When a company cares about its employees, it listens to them. It helps them thrive. It gives them the boost they need when they're in a rut. This is the kind of company you want to work for as an employee.
This type of company is more than a beautiful office with a smoothie bar. It's a hub of amazing, talented, people who have the opportunity to make an impact. And it will do whatever it takes to see them excel.
A company like this isn't hard to spot. You can see it in its employees faces, hear it in their voices, and read it in their words. But if you want to be absolutely sure you're pursuing a company that cares about its employees, look out for these three signs:
1. It encourages collaboration so every employee can be successful.
Every employee wants to be successful in his or her career, right? Well, if you want to be sure that your company cares about you as an employee, make sure it's giving you the support you need to succeed.
If you work for a company with one of the best reputations in the industry, then you are continuously working to produce the highest quality products. The best way to do that is to collaborate with those around you by sharing ideas and providing feedback to ensure that you're creating products that your consumers will love.
At Nike, one of the world's largest athletic companies, employees constantly support one another to ensure everyone is doing their job to the best of their ability and producing the highest quality product.
"Nike as a corporation is very team-centric," said Danny Modesto, Senior Engineering Manager at Nike. "There's no one person in charge of everything. We are all in it together."
By encouraging collaboration amongst employees, Nike is ensuring that everyone is working together as a team to contribute to the company's success.
2. It Invests in its employees.
It's easy to come into work every day, go through the motions, and then go home. However, if you really want to feel fulfilled in your career, you need to find a company that will invest in you and your success.
When a company invests in its employees, those employees will feel excited and appreciative to walk through the door every day. As a result, they are going to be increasingly valuable to the organization.
At Nike, it is this investment in employees that brings energy to the brand and helps drive the business forward in order to stay at the forefront of the athletic industry.
"We know that diverse teams fuel innovation. So we work to ensure that we have diverse teams," said Nike's Director, Diversity & Inclusion, Anthony Herrington. "How we get after this work is educating our managers, hiring more inclusively, investing in our talent, and looking beyond Nike to make change in the world."
Nike understands that investing in its employees and acknowledging their dedication and hard work, will help make for a positive atmosphere where everyone is committed to producing their best work.
3. It creates a positive work environment for its team.
It's like they say, "two heads are better than one." An employee may be able to perform well when he or she is working alone, but when he or she is sharing feedback and collaborating with a team, that's when the best ideas will come out.
An ideal work environment is one where everyone's ideas are welcome. When a company encourages collaboration by inviting everyone to share his or her perspective, that's when the team will deliver the best possible product and/or service.
"One of the things I love about working at Nike is how diverse it is here in how we look and what we believe," said Nike's TA Director, Nike Direct, Jenn Longbine. "Walking around campus is a really cool thing. You'll hear different languages, you'll hear healthy debate. It's a place that fosters inclusion in a way I've never seen."
If you're looking to work in a positive work environment, then you want to find a company that values teamwork and inclusion, like Nike does. This kind of atmosphere will help you excel in your career and will mold you into the best professional you can be.
Are you looking to start a career with a company that will value you? Be sure to look out for these three signs that a company truly cares about you as an employee. If you're interested in joining Nike's team, then take a look at its open positions today!
If you're thinking about moving to pursue a job, here's why you should relocate to Portland, Oregon.
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Is your job search turning into a grind with no end in sight? It may be time to take a step back and reevaluate your entire approach.
In cold weather climates, the beginning of spring is a time to clean the house and get organized—a practice known as spring cleaning. Through the years, spring cleaning has taken on a larger meaning with people using the time to organize and declutter things in their lives.
For professionals on the job hunt, a little spring cleaning (metaphorically speaking) could be a great way to reinvigorate your job search. Here are a few strategies your job search spring cleaning should include.
Reevaluate Your Job Search Approach
BigstockMake a list of the last handful of jobs you applied for and see if you can identify any positive or negative trends. Consider things like:
- How did I learn about this job?
- How did I apply for the job?
- Did I earn an interview?
- What was the ultimate result?
A lot can be learned about your job search approach just by answering these questions and identifying patterns. For example:
Negative Trends
You discovered five jobs through job boards, applied to all of them via the job boards, and never heard back from any of them.
