Category: Job Seekers
Want a New Job Next Year? Ask Yourself These Three Important Questions First
As we navigate through our careers, it is important to consistently reflect and ask ourselves questions that can guide our trajectory and ensure that we’re on a path aligning with our objectives, values, and passions. If you’re considering seeking a new job in the upcoming year, it’s essential to make sure you’re making this decision for the right reasons.
Changing jobs can be a significant step, and it can bring a host of new opportunities, but it can also come with its share of challenges. To ensure you’re prepared for this transition, here are three important questions you should ask yourself before setting out on the job hunt.
Why do I want to leave my current job?
The first question you need to ask yourself is why you want to change jobs. Are you bored with your current role or seeking more responsibility? Are you unhappy with your salary or the company culture? Or are you simply seeking a new challenge? Understanding your motives can help you identify what you’re looking for in your next job and avoid jumping from the frying pan into the fire.
What are my career goals?
Knowing where you want to go in your career is critical when considering a job change. Having a clear vision of your future helps you set career goals and provides a roadmap to achieve them. It allows you to align your current actions with your long-term objectives. This question helps you think about the steps you need to take today to reach your desired position in the future. It’s not just about the job title or the company you want to work for, but also the skills you want to acquire, the impact you want to make, and how you want to grow personally and professionally.
What are my core values and how do they align with my career?
Your core values are the principles that guide your decisions and actions. They reflect who you are as a person and what is important to you. When your career aligns with your values, you are more likely to feel fulfilled and satisfied with your work. Whether it’s integrity, creativity, ambition, or compassion, it’s essential to identify your values and consider how they mesh with your career choices.
The answers to these questions matter because they help form the foundation of a satisfying and fulfilling career. They guide your decisions, help you navigate career transitions, and shape your professional identity. Remember, there are no right or wrong answers, but understanding your passions, ambitions, and values can lead you down a career path that brings both success and satisfaction.
Changing jobs is a big decision and not one to be taken lightly. By asking yourself these three important questions, you can ensure that you’re making a decision that will lead you toward achieving your career goals.
For help finding your new job in the new year, turn to Beacon Staffing!
Five Poor Work Habits We’re Leaving in 2023
It seems hard to believe, but the end of 2023 is already on the horizon. As we prepare for a new year, it’s important to take time and look back on the good, the bad, and the “needs improvement.” For many of us, making epic New Year’s resolutions is giving way to simpler, attainable goals to improve work-life balance and decrease stress at work.
In this blog, we’ll take a look at five poor work-related habits and explore positive ways to break those habits and start the new work year on a positive and productive high note.
Working through your breaks
Sometimes, you get caught up in your work and find that you’ve skipped your break or missed a meal. There is always time for a break, though, even if you can only spare 15 minutes. The key is to focus and be intentional. This year, stop ignoring your hungry stomach and the need for fresh air and a stretch; schedule breaks into your daily calendar to allow yourself a brief recharge of mental and physical energy.
Working while sick
Working while sick is a poor choice all around. You risk your own health and the health of co-workers, plus your limited productivity could potentially do more harm than good. If you’re genuinely ill, taking time off work to rest and recuperate is a must. If you must work, though, plan on working from home until you are well enough to give your best in the office.
Avoiding company culture events
Building a positive company culture takes time and participation. Even if you’d much rather be at home, try to participate more. Whether it’s joining the team for happy hour or attending a company party, take advantage of the opportunity to build and foster relationships with co-workers and others in the network.
Letting pre-work anxiety ruin your weekends
It can be difficult to enjoy your weekend when you’re worrying about the work week to come. Whether you’re dreading the Monday “to-do” list or stressing over work left unfinished on Friday, pre-work anxiety can ruin your weekend, leading to even more stress. Letting the “Sunday Scaries” go by shifting focus – give yourself something fun to look forward to each week, like a trip to your favorite café or treating yourself to a favorite drink.
Sweeping issues under the rug
Sometimes, it may seem easier to go along to get along, but sweeping issues under the rug and not taking a stand is detrimental to you, to the team, and to the whole organization. Break the habit of looking the other way and speak up! Even if the issues at hand are simple, make an effort to reach out, talk it out, and resolve them.
