Review Category : Career Insight

Telephone Interview – Questions

    Click through if you need advice with personal assistant interview questions or PA interview questions.    Why do employers use telephone interviews? Employers usually use telephone interviews when they receive a lot of applications or are recruiting for a lot of positions. It’s a way of narrowing down the candidates into a number that it is possible for them to interview face-to-face.    How long do they last? They varied in length, generally takes between 20-25 minutes but can take up to 1 hour.    Advantages of telephone interviews:   For the employer: They are time and cost-effective – most last about 20-25 minutes. They test your ...

read more

Tips for Effective Delegation

Delegation is a key tool in the effective management of people, time and resources.  Here are a few key elements of any delegation. Click here for our guide on how to improve communication skills  Determine what you will delegate. 

 You decide which task(s) you want to delegate. Keep in mind that delegating is different from simply assigning someone a task that is already a part of the normal job requirements. When you delegate, you give someone else one of your job tasks; but you maintain control and responsibility.   Select the person to whom to delegate the responsibility, taking time ...

read more

How to Write a Curriculum Vitae

A good curriculum vitae – or CV – is vital when looking for work, especially when there are numerous candidates for the same job, so what should it contain?   It takes recruiters an average of “6 seconds before they make the initial “fit or not fit decision” on candidates based on CVs, according to research conducted by The Ladders.   Click through if you need advice with personal assistant interview questions or PA interview questions.    What to include Always accompany your CV with an introductory covering letter giving relevant information about how you would suit the job.    Tips to keep in mind. ...

read more

Questions You Should Ask During a Job Interview

After months of searching, you’ve finally landed an interview for the job of your dreams. You’ve chosen your wardrobe, researched the company so you can intelligently discuss the issues, and thought through questions you may be asked.   Click through if you need advice with personal assistant interview questions or PA interview questions.   At the end of most job interviews, you’re asked a seemingly innocuous, open-ended question: “Do you have any questions for me?”    One obvious mistake is not asking anything at all, which shows that you haven’t given any serious thought to the possibility of employment at this particular organization and missing ...

read more
Dec 10, 2013

How to Deal with Difficult Conversations

Click here for our guide on how to improve communication skills When having a difficult conversation, it’s easy to get wrapped up in what you need. You’re angry so you respond with anger. You’re frustrated so you respond with frustration. It makes sense, but it’s not effective. Instead of reacting, ask yourself a question: what is going on for the other party?    Start with respect. Hold tempers in check by having all participants in the conversation agree at the beginning to respect each other and the problem you are discussing.    Know your objective. What do you want to accomplish with the ...

read more

Top Tips on How to Negotiate a Better Salary

  Click here if you need advice with personal assistant interview questions or PA interview questions.   Finding out what you are worth requires research, self-reflection and networking. The salary negotiation is a tricky step for most job seekers. You don’t want to undercut yourself, but you also need to determine how far you can push without offending hiring managers.    Do your research – Know what you’re worth. Go to PayScale or Vault and get as much data as you can on the current salary range.    Know your bottom line. What is the minimum salary you would accept? Before investing too much time and energy on ...

read more

Top Tips for Running a Conference Call

Let’s face it, conference call are even more of a necessity in many industries today.  When managed properly, they are an effective means of communication and a valuable business tool because they decrease travel costs and increase the speed of decisions. Below are some of the  key tips on how to run a proper conference call. Click here for our guide on how to improve communication skills E-mail a meeting reminder about a week in advance that includes an agenda with time limits, the call’s objectives and the call-in number.    Dial in on time or a few minutes early, if you ...

read more

Popular Outlook Tips & Tricks to Improve Productivity

Outlook offers some powerful features for managing your e-mail, meetings, and contacts. The problem is, it offers so much that learning to use it all efficiently can take time. Some options are buried several menus deep. Others just aren’t as intuitive as they should be. Below is an outline of Outlook tips that will assist you in maximising productivity:   Click here for our guide on how to improve communication skills    Public Holidays. If you don’t want to miss public holidays, Outlook can automatically add them to your calendar and it has nearly 100 different locations to choose from. To enable this, simply ...

read more

14 Steps to Happiness at Work

Do success and satisfaction automatically go hand in hand? Not always. Developing the keys to thrive – not just survive – at your job requires effort, but the payoff is well worth it.  According to The Wall Street Journal, happy employees are 36% more motivated, 31% more successful in achieving their goals, and 33% more likely to assist their coworkers when compared with their unhappy counterparts, workplace contentment is an important objective for many companies. It is inevitable that there will be problems in work, as in life. What separates the happy from the frustrated is how we choose to ...

read more

Appointment Setting Effectively

Recently one PA contacted me and requested if  I could write any tips about Appointment setting. So I did a research and found some basic general tips, I hope it helps!  Click here for our guide on how to improve communication skills  Appointment setting is simply calling as many people as possible, qualifying them as a prospective customer, and asking them to set an appointment with a salesperson or representative. Professionals and businessmen do not want to waste time or money meeting people who have no intention of buying their product or service. These businesses rely on appointment setters to make sure ...

read more