Category Archives: goals

How to Celebrate Halloween at Work

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Halloween has the potential to be a a wonderful workplace tradition. Costumes, treats, and other traditions have a way of helping to build a team oriented culture and a motivational work environment. Read on to see some of are advice on how to have a great halloween in the workplace.

Plan ahead. Most fun celebrations require some thought ahead of time, and not the morning of. Work with your team to establish whether or not costumes are okay and to what extent, what to bring, and other logistics. If you are going to have a costume contest, best practice is to outline the rules/dress code of the contest ahead of time in order to prevent any HR issues. Those types of mishaps can be a lot scarier than the ghosts and witches of Halloween!

Get creative. Not everyone likes dressing up, but most people love getting the chance to hangout with the team. Consider a Halloween breakfast, pumpkin carving contest, or other outside the box ideas for the workplace.

Consider Volunteering. Although Halloween is mostly considered a secular holiday, we should never force anyone to participate if they are not comfortable. If this is a concern  in your organization, one way to spend the day together would be to consider the needs of your community and volunteer! Employees can visit senior care centers, pediatric care department at a local hospital or homeless shelters. Clothing and food collection drives for local churches, charities, and food banks are more good options.

We hope this helps you have a safe and fun Halloween!

Visit our website here: http://www.cpstaffing.com/index.aspx

Visit our open jobs here: http://www.cpstaffing.com/jobs.aspx

Wellness In the Workplace

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The end of summer is quickly approaching, kids are getting ready to go back to school, and you may be starting to evaluate your summer fitness progress (or lack there of). Eight hours at a desk five days a week can really take a toll, but at least over the summer, many people have highly active nights and weekends. As we all start to get ready to spend more time indoors, you may be wondering how you can make your workplace a healthy space to aid in your health goals. Read on to learn about our top three tips on how to have a guilt free workday.

Avoid the candy jar. We all know where the candy jar is located at work, and after a long morning, it can be difficult to avoid. A couple M&Ms may seem like no big deal, but they can add hundreds of unnecessary calories to your diet every day if you are not careful. If you are hungry or absolutely cannot go without that 3pm pick me up, try keeping natural sweets on your desk. Grapes, Cherries, or Apples work wonderfully!

Drink lots of water. Staying hydrated is good for pretty much everything. It provides energy, promotes weight loss, helps your skin, prevents headaches, and boosts your immune system, just to name a few benefits. Bring a water bottle to work, and make it your goal to fill it up three, four, or even five times throughout the day. You can also set an alarm if you need that extra reminder.

Walk and Stretch. Walking throughout the day is a great way to promote health and fitness in the workplace. Take a walk during breaks, long conference calls (if you have a headset), or even just every couple hours to reward yourself for finishing a task. It may seem like no big deal, but getting up and moving around can make a huge difference in staying energized. If you are unable to get up regularly, try stretching at your desk multiple times per day to get moving and get a mental break from work.

How have you had success staying healthy at work? Comment below!

Written by Kaitlyn Gahagen

How to increase your happiness at work without getting a new job.

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Most full time employees work around 40 hours a week. For some, this time goes by quickly and it doesn’t feel like work at all. However, a recent Forbes Article divulged that about 70% of Americans are to some degree unhappy during the 40 hours a week that they spend at the workplace.  Are you one of them? While the obvious answer may be to find another job, we believe that there are a few things that you can do to really improve your happiness at the workplace.

GET ENGAGED. Studies have shown that employees who jump into the work environment, interact with those around them, and really get to know their products are much happier at work. Go to work functions after hours, participate, and get to know the people in the break room.

STAY ACTIVE. Although it may be sometimes necessary to stay at your desk most of the day, employees who keep physically active are overall much happier than those that do not. Go for short walks, stretch, and maybe even get some exercise during your lunch break if you have the opportunity.

BE COMFORTABLE. Talk to your employers about maintaining a comfortable thermostat (between 65 and 70 degrees), reducing noise, and utilizing adjustable chairs and desks. If you are uncomfortable, you are not going to be able to set yourself up for happiness at work.

In short, if you are really unhappy with the work that you do or the company that employees you, you may need to start looking for other options. But, there are a lot of unconscious factors that could lead to increased job satisfaction that you may not even realize. If the opportunity is there, you should always get engaged in office activities, move around, and maintain a comfortable workspace.

Written by Kaitlyn Gahagen

Employee Spotlight: President and CEO Cindy Neese

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Cindy has been on the ComputerPeople team for over 34 years. She started out as a Sales Representative in May of 1984, just 14 years after ComputerPeople first opened its doors. Over the years, she worked hard to progress into the roles of Sales Manager and VP of Sales before she was promoted into her current role, President/CEO of ComputerPeople. Cindy is an excellent example of a selfless leader. She is always putting her team first and coming up with new ways to make everyone at ComputerPeople feel loved, valued, and heard. We sat down with Cindy to find out a little bit more about ComputerPeople and about Cindy herself! Read on to find out what she had to say.
 