Whether you’re preparing for a new year at your current job or preparing to change careers, it’s a great time to look at your current work habits and make positive changes.
Ready to find a better professional fit? Turn to Beacon Staffing today for all of your job search needs!
How to Practice Gratitude, Even If You Don’t Love Your Job
Feeling grateful when you’re not satisfied with your job can be challenging, but it’s not impossible. Practicing gratitude can lead to a healthier mindset, reduced stress, and improved overall well-being. Here are some ways to cultivate gratitude, regardless of your feelings about your job.
Find the Silver Lining
No matter how bad your job may seem, there are always some positive aspects. Perhaps it’s your co-workers, the commute, or even the opportunity to learn new skills. Focus on these positive aspects and be thankful for them. This shift in perspective can make a significant difference to your overall job satisfaction.
Keep a Gratitude Journal
Take a few moments at the end of each day to jot down a few things you’re grateful for. It could be something as simple as a kind word from a colleague or an achievement you made during the day. Consistently practicing this exercise can help to shift your focus from the negatives to the positives.
Practice Mindfulness
Mindfulness involves focusing on the present moment without judgment. This practice can help you appreciate the here and now, even in a job you don’t like. During breaks or quiet moments, take a few deep breaths and focus on your surroundings, acknowledging each moment without judgment.
Express Gratitude to Others
Expressing gratitude to others can also boost your own feelings of thankfulness. Compliment a colleague, thank your boss for their guidance, or show appreciation to the cleaning staff. These small acts of kindness not only make others feel good but can also improve your mood and perspective.
Visualize Your Ideal Job
Use your current job as a stepping stone to your ideal job. Visualize what you want in your next role, and be grateful for the experiences and skills you’re gaining now that will help you get there. Seeing your current job as part of a bigger picture can help cultivate gratitude.
Develop a Morning Gratitude Ritual
Start each day with a gratitude ritual. This could be writing in your gratitude journal, stating what you’re grateful for out loud, or meditating on positive aspects of your life and job. Starting your day on a positive note can set the tone for the rest of the day.
Seek Support
If you’re struggling to find gratitude in your current job, don’t hesitate to seek support. This could be from a trusted friend, a mentor, or a professional counselor. Sometimes, talking about your feelings can provide a fresh perspective and help you uncover aspects of your job that you can be grateful for.
Remember, it’s okay not to love your job, but that doesn’t mean you can’t find aspects of it to be grateful for. Cultivating an attitude of gratitude can improve your overall job satisfaction, and more importantly, your life satisfaction.
If you’re ready to look for a new role altogether, start your search with Beacon Staffing!
How To Show Your Boss You’re Ready for More Responsibility
Growth and progress are essential parts of life, both personally and professionally. If you think you may be ready to move up in your job, taking on more responsibility may be the way to go. But how do you show your boss that you’re passionate about your work and want to do more? In this blog, we’ll look at some effective ways to let your boss know you’re ready for more responsibility.
Before you pursue greater responsibility at work, make sure you are doing a good job with your current responsibilities. Trying to advance too soon or take on too much could set you up for failure. Once you’re sure it’s time to move ahead, consider these tips:
Tip #1: Talk to your boss.
Make time and sit down with your boss to talk about your interest in taking on more responsibility and building up your work experience. It’s a good idea to go into the meeting with an idea of something you’d like to do and why it would be helpful. Let your boss know that you’re open to possibilities for new work assignments.
Tip #2: Start small & think fun.
When you’re ready to stretch your professional wings, start small. Focus on the parts of your job that you like the most and look for ways that you could incorporate something fresh into your current workload by utilizing those skills. For example, if you love writing and have skills developing blogs or other web content, propose a monthly or quarterly newsletter to share with the team or publisher on the company website.
Tip #3: Be aware & help others.
Pay attention to your team members and coworkers and find ways to help. Perhaps a team member is stressed or struggling to complete a project. Ask if there is anything you can do to help them and listen to what they need. Do all you can to help and propose your collective suggestions to your boss.
