The Bagg Group Blog

You just never know.   It could be that one day the resume as we know it will go the way of the dinosaur.  Instead, recruiters will conduct online searches to turn up profiles of people who match their needs.  

Last year, a US survey of human resource experts shows that 36% of respondents believe that it’s likely that resumes will eventually be replaced by profiles on social and business networking sites, such as Facebook and Linkedin.

But that day is not here yet.  For now, a good resume is still essential if you’re looking for full-time work, contract work, or temporary placements in the GTA.

However, you still need to make sure you have a positive online presence to impress hiring managers.  That’s because there’s a chance that if they like your resume, they’ll look up your name on the internet.   

As many as 79% of recruiting professionals in the US who responded to a 2010 Microsoft survey said they do online research on candidates whom they are considering for jobs.

The large majority (85%) of recruiters said that a positive online reputation influences their decision to hire the candidate.

However, it’s especially important for job-hunters to know that a whopping 70% said they had rejected candidates because they didn’t like what they saw when they found them online.

Dan Schawbel, writes in Forbes magazine blog that nowadays, “your responsibility is to guard and manage your reputation like it’s the most sacred thing in the world.”  Recruiters at The Bagg Group couldn’t agree more.

We live in an era where it’s common to post enormous amounts of private, informal, information about ourselves.  On social network sites and in our personal blogs, we share pictures that we wouldn’t dream of showing to an interviewer.  We tell stories, make comments, post jokes, and give status updates that we would not want to serve as our introduction to a potential employer.

That’s why at The Bagg Group, we urge candidates to follow these tips:

• Set your privacy settings on all social networking sites, such as Facebook, to allow access to friends only. When job searching in the GTA, only people who know you should be able see your profile page.  To maximize your Facebook security, check out the tips in this New York Daily News article Worried about your Facebook privacy? Six things you should know.
• Your profile picture will show up in a name search on Facebook. You don’t want that picture to hurt your professional reputation.  When job hunting, it’s not the time to post a shot of yourself in a bathing suit, puffing on a cigarette, waving an empty bottle of tequila.  
• If you have any videos of yourself on Youtube, ask yourself if they could possibly make a bad impression. Err on the side of caution and remove any which you are unsure about.  And remember, you can’t be sure that potential employers will share your sense of humour.
• If you write a personal blog, don’t write anything you wouldn’t want an interviewer to read.  Avoid all rants and swear words. These won’t help your case.  Instead, they could make possible employers worry about how you’d handle difficult situations at work.
• Update your profile on professional social marketing sites, such as Linkedin.  Devote time to connecting with as many other professionals as possible and asking for recommendations.  

Consider that when potential employers look you up on the internet, they are interviewing you, without you knowing it.   They’re doing research to help them determine if you’re the right fit for their company.  In a face-to-face interview, you take control of your image.  It only makes sense to do the same online.

There are two things you want to avoid in a job interview:  The first is to ask about the number of sick days to which you will be entitled. The second is to show up ill at an interview.

This year, the Toronto Public Health Office has declared that the flu has hit the GTA with a vengeance.  For candidates who get struck down by the bug the day before a much-awaited interview, that presents a dilemma.

No one wants to miss an opportunity.  And often, many of us feel we can toughen it out long enough to make it through an interview.  However, it isn’t just about how you feel, it’s about the impression you are making with the hiring manager.

Walking in looking feverish, glassy-eyed, and coughing, is not going to wow anyone.  No matter how much a hiring manager in the GTA wants to find the right full-time person, contract worker, or part-time placement, they don’t want to get sick themselves when doing it. 

To determine whether your symptoms merit calling off the interview, as much to protect the health of the interviewer as well as your own, check out the Toronto Public Health office flu alert.

If you do need to reschedule, follow these tips from the experts at The Bagg Group.  We have helped candidates prepare for interviews with the best companies across the GTA for 40 years, and sadly, each one of those years has included a flu season. 

