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Have you just graduated from college? Congratulations, that's a significant accomplishment! But now you have to face the reality of starting your career search. How do you even begin? Some tricks and tips can help you get off to a good start.

Let's take a closer look at the next steps.

Create or Update Online Portfolios

Now is the time to develop your application information. A resume will always be required, so showcase what you've learned and apply your knowledge to a career. Write a cover letter template that you can customize to send with each application. And you may want to create a portfolio website and LinkedIn account to illustrate your online presence.

Expand Your Network

Networking is one of the most critical parts of the job search. You can tap into your alumni community and reach out to others in your industry. Join industry associations and attend events. Talk to your family and their extended networks. The more people you can meet and tell about your career interests, the better your chance of landing a great opportunity.

Talk to a Mentor

You can also establish a mentor relationship to help you learn about the professionalism you don't learn in school. A mentor is someone in your industry who has been where you are and worked their way into the job they have now. They can give you tips and pointers and be a sounding board when you have questions or concerns.

Work With a Recruiter

Another excellent resource for you as a recent college graduate is working with a recruiter. Recruiters are employment professionals with extensive networks in various industries who work to match qualified candidates with open positions. Apply with a recruitment agency to get your foot in the door and find a great entry-level opportunity to kick-start your career.

For help finding your post-grad dream job, let itec group lend you a hand!

Hiring is critical to your success, but it's time-consuming and takes you away from running your business. There are ways you can save time and hire talented people for your open positions. A recruiting partner can save you in so many ways, including financially. Are you curious about how an agency can streamline your hiring process? 

Help You Optimize Your Job Description

Job descriptions, like any other online content, need to be optimized to be seen by as many people as possible. These principles of search engine optimization are part of a complex science, and there's no reason for you to learn something new to post a single job. Your recruiting partner can help you with this process. They understand the intricacies of SEO and how to create a job posting that the best candidates will see.

Use Smart Recruiting Techniques

Data-driven recruitment means you understand the cost-benefit analysis of every new hire before making a decision. Your recruiter can help you better understand many metrics involved in the recruitment process to ensure you're making the best decision possible with the information you have.

Pre-Screen All Candidates

When you don't have all the time to devote to hiring, pre-screening can feel like an unnecessary addition to the process. But it can be the best way to gather important information before moving to the next steps. A recruiting agency can do this at scale and only send you the best candidates for consideration.

Use Assessment Tools

An agency can also provide assessment tools to help determine a candidate's proficiency in various skills. Whatever skills are determined to be the most appropriate for the job, you don't have to take the candidate's word on the matter. Your recruitment partner may be able to provide assessment tools to get a better feel for someone's skills before they interview.

Support Onboarding

Your recruiter relationship doesn't end when an offer is extended. Recruiters will help with onboarding to ensure your new employee is prepared and ready to start their new career with your organization. They can also be a resource in the future should you have any questions or concerns.

itec group can give you the answers you need. Get in touch with our team!

While we all continue to live in an uncertain business climate, we have to consider the possibility that layoffs can happen. The tech sector has already seen mass layoffs this year, which could also trickle down to other industries. It's essential to be prepared for potential layoffs before they happen. Here are some tips that can help.

Build an Emergency Fund

An excellent first step is to bulk up your emergency funds. Save extra money from your paychecks this year to have a little cushion in case something happens. It doesn't have to be a lot each week. Whatever you save will be additional money in your pocket if you are a part of company-wide layoffs.

Update Your Resume

Even before you get the news that you've been laid off, updating your resume is not a bad idea. A resume should be considered a living document, and if you update it regularly, you don't have to struggle to remember data or accomplishments to share.

Talk To Your References

You can also message your references to ensure you have them on board before beginning a job search. You want to wait to talk to your current manager, but you can email people you've worked with and let them know you may be beginning a job search again soon.

Expand Your Network

When you're concerned about layoffs, it's also an excellent time to expand your network. Work on your LinkedIn profile and connect with others in your industry. Talk to people about what's happening in your current company and that you will be looking for something if anything changes.