Tip #4: Build your knowledge and skills.
An effective way to show your boss you’re ready for more responsibility is to take on a task no one else has yet. Think about ways you could help the team or the company and find ways to learn more. Build your skills and knowledge base. Talk to your boss about your ideas and how you can explore additional learning opportunities.
If you’re ready for a new change of pace and aren’t finding opportunities in your current role, work with Beacon Staffing to find a new job. Contact us today!
4 Tips for Building Mental Toughness During Difficult Life Seasons
Difficult times are inevitable in life, testing your emotional health and mental strength. If you find yourself facing tough times and need to build and strengthen your mental toughness, there are effective ways to do so. In this blog, we’ll break down four tips for boosting your mental strength and toughness during difficult seasons of life.
What is Mental Toughness?
Mental toughness is the ability to handle difficult situations and hardships calmly. Instead of suffering anxiety and overwhelming stress, you are able to manage your emotions and thoughts. Mentally tough people don’t stress over mistakes and negative events; they find ways to learn from them and grow because of them.
Mental toughness means taking responsibility for your life and focusing on finding solutions to problems. You have strong values and do not worry about things you can’t control. Mentally strong people can face their mistakes, accept constructive criticism, and learn from their failures.
Tips for Building Mental Toughness
While some people seem naturally stronger than others, mental toughness is something you can learn. To improve your mental toughness, use these techniques:
Find Your Purpose
When hard times come to you, having a firm purpose gives you the motivation you need to persevere through. No matter what obstacles are present, knowing your purpose and pushing forward toward it despite obstacles will build your mental strength.
Be Positive
A positive mindset is an essential aspect of mental toughness. The ability to look for the good in the worst situations and focus on a positive outcome will boost your confidence in the face of temporary setbacks. An easy way to increase your positivity and have a more optimistic mindset, create a mission statement for yourself. It will inspire you to push through challenges and stay strong.
Get Uncomfortable
Mental toughness takes time to build, and you’ll find that you can’t make good progress unless you get out of your comfort zone. To build up your mental toughness, you have to make yourself uncomfortable. Push yourself that extra mile, pass on that extra helping at dinner, or take cold showers to increase your tolerance.
Visualize and Focus on Your Goals
When you have a purpose and a positive mindset, staying focused is the key to developing mental toughness. Don’t let short-term failures or negative feedback slow your pursuit of your goals. Stay focused on the future success you envision and keep moving forward toward your goal.
Mental toughness won’t prevent hardship and stress from coming into your life, but it will make it easier to get through difficult times with less stress and anxiety.
If you think a new job is in your future, start your search with Beacon Staffing!
Purpose vs. Practicality – Making Decisions on Big Career Choices
Making decisions is hard, especially when you’re trying to make big career choices. Being practical about your professional path and your financial needs is essential, but you also want to stay aligned with your values and purpose. Otherwise, you may find yourself unhappy and regretting your choices.
Finding the right balance is possible. In this blog, we’ll present some key questions to ask yourself that will help you narrow down your options, focus on what’s important, and figure out the right professional path for you.
Question 1. What are your feelings telling you?
When you’re faced with important decisions, you usually experience a strong emotion. Even before logic kicks in, your mind and body can provide important insights into whether an action is the right course for you. Emotions are closely linked to your core values and identity, so your “gut instinct” regarding a career path is crucial to your decision-making process.
Question 2. What matters to you?
The next step after connecting to your emotions is to consciously identify your values. Defining your purpose and what really matters to you allows you to make choices aligned with what you care about, resulting in a more fulfilling career in the long term. With a more complete understanding of who you are and how you handle things, you can better assess career moves and predict how they will positively or negatively affect you.
Question 3. What matters to other people?
It is also important to consider how your career decision will impact your loved ones. If you’re making a big career decision, it is vital to ask the people who will be affected by your choices what they think and feel about it. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take the new job or expanded role, but it may require negotiation to make it more closely align with your values and your family’s needs.
Question 4. What is the reality of the situation?
