February 09 Newsletter

Temp of the month

We are pleased to announce that this months winner of the Temp of the Month competition goes to the very deserving……Senia Aleksandroff!!

This is what Senia’s current employer had to say about her…….

“We have been nothing but impressed with Senia’s attitude, initiative and personality. She never fails to smile and greet both staff and visitors to our office. Senia has shown the initiative to deal with things independently which has made life so much easier for us. We are just disappointed that at this point we have no full time position to offer her as she has been a pleasure to work with.”

The temp team here at Beaumont completely agree with this nomination and would personally like to thank Senia for all her hard work and dedication during the time that she has been temping with us. She has always been happy to leap out of bed in a morning to help us out with urgent assignments and has never received anything but EXCELLENT feedback. You are a star Senia and we are proud to work with you!

In addition to our fabulous temp of the month we would also like to thank Emma Barton who also received a lovely nomination…

“Emma is super reliable, a pleasure to work with and eager to take on new tasks and assist customers. She's a quiet achiever and nothing is ever a problem for her. She's managed to maintain her cheery disposition and meet her targets throughout our busiest time of year when customers are most demanding. Thank you for your efforts Emma.”

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Whats the worst interview question?

There are a lot of very relevant and VERY difficult interview questions out there and quite often it’s the simple ones, not the behavioral type questions that really catch you out. For some, it’s salary. What are you worth? You don’t want to aim too high but you don’t want to sell yourself short either.

One that is popular and that we get a lot of questions about is “What is your biggest weakness?”

We could probably all come up with a few things here, but it’s not the best time to admit your biggest flaws; “I get bored very quickly”, “I don’t suffer fools gladly”, “I love the odd beer and often come in with a hangover”. But let’s face it, it’s not the best time to pretend you don’t have any weaknesses either....we’re not all perfect after all!

Firstly you need to know how to recognize when the question is being asked. It could be that the interviewer disguises it in another question;

What areas of your work do you find most challenging?
Tell me about a time when you did not achieve a target; why do you think that was?
If I was to ask your Manager what they will miss about you, and what they won’t miss, what do you think they’d say?

Recognising the question is a good step, but the real key is preparation. By considering this question beforehand, you minimise the need to think on your feet and can give a much more considered answer. It also removes the temptation to pretend that you get everything right, all the time…..without fail. That can appear a little conceited. It also reduces the chance of you going into self destructive mode and admitting to every fault or flaw you can think of.

Obviously I can’t give you the answers, I shouldn’t need to anyway, you already know what to say. Give some serious thought to what’s been said in previous appraisals or what your colleagues (the good ones) might say about you.

Also, think of these weaknesses as “areas for development”. Making them real and providing examples not only adds credibility to what you’re saying, it also shows the potential employer that you’ve recognised something you need to work on (which is half the battle) and you’re working on developing your skills to overcome the issue.

Also, keep it simple! Don’t pick on something that is incredibly relevant to the role such as organisational skills, listening skills or ability to work as part of a team. Giving good solid examples of how you don’t relate well to others and get nervous when talking on the phone won't go down too well if you’re interviewing for a position in a large call centre!

If possible, pick something that won’t affect your ability to do the job in question. But as I’ve said, make sure you do include an example and if you can, try and put a positive slant on it;

"Some people call me impatient, but that's only because I have drive and enthusiasm to get the job done. I compensate for this with thorough planning to make sure I don't miss anything."

Make sure your answer is relevant to the role, the above example may be good for a high pressure, target driven role, but not for a position where accuracy is paramount and the task turnaround is very slow.

I’m sure there are many “dreaded” interview questions out there. If you’ve come across some real shockers, please feel free to email them to us, if they’re good, we can include them in a future article and maybe we can all learn from it?

r xmas

Christmas absence and sickness competition

We would like to say a HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to all of the winners of our Christmas Absence and Sickness Competition!!!

And the winners were…

Adam Carr                       Aisling Bodkin
Brendan Marrett               Darren Rainsford
Gary Dillon                      Jonnie Lasini
William Roden                  India Thornton
Caley Goodearl                Isabelle Perin
Daniel Glasbey                 Emma Kaye
Peter Newman                  Kala Bostrom
Kristie Higgens                 James Nicol
Sriram Rajogopalan          Mac McNulty
Dawn Erstelle

We would like to say a HUGE thank you to you for all of your hard work over the Christmas period and hope that you enjoyed your presents!!!. Christmas is a very busy and stressful time and you have proven your dedication to both Beaumont and Network and have contributed in helping the team run as smoothly as possible – THANK YOU!

The Temp Team

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Whats on

Comedy Court – 30 Jan – 27 Mar
Each week 3 fresh, hot, up and coming stand-up comics, go head to head competing for up to $1,500 in cash. You, the audience will decide on the spot, the nights funniest comic.

Buddy Holly – 31 Jan – 1 Mar
See the Buddy Holly story at Star City

Queens of the Cross – 6 Feb - 7 Mar
Exhibition recognising the contribution of drag queens since 1962

Valentines Day – 14 Feb
Don't forget to treat your loved ones

Mardi Gras - 15 Feb – 7 Mar
Mardi Gras is three weeks packed full of culture, entertainment and social events including two of the most famous parties in the world and of course the jewel in our crown - the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade

Tropfest 2009 – 22 Feb
Tropfest is regarded as one of Australia's most iconic cultural events, and the largest short film festival in the world.