Inside Express | Journey

Give Thanks This Thanksgiving

By Jared Cole on Wednesday, November 21, 2012

With Thanksgiving tomorrow, shift your focus beyond the workplace or the job market, but to focus inwardly and reflect on the past and where you are today. Even if you are dealing with long periods of unemployment or an unsatisfying work environment, there are opportunities you can still be thankful for and you can use this time to focus on positive, forward thinking.

Thanksgiving and its traditions date back to 1621, which have given generations time to focus on everything to be grateful about. This holiday is about seeing the good in our lives and being appreciative regardless of our surroundings or situations.

It’s not about how many job offers you’ve received or how close you are to a promotion, it’s about being content with who, what, and where you are right now. It’s also about having appreciation for how far you’ve come and the challenges you’ve overcome.

Gratitude
Job searching isn’t easy, and sometimes it’s tempting to focus on the rejection and disappointment when not offered a job. Take this Thanksgiving break to focus on the positive. Positive thinking can attract abundance and prosperity, which you need in any stressful situation. You can’t control things outside of yourself, but you are in control of what you think, feel, and do.

Prosperity
What you think about, you bring about. When you are with family this Thanksgiving, remember how you feel. When the stress of job searching or piling deadlines gets too heavy this holiday season, you can focus on that inner joy and vision to turn your attitude on positive things. And, as you’ve heard many times, “Attitude is everything.” Take the time to find inner prosperity, so it can be louder than the stressful noise outside.

No limits
Be grateful even when certain job opportunities fall through, and always detach from a specific outcome. When you’re passed on a job opening, it wasn’t right for you. The best job for you will come at the right time. Instead, focus on what you’d want if you had no limitations. Forward thinking will help you stay on track and maintain a positive attitude. In the end, your job search is about you and meeting your own needs. Sometimes you need to take a break and remind yourself of that fact.

Everyone at Movin’ On Up and Express Employment Professionals would like to wish you a happy and safe Thanksgiving. No matter where you are in life, there is plenty for which to be thankful. Take a break, enjoy time surrounded by friends and loved ones, and focus on what you already have and cherish it. What are you most thankful for? Share with us in the comments section below.

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What do You Look For Most in a Job? Take Our Poll

By Jared Cole on Friday, November 2, 2012

A recent Monster global poll showed that employee loyalty isn’t driven just by pay and benefits. While 27% of those surveyed cited good pay and benefits as the top reason, having a great boss and co-workers, challenging/interesting work, and gaining recognition each recorded results at 20% or above. This indicates that many employees find loyalty in aspects other than financial rewards.

If salary and benefits are taken out of the equation, there are many different aspects of a job that that could be important to a job seeker and someone developing their career. This makes us wonder, aside from compensation, what is the most important factor you consider when choosing a job? If none of the options match your most important criteria, let us know in the comments below.

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The Tricky Business of Keeping in Touch with Exes

By Rachel Rudisill on Friday, October 19, 2012

When you leave a workplace, you may also be leaving behind friends and mentors. With three out of four people putting in more than 40 hours a week at work, it’s likely that a few co-workers have turned into friends. Or, perhaps you’ve developed a strong mentorship with someone at your workplace. So what happens to that relationship when you leave your job? Here are two situations where the relationship may stick around without the tie of the workplace.

Common Ground
Making friends as an adult can be hard. It’s not like college or high school when the typical weekend party, sports activities, or family gatherings fostered new friendships. If you’ve made a good friend at work, or created a circle of friends, you may not want to give that up so easily. This can be especially true if you’ve found common ground with a co-worker, such as being newly married, raising kids, or caring for senior parents. Support in handling these stages of life is invaluable, and it’s possible that your friendship outside of being co-workers can continue because of your commonalities.

To help continue your friendships after you’ve left a job, remember these few invaluable tips. Keep your focus on your friendship, and avoid discussing workplace gossip which can only end badly for both sides. Once a co-worker is longer a team member, the trials and celebrations of your workplace should really not be shared since they no longer work there. Likewise, if you’ve left a workplace, but have remained friends with a co-worker, don’t pressure them into telling you the details of the latest staff meeting. Of course, you might be reaching out for support in creating work/life balance or celebrating a promotion, but the daily grind should be left out. Additionally, announcing to your co-workers that you are spending time with a former employee isn’t necessary. Your personal life is private, and it’s not really important for you to broadcast who you are spending time with, whether they are former co-workers or not.

Professional Development
If you’ve found a great mentor at your current workplace, one of you leaving could be one of the best things to happen to your relationship. No longer will your mentorship be tainted with company politics. You can seek advice about the best direction for your career without having to worry about how that plan fits into your mutual workplace or aligns with company goals. Plus, it makes your mentor an objective third-party bringing fresh perspective to your situations. And, now that one of you is doing something new it may be a chance for you both to learn something new.

You may also want to stay in touch with past co-workers because you work in the same industry and if you’re in the same town, you’ll likely cross paths again. You don’t need to have frequent lunch dates or constant emails, but if there are a few former co-workers that you know are great networkers, keeping ahold of their contact information isn’t a bad thing. You never know when you might be searching for a job again, or looking for help with a project. Be careful not to burn any bridges you may need to cross later, you never know where life may take you.

