Bullying in the workplace

The concept of bullying at work is usually subject to two equally fallacious extremes. The first seems to exist solely on the internet where self-help sites proliferate, spreading the bullying gospel and painting gloomy pictures of the extent of workplace victimisation. One website even goes so far as to claim that one in thirty people

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Dealing with mistakes

So you’ve accidentally put salt in the client’s coffee. Or you’ve pressed the ‘delete everything’ button on your PC. In the words of the late, lamented Douglas Adams, Don’t Panic! Handling mistakes is as important an aspect of work experience as any. ‘Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new’, Albert

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Fighting for equal pay

Men and women now have equal rights in the workplace. But some, says Emma John, are still more equal than others An overwhelming 93% of employers are confident they offer women fair, unbiased pay systems, according to a new survey. Yet the poll, by the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC), is only one of a number

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Getting on with the boss

Want a super relationship with your boss? Then learn how to manage them properly, says award-winning writer Adeline Iziren Helen Sears has a great relationship with her boss Graham Lancaster. Key to its success is Helen’s ability to manage Graham. No, she doesn’t order him about, but rather than passively responding to his demands, she

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Phoning without fear

Award-winning writer Adeline Iziren teaches you how to woo a potential employer over the phoneSo you’ve identified the job you want and your potential employer? Great. No doubt you’ll be trawling through the web to find out as much as you can about the company. That’s great too. But to get the edge over your

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Figure-happy: the road to a better bonus

When Santa visits the City each Christmas, he leaves a bundle of slips of paper on the desks of each manager. These are the presents for the hardworking men and women of the square mile. Depending on whether they’ve been good or bad, the number on the slip will have more or less noughts. ‘Tis

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Office ethics

According to Management Today magazine, two in three employees say they lie to their boss. Whose responsibility is it to maintain ethical standards in the workplace? There is little doubt that a company’s ethics are becoming ever more important in the way it is viewed by its investors, its employees and its customers. Two years

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Writing a cover letter

The covering letter     While your CV (resume) is a summary of your qualifications and achievements, your covering letter is essentially a sales pitch. The aim is to demonstrate why your skills and background are a perfect match for the advertised position. The letter should be concise, written in the same positive and vigorous

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Key ways to apply for jobs

There are many ways of applying for that prized job, none perfect and most designed to make it easier for the employer. Here forum talks through how candidates can maximize their chances of success Anything that makes it easier for employers to find the perfect employee should be good news for the candidate, because each should

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Faking it on your CV

Richard Li, the Hong Kong tycoon, has had a spot of bother with investors recently. They are claming they invested with a man they believed to have a degree from ivy-league university Stanford. Mr Li has admitted having no such qualification, and now faces a potential suit over allegations of misrepresentation. It seems strange that

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Tactics of selection: the psychometric test

With ever increasing competition for the best undergraduates, companies are introducing ever more sophisticated techniques to identify the top candidates for their annual intake quotas. Employers are increasingly looking towards psychometric testing to assist in achieving the closet possible fit between their needs and the candidate’s qualities

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Tactics of selection: the first interview

  At the first interview stage of the recruitment process, the odds of getting the job are still very long. A candidate has met the academic and perhaps the personality profile the employer is looking for, but it is likely that anywhere up to 100 others have also passed this test – 100 to 1

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Personality tests: why bother?

  The government has recently announced that in its campaign against elitism, judges are to be given personality tests to assess their suitability. But for some time now, large organisations have been increasingly relying on such tests to achieve a better fit between people and jobs. In the first of a series of articles, we

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So You Want to be an Expat? How to Get a Job Abroad

At some point or another, almost everyone has fantasized about packing up and spending some time in another country. Maybe you’ve got the itch to live in a different climate, to try different foods or to become bilingual. Whatever the reason, if you’ve decided you’re ready to give things a try in another country, you likely have one major concern: employment.

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10 Easy Ways to Reward Employees

Some bosses feel a paycheck is the only reward an employee needs. But employees want to feel that their hard work is appreciated, whether they are paid minimum wage or a six-figure salary. Rewards like gift cards and extra vacation time are always a hit, but they’re a bit unoriginal. They still made our list

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