Tag: senior

Can I Volunteer While Studying Abroad? Everything You Need To Know About Volunteering Overseas

Is It Possible To Volunteer While Studying Abroad?

Totally, yes. If you can find the right opportunity to volunteer while studying abroad, then you can access a whole world of benefits and new experiences. You’ll get working experience without having to navigate the complex legal jungle of permits, regulations, and foreign tax codes that come along with a paid position. You also get to help and connect with people from circumstances very different than your own. That is a learning experience that has its own immense value.

However, some phony organizations exist that charge foreigners money for empty experiences or lure them into bad situations. That said, knowing what you’re looking for before you arrive is absolutely essential.

To help you get the most out of your study abroad experience, we at the WayUp guide have compiled  everything you need to know about volunteering while studying abroad.

Volunteer Study Abroad Programs Vs. Volunteering While Studying Abroad

Some study abroad programs are designed, from the beginning, to center around a volunteer or humanitarian mission. These programs can be offered by your university and specific school departments or through open organizations like API Study Abroad or International Volunteer HQ.

For programs like these, you’ll usually travel to places with more pressing volunteer needs than large European or Asian metropolises. Some of these programs will offer college credit for the volunteer work in lieu of classes. Others will offer both volunteer work AND classes for credit.

You could be building wells and studying local government policy in rural Indian villages or work on environmental conservation in a village near the Brazilian rain forest. No matter what your major or interest is, there are a ton of opportunities to dive deeper into your academic field and actually affect the lives of others.

These types of programs are designed to make your volunteer effort the centerpiece of your experience. As such, they’re quite different from the latter type of activity: Undertaking a volunteer position or project while you’re on a traditional study abroad program.

This is a more traditional route, similar to getting a part-time job while going to school. You’ll be able to control, for the most part, how much of a time commitment it is. That makes it much more manageable if you have a heavy class load and lots of travel plans. You can usually find these by asking your study abroad campus administration. Luckily, most places will have organizations where they regularly send students, so you’ll know what kind of experience is headed your way.

Volunteering Abroad Safety: Finding A Legitimate, Trusted Program, Organization, Or Project

Unfortunately, there are plenty of for-profit organizations that will do their best to take as much money from you while giving you as little guidance, support, and opportunity as possible. This can be especially dangerous if you’re going to a place with less infrastructure for finding alternate opportunities or connecting with the outside world. That’s why it’s so important to make sure you are working with a verified, trusted program that both helps a real cause AND provides you with an enriching experience.

The easiest way to find a trustworthy program is to ask your study abroad office/study abroad counselor if your school has any partnerships with existing programs (This also helps you secure college credit more easily so you can still graduate on time.) Even if they don’t have established partnerships with programs, they might know of other students who have had successful experiences. They might even be able to set you up with someone who could talk to you about the experience.

Going through your school is the best method for safety purposes. It also ensures that you’ll have a point-of-contact at your college to help you if anything goes wrong or the program doesn’t suit you. If your school doesn’t have a study abroad office, your academic advisor or a professor might be able to direct you to an opportunity.

The next best method, if you’re looking for something your school doesn’t necessarily offer, is to use thorough online reviews, forums, and blogs. Sites like Go Overseas or Study Abroad 101 compile trusted reviews and flag recurring issues from participants to help you make your decision. For instance, take this review of API Study Abroad. Things to watch out for are programs that redirect you to local charities without any institutional support and those that lack bureaucracy. Other red flags are exploitative for-profit organizations, programs that don’t give their students/volunteers enough work, programs where there are no other students, and programs that put students in dangerous or unsupervised situations.

It’s not all bad, though. There are thousands of reviews, blogs, and trustworthy sources for finding the right program. You’ll find your fit, just be cautious and thorough!

Benefits Of Volunteering While Studying Abroad

There are so many benefits to getting volunteer experience while you’re abroad. It’ll help your resume, your future job prospects, and your personal development.

Volunteer work is work, and work experience in a foreign country is amazing for your resume. It means you’ve interacted with people from different cultures, possibly have foreign language skills, and possess the entrepreneurial spirit required to seek out work outside the borders of your homeland.