The purpose of this question is to make sure you’re making the decision for the right reasons. You have to be objective and consider every angle based on facts, not your assumptions. Look at the career move objectively from every angle, noting the pros and cons. If you find you’re still unsure about what path to take or whether you’re being completely objective, talk to a trusted mentor or friend.
Question 5. How do I put the pieces together?
After you’ve answered the four questions above, you’re ready to put the piece together and make your decision. It takes time, but paying close attention to each of these points will help you make a balanced, rational decision when it comes to big career choices. You’ll also be confident that your decision aligns with your purpose, your passions, your values, and the people who matter the most to you.
For help finding a new role that balances your purpose and your passions, turn to Beacon Staffing!
Low Effort Networking Tips for Those Who Hate Networking
Networking is essential to have a successful career in the modern-day working world. For many of us, however, even the thought of networking fills us with dread. It does not have to be this way, though! There are plenty of low-effort ways to network that yield major short- and long-term results. In this blog, we’ll outline some of the best tips for networking with minimal stress and effort.
Tip #1: Network from Home
That’s right! You don’t have to leave home to make connections and further your career successfully. Online networking platforms like LinkedIn offer great opportunities to build connections with professionals, develop skills, acquire new ones, and strengthen social bonds with coworkers. Whether you’re joining a message board thread or enjoying an informal group meeting through chat, you can get to know new people and reconnect with old colleagues in various ways.
Tip #2: Set Achievable Goals
For some people, the most dreaded aspect of networking is the notion that you must connect with many people at one event. This is not true. Focusing your networking energy on one person or company makes it more manageable and less stressful. Do your research before the event and narrow the field down to the company or group you want to connect with. Focus your networking energies there.
Tip #3: Ask Questions
Once you’re at the event, don’t be intimidated trying to start conversations. Remember, people like to talk about themselves and their business, so introduce yourself and ask questions. Be present and actively listen to their answers so you can follow up with relevant comments or further questions. Networking events are often busy and full of distractions, so they will notice your efforts to pay attention and respect them.
Tip #4: Talk to the Outsiders
Do you know that wall you like to stay close to at an event? Lots of other people do, too! Work your way over to fellow “wallflowers” and engage them in conversation. Like you, many are anxious about starting conversations but want to make connections. You may find that you have connections they would like to meet, and vice versa.
Tip #5: Bring a Friend
Being on your own at a networking event can be stressful. If you can bring a guest, bring a friend! Having a friendly face nearby can be just the confidence boost you need. When you feel comfortable in an environment, you can relax and let your true self shine through. Plus, they may make some valuable connections, too!
Networking does not have to be complicated or stressful. Keep the above tips in mind; your next networking attempts will be more successful, rewarding, and fun!
For help finding the next step in your career, turn to Beacon Staffing!
4 Tips to Help You Like Your Job More Without Completely Starting Over
Most of us are not working in our dream jobs every day. Still, that doesn’t mean we can’t like our jobs and find satisfaction in them. While the grass may seem greener in a different position, sometimes you just need to water the grass where you are.
In this blog, we’ll look at valuable ways to improve your job satisfaction without completely starting over in a new position.
Foster Pride in Your Job
The first step to finding joy in your current job? Be proud of your work! Foster pride in your job empowers you to be a better worker, build your skills, and contribute to the team’s success. Celebrate those successes and look at every day of work, every project at work, as an opportunity to strengthen your skills and empower yourself.
Build and Maintain Social Relationships at Work
Studies show that people with friends at work are more likely to enjoy their jobs than those without. So, make friends! Whether you join each other for lunch, save seats for team meetings, or just visit each other at the coffee machine once a day, building and maintaining bonds of camaraderie and friendship are key factors when it comes to enjoying your job.
Help Others
Helping others makes us feel good. It improves your mood while it strengthens and builds connections with others. A positive atmosphere is fostered when team members look out for each other and help each other. Plus, when management sees how well team members get along and help each other out, they remember.
