December 09 Newsletter

A Message from the Team

Well, we have almost made it to the end of an interesting year! Like most businesses, we have certainly been on the roller coaster ride that has been the global financial crisis. While this year has provided us with many challenges, it has also encouraged us to think “outside the square” with both our clients and candidates to ensure we can continue to provide the best service possible.

As a business we have been fortunate enough to continue our growth, with four new starters over the last four weeks.

We would like to thank our clients and candidates for their support over the past year, and wish you all and safe a happy Christmas and a prosperous 2010.

The Beaumont Team

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Temp of the Month

The Temp of the Month Award is to be shared in December as our winners have done such a fantastic job, we really couldn’t choose. Therefore the Temps of the Month for December are… Hala Shafik and Linda Buckingham! Congratulations ladies!

Hala takes pride in her job, performs at a consistently high standard, has a cooperative attitude and is flexible yet committed to her job and the company she is working for. Her manager is very impressed with all of the hard work she has put in and loves that Hala “approaches each task with an open mind and makes suggestions for improvements”. Thanks for all of your hard work and dedication Hala!!!

Linda’s manager has said that Linda “exemplifies all that you would expect from a temp. She is enthusiastic, professional and proactive. Linda’s presence in the company has seen a marked improvement in our work environment”. What lovely praise! Once again, Linda, thank you for doing such an impressive job!

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Resume writing

Kim Seeling Smith, “The Career Guru”, is a 15 year recruitment veteran who now coaches candidates helping them find and secure their dream job and proactively manage their career through to their dream retirement. Here she gives her top 10 tips for writing a resume that will get you hired.

Once upon a time, long ago (2007), in a land far away (actually right here in Sydney) legend has it that candidates didn’t need good resumes to get jobs. In fact, back before the GFC, GEC or whatever other acronym is currently in vogue to describe our current economic situation, with the labour shortage at its peak, many candidates didn’t need a resume at all.

But alas, those heady days are gone (at least for the time being) and now it’s not only critical that candidates have a good resume, they need to have an outstanding, flawless and impeccable resume.

I do a lot of public speaking and, no matter what the topic, the vast majority of questions I get are on how to prepare resumes. Even the most savvy business professionals can be completely dumbfounded when putting together this rather straight forward document.

Statistics show that the average resume is read for only 15 seconds. Look at your watch. Now measure 15 seconds. Not a lot of time is it? Make yours one that stands out in those 15 seconds by following the top 10 tips below necessary for a resume to get read and get interviews (which, after all is the ONLY purpose of a resume).

How far is too far?
The only reason to go back more than 10 years is to demonstrate experience beneficial to the job you are applying for, that you have not done in recent times. Besides that, would you even want to do a job you did 10 years ago?
The company does what?
Especially if you’re in a position of responsibility, it’s quite important to let the reader know what your previous employers do. A sentence or two on the size of the company, the company’s products and any other relevant information helps the hiring manager understand your background in more depth.
Don’t look like a job hopper when you’re not!
Many candidates list separate positions within 1 company as completely separate jobs, repeating the company name, etc. Interviewers are basically lazy (and you would be too if you had the number of resumes to read that they do at the moment). At first glance they may not realise that you’ve been promoted every 18 months to 2 years (which is a good thing). They may interpret your format to mean that you’ve changed jobs every 18 months to 2 years (not so good). The proper format is to list the company name and details once and make it stand out (larger font, bold and underlined, etc). Then list each position underneath and make it obvious that they are positions within the same company.
How long is too long?
Remember the 15 second rule? Resumes should be from 1 - 4 (at the most!) pages depending on your level of experience. Less is more, as long as it’s impactful.
A picture tells 1,000 words.
Except on resumes. The rule of thumb here is never. Ever. Full stop. Period. The end.
Ditto
In regards to including your age, marital status, children or pets names (don’t laugh, I’ve seen more than 1!) see #5.
Form over substance.
Again, remember the 15 second rule? Make it easy for the interviewer to read your resume and keep it from being unread. Use lots of white space, put paragraphs into bullet points, don’t use a lot of different fonts, standardise your presentation and be concise and articulate in your descriptions.
Once is never enough.
One standard resume is generally not sufficient to apply for every role you look at. I encourage my candidates to have 2 - 3 resumes highlighting different areas of expertise. But always, always, always customise your resume to the job you are applying for.
I’ll call you.
Make sure that you have your contact details (name, phone number and email are sufficient these days) in your header or at least on the top of your first page. Don’t make the interviewer struggle to figure out how to contact you or they may just say, “next!” Also, make sure that you have voice mail turned on if you’re actively looking (with an appropriate message). And nowadays it’s perfectly appropriate to include your Linkedin Profile in your contact details as well.
Substance over form
The most important thing on your resume is not your duties and responsibilities, not your education, awards or qualifications. The most important thing on your resume is your achievements. Your achievements should be specific accomplishments that are a result of your doing your job or (preferably) going above and beyond your job description. They are what separates you from others with the same experience.