Work With a Recruitment Agency

You can also apply with a recruiting company to find your next opportunity. Even if you apply today, you don't have to accept any positions or even interviews until you get the news from your company that you're being laid off. It doesn't hurt to get your information in as soon as possible so the recruiter knows who you are.

Consider working with an employment agency like itec group!

The idea of the skills gap has been around for a long time. Much like our business world, the skills gap itself is evolving. The missing puzzle piece in many of today's jobs is knowledge of technological advancements that will become increasingly important to business success. So how do you close the skills gap in your company? Let's take a closer look.

Upskilling

It's always more complicated to replace employees than to keep the team you have. If you upskill, you show your team that you're willing to invest in their future. What skills are you missing, and who on your roster has the interest and ability to learn them? Offer upskilling for things that will benefit you as well as your employees.

Generation Z

Companies that embrace every generation are better at disseminating knowledge and up-to-date skills. Younger employees, especially in up-and-coming Generation Z, will bring new skills. These are things that your team can benefit from. At the same time, your younger employees will learn the company culture and professional etiquette from your older employees.

Retired Workers

Throughout 2020, many older workers who were looking forward to retirement decided to stick around a little longer. That's led to more people retiring this year and in the foreseeable future. But boomers are not a generation that likes to sit around. Reengaging them by offering part-time or flexible roles can help you maintain their knowledge base and pass it on to incoming team members.

Recruiting Partner

You don't have to do your hiring alone. Recruiters can help you uncover new talent who will bring additional skills. They can work with you to determine the best fit and will spend less time sourcing and screening candidates than it would take you. They'll tap into a much broader applicant pool and provide you with qualified candidates.

If you're struggling to close your business's skills gap on your own, let the itec team help!

Do you want a promotion? Are you trying to get the attention of your management team? How do you get your excellent work noticed on the job? You can attract the proper attention in the workplace and set yourself up for success in several ways. Here are five ways to get your good work noticed and get closer to leveling up.  

Do Good Work 

It may go without saying, but the first step in getting noticed for your good work is to do good work. This means you need to be impactful with your work, be collaborative when working with your team, be accountable for your actions including mistakes, and be intentional with your efforts and productivity.  

Keep Track of Positive Feedback  

It's also a good idea to keep track of your positive feedback. When you do good work, you should receive praise and gratitude. If you're not, there's another problem at play, and it may be worth exploring. Consider keeping a file where you save positive feedback; this way, you can refer back when looking for a promotion. 

Note Your Big Accomplishments 

You should also keep track of your accomplishments. This is good practice for anyone, but it also helps you know what to discuss when requesting a promotion. By keeping track of your successes, you won't have to struggle to think of things when the time comes. It also provides you with an easy way to update your resume if you ever need to.  

Focus on Professional Development 

Employers want to work with people who take the initiative and are willing to see where they may have a skill deficit. Work with your mentor and manager to create plans for professional development. Learn new things in your own time. Focus on skills that will help advance your career and help your company meet its business goals.  

Meet and Review Your Progress  

You should be asking for regular feedback from your boss. When you have made progress and feel ready to discuss the next steps, ask your manager for a meeting. Talk to them about the positive feedback you've been given and your accomplishments. Prepare beforehand and make your case for why you deserve a promotion.  

If you're ready for a new job, start your search with us! 

Social media is not a fad. We live in a world where everything worth mentioning ends up online one way or another. And once something's online, there's no going back. But what does that mean for your employees and creating social media policies? If you've been thinking of developing guidelines to help your team and represent your company well, here are the top tips to get you started.  

Create and Enforce Official Accounts 

Your business should have official social media pages on all the major platforms. Keeping these owned by your company prevents someone from creating an account that unfairly targets your business. Maintain ownership, make branding consistent, and have someone within your organization responsible for posting and commenting on these pages.  

Request Transparency  

Your team is online; that's just a fact of business today. What's important is that you create a culture of trust. What you can ask your team is that if they include their place of employment on their social media, they make sure people know the opinions posted on their social media are personal and not representative of your organization.  