1. Give as much advance notice as possible.
2. If your interview was set up through a recruitment agency, contact your recruiter. They will get in touch with the person who was to interview you. 
3. If you are not working with a recruitment agency, send the interviewer an email, with apologies for having to cancel because of illness and ask if they might be able to schedule you in for a meeting in a day or two. 
4. Call, as well as sending the email, just in case the interviewer doesn’t see your email before your appointment.   
5. When calling, do not try to prove how ill you are by coughing through the entire message.  At The Bagg Group, recruiters have been frustrated when they were unable to even make out the caller’s name. It doesn’t matter how high your fever is, for the one-minute call you need to stay professional, and clear.
6. Leave a number and let them know you will be available by phone and you will check your email so that you can quickly confirm another appointment.

If you don’t have anything contagious, and you feel you are able to power through the interview, try to do so.  If you’ve had a sleepless night, or you are a battling a headache, don’t feel the need to reveal all.  Consider this: How impressed would you be if when you sat down, the interviewer started giving you a detailed account of their aches and pains?

When you are in an interview, you want to focus on your strengths not your setbacks…but as soon as you get out the door, feel free to make a run for the couch. 

Stay healthy!

Not sure what to do next to move your job hunt forward? 

Sometimes, when looking for new job, you may wonder how to schedule your time — should you reformat your resume, spend time researching companies, work on upgrading your skills, look for volunteer opportunities, or call old contacts.

It happens to us all that when we’re not sure what to do, we overwhelm ourselves by listing dozens of things we could be doing. But the more ideas we have, the less we typically do.

And if you are seeking a job in the GTA, be it a full-time position, contract work, or temporary job, you need to work at it.  A to-do list can help you get moving.

Recruiters at The Bagg Group, who have decades of experience in helping candidates find the best jobs in the GTA, offer these tips for how to make an effective to-do list.

Don’t make a mile-long list:  Timothy Pychyl, a professor of psychology at Carleton University in Ottawa and a procrastination expert, says it is easy to put all our time and energy into writing a list.  As a result, the list itself becomes the work of the day. 

So don’t list the dozens of things you could be doing. Instead, choose three tasks and put them in order of priority.

Break down the first priority task into small steps: Consider the most important activity you need to accomplish –it is probably the task that seems the most difficult to you.  Write down all the steps necessary to complete this task.  Make this list of steps the list that you work with.      

Be specific:  For example, if you need to find your old resumes to produce a new one, write down:  Find past resumes..

Stick to one task at a time: Tackle each step, one after another.  Don’t give a thought to the other items on your day’s to-do list until you have completed the item you are working on.                                                                                                  

Now do this: There’s a wonderfully named app called Now Do This  (www.nowdothis.com) that is a great example of a simple, but effective way to work through a list.  With this app, you make a list of what you need to do in order of importance.  Now Do This will show only the first item on your to-do list, at the top of a clean, empty screen. It is only when you click on the Done button that the next item on your list appears, again on a clean, empty screen.  

“Now do this” is a terrific thing to say to yourself to keep you focused. It is less stressful and far more productive to just concentrate on the one task at hand.

Work to a schedule:  Looking for a job is a job.  Put in set hours, schedule in breaks, and keep to your timetable.

Reward yourself:  When you tick off an item from your to-do list, recognize that it’s an accomplishment.  And at the end of the day, tell yourself and anyone who asks that you had a great day.

Feeling good about what you are doing as you look for a job is important. When you network and meet with interviewers your good spirits can make all the difference.

 A new year brings in the promise of a fresh start.  If you are carrying over a job search from 2010, re-invigorate your search by starting the year off by doing at least one thing differently.

For example, move a dreaded task necessary for your job search in the GTA from the bottom of your to-do list to the top.

We all share a tendency to avoid those tasks which are out of our comfort zone. But research shows that it’s more energizing to get those activities out of the way than to have them hang over your head all day. 

