Relocating for work can be a good move for your career. If you’re planning to relocate, it’s important to remember that not every company offers relocation assistance. Understanding what to do if it’s not included in your signing offer or benefits package can help you find other ways to make your move easier to afford. In this article, we discuss what relocation assistance is, review what the package typically includes and give suggestions for approaching a situation where a company doesn’t offer this assistance.

What is relocation assistance?

Relocation assistance is a potential item in a business benefits package. It offers compensation to help an employee move to a new city, state, or country to work for a specific company. Organizations may offer relocation assistance to employees who are a good fit for the company but may have to move away from their current homes to join the team.

Companies may try to pay as little as possible for this type of assistance while still providing the necessary compensation to help an employee live near the office and get settled in a new place. Only certain items may fall under the acceptable expenditures for relocation assistance. These can vary depending on what type of move you’re making.

When to ask for relocation assistance

Situations where it’s acceptable to ask for relocation assistance from an employer include:

If you’re moving to a new city

To qualify for most in-state city-to-city relocation assistance packages, your new city must typically be over 50 miles, or over an hour’s drive, from your current location using highways or toll roads. If both cities have connecting public transportation, such as subway systems or bus services, you may not be eligible. It can still be appropriate to ask for assistance in a city relocation situation because it may cost the company less than moving someone across the country, and they may be more willing to hire someone closer to the job.

If you’re moving to a new state

Moving to a new state for a job requires logistical planning and strategy to make it happen. It may also cost more than moving within your current state. Consider asking for relocation assistance in this situation to help offset the costs of your move. As with a city-to-city move, there may be some exceptions to this situation.

For example, those working in a place like New York City, which offers direct train and light rail transporting to other nearby states like New Jersey and Connecticut, may ask for transportation assistance instead. Another exception may be employees who live near state borders, working in one state but living in another. People near the Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio borders may do this and have less than a 50-mile commute, even if they cross state lines.

If you’re moving to a new country

Moving to another country is one of the biggest moves you can make for work. It requires not just travel costs for you and your family but also shipping costs of personal possessions, such as cars. Ask for relocation assistance in this instance. You may try to get more than just monetary payments from the package. Consider requesting help with services such as securing visas or coverage of travel visits to explore your new country before the move.

If you have a quick start date

If the company asks you to start your job in a new location less than a month after your interview, it may be appropriate to request relocation assistance. This is because there are many steps that go into moving, including selling your current home or getting out of a lease, packing and shipping your possessions, and securing a new place to live. It may take longer than one month to complete the full process.

Consider sharing these concerns with the company’s human resources (HR) department. They may either provide relocation assistance or delay your start date to give you more time to complete moving tasks.

What does relocation assistance typically include?

The exact details of a relocation assistance package may vary by company and the type of move you’re making. Some potential items in your package could include:

·         Reimbursement for moving costs

·         Temporary lodging, such as hotel payment

·         Travel expenses, such as airfare or payment for a rental vehicle

·         Home sale help for a current residence

·         Classes to learn a new language

·         Loading and unloading of moving trucks or shipping containers

·         Visa application guidance

·         Travel, home, or moving insurance

·         Full packing services

·         Storage

·         Spousal employment assistance

·         Rental guidance

·         Pre-move visits to your new city, state, or country

Lump sum

A lump sum is a one-time payment provided by the company for moving-related expenses. You negotiate this amount with HR before your move. You can decide where and how to spend the money based on the type of move you’re making and the services it requires.

Reimbursement

A reimbursement is when the company pays you back for moving expenses you charge to your own accounts. You pay for the services initially, then receive payment from the company after you’ve completed the move. Most organizations cover a reimbursement up to a certain dollar amount. The HR or finance departments may ask for receipts, proofs of purchase, and other documentation of services rendered to approve the reimbursements.

Direct bill

With a direct bill, the company pays for some or all of the relocation expenses without your intervention. Moving companies and services send the bills to the company’s accounting department instead of coming to you. Another way an organization may cover direct billing is by providing you with a company credit card to charge travel expenses. Some may also combine direct billing with a lump sum or reimbursements to cover more of your moving expenses.

Third-party relocation

With third-party relocation, the company hires an outside organization to provide all your relocation assistance. This advisory team coordinates with you to set the logistics for the move. It also coordinates with your company to receive payment for services.

Tips for what to do if a company offers no relocation assistance

There are several actions you can take if your company does not initially offer relocation services. Here are some tips to consider:

Request it

If a company is used to hiring employees within its geographic area, the HR department may not consider that you’d like relocation assistance unless you ask. Be polite but direct when speaking to a company representative. Be clear about how you’re excited to work for the company, but that you may need help to make the move and live close enough to work for them. Making this claim may be enough to encourage HR to put together a relocation package for your approval, which you can accept, reject or negotiate.

Ask for an advance

If the company doesn’t offer a relocation package, you can ask for an advance in your earnings to cover some of your moving expenses. If HR agrees, you earn more money at the beginning of your tenure, either as a lump sum or in installments, to help supplement the immediate costs of moving. Asking for and accepting this type of offer means you may make less money later in the year, something to remember when creating your household budget. Another option could be accepting a lower base salary for a relocation package.

Ask for a bonus

If an advance isn’t available, ask HR if you could work together to create an incentivizing goal program to earn bonuses in your new position. Together, you can set certain criteria or performance standards to reach within a certain period to earn more money. This could be an option to help you cover some moving costs without actually calling it a relocation assistance package. When making this suggestion, communicate that it’s to help compensate for your move.

Do your research

If your company doesn’t offer relocation assistance, HR may not understand just how much it costs to move from one place to another. Research moving costs from your current location to that of the new job. Compare facts like costs of living, price of moving all your belongings, taxes in the new location and any other monetary expenses to prepare for the move. You can use this information when making your case with the company to show why a relocation package is necessary.

Practice your negotiation skills

Even if your company offers some relocation assistance, you may negotiate to get certain aspects of your move covered. Doing your research can help, but so can practicing your persuasive skills. Learn how to construct a factual argument and how to negotiate for compensation you think you deserve. This can help you feel more confident when approaching HR and also makes it more challenging for the company to refute your claim. One negotiation tactic may include leveraging other job offers that provide relocation assistance to convince your company to create a competitive package.

This article is for information purposes only and is not intended to constitute legal advice. Consult with an attorney or lawyer for any legal issues you may be experiencing.

The post What To Do When an Employer Offers No Relocation Assistance appeared first on Résumé Writing and Career Services.

Millions of employees started working remotely after the pandemic first took hold in 2020. But now, more people are returning to the office – and they’re being greeted by much higher prices for just about everything. Food. Commuting. Daycare. Rising gas prices and soaring inflation have made going back to the office more expensive. And that is eating into workers’ incomes, especially if their pay increases aren’t keeping up.

Here are some daily costs that have crept higher, making the return to post-pandemic office life more expensive.

Eating at the office
Coffee runs and long lunches with colleagues are one of the perks of returning to the office. But they come at a higher price these days.

