Excuses, excuses - one in six Brits admit to faking it for a day off

Excuses, excuses - one in six Brits admit to faking it for a day off by Michael Cheary Nearly one in six working Brits â€" that’s 4.3 million people â€" admit to ‘faking-it’ for a day off work, according to our latest research.From spluttering down the phone with a faux cold to locking themselves out of the house, truant employees are coming up with new and exaggerated excuses every day to avoid work, with 14% of those we surveyed confessing that they’ve bent the truth in order to stay home.Feigning an illness is the most popular cover story workers use for a day off workRidiculous reasons range from my dog ate my iPhone to I have sunburnt feetOne in seven workers confess Friday is the most desirable day to pull a sickieThree day weekend syndromeThe study shows the ‘live for the weekend’ mentality is the cause of most absences, with more than one in seven Brits (13 per cent) embracing the Friday feeling early and calling in sick to extend the weekend break.  An additional one in eight workers (12 per cent) confess to conjuring up a Monday morning excuse for an unscheduled day off to recover from a busy weekend.We also asked employers to name the most common excuses employees use for a day-off and it’s no surprise that calling in sick came out on top with workers fake coughing and croaking down the phone to bosses.My dog ate my iPhoneThe study also reveals that employees are becoming more imaginative than ever, from the slightly careless ‘I thought it was Sunday and not Monday’ to the more extreme ‘my dog ate my iPhone’, employers named the most ridiculous excuses they have heard.Other creative cover stories include, ‘I’ve been waiting for a bus for three hours’ and ‘I cannot make it into work this morning as I have sunburnt feet’.Lynn Cahillane, Communications Manager at  reed.co.uk, said: “If you are considering making-up an excuse and taking a day-off work then perhaps it’s time to think about why. For many people a career is the most important aspect of life, so it’s vital to hav e a job that makes you happy. If you don’t enjoy work then maybe it’s time you stop faking it and try a new position.”Employer’s top ten most frequently heard excusesAccording to our research, here are the ten most frequently heard reasons given for missing an interview:I’m sickA member of my family is sickI’m in AEMy phone battery diedMy dog is sickI was robbed last nightI fainted on the way to workI don’t feel like going inI’ve broken my legI’m locked out of my house*4.3 million Brits admit to taking a day off work as they didn’t feel like going in   4,275,600 = 14% of 30.54 million (number of people in work figures taken from ONS Labour Market Statistics, June 2014)!Still searching for your perfect position?  Have a look at all of our current vacancies nowFind a job What Where Search JobsSign up for more Career AdviceSign up for moreCareer Advice Please enter a valid email addressmessage hereBy clicking Submit you agree to the terms and conditions appli cable to our service and acknowledge that your personal data will be used in accordance with our privacy policy and you will receive emails and communications about jobs and career related topics. Features