How have you handled relationships when you’ve left a workplace, or had a friend leave your workplace?

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Which Classic Monster Would You Hire? Take Our Poll

By Jared Cole on Monday, October 1, 2012

With October here once again, it’s time to get into the Halloween spirit. While in the ghouls and ghosts mood, we wondered if the classic monsters that have often been associated with Halloween would make good job candidates.

Imagine if there was an opening at Terror Inc., and the monsters from classic scary movies interviewed for the position.

Dracula – A man with strong influence among his peers. He is very people-oriented and can build strong relationships with clients or co-workers. However, Dracula is from a different time, and he’d be too stubborn to change his ways if new problems arose. He can’t even look at himself in the mirror.

Frankenstein’s Monster – Monster or misunderstood creation, Frankenstein’s experiment is a problem solver. Despite his upbringing, he was able to teach himself to read, write, and speak multiple languages. But, he doesn’t handle pressure well and is known for frequently losing his temper.

Larry Talbot (aka The Wolf Man) – A man of his word, he is known for doing the right thing… Until there is a full moon. While he has great soft skills, he never grows or develops ways to work with his condition.

The Mummy – As a former Egyptian Priest, The Mummy comes with great experience. He has leadership qualifications and is very goal-oriented. When he has a goal, he will do everything in his power to achieve that goal – whether management agrees with him or not.

Who would you hire? If you think there’s a monster who is more qualified, let us know in the comments below.

Inside Express Reader Surveys

Is Your Boss a Creativity Killer? Take Our Poll

By Jared Cole on Monday, September 3, 2012

A recent CareerBuilder study found that only 41% of employees believe their managers inspire creativity at the workplace while 64% of leaders believed they do.

Engaging with company leaders is important to your professional development. It provides an environment that allows you to express your creativity, giving you the ability to handle bigger and better projects. We want to know if your creativity is encouraged or stifled at work. Let us know in the survey, and share any stories about workplace creativity in the comments section below.

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Express Employment Professionals Featured on Fox News

By Jared Cole on Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Express was featured on Fox and Friends early Tuesday morning on Aug. 21 and then on Thursday morning, Aug. 23, for the program’s “Companies Hiring Now” segment. This is an exciting time for any job seeker who is looking for employers who need them.

If you’re searching for a job, consider working with a staffing agency like Express. More and more employers are relying heavily on staffing companies to fill open positions before hiring them on as full-time employees. You can check out the video below:

Associates of the Month Inside Express

Associate Spotlight: Stephen Hughes

By Jared Cole on Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Every Express Employment Professionals’ associate has a story. To help tell these outstanding stories, we like to showcase exceptional associates each month on Movin’ On Up. It’s important to give credit where credit is due, and Express loves to share the stories of our associates as an inspiration to you while you strive to achieve professional success.

This month’s associate has a heartwarming story about overcoming obstacles. As thousands of soldiers return from Iraq and Afghanistan, many veterans with years, even decades, of military experience will look to build a civilian career. But, many veterans find it challenging to adapt their military skill set to a civilian job market. But because of this associate’s determination, and with a little help from Express, he was able to overcome these challenges.

Stephen Hughes
As a graduate of West Point, Lieutenant Colonel Stephen Hughes served 31 years in the United States Army. In 2012, Stephen started to look for his first job outside of the military. It’s easy to assume that someone who has traveled all over the world, seen the best and the worst that humanity can produce, and led soldiers in both peace and war, could easily find work. But, that wasn’t the case. He struggled for months looking for a job but didn’t find any leads, call backs, or interviews.

It wasn’t until he attended a job fair for military spouses and transitioning military members in Fort Richardson, AK when his luck changed. Rodger Hargis, Business Developer for the Anchorage Express office, had a booth at the fair. Having served 12 years in the Army, with many of those years on Fort Richardson, Rodger knew who Stephen was by reputation, but never met him in person. Stephen hesitantly approached the Express booth and introduced himself to Rodger.

“We talked for a few minutes and Stephen handed me a resume that truly resembled an ‘After Action Review Report’ from a military operation.” Rodger said. “We discussed the need to ‘translate’ his resume into ‘civilian’ terms and I offered our office’s assistance.”

They set up an appointment and sat down to go over the details, and Rodger asked Stephen for the opportunity to help him in his search for a new career. Rodger quickly looked for opportunities to place Stephen, but soon wasn’t sure if we was going to have any success.

Eventually, there was an opening for the Director of Operations position with the Arc of Anchorage. Rodger presented Stephen and the Arc loved him. The timing was perfect as he was officially separating from service on retirement orders. After extensive interviews, including one on Skype from the east coast, he was offered the position. Stephen has now been with the organization for almost a month and is excited about the opportunity to continue serving his community.

“While the nature of his service has changed, the heart of that service beats strong and true,” Rodger said.

If you are a military veteran who is struggling with the same hurdles Stephen was, check out this blog post on how your military experience can help you find a job. Search for the Express office closest to you for more information and help with your job search. If you know a fellow associate who would be a great candidate for our associate spotlight, let your Express office know. If you have an Express associate you’d like to feature on Movin’ On Up, let us know in the comments below.