Volunteering while studying abroad shows that you are not someone who is satisfied with being a mere tourist. It will give you a plethora of stories, experiences, and situations you can bring up in future job interviews. Plus, if you ever want to return to your study abroad destination—say London—and work there after graduation, you can say you “have experience working in a British organization.”

Beyond the tangible benefits, volunteer work of any kind, anywhere, exposes you to people outside your normal sphere. This can give you perspective and a sense of purpose that can help define your character for the rest of your life. As the saying goes, to help others is to help yourself.

If you’re interested in learning specifically about teaching English abroad as a volunteer or paid teacher, check out this WayUp Guide post here.

For more study abroad FAQs, tips, and info, check out the WayUp Guide right now!

How to Answer: What Are Your Salary Expectations?

Being fully prepared for the interview process means knowing what questions to anticipate. One of those questions is, “What are your salary expectations?” You won’t encounter this question during an internship interview, but it’s likely to come up if you’re interviewing for an entry-level job. Why do employers ask this? If you’re a recent college grad, it’s because they want to make sure that you have a sense of the industry you’re trying to enter and are coming into the job with realistic expectations.

Entry-level salaries vary by job type and industry, so knowing as much as possible about your field is extremely important when preparing to answer this question. Another thing to note is that entry-level salaries are most often not open to negotiation.

Here are some things to keep in mind when preparing to answer.

When it’s not appropriate to negotiate.

“If you’re recruited into a formal entry-level program (a program where a class of people starts together and trains together) the answer is likely going to be no to a salary negotiation,” explains Liane Hajduch, a former campus recruiter for RBC Capital Markets.

This includes fields like investment banking, consulting and engineering, all of which have structured salaries for entry-level jobs. If you’re entering one of those industries, it’s best not to negotiate! However, you should still come into the interview knowing the salary range for the position and having a clear sense of what to expect if you’re offered the job.

Say something like: “I expect to be paid a salary that is commensurate with the industry standard for an entry-level candidate joining this position.”

Pro tip: Sites like Payscale and Glassdoor offer a lot of information about salary ranges and can give you additional insights about a company including the average salary by job type.

When it is appropriate to negotiate.

If you’re entering a more creative field (think media or marketing) and have previous relevant experience, then negotiation might be possible. “I recommend doing your research on the industry and what similar entry-level hires are being paid,” explains Hajduch. “If you know your worth, and you have data to prove it, you’ll have a much stronger case than if you make it subjective or emotional.”

Once you’ve done the research and know the range for the position, be ready to show the interviewer that you have the skills and commitment to deserve the highest salary within that range.

Say something like: “I know the average salary for this type of entry-level position is in the $35,000-$40,000 range. I think that I would be a great fit for the role due to my past internship experience and I am expecting a salary within that range.”

Answering “What are your salary expectations?” effectively is easy if you come into the conversation prepared and with some solid research under your belt. Be confident and straightforward, but also remember that flexibility will go a long way toward making a good impression on the interviewer and the company.

Next, get more career tips for internships and entry-level jobs such as When to Start Applying for a Summer Internship and find answers to common interview questions such as Why Do You Want to Work Here?

4 Signs That Show An Employer Is Serious About Its Company Culture

“Company culture” can seem like a pretty intangible thing, especially when you’re thinking about your first job. You might not have the experience to know what actually makes it more than just an HR slogan.

Company culture is made up of the tangible experiences you have working there—and it couldn’t be more important.

Using Dell—an industry leader in company culture—as an example, here are four signs that show a company is serious about its culture.

#1: A Meaningful Work/Life Balance

Maintaining the balance between your work and your personal life is extremely important for your health, job performance, and overall satisfaction. Plenty of companies understand that happy employees are good employees, and few things make people happier than being able to have a rich life in and outside of the office.

But it has to be more than just expressing a commitment.

At Dell, if you work at any of the tech giant’s offices around the world, there are a ton of options with regards to scheduling your work. Some employees work from home for all or part of the week to cut down on commuting and inefficiency. Other employees work the same amount of hours in four days each week (instead of five).

Dell aims to have 50 percent of their workforce on flexible schedules by 2020. That’s the kind of proof you should be looking for when it comes to understanding work/life balance at a company.

#2: Genuine Commitment To Diversity

A company or team without diversity not only deprives you of the personal growth that comes from understanding people unlike yourself, but also makes concretely worse decisions. Companies AND people succeed when there’s diversity—so, yes, it should be an important factor.

