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Are You the New Kid on Zoom? Tips for Meeting Co-Workers as a New Remote Worker

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Common aspects of everyday life came to a standstill in 2020. But after a period of uncertainty in the spring, employers began hiring again.

If you started a new job or are about to change careers, you will meet your co-workers online. First impressions matter more than ever, so it’s helpful to be thoughtful about those interactions. Use these tips to make those first few meetings more productive — and a little bit less awkward.

Ask New Questions

“Hi, how are you?” It’s the most straightforward conversation starter there is. However, you can do better for those first interactions. Skip the “how are you doing” during the first meeting. You don’t have a baseline to work from; you don’t know what ‘good’ means to them. It’s also a hard question to answer right now.

Instead, keep it positive and ask a question with a concrete answer. Instead, you might ask:

  • What did you do this week that you loved?
  • What’s been the highlight of the week?
  • What are you working on right now?

These are casual questions that help you get to know each other, keep it professional, and avoid perfunctory answers.

Choose a Fun Background

Zoom backgrounds are a fun way to express yourself and show off a bit of your personality. They’re free, and there’s no shortage of them available.

However, do remember to keep it professional. You might use a background photo of your current city or home town, the backdrop of your favorite sports team, or even a generic backdrop that expresses your interests. For example, you might put yourself in a beautiful library if you love to read.

Remember Your Body Language

One of the tricky things about Zoom is the over-reliance on verbal language. Even with video, delays, low-quality cameras, and the concept of video in general means it’s harder to communicate.

Be sure to keep an eye on your body language. It’s perceptible even on Zoom. Be sure to position your camera so that it captures your upper body when sitting up straight. When on the call, sit back from the camera so your co-workers can see your gestures. And as always, when in doubt, smile and nod.

Ease into a New Role with These Zoom Tips

Zoom is imperfect, but it’s a valuable tool that most companies now use to conduct everything from onboarding to essential business. You can make those first interactions meaningful by remembering Zoom’s limitations and working to overcome them by communicating as effectively as possible. Remember, these tips aren’t just great for daily meetings. They’re also helpful interview tips.

Are you looking for a new role in 2021?

RightStone can help! Visit our jobs board to look for your next move.

The Importance of Screening: 3 Ways to Ensure You Find the Best IT Candidates

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Keeping your talent pipeline full and moving is a core part of business operations. Creating an effective screening process is a significant part of the process.

Screening applicants ensures you only move the candidates best-suited for the job forward. It also saves you a significant amount of time both in the initial review and later in the hiring process.

Applicant screening can include a wide range of processes. Here are a few of the best techniques for hiring the best IT candidates.

Skills Testing Technology

You know what skills are mandatory and what ones are nice to have. Most of your applicants come to you with those skills in some form, so if you want to screen them successfully, use skills testing.

Technical skills screening is simple to administer and delivers precise results. By employing this technique, you’ll cut the wheat from the chaff and narrow your candidate pool without adding more to your plate.

Paid Trials/Short Contracts

Often, a hiring decision is a close call between two or three highly-qualified people. But those qualifications may not mean the new hires work out. Trial periods can dramatically reduce employee turnover, dropouts before the start date and ensure you also get the right candidate for your culture.

Paid trial periods or projects give you both a chance to see their performance on the team without a commitment. It’s low risk for both parties, and when it works out, you have a better employee who is also prepared for the demands of the job.

Outsource the Initial Screening

Do you find yourself sorting through dozens or even hundreds of resumes? It’s not uncommon to have only 30 seconds to dedicate to each application received. While technology can do this job for you, many companies, particularly SMEs, still prefer to have the human touch.

Why not use a staffing firm to go through the big pile of applications? They can use your goals and their experience and resources to pull out the best from the pack. The process gifts you a smaller pool to make the final decision, so you can focus your energy and resources where it matters most.

Screen for Success

Screening your applications will produce better employees and shores up your hiring process. There are many ways to go out about the screening process, which means you can ensure it matches your business and talent pipeline needs.

Are you looking for new IT consultants who come pre-screened and match your organization’s needs? Get in touch to learn more about the RightStone 360 process.

3 Reasons IT Professionals Should Consider Switching to Contract Work

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In 2018, one in five U.S. jobs was a contract job, and the number continues to grow. By 2030, half of all workers could work on temporary contracts rather than a permanent basis.