The index for food away from home increased 7.2% over the last year, the Labor Department reported earlier this month. Food prices were up 9.4% in April from the same time last year – the biggest jump since April 1981, the Bureau of Labor Statistics recently reported. And grocery store prices increased 10.8% for the year that ended in April.

Office workers are seeing higher costs for everything from their morning coffee to their lunchtime salad: Starbucks raised prices in the US earlier this year and in October 2021 – and said prices could continue to rise.

“We have additional pricing actions planned through the balance of this year,” said then-CEO Kevin Johnson during an analyst call in February, citing cost pressures such as inflation.
Salad chain Sweetgreen has raised its menu prices by 10% since the start of 2021, the company said in its most recent earnings report.

“Lunchflation is 100% real, everything is more expensive,” said Kelly Yau McClay, who lives in Potomac, Maryland. “Before, you could get lunch for $7 to $12. Now there is no way you can get a decent lunch for less than $15.”

Yau McClay had just started a job doing branding and marketing for a real estate company as everything was shutting down in April 2020. She had been working remotely full-time until October 2021. But now she’s on a hybrid schedule, going into the office three days a week, and estimates she spends around $30 to $35 a day on work-related expenses, like lunch, coffee and snack runs, and parking.

But for other workers, returning to the office has brought some relief – at least on some fronts. Consumers changed the way they spent during the pandemic, with expenses like dining out at restaurants getting replaced with higher grocery bills and more meals at home.

Sara Hill, who works in the insurance industry in Buffalo, New York, saw her food budget increase when she and her four children were home full-time.
“I was eating more food because I am closer to the kitchen… my food spending was still increasing because we were all home,” said Hill.

After working remotely full-time during the height of the pandemic, she is now going into the office two days a week.

Before the pandemic, she spent around $25 to $30 a day on breakfast and lunch when working from the office. But now, with many of the food businesses near her job closed, she regularly brings lunches with her. “I pretty much bring things from home, whether it’s leftovers or a cup of noodles to get me through the day.

Getting to the office
A return to commuting has also meant more gas usage.
With gas prices hitting record highs recently, it’s an expensive time to be filling up more frequently. According to AAA, the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline is now $4.60. In February 2020, it was $2.44.

In Orlando, Florida, Mike Tobin upgraded to a minivan in August 2020. At the time, he said it cost about $40 to fill up the tank – but now it’s closer to $75.
“My biggest driving thing is going to the office…everything else is really close to where we live,” said Tobin, who works for a wholesale electric distribution company.

For Hill, the higher prices at the pump have made her change her routines to try and fill her tank up just once a week. She fills her truck with premium gas, which she said costs between $110 to $120 a tank.
“That is extremely crazy for gas,” said Hill. “I try to pack the days when I go to the office – if I can do anything right after work or on my hour lunch break I will try to squeeze things in because…it’s a day I am already driving.”

She tries not to leave her house on the three days she works from home.

For Yau McClay, any day she goes into the office she has to pay for parking. It used to cost $1 per hour but increased by 50 cents earlier this year. Now she is paying $12 a day – up from $8.
Ditching the comfy sweatpants and dressing up for the office again is also costly. Apparel prices were up 5.4% in April from the same time a year ago.

“Now that I am going into the office, I have to go buy new makeup sets – so I am spending money there when I wasn’t before,” said Yau McClay. “The things you used to spend money on, like hair cuts, makeup, manicure and pedicures, and updating your wardrobe, those things were essentially on pause for two years. Yes, I was spending it before… I got so used to not spending that it was really nice. And now everything is more expensive.”

Caring for the kids
Childcare costs tend to be one of the biggest expenses in working parents’ budgets – and that is getting more expensive for some parents, too.

In 2020, the national average annual cost of child care was $10,174, according to Child Care Aware of America.

In September 2020, Yau McClay put her three-year-old daughter in a new daycare facility full-time for $2,150 a month. Though child care tends to get cheaper as a child ages, a series of price increases has eaten into those savings, Yau McClay said.

“Every time she got bumped up [to an older age group]…later, they would announce: ‘Sorry we have another price increase,’” Yau McClay said. “Between when we started there and now, the price [for her current class] has gone up almost $200 net.”

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When it comes to creating a supportive work culture, we all have a role to play.

The concept of workplace wellness is nothing new. These days, countless employers big and small tout their commitment to supporting their employees’ personal needs, usually through benefits packages and other health initiatives. Less discussed are the actual issues these programs seek to address—and in particular, mental health in the workplace tends to get the short end of the stick.

Even in our age of radical transparency, there’s an overwhelming sense of hesitance around discussing mental health at work out of fear that divulging a mental health issue could have a negative effect on overall job security.

But by the same token, mental health issues like anxiety and major depressive disorder are far from unusual. According to a Monster survey:

31% of US respondents have experienced anxiety because of their job
15% experienced depression because of their job
36% of women reported anxiety
26% of men reported anxiety
11% of women have experienced loneliness
17% of women have had physical ailments such as headaches because of their job
Wondering where to find support? Let’s dig a little deeper into mental health in the workplace.

Know Where to Turn
As the CDC notes, poor mental health can have a marked negative impact on factors like job performance, productivity, and relationships with one’s colleagues. But in terms of accessing the right resources to address mental illness in the workplace, it’s not always so easy to know where to start.

Some people might feel more comfortable talking to their manager or another supervisor rather than going straight to HR. But maybe it’s the exact opposite for you. What’s important is that you reach out to let someone know how you are feeling.

Of course, it’s also worth exploring your job’s benefits program and Employee Assistance Plans (or EAPs), which seek to address personal issues that can have an impact on job performance. While resources will vary from one employer to the next, many are placing an increased focus on mental health—particularly after the COVID-19 pandemic. As an increasing reliance on remote teams blurred the line between work and personal life, more employers started offering mental health resources in the form of apps, videos, and webinars.

Additionally, take a moment to familiarize yourself with your rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act. This law prevents employers from discriminating against job seekers with mental illnesses, and also includes rules stating companies must provide “reasonable accommodations” to employees protected under the act. If you suspect you’re being discriminated against at work due to a mental health issue, get in touch with an attorney specializing in employment laws like the ADA.

Create a Supportive Work Environment
When it comes to looking after your own mental health, there are countless strategies to consider—taking breaks, scheduling time off for mental health days at work, and knowing when to ask for help are all great, small ways of helping ensure your needs don’t get short shrift.

But supporting your colleagues is an equally important part of the equation. Check in with your coworkers to see how they’re doing, and give them a chance to respond in an authentic way. While it can be difficult or awkward to talk about mental health in the workplace, everyone plays a role in creating an environment that’s warm and supportive, not casually dismissive.

Company leadership should let employees know it’s okay to discuss mental health issues at work. An organization that provides resources and benefits that address the well-being of employees is a great sign of a supportive work environment. That includes regular reminders of how to access support as well as allowing for time off when it’s needed.

Your Wellbeing Is Essential to Your Career
Talking about mental health in the workplace is something that still needs to be normalized.