It can be hard to tell whether a company employs a diverse group of people, particularly because diversity can mean a lot more than what is visibly apparent. Beyond that, corporate websites and verbal commitments can often oversell certain aspects of the company culture. One way to cut through the noise is by looking at what objective third parties and former employees have said. Check out the company’s diversity and inclusion ratings and see how credible organizations have rated them.

Dell was placed on DiversityInc’s Top 50 and was recognized by The Economist for their excellence in diversity and inclusion. Dell also does more than just hire people—they support them. Whether that means advocacy groups, accommodations for holidays and disabilities, or flexible work hours to fit people’s myriad obligations, the company is constantly thinking about its employees’ happiness.

#3: Openness To Innovation

Most companies rely on innovation to drive their business forward. But some companies truly expect it from every corner of their team. How do you figure out which is which? Here are a couple ways you can find out more about what exactly innovation means at a certain company.

For starters, ask about “intrepreneurship.” How has a select group of major tech players managed to stay at the top of an industry that revolves around advances? Simple: They’ve encouraged all of their employees to use the company as a venue for innovation. (Dell has an annual “Game Changers” competition where employees from around the globe pitch to executives who can opt to fund their ideas.)

If an employer can’t provide you with specifics about new products or businesses started by employees, then that may be a sign that the “culture of innovation” is just a phrase.

#4: Ethics And Impact

It’s important to know what kind of company you work for. Do they take responsibility for their actions? Do they contribute to the communities they’re a part of? Essentially, you need to know whether a prospective company makes the world a better or worse place.

This is where hard facts matter the most. Awards and accolades given from third parties are usually for a reason. So, when Dell has taken home trophies for their efforts to cut down on their carbon footprint or for being the largest global recycler of electronics, you know that it’s because they did and they are.

There are things like community engagement, manufacturing practices, and much, much more that you should look out for. There are many ways to make an impact—positive or negative. Companies who take ethics seriously usually have employees who do, too, and it can be great to be around people who care.

And Beyond…

Little things like dress code, snacks, and social events can make a huge difference in helping you adjust to a new city or new stage of life. So, don’t forget about these aspects of company culture, either.

Here’s Everything You Need To Know About Being An ‘Intrapreneur’

When we hear “innovation,” it’s hard not to think about the classic success stories and the images of people tinkering with old-timey motherboards in the pursuit of scientific progress. That’s where so many key tech companies like Dell started, after all. But it’s important to remember that it’s not the only way it happens.

There’s a reason major players in tech can manage to stay in the game for so long: Creative and technical geniuses innovate within the structure of their large corporations. The business world has taken to calling this practice “intrapreneurship,” and it could be the way that you manage to thrive as an innovator.

What is intrapreneurship?

Intrapreneurship—in contrast with entrepreneurship—is the practice of creating, pitching, and getting funding for your own business idea or product while working as an employee within a larger corporate structure.

“It’s a new kind of product or a new kind of business,” says veteran intrapreneur and Dell Product Manager Juan Vega. “It’s about identifying new opportunities and leading from the front.”

LEARN MORE ABOUT DELL AND APPLY FOR OPEN JOBS HERE

In the same way that you would start your business on the outside, you have to build a team, invest your own time, and aggressively seek sponsorship from execs in the right department. “You can’t lead from behind,” Juan stresses. “You have to take a risk and say, ‘I really think it’s worth doing something.’ And then you have to go and create the story and the arguments and the support and everything else you need, just as if you were out solo in the business world.”

How Juan tapped into a multi-billion-dollar business.

Juan knows a thing or two about intrapreneurship. Having spent more than 20 years at Dell, Juan has worked on (and started!) countless new businesses and products for the company.

For example, in 2008 he was running the successful Optiplex team, but he wasn’t feeling inspired by his role. “They figured out the formula and it was on track. It was doing great and winning everything. It wasn’t taking a lot to improve it; it just needed someone to keep it going,” he says.

As an innovator, Juan was ready for his next challenge. “I was bored, basically. I ended up looking at the market and thinking, ‘Where are we underserved?’ I started looking for that opportunity,” he says.