What sets ComputerPeople apart in the recruiting/business world?

There are a few things that really set us apart from others. Our longevity in the market, the tenure of our in-house employees, and the relationships that we have built through 50 years of doing business in the Buffalo community definitely set us apart from the crowd. However, I am most proud of the fact that we make it our business to understand our customers culture. We do this in order to do a better job of determining the best candidates for a company to create the perfect employer-employee match for every job order.

What is your favorite office tradition at ComputerPeople?
My favorite office tradition is at Christmas. For this holiday, we always go out for a team lunch and then do a secret Santa gift exchange.  We have shared many laughs together as associates steal gifts from others!
 
What is something most people probably do not know about ComputerPeople?
We were the first privately owned specialized IT Staffing firm in Buffalo.
 
What is something most people probably don’t know about you?

I play the piano and I love flower gardening!

Cindy, we all appreciate everything you do to make ComputerPeople such an amazing place to be!

Written by Kaitlyn Gahagen

Creating A Resume From a Template? Read this First.

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Resume templates are amazing tools. They allow candidates to create stunning resumes in a short amount of time. They are usually easy to read, cover all the details, and look very professional. However, if you use a template resume, there are a couple of mistakes that are easy to make. Read on to find out some of the most commonly made mistakes when using a template resume and how to avoid them.

Not filling in all of the sections. This seems so simple, but you would be surprised how often we see things like [company name here], [more detail about your role here], and [add your reference here]. Recruiters and hiring managers usually take about 30 seconds or less to review a resume, but that is an extremely noticeable mistake that will ALWAYS be caught. Employers want to know that you have attention to detail, and this is a quick way to get yourself dismissed from the candidate search. You can avoid this my reading over every word of your resume out loud before you submit. When you read out loud, your brain cannot skip over things and you will catch the mistake. We also recommend having one of our recruiters or a trusted friend read over your resume before you submit it.

Not listing all of your experience. Just because your resume template only has three sections of prior experience does not mean you should only list three sections of prior experience. It is definitely okay to break the mold of the resume template if you have extra sections to add. Also, don’t forget to add things like relevant skills or experience if that information would be applicable to the job. You can avoid this by brainstorming all of your experience and skills into an unformatted “master resume.” When you apply to a new job, make sure to highlight the most relevant things from your “master resume,” and do not include the things that are not relevant. You never want to lie or exaggerate on your resume, but it is definitely a great idea to tailor your resume to the job.

Not fixing your spacing. You should do everything you can to try and keep your resume down to one page, especially if you do not have a lot of experience. If you absolutely have to go on to two or three pages then that is okay, but do everything you can with spacing and margins to reduce the amount of pages in your resume before you submit. Your first priority should be that your resume is easily readable, but you also want to keep it as short as possible while still including details about your skillset and experiences.

Is your resume based on a template? Comment back with the mistakes that you caught or lessons that you learned!

 

Written by Kaitlyn Gahagen 

5 Resume Tips You Can Implement In 5 Minutes

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Want to spruce up your resume but short on time? Here are a couple of quick fixes that you can implement right now for a resume that already has great content.

Use effective titles. A good resume title will help potential employers to understand your skills, experience, and interests. Titles should be clear and concise. Use an appropriate title and save your accomplishments for the body of your resume.

Proofread. I cannot stress the importance of this one enough. If there is even one misspelling or grammatical error in your resume, and your potential employer catches it, your resume will be tossed immediately.

List the most important information first. This will help with your first impression. Your employer will start to make decisions about bringing you in for an interview after the first few sentences of your resume. The earlier something is in your resume, the less likely a potential employer is to skip over it.

Use a basic font. I know you want to stand out and be creative, but you want to do that with your skills and accomplishments, not your font. Also, in general, for anything in life, do not use comic sands. It’s basically the Nickelback of the font world.

Use bold and italics where appropriate. Your resume will be easier to read, less confusing, and the most important things will stand out. But remember, I said where appropriate. Have a friend double check your bold and italic use to make sure that you did get too aggressive if you are not sure.

Does your resume need some more TLC? Our recruiters at ComputerPeople are resume experts. Contact us at computerpeople@cpstaffing.com for resume help and IT recruiting services.

Written by Kaitlyn Gahagen

How To Increase Your Productivity By Next Week

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We all want to be more productive, but it is usually easier said than done.

