Archive for July, 2010

Interview tips for fresh graduates

Every fresh graduate coming out of college should focus on the career building, thereafter. This is a process, which involves great efforts and hard work and it starts from seeking a job.

Here is how one can do it systematically.

Resume Building

Start with your name and address in clear, bold format. Add your qualifications, right from the school education, in a systematic manner. While doing this all, fresh job seekers should highlight any special training received in college, even for non-circular activities or towards military training.

Mention your experience in a separate paragraph or format. This should include any formal or informal training received after finishing the college. This can form the first part of experience for all fresh graduates.

Post Your Resume

There are several websites, which cater to the aspirations of new job seekers. Some of these sites also assist in making your resume in a professional way. Taking their help always helps. Although there can be many sites offering jobs globally, it is better to visit and join those sites that provide local jobs for the candidates in their area.

Prepare for the initial test

Some employees have a procedure of eliminating the candidates in the initial round, by calling them for a test. The short listed candidates are then asked to attend the interview. This test is, most of the times, simple to know your aptitude and strengths, which you must have highlighted in your resume.

However, be serious to take this test, because no seriousness shown at any stage can prove harmful to you and your prospects. Prepare yourself for this test well in advance as the notice for it is sent a week or two before the test is scheduled. All fresh graduates need to be confident all along.

Attend The Interview With Confidence

Once you are through the test, next big step is the interview itself. Be sure that you are your best on the interview day, both physically and mentally. All job seekers must remember to face the interviewer with self-confidence. This results in the exercise half done, successfully.

Follow Up With Agency or Website to Know Your Status

Follow up with the website through whom the interview was arranged, like www.jobo3.com as they have been helping you until this point, all along.

We wish, fresh graduate job seekers, all the best to start their career by following the tips given above, systematically. However, there are many steps to be taken for meeting the final goal of all fresh graduate job seekers. We will discuss about these in coming articles.

HRIS: Strategic decisions, dashboard style

The current economic climate is asking all of us to deliver measurable results, demonstrate value and justify decisions. For the HR professional, this spells an opportunity to enhance the role of a strategic business partner. However, to be truly effective in this regard, there is a requirement for accurate and relevant metrics. These metrics should not only report results, but also be the first stage in building the case for policies, procedures and strategies that impact business results, drive change and build competitive advantage. In practical terms, this involves the HR professional strategically leveraging measurement to provide a deeper insight.

There is no doubt that a HRIS, and in particular, the embedded reports, can be used to assist the strategic decision making process. This process is greatly enhanced with access to ‘what if’ scenarios, historical analysis and logical reasoning, so data is consolidated, integrated with all the HR modules and relevantly delivered with a simple user experience.

Enter the dashboard

As humans, we absorb text-based information very slowly. We are pattern seekers and use our visual perception to detect meaning that might otherwise remain hidden. No, I am not heralding the end of classical reports, but imagine if you could spot trends, identify anomalies and use those insights toward effective decisions with a mouse click? Visualization makes the complex data embedded within an HRIS clear and immediately actionable.

Dashboards deliver in this regard. By linking human perception to the data presentation, they communicate information in real time with clarity, supporting meaning and usability. They use visualization tools like charts, gauges and maps, bringing high-impact, predictive insights to meet operational, analytical and strategic requirements. Typically they are anchored to performance indicators, goals or targets. They also offer interaction by switching between aspects of the data, historical analysis, benchmarking and drill down analysis into the root cause.

Lots of data, but no idea

To ensure a successful dashboard journey, you will require a holistic approach to your HRIS strategy. This includes an accurate reflection of your organization structure, competency framework, integrated HR modules, single user dataset and security profile, work-flow engine, and a comprehensive and flexible analytical layer with dashboard technology. This will give you the operational and transactional framework that captures, validates and pivots the data. Furthermore, dashboards need to be implemented and configured in such a way, seeking quality over quantity, allowing you to clearly answer the most important workforce-related questions. It’s this logical approach towards decision making which offers strategic empowerment through insight and analysis.

Context of interpretation is also very important. That is, make the data talk and present it in a way that drives decision making. For example, instead of reporting the ageing workforce, allow the illustration of what the workforce will look like in five, 10 or 15 years’ time. This kind of ‘what if’ scenario building allows you to explore the consequences of inadequate bench strength. Another example is the ‘what if’ analysis of consolidated remuneration under a review scenario. Analysis usually means selecting an employee demographic or location and applying the increase. The direct impact of a change in remuneration is immediately apparent, but don’t stop there. Look into the history and analyze relationships between other functions such as performance, training and length of service.

Dashboards can also be configured in such a way to provide competitive insights. In most organization the hiring and promotion decisions are made by the line managers. Presenting them with accurate talent analysis embeds a level of quality in their decisions. For example, understanding the sources of departure, reasons for departure, and sources of high performers and potentials, provides insights that build strategies for retention and hiring.

Finally, it may be wise to include dashboards demonstrating compelling logic that address the solution, as well as compelling dollars that address the ROI of a solution. There is always pressure to show ROI and value, but the ‘why and how’ that define a business case for making the investment in the first place and how the proposed investment will solve a problem, are equally important. It’s all about the information that supports decision making.

About the author
Ari Kopoulos is national sales and marketing director for EmployeeConnect. For more information, visit
www.employeeconnect.com from http://www.hcamag.com/news/hris-strategic-decisions-dashboard-style/46794

Interview questions

Equipped with a stunning resume, you are ready to secure that perfect position. Now it is time for the next step: the dreaded interview. This step, however, does not have to be an intimidating or nerve-racking experience. By taking some time to prepare, you can achieve the successful results you want.

There are many questions that will be asked during the interview. Most interviews last 45 minutes or longer. Be prepared for a variety of questions.  Recognizing that situations for every candidate will vary, the responses to questions mentioned in this article will provide you with some general guidelines. First and foremost, it is important to conduct extensive research on the district’s or school’s needs in order to respond to interview questions thoroughly and competently.