He settled on the small business market. The business packages and hardware were just too expensive at that scale. However, it didn’t have to be this way, and Juan knew that. “We had a ton of pricing conflicts. We had a cost problem that wasn’t being resolved in that space,” he says. “So, I found a backfill and got out of the job I was in, once I had sponsorship to drive this new business space.”

The result? “We built a new desktop and notebook business that was specifically focused on driving down costs and meeting the needs of the small business owner. And that’s a billion-something dollar business today.”

How can you do it? It’s all about the company culture.

An intrapreneurial culture is not the only thing that makes a company successful—there are plenty of established businesses that got to where they are by moving methodically and sticking to their guns. There are also flagging industries in which companies will be much more risk-averse because they just aren’t thriving. And it’s those types of companies—whether they’re cautious or just plain old conservative—that you have to avoid if you’re trying to find a place that will let you innovate.

If you’re someone who likes the idea of contributing to a larger team, having steady pay and benefits, and getting exposure to the workings of a major corporation, but you still want to make something new, then you have to make sure you find a company with a culture of intrapreneurship.

LEARN MORE ABOUT DELL AND APPLY FOR OPEN JOBS HERE

“It’s never about asking permission,” Juan explains. “You get permission along the way. You get investment dollars. You get head count. You get project teams. [At Dell], you get whatever it is you need to create that new business.”

How does this happen at Dell? According to Juan, it’s the people. “It’s because of the kind of people who are happy at Dell. We’re a pretty type A company. It all started with Michael in his dorm room. It’s people who are in a lot of ways self-motivated—entrepreneurial-type people— who just happen to be working in a giant corporation,” he says.

“And when you mix the two together, what you get is people who tend to ask a little more forgiveness than permission, and tend to bring opportunities to light as a part of their normal roles and responsibilities.”

How to Set Great Internship or Job Goals

Goals are critical to succeeding at your internship or entry-level job for several reasons.

  1. They help you focus on what matters and avoid spending time on fruitless endeavors.
  2. They enable you to track your progress and ensure you’re having the impact you want to have.
  3. They help you align expectations with your manager and stay on the same page.
  4. They allow you to document and demonstrate your effort and impact at the company, which can help you get a raise, promotion, or recommendation.

What Makes a Good Internship or Entry-Level Goal?

First, all goals should be several things:

  1. In your direct control.
    There’s no point in holding yourself accountable for things you can’t control. For example, if you’re in a social media marketing role, you should create a goal around growing the number of engaged followers by 50% instead of a goal to increase the revenue you get from each social media follower.
  2. Measurable.
    Avoid vague goals like “Grow our brand awareness.”. You’ll never know when you achieve vague goals. The easiest way to make goals measurable is to ensure there are numbers attached to them.
  3. Ambitious.
    Your goals should push you. They shouldn’t be easily accomplished. Goals don’t exist to make you feel accomplished. They exist to help you accomplish great things.

In addition, internship goals should have a specific focus on learning. That learning focus can be on you learning whether you want to pursue a career similar to the internship, learning a specific skill, or learning to succeed in a particular professional environment.

Good entry-level job goals aren’t so different in that there should be an emphasis on learning. However, learning cannot be the only goal as your impact is critical to your ability to maintain your career.

How to Choose Your Goals

Setting the best, achievable goals for your internship or entry-level job largely depends on knowing what you want, what you’re capable of, what your role will enable you to reasonably do, and what the company is trying to do. When setting your goals, it’s important to ask yourself a few key questions.

First, ask yourself why you accepted this internship or job. This should help you figure out what you should try and learn from it. Understanding your own personal motivation for taking the job should help you set a good personal learning goal.

Second, consider what the company is trying to do. Your goals should benefit you and the company. If your goals don’t align with the company’s goals, then your efforts likely won’t have any impact on the company’s success and you won’t be able to demonstrate your value to the company.

Third, ask yourself what type of impact you’d like to have on the company. What would you be most proud of achieving?

Fourth, examine the responsibilities of the role you have at the company and determine what your role will enable you to achieve. If you’re a sales intern, you probably won’t be super successful at helping the company achieve their engineering-related goals.

Setting the Scope of Your Goals

If you’re a summer intern, you probably shouldn’t have a yearly goal. Instead, you should set a goal for your summer internship.