How to Avoid the Top 5 Startup Hiring Mistakes

How to Avoid the Top 5 Startup Hiring Mistakes Unlike Fortune 500 companies who have the leeway and budget for the occasional poor hire, the same fate can make or break a startup in it’s first stages of early growth. Whether it’s due to budget, little time or lack of hiring experience, it’s pretty easy to fall in the trap of making some common startup hiring mistakes. Luckily, with the appropriate know-how you can make sure that you’re not just hiring right, but hiring the right people. To help you on your way here’s a list of top tips to avoid the most typical startup hiring mistakes. 1) Work out what you need: One of the most common startup hiring mistakes is hiring without a plan. It’s one thing hiring talented people, but if theres no real place for them in the structure of your business they’ll be left floundering between various tasks and/or departments. Make a list of the areas that need development, outline the positions that would cover those tasks and use this information to craft a detailed job description for each role create ads that describe exactly what you’re looking for. Doing this won’t only ensure that you attract applicants with the right skills, but hiring people who are genuinely suited to their positions will cultivate a vital sense of engagement amongst your employees i.e. so they stick around. 2) Show your best side: The second common startup hiring mistake is to assume that the hiring process is separate from your company as a whole. It isn’t. Your approach to recruitment will represent your employer branding to the outside world, so naturally it needs to show your best side. Ideally, you want to have a professional career page on your site to direct your applicants to. Least of all your branded job advertisements need to be attractive, with a brief bio about the company and clear instructions on how to apply. Remember, it’s a competitive world out there posting an ad with an email address isn’t going to cut it. You need to lure the best candidates over, and that means ensuring that everything they see from your job description to your Facebook page is kept up to scratch. 3) You get what you pay for: It’s tempting to hire on the cheap when you’re on a budget but unless your literally operating on a shoestring, it’s worth investing in your new employees. Hire the best you can afford, and you’ll be paid back in the long run with invaluable experience and skills. Naturally, there are exceptions to this rule. Not all skilled professionals arrive demanding high salaries, nor are all skilled candidates professionals. A university graduate with a degree in Software Engineering might be just what you need, in which case there’s a fair chance they’re not going to break the bank. Either way, make sure you’ve got your negotiation skills in the bag before someone arrives for an interview. Having a salary in mind with a little leeway either side is going to give you a little room to barter, as it were. 4) Don’t hire on a whim: Another one of the top startup hiring mistakes is to hand over a job because they’re a great guy, or they’re a friend of a friend, or it’s your cousin, or your old classmate whos just moved to town. Even if that person is incredibly talented, don’t let a personal connection cloud your judgement. There’s nothing wrong with hiring someone from within your social circle, in fact word-of-mouth referrals often throw up the best candidates, but you want to interview a few people before you can be 100% sure they’re the right fit. If at the end of your interviews your gut instinct is still telling you that that person is the one, then go with it. More often than not though, having a choice of candidates to choose from will alter your decision pretty dramatically. 5) Avoid rushing: When it comes to finding new employees, time is often of the essence. Rushing is also one of the most common startup hiring mistakes, it leads to poor judgement, rushed decisions and ultimately poor hires. If you’re in a hurry, make sure you’re at least interviewing with one other member of your team (in fact this applies whether you’re in a hurry or not). Take the time to at least interview your top candidates, and resist the urge to hire the first good fit that comes your way. As with most things, a little preparation will take you a long way. Even if you need that JavaScript developer like, yesterday, bear it in mind that the wrong choice could set you far further back in the long run. Whether you’re hiring a Graphic Designer or an CEO, avoiding these common startup hiring mistakes will hopefully put you on the right road to a successful hire. Have any more recruitment tips for fledgling startups? Feel free to add your suggestions to the comments below. Image: Shutterstock

Who am I online

Who am I online In a recent post, I got to grips with the issue of blogging itself, asking how you could use this medium to find or create a job. Our student blogger, Emily, reflects on her own digital footprint and the trail we leave online. Reading the blog post about blogging on May 22nd  was very interesting, as a job-seeking soon-to-be graduate. Now that I’m mired in my own job search, the idea of who I am â€" or seem to be â€" online has become increasingly important. I’ve tried (and failed) many a time to set up my own blog, and while blogging isn’t for everyone, if you have a Facebook account, tweet occasionally or even just comment on  The Boar  articles then you’re leaving a web trail for employers that can be just as useful to them, so you need to be aware of the consequences of those throwaway comments. SU President Leo Bøe recently wrote a blog post about inappropriate jokes online â€" yes they’re offensive, but what if they also lose you your dream job? We all know the basics about making sure our privacy settings on social media websites like Facebook and Twitter are high so that people we don’t know don’t end up seeing our private information, but I don’t think we really take this quite seriously enough. Companies like Channel 4 spend a long time at their talent pool sessions stressing that you shouldn’t have too many Facebook pictures of you compromising yourself (if you know what I mean) â€" if an employer ‘googles’ you and the first image that comes up is you with a bottle in your hand, you might want to rethink. A couple of students who had their radio show taken off them for bad language last week (which generated a Boar article about the incident) now have a link talking about their irresponsibility and bad language at the top of search engine results for their names. Not that I’m recommending that you turn into one of those people who frequently ‘googles’ themselves Even what you tweet about can be important. I’ve applied for nearly thirty jobs in the past month and for several of them have been asked to give links to my Twitter account and any blogs I write for â€" cue me going through several years of previous whinging and deleting tweets because the internet is not just about expressing yourself anymore. It’s a massively useful resource for demonstrating your interests, your commitment to writing and who you are, or who you want to be. Building up a strong Twitter following could show your marketing, communication or persuasive writing skills and is definitely essential to breaking into radio, marketing and media generally, so if you’re serious about getting into these more elusive sectors  make sure  you give yourself the best advantage. And if this doesn’t sound convincing, a friend of mine who recently got rejected from her ideal job was told that the reason was an article she had written for The Boar. Don’t let that be you. * Emily Middleton is a third year English student and Careers and Skills rep