Ensure Privacy  

While you need to trust your employees to use sound professional judgment online, you can create policies around what they can and can't share. It's vital to let everyone know confidential client or company information not be shared online. This needs to be a formal policy; if it's violated, there are professional consequences.  

Train on Cyber Safety 

It's also critical that your team is safe online. There are constant threats to safety on the internet, and many of them can look very legitimate. Offer regular training to reinforce safety guidelines. These include:  

• Creating strong passwords 
• Two-factor authentication 
• Limiting personal information online 
• Using secure internet connections 
• Spotting and avoiding phishing 
• Not clicking on suspicious links or downloading unknown files 

Be Tough on Harassment 

Cyberbullying isn't just something teenagers do. Harassment online is all too common, and you must have a no-tolerance culture in your workplace. There is no room for hate speech or other forms of harassment. You should also provide resources for your employees if they experience harassment online.  

Follow Legal Guidelines 

There can also be a lot of legal traps online that people get caught in unwittingly. Always remind your employees to respect intellectual property, copyright, trademarks, and other laws regarding content and creations. Make sure they know if they don't have explicit permission or licensing to post something, they need to avoid it.  

Let the staffing experts at itec group weigh in.   

It's no secret work can be stressful. Workplace stress is a leading cause of heart disease or strokes, and left unchecked; it can cause significant problems both in and out of work. When you take the stress home with you, you burden yourself and can impact the people around you. Here are a few ways you can cope in a healthier way and leave workplace stress at work.  

Create Your Daily To-Do List 

A tried-and-true method of leaving work at work is creating a to-do list for the following day before you go home. That way, you're not just thinking about everything you must do when you return to work in the morning. You can use online apps to help you keep organized or an old-fashioned desk planner to write down your tasks and appointments daily.  

Use Your Commute to Unwind 

There are lots of kinds of commutes. Some people use public transportation where they can read or listen to music on the way home. Even if you drive, you can use this time to unwind. Turn on the radio or listen to a podcast that interests you. Take your time, and don't let traffic stress you out more.  

Schedule Time for Hobbies and Social Activities 

If you're feeling stressed at work, you must make time to do what you enjoy. Set aside time each week to engage in hobbies you love or meet up with friends. Try to make dinner at home with your family to catch up with them as often as your schedules allow. Use your weekends to do the things you enjoy.  

Set Healthy Workplace Boundaries 

We had a very unhealthy balance between work and home life for a long time. Many people are rejecting that today and setting healthier workplace boundaries. This is especially true as more people work from home, where access to email and work systems is always available. Set your ending time and stick to it. Don't answer emails when you're not on the clock. And be sure to take your PTO and vacation days.  

If you think a new job may be what you really need, start your search with our team! 

The pandemic changed the fundamental way we work. Recently, many companies have been considering how they could make remote work and hybrid work more effective. This has led to the concept of "hoteling." What does this mean, and is it right for your business? Here are some things to consider.  

Overhead Costs for Work Spaces  

Hoteling your office allows you to downsize both space and money. You won't need a dedicated desk for every employee as people come in and out of the office at different times. You can create a more open approach, like a coworking space model. Desks or offices are available on a first-come basis. Reducing the size of your workspace means you can eliminate many of its overhead costs.  

Encourage Networking and Social Engagements 

One of the things employees say they miss most about the office is the ability to network and socialize. It was a big part of our culture before, and work-from-home became more isolating. But hoteling means different people will be in the office at various times, which avoids the insular cliques that could make environments toxic. Your employees will create professional relationships with those around them, not just the people they work with most often.  

Plan for Busy Days 

There are potential cons to hoteling. Increased demand on busy work days will be the biggest challenge. For the most part, your flexible spaces won't need specific allocation, but on days when everyone comes in, such as busy days or company celebrations, you'll want to have someone in charge of ensuring everyone has a place to work.  