An increasing number of IT jobs also fall in this category, and if you’re currently in a full-time role or looking for one, you might wonder if a contract job might suit you better.

Here’s when and why you should consider switching to contract work.

You Want a Pay Raise

The best way to get a pay raise in today’s economy is to get a new job. And one of the surefire ways to make sure the salary bump is more than negligible is to take on a contract.

Contract jobs pay roughly 20% more than full-time employment for two reasons. First, a contractor won’t get the same benefits. Though benefits vary by agency and contract, and we’ll come back to that later. Second, paying contractors looks different on a balance sheet than paying employees. Unlike employees, contractors aren’t a “fixed cost,” so clients are more willing to spend more even if they keep the contractor around as long as an employee.

You Are Returning to the Job Market

Getting your foot in the door for a permanent position can be tough if you have a gap in your employment history. Whether you are a new grad or returning to work after several years, employers still tend to overlook you for candidates already in a similar role.

Contract roles come with no strings attached, which makes it easier to step into them if your employment history works against you, in part because employers (and investors) see investing in contractors differently than a permanent employee, who costs more in the long run.

You Want to Specialize

It’s not uncommon to see a permanent IT post come with the responsibilities of an entire IT department in one role. Hiring managers want to get the most bang for their buck for permanent staff. If that expectation doesn’t appeal to you, then a contract job may suit you well.

Employers tend to bring on contractors for specific and often specialist roles. If you want to increase your knowledge and experience in areas like cybersecurity, data center management, or ERP, you may find you have more opportunities as a contractor.

Becoming a consultant can open up a whole new world of work for many IT professionals.

Are you looking for your next role?

Visit our jobs board and get in touch to learn more about how we place IT consultants with the perfect client.

3 Tips to Keep Remote Employees Productive without Micromanaging

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Many businesses didn’t choose to go remote in 2020: it became the only suitable option overnight. As a result, there was no time to prepare a remote management plan or brush up on new skills.

If you have micromanaging tendencies, then you may have found them stretched during the past year. But micromanaging is just as counterproductive out of the office as it is when you’re co-located. Micromanaging leads to poor morale, a lack of confidence, and stress, which all contribute to lower productivity and higher turnover.

How do you make sure employees remain productive without getting in your own way? Use these tips for remote management inspiration.

Use Team Management Software

Clear, measurable goals are the ticket to productivity. When you have a good team and a crystal clear deliverable, you can almost count on it getting done.

To help you avoid micromanaging a project — even one with a defined goal — use goal tracking systems, like team management software. The right software enables you to see where your team is at a glance, which cuts down on wondering, emails, and unnecessary Zoom calls. 

Software also makes teamwork more transparent, so members of each team can see where their colleagues are and collaborate easier. There are plenty of options out there, from enterprise systems to freemiums like Asana. Just be sure to choose the right one for your team’s needs and get them onboarded so they can hit the ground running.

Provide a Daily or Weekly Focus

If you find yourself wondering what your team is up to, then your team may not have a focus. Make life simpler for everyone by pulling out a daily or weekly focus for each goal and communicate it with the whole group. Make the focus clear and ensure it ties into the overarching effort.

Using this method not only helps you stay on top of what’s happening in the short-term, but it helps keep employees on track even when other projects may be calling their name.

Tip: Weekly focuses tend to work best for longer projects or sprints. If there’s a pressing project or need, you might use a daily goal.

Build Relationships Based on Trust

No system or method can save you from micromanaging if trust isn’t the foundation of your working relationships. You have to earn trust, and it takes hard work. However, it is the best way to avoid relying on harmful management tools and boost productivity overall.

Remember: you set the standard for behavior. So if you want to earn trust, you need to give it. Check out this research from the Kellog School of Management on what it means to build trust and build a stronger remote organization.

Is the missing piece of your productivity puzzle a new employee?

RightStone can help you build the remote team you need to exceed your goals in 2021. Get in touch to learn more about the RightStone360 process.

How to Avoid Distractions When Working Remotely

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The option for remote working promised us more freedom and greater productivity. Yet, what many didn’t realize is that working from home (or elsewhere outside the office) requires new ways of working.

While there are many distractions at the office, there is also an equal number outside it. And there’s no one to catch you staring at your phone, browsing the internet, or giving in to other distractions.

