TipTopJob Blog

With the Christmas party season kicking off this week, we thought it suitable to review some tips to surviving it and investigate whether employees "hated them and do not go", "go but prefer not to" or totally "love it and always go"! 

Our latest study found that 47% of employees do actually LOVE a Christmas party and always attend. Well, why not? It is an excