to get their resumes out to be able to get hired. If they got their resume out too early, then they would not get hired and would be stuck looking for a job for the rest of their lives. And they would not have all the qualifications they need to get hired in the first place. So people need to be prepared to write their resumes and submit them for reviews.You could charge for writing or editing a resume. It depends on how much time you want to spend on a job. Also, you would need to be able to get to know the person and have a good rapport with them, so that you can write and edit the resume for a certain job. Remember, the person hiring you would also be hiring you and would therefore have full ownership of the resume, so you would be held accountable to your resume and would have to work very hard to get it right.

An Honest Perspective on Resume Writing Discount for Military Veterans

An Honest Perspective on Resume Writing Discount for Military Veterans The Importance of Resume Writing Discount for Military Veterans Writing an exceptional resume is hard for everyone, however a military spouse resume is a little more difficult, and will appear different than a resume of somebody who has been in one location for at least three decades. Preparing for your military transition will require a little bit of translation work. Getting started is quick, simple, and on top of that, affordable. Shop around to see whether there's another exceptional like an end of summer deal that may be worth more. Resume Writing Discount for Military Veterans - What Is It? Jumping into the hunt for a new job demands the correct mindset and a great deal of preparation. With some research, patience, and some planning, you can produce your next trip memorable and inexpensive! You'll also have to do plenty of research. Details of Resume Writing Discount for Military Veterans If you don't need to list every position, you can earn a distinct section for skills, including in the combination resume. Your job application may just receive a couple of seconds of attention in some job searches, and therefore it's vital to make it stand out. If you need a job outside the military, you are going to have to use different language and even a different format to pull attention. So far as the students are involved, writing a research paper is among the toughest and frustrating undertaking in their opinion. What's Actually Going on with Resume Writing Discount for Military Veterans Custom writing means a severe company with high standards. A properly formatted ASCII e-resume enables you to cut and paste your resume in the body of an email, send it over any email system on the planet, and be sure your resume will look the exact same no matter where it's sent. Without the suitable buzzwords, many human resource screening computer software programs will overlook your resu me as they're programed to search for certain words when creating a brief list for additional review by an authentic human. Scannable resumes need specific page designs because computer scanners can't read certain products. To qualify for the everyday 10% discount you will require a valid, government-issued military ID card. Make certain to look at the details to guarantee you get the discount. Bear in mind you might be able to discover discounts at the Lowe's. Just because you meet the requirements for a military specific discount, doesn't indicate it's the ideal offer at the present time. The award-winning resume services supplied by the absolute most trusted Military Resume Service may help to make the transition from military to civilian life much simpler. If you determine what it is you would like to do, then you may customize your veteran resume to deal with the duties unique to that job. Selecting a top resume service is among the main decisions that can be made in pr eparing for your career transition. Selecting a reputable resume service to assist you develop one of the absolute most important advertising and marketing documents you will depend on for your upcoming career and earnings is an essential choice. The Foolproof Resume Writing Discount for Military Veterans Strategy Some companies allow you to show ID when you show up while others would like you to give proof of service at the right time of booking. The armed forces employee must present and create a valid ID to acquire the discount. You need to present your educator ID at the right time of pickup. You will have to present your military ID at the right time of pickup. The End of Resume Writing Discount for Military Veterans Even within your intended industry, you will want to align your resume with the demands of a particular job. Next, after you have located a true job listing for this position, search for words relating to that industry called buzzwords or keywords. Then be certain to update your resume as soon as you've landed a new job. In the private sector, you are going to want to search company sites, use LinkedIn, and discover contacts at the companies you need to join.