And as you change the time, change your perspective.  With 40 years of successfully finding candidates full-time work, contract work and part-time placements, recruiters at The Bagg Group offer these tried and true tips for how to rethink two commonly disliked tasks.   

1) The covering letter:

If you dislike writing a covering letter, do it first thing in the morning, and think of your letter as a puzzle.

Some people actually make the activity into a puzzle.  Here’s how it works:

• Write out each point you wish to make as a sentence. 
• Cut out each sentence.
• Re-read the ad to determine the organization’s order of priority for the skills and experience it is seeking.
• Move your sentences around to try and match the organization’s list of priorities.

In this way by your coffee break, you’ll have a terrific first draft for your letter.  And even better, you may find yourself so engaged in your puzzle, you won’t notice that you’re actually composing a letter. 

2) The call to network

For many job seekers, making a call to former colleagues or contacts to network can be more uncomfortable than root canal.   

About 40% of us are shy, according to Bernardo Carducci, director of the Shyness Research Institute at Indiana State University.   His advice: Don’t focus on your request for help with your job search, just put your focus on being nice.

In an interview with Penelope Trunk, author of The Brazen Careerist, Professor Carducci said, “Shy people need to be more other-focused and less self-focused. Think about what you can do for the other person. Shy people worry that their opening comment will not be smart enough or witty enough, so they never get started. Instead, remember that when initiating contact you don’t need to be brilliant, you just need to be nice.”  

And you are “nice” when you show you are genuinely interested in the person with whom you are speaking.  It doesn’t take more than that to establish good connections.

When offices shut down for the holidays, it’s your cue to do the most important thing you can do at this time.  Take a mental break.

Recruiters at The Bagg Group know that job-hunters can spend statutory holidays fretting. We also hear how about how many don’t look forward to gatherings with friends and family they haven’t seen for a while because they dread being asked, “Do you have job yet?” 

Here’a tip for how to answer that question.  Tell whoever asks that right now you are working – you are doing planning, marketing, and sales to find a position that is right for you.  But for today, your office is closed.

We all need a time-off from whatever it is we are working on, and that includes seeking a full-time job, contract work, or temporary placement in the GTA. 

Creativity experts say sometimes it is when you stop thinking about your goals for awhile that you come up with great ideas out of the blue.

Elizabeth Gilbert, author of the best-seller Eat, Love, Pray is a case in point.  When she hit writer’s block, she turned off her computer and put all her energies into gardening.   She wrote in Oprah magazine that, “quite suddenly, out of nowhere—I realized exactly how to fix my book. I washed my hands, returned to my desk, and within three months I’d completed the final version of Committed—a book that I now love.  Gardening, in other words, had turned me back into a writer.”

So when there’s nobody there to read your email or return your call, give yourself the best gift you can this time of year…a time-out to recharge your batteries.   With 40 years of placing candidates with the best companies in the GTA, we can assure job-seekers that a holiday spent doing something you love will pay-off in renewed energy for the new year.

From all of us at The Bagg Group, happy holidays.

At The Bagg Group, we love a good story as much as anyone else.  But this December, it’s time for us to debunk the three greatest myths of the month:

1.  Poinsettias are poison for humans.  Not according to the Minnesota Poison Control which promises these Christmas plants don’t kill.

2.   Boxing Day was born of the urge to return gifts of scratchy too-small sweaters as fast as possible.  In fact, its origin is an old-time British practice of giving boxes of food to employees. 

3.  There’s no point looking for full-time positions, contract work or temporary work in the GTA in December.  That’s just not true!  A bowl of candy canes at the reception desk doesn’t mean all work stops.

Recruiters at The Bagg Group are setting the record straight with these true facts about job-hunting in December.

‘Tis the season to be available and willing to be called in to help out. Many staffers book winter vacations during the holiday season, resulting in a greater need for temporary work.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year to network. With thoughts of the holidays floating in people’s head, many are in better than average moods and more generous with their time.