Make the Return Easier  

Office reintegration may be difficult for some of your employees. While many may have missed an office's social interaction, others found work-from-home more productive and may bristle at the thought of giving that up. With a hybrid approach, you can give everyone what they want. Hotelling means when a few people come into the office, you won't have entire departments still sitting empty, and the people working may feel more comfortable than if they were working in a ghost town.  

Competition for Office Resources 

There is also the concern about competition for resources. When hoteling, you need to make sure that everyone has access to the resources they need when they need them. Your new office will be a single-business coworking space rather than house dedicated departments and offices. Every employee on the premise needs access to management and the tools to do an adequate job. They shouldn't have to jump through hoops to access what should be available to everyone.  

If you're looking to hire new people this year, let itec group lend a hand! 

Congratulations! You've just been offered a job. But now what? Before you accept the offer, have you thought about negotiating? For anyone who wants to negotiate the salary or other benefits provided by a job offer, there are some mistakes to avoid. Here are the most common negotiation mistakes and how to avoid them.

Not Researching Enough

To be in a position of power during these negotiations means you need to research the potential salary of your job. Start by using sites like Salary.com and Glassdoor to give you an idea of what this position pays in your location. That will allow you to have a place to start with the negotiations.

Not Negotiating Other Benefits

People often think that negotiations start and end with the salary. But don't forget that you could get additional benefits when they cannot give you more money. For example, if they can't reach the salary you prefer, talk to them about getting extra time off or a flexible schedule.

Issuing an Ultimatum

Almost all humans bristle at the idea of an ultimatum. When you let a company know that there is no additional room for discussion, you are much more likely to be rejected and replaced by someone willing to be more flexible. Don't negotiate in the style of an ultimatum but allow room for more discussions.

Not Getting the Final Offer in Writing

Before officially saying yes to any job offer, ask for it in writing. If a company doesn't provide the information in writing, they can move the goalpost without letting you know. Most companies operate under integrity, but you want to ensure that no one can do a bait and switch on your career.

Not Negotiating at All

Many job seekers also make the mistake of not negotiating at all. They accept the first salary and benefits package offered by the employer. When you do that, you potentially miss out on the opportunity to make more money. While you may conclude that their offer is fair, at least provide your evidence regarding your research and make a case for getting more.

If you need help finding your next job offer, turn to itec group!

Relying on your team of loyal employees is what makes your business succeed. Loyalty is a two-way street, so what can you do as an employer to improve team loyalty? Here are five ways to create a culture that encourages team loyalty now and in the future.

Focus on Culture

Good company culture can improve employee loyalty by creating a positive and supportive work environment. When employees feel valued and appreciated, satisfaction rates are improved. They can build better relationships with coworkers and managers and feel a sense of belonging within the organization. A strong company culture can align employee and company values. And when employees feel their work is meaningful and their contributions are valued, there are higher performance levels and a reduction in turnover.

Provide Meaningful Work

Giving employees a sense of purpose and fulfillment in their jobs can also improve employee retention and loyalty. When their work is meaningful and their contributions positively impact, your employees are more likely to stay engaged and motivated. A stronger emotional connection to the organization based on the feeling of doing good and meaningful work can improve retention. Employees who see themselves making a difference are less likely to seek employment elsewhere.

Be a Stellar Manager

Management can make all the difference in employee satisfaction and loyalty. Managers can improve performance and retention by clearly communicating expectations, providing regular feedback, and listening to employee concerns. Showing appreciation and recognition will enhance employee engagement. There should also be a culture of supportive leadership, empathy, and fair treatment with respect and dignity.

Listen to Feedback

Employees who feel empowered and comfortable providing feedback will also be more likely to stay engaged. But you shouldn't just listen to feedback; it should be used to improve processes and workplace culture. When you hear and incorporate feedback, you demonstrate that you value and appreciate what your employees bring to the table.

Offer Room for Development

Advancement is a big draw for many professionals. If someone feels they've maxed out their company's career growth opportunities and earning potential, they will seek that gratification from another employer. Provide opportunities for learning and increasing responsibilities within your organization to improve retention and employee loyalty.

If you still can't find the people you need, itec group is ready to assist!