The easiest way to ensure success in a new job is to avoid common pitfalls that stem from a lack of a plan, a poor understanding of the manager’s work style, and lack of knowledge about the company. Prevent these typical new employee mistakes by:

1. Creating a 30/60/90 day game plan. Create a document that is broken into 30-day time increments and captures what you plan to accomplish. Your 30/60/90 game plan should include the key tasks, projects, and initiatives you need to complete, and key people you need to meet, prioritized over your first 90 days on the job. Meet with your manager to ensure he/she shares the same performance expectations and relevant timelines/deadlines.

2. Asking your boss, “How can we best work together?” Establish a positive working relationship by learning your manager’s leadership style and preferred method of working and communicating – then adjust yourself to work with his/her style.

3. Asking for key information about the company. Sit down with your manager and have him/her explain the company and department’s strategic plans along with goals and objectives. Also ask for the department’s organization chart, including the roles and responsibilities of each person, and a breakdown of the most important projects.

It’s important to realize not all companies have a formalised induction or training process. If you’re left to fend for yourself as a new employee, you must take the necessary actions to set yourself up for success.

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From the details you have put on a CV or application form to all the information you impart through social networking sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn, a company will have acquired enough to make the informed decision that you are the right one for their vacancy.

But what about you? Do you know enough about the company you are about to join? Do you feel that a bit of a Google search and a couple of questions at the end of the interview will really give you enough to understand if the business is the right fit for you?

Remember that it can be difficult enough to find a new job without making a mistake and ending up in a job you don’t enjoy.

Listed below are a few ways a perspective employee can determine if they are really suited to the business they are about to join:

New Employer: Use your own network to your advantage

If you don’t know anybody who has directly worked for the organisation, do you know anybody who has come into contact with the company? They may be customers or suppliers and their experiences will give you a perspective on the kind of business you are thinking of joining.

You can also type the company into LinkedIn to find people who currently work there and take a look at their Facebook profiles to see if there are any mentions of being disgruntled in the workplace.

New Employer: A little surveillance goes a long way

If the company is local, why not pop along around at 5pm and observe people coming out of work. Are people leaving the place relatively content and upbeat? Are they chatting with their fellow colleagues? Or are they leaving work late looking disgruntled and worn out? Is the car park slow to empty, meaning people are regularly working late?

By observing people’s behaviour as they leave the offices, you should get some more insight into the type of company you are looking to work for.

New Employer: The importance of teamwork

Teamwork is an intrinsic part of any organisations success. But how important is teamwork to the company culture of your new company? How do they get things done? Would you need to fight your way through masses of red tape to get a decision made? Are there already teams in place and where would you fit in?

I once joined an organisation unaware that two of the four team members I would be managing were unsuccessful in vying for the managerial position that I’d managed to clinch. And because of the resentment they felt when they didn’t get the position; it took me a few months to get them on side.

With that in mind, you should always ensure that you enquire about the team dynamic at interview stage and if possible request a meeting with your new team prior to starting. That way you will get an ideal opportunity to get a real sense of member dynamics and team functionality.

New Employer: Google and Google some more

You will have checked the company on Google prior to the interview. But how in depth did you go? Like many candidates, did you basically find enough information to repeat parrot fashion in the interview? Or did you really dig deep to understand if they really are the right company for you?

Expand your research to ascertain if the company has any outstanding lawsuits, scathing reviews from unhappy customers, bankruptcies or any other negative PR that may make them a bad choice.

New Employer: Summary

Of course the real acid test to whether a job is right for you, will come once you have joined a business, but by carrying out some of the research above on the background of the new business, you will reduce the risk of being disappointed.

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You are not automatically at a disadvantage – Getting dismissed can happen for a number of reasons and employers will know that. The interview will most likely have a friend, relative or may even been dismissed themselves in a previous role. Do not assume the interviewer will not understand when you try to explain.

Make peace with it before you try to explain it – Dismissal from any job is emotional. Before you have an interview you should make sure you have vented any feelings in a positive way so you can explain it objectively. Putting what happened on paper can also be beneficial, simply state the facts.

What you learnt- Use the negative of being dismissed and turn it into a positive as best as you can. Outline what you gained from the experience and be honest with the interviewer, in other words explain why it happened and own it! Even if you feel it was unjust. Let it come across you have learnt from past experiences and can only improve and learn, moving on with a new outlook.

Keep it short and simple – Attempting to explain something that you feel could jeopardize your employment prospects can make you nervous and so it can be tempting when discussing your dismissal details to delve in to unnecessary details which could lead to you saying something you shouldn’t. This small part of your employment past should take a small part of your interview time, if you don’t focus on it too much your interviewer won’t either!