Hiring authorities with positions to fill don’t want to put their job searches on hold.  They prefer to start the new year with new hires in place.

It’s also true that it can be more difficult to schedule interviews with decision-makers in the latter half of December.  That said, throughout the years, recruiters at The Bagg Group have sent candidates for interviews with the best companies in the GTA on December 24 and December 31. 

The bottom line?  Looking for a job is like running your own business.  And every business has to think competitively.  Many of your competitors for jobs will likely take most of December off.   And that’s why you shouldn’t.

Instead, take your cues from The Bagg Group recruiters who successfully help people find positions 12 months of the year:   Go ahead and decorate your work space with a poinsettia, and keep candy canes within reach, but don’t stop working toward your goal until office doors shut for the holidays.

We recently received a stellar performance review by candidates looking for full-time positions, contract work and temporary placements.  The Bagg Group earned the Inavero 2010 Best of Staffing Award for excellent service to candidates.  The award is presented in partnership with CareerBuilder. 

The award is based on a rigorous survey of candidates. Participants had a lot to say about The Bagg Group recruiters, and all of it was good.

Respondents didn’t just rate The Bagg Group high, they gave the agency a score that is double the national staffing industry’s benchmark for candidate satisfaction, according to the research firm Inavero. 

That means that more than 70% of survey respondents gave The Bagg Group recruiters a 9 or 10 out of 10.

Want to know what makes people champion a staffing agency?  Here are some key qualities for every candidate to consider when working with a staffing agency. 

Experience.   A successful job placement isn’t a question of luck. A recruiter needs to know how to match candidates with clients and opportunities.  It starts with paying close attention to a candidate’s interests, skills, and strengths.

Contacts:  For example, The Bagg Group has been a mainstay of the GTA staffing business for 40 years, and our clients know they can count on us to understand their needs and deliver the right candidates. That’s why we have relationships with the best places to work in the GTA and beyond. 

Trust:   You can also call it integrity.  It is critical that your staffing agency respects issues of confidentiality and negotiates in your best interests. 

Wisdom:   From notes on your resume to tips for interviewing to recommendations on workplace practices, look for a recruiter who is an expert in what you need to succeed. 

All of our recruiters are thrilled that The Bagg Group is the recipient of the 2010 Best Staffing Award.  It’s high praise indeed from our candidates, and it means the world to us.

If you are thinking about quitting your current job for full-time placement, contract work, or temporary work, remember that how you quit a job matters.

It’s not unusual to come to a crossroad at work and decide you need to make a change. There are no stats on how many times people switch jobs in the course of a career.  However, in 2008 a survey by the American Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that people born between 1957 and 1964 held an average of 10 jobs between the ages of 18 and 42.  Twenty-three percent held 15 jobs or more.  Not surprisingly, people switched job more frequently in their late teens and early twenties. 

We know there a lot of reasons for leaving a job – better opportunity, better location, money, etc.  Sometimes there are personality conflicts or demands that can’t be managed and leave you frustrated. Regardless of the reason for leaving, it’s important for your career to leave on good terms.

There are those who believe quitting is their chance to voice their dissatisfaction, in no uncertain terms. A word of caution from The Bagg Group: with more than 40 years of experience in placing candidates with the top organizations across the GTA, we know the value of a good reference. And you don’t get a good reference when you storm out the door.

Instead, the pay-back for exiting with professionalism is worth keeping your feelings under wrap. You don’t know where the people you work with today will show up tomorrow. A half-hour rant is not going to help your job success in the short or long term. But having former colleagues and bosses who will always take your call can make a difference.