Entry-level employees should start by trying to set 5 year goals. If you have absolutely no idea where you’d like to be in 5 years and what you’d like to be doing, that’s totally fine; start with 1 year goals instead. From those 1 year goals work backwards into quarterly and monthly goals. Some companies set quarterly goals and some set monthly goals. The scope of your goals should match with your company’s scope.

Internship Goal Examples

  1. Grow Twitter followers by 25% by the end of summer.

    Social Media Marketing Intern

  2. Demo 5 new accounts each week.

    Sales Intern

  3. Write 10 new articles each month.

    Content Marketing Intern

  4. Learn Ruby on Rails and deploy 1 new feature by the end of summer.

    Software Engineering Intern

  5. Have coffee with 1 full-time employee each week.

    Anyone

Entry-Level Job Goal Examples

  1. Create 2 new icons and add them to the icon font each month.

    Visual Designer

  2. Reduce expenses each quarter by 5%.

    Financial Analyst

  3. Retain 80% of part-time volunteers each quarter.

    Non-Profit Volunteer Coordinator

  4. Shadow a different person in their role at the company each month.

    Anyone

Tracking Your Progress

Once you have your goals set, you’ll need to be diligent about tracking your progress. A good rule of thumb is to check in on your status one time dimension below the scope of your goals. For example, you should check on your progress towards any yearly goals every quarter. You should check on any quarterly goals every month. You should check on any monthly goals every week.

Keep track of your progress somewhere digital (a spreadsheet or Google doc are good options). It’s not only important to know whether or not you’re making good progress, but at what rate you’re making progress. This can help you tie the progress to specific actions you took.

Assessing Your Impact

The final, and perhaps the most critical part, of effectively using goals in your internship or entry-level job is to ensure that you take time to reflect on the goals you set. You may have achieved them, or you may not have. Regardless, you should take time to think about:

  1. Did this goal actually measure the impact that you had? Was it a good goal?
  2. Why did you or did you not meet your goal?
  3. Was this goal effective in motivating you?
  4. Should you use this goal again?

Now that you know why goals are a critical part of any internship or entry-level job and how to set good ones, go use your new knowledge! Your manager will be impressed. We promise.

Next, get more career tips for internships and entry-level jobs such as What is an Internship? and find answers to common interview questions such as What’s Your Dream Job?

How to Apply to Internships Online and Not Get Lost in The Black Hole

“A black hole is a region of space-time from which it is impossible to escape.”
Stephen Hawkins

One of the biggest questions we hear from students is what happens to my application after I hit submit?  Does it ever reach a college recruiter’s desk, does it ever get read or is it simply launched out into space?  In the HR world this is referred to as the applicant black hole, because once you send an application online into it’s very easy for it to disappear into space.

This problem exists for a number of reasons but the fact is that fewer than 5% of employers follow-up with every applicant they receive and even fewer communicate the real reasons about why they made the choice they did.

While it might seem easy to blame companies for not doing a better job of responding, the reality is that most HR managers receive hundreds of applications every week and are over worked reviewing them — so it’s up to you to stand out. By understanding a bit more about how the online application process works, you can figure out how to navigate this abyss and make sure you emerge on the other side with your ideal internship.
Where do all the resumes go?

As you can probably guess, applications for internships rarely follow the same path. Some employers ask you to apply directly to their email inbox. Others ask for you to apply using a job website like Taleo or WayUp so that they can save the applications in a database online and share them with other employees in the office.

Depending on the size of the employer and how they are accepting applications you need to think up the best strategy to make sure you don’t get overlooked when it comes to decision time. For example, if you’re given a contact name or email address, do some research on the individual and customize your application materials to them personally.

Building a better rocket ship!

The other important skill to develop when applying for internships online is to learn how to make your application stand out among the competition.

Here are 5 tips to help:

1.) Follow-Up!

The biggest piece of advice we can recommend to avoid getting ignored is to follow-up consistently with an employer after you submit an application. This is an art not a science, but most students are way too hesitant to follow-up with employers even if just to ask what the time frame is on responding or to remind them that you have applied. For best practices see our guide on how to follow-up with employers.

2.) Remove all typos from your resume.

