TipTopJob Blog

Office romances can quite often end in tears, with someone losing their job, friendships ending or someone getting hurt. Here are 8 top tips on how best to manage your office romance if one is blossoming for you:

1.

Keep the pillow talk to your personal time. You colleagues and managers do not want to witness the whispering of sweet nothings when they are trying to concentrate at work, in the kitchen or even in the corridor. It can make colleagues feel uncomfortable and it can be the start of the gossiping.

2.

Do not get involved with a married person as you will have additional consequences to deal with, especially when families are involved. As soon as you find this out, steer clear because even though you could end up happy, it may upset others in the process.

3.

Be careful who you tell, especially at the beginning. You never know who the office gossip is and who knows who. You do not want to be top of the gossip list and you certainly do not want your personal life being shared openly with those you are working with professionally. If you do not know colleagues very well, be careful, as their opinion about you can be quickly tainted and it could create jealousy.

4.

Check if your company has any rules or regulations about office relationships as you do not want to be fired because of liking someone. Check your contract. There are no laws around office romance but your company may have their own rules to abide to..

5.

Avoid emailing your romancer. Emails are traceable and easily forwarded or sent to unintended persons. Keep the personal stuff to phone messaging and talking outside of the workplace.

6.

Make sure that you are the only one. Sometimes people can be flirty and show as interest in someone but then a new recruit comes along and this behaviour transfers and they become flavour of the month. Be sure that he/she is not just having a bit of fun with flirty office banter but that they are really interested in you before you fall madly in love.

7.

 Do not change your appearance. This is a clear sign to many that you are interested in someone and if you are trying to keep it low key, this is definitely something to take note off. It is obvious to many when someone starts to make more effort and looks different all of a sudden! Wear similar clothes to what you normally do and for women avoid any extra make-up, perfume and hair-dressing.

8.

Take things slowly and make sure that person is right for you before you declare your love, move in, spread the word and become an official couple.

Our survey found that 50% of people have witnessed an office romance ending with long term love so it is clear that this could happen to you. With our useful tips, you can manage the process of a blossoming romance but also help yourself if you are not so fortunate enough for it to last, that it does not end with too much heartache and upset. Good luck.

Are you one of those people who wants to change jobs or careers…but never does? Do not worry, you are not alone in feeling this way and because it is so common we wanted to find out why it is that people remain in a job and delay the process of the dreaded job search.

Our latest survey asked why people would put off applying for a new job.

We found that 51% of people had just not found the right opportunity for them. 26% did not want to leave the friends they had made at the workplace behind which is a comforting factor showing that the workplace is a fantastic opportunity to make new and good friends that you want long-last relationships with.

15% of people are put off with the time and effort that has to go into the change and so just leave it and leave it. Finally, 7% are actually scared of change.

Whatever the reason for putting off the job search, it is a hugely common issue and a daunting one for many. It can often feel overwhelming with all the information, especially the number of agencies, job boards, aggregators, organisations to visit that help you that it becomes more off-putting than actually helpful.

Well, if you are not happy in your current role and want a change, then we can help. Get over to www.tiptopjob.com where you can search for any kind of job you are looking for and apply to suitable vacancies online. As a job board, the process needs to all be done online and the client advertising the role will come back to you to let you know if you have been successful. Do not delay this job hunt anymore - no need to be scared or daunted - there is no time like the present!

We wish you all the luck in the world and hope we have something suitable for you at some point :)

Have you ever wondered which social media platform was the best for sourcing a new job?

Well, in our latest survey, we asked over 537 people in one week which of the social media platforms they HAD managed to get a job via. 

Can you guess which site was the winner? Yes, you got it. Linkedin hands down won the poll. Almost half of the respondents said they had got a new job via the use of Linkedin. Linkedin IS the more professional network and constantly displays new vacancies that are relevant to you. With the networking opportunities available through this platform, it is no doubt the place to start looking when using social media.

These are the results of the survey:
Linkedin: 228
Facebook: 171
Twitter: 15
Google+: 39
Instagram: 12
Other: 72

If you have found a new job via any OTHER platform, do let us know below where!

A survey questioning 1000 jobseekers about how they deal with stress at work found that almost a third of people take a walk to instantly reduce stress at work. 27% of people revealed that going for a walk was how they dealt with stressful situations in the workplace.

Second to this, a quarter of the respondents “treated” themselves. This took the form of treating themselves with some food they do not normally eat or visiting the shop to buy themselves something to cheer them up! Who can deny retail therapy to lift the mood?