That’s why recruiters at The Bagg Group offer these tips leaving a job on a high note:

• Give at least two weeks notice, or more if possible, especially if it’s going to be difficult to fill your position. 
• Make a point of letting your boss know that you’ll do whatever you can to make your departure as easy on others as possible.
• Stay objective about your job when talking to others about why you are leaving. A job that didn’t work for you could work for someone else who has a different interest, goal, or temperament.  
• In an exit interview, share the positives about the organization, not just the negatives. Remember, the person you are talking to is staying with the company and will feel defensive if you do nothing but criticize. 
• Talk about lessons learned, what worked for you and, if applicable, where you believe there is room for improvement.  Managers across the GTA say that when an employee sounds excessively bitter and resentful, they can’t help but wonder if the employee wasn’t the actual problem. On the other hand, they say they have great respect for those who offer professional suggestions for improvements, rather than angrily complain. 

At The Bagg Group, we know that seeking a full-time placement, contract work or temporary employment takes energy. 

Until you find the placement that’s right for you, it can sometimes feel as if you’re swimming against the tide.  Having placed people with top organizations in the GTA for decades, recruiters at The Bagg Group know that even the most positive candidates have to work to stay motivated during their job search at times.

If your get-up-and-go has gone, follow theses six tips to get your energy back.

Set small goals:  Lofty goals can leave you feeling disappointed, rather than energized.  Don’t put pressure on yourself to land a fantastic job within a short period of time.   Instead, write an specific, achievable, list of tasks for each day that are within your ability to accomplish.  

At day’s end, focus on the goals you’ve achieved, not those you have yet to reach:  When you complete a task, give yourself a high five.  It’s not arrogant or conceited to feel good about yourself, it’s a key strategy that is practiced by all successful job-seekers.  Celebrating small wins is a way to stay confident and positive — two qualities which are valued by hiring managers at organizations throughout the GTA.

Forget perfection, strive for progress:  If you didn’t catch a typo on a covering letter until it’s too late, if  you missed an opportunity, or messed up on an interview, immediately replace the words “if only”  with “next time”.  You can never go back in time but fortunately, you can always move forward, a little bit wiser.

Take a break:  When you truly feel your battery is on empty, take time out to do whatever it is you love to do to recharge.  

Work where other people are working:  If you have a laptop, consider working at a friend’s house  or office. If that’s not possible, head to a coffee shop with your phone and your computer. Simply being around others who are working can motivate you keep  focused on your tasks.  What’s more, looking for a job can be lonely business.  For the price of a coffee, you can feel less alone during the day. 

Choose a winning team:  Surround yourself with positive people who persevere with their own goals and remind you to persevere with yours.

Stay motivated and energetic, and you can be sure people will respond to your enthusiasm and be that much more interested in helping you meet your goals.

Recently, an A-level candidate met with a staffing solutions expert at The Bagg Group and said he was seeking a change because his boss’s negativity brought down the entire team. That’s certainly not the first time that a toxic workplace has prompted the departure of an excellent employee.

Candidates who have much to offer choose upbeat work environments.

With four decades of successfully placing people in full-time jobs, contract work and temporary positions, recruiters at The Bagg Group know that the saying, “birds of a feather flock together” holds true when it comes to attitude. Hiring authorities who think positively attract and retain positive thinking employees.  

Similarly, there’s truth in another cliché…misery loves company.  An employee who is easily defeated by problems will align quickly and comfortably with a boss who sees only doom and gloom.

But in an interview, everyone tends to be on their best behavior.  With that in mind, hiring authorities at  top companies in the GTA have asked how The Bagg Group staffing solution experts discern between negative thinkers and positive ones when meeting with candidates.  We do it by listening closely to what people tell themselves, and others.    

Negative thinkers complain and judge; positive thinkers assess, consider and explore possibilities with curiousity.     

The following chart from the Mayo Clinic offers some examples of the differences between negative and positive talk.

Negative self-talk                              Positive self-talk

As experts in interviewing, we know that a funny thing happens to you when you listen intently to determine if someone approaches work from a positive or negative perspective.   You start to notice your own communication patterns. 

Are you being upbeat or unenthusiastic? Our staffing experts say the minute they feel they are being negative, they change their  tone because every good interviewer knows the golden rule, established by Confuscius, “Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire.”