Reasons to Turn Down a Job Offer

Employer caution has expected the hiring process and you may interview for a position several times — in person and by phone. No matter how long the process and how well you got to know your potential colleagues, it is still perfectly acceptable to turn down a job offer. In fact, there may be many valid reasons you should politely decline an opportunity, assuming, of course, that you are not in dire financial straits.

The word on the street

Is the company’s stock price tanking? Or is there talk of a merge? Both of these things could indicate that layoffs loom large, and the position you accept today may not exist in a few months. To calculate your risks, speak with industry experts, do your due diligence, and consult with family and trusted friends. If you still want to accept the position, try to obtain an iron-clad employment contract.

A revolving door

A certain percentage of employee turnover is normal. However, high employee turnover should raise a red flag for any potential worker. Research a company thoroughly before accepting an offer. Also, be sure to listen carefully during the hiring process. Do interviewers keep referring to folks who have left the company or mentioning a total lack of redundancy? These could be signs people are leaving faster than replacements can be recruited.

Money is not everything

If money is a major factor in your decision to accept a new job, think twice. Depending on your personal financial situation and how much more you would be earning in a new job, money may not buy you on-the-job happiness or professional fulfilment. It may not even guarantee career advancement. Making a move for a modest increase may not be worth it if there is more long-term potential with your current employer. Also, be sure to calculate your entire compensation package to make sure that you are not forfeiting a valuable retirement or insurance plan for a bigger pay check.

All work, no life

There is a time in almost everyone’s career when they have to put their nose to the grindstone and work almost to the point of burnout. If you are just beginning your career or starting a second one, this may be what lies ahead for the next few years. However, if you are a mid-careerist with a family and personal obligations, it may not be wise to accept an 80-hour-a-week job. Forfeiting invaluable work-life balance benefits without assessing the consequences can have a devastating impact on your personal life.

A bad reputation

Going to work for a company with a reputation that is been sullied by a corporate scandal or that is not well-respected can, in turn, sully your résumé. Investigate any potential employer’s standing within its industry. Solicit opinions from within your network. You may learn that it is better to be a top salesperson at an admired organisation rather than a VP of sales at a suspicious one. — Agencies

10 Tricks Job Interviewers Use

Relax, but do realise that this is not a cosy chat with a friend

With more job candidates coming to interviews with prepared and rehearsed answers, savvy interviewers are developing ways of getting beneath the surface so that they can find out what you are really like.

Here are 10 tricks interviewers often use that can trip you up if you are not careful:

1. Silence: Some interviewers will intentionally remain silent when you finish an answer, waiting to see if you will start talking again. Most people are so uncomfortable with the silence that they will rush to fill it, and in doing so, they might offer information that is too candid or maybe damaging. So, if your interviewer is using silence on you, you should remain silent too. Chances are good that after about 10 seconds, the interviewer will start speaking again. If not, you can always ask, “Did I answer your question satisfactorily?”

2. Extreme friendliness: Good interviewers want you to let your guard down. By putting you at ease, they can get a better sense of who you really are (which is probably good for you) and maybe get you to relax and slip up (not so good for you). You are more likely to reveal something unflattering if you feel comfortable. This does not mean that you should not relax, but do realise that this is not a cosy chat with a friend, it is still an interview.

3. Asking what you know about them so far: Interviewers ask this because they want to know if you did your homework. If you have not prepared for the interview by learning all you can about the organisation, it will show.

4. Asking why you are thinking about leaving your current job (or why you left your last job): Interviewers want to know if you are leaving (or if you left) on bad terms, or if you are willing to badmouth an employer.

5. Asking how soon you can start: You might think that expressing a willingness to start right away will play in your favour. But if you indicate that you would leave without giving your current employer at least two weeks’ notice, interviewers will assume you will do that to them someday too. Instead, explain that you can start as soon as you give appropriate notice and fulfil your obligations to your current employer.

6. Asking you to follow up about something: If the interviewer asks you to follow up with some information — or takes you up on your own offer to send, say, a relevant article — make sure that you do it. She might be watching to see how well you remember and follow up on commitments, even small or informal ones.

7. Leaving you with the receptionist: Some candidates will say things to the receptionist that they would never say to the interviewer — whether it is revealing candid impressions about the job, mentioning that they are hung-over from last night, or flirting inappropriately. Smart interviewers will always ask the receptionist or others who came in contact with who came in contact with you for their impressions.

