Time: Guard it with your life

Time: Guard it with your life


Once you have completed the course and officially begin working as a full time recruiter you will learn how to work first hand at a company. Things such as identifying prospects, assessing their qualifications and negotiating offer letters will be part of your exciting new career. As a recruiter, sometimes you end up working odd hours but it's still a nice tradeoff if you are privileged enough to work from the comfort of your own home. You have to try to develop and adapt a 24/7 mindset. Meaning you can still have a balanced social & family life but make yourself accessible to your potential prospects and supervisors. They may not be around to speak to you all day until after working hours so make it your mission to be available to them as needed and always work around their schedule. Your accessibility gives all parties a sense of reliability and comfort. It makes it known that you can be counted on for whatever is needed and that is an invaluable asset for any company to have. Employers look for people that will be there for the highs and the lows, they need efficient and productive players that are serious about helping the company maintain and grow their bottom line. 


Once you're employed, the way you will stand out is by going above and beyond expectations set forth by the company. Accomplishing tasks that were not even expected of you, assisting others with their role, and always over delivering on results. Stay committed to your goals and go above measured expectations so you can rise quickly through the ranks. The more work you put in, the more rewards you will reap. Always work smart however. I remember my first job, I was able to complete my tasks within the first hour of getting into the office while most took 8 hours to do the same job. I also realized that it didn't matter if I worked 1 hour or 100 hours, as long as I completed the task at hand. You need to become an expert at managing your time and the speed at which you do things. You need to become a recruiting terminator by producing double the amount of results in half the time. As time goes on, you will become better and better. You need to walk before you can run and fall several times before you learn the ropes. This won't happen until you're thrown into the ocean and be forced to sink or swim on your own. It's one thing to read about it and another to experience it first hand in the real world. Remember that when you're helping others, try not to become a pushover. You don't want to end up doing someone else's job for them so make sure you establish clear boundaries and be assertive enough to be respected by your peers. Obviously, don't go screaming and cursing people out but make it clear that you should be taken seriously and will not let anyone get away with any funny business. Your time is extremely valuable and it should always be treated as such. The only thing more valuable than money is time. You can get more money, but you cannot get more time so guard it with your life.


Time management also goes back to outworking your competition. Most of your colleagues at your firm might call it a day at 5:00pm no matter how behind on their work they are and as a result they lose out on great candidates because they refused to speak after a certain time or on weekends. Do not be distracted by the crowd, meaningless small talk or fall prey to happy hour specials. Make a choice to always be available when called upon and you will be much more successful. Be reliable, punctual and a go to type of person. Candidates and employers must see you as an individual who they can trust to get the job done no matter what the circumstance. They will appreciate you and this in turn will make you a far greater resource than anyone else in your department. If you want to be treated as part of the corporate family, make sure you act like a Pro. Loyalty runs deep but it must be displayed on both sides. Try not to be too loyal to the wrong people or wrong company however. Meaning you may love the folks at your current job, but if you see the company going through financial instability it is prudent for you to start looking at other options. You don't want to be unemployed and go down with the ship just because you liked having coffee with Susie. You need to keep your eyes open and understand the financial stability of any company you work for. On the other hand, if a company is treating you well, they never miss payroll and meet all your expectations then go ahead and give them the same treatment they're giving you. No matter how great a company, never close yourself off to new and better opportunities. Compare yourself to Lebron James, even though he was making $30 million a year at one point, he still explored other options so he could make $50 million a year. He chose to elevate his career even further for the well being of his family and his future.

Get the Right Things Done in Less Time with These Time Management Skills

To get ahead in your career, deliver your projects successfully and to get a promotion or a pay rise, you must learn to consistently focus on the activities that add the most benefit to your projects and your clients. The better you are at maintaining focus and managing your time, the more you will achieve, and the easier it will be for you to leave the office on time. Not only do effective time management skills allow you to get better results at work, but it also help you withstand stress and live a more fulfilling life outside of work.

The following strategies will help you get the right things done in less time.

1. Start your day with a clear focus.

The first work-related activity of your day should be to determine what you want to achieve that day and what you absolutely must accomplish. Come clear on this purpose before you check your email and start responding to queries and resolve issues. Setting a clear focus for your day might require as little as five minutes, but can save you several hours of wasted time and effort.

2. Have a dynamic task list.

Capture the tasks and activities you must do on a list and update it regularly during the day. Revisit this list frequently and add new items as soon as they appear. Make sure your list gives you a quick overview of everything that’s urgent and important, and remember to include strategic and relationship-building activities as well as operational tasks.

3. Focus on high-value activities.

Before you start something new, identify the activity that would have the most positive effect on your project, your team, and your client if you were to deal with it right now. Resist the temptation to clear smaller, unimportant items first. Start with what is most important.

  • To help you assess which activities to focus on first, ask the following:
  • What does my client or my team need most from me right now?
  • What will cause the most trouble if it doesn’t get done?
  • What is the biggest contribution I can make right now?
  • Which strategic tasks do I need to deal with today to help us work smarter tomorrow?

4. Minimize interruptions.

The more uninterrupted time you get during the day to work on important tasks, the more effective you’ll be. Identify the activities that tend to disrupt your work, and find a solution. Basically, one of the most essential time management skills is to not get distracted. For example, avoid checking emails and answering the phone when you’re in the middle of something important. Once you have broken your flow, it can be difficult to reestablish it. Instead, discipline yourself to work on a task single-mindedly until it’s complete.

5. Stop procrastinating.

If you have difficulties staying focused or tend to procrastinate, you may benefit from creating an external commitment for (deadline) yourself. For instance, schedule a meeting in two days’ time where you’ll be presenting your work and by which time your actions will have to be completed. It’s also very effective to complete the most unpleasant tasks early in the day and to allow yourself small rewards once you’ve completed them.

6. Limit multi-tasking.

Many of us multi-task and believe we’re effective when we do so, but evidence suggests that we can’t effectively focus on more than one thing at a time. In order to stop multi-tasking, try these tips: Plan your day in blocks and set specific time aside for meetings, returning calls and for doing detailed planning and analysis work at your desk. Whenever you find yourself multitasking, stop and sit quietly for a minute.

7. Review your day.

Spend 5-10 minutes reviewing your task list every day before you leave the office. Give yourself a pat on the back if you achieved what you wanted. If you think your day’s effort fell short, decide what you’ll do differently tomorrow in order to accomplish what you need to. Leave the office in high spirits determined to pick up the thread the next day.

Give these essential time management skills a concerted effort, and you’ll find your days and projects running much more smoothly

Complete and Continue  
Discussion

0 comments