Another reason you may not hear back from employers is because they tossed out your resume at first sight. Even if you have one typo on your resume, it shows an employer a lack of professionalism and attention to detail. In fact almost 50% of employers stop reading a resume if they see just one typo! So double check your resume and check out our resume guide for extra help.

3.) Be unique.

As an employer who has hired many students I can safely say, my job is a lot easier when a particular student breaks the mold by standing out. Don’t just spam employers with a standard cover letter, take the extra hour to write something and make a unique cover letter. If the employer has a twitter account tweet at them about how excited you are. If they are coming to your school for a career fair, go and introduce yourself to the recruiting staff and start building a relationship. Your hard work will pay off when it comes to decision time.

4.) Don’t use scammy websites to apply for positions!

Top job boards like your Career Center website or WayUp work hard to make sure every position that is online is up to date and is a high quality position. If you are finding positions by doing a Google search or on Craigslist, you may find some great opportunities but as a rule of thumb the further you go from trusted sites the more likely you are to be applying to a position that has either already closed or doesn’t exist altogether.

5.) Don’t get discouraged.

Last but not least don’t get discouraged. A lot of employers are getting overwhelmed with applications in the current down economy, so even if you are over qualified for a position you simply might not hear back. If you keep at it and keep improving your application skills such as following-up, being unique, and using top job boards, you are going to start getting interviews and eventually find a position you’re excited about.

If you have any questions about the black hole or how to avoid it, feel free to comment or send us emails to support@wayup.com and we are happy to help.

Next, get more career tips for internships and entry-level jobs such as What is an Internship? and find answers to common interview questions such as What’s Your Dream Job?

Here’s How You Should Answer Common Recruiter Interview Questions

The core skills you need to succeed in recruiting—leadership, self-management, resiliency, and being detail-oriented and quick-thinking, among others—have remained consistent over the past few decades. But how you use them has changed markedly thanks to technology.

So, where does that leave you when you’re interviewing for a Staffing Recruiter firm as a job?

It depends on a number of different factors, including your work experience and familiarity with the industry. That said, most early-career candidates will not have recruiting experience going into the interview.

And that’s fine!

Just remember that the questions will be broad enough to allow you to demonstrate these fundamental skills in a way that wows your interviewer and leaves a lasting impression.

Recruiting expert Casey Weickgenannt from Apex—one of the premier staffing and recruiting agencies in the country—opened up about her experience hiring for these roles. What are the most common interview questions she asks? How should you answer them? How do you follow up appropriately?

Check out her answers to these and other pressing questions below.

What are your strengths?

This question, while standard to most every interview, actually has a few specific right answers when it comes to recruiting.

According to Weickgenannt, there are many questions hiring managers are looking to answer. “Are you money-motivated? Do you thrive in a fast-paced environment? Can you multitask?” This question gives you an opportunity to show that you are all of those things—and more, she says.

Emphasize your ability to multitask even in a hectic setting. Talk about how you build relationships and are a quick learner. And don’t just say what you are, show them. Speak eloquently and confidently to prove to the recruiter that these are among your many, many strengths.

Do you have leadership skills/experience?

This is one of the more concrete questions in a recruiting interview, which means answering it should be a little more straightforward. This is the time to talk about any clubs or teams you’ve started or belonged to. Specific experience works, too.

Talk about a time when you took the reins on a group project or organized others to accomplish something. Leadership means different things in different settings, so think about your own experiences and how it applies.

Do you like working with people?

This question is key when it comes to recruiting. “Our product is people, and people are very unpredictable,” Weickgenannt says.

That means you need to understand how to work with all kinds of people. So, to ace this question, communicate that you not only enjoy being a service-oriented team player, but also are skilled at handling the twists and turns of working with a range of personalities.

At the end of the day, Weickgenannt stresses, the most important qualification for a Staffing Recruiter boils down to essentially one quality. “We’re looking for somebody who has very strong interpersonal skills,” she says. “That’s definitely the most important qualification for us. Someone who’s able to connect with others and have strong communication.”

What would you do if…?

These types of behavioral questions—during which your interviewer will present a scenario and ask how you’d handle it—are very common for Staffing Recruiter interviews.

First, don’t panic.

The important thing to remember is that you will receive a lot of training once the job begins, so it’s more important to show that you’re resourceful, clever, and smart. Don’t perseverate on the fact that you’re unfamiliar with the specifics or tactics you’re presented with.