Do you find yourself fighting an uphill distraction battle? Use these tips to avoid distractions wherever you work now.

Four Ways To Focus When Working Remotely

Use Background Noise

Many of us long to work in a quiet space when in a busy office, but working in a quiet room can make you hyper-aware of distractions.

You may find it easier to focus by using background noise to simulate the outside world or increase your focus. Music or the radio can do the trick for some, but you may also find it smart to try options like Brain.FM, which drives your brain to focus on the task at hand. 

Even background noise like a video of coffee shop background noise on YouTube or from Coffivity could get the creative juices flowing.

Find a Rhythm for New Modes of Work

Whether you now work from home, a co-working space, or your car while running errands, your workflow will differ compared to the office. For many people, sitting down for three solid hours of uninterrupted work is not a possibility outside the confines of HQ. If that’s you, don’t try to force it.

If you have the flexibility, try a new rhythm for work. You might change the hours you work during the day, break the day up into chunks, or even reduce your daily hours and spread them over the whole week.

Play around and find what works for you.

Stand Up and Take Breaks

You stare at your screen blankly and then give up and divert yourself away from the task at hand in favor of reading the news, responding to messages, or online shopping. All of a sudden, six hours have passed, and you still can’t get back to work.

In 2020, a study found that 95% of employees no longer take as many breaks, despite having more freedom when working from home.

Make it a point to stand up and take a short break. Set a timer or use a method like the Pomodoro technique. Taking more breaks leaves you feeling refreshed and helps you avoid distractions.

Turn on Anti-Distraction Mode on Your Phone

Do you ever pick up your phone and find 20 minutes passed without you noticing? Without anyone to stop you, it’s easy to find yourself scrolling through Twitter for hours on end.

Anti-distraction mode helps protect you from notifications, and for most, it’s built right into your phone. If you need an extra hand, try an app like Freedom or RescueTime to lock you out of the biggest time-sucks on your phone.

Remote work is here to stay, but you may need to find new productivity hacks that reflect your new environment.

Trouble Finding Work Remotely? RightStone can help!

Are you looking for your next remote role? Get in touch to learn more about the jobs coming up in 2021.

Show Up Prepared – What Questions You Should Ask at Your Interview

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“Do you have any questions for us?”

It’s the one question you know will come your way at the end of every interview, but it’s one many candidates struggle to answer.

There’s a strategy for nailing down the questions you should ask at your interview, and you can break it down into two parts. Keep reading to look like a well-prepared professional at your next interview.

Three Tips for Asking Better Questions at Your Job Interview

Ask Questions About the Company

You want to know what you’re walking into on your first day in a new office. So, questions about the organizational strategy and culture a great place to start.

Ask questions about your first 30, 90, and 365 days in the new role. A few basic questions to ask include:

  • What support is available to new hires?
  • How do performance review processes work? How often do they happen?
  • What three words would you see to describe the company culture?
  • Where do you see the company in five years?
  • What does the typical career path look like?

Do some research before the interview to make your questions as specific as possible. Use the company website, LinkedIn, and any press available to generate more targeted questions.

Ask Questions about the Role

Once you choose the most relevant questions about the company, start thinking more about the role itself. In many ways, these are the most important questions because they give you and the hiring manager an indication of the scenario the new hire will enter.

A few questions to ask about the role include:

  • Is the role new?
  • If it’s not new, who occupied it before now?
  • What is the top priority for the role?
  • What is the team like?
  • What kind of personalities exists on the team?
  • What times of the year are the busiest?

 

Why ask these questions? They will help you identify why the role exists, how it supports the organizational strategy, and whether it is the kind of space you want to enter. The answers to these questions will also help you negotiate a salary that you believe aligns with the position’s true responsibilities.

Write Down 3 Questions Before Your Interview

Asking questions at your interview doesn’t just make you look prepared. It also empowers you to negotiate the rest of the hiring process with a deft hand.

If you find it difficult to remember a list of questions, narrow your choices down to only three of the most important things you want to know about the job or company. Then, compare the answers between interviews to make a more strategic decision.

Need Help Finding a Job? We Can Help!

Are you looking for your next role in 2021? RightStone can help match you with the perfect employer — no questions asked. Get in touch to learn more about the RightStone 360 process.