Surprisingly no-one reported reading as a de-stresser, only 10% went out to see their friends and luckily, only 3% sunk their heads in alcohol after work. 19% decided to take some time off from work to combat stress and 17% exercised.

Just as stress can affect people in different ways, handling and dealing with stress also varies from one person to another. What works for one person, may not for a colleague. It is about finding what makes you feel good and what reduces your stress and dealing with it in your own way.

Corinne Hutchinson, comments, “Stress is rife in today’s busy, complex lives. People have to work out their limits and find situations that make them feel less stressed. If not, the knock on effect on individuals can be severe and second to that can impact on performance at work which nobody wants. We have some articles in our Career Centre about dealing with stress to help people to get through difficult times.”

What do you worry about the most when preparing for a job interview?

Our latest survey found that 36% of people worry most about the questions they have for the interviewer at the end of interview. Being able to hold decent eye contact came out as the least worrying aspect. The other options included getting to the interview on time, what to wear, knowledge of the company and knowledge of the role.

The results were as follows:

In one of our recent survey's, we asked our users what colleagues most annoying habits were. We offered 8 options and these were the results .......

Coming in as the most annoying habit was the humming, whistling and singing (of which 23% chose) but on the other end of the scale came stealing food!!

What would you say is the most annoying habit that your colleagues portray? Tell us below...

Our latest findings on a survey asking what people dream about the most found that 34% dream of finding a new job that is better paid over a new role in a better company, a higher role, relocating to another Town or Country and even working for themselves.

26% dream about moving to a better company whether it is a better brand, larger/smaller number of staff or something similar. The third most popular response was moving to another Country with 17% selecting this option.

The fewest number of responses (1.4%) fell on moving to another Town showing that this option was the least attractive reason for changing a job.

14% dreamt about working for themselves and 7% moving to higher role.

What is your dream?
If you dream of moving to another Country, where is it?
Do you want to live on a beach, for example, in Thailand or a more bustling, lively City in a hot Country like Sydney, Australia? Or would you be happy with a better commission package, a 5% pay rise or a car allowance?

Let us know what your dream is……….

#dreams #careers #jobs #jobsearch #jobfairy #moremoney #recruitment #employment #opportunities

Working from home has become a big thing for many people with more sophisticated technology available and to accommodate those striving to have a better work/life balance. It does however usually depend on what kind of role you do as to whether it is even an option.

We asked our users recently how often some of them did work from home. We were surprised at the responses as we did expect a larger number of responses to the one-off times and once per week options. Only 9% work from home at one-off times, 6% once per week, 5% twice per week and 12% 2 to 4 times per week.

27% actually work from home everyday BUT a much larger proportion.....40%, said they NEVER work from home.

What job do you do if you work from home? Help us understand what types of roles actually consist of more working from home :)

We asked over 2,000 of our users "What is your first drink you have when you get to work?" in order to analyse the caffeine and sugar addicts around us ....

A massive 57% of people have a coffee or a tea when they arrive into the workplace. It is a very common and obvious drink choice when sitting at a desk catching up on emails and could be more common among office workers. That said, grabbing a coffee on route to a meeting in the car or walking on site with a mug of tea would not go unheard of. Drinking coffee and tea can become addictive and therefore a very difficult habit to crack!!

Second to the coffee/tea drinkers we have the purest kind....our "water" drinkers. 33% say this is the first drink they consume when arriving at the workplace and a healthy percentage of them:) How can we promote this further and encourage more to stick to water?

There is current considerable concern about the sugar and caffeine that is being consumed across the World but this survey gives some refreshing evidence to show us that not many respondents drink fizzy caffeine, fizzy non-caffeine drinks, nor squash. Energy drinks did appear in the list however with 5% of our users unfortunately consuming them as their first beverage. 

What do you drink when you first arrive at work? Do you feel you need a caffeine or sugar boost? Or are you able to dodge this very dangerous addiction?

In our latest survey question about searching for a new job, we found that most respondents want more money and that is why they are searching for a new role. 27% of jobseekers selected “More Money” in the questionnaire.

Second to that was a “Career Change”. 18% were looking for a new role to change careers and try something new. 16% “Disliked Colleagues/Manager” and that was why they were job searching.

The other options and response rates were:

- Bored/don’t enjoy current role – 14%

- Re-locating – 10%

- Sacked/asked to leave – 8%

- More responsibility – 5%

- Better career prospects – 2%

Why are you looking for a new job? Is there another reason not listed above?

Is money always on the top of your agenda?