Weickgenannt also recommends researching common behavioral questions. “There are plenty available online,” she says. Yet no matter what, always make sure you:

Practice beforehand.

Polished answers will demonstrate your public speaking skills and sales skills.

Engage with the interviewer.

Make sure you’re actually engaging with what the interviewer is asking. This way you can learn about the position and better prepare for later in the interview process.

Ask thoughtful questions.

Do your research beforehand so that you can ask an informed question when the interviewer turns the tables. Additionally, you should think of a question based on something the interviewer either said or asked. And avoid topics like benefits, vacation time, or salary. Those can be ironed out later.

Follow up!

“A candidate who can stand out in the application process is someone who’s being responsive,” Weickgenannt says. “Following up, keeping open the line of communications—that’s really memorable.”

These interviewers are handling a ton of applications for a variety of jobs. Following up by thanking them for their time and reminding them of your strengths is a great way to ensure you’re going to be top of mind when decision time comes around.

Interested in a career in recruiting? Apex is hiring on WayUp now, so check out their open roles and apply!

5 Signs You’re Perfect For A Job In Recruiting

Recruiters are an essential part of the business world. But what skills make an ideal candidate? According to recruiting expert Casey Weickgenannt of Apex—one of the country’s premier staffing and recruiting firms—recruiting is all about people.

Strong Social Skills

Here’s something that all successful recruiters know: Recruiting is a lot like matchmaking.

You have to pair the person with the position in a way that makes both your client and your candidate happy. Otherwise you’re not getting the job done.

This means you’re basically making two sales at the same time. To pull that off, you need equal parts intelligence and social grace. That’s why social butterflies with a knack for making compelling arguments will find themselves uniquely prepared for this role.

Weickgenannt agrees. “The best candidates are well-rounded and have very strong interpersonal skills,” she says.

Multitasking And Quick Thinking

Recruiting is incredibly multifaceted, which means you need to be, too.

“There really is no average day,” Weickgenannt says. “There’s a lot of variety.”

That variety includes anything from meeting with candidates and following up on references to strategizing with your team and extending offers. Sometimes it can even mean helping with on-boarding for the candidates who accept the job.

And all the while, you’ve got more positions to fill. If you’re someone who looks at a mountain of tasks and thinks, “I’ve got time for that and maybe a couple of other things, too,” chances are you would thrive as a recruiter.

Leadership Skills

“Leadership” is one of those vague terms that seems like it simultaneously applies everywhere and nowhere—usually, that is.

But when it comes to recruiting, you actually need to lead people. It’s like being the president of a club, except your goal is to get everybody in the club the perfect job. That means helping people put forward the best version of themselves and their skill sets—and matching them to positions that you’re tasked with filling. (And then trying do that again and again and again.)

That can be challenging at times. “Our product is people, and people are very unpredictable,” Weickgenannt says.

That’s when the whole leadership thing comes into play. Gifted leaders are inherently more capable of driving people toward a common goal.

Think of it this way. If your candidate or your client can’t get behind your plan, then you’re not effectively doing your job. But if you’re someone people turn to for advice, then you’re probably the kind of person they would trust to get them the right job.

Money Motivation

What’s the most rewarding part about recruiting (beyond the satisfaction of helping people better their lives and advance their careers)?

“Compensation,” says Weickgenannt. “It’s a very lucrative career.”

Recruiters are incentivized based on job performance. That means the more successful you are, the more money you can make—and the higher you can climb up the corporate ladder.

If this kind of success lights a fire under you, then you’re sure to be excited by a competitive recruiting career.

Flexible Backgrounds

If you’ve made it this far and you’re thinking, “Well, I’ve got these other skills, but I’m not a business major,” then you’re in luck.

The range of successful recruiters includes people with a ton of different educational backgrounds. “There’s not one major that we look for,” Weickgenannt says. She adds that some of the more common ones include communications, advertising, marketing, public relations, and psychology.

So, long story short: If you’re an entrepreneurial, charismatic leader, there’s a great chance that you can find your place in recruiting.

Interested in a career in recruiting? Apex is hiring on WayUp now, so check out their open roles and apply!

What Does A Staffing Recruiter Do?

First, let’s talk about recruiting.