Hold CEOs accountable for their bad parenting

Hold CEOs accountable for their bad parenting Recently, Wellpoint dismissed its CFO, David Colby. Wellpoint cites personal reasons. The LA Times tells us that its the numerous mistresses he was leading supposedly exclusive relationships with. The problem here is not that executives cheat on their wives. They do it all the time. What we can take from the Wellpoint dismissal is that big companies value discretion when it comes to cheating on a wife. Three at once, and theyre all talking thats too much for a board to take. But heres the bottom line from all this corporate discipline hoopla: Senior executives must lead their personal lives in accordance with the values of corporate boards. Their personal life is no longer their own, according to Shelly Lazarus, CEO of Ogilvy Mather. Thank goodness these boards do not value fathering, or else there would be no one to run the Fortune 500. Because there appears to be little room for parenting if youre at the very top. Fortune magazine ran an article about Howard Stringer, CEO of Sony. He is married with two children and is quoted as saying at company meeting, I dont see my family much. My family is you. Fortune ran a profile of Jeff Immelt, chief executive of GE. Immelt said that he has been working 100-hour weeks for the last twenty years. He also said that he is married and they have an eighteen year-old-daughter. I cant decide which is more pathetic the way these men approach their role as a parent, or the way that Fortune magazine writes about it without any commentary. How can there be no mention of the fact that these CEOs are neglecting their kids? We have a double standard in our society: If you are poor and you abandon your kids you are a bad parent. But if you are rich and you abandon them to run a company, you are profiled in Fortune magazine. I now quote a government publication aimed at low-income fathers: All children need emotional and financial support from both parents. The campaign goal is to conveythe importance of family life and to encourage fathers whether married, divorced or single to become involved in their childrens lives Responsible fathers are men who actively share with the mother in providing physical, emotional and intellectual needs for their child. This standard applies to Stringer and Immelt. Just because theyre rich doesnt mean their kids dont need to see them. How is Stringer providing emotional support to his children when he is telling his employees that he has replaced his family with his employees? And I question how someone can spend 100 hours a week working and still find time to actively share in parenting responsibilities. Fortunately, respect for this sort of parenting outside the board room is dwindling as baby boomers disappear from the parenting picture and Gen-Xers take their place. Sylvia Hewlett presents research to show that while baby boomers are willing to work extreme hours, younger people scoff at the idea of doing that for more than a year. And recent polls (via Hole in the Fence) show that men are sick of the long hours and want more time with their kids: Almost 40% of working dads would take a pay cut to spend more time with their kids. Itll be a great day when CEOs are dismissed for neglecting their kids. Meanwhile, employees, beware: CEOs like Stringer and Immelt have a negative effect on your own ability to keep your personal life intact, because work-life policy starts at the top and trickles down. When you are looking for a company to work for, look at the CEO. If you find out hes having sex with four different women, you dont have to worry hes about to be fired. But if he works insane hours, you can bet that you will be expected to do the same, on some level. And my gosh, if he refers to you as his family, run!

