Why Should You Care About Your Human Resource Department?

Human Resource (HR) Managers and HR Departments, are mostly found in big businesses, however some small firms might as well have a HR Manager. The HR Department plays a crucial role in a business we all know that, but have you ever thought why they are important to you? If you've never given a thought to it take a minute and think. Just in case you've missed any here are a few things why you should care about your HR Department:

• ·         HR is who hires you so you need to know how they like to work and their style of working.
• ·         HR is in charge of all the policies and regulations which all employees follow.
• ·         HR handles the training of all the employees.
• ·         The vacations and employee benefits are also handled by the HR nowadays, which is important to every single employee I believe.
• ·         HR is also responsible for compensation
• ·         HR monitors performance as to evaluate your productivity and this way they are able to make sure every employee is working effectively and efficiently.

And many more that could directly affect you and your job. HR Department is not only important to the business but to the employees of that business too because their decisions directly and indirectly affect the employees.

Here is a small chart that can help understand the tasks HR is involved in: 

Your Thought?

Any good or bad personal experiences with the HR Team or Manager?

Work Cited

The Changing Role of the HR Manager. (2015, February 12). Retrieved March 6, 2015, from https://paysavvy.com/blog/changing-role-of-hr-manager/

Keeping the Right People. (n.d.). Retrieved March 6, 2015, from http://hrcouncil.ca/hr-toolkit/keeping-people-employee-engagement.cfm

Human resources. (n.d.). Retrieved March 6, 2015, from http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-images-human-resources-image11289209

Human Resources. (n.d.). Retrieved March 6, 2015, from http://www.ccc.edu/departments/Pages/Human-Resources.aspx

Gender Inequality

What is gender inequality?

Gender Inequality is when an individual is treated unequally because of their gender.

Gender Inequality is still present in today’s workplace where many big companies differentiate between men and women. Not only small firms but surprisingly big firms are involved and differentiate between men and women. For example Walmart, one of the world’s biggest retailers has faced many cases where their employees have reported discrimination in wages and opportunities. One employee named Sandra Ladik, said that she trained one male co-worker for a certain task. Later on she found out that the employee she had trained was paid more than her.  The high wage rate was surprising and the fact that, he was at a lower position than Ladik his wage should have been lower. Ladik also had a lot more responsibilities being in a higher position which really showed the discrimination. There have been many cases where women have felt unequal at their workplace and they have reported discrimination a. Women hold less manager posts compared to the number of men who are managers at Walmart. Walmart is just an example there are many other businesses that discriminate between their employees and make the working environment very unequal for women.

Inequality can be eliminated from the work place by following a few steps or making some changes in the workplace. Some of the ways that these inequality can be reduced or eliminated are:

•   Training employees on how to behave and with co-workers to reduce all discrimination or any stereotypical decisions towards their co-workers.
•   While hiring employees the recruiters should have a very clear and understandable criteria which is used during the hiring process this would reduce any biases as now every candidate would be marked through the criteria.
•  Providing facilities and accommodations for women at the workplace so they can cope with the environment and any inequality would be eliminated.
• Using an evaluation criteria they can check the growth of every employee hence women will be given equal opportunities to growth and to be promoted based on their skills and knowledge.

For more information on how inequality can be eliminated from the workplace you can visit http://thehiringsite.careerbuilder.com/2014/08/21/6-steps-eliminate-gender-bias-workplace/ or you can watch this short video on equality http://thehiringsite.careerbuilder.com/2014/08/21/6-steps-eliminate-gender-bias-workplace/

Your thought?

How does your workplace incorporate gender equality? Or is there anything else they can add to eliminate any kind of gender inequality?