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An introduction to work burnout symptoms
Work burnout can jeopardize your health, social life, and career. Identifying its symptoms and working to proactively combat it is essential. Doing so can help you to minimize or avoid over-taxation due to work and protect yourself. Learn about burnout and discover preventative techniques below.

What are work burnout symptoms? 
Work burnout symptoms are the physiological and behavioral manifestations of a professional’s inability to handle job demands. They are caused by occupational burnout, which is characterized by exhaustion and a lack of motivation in a worker. This condition results from a prolonged period of stress triggered by a person’s workplace characteristics and work ethic. Work burnout symptoms can occur no matter your experience level, position, or industry. Learning about these manifestations of burnout offers several advantages:

• It can help you to maintain your job performance. Burnout prevents workers from handling their job duties effectively. Knowing its symptoms can help you to take immediate action if you see them in yourself. If you’re suffering from burnout, taking preventative action in a timely manner can help you address the causes of your condition before it reduces your work performance.
• It can help your career. Work burnout can hurt your career in several ways, such as by causing problems in your professional relationships. Learning about the symptoms of job burnout can help your career because you can take action to minimize or avoid these negative impacts.
• It can protect your health. As occupational burnout is triggered by a long period of stress, it can have several harmful impacts on your health. Learning to recognize the warning signs of burnout when they occur can safeguard your emotional and physical health in the future.
• It can help you to improve your job performance. Learning about these symptoms can help you to improve your performance at work. This is due to the fact that with this knowledge, you will be motivated to develop habits that prevent burnout, and these healthy behaviors will improve your efficacy at work. For example, getting enough sleep each day is a necessary behavior to avoid burnout; doing so will also improve your performance because you will have more energy to contribute to your job duties.
• It helps you to avoid burnout. If you’re not currently experiencing burnout, learning about its symptoms can help you to act proactively and avoid it.

How to recognize burnout symptoms at work
Here are the common warning signs of burnout that you should be aware of:

Exhaustion
The most obvious and widespread sign of work burnout is tiredness. If you have experienced the following, you’re likely to be experiencing burnout:

• You feel tired in the morning before you start working.
• At work, you feel tired all the time, even when you’re working on a simple task.
• Your energy reserves always seem insufficient to handle your job demands.

Lack of enthusiasm for job duties
Ideally, thinking of your job should ready you to start contributing and thriving! If you’re frequently feeling unenthusiastic about your job, occupational burnout could be the cause.

Negative emotions related to your occupation
Usually, your job should inspire positive feelings, such as excitement when you get a new task or motivation to get a promotion. However, if you’re experiencing several of the following feelings regularly about work, you’re likely to be suffering from burnout:

• Anxiety
• Depression
• Dissatisfaction
• Sadness
• Indifference
• Fear
• Jealousy
• Frustration
• Anger

Problems in your ability to think effectively
Workplace stressors can cause chronic stress, which affects cognitive function — your brain’s ability to interpret the various factors in your environment and understand them. Here are the indicators of reduced functionality in this area:

• Often, you find it difficult to concentrate at work.
• You regularly forget important things at work.
• You find it difficult to solve problems, including simple ones.
• You find it difficult to understand what is said by others.
• Tuning out of conversations and meetings has become a habit.

Failure to engage in self-care
Taking care of yourself is an essential behavior you must develop, for it enables you to protect yourself. When you’re suffering from work burnout, the exhaustion, negative emotions, and cognitive issues it causes detract from essential self-care routines. Here are indicators of that you’ve been neglecting self-care:

• You regularly fail to get seven hours of sleep each day.
• You do not schedule time off work for rejuvenation activities, like having a spa day.
• You do not set aside time to rest, even on the weekend.
• You are reducing activities in your self-care routines, such as moisturizing your skin after a shower, to make more time for work.
• You have started eating fewer plant products, such as vegetables and fruits, each day and start eating more processed foods.
• You do not make an effort to spend time in natural spaces, such as a tree-filled park or your own backyard.
• You do not choose to talk to others about things that are not related to your job.
• You avoid making friends or spending time with the ones you have.
• When you achieve something at work, you do not treat yourself to a reward or take time to celebrate.

Interpersonal problems
Interpersonal issues are another symptom of work burnout. Essentially, the exhaustion, negative emotions, cognitive issues, and lack of self-care caused by burnout impact your relationships, derailing them. You can identify this symptom in the following situations:

• You have more conflicts with your subordinates, colleagues, or supervisors at work.
• You have more conflicts with your family members or friends.
• You tune out of conversations with the people in your life.

Obsessing about work
To be successful in any occupation, you need to be committed to it. However, there is a fine — but definite — line between commitment and obsession. In your career, you’re the only person who can keep yourself from crossing this line. Here is how obsessing about work manifests itself:

• After you come home, you dwell on what went wrong or what could have gone better at work for hours.
• You think of work during your time off, such as when you’re jogging, getting a massage, or getting a manicure.
• You think of work while you’re doing your chores, like doing the laundry or mopping the floors.
• You frequently imagine depressing work situations such as getting fired, blowing things out of proportion, and forgetting all the stellar contributions you have made in your job.

Feeling dissatisfied with your life
When you’re suffering from work burnout, it’s normal to feel dissatisfied with different aspects of your life, including ones that are totally unrelated to your job. For example, you may feel a lack of satisfaction with your house or your family in addition to your job.

Reduction in work performance
When affected by occupational burnout, underperformance is inevitable. If you’re underperforming in tasks you used to excel in, this can be a symptom of burnout from work.

A health issue
Over time, work burnout causes health problems. If you’re experiencing a new health condition, such as depression or obesity, in addition to more than four other symptoms on this list, you’re likely to be suffering from burnout.

Actionable methods to prevent work burnout 
Use these preventative methods to avoid work burnout:

Develop a strategy for tuning out of work when you’re not working
You need a strategy for punching out completely when you finish work for the day. For example, write down a slogan for yourself, which you tell yourself when you finish work each business day. It should say something like, “I’m going to enjoy my time off work.” Repeat your slogan each time work pops into your head like an uninvited guest in your party.

Identify workplace stressors and address the fixable ones
The stress you feel at work can be caused by one thing, such as a lack of a resource, or by several different things. Resolve the stressors you can fix with the following steps:

1. During your time off, sit comfortably with writing materials.
2. Think about the specific things that make you feel negative about work.
3. Separate the things you can resolve from those you cannot.
4. Develop rational strategies to address the fixable stressors.
5. Check whether your strategies could hurt your career.
6. Avoid or change the strategies that could do so.
7. Implement strategies to resolve workplace stressors.

Handle your stress effectively
Use the following steps to handle your stress effectively:

1. Excuse yourself from a stressful situation at work to spend three minutes in private. Begin this time by focusing on your breathing.
2. Identify all the resources you need to breathe easily, like physical health and breathable air. Be grateful for these resources that have been given to you. Avoid thinking about anything else.
3. Next, compare the situation you just left to your act of breathing, which is possible because of all the complex resources that are constantly supplied to you.
4. Reframe your work situation more realistically — contextualizing and understanding its overall importance by comparing it with your act of breathing.
5. Return to the work situation, ready to handle it calmly.