Redeeming a Bad Hire – What to Do When You Hire the Wrong Person

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As HR professionals, you look for the holy grail in candidates: the candidate with the right background and who will also fit naturally into the company’s culture. 

To get there, you’ll sort through candidates with the experience but who won’t thrive at the company and those candidates who will win over all their colleagues but don’t have the skills needed to fulfill the organizational strategy.

Every hiring manager will hire the wrong person at some point. It’s what you do after you realize your mistake that counts.

Three Tips for Redeeming A Bad Hire

Don’t Fire Them Just Yet

The simplest solution to a poorly-performing new hire is to fire the employee. While simple, it’s rarely the right choice.

If your hire fits into the company culture and is a competent worker, then it’s a much better use of your resources to figure out how to support that employee. You might invest in upskilling, further education, or even transitioning them to a different role or team. But it’s rarely prudent to sever the relationship. With a little thought, they can repay the investment and be a real benefit to the company.

In the event the employee is tough to redeem both culturally and professionally, then it may be smart to part ways.

Trust your gut and once you make a decision, act on it.

Work with the New Hire to Play to Their Strengths

When you decide to transition the new employee, it’s important to work with them. If they aren’t a fit for their current role, then they probably know it.

Now is the time to decide whether to invest in their current role or transition them to a role where they will add more value. You can’t do this without working directly with the hire.

Talk to the new employee about what they think their strengths and weaknesses are. They may be able for their role with some skill development. Or you may find their woes are the result of a missed step in onboarding.

Use this knowledge to help the employee embrace their strengths.

Rethink Your Recruitment Process

Everyone makes a bad hire at least once, but if you find yourself in the position repeatedly, then there’s likely something awry in your hiring process.

Reassess everything from the job description to the onboarding process to look for weaknesses. Ask company leadership and direct managers for their input in the process. If you still face a loss, get outside help.

Looking for Help Finding the Right Candidate? Contact Us!

Are you struggling to place the right candidate? Let RightStone help. Our RightStone 360 process uses quality control checks at every part of the engagement to place qualified consultants with the right role every time.

Turning a Temp Job into a Full-Time Career

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Everywhere you look in today’s job market, you’ll find temp workers. You find them in some of the U.S.’s largest and most successful corporations, and you find them in local businesses in your hometown.

Temp jobs now run the gamut of industries and roles, and they offer a springboard into a full-time career if you choose to use it.

How can you turn a temp job you enjoy into your next permanent position? Use these tips for making the jump.

Treat Your Temp Job Like It’s Permanent

In a temp, some people fall into the trap of treating the job like it’s about to end. While it’s true that your contract will run out eventually, this mindset can get in the way of turning your temp job into a successful hire.

It’s helpful to treat your job like an audition for a permanent role. Arrive on time and leave at the appropriate finish. Don’t take long breaks, and take care of your assignments. Going above and beyond to make suggestions for improvements or work along with organizational strategy will also demonstrate your suitability for a full-time role.

Take Initiative and Help Out, Even When You Don’t Need To

Temp jobs have defined responsibilities; you’re not expected to help out permanent staff or aid other departments. However, there’s no reason that you can’t lend a helping hand.

Help out others in your department, your boss, or those with who you may work in other departments. If nothing’s assigned to you and something needs doing, take it upon yourself to do it. Aiming to create value and acting in the best interest of the company helps you stand out from the crowd and help you prepare for a jump into full-time work.

Build an Army of Allies

Being good at your job and helping out your team is a good start, but they’re not always enough to get you hired, particularly in companies that prefer the flexibility of temp workers. In these spaces, you need extra help from allies.

The relationships you build will help you make the transition from the temp to an invaluable member of the team. If your boss and colleagues advocate for you, then all your other work and skills will shine.

Are you looking for a new role in 2021? At RightStone, we use a unique process to perfectly match candidates with clients by finding roles suited to your skills and personality. Get in touch to learn more about what we do.

Change of Scenery – 5 Signs It’s Time to Look for a New Job

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“I need a new job.” It’s a thought that dawns on everyone at some point, but for most people, the time to look for a new job pops up before those words enter your mind.

Some of the signs it’s time to start job hunting are subtle, and others much less so. Here are five indicators that you have one foot out the door.

You Aren’t Getting Paid What You’re Worth

In the time since you started your current job, you have grown your skills and capabilities. But does your salary reflect it?

