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Respond quickly to an unexpected job opportunity with these simple moves

Catherine Iste Business Management, Services & Risk Management

Whether it is a last-ditch effort at year-end or an attempt to get the new year started off on the right foot, leaders often make what seem to be last-minute employment offers around this time of year. If a casual networking event has resulted in an unexpected job opportunity, make these simple moves to take full advantage of the chance. The best place to start is the easiest one for the potential employer to check: LinkedIn. Do a quick check of your profile and make any necessary updates.

Trends in 2018 you didn’t know you missed and a few to look for in…

Catherine Iste Business Management, Services & Risk Management

Social media has helped us all become more in tune with what is trending. However, most of us are not as hyperaware of what is trending in the workplace as we are in our nonprofessional feeds. As such, here is a quick breakdown of a few trends that made a significant mark on 2018 and a few more trends to look out for in 2019. For example, from schools to banks, nonprofits to tech companies, design thinking has left the traditional realms of the creatives and crept into cubicles everywhere.

‘Tis the season to avoid office party lawsuits

Terri Williams Business Management, Services & Risk Management

According to a new OfficeTeam survey, 93 percent of organizations will provide some type of seasonal activity this year — whether off-site or on-site. Also, 41 percent of companies plan to spend more on this year’s festivities. "Hosting holiday activities is a great way for companies to recognize teams and thank them for their hard work," according to Stephanie Naznitsky, executive director of OfficeTeam. On the other hand, almost everyone has a "Hey, remember that time at the holiday office party when . . ." story about out-of-control behavior.

Collegiate athletes encounter new career possibilities

Sheilamary Koch Sports & Fitness

While over 480,000 students in the United States participate in college sports per NCAA estimates, the odds of a collegiate athlete attaining professional or Olympic status are extremely low. Baseball players have the best chance to make a career of their sport with a 9.1 percent conversion rate between college and professional levels. The percentage is closer to 1.5 for college football players and even lower for those who play basketball, volleyball and soccer. Still, college students have plenty to gain from the time and effort they invest in playing on a college team.

A stock market survival course: Part 2

Patrick Gleeson Business Management, Services & Risk Management

This is the second article of a five-part survival course designed to give you essential information you need to succeed as an investor in the stock market. None of it is mere opinion. The first article summarized the generally poor stock market performance of individual investors and explained why. This second article explains why stock-picking itself is a bad idea no matter who’s doing the picking.

Overcoming career setbacks

Catherine Iste Business Management, Services & Risk Management

The end of the year is not just for stressful mandatory fun or closing out and prepping for the next year. The end of the year is still a common time for companies to conduct layoffs. Here are a few steps to follow if you are faced with a layoff at year-end. For example, with most of us, addressing finances is the most pressing issue when unexpectedly facing unemployment. Tackle this stressor head-on, right away.

No response is not a response

Lloyd Princeton Business Management, Services & Risk Management

Have you ever had the experience of trying to get the attention of a store clerk or waiter, only to have them go about whatever they were doing and act like you weren’t there? How did that make you feel? Were you annoyed, angry, exasperated? I’m guessing the one thing you weren’t feeling was satisfied that they had properly responded to your attempt to communicate with them. The point of my example is that most people in a face-to-face situation would consider being ignored or not getting or giving a response as inappropriate and rude. Yet, it is becoming quite common in business communications.

Smart strategies for cutting competition between your employees

Lisa Mulcahy Business Management, Services & Risk Management

Competition in your marketplace is part of the drill when it comes to doing business. When your employees start to compete with each other in potentially destructive ways, however, your business can quickly suffer. As a manager, it's key to shape your policy so that team success always overrides the personal gain of the employees who work for you — so how do you handle the personnel conflicts that aggressive individual team members can cause?

Have you considered using ‘stay interviews’ to increase employee…

D. Albert Brannen Business Management, Services & Risk Management

Hiring interviews and exit interviews are standard HR practices. "Stay interviews" are not as well-known and seldom used. However, they could be the most important interviews your organization could ever conduct. In case you are not familiar with the term, a "stay interview" is simply asking employees: "What makes you stay?" A stay interview can also cover more discrete issues like why an employee stays within a particular department, on a project, or with a particular manager or supervisor.

Disorganize to increase your creativity

Patrick Gleeson Business Management, Services & Risk Management

Increasingly in this century, researchers and business analysts are paying attention to what increases creativity. What are the approaches and habits you can adopt that will promote and increase your own creative output? Some of the research results are surprising. Although earlier articles and books on the creative process recommended such common-sense strategies as organizing your time and workspace to maximize creative output, more recent data-based research suggests there’s more to It than that — that too narrow a focus on organization can inhibit creativity.

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