Invest in self-care
Develop self-care routines that help you to maintain your emotional and physical health. To do so, try different activities that can improve your well-being until you find ones that work for you. Now, you know how to recognize work burnout symptoms. Leverage the techniques you learned to protect yourself effectively in the future.

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Moving for a new job can be a scary prospect. But a recent survey shows that workers who take the plunge and change zip codes for a better position don’t really regret the decision.

In fact, there is a bevy of benefits to relocating for work—and at least three reasons you should consider making a move. According to The People Perspective on Relocation, the survey conducted by IMPACT Group, 3,078 employees report these relocation rewards:

New experiences. A whopping 71 percent of survey respondents said that moving to take a new job allowed them to enjoy new experiences, whether at work or outside the office.

Better career prospects. By relocating for a prime position, 55 percent of employees say they feel their career is on a better track, both today, in their current job, and in the future.

Better community. If you don’t love your community in the office or in your neighborhood, chances are you’ll find better ones when you move: 40 percent of respondents say they did.

And yet, we hear you: even these obvious benefits don’t make picking up and leaving your current ‘hood any easier. But with these tips, you might just find the chutzpah to pack up for a better position—and consequently, perhaps even a better life outside of the office, too.

1. Embrace change, and grieve the loss of your former home.
Maybe you’ve never moved for a job. Maybe you’ve never moved, period. No matter what, change is tough, and leaving a home can be sad. But Cynthia Bucy, career and transition coach at IMPACT Group, says allowing yourself to grieve will make the move much easier.

As she sympathizes, “You’re stepping away from what is familiar—perhaps a city you loved and a house you built. There will be challenges.” But, Bucy adds, it is recognizing challenges that will help you overcome them. You can face these challenges full-force by being open and honest about your feelings related to the move—the good and the bad—Bucy insists.

2. Make new friends.
New experiences will make relocating for work worth it—and we all like to experience new things with people we care about. So, when you move, try to “find ways to get to know your neighbors on a personal level,” Bucy recommends, adding you can get to know new people at work or in your apartment complex by asking simple questions, such as what dry cleaner to use. Once the conversation is started, “you’ll develop a meaningful relationship if you are intentional about going deeper than surface-level” with additional questions, Bucy says.

What’s more, you might want to try to invite coworkers, neighbors, and new friends over to your home. Hosting a BYOB-style dinner can be a low-pressure way to get to know people.

3. Enjoy a new beginning.
Whenever you feel alone or sad, remember that relocating for a job represents a new start, something fresh to be celebrated, Bucy instructs. “Many of the individuals I coach treat the relocation as a new beginning,” Bucy says. “They take the opportunity to do things they’ve always wanted to do but never made time for,” such as trying new foods or making friends.

As Bucy points out, when you try to view the experience of moving for work as a bold new adventure, you’ll feel excited for what lies ahead and willing to push through any negatives.

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A Guide to Determining Whether a Job Offer is Right for You
After a long and arduous job search, you’ve finally received an offer. Congratulations! While your first impulse may be to immediately accept the job (we all know the feeling of never wanting to write another cover letter again!), wait for a second. Is this job really the perfect fit for you?

“The number one misstep I see clients take is the failure to step back, take a breath, and meaningfully assess a job offer,” says Karen Elizaga, executive coach and author of Find Your Sweet Spot to Glassdoor. “They are almost inclined to jump immediately at an offer.”

This guide was designed to walk you through meaningfully assessing the job offer you’ve received. We’ll take you through what questions should you be asking yourself about the job, how to do in-depth research on the job offer, and finally, how to negotiate your way to an offer you feel satisfied with.

What is a job offer?
After submitting your resume, cover letter, and coming in for interviews, you’ve finally been offered a job. You’ll probably have a chat with the hiring manager or recruiter, have an offer letter sent to you, and be able to take a look at the contract. But this doesn’t mean the terms of the offer are final yet. It’s now up to you to carefully evaluate the information you’ve been given, decide if it’s right for you, and negotiate your way to an optimal offer.

How to ask the right questions
During the job search process, you only have so much time to thoroughly research every company. Now that the real possibility of working somewhere is on the table, it’s time to take a thorough dive into assessing if it’s a good fit. This starts with asking yourself the big questions about whether the job is truly right for you.

“I have seen clients take a job where the fit—in the context of their skills and talents with the job—was excellent. But in the end, these jobs didn’t work out because the company’s culture did not jive with their own moral compass,” Elizaga says.

Questions you might consider include: Are the day-to-day responsibilities of the job waking up excited every morning to do? Does the company itself have a strong future, or has it been performing poorly in recent years? During my interview and visit to the company, did I feel like the company’s atmosphere and culture were conducive to my style? What will my opportunities for growth in this role be? Am I okay with the length of commute and expected working hours each week?

You might also find that during the course of asking yourself these questions, you don’t have enough information to answer some of them. These are the questions that you should reach out to the company, or do your own independent research on, to clarify.

Beyond these detailed questions, it’s important to just check in with yourself and feel what your gut is telling you about the job. “While data is important, you also want to trust your gut,” said Mikaela Kiner, an executive career coach and CEO of uniquelyHR, to Glassdoor.
“During your interviews, were you hopeful things would work out? Or, would you have been relieved if they chose someone else? Don’t dismiss concerns, even if they were just fleeting thoughts,” she added.

How to do your research
Now that you have a clearer picture of what’s important to you in the job hunt – and where you still need information – it’s time to do some digging. Here are some avenues of research that will help you get the information you need to make an informed decision:

• Scour the contract and offer letter

The first place you want to get information from is the contract and/or the offer letter. These can give you highly important details like whether there’s a minimum amount of time you must stay at the job, how far in advance you need to notify the company before quitting, and how many days of vacation and sick leave you’ll get each year.

• Speak to people at the company

If there are any points you can’t determine from your independent research, the company itself is the next place to start. Often, the company will be more than happy (and even encourage you) to arrange for you to speak with current employees. This call is an opportunity for you to get a sense of the company’s culture, and if what you saw in the job description actually matches reality. When the job description said 40-hour workweek, is that really true, or will you often be expected to stay late? How are meetings run at the company? Are there annual performance reviews? Does the company’s upper management regularly interact with employees? Ask the right questions, and you’ll receive a wealth of important information about culture and fit.

• Read online reviews

After your conversation with one person at the company, they might have you either convinced it’s a sparkling utopia, or that you should be running away from the company at top speed. Every person has their own unique experience in the workplace. That’s why it can be so helpful to gain a broader perspective by reading online reviews of employees’ experiences, like through Glassdoor’s company reviews.