Get ahead of the game and ace exam season - Debut

Get ahead of the game and ace exam season - Debut This post was written by an external contributor.  Connor Gotto provides his top tips to keep on track for the upcoming exam season.   With spring now seemingly in full swing, exam season will soon be upon us and, for most students, so begins the frenzied panic of countless hours of cramming and sleepless night after sleepless night. For most, it’s a reality… but it’s also totally unnecessary! With a little planning and commitment the stress of exam season can completely pass you by, and you’ll revel in watching those around you try and keep themselves together while you’re totally ready for whatever’s thrown at you. Here are five top tips to get ahead of the game and ace exam season Plan Ahead You’re no doubt tired of hearing it, but there’s a reason for that… it’s true! Planning is everything, and if you set out time to study every topic from every module, you’ll find yourself seamlessly heading closer and closer to being ready to sit the test. The key, though, is to make sure that you’re being a) practical and b) faithful to your timetable. There’s no point in pencilling in six hours of study every day, as well as your other commitments. It’s just not going to happen. An hour of study each day is do-able and, if you start now, you’ll soon amass the same amount of revision (if not more) as you would if you’d started the month before. Remember; it’s OK to be flexible with your schedule. If something comes up that you want to do, don’t feel guilty about it just make up the work the next day. As long as you’re committed, it’ll pay off. Little and Often Yes, we kind of said this already, but it really is the best way.  When you’re sitting an exam, each question will have a set answer that the teacher wants you to get at, and that will be specific to the question. If you go into detail from another topic/module, you’re not going to get extra credit. This isn’t SATs, kids! By doing short bursts of work, one topic at a time, you’re going to recall it collectively, and be less likely to bring in references from who-knows-what other class. Start in Class Now I don’t mean ignore the lecturer and do your own thing, but there are simple things you can do in class to make your exam revision a whole load easier. For example, students love to highlight, and that’s great… but don’t highlight everything! Think about it, what’s the point? Instead of having to scan through a white page, you’ll find yourself blinded by 20 neon yellow pages. Really, you’re just making life hard for yourself. The best way to approach this is to think about what angles/specific topics interest you the most, and highlight from that perspective. Go back to your notes and highlight the key parts. That way, when you’re planning for answers, you can easily gather all of the relevant information and have complete answers composed in seconds (well, it may take a little longer…). Keep a Study Diary We already mentioned making a timetable, but keeping a retrospective diary can be just as helpful. It’s so easy to go over the same work time after time without realising especially when you’re stressed but writing down exactly what you’ve done will help put an end to that. Write down in your diary exactly what you studied and when at home, in class, five minutes before bed… it’s all relevant. Then, when you’re throwing in an extra hour or two of revision, you’ll know what to cover and what you’ve done time and time again. Checklists are a good, easy way of recording this. Yes, they take time to write out. But they’re invaluable in making sure that you’ve covered everything! Take Time Off Just as important as getting the work done is taking some time off for yourself. When everyone seems to be locked away in the library rushing to get everything done, remember all of the work that you’ve done already that they probably haven’t. So, taking an hour or two for yourself to walk in the park, grab a coffee, or just think about something else is invaluable. It’ll help you to reset your mind and take away some of the stress of exams. If not, you’ll drive yourself crazy! Download Debut  and  connect with us on  Facebook,  Twitter  and  LinkedIn  for more careers insights.

A simple way to focus on the positive at work - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

A simple way to focus on the positive at work - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog Any job has good and bad things to it. Any job. Yours too. Maybe you kinda like your co-workers, youre good at what you do and the food rocks but on the other hand the commute is deadly and your boss is a bit of a jerk. Heres the point: Even though all jobs contain good and bad elements, most people over focus on the bad things. In this 4-minute video I talk about why that is and what you can do about it. Click above to watch it. This is the first video in a series of five that we did for Danish enzyme producer Novozymes. They are already a great workplace, and as part of a campaign called Its Great to be a Zymer wanted a simple, fun way to communicate the basic concepts of happiness at work to their employees in Denmark, China, USA and Brazil. So they hired us to do these videos, which their employees can access on the intranet. They have very kindly allowed us to share the videos with a wider audience. Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related

Resume Format - How to Write a Proper US Resume

Resume Format - How to Write a Proper US ResumeThe US resume format is very different from that of the UK and Australia. It has to be modified according to the requirements of the employers. There are many benefits in employing a professional resume writing service, but before you decide to outsource your job interview preparation, you should first go through the basic tips on how to best prepare for a job interview in the USA.The US resume format has three sections, a career objective, a career objective statement and a personal summary. It is important to keep these three sections separate as it is important to state each of them individually. The career objective section is used to state your interest in the job and what you intend to do with it. A career objective statement gives details about your previous employment, previous job goals and how you would like to develop your current job.The personal summary section is used to express your impressions of the employer. This sectio n includes your professional qualification, educational qualification, references and endorsements. This section can also include any other work experience that would help to boost your resume. You can also include any achievements or awards which would be of great benefit to the employer.Every part of the US resume format is quite similar. The only difference lies in the fact that the personal section does not have a beginning and an end. It can either be placed in the introductory part or can be listed after the career objective statement. Therefore, you should be careful to follow this rule.Every US resume template is provided with a list of required skills. The important skill required is the 'Required Skills'. Other than this, you may also want to mention any necessary licenses or certifications that would be beneficial to the employer.Employers will usually want to see a few samples of your previous work. Make sure that you mention the number of projects, the kind of projects, the duration of the project and any milestone achieved during the project.You may also want to mention your employment history from the previous two to three years, which covers the last ten to twelve months at your current position. Most employers prefer this because they will get an idea about how you could perform on the job.The first paragraph of your resume is the most important and it should be concise and to the point. If you are well prepared, your resume should be easy to read and follow. You can always refer to the sample US resume template to get a better idea about the formatting.