The common pattern here is applying through job boards. This isn't to say that job boards don't serve a purpose in the job search process, but they have their limitations, and you can't run your job search entirely off of them. When you apply through a job board, there's a good chance that your materials will never get past the applicant tracking system (ATS) and never be seen by an actual person.
One simple fix is to research who the hiring manager or recruiter is that posted the position and email your materials to them directly.
The more efficient fix would be to take a proactive approach by putting together a bucket list of companies that you want to work for and start making connections on LinkedIn with people who work at those companies. You may already know some people who work there or have connections that can refer you to some individuals.
This is a great way to network your way onto a company's radar.
Positive Trends
You applied to three jobs via referral, were invited to two job interviews, and made it through multiple rounds of interviews for one of the jobs before being passed over for someone with a little more experience.
The pattern here is that getting referred to a job by a professional acquaintance is a great way to land a job interview. This indicates that you're leveraging your network well and you should continue to focus on your networking efforts.
The next step is to review the interview process and determine what went well and what needs to be improved. Sometimes the interviewer will provide feedback, and that feedback can be valuable. However, not everyone is comfortable with giving feedback.
Chances are you probably have a good idea about areas of improvement and the skills you need to gain. Put together a plan for addressing those shortfalls.
The good news in making it deep into any interview process is that it indicates that the company likes you as a potential employee (even if the timing just wasn't right) and the experience could be a roadmap to a job with that company at a later date, or another similar opportunity elsewhere.
Give Your Resume & Cover Letter Some Much-Needed Attention
BigstockAre you continuously sending similar resumes and cover letters to each job opening with only minor adjustments? If so, your strategy needs some serious spring cleaning.
Let's start with resumes!
Every resume should be tailored to the position in order for it to stand out to recruiters and hiring managers. It may seem like a lot of work, but it's actually less work than submitting the same resume over and over again and never hearing back.
The reason why it's so important to tailor your resume is that throughout your career, you acquire numerous skills, but the job you're applying for may only be focusing on 6-8 of those skills. In that case, those skills must rise to the top of the resume with quantifiable examples of how you successfully used those skills at previous jobs.
Remember, recruiters go through hundreds of resumes. They need to be able to tell from a quick glance whether or not you're a potential candidate for the position.
While updating your resume, you could also spruce up your LinkedIn profile by highlighting the skill sets that you want to be noticed for by recruiters.
As for writing a good cover letter, the key to success is writing a disruptive cover letter. When you write a disruptive cover letter, you're basically telling a story. The story should focus on how you connect with the particular company and job position. The story could also focus on your personal journey, and how you got to where you currently are in your career.
If your resumes and cover letters aren't unique, now is the time to clean things up and get on track.
Build Your Personal Brand
Just because you're looking for work doesn't mean that you don't have anything to offer. Use previous career experiences and passions to build your personal brand.
Ask yourself, "How do I want other professionals to view me?"
Pick an area of expertise and start sharing your knowledge and experience with your professional network by pushing out content on your LinkedIn and social media accounts. Good content can include blogs, social media posts, and videos.
By sharing content about your experiences and passions, you slowly build your personal brand, and others will start to notice. The content could lead to good discussions with others in your network. It could also lead to reconnecting with connections that you haven't spoken to in years, or making new connections.
You never know when one of these connections could turn into a job lead or referral. The trick is to get on people's radars. So, when you're cleaning up your job search, be sure to build a plan for personal branding.
Maintain Healthy Habits During Your Job Search
BigstockYour job search is important, but it's even more important to know when to pull back and focus on personal health and spending time with family and friends.
There are actually things that you can do for your own enjoyment that could help your job search in the long run, such as:
- Grab coffee with a friend - It's good to engage in light conversation with friends during challenging times. And if your job search does come up, remember that most people have been through it themselves and you never know when a friend may provide you with a good idea or lead on a job.
- Volunteer - Volunteering is a great way to get involved in the community and help others. In addition, if you develop a little bit of a career gap while looking for a job, you can always talk about how you filled that time volunteering, if you're asked about it during a job interview.
- Continue to focus on other passions - Are you a fitness nut? Blogger? Crafter? Continue to do the things that bring you happiness. And if you're in a position to profit from your passion through a freelance job or side hustle, even better!
Spring is the perfect time to clean up and improve your job search so you can land the job you want. If you're struggling to find a job, follow the tips above to reinvigorate your job search—and watch your career blossom!
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This article was originally published at an earlier date.
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