• Check the benefits

While the salary might not be exactly your target, it’s important to evaluate it in the context of the benefits offered. “It may be that the salary is $5,000 lower than you had hoped for, but the full package being offered counterbalances it,” said Carisa Miklusak, CEO of tilr, an automated recruiting platform, to Glassdoor. “What does the total package contribute to your personal and financial needs? Sometimes, a job that at first glance looks like it’s paying less can actually provide more financial security than a job with a higher salary.” Also keep in mind the benefits and perks that aren’t written in the offer letter or contract, but are available to every employee. Take Uline for example, whose corporate headquarters has a salon, a 24-hour fitness center, walking trails, ponds, a mother’s room for women nursing – just to name a few of the benefits. Or consider Power Home Remodeling, which spends millions of dollars to bring its entire staff to Mexico each year. Check the company’s website and Glassdoor benefits – the extra perks might just make the job worth it.

• Calculate whether the salary matches what you should be paid for your level of experience and education.

As a starting point for your salary negotiations, it’s important to frame what your target is. A helpful tool for this is Glassdoor’s Know Your Worth™ tool, which calculates the salary you should reasonably expect in today’s active U.S. job market based on your experience and other personal details. For many companies, you can also find on Glassdoor the salary range of people in the same position at that company.

How to determine your non-negotiables
Now that you’ve done your research (and your research hasn’t deterred you yet from taking the job!) you have a solid foundation to go into negotiations with. What’s left? Prioritizing what you can compromise on, and what’s a deal-breaker.

For all the criteria you’ve identified as valuable to you during your questioning and research process – such as salary, commute length, ability to work from home, or opportunities for international travel – make a list of them in varying order of importance. Are there any you simply can’t do without? Are there some you’re willing to compromise on? If so, how much are you willing to compromise? This exercise will help you set the bottom line for your negotiations, and delve deeper into whether this position is really a good fit for your career goals.

Even better, you can proactively start this list before you even start the job search. “I recommend my clients make a list of what they are looking for even before they begin searching for a job,” said Amy M. Gardner, Certified Professional Coach with Apochromatik, to Glassdoor. “If you’ve done that, go back to the list you created and evaluate the offer against the factors you initially listed.”

How to negotiate the final terms of the offer
You’ve done your research and determined your priorities. It’s time to step into the negotiation process. It’s possible that you’ll conduct the negotiation in person or over the phone, or that you’ll simply write out negotiation points via an email. So how to negotiate? Here are four easy steps to negotiate your final offer based on Glassdoor’s How to Get a Job toolkit.

1. Do your research. Back up whatever you’re asking for – usually it’s a higher salary, but it could also be a better benefits package – with solid facts and statistics. Glassdoor’s Know Your Worth tool can also help you ground your salary ask in an appropriate range.
2. Know what’s on the table. Keep in mind the entire benefits package in your negotiation (as well as enticing perks the company offers to everyone) and remember that you can negotiate benefits, too.
3. Ask, don’t demand. Remember that the company does want you – they offered you the job, after all – so you have the cards stacked in your favor. Use language that shows you’re on the same team as the hiring manager to start off negotiations, like “can we talk about which benefits are negotiable?” and “what are the prospects for salary raises and promotions in this position?”
4. Know your breaking point. Think back to the list of priorities you made. Be aware that it’s unlikely you get everything you ask for in a negotiation. At the same time, if the highest salary and benefits package that they can give you is still below your target, it might be time to walk away.

Once you’ve gotten your final offer from the company, you make a final assessment of whether it meets your criteria and priorities. If it doesn’t, at least you’ll now have a clearer sense of what you’re really looking for in your job hunt. If it does, congratulations! You got the job and the salary that you wanted.

The post How to Evaluate a Job Offer appeared first on Résumé Writing and Career Services.

It is estimated that people change careers five to seven times during their lifetime. There is, however, no standard definition of what constitutes a career change. Is working in the same field but different industry a career change? Is becoming a business owner a career change if you are doing the same job you were doing as an employee? Or is a career change only a radical move across the field and industry?

Regardless of how big or small your desired transition is, here are some of the biggest myths people believe about changing careers — and what the reality is.

1. There’s One Fool-Proof Way to Change Careers
Countless books are written on the topic of how to make changes in life, including how to change careers. I like to read as many as I can and often find great ideas. Yet changing careers, like all transitions, is still a very personal experience. What seems difficult to you could be very easy for another person, and unexpected circumstances can derail the best of plans. Take the advice, for example, of building a side business while you have a job, so you can then transition out of it into the security of your own new enterprise.

Some companies include a clause in their employment contracts that prevent employees from starting a side business, or you might feel so down after coming back from work you don’t like that you feel too demoralized and too insecure to start a new venture. It’s not that the advice is bad — working on building your business while being fully employed is a great suggestion! — it’s just that not one piece of advice fits everyone’s situation.

Don’t look for one fool-proof way of changing careers — focus instead on creating your own path to a new career based on what you find most helpful.

2. Personality Tests, Journaling, or Reading a Book Are the Secrets to Success
Nothing happens just in your head. While writing, meditation, and personality tests can give you some new insights and ideas, if you have been stuck and unable to change careers for a while, the answers you seek are either buried too deep or are out there already — most likely both.

We react to our perception of reality — not reality itself. Because of this, each one of us has formed a number of beliefs about ourselves and the world that we mistake for the truth. Some common beliefs I see with my clients are that they are not good at something, or too old to change or bad at money, etc. Even with lots of journaling, the deeper and more ingrained your belief is, the most likely it is that you will not be able to recognize it for what it is — a belief, not the truth.

If you suspect this is the case for you, working with a coach will help you unearth what is driving your behavior unconsciously, and once you see your belief for what it is — just a belief —  you will be able to choose what to do with it. “I am bad at the money” might simply become “I need to learn how to negotiate my salary better”.

The other very common situation is that you have no idea what jobs are out there. I am always curious about what kind of work people do and am often surprised to find people have professions I didn’t know existed. For example, a lot of people don’t know what a Technology or Developer Evangelist does. Nope, it’s not a religious order! Here’s a handy definition from Wikipedia: “A technology evangelist is a person who builds a critical mass of support for a given technology, and then establishes it as a technical standard in a market that is subject to network effects. An evangelist promotes the use of a particular product or technology through talks, articles, blogging, user demonstrations, recorded demonstrations or the creation of sample projects.”

If you have technical skills and love people and content, this might be a dream job, yet so many people don’t even know about it. There are many more professions that are not very well-known, and this is why a huge part of you looking for what to do next has to include talking to people in the field.

3. You Need to Have Everything Planned Out
Some lucky people decide they want to do something different, research different options, find another job they like, and voilà — they make the transition. For most of us, things are a bit messier. Very often, people start exploring a different career, and something happens: they cannot transition into it, end up not liking it or discover something they like even better. There is no way for you to choose a new career until you try it out. The fastest way to find what you want to do is to try what seems like a good idea: job shadow, do it on the side, take a class (not an entire new degree!). You will discover that the journey will determine the destination and not the other way around.

4. Changing Careers Is Only for Rich People
While it definitely helps to have a partner, tons of savings, or a lucrative job to support you during your career transition, people change careers regardless of how much money they make. In fact, if you don’t like your job and on top of it you are making very little money, you should run, not walk, towards a new career! You are not doing yourself any favor by staying stuck and broke. We are incredibly lucky to have access to more information than ever, from finding free information online to the library (of which I am a huge fan!), to talking to people you meet at events, friends of friends, Linkedin… the sky is the limit! You can do a lot even with no budget, so don’t let a lack of money stop you from doing what you want. Be resourceful and use it instead as a motivation to take the leap.