Productivity is something that we discuss all the time at ComputerPeople. This time, we took it one step further by talking to people with excellent habits, researching, and brainstorming how to we can more productive in the short term. We liked these five habits because they can make a huge impact on productivity AND you can definitely work them all into your routine pretty much immediately.

Hope they help!

1) Delegate, delegate, and delegate some more. The worst thing you can do for your productivity is put too much on your plate when some of your tasks could be handled by others. Do not try and to everything yourself when someone else could do it better.

2) Have a plan. You should constantly create lists and know what you need to accomplish in the next 24 hours. Prepare for the next day by getting a realistic plan in the works.

3) Take Breaks. Yes, I’m serious. You will be more focused and productive if you reward yourself with small breaks about every 90 minutes, and you will be less vulnerable to getting off track and losing motivation.

4) Find useful apps. Do not take all day to do something that an app could have done for you in an hour. There are thousands of productivity apps out there that will help you get the job done and make your life easier.

5) Get up early. They weren’t kidding when they said the early bird gets the worm. If you want to be productive, you shouldn’t waste your time sleeping the day away. Go to sleep early and start grinding when there are few distractions.

 

by Kaitlyn Gahagen

How Do I Standout From All The Other Candidates During My Job Search? Wise Words from Our Rockstar Recruiter Brooke DeLucia.

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Brooke DeLucia has been a recruiter at ComputerPeople for over 20 years. She has seen it all and has worked with candidates from all over the world. We asked Brooke one simple question. What is the most important quality that a candidate can have to make them standout from the rest?

Brooke’s Response is gold.

“Drive & Professionalism.   Having the ability to sell yourself as a driven individual with the aptitude and hunger to learn can make all the difference.   Your body language can make or break an opportunity, no matter how qualified you are for the job. It’s still important to be respectful, attentive and professional when you are interviewing.  Don’t slouch in your chair, don’t pick lint off your suit, don’t chew gum or swear. It may seem basic but sometimes the people you least expect are the ones making these mistakes!”

Thanks for the words of wisdom, Brooke! Connect with Brooke Here.

 

 

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Written by Kaitlyn Gahagen

 

What Is Involved In The Process Of Working With Our Recruiters?

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With spring in the air, college students graduating, and job fairs coming up, we know that a lot of you are looking for new jobs.

If you have never worked with a recruiter before, or even if you have just never worked with ComputerPeople before, here is what to expect!

OUR PROCESS

When you work with ComputerPeople, you are no longer alone in your job search. Our recruiters are seasoned experts who know the ropes in the sometimes daunting quest to get you hired. Most new candidates begin their relationship with ComputerPeople by applying to one of our existing jobs, or by simply emailing us with their resume and the type of job they are seeking [more on this below].

Next, we will schedule an interview with you so that we can learn more about what you are looking for. We will discuss any position(s) that you have already applied for or present new positions that we think you might like. We are not intimidating interviewers who are going to grill you on everything –  we really just want to get to know you better and learn about your amazing talent, experience, and what the job of your dreams really looks like.

At this point, we will go over your resume and if necessary, suggest changes or tweaks that will help you to stand out better. The next step is that we become your own personal marketing department by promoting you and your top skills to the best companies around WNY.

We have been in the business for 50 years, and our clients trust us to match the best candidates with the positions that they need filled. If WNY is not the place for you, we can still be your partner by utilizing our NPA network of recruiters to get you placed with the job you’ve always wanted.

Ready to start your job search with ComputerPeople on your side?

Review current open positions here or email us with your resume at ComputerPeople@cpstaffing.com

 

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Written by Kaitlyn Gahagen

How To Handle The Last Question of Every Interview

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You made it to your interview early. You are dressed to impress. You have the perfect resume. You have clearly articulated your career accomplishments and future goals. But oh no…here it comes…the question that you did not prepare for…the interviewer asks, “do YOU have any questions for me?” Should you ask something? Should you just smile and shake your head?

Have no fear. Ask one or two of the following questions in order to get a little but more info and show the interviewer just how prepared you really are!

 

GENERAL QUESTIONS FOR THE INTERVIEWER

What character traits do you look for in your employees?

Where have you seen personal growth occur due to the company’s investment in its employees?

Why did you come to this company?

What’s your favorite part about working here?

 What gets you most excited about the company’s future?

 

JOB SPECIFIC QUESTIONS

Is this a new role that has been created?

What are the biggest challenges that someone in this position would face?

What attributes does someone need to have in order to be really successful in this position?

What training programs are available to your employees?

Where have successful employees in this position progressed to in the past?

What is the performance review process like here?

How often would I be formally reviewed?

Is there anything that concerns you about my background being a fit for this role?

 

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Written by Kaitlyn Gahagen