Attention High School Students: 5 Tips to Maximize Summer Employment Experiences

On July 14, 2021   /   Appropriate Employee Behavior, College Students, High School Students, Leadership, Summer Job   /   Leave a comment
Attention High School Students: 5 Tips to Maximize Summer Employment Experiences

Ahh… summer has finally arrived. Summer is the time for enjoying great weather, outdoor activities, exploration and of course the “summer job.”  For some young adults this summer could include their very first employment experience so we want to set them up for success!  In today’s blog, we’re covering our top 5 tips for maximizing summer employment experiences.  Let’s go!

#1 –  Always look for ways to add value

A job is more than simply being present.  Showing up on time and performing the required duties are minimum expectations.  It’s important to stand out by being a differentiator.  What does that mean? Essentially, anything that increases revenue, decreases expenses, or improves efficiencies is a value add for an employer.  It means looking for ways to accomplish tasks more efficiently and being a problem solver.

#2 – Be a team player

Demonstrate your commitment to team goals by supporting and encouraging your colleagues.  Cheer for their successes.  Apply critical listening skills for effective communication.   Respect others and recognize that everyone’s role on the team is important.

#3 – Ask thoughtful questions

Build rapport by asking questions that reflect your knowledge of the company’s leadership, industry, competitors, products, or customers. Doing so will demonstrate you have a genuine interest in the company.

#4 – Network

Seek mentors and build connections with experienced senior team members; it’s a great start to networking.  That said, don’t overlook your peers.  Undoubtedly you’ll cross paths with them again as you rise through the ranks.  Peer networking is also a valuable resource for leads on future opportunities.

#5 – Document your experience

Take a moment at the end of each day to review the tasks you completed, the skills you utilized to execute those tasks, any new skills you acquired, and quantify your accomplishments.  This information will be critical when updating or creating your résumé.  Your recollection of details a year later may falter so it’s best to collect and record information in the moment.

We hope something shared here helps you.  Tell us about your first summer job in the comment section below and make it a great day!

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College Students: What You Should Know When Re-entering the Workplace

On May 19, 2021   /   College Students, Emotional Intelligence   /   Leave a comment
College Students: What You Should Know When Re-entering the Workplace

If you’ve been following our blog, you know we’ve devoted considerable attention to Emotional Intelligence (EI or EQ for Emotional Quotient) over the last few months.  

Emotional intelligence refers to a person’s ability to understand and articulate his/her own feelings as well as the feelings of others.  Those with high EQ have good self-regulation skills and understand how to empathize with the challenges that other people face.

As the world slowly returns to in-person workplace employment and face-to-face meetings, activities, and events, we want to help working college students feel confident about advocating for their own needs and how to understand complicated social and workplace scenarios.

As college students, you have many academic and extracurricular demands on you all of the time.  That said, your busy stressful academic/work-life should not lead to the neglect of your emotional well-being.

Daniel Goleman’s ground-breaking work in the 1990s explained the importance of EQ and defined its framework in terms of these five components:

  1. Self-awareness
  2. Self-regulation
  3. Motivation
  4. Empathy
  5. Social skills

Take an emotional intelligence test to help you reach your EQ goals.  Here’s a self-awareness exercise that you can conduct in your private time:

Set an alarm for various points during the day.  When the alarm goes off, stop what you’re doing and take an introspective look at how you’re feeling emotionally.  Do you feel anxious about an upcoming exam?  Do you feel that your current  status of life is lacking?   Are you comparing your circumstances to someone else’s?  Your anxiety may show up as physical irritation, a headache, or a sense of insecurity.  Perhaps you noticed you’ve been distracted from your academic or work assignments.

Meditation helps to improve your intuition and is an effective stress management tool.

Let us know in the comments section of this post if you took an introspective EQ test and if you like.  Above all, make it a great day!

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5 Tips to Attract Young Consumers

On February 24, 2021   /   All Star Customer Satisfaction, College Students, Effective Listening, Emotional Intelligence, Getting Loyal Employees   /   Leave a comment
5 Tips to Attract Young Consumers

Generation Z (Gen Z) is known as the digital generation.  They are a powerful group of consumers who will give you about 8 seconds to attract and keep their interest in your product or service.  This is particularly important for eCommerce businesses.

Here’s a secret: Refine your website.  Here are five ways to attract and keep their attention:

#1  Your website should mirror their lightning quick attention span.  This demographic is proficient at editing out fluff and hype.  Contrary to popular belief, Gen Z doesn’t act on every stimulus. They want to spend precious little time on a site to decide if you have anything relevant to offer them.  So, make sure your site focuses on realistic and authentic engagement.

#2  Gen Z is mobile-first.  Acknowledging the rapid adoption of smartphones and tablets as a primary means of connecting and consuming, design a website for a quality mobile experience–that is where customers will find you, especially Gen Z.

#3  If your auto-play slows down page loading, Gen Z (and most other consumers) will lose enthusiasm to engage.  Use videos that reinforce your company’s relevance and be sure to launch them with the audio muted.  This will give consumers control and will likely keep them on your site.

#4  Gen Zers immediately know whether your blog post is sponsored. They’ll know if you’ve just written it to get your blog post done for the week.  If that’s the case, they’ll promptly stop following your blog.  Think about how you can make your content exciting, funny, insightful, and helpful.  If possible, make it a series. Above all, be honest.

#5  Consider invitng Gen Zers to write guest posts for your company blog. This will show that you value their viewpoints and opinions.  It will also differentiate you from competitors who may be too resistant to do this.  Additionally, it is highly likely they’ll share their post with their own followers on social media – potentially introducing your blog to hundreds of new Gen Z followers.

These practices will set your company on the right path to capture the more than $44 billion (USD) in spending power of Generation Z.  So, who wants to go out there and make it a great day?

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