5. You Need a Degree to Change Careers
Sometimes we form ideas about how things are and give up before we have time to check if they are really true. If you find yourself thinking you need a degree to change careers, do lots of research. Some jobs do require degrees and licenses (e.g. medical doctor, psychotherapist, etc.), but many more jobs do not require a degree by law. The most important thing employers want is to know you can do the job. If there is no regulation saying you have to have a specific degree, some employers ask for a degree because they see it as proof that you know what you’re doing. Can you prove yourself without going back to school?

More and more colleges now also offer specialized courses and Graduate Certificates to provide people with specific skills without the time and money investment necessary to get a whole new degree. Look at all your options, and then decide what would work best for you. In many cases, you will be OK without having to go back to school for years. And if you find you really need that degree, you will have made an informed choice.

6. You Need to Be a Business Genius to Start a Company
Psst… I have a secret. Very few people are “good at business” when they start. Most people have no idea how to run a business, and have to learn as they build it! This is why there are so many online courses to teach people how to market their work, get their first clients, etc. Don’t let your lack of knowledge stop you. Take it instead as an imperative to learn more about it. And if you can, start your business on the side and learn by doing. Then, when you’re ready, you can take the plunge and go full-time.

7. If Changing Careers Doesn’t Work Out, Your Life Will Be Ruined
When I lived in San Francisco, I took a four-month-long class through a nonprofit to learn everything about operating a business. I used to joke it was the cheapest MBA ever, and even got my friends to take it. The amazing thing? After graduation, some of the students founded highly successful businesses, some started pretty good businesses, some started a business and failed and some realized having a business was not for them.

Everyone, though, learned enough new skills and developed such a deeper understanding of how a business works that they could leverage their new knowledge into a better business, job, or salary. Some ended up getting better jobs, instead of becoming entrepreneurs.  In other words, when you embark on your journey to change careers, you will grow so much that you will be able to use what you learned no matter what.

It might not be what you expected, and you might experience a lot of heartbreak, failure, and discomfort along the way. But if you stay open, challenge yourself to learn new things, and put yourself out there, you will eventually be able to do something you find fulfilling.

The post The 7 Biggest Myths About Changing Careers appeared first on Résumé Writing and Career Services.

Job hunters are putting their vaccination status on LinkedIn and on their résumés. Should you?

As someone who’s been working in the recruiting and talent acquisition industry for two decades, Dustin Mazanowski knows how important it is for job candidates to use “keywords” on their profiles and résumés that quickly distinguish them from the pack.

“If it comes down to me and another person with the same qualifications and the same interview, what I wanted to do is have that extra qualification of being fully vaccinated,” the 44-year-old Chicagoan said, as his approximate four-month-old search continues for a senior role in the recruiting industry.
Jacki Hall, an experienced IT project and program manager, has the phrase “Available and Vaccinated for Travel” on her LinkedIn profile. She’s searching for a managerial role that includes international business travel.

“I hoped there were hiring companies requiring travel for an IT project manager, but who were discovering that candidates were nervous about traveling,” said Hall, 57, who spends her winters in Tampa, Fla., and her summers in Minnesota. “If there is a lack of candidates wanting to travel, letting recruiters know that I am ready to get out there might give me an advantage.”

Today’s job market is already starkly different from its pre-pandemic version. There’s a much greater likelihood of working from home, of course, but also the much greater chance of protocols concerning masks and social distancing when physically at the job.
Now, job seekers like Mazanowski and Hall say volunteering their COVID-19 vaccination status could give them a competitive edge.

“It’s better to be overqualified and state all the qualifications you have,” Mazanowski said. The “#vaccinated” mention is not a political statement, but a way he can signal to potential employers that he’s comfortable with in-person office work, he said.

Mazanowski added “#vaccinated” to his profile in July. Hall added it around mid-June, and her résumé’s personal statement also mentions vaccination. So far, neither has seen the disclosure making a noticeable change one way or another in their search.

Figuring out when to disclose vaccination status — or ask about it — is a top new question
It may make a difference going forward, said John Challenger, CEO of the outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Instead of managing morale over vaccination rules, Challenger said, “employers want to focus on other things. If you are vaccinated and looking to be hired, for more employers that just portends fewer difficulties.”

Challenger said he’s seen “a small group of people” who are revealing their COVID-19 vaccination status on résumés and online profiles, and he thinks more will follow suit.

Josh Daniel, a career coach at Korn Ferry Advance, works with job seekers and employers — and on both sides, figuring out when to disclose vaccination status or ask about it is the top new question. Is it on LinkedIn? On a résumé? During the interview? “Those tend to be the big three,” he said, and he doesn’t see the dilemma going away.

Like his clients, Daniel’s still figuring out what’s the best advice. “There really is no precedent for this,” he said.

“We are exploring new ways for job seekers on LinkedIn to learn more about how companies are approaching the future of work including vaccination requirements, if they plan to go back to an office, stay remote or go hybrid,” said Suzi Owens, director of corporate communications in consumer products at LinkedIn.

More companies are requiring vaccinations for employees
Here’s where job-market dynamics get more intricate — and make it a serious matter to consider including vaccination status.

In early summer, when Mazanowski and Hall announced their vaccination status to potential employers, the number of companies with vaccine mandates was small, yet growing.

A survey of more than 950 large employers found that 21% had some type of vaccine requirement for all or some of their staff by the summer, up from 9% in the spring, according to Willis Towers Watson a human-resources consulting firm.

The same trend shows in help-wanted ads. By the end of August, the share of postings per million on Indeed.com requiring vaccination rose 242% from the same point in the previous month.
Though vaccination is specifically being required in less than 1% of all ads on the site, AnnElizabeth Konkel, an economist at the Indeed Hiring Lab, wrote that “with delta variant cases surging, employers are undoubtedly wondering how they can keep their business’s recovery on track.”

Here’s a blue-chip example: Delta Air Lines is making full vaccination a requirement for its new hires.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden has grown impatient with the nearly 80 million people who remain unvaccinated. He said last week that the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration is creating rules that will require private-sector employers with at least 100 workers to either require vaccination or regular testing.

Though some Republican governors are threatening to sue, Biden has signaled he’s ready for any court showdown (“Have at it,” he said when asked about the prospect of legal challenges to vaccine requirements from Republican governors), and some legal experts say the president has the law on his side.

Knowing a prospective employee’s vaccination status ‘could be a relief for employers’
The real possibility of new federal rules will give some companies the cover they’ve been seeking to proceed with vaccine mandates, Challenger said. In such a contentious moment, spotting a mention of someone’s COVID-19 vaccination status “could be a real relief for employers to say, ‘I don’t have to ask about this,’ ” he said.

Even though the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has said there’s no legal breach if companies ask current staffers about their vaccination status, “an employer should refrain from asking prospective employees about their vaccination status until after they have received a job offer,” according to attorneys at Husch Blackwell, a firm representing employers.

