Dealing with overseas staff placements?

As a Human Resources manager do you need to arrange overseas postings for staff? With many companies now working on a global level, staff placements can be a regular part of resource management but what do you need to know? A recent article on the HR director website looks at the different routes open to you. Although arrangements can often be handled in-house, the options of employing an expatriate consultant or a relocation service in the destination country are also suggested. Such professional relocators can find rental properties, advise on local schools and assist the member of staff when they arrive. Before leaving, all aspects of an employment contract should be considered including cost of living allowances, relocation allowances and any home leave arrangements. Although written from an American company’s viewpoint the article is well worth reading for anyone dealing with staff moving overseas. Read more here   http://www.thehrdirector.com/features/expatriates/dhrs-are-you-expatriate-savvy/

Life as a weekend student to boost your qualifications

Do you fancy student life but just at the weekend? That’s what being offered by an increasing number of universities, although the weekends will be concentrating on lectures and seminars rather than pubs and parties. Finding that evening classes can be too much for people after a full day’s work, courses in management or marketing are being offered across a number of weekends. They can be a flexible way of gaining new qualifications or extending skills. They can also be a way of gaining a graduate or post-graduate qualification without the hefty £9,000 fee for full-time tuition fees. Leeds Metropolitan University has just started offering a range of courses, including an MSc in Accounting, that usually involve six weekends over the course of a year. Detailed in the article on the Independent website, other places include Winchester University and Imperial College.  For more including current students’ views, read the article at http://www.independent.co.uk/student/postgraduate/postgraduate-study/something-different-for-the-weekend-the-rise-of-saturday-and-sunday-courses-7660331.html

What not to say at a job interview

Don’t throw away a job interview with ‘an ill-chosen comment’ according to the Guardian careers website. You may not be one of the people who come up with some of the extremely badly chosen comments noted in the article but it’s always useful to remember the basics. The director of a career management firm says that a large amount of people mistakenly think it's ok to take a telephone call or text during the interview. Talking about your previous employer in a negative way is also bad form as is being focused solely on the pay, perks, holidays and sickness policy of the new employer. So what are some of the worst responses heard by human resources departments? Well when asked why you applied for a job, saying that your mum thought it would be a good idea does not go down well. For the top ten responses to avoid read more at http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2012/may/10/10-things-not-to-say-job-interview

Using online profiles

Your CV is finished and you even have a LinkedIn page but what else could you do to impress employers? An article on workawesome.com looks at the advantage of having an online profile. This is a short website that you control and that employers can access showing details about your achievements that can’t be included on a CV.  Online profiles are particularly recommended for sectors where job seekers need to demonstrate visual and design skills. An architect could add their building designs or a marketer could post details of campaigns they have worked on. The key to using an online profile is to make sure it looks as professional as the image you would portray face to face or on a traditional CV. Workawesome also gives advice on domain names, passwords and privacy. To see if an online profile would work for your job search read the article at http://workawesome.com/your-job/online-profile/

The value of a good internship

Internships are still an extremely useful way to get work experience according to a new article on the People Management website. In a survey of recruiters, more than half said that people with little or no experience had no chance of getting a graduate position. So if internships are a way to achieve such valuable experience, then what is being offered? Where are the genuine opportunities?  One positive example given is that at insurance company, Allianz. The aim of their scheme is to ‘find people with the potential to join the company permanently when they graduate’. The internship is a seen as a “nine-week interview, “says Amanda Haig, HR manager, “It allows them to see what our business is like and we can see them: their work ethic – whether they are grafters.” Interns are also paid (₤18,500 pro rata) contrary to many examples in recent headlines. For more analysis of internships, read the full article at http://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/pm/articles/2012/04/internships-work-the-experience.htm