 Work Cited

Wal-Mart Sued by Wisconsin Women for Gender Bias. (n.d.). Retrieved March 5, 2015, from http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-02-26/wal-mart-sued-by-five-wisconsin-women-for-gender-discrimination

(n.d.). Retrieved March 6, 2015, from https://inequalityprojects.wikispaces.com/file/view/paygap.jpg/273736384/paygap.jpg

(2015). Retrieved March 6, 2015, from http://thehiringsite.careerbuilder.com/2014/08/21/6-steps-eliminate-gender-bias-workplace/

EBRD - Gender Equality Works. (n.d.). Retrieved March 6, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=misYmpr925o

Negotiating Salary

                                                                                 

        As soon as you get a job offer the first thing that you think of is salary, I mean who doesn’t want to be paid a good amount of salary for the skills and dedication they offer to a job? It takes so many hours of your life and time. But you don’t want to ring up the salary topic at an interview, as it may seem that your keen interest is the money and not the job. Just how you invest a lot of time prior, researching about big investments like a house or a car similarly you should research on what is your value, or what is the pay range of people who are in the same business field as you and the job position as well.

          What really is important when negotiating salary is knowing how to do it. Not sure about how you can negotiate salary? No worries here are a few:

•           Just as I mentioned before do not ask about the salary during the interview.
•           Until you are offered the job and the employer talks about the salary you should not give any figures.
•           When you are having a conversation about the salary and when asked then you can bring forward the research you did and tell the recruiter what you would like to get.
•           You should always keep in mind the least amount of salary you would accept if the employer goes below that you will know that, that particular job would not meet your expenses.
•           With salary you should never forget the benefit package as vacation, health plan and so on maybe available with the job.
•          According to some professionals say you should always begin negotiating with a higher salary amount as you may be lucky enough to get that pay or slightly below of what you have asked for.

Unfortunately if none of these work out in favour of you I guess you know what you should do? Right? Because remember that’s not the last job you’ll get.

For more details you can check http://www.canadianliving.com/life/work/top_10_tips_for_salary_negotiations.php

                                                                          Did you know?

Your Thought?

If you've been jobless for quite some time now and you are offered job but with a low salary range and no benefits would you take it? Also keeping in mind that it isn't the best job in the sense you are over qualified for the job? Would you accept the job offer?

Work Cited

(2015). Retrieved March 5, 2015, from

http://www.theemploymentguy.com/wp-content/uploads/Salary-Negotiation.png

(2015). Retrieved March 5, 2015, from

 http://informationng.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/negotiating-salary.png

What They Look For During An Interview

        Preparing for an interview can be nerve wrecking especially when it’s with one of the HR Managers.

      It may not be as bad as you think, what really HR is looking for a perfect fit for the job posting and hence when they interview a candidate they are looking forward to test you and know if you can represent their company and make it reach new heights. When they interview a candidate they look at several things from which a few point weigh more than others. Nowadays there are many new ways of interviewing for example what are your outside interests? And so on. However with all these, some of the important things a candidate should prepare for:

• ·         Eye Contact – always maintain eye contact it looks that you are following and are confident.
• ·         Look professional – consider a proper dress code.
• ·         Shake hands firmly – shows confidence.
• ·          Be on time – never be late for an interview it looks very rude and unprofessional.
• ·         Know about the company you are going for an interview.
• ·         Practice and be prepared to answer questions

These few points mentioned above should be kept in mind and followed that would help prepare for a successful interview as you are more aware of what recruiters are looking for and can prepare for it. All really recruiters are looking for is do you have the skills required for the job and if you can handle the position you are being interviewed for. Another importance of the interview is to know what you have stated in your resume reflects you.

This is a website that provides more details on what recruiters are looking for http://www.careernook.com/2013/10/job-interviews-20-things-an-interviewer-looks-for-during-an-interview/

This website provides statistics on most common mistakes made during an interview http://smashcave.com/design/infographics/job-interview-tips/

Your thought?

What do you think about the new tricky questions recruiters ask to job applicants nowadays, for example what are your personal hobbies? Do you think these types of questions are relevant or do they make any sense to you?

