HCI Blog

Having interns within a company can be very beneficial for both the company and the intern. It is common for many interns to stay for many years to come within a company and become high ranking executives.

But before hiring interns, reflect on these three questions:

1. Why do you want to hire an intern?

An Intern is not supposed to be an alternative for cheaper labor. When a young person enters an internship, they expect to have the opportunity to learn and expand their abilities though getting to practice hands on a possible future career.

If your business wants to train and mentor young minds, then hire an intern. If you expect to hire interns and use them as substitutes for labor, forget it. Interns are not necessarily considered an investment which you will have a return over.

2. What can I offer an intern?

Just offering experience to an intern is not enough as is paying him money for his work. You must offer growth opportunities to your intern. Make him feel that he has a future in the company! Think, would you be motivated if you knew that your work contract has a set end date?

If you intend on not hiring the intern after his internship is done, make this clear to him since the beginning.

3. Do I have a function I can give to the intern?

Make sure that the intern will have something do work on. He must have tasks which are not extremely complex or high priority. These tasks should be of importance to the business as a whole, but not essential to its existence, as errors will be committed by the intern.

Based on: TLNT

Not always do you need to pay for databases and searching services when recruiting. This work can be done at practically no cost. All you need to do is search correctly online and have an eye for detail.

Pay attention to where the types of candidates you want converge online. Find the right people to get more information on where to search.

Here are five places where you can begin your search:

1. Facebook

Facebook is the most widely used social network in the entire world. Besides fun and entertainment, it can be used for professional purposes.

Search for groups inside Facebook. In groups, people with a common interest join together to share content and discuss subjects relating to the groups name.

For example, if you want to find IT professionals, search for “IT industry workers” or other similar terms. There you will find many people who most likely work within IT.

2. Twitter

Twitter works very differently than Facebook. It is a microblog where people post no more than 140 characters. But how exactly are you supposed to find the people you want?

Easy! Search for hashtags! Use terms such as #work, #job etc. Make sure you search for terms relevant to the area of work you are looking to recruit for.

This can be constantly monitored using twitter apps which update automatically such as Tweetdeck.

3. LinkedIn

The most obvious choice for recruiting someone would be Linkedin. It it the Facebook which is only related to professional matters.

There you can easily search for people according to a wide array of criteria such as work sector, experience, city and even current position.

4. Industry meet-ups and events

Search for meet-ups and events of the industry you are looking to hire for. This may imply travelling to a nearby city rather than waiting for some event to happen in your own.

This is the best way to meet a candidate in person. You will already get a feel of who they truly are and if you can visualize them fitting well within the company.

5. Student websites and forums

Students are usually very enthusiastic about their new line of work and eager to show what they know. Search for websites where they announce tht they are searching for a placement opportunity and make their intentions clear.

Also, students are part of online forums where they share information about study and work. Try to join these forums and observe members to find on which calls your attention.

Based on: TLNT

Managers aren’t always doing the best they can when they manage people. Many mistakes are committed by them which usually happened due to ignorance of lack of knowledge.

Managers are the frontline of a company’s executives. They reflect the choices and policies selected by those who control the companies decisions and future.

If managers make too many mistakes, those who they manage will begin to get irritated and frustrated and eventually quit their jobs!

Here are five common mistakes managers make and which should be immediately remedied:

• Not seeing employees as people

It is common that with so much work that managers forget to see employees as human beings with individual needs, desires, characteristics and feelings. Managers should get to know more about their employees but this does not necessarily mean that they should be their personal therapists!

• Not giving a clear direction

Managers might not be able to transmit what they expect of others and what they should aspire as a team. They should establish priorities to each task individually and not make every single task of the same priority. A balance must exist between establishing too many priorities and not establishing any priorities at all.

• Lack of trust

The lack of trust from managers can be poisonous as it will not only affect small everyday tasks but also the entire department or even company. A strong symptom of lack of trust is micromanaging and not delegating enough tasks to employees.

• Poor listening

Listening is essential in order to understand the needs of your employees as well as giving them the proper attention and recognition they deserve. If your employees feel they are being listened, they will feel that they are being respected by you as well, generating a higher level of trust and communication.

• Taking decisions and listening for feedback

Managers should be able to decide things on their own but also be able to listen for the feedback of others on certain issues or sticky decisions to be made. This will enable employees and make them feel highly valued, resulting in higher motivation!

Based on: About money

Keeping up with the last post we made on motivation, here we have more ways on which you can maintain your motivation.

As you can see, there is no mathematical or magical formula for motivation, but there are a few steps you should always take as a base to build upon your motivation.

Check this infographic which gives you six steps to ultimate motivation!

SOURCE: www.virtuallinda.com

Getting something started or something done can be a challenge at times, even more if you are an entrepreneur or work by yourself.

Motivation is always necessary at some point during your professional work hours and during the time span of your professional life.

Here are five ways on how to get yourself motivated and also what you should not do them:

1. Take a break

Short breaks never hurt anyone! It will do you great good in fact. Get of your chair if you have worked for hours on end. Stretch yourself, go make some coffee and have a look outside the window for a few minutes.

Don’t do: Go outside to your nearest coffee shop and pick up a magazine or your mobile. This will easily eat up a whole hour of your work time without you even noticing.

2. Use your calendar

You don’t necessarily need a paper agenda for this. The internet offers a wide variety of tools for this such as Google Calendar. Alternatively, you can use your cellphone. As soon as you get a task, put it on your calendar!

Don’t do: Never look at your calendar after you put a task on it.

3. Set deadlines

If possible, get things done before they are due. This will leave you sufficient time to double-check and re-do anything if necessary. Also, you could turn in things earlier than promised in order to cause a good impression!

Don’t do: Set deadlines which are too tight and unrealistic for yourself.

4. Set Goals

Set daily goals for yourself. If you happen not to finish something, make it your starting point the next day. This will assure that you have a steady pace at which things get done and you will hardly get lost or stuck.

Don’t do: Never set goals you’ll not accomplish!

5. Tempt yourself

Suppose you have an important upcoming event on your personal agenda. You will probably want to clear up time for it. This will motivate you to stay on track and get your tasks done within the correct timing.

Don’t do: Constantly need motivation to get anything done.