Probing too soon might get them in hot water under the Americans with Disabilities Act, which bars employers from asking job candidates about potential medical matters before a job offer, the attorneys said.

Nevertheless, employers ought to make any vaccine standard loud and clear from the start and maybe even put a statement on the job application, the attorneys added.

How providing vaccination status on a résumé could be a gamble
Hall and Mazanowski say they haven’t encountered any nasty reactions to their job-search-related revelations. That doesn’t mean the strategy is risk-free, said Challenger. Generally speaking, résumés and job profiles should steer clear of controversies that could sink a job possibility from the start, he said.
In a smaller market, perhaps in an area with a lower vaccination rate, it might be a gamble to put mention COVID-19 vaccination on a résumé before having any other chance to make an impression, Challenger said. “You don’t know who an employer is, who might see it, who might take offense,” he said.
But in a larger market with a higher vaccination rate, Challenger said the mention could be a way to quickly stand apart.

Daniel’s not ready to say there’s a risky way or a wise way to talk about vaccination status in a job hunt. It’s a case-by-case situation, he said. But keep this in mind, he said: a LinkedIn announcement is out there for everyone to see. Waiting for a mention of vaccination status in a résumé could be a “deliberate decision because you see it as marketable,” he said.

Uncertainty over Biden’s vaccination mandate for employers
This all hits on a larger uncertainty with the coming federal vaccination requirements.
“There are so many open questions about how this plays out,” said Laura Boudreau, an assistant professor at Columbia Business School.

What she’s interested to know is how any federal vaccination-or-testing rules play out with businesses that have more than 100 workers but are small enough to stay out of the public eye — especially if those businesses happen to be located in places where vaccine hesitancy runs high.

For Hall, the upside to providing her vaccination mention outweighs any risk. “The pros are that it would make me stand out as someone who wants to travel for work and who is willing to take the necessary steps to make that happen,” she said. A risk would be pushback from people questioning the vaccine, but she hasn’t faced that.

As for Mazanowski, he’s willing to take his chances. “I felt that putting that I was fully vaccinated has more upside than not having it or the opposite.”

The post Job hunters are putting their vaccination status on LinkedIn and on their résumés. Should you? appeared first on Résumé Writing and Career Services.

A Guide on How to Transfer Jobs Within Your Company
We all get frustrated with our jobs from time to time, and in those moments, you might find yourself looking at your coworkers with envy, thinking about how easy they have it, or how much more exciting their work is than yours. You might even want their jobs—like literally.

That envy can signal something exciting for your career. Changing jobs inside your current company has some big benefits: Not only is your employer more likely to take a chance on you—after all, you’ve already proven yourself—but some companies specifically have programs that facilitate internal transfers of employees, making it easy to make a change.

Of course, successfully transitioning to a new role requires some careful navigation. So, if you’re looking to make a lateral move at your current company, follow the tips and tricks laid out in this guide, from how to find a new role to how to make the transition smoothly.

How to Find the Right Role at the Same Company
It’s easy to look at the other open roles in your company with a “grass is always greener on the other side” mindset. But jumping into a career transition without doing research is a recipe for failure. First things first, look up your company’s policies on lateral movements.

Why? You will want to show respect to the company’s policies and guidelines, so it can be consistent in the process—allowing you to transfer under the best possible conditions.

You should also research the specific opportunity that you’re interested in. Do your best to learn as much as possible about the potential role you’d like to move into by speaking to other employees currently in the role, sitting in their meetings, taking notes, and asking the right questions. Not only will you gain a better understanding of whether the role is right for you, but you will show your employer how interested you are and that you’re prepared.

How to Make Your Case
First, you’ll want to reach out to your manager. And yes, you might feel nervous talking to your manager about potentially leaving your team—but we promise this step is critical. In fact, you must speak to your manager before you approach anyone else about your move.

And if you’ve made up your mind that you want to apply to another role, make sure that you are ready to lay out a compelling argument about why you should be allowed to do so.

Try to frame your transfer request in terms of how it will benefit the company. Your move could benefit the company because you would add value to the brand in a new role, build skills the team is missing, or fit better in the new role, making the office more harmonious.

If possible, highlight more than one benefit. Prepare a list, and ensure that all the listed benefits are irresistible. When you make your offer, and let them see that they will get significantly more than they are getting now, they will find it difficult to deny your request.

This can’t be overstated. You will most likely receive a positive response if you can show a clear benefit—or return on investment—to your employer. But you can’t expect him or her to come up with those benefits him or herself. It’s critical that you provide the information.

Whatever you do, don’t give ultimatums. It’s one thing to let your manager know you’re interested in transferring positions—but it’s another entirely to threaten to or even hint that you’ll quit unless you’re given the job you have your eye on. Don’t forget: Your manager may not have the ultimate say in whether your transfer request is approved.
What’s more, there’s no better way to ruin your chances of getting what you want than by displaying a bad attitude. Managers don’t like to be threatened or be issued demands.

How to Navigate the Transition
To avoid hurt feelings with your former manager, and start things off on the right foot with your new manager, a clear transition plan is a must as you prepare to move into a new role.
Set up a meeting with your manager or your successor, if appropriate, in order to co-create a transition plan. Discuss any issues both people need to be aware of—think passwords, upcoming meetings, pending client requests, unanswered emails, or anything there may be.

Not only will this set you up for success, but it will help ensure that the transfer actually goes through. After all, you must admit: Without a plan, there really is nowhere to go!

At the same time, make sure you’re getting ready for your new role—just because your official start date hasn’t arrived doesn’t mean you can’t do some prep work. To ensure you hit the ground running, begin building relationships with your new team and learning more about what you’ll be doing—and, perhaps most importantly, how you can succeed at it.

To do this, set up one-on-one meetings with your new team members so that you can get to know everyone on a personal level. This will increase your odds of seamless integration.
This is also a prime time to connect with your soon-to-be manager and ask if there are any resources you should review or research you should start. Read up on anything he says!

Whatever you do, just don’t check out on your current job. Remember, you’re looking to stay within your organization, and reputation precedes itself. If you stop giving it your all in your current role, word of mouth may spread, and a new hiring manager may be reluctant to work with you. Your goal is to maintain your reputation as a great employee and continue to show your commitment to the organization your with—even if you’re not currently working for the ideal department or team you have envisioned just yet.

The post Switching Jobs Internally — How to Apply & How to Manage the Transition appeared first on Résumé Writing and Career Services.

As a manager, part of your duty may be to hold one-on-one meetings with your employees to check in on them and discuss issues of importance. To get the most out of a one-on-one meeting, it’s important to understand why they’re important and how to conduct them. Done effectively, they can strengthen your professional relationship with your employees and increase their morale and engagement. In this article, we define what one-on-ones are, explain how to prepare and conduct a one-on-one and provide examples of topics you can discuss during a one-on-one.