Work Cited

(2015). Retrieved March 4, 2015, from http://jobsamerica.info/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/How-to-Dress-for-a-Job-Interviewdress-to-impress.gif

How To Dress For An Interview

         

          So got a call asking for a job interview great! But before preparing for the interview how you look and what to wear is a crucial step as it would reflect your personality. How to dress can be a dilemma as every company has its own dress code that they follow so it is very acceptable to ask your recruiter what the dress code is for the interview.

          It really depends on the company as some companies will be very specific with how they want the employees to dress as they represent their company and some companies would not consider it as a big deal. Regardless of the company’s view on the dress code, before going to an interview you need to ensure you look presentable and professional as this would leave a great impression on the recruiter.

 Some important tips for men on dress code:

•           Shirt and pants should be a perfect fit neither too long nor too short.
•           Do not wear a lot of jewellery except a watch as that would add to professionalism and hide of any piercing or tattoo that you may have.
•          Make sure your shoes are clean.
•          Iron your clothes and keep everything ready the day before of the interview.
•         A tie with a two piece suit looks wonderful and shows the recruiter of how interested you are in the job as well as shows your personal identity.

For more in depth details you can check http://www.nextavenue.org/article/2012-04/new-job-interview-dress-code out.

Some important tips for women on dress code:

•           Skirt suits, pant suit, dress just keep in mind to keep it simple yet professional.
•           Closed toe shoes.
•           Keep the make-up as light as possible.
•          Avoid excessive jewellery maybe just 1 ear ring per ear and a watch yet again simple and professional.
•           You could add on scarf but it has to be neatly tied.
•           Nails should be short clean and for the nail pain a light pink would be great.

For more in depth details you can check http://www.nextavenue.org/article/2012-04/new-job-interview-dress-code out.

This website also is very informative about both gender’s dress code http://www.businessinsider.sg/heres-what-boardroom-formal-means-2014-9/#.VPqRIV32OwI

 Your thought?

What do you think of walking into an interview with casual clothing should that be acceptable? Or it should be all very professional?

 Work Cited

(2015). Retrieved February 28, 2015, from http://nyuwassermanblog.career.admin.nyu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/bigstock-Mixed-group-of-business-men-an-219844611.jpg

What to put on your resume

Applying for a new job! Seen a posting recently? But not really sure on what to put on your resume?  No problem!! Here are some quick tips that would help you build a resume HR style. As we all know the HR does the hiring and they have many resumes to look for especially HR in huge companies, when deciding who to hire for a certain high level position (e.g. Managers) they have to look for the best candidate and how do they do that, looking at their resume. So resume is the key thing to receive a job interview or a job. There are tones and tones of websites and tutorials that help one create a resume, but these are a few points you shouldn't miss considering when making your resume:

• ·         Be concise – you don’t have to write every single thing that you have accomplished, try and be concise but at the same time provide enough information about your achievements that would make the company know you are the best fit for the job.
• ·         Relate your skills and the job posting – your resume should show how all the skills you have fulfill the job requirements and more.
• ·         List your jobs in reverse chronological order – begin with the current job to your past record of jobs.
• ·         Contact Information – sounds like common sense, but it’s a common mistake many candidates often do, they forget to provide an email address or their phone numbers so ensure you clearly state how you would like the company to contact you.
• ·         Ensure there are no spelling and grammar mistakes as it look very unprofessional and it shows lack of responsibility or interest.
• ·         Length – the length of the resume depends mostly on your career experience, if you have more than 20 years of experience it would be a longer resume than a candidate with 3 or 4 years of experience.

For more reference you can refer to https://www.iseek.org/jobs/resumecontents.html for more information on the basic information that should be included on a resume.

For examples on how a perfect resume should look like you can visit http://www.career-resumes.com/sample-resumes/. This link provides samples of resumes within different fields of business.

Your thought?

What are some tips you could suggest that would make a resume stand out and make it more powerful?

Work Cited

(2015). Retrieved March 1, 2015, from http://thumb7.shutterstock.com/display_pic_with_logo/456880/456880,1258463657,1/stock-photo-sheet-of-a-white-paper-with-inscription-my-resume-the-red-pen-and-a-pink-paper-clip-41086759.jpg