Author: Damon Ankers

Managers who hire and fire staff have seen it all when it comes to job interviews.  They learn to size up candidates early, with some claiming to know within the first five minutes if the person is the right fit for the job.  This seems unfair, given that the average interview lasts 40 minutes and covers a lot more ground than a handshake and an icebreaker.  Nevertheless, first impressions count.  Here are a few things to avoid at all costs if you really want the job:

• Late arrival – nothing looks worse than showing up in a rush after the scheduled appointment time.  It’s bad manners and shows you have poor time management skills.  Try to arrive 5 to 10 minutes early, much more than that and you will appear desperate.
• Being rude to reception/support staff – it seems obvious but always be respectful to security staff, receptionists or support workers who usher you into your interview.  Word will quickly get round if a visitor is rude.  Remember, if you do get hired, you will be interacting with these people every day.
• Forget to bring the right material – don’t forget to bring your CV, portfolio or presentation as requested or you will be labelled as badly organised from the start.  Re-read emails from the company about the interview to make sure you know what to bring and where to go a few days before.
• Wrong body language – make sure you get off to the best start by smiling and making direct eye contact with your interviewer as you shake hands. Watch your posture – avoid crossing your arms, or legs, and hunching up.  If you’re being shown around make sure you walk at your guide’s pace, move with purpose and don’t dawdle.
• Make nervous mistakes – try not to fidget, talk too fast or laugh inappropriately and allow nerves to get in your way.  Try breathing techniques to help you stay calm and to visualise a successful interview beforehand, after all your interviewer will want you to succeed as much as you do.

A Millennial is someone born between 1980 and 1996 – in other words anyone currently 40 or under, and whose generation, increasingly, will make up the majority of the working population.

According to research, Millennials earn 20% less, on average, than their parent’s generation, have double the student loan debt and make up the majority of managers across America and Europe.

They are also likely to have almost double the number of jobs as their parents during their working lifetimes, moving employers up to 20 times.  Understanding Millennials and what they want from the workplace is therefore key for firms aiming to retain a happy and committed workforce.

According to a survey by Software Advice, Millennials want:

• A good salary but with work-related benefits – while money is still important, more than a third said benefits were also a consideration.  They cited financial wellness schemes, such as access to financial advisors to help cope with debt and invest for the future as important.
• Culture and atmosphere – 31% of Millennials say they need to like where they work.  A comfortable, bright and innovative workplace was key, they said.
• Work-life balance – this is a high priority for Millennials.  Many believe flexible hours, home working or summer hours (half day on Fridays in the summer) will allow them to better juggle personal and family life with their jobs.
• Fulfilment and satisfaction – 30% of Millennials say they need to enjoy what they do.  Whilst the office set-up is important, Millennials want to feel part of the business and see that there is a common cause everyone is working towards.  Devising programmes to help them constantly learn and develop, so they can advance their careers and feel secure in their role is just as important as for previous generations.
• Growth and development – 25% of Millennials say growth and development at work is important.  According to a study of 8,000 Millennials, carried out by consultants Deloitte, 53% also wanted to achieve managerial status, which belies the idea that they are content to hop from one job to another. Another study, by PwC, found Millennials preferred the stability of job security compared to a life in the gig-economy or freelancing.

On the whole, recent research found that what Gen Y really wants is to make a good living.  But they also want to find happiness, fulfilment and opportunity in their work, and ‘to build the foundation for a career that rewards in ways beyond the mere financial.’

Employers have to wade through a sea of candidates before they find the right person for their position.  Many have decades of experience interviewing staff and know instinctively when a candidate is lying or out of their depth.  Cliched answers are boring to hear and lack legitimacy.

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused unemployment to soar, especially among under 35s, with 2020 seeing the fastest growth in redundancies on record. Around 800,000 workers dropped off company payrolls in 2020 and economists have warned that unemployment is likely to climb even higher in 2021, after the furlough scheme is removed.

As a consequence, competition for jobs has never been tougher, so performing well in interview is vital to help you secure a position ahead of your rivals.

To avoid falling victim to typical interview fails always be truthful and informative.  Instead of saying, ‘I am a hard worker,’ give an example of your hard work and what the outcomes were.  Avoid using useless jargon when a description is a better route.  Although experience is generally what employers are after, if you can show a genuine desire to be a part of their team and you are likeable, they will tend to work with you in order to fill the gaps.

Making sure employees have a good work-life balance can be a difficult task for employers.  This is especially true following the coronavirus pandemic, which has seen more staff working from home and longer hours than ever before.

Research suggests that firms will move towards more flexible working as a consequence of the global Covid-19 crisis.  Letting staff recharge their batteries without the stigma of skiving aims to boost ‘wellbeing’ and cut the estimated 18 million working days lost to stress in Britain each year.  But lockdown has also made things worse for staff.  Research found that, although some staff enjoyed the flexibility and were glad of getting rid of the daily commute, others have struggled, with 46 per cent saying home working was having a negative impact on their well-being.

Without the proper work-life balance staff can become dissatisfied, unmotivated in their role and other negative impacts on life can occur – such as lack of exercise, increased stress levels, poor social lives, psychological and physical health problems.

Since 2012 managers also reported working extra hours due to the ‘digitisation’ of the workplace.  One survey found managers were working the equivalent of 29 extra days per year – more than the typical annual leave entitlement.  Nine out of ten said they regularly worked longer than their contracted hours, while a third reported feeling ‘overloaded.’  This is especially true in the IT sector, where being constantly ‘connected’ to e-mails or able to work remotely has meant two thirds of employees find it increasingly difficult to ‘switch off’ out of office hours.

The pandemic has accelerated this trend, with many companies forced to bring the office to their workers’ kitchen tables quickly when the virus took hold in March 2020.

According to a survey from the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD), published in April 2021, two-thirds (63%) of employers said they planned to expand the use of hybrid working – allowing staff to work several days a week from home – once the pandemic subsides.  This means organisations must take a strategic approach to homeworking to harness its benefits and improve working lives post-pandemic.

The same research found more than two thirds (71%) of employers thought the increase in homeworking had either boosted or made no difference to productivity.

Perceptions of productivity differed between organisations that had offered line manager training in managing remote workers and those that hadn’t.  Of those employers who offered such training, 43% said productivity had increased during homeworking, compared to only 29% that hadn’t offered training.

IT managers and those working within the IT industry have a better ability than others to work remotely.  Employees within the IT sector have the power to access a multitude of areas without having to physically be in a specific location and this also opens the doors to working extra hours to rectify problems or to meet deadlines.

That is why, in the post-pandemic world, it is vital IT companies take steps to help their staff find a better work-life balance to protect their future well-being and productivity.