If not, then you may need to job hunt. Even if you’re “happy enough,” being underpaid prevents you from investing in yourself, and it could hold you back in your career.

You Get the Sunday Scaries Every Week

Everyone has at least one Sunday when they wish they could skip the return to the office. But if you dread going back to work every single week or even every day then it’s time to find a job that you’ll enjoy.

Your Boss Isn’t Good at Their Job

Do you find that your boss is constantly behind or out of the loop? Are there skills they need but don’t have and don’t seem to be willing to get?

If you consistently outperform your boss, then you may need to look for a new job. Not only does an inadequate management team hold the company back, but they ultimately stop you from reaching your potential.

You’re Still Doing the Same Tasks You Started With

Are you still doing the rote tasks your boss assigned on day one? If everything about your role is the same but the stress levels are higher, then it might be time to start job hunting.

Your role should push your boundaries and challenge you in ways that stimulate growth. If you are stuck in neutral, then it may be time for a new role.

You Find Yourself Browsing Job Boards Just In Case

People who are satisfied with their job don’t browse job boards. Browsing job boards means acknowledging there’s something better out there and you want it.

So if you find yourself browsing LinkedIn or thinking about talking to a recruiter, then it’s time to commit and start your job hunt.

If you recognize any of these signs, then there’s a good chance you’ll either be looking for a job soon, or you’re already looking subconsciously.

Are you looking for a new role in 2021? At RightStone, we use a unique process to perfectly match candidates with clients by finding roles suited to your skills and personality. Get in touch to learn more about what we do.

 

How to Streamline Your Onboarding Process

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As hiring managers, you know your onboarding process is instrumental in every new worker’s success. Finding ways to improve it not only lowers the cost but improves the value of every new hire.

At the same time, streamlining your onboarding process isn’t solely reliant on technology – though, technology does play a role.

Instead, you can make your onboarding program more effective by addressing the most common problems with the process and measuring your results.

Make the Process Digestible

Too often, onboarding is a combination of orientation, on-the-job training, and diving right into work. New employees and existing teams benefit most when you define the process and its parts and break each piece down into manageable portions. This becomes increasingly important as you recruit new Gen Z talent, who have short attention spans but great recall.

Breaking the onboarding process down into something easier to digest doesn’t streamline the process in the sense that it makes it immediately faster. Rather, it shortens the time it takes to produce effective, confident employees, and that’s the goal of onboarding.

First, pull out the parts that are company orientation, onboarding, and practical experience. Define them, separate them, and organize them in a way that tells a story without becoming long-winded.

Second, break down each process into bitesize pieces. No one benefits from spending all day in a conference room. Use categories to help the pieces fit together like a puzzle. Technology does a great job of helping you deliver paperwork and core, standardized training.

Finally, use a realistic timeline. It takes six months for new workers to feel they have enough information to feel useful in their organization. So don’t feel the need to have new hires onboarded in two weeks or less.

Use Mentorship

Your new team members won’t transition from onboarding to an employee ready-to-charge, no matter how comprehensive your program is. One way to help that transition along is to build mentoring into your onboarding program.

Mentorship creates a positive experience for new hires, which helps engage them sooner. Their mentor also lives the company values and expectations, so new candidates have a better idea of what to expect when their training period ends.

Finally, mentors serve as an easy, comfortable reference point for new candidates. New employees will always have questions: they won’t always know who to ask or feel it’s appropriate to reach out. Mentors give them a specific point of reference and a bridge to other employees or departments who can also provide answers.

Measure Your Success

What’s working in your onboarding program? What isn’t working? If you don’t measure your new hire experience, then you have no idea how it works. And having no idea means your onboarding program will never be as streamlined.

You measure your onboarding success throughout the first year of the candidate’s work. Some of the key metrics include:

  • Employee happiness
  • Turnover
  • Job satisfaction

Make the Onboarding Experience Human

While technology can help you streamline the onboarding process, your first goal is to make it more human. By adapting onboarding to employees’ modes of learning, acknowledging that learning continues over months, and measuring your success across the first year, you’ll find it easier to refine your process and impress new hires.

Are you looking to hire in 2021? RightStone’s 360 quality process can help you land qualified candidates who are ready to dive in. Get in touch to learn more.