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Would Your Cover Letter Retweet?

Your cover letter must be able to get someone’s attention in tweet-like speed. The letter’s first few sentences need to grab your reader. This is done predictably well using three different strategies:

• Humour
• Combining unexpected descriptions
• Conveying an amazing new or original idea

For example, that first sentence might say, “I don’t want any job, I want yours.”

Bullet Points Are Best

Once you have the reader’s attention, follow with a few filler sentences and then move on to bullets points succinctly describing why they should hire you, what you have done and what you want to do in the future. These might read something like:

• Team player, basketball, baseball, and especially soccer.
• Quick, agile thinker always willing to take on new tasks.
• Increased monthly sales in my division by 20%.
• Developed 5 best selling products over the last year.
• Looking to develop skills within finance in order to enhance my abilities in managing my clients accounts

Cover Letter Format

So far the cover letter is brief and filled with verbs. Even the most overworked, stressed out HR professional has probably made it this far. From here the rest is smooth sailing. Take the five bullet points and expand each one into detailed amazing paragraphs. Attach a resume with all the pertinent details for reference. If your reader wants more information they should be able to find it somewhere in these short few pages.

The format above is very different from the introduction, middle, and final paragraph format of the traditional cover letter. Make sure to review the traditional format and even prepare a traditional cover as backup. The person in HR will ask for this is he/she believes the bosses will not appreciate a divergence from the norm. The goal is to get the letter read and secure the phone interview. A world of little time and attention demands a new approach that is short, succinct, and vibrant.

Fit The Cover Letter To You And The Audience

The above example is very relaxed. Ensure that you tailor your letter to suit the type of organisation you are applying to.  Highlight relevant skills and experience early and ensure that you end your letter by stating why you are the right person for the company and the role.

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I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you and express my gratitude for the excellent service, support and constant encouragement given by yourselves through the whole of my recruitment process. Im very happy with my new position and can’t wait to get started. I would highly recommend your company to anyone seeking employment in he future.

Many Thanks

Tara

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I must say that your approach to recruitment has been an extremely refreshing change – you visited me, quickly got a feel for our company and the type of people we needed, within 24 hours you had full accurate job descriptions for three roles and shortly afterwards relevant CVs arrived. 

We arranged 3-5 interviews for each position and I met well informed quality candidates, so far you have placed two candidates who both seem better than I hoped for, and its only five weeks since I first met you.

I am delighted with your work Sherriden, as are all the candidates (whether successful or not) – they all appeared to have met you, were so well informed and prepared for the interviews – you looked after all parties very fairly – professional yet extremely friendly and all that for a very good value commission.  I could not think of a way for you to have improved your service.

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But the benefits genuinely are extensive!

The key one is flexibility. Temps can be utilised to cover a wide range of roles for anything from a few hours to several months.

It may be a Receptionist that is needed to cover the front desk due to staff sickness; an Accounts Clerk may be required to lend an extra pair of hands in the run up to year end or an Executive PA to cover annual holiday leave.

A business may be looking to extend their offering but be unsure about whether to make the commitment of employing a permanent member of staff.  Drafting in temporary support gives them the opportunity to try out their idea with little risk.

As well as covering a specific role, temps can also add value. Businesses may feel they need a short term injection of expertise in a specific area - a temp can offer that.

Many temps see their role as a career option which offers them flexibility and variety and gives the companies they work for the benefit of lots of experience across a wide range of businesses. They will be well placed to slot into new environments and adapt to different challenges.

All YourRecruit temps undergo rigorous interviews and testing to ensure they can deliver the correct skill set and to enable us to carefully match individual skills with requirements. This means businesses are always getting exactly what they need to fulfil a certain role.

Temps are charged at an hourly rate which will vary depending upon experience and the nature of the client’s needs. This can help when managing a tight payroll budget.

From a strategic perspective, taking on temps can be a convenient way to vet potential future staff. What better way to find out if someone fits into your culture and shares your ethos, than by throwing them into the mix on a temporary basis and seeing how they fare? Trying out skilled candidates in this way minimises the risk - there’s no commitment on either side until you’ve both ‘tried and tested’. This is another reason why we have created the “Your Choice Benefit Service”.  This is a “buy as you try” service – pay only the agreed hourly rate whilst on the 12 week probation period, with the option to break out of the probation period at any time. You can try as many temps as you want until you find the right match for you and your business and still only pay over a 12 week period and no more! For more information go to http://www.yourrecruit.com/recruiting/yourchoice-benefit/

Finally, using a temp isn’t about ‘making do’ or finding a ‘cheap option’. Temps provide all the skills, abilities and focus you’d expect from permanent staff but with added flexibility.

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