So, you want to know what a Staffing Recruiter is? Well, before we dive in, let’s make sure we’re covering our bases and addressing what a Recruiter does.

There are many different types of Recruiters, but they all perform essentially the same function: They help companies find and hire qualified candidates for open positions.

Recruiters typically work either in-house for specific companies or at staffing firms like Apex, which recruits for a range of businesses and clients.

What unites all Recruiters? They have to be willing to work hard, learn a lot, and project a confident, level-headed image to both clients (businesses) and candidates.

To dive into the topic, we talked to Casey Weickgenannt, a Corporate Recruiter at Apex, one of the country’s premier recruiting firms. She sat down with WayUp to nail down what it means to be a Staffing Recruiter.

What do Staffing Recruiters do?

Staffing Recruiters work at staffing agencies. They match qualified candidates with the right position that aligns with their background. They work across multiple verticals and are great problem solvers. The ideal Staffing Recruiter is able to assess a situation and make a decisive decision.

What are the challenges?

As a Staffing Recruiter, you need to be able to build relationships with candidates in order to best understand where they’ll make the biggest impact.

This can be incredibly rewarding—you’re helping people start or further their careers—but it’s not just the candidates you’re trying to assist. At the end of the day, you need to make sure your firm’s clients—the businesses who have hired you to fill positions—are getting the types and quality of candidates they’re looking for.

According to Weickgenannt, that means on any given day you can be “at meetings keeping each other accountable, generating leads, cold calling, following up with candidates, checking references, and seeing who’s the best match.”

What are the rewards?

Apart from the satisfaction of helping people advance their careers and better their lives, Staffing Recruiters enjoy many other perks. Chief among them, Weickgenannt says, is competitive compensation. “It’s a very lucrative career,” she stresses.

Additionally, being part of a team that comprises charismatic salespeople has its social rewards. “It’s a work hard, play hard environment,” Weickgenannt adds.

There’s also the satisfaction that comes from a job well-done. Recruiters often get to extend employment offers themselves. That means you’re going to have a lot of people who are very grateful and excited to be speaking with you.

Interested in a career in recruiting? Apex is hiring on WayUp now, so check out their open roles and apply!

What’s A Day In The Life Of A Recruiter Like?

Wondering what the day-to-day work of a Staffing Recruiter looks like? The truth is, no two days are exactly the same.

Staffing Recruiters have the challenging and rewarding job of recruiting amazing candidates to work for their clients. They’re involved in the entire candidate recruitment process from start to finish. They make sure everyone they work with has a great experience—whether or not they get the job.

To get a better sense of what a Staffing Recruiter does throughout the day, we talked to top staffing services firm Apex.

Morning Team Meeting

Staffing Recruiters at Apex kick off each day with a team meeting where everyone shares their daily goals. The purpose? To hold everyone accountable for their work (and provide support if needed).

Time For Calls and Emails

After their morning meeting, Staffing Recruiters at Apex get to work. This includes cold-calling potential candidates and following up with existing candidates by email or phone. They’ll also check professional references for candidates in the final stages of interviewing.

Meeting With Account Managers

Account Managers learn their clients inside and out and work together for a team with Recruiters, though they have individual goals. The more Account Managers know, the more effective they are at exceeding their customers’ business needs. That, in turn, enables them to better inform their Recruiters on what kinds of candidates would be the ideal fit for those businesses.

Onboarding Activities

Discovering that a candidate you’re working with got the job is one of the most exciting parts of being a Staffing Recruiter. When that does happen, you’ll get to help prepare the offer letter and oversee any additional paperwork—and of course celebrate your success!

Connecting with Past Placements

Relationship-building is at the heart of being a Staffing Recruiter. Because of this, your job doesn’t end once you place someone in a role. To make sure their clients are happy and thriving, Staffing Recruiters might check in via phone or schedule lunches and/or coffee dates to stay in touch.

This is just a sample of the day-to-day experiences you’ll have as a Staffing Recruiter. Depending on where you work, you might also spend some time in trainings to improve your soft skills and learn more about the industries you’re recruiting for. Recruiting may be a competitive field, but it also offers room for personal and professional development.

Does this sound like a job you’d be excited to do every day? Well, you’re in luck: Apex is hiring on WayUp now!