8. If you were laid off, asking if others were laid off with you: ‘How many in your department were laid off as well?’ probably is not an innocent question; it is an attempt to figure out if a past employer laid you off to avoid having to fire you for performance.

9. Asking you to describe your dream job: If you start talking about your true desire to work in film when you are applying for an accountant job or your hope to manage political campaigns when you are applying to be a teacher, most interviewers will think you are not really committed to the position for which they are hiring.

10. Asking what questions you have: This one is not really a trick, but a good interviewer can tell a tone about you by what questions you ask. Do you focus on benefits, pay, and hours, or are you curious about the job itself? Interviewers want to hear thoughtful questions about the work, the culture, and the organisation — questions that show that you are really trying to figure out if this is the right fit for you. — Agencies

Grammar lessons all job seekers should know

Read and reread everything you write for a job application

These days, human resources departments and hiring managers are flooded with résumé. They have to be narrowed down somehow, and grammatical errors are an easy way to eliminate applicants. In an era of spell check, easily edited documents and instantly shared ‘can you give this a look’ e-mails, typos and grammatical errors on résumé and/or cover letters are pretty much unforgivable. The message sent by typing ‘too’ when it should be ‘to’ can literally be the difference between getting the nod or getting a no.

Here is a proofreading checklist for your résumé and cover letter:

Know your homophones

Homophones are words that sound the same but have different meanings, like too, to and two. Using the correct version on your résumé is crucial. The misuse of your with you’re, there with their or they’re, and to with too or two are the most common mistakes. If someone uses one of these incorrectly on a cover letter, he or she can say goodbye to his chances of even landing a decent job. If this is due to a simple typo, that is one thing; however, if the individual does not know the difference between these basic words and has never bothered to take an hour out of his or her life to learn it, he or she is not deserving of landing a decent job.

Use apostrophes properly

Apostrophes are used for few reasons:

• They indicate the possessive: In my last job, I managed the CEO’s calendar.
• They indicate the omission of letters in words (that is, in contractions).
• They indicate the exclusion of numbers in dates: I graduated college in ’05.
• They indicate time or quantity: I must give my current employers two week’s notice.

Be sure to check your résumé for proper use of apostrophes, as well as any erroneous punctuation. Apostrophes do not, for example, indicate the plural form of a singular noun. It is incorrect to say ‘I developed orientation programmes to help new employee’s get acclimated to the company.’

Keen tenses consistent

Building lists correctly is important. If you start your job duties with ‘managing multiple employees,’ do not have your next point as ‘prepared annual reports’ but ‘preparing annual reports.’

Similarly, as a general rule, all activities or accomplishments that you completed in the past should be in the past tense. Activities that you perform now should be in the present tense. This should be kept consistent throughout your résumé.

Proofread and then proofread again

The bottom line is that proofreading your application materials before submitting them is a must. There are enough people with bad grammar pet peeves that there is virtually no position out there where grammar does not matter. Since a basic search-engine inquiry for ‘grammar pet peeves’ nets more than 400,000 returns, it is safe to say that hiring managers are paying close attention to grammar and other résumé and cover-letter errors. Read and reread everything you write for a job application, and if you doubt yourself even slightly, run your submission past someone you trust. — Agencies

5 Tips for Hiring a CEO

It may be useful to agree upon a designated trial period to test the waters

Being in charge is not easy, but neither is handling over the job to someone else. For a determined-yet-inexperienced entrepreneur, bringing in a seasoned pro as CEO can help a company make the transition from being a scrappy start-up to an established and respected leader in its field. Even after you have found the right person to nurture your vision, adjusting to a new role apart from the company helm can be a daunting task. Here are five steps to take in order to ensure a smooth transition.

1. Any initial soul-searching should be accompanied by ample contemplation of long-term goals, needs and strategies. After all, if you cannot articulate your company’s vision, a newcomer will not be able to either.

2. Creating a roadmap will help identify your strengths, so that you can hire someone to handle your weaknesses.

3. Bearing primary responsibility for choosing your own replacement will likely put you, as well as anyone who is up for the job, in an awkward position. So, it is a good idea to have someone independent involved in the process. Having multiple eyes and ears will ensure that all aspects of the company’s needs are addressed and that the search process is not skewed by one person’s perspective.