What is a 1-on-1?
A one-on-one is a scheduled, face-to-face meeting between you and an employee. As the name implies, the participants in this meeting are just you and another person. Unlike other meetings, like those about status updates or employee performance, the one-on-one is less formal. It can address a wide range of issues that don’t fit in other discussion or meeting types, such as concerns and frustrations relating to work or any inspiring ideas the employee may have.
Effective one-on-ones can serve four important functions :

• Improve your professional relationship with an employee: Open conversations can allow you and your employees to know each other better and develop trust, which can facilitate more effective communication and teamwork.
• Provide a forum for bidirectional feedback: The employee can freely discuss frustrations or concerns regarding the workplace, and you can address those issues. This can reveal issues you can work to resolve early in their employment.
• Create a space for discussion or ideation: Maybe the employee has a partially formed concept for a project they could work out with you, or they’d like just to voice thoughts about their current tasks. Having a discussion space like this can increase employee engagement and motivation.
• Keep you informed about sensitive personal issues: If the employee is facing obstacles stemming from personal distractions, the one-on-one can be a time for you to show understanding and provide mentorship. This, too, can build trust.

How to prepare for a 1-on-1
Preparing for every one-on-one can help ensure that your employees are receptive to the meeting and find it productive. Here are some actions you can take to prepare:

1. Set a regular meeting time
It’s a good idea to have a one-on-one approximately every one to two weeks, with each meeting lasting between 30 and 60 minutes. Speak with your employees beforehand to coordinate with schedules and determine the best time to meet with each. Mark the meetings on your calendar or planner to remind you and to signal their importance.

2. Determine the place
The physical setting of the one-on-one can affect how comfortable and receptive the employee feels during the meeting. Consider what would be the ideal place to speak with each employee. You might feel that a conference room is too formal, so you can hold meetings in a more casual environment such as a nearby park or a coffee shop. A lunchtime or walking meeting is also a good idea. Consider asking for the employee’s input, as they might have a definite preference.

3. Decide on an agenda
The agenda outlines the topics you’d like to discuss and can structure your meeting so it flows smoothly. Here are some points you can include on your agenda:

• Progress on employee’s tasks
• Confirming alignment with recent workplace developments
• Obstacles the employee might be facing
• Personal developments

The agenda may vary according to employee and circumstances. For example, if one employee is performing excellently, you might wish to set aside part of the agenda to applaud their efforts and achievements. Again, it may also be a good idea to reach out to each employee before the meeting to ask what topics they’d like to discuss or what challenges they are experiencing.

4. Have conversation material ready
Some conversations may be hard to start or maintain, so you might benefit from having a backup of conversation material. For example, if you’re interested in understanding the challenges your employees are experiencing, you could discuss your recent challenges. Similarly, if you’d like your employees to open up about upcoming events in their personal lives, you can do the same. Seeing that you’re being level with them, your employees may be more willing to engage in open discussion.

How to hold an effective 1-on-1
How you conduct your one-on-one can also affect its efficacy. Besides the agenda you’ve established with your employee, you can follow these steps to help ensure your one-on-one is smooth and productive:

1. Start on time
Being present at the agreed-upon meeting time can show that you value the employee’s time. It can also help ensure that you don’t interfere with either your schedule or the employee’s, as tardiness could force delays in starting later tasks.

2. Check in
Beginning the meeting with check-in questions can help set a relaxed, safe atmosphere between you and the employee. It may be a good idea for you to express first how you’re doing or what you’re thinking. This can be a thought relating to a known shared interest, a show of empathy about a challenging assignment you know they’re working on or anything that encourages the employee to reciprocate. The key is to be authentic, as this can help build trust.

3. Call back to previous meetings
Recalling key discussion points from previous one-on-ones can show you’re attentive to the employee’s concerns. A good starting point is to ask about updates on any goals they may have mentioned in the previous meeting. For example, if they previously expressed an approaching milestone, you can ask how they did in achieving it and their thoughts on it.

If you’re holding your first one-on-one with an employee, you can recall topics from casual conversations you may have had or points addressed in any group meetings. For instance, if the latest team meeting was about a new company policy, you can ask the employee’s thoughts on it and whether they understand its function. Recalling moments such as these can reveal how aligned, or engaged, the employee feels with the team and organization.

4. Ask about progress and challenges
Asking the employee how they would evaluate their professional growth can give you an idea about their self-regard and attitude toward work. For example, if they express enthusiasm for recent progress made in an assignment, this can suggest they’re emotionally invested in their work and actively wish to do a good job.

You can complement the above knowledge by asking about any recent challenges the employee has faced. You can guide them through the difficulty by asking follow-up questions about the factors contributing to these challenges and potential solutions for them. Asking questions rather than suggesting answers can foster a self-determined attitude and show you’re interested in working with the employee.

5. Discuss morale and interpersonal relationships
These issues are more personal than goals and challenges, but they’re important to discuss because of the impact they have on the work experience and employee satisfaction. These issues can be sensitive for some employees, so it may be a good idea to speak indirectly. For example, you can ask about any criticism they’ve received and how it made them feel, what you can do to foster a more collaborative environment or how they would improve on specific processes to establish a more enjoyable work environment.

6. Acknowledge strengths and triumphs
Toward the end of your one-on-one, take time to acknowledge instances of the positive things you’ve noticed about the employee or what others have related to you. For example, you could note that other members of the organization have commended the high quality of the employee’s work or that you’ve noticed a firm commitment from the employee. A compliment, such as that you’re happy to have the employee on your team, can also be effective. These acknowledgments can boost morale by making the employee feel valued.

7. Discuss new expectations
At the end of the meeting, focus on discussion expectations you have for the employee by the time of the next one-on-one. These expectations can relate to the items you discussed in the meeting or to matters you had in mind before the meeting started. This can be as simple as expressing a desire to see the employee keep up the high level of work. This can help the employee focus on growth and keep them accountable for the work they do in the interim.

Example topics for one-on-ones
Here are some examples of topics and questions you can discuss with employees in your one-on-ones:

Check-in and recall
These questions can help break the ice and catch you up on key developments.

• How have you been since the last time we met?
• What have you been working on?
• Last time you mentioned [previously mentioned topic]. What has developed since then?
• How are you doing with those expectations we discussed last time?
• What are your thoughts on the new policy?

Work progress and challenges
These questions regard successes and obstacles in the employee’s daily tasks.

• What are some achievements you’re proud of since our last meeting?
• What tasks have you found especially engaging or stimulating?
• What do you think stands in the way of your progress?
• What difficulties have you been facing recently?
• What tasks do you find least engaging?

Morale and colleagues
These questions can help you gauge how the employee feels about their job and team.

• How are you and [team member] getting along?
• What’s your favorite aspect of this job?
• Who do you think is a leader in the team?
• What obstacles in communication have you noticed with you and your colleagues?
• How would you change the way we collaborate on projects?

Expectations and development
With these, you’re looking to motivate the employee and aid in their work experience.

• What are your short-term goals for the next two weeks?
• What kinds of projects are you interested in working on?
• What can I do to facilitate your development?
• Would you be interested in receiving coaching or mentoring?
• How can I support you in your development?

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