Bonus: I know I shouldn’t have to say this but I must, given the number of spelling and grammatical errors I see on resumes. Spell check!!! It’s easy enough to do with today’s software. It’s also a good idea to have at least 3 people look it over, including at least one person that has no idea what you actually do. Many human resources people do the first screen on roles that they are not that familiar with. Having someone unfamiliar with what you do ensures that anyone can follow your resume.

Your resume doesn’t need to win awards. What it does need to do is keep the reader engaged long enough to have him or her say, “I need to call this person for an interview.” By following these simple steps you will come one step closer to hearing those words you long for, “You’re hired!”

Kim can be contacted at Kim@KimSeelingSmith.com.

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Christmas Opening Hours and Payroll Deadlines

We will be open throughout the Christmas period for normal trading hours of 8.30am until 5.30pm, except for the following:
24th December - 8.30 - 3.00
28th December - Closed
29th December - 9.00 - 4.00
30th December - 9.00 - 4.00
31st December - 9.00 - 3.00

As this is also our holiday time your favourite consultant may be away, if so please ask for a colleague who will be happy to assist. There will be a Consultant from each Division and Branch in at all times. If you're available for temp work over Christmas just let us know and we'll try to get you something.

Payroll Deadlines:
Monday 21st December: Process your timesheet as normal, your pay will be in your account on Thursday 24th December, as usual.

Monday 28th December: Your timesheet will need to be ready to process at 9 am. We suggest you send your timesheet on your last working day of the previous week (Christmas Eve, Thurs 24th Dec for most) when you finish work. Payroll will then be processed on Monday, and your pay will be in your bank on Thursday 31st December.

For those of you paid through Geoffrey Nathan or Freespirit, your pay will also be in your banks on Thursday 24th and Thursday 31st.

We want to get you paid on time during the holidays, so please make sure your timesheets are in on time.

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Top Ten Do's And Don'ts For The 2009 Office Christmas Party

With the silly season just around the corner, December is the month when careers can be made or broken at the annual office Christmas party; so here is a list of top ten Do's and Don'ts for your office Christmas function this year.

Do attend if you can - it's a great opportunity for everyone to engage with each other in a less structured and busy environment and build those relationships that are so important to enjoying our time at work.
Do make sure you enjoy yourself, but also conduct yourself professionally at all times. Although office parties are intended as social events to reward employees and raise morale, they remain strictly business events and your colleagues will have long memories!
Don't use the office party as an excuse to blow off steam, serve a log of complaints or compare the boss to Santa because he only works one day per year! It's still a company function, so proper etiquette and decorum matter.
Don't get into your favourite nightclub outfit for the event -- and do ask whether the dress is formal or casual. The party is still a business function, so conservative party clothes are a good choice - nothing too revealing - the best thing to show off is your style and good taste.
Do keep your hands to yourself. The office party is not the time to end your career with the company by doing something inappropriate or illegal.
Just because it is a business event, don't spend all evening talking business - you'll end up with a reputation as the office bore.
Do keep all conversations positive and upbeat. Don't spend the evening complaining, bragging, correcting, whining, or ridiculing. And do avoid controversial subjects (such as religion, politics, etc.)
Do be gracious and thank co-workers and team members for their help and hard work during the past year. And don't even think about gossiping about others.
Do be tolerant and respectful of those who don't celebrate Christmas - pick a more appropriate time for a religious or philosophical debate.
Finally a great thing to remember at the office party is to keep your drink in your left hand, so that your right is dry and free to shake everyone's hand

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Magic Moments

The Staff at Beaumont Consulting will once again be volunteering at the Magic Moments packing day on Saturday 19th December, known as the “Basket Brigade”. Magic Moments Foundation brings relief and a bit of sunshine into peoples lives at Christmas. Last year was so great we have decided to help out again in preparing and delivering thousands of hampers to people in need.
To find out more information on the Magic Moments Foundation, visit there website www.magicmoments.org.au

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A New Beaumont Addition

Georgia, our wonderful temp consultant in Chatswood, gave birth to a very beautiful baby boy, Aiden James Browning, on 7th November. That’s 4 out 4 of our “mums to be” all having boys. One down and three to go… we shall keep you updated..

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Whats on

Our Christmas 2009 – 26th Nov – 25th December

Carols at Darling Harbour – throughout December

Moonlight Cinema – 3rd December - 6th March 2010

Sydney Telstra 500 – 4th – 6th December

Homebake – 5th December

Carols in the Domain – 19th December

Sydney - Hobart Race – 26th December

New Years Eve - 31st December

We wish you all a very merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year.