Consider a Management Role
Speaking of management, have you considered pursuing a role in management? With offers of higher pay and the opportunity to utilize your skills in newer, fuller ways, a management position may be more satisfying than your current role. And if you’ve been noticed by management for the positive efforts you’ve been making to build relationships, help others, and empower yourself at work, they may already have their eye on you for advancement.
We may not all like our jobs, but we want to. Liking your job is possible if you practice certain behaviors, maintain a positive attitude, and follow the steps above to build pride and satisfaction in your role.
And if you do realize that you must leave your old job behind, turn to Beacon Staffing to help you find your next role!
4 Money Management Tips for Contract Workers
Today, money management skills are more important than ever. Times are tight, and you may feel pressured to manage your money even more carefully if you are a temporary or contract worker. Whether you are a contract, freelancer, gig, or temp worker, here are five essential tips to help you manage your money more efficiently.
Tip #1: Ensure Steady Income
When you work from contract to contract or gig to gig, having a steady income you can rely on may be difficult. It is not impossible, however, if you plan ahead. Line up for your next contract or gig while still working to ensure a steady income as you transition between jobs. If you work contract jobs, you know when your contract will end, so start looking for your next position well before the current one ends. You can also work with a staffing or recruiting firm such as Beacon Staffing to help you find your next role.
Tip #2: Build an Emergency Fund
There will be occasions when you cannot find a new contract or start it on time. Build an emergency fund that can support you in between contracts. Aim to have enough money to support you for at least a month or two, preferably more if you can. You’ll likely find a new position well before those funds run out, but having plenty of money for food, shelter, and transportation allows you to choose the best position, not the desperate one.
Tip #3: No Big Spending
Contract and temp work are understandably unpredictable. Avoid making large financial decisions until you know your next assignment is secured. You may need that money if a contract falls through or doesn’t materialize for you, and getting back could be slow, complicated, or even impossible.
Tip #4: Consider a Second Part-Time Job
Though working a second job may not be your preference, having the reliable income earned from those 10-20 hours a week could be just what you need to get through a tight spot. Plus, many part-time positions have the potential of transitioning to full-time, if necessary. Additional work experience and skills may also be valuable when pursuing new contract positions.
Contract and temporary work allow you a great deal of freedom, but managing your finances requires some extra effort. Remember the above tips as you pursue new contract jobs so you can always be prepared and financially secure while you work.
For help finding your next temporary gig, turn to Beacon Staffing!
3 Secrets to Improving Your Career “Luck”
When it comes to career success, it does seem like some people have all the career “luck.” Everything seems to go their way, from professional wins to significant career advancement.
Envying these people and their career luck may be tempting, but the truth is that their success is not the result of chance. Every successful professional will tell you that their professional “luck” was achieved through hard work and conscious choices.
Want to learn the secrets to improving your own career “luck?” In this blog, we’ll discuss three secrets to put you solidly on the path to career success that will have you joining the ranks of the “lucky” in no time.
1. Surround yourself with high performers/ good influences
What do all the most successful professionals have in common? They surround themselves with people who encourage, uplift, and support them. If you want to improve your career luck and achieve your goals, level up your inner circle. Build connections with people who support your career goals and constantly challenge you to aim higher and be better.
2. Communicate your goals to others/your boss
You know your ambitions and dreams better than anyone. Talk to your inner circle about your career goals and intentions. Your network of coworkers may be valuable sources of advice or the key to an introduction or referral. Even your boss can be a valuable supporter and network connection. The more those around you know about your goals, the better your chances are of getting them.
3. Embrace hard & consistent work
Professional success doesn’t happen overnight, no matter what the media would have you believe. If you want to reach your career goals, you must put in the time and effort to pursue what you want. The true secret to making your own luck is hard work. Staying focused, day after day, while you put in the work and utilize your connections will ultimately lead you to your desired career success.
Luck doesn’t just happen; you make it happen. To achieve your professional goals and enjoy the career success you dream of, you must create it with the right behaviors and choices. With solid goals, a strong inner circle, and a consistent work ethic, your career “luck” is coming.
Remember, you have the most control over your own luck! For help finding your next job opportunity, turn to Beacon Staffing!