Allowing others to aid in the vetting process also frees you to concentrate on the intangibles that others might miss. Having that screening process in place allows you to focus on finding someone who shares your vision in your one-on-one interviews.

4. Not even a sterling résumé and ironclad references can assuage the gut feeling that someone just will not click with the rest of the company. If you feel a certain personal attribute is essential to the company’s culture, do not be afraid to say so explicitly when dealing with an executive search firm or other advisor.

5. Examining candidates’ relationships with past employees and authority figures can help identity how their personal traits might tie into their managerial styles. One effective way to do so is to interview their direct reports in three previous positions. You can also ask candidates about their family history and relationships with figures such as college professors to gain insight into their perspectives on authority. People’s self-perceptions are often very different from what others perceive. However, know some boundaries when asking personal questions — even for managerial positions, discriminatory hiring practices (including judging a candidate on marital status, for example) is illegal.

While you should not attempt to cling to your previous duties, designating specific stages for the transition will help the process go more smoothly. For each area, decide whether you should maintain a leading role, retain some influence, or cede all authority. As you identify responsibilities, also brief the new CEO on the company’s progress in those areas.

In some cases, it may be useful to agree upon a designated trial period to test the waters. After the CEO has come on board, check in after the three-and six-month marks to discuss both parties’ progress with the transition and address any operational or management challenges. — Agencies

1 thing every new hire should get on their first day

It is being reported on several techie websites that when employees arrive for their first day at Apple, they are given an inspirational note. The concept of giving every new hire a letter on their first day is a great idea for the following reasons:

1. First days are tough. You have not made ‘work friends’ yet so you feel alone, you do not know the company culture or jargons yet so you feel confused, and you are quite liberally lost. A warm letter can make you feel welcome.

2. First impressions count. A good orientation programme helps, but a warm note shows that the company cares enough about you to think ahead to your arrival.

3. Cultural immersion should start early. First days or weeks are often periods of lighter workloads. It is the perfect time for new hires to ‘work’ on understanding the company culture and values.

Welcoming each newbie on their first day with a note is a great idea. To make it effective, make it personal and focused on organizational values. — Agencies

Overcome study boredom

For effective study habits, it is suggested that you set up a proper study space, adjust the light, get rid of all distractions and even take a few breaks. But after doing these things, you are nodding off, when you know there is work to be done. So, what can be done when this happens? Here are five tips for overcoming boredom and tiredness while studying.

Take a short nap!

Think of a brief nap as an unscheduled break. Naps are known to restore energy if they are brief, no more than 30 minutes long; 20 minutes is deal. If you go too long you actually may awaken more tired than before.

Caffeine wonders

A cup of coffee, a coke, maybe some tea makes for fine pick-me-up. Too much caffeine, like the amount contained in an energy drink is counter-productive mainly because the properties of caffeine can have an upside-down effect when you have too much of it. One cup of coffee is often enough to open your eyes long enough to complete your work and not interfere with your sleep.

Turn down the heat

Ideally, you should be studying in a room where the temperature is on the cool side, around 68 degrees Fahrenheit. Often, however, the room temperature is higher than that. Warmth makes you lethargic which, in turn, robs you of focus. If you can’t adjust the temperature, you can adjust your clothing. Take off your sweater, remove an unneeded layer and see if that doesn’t cool you down.

Take a walk

A walk outside will help stimulate your body. If you can’t get outside, do a few jumping jacks or stretch. Even mild physical exertion provides an immediate increase in focus and alertness.

Change your schedule

You’ve taken a nap, had some coffee, cooled down, done some exercise and you still want to nod off. Stop what you are doing and go to bed. Study another time for maximum effectiveness. When nothing seems to keep you awake your body is telling you to get some needed rest. Listen, you’ll be better off for it. — Agencies

Walking in office

London: There are plenty of ways to squeeze in exercise and some social time at work without sacrificing productivity. The American Council on Exercise mentions these suggestions —

• Skip the coffee/smoke break and ask a co-worker to join you for a 15-minute walk.


• If you have a regular one-to-one meeting with a co-worker, make it a walking meeting.


• Take the stairs instead of the elevator, and see how many co-workers will join you.


• Start up a workplace walking group to walk on breaks, during lunch and after work.


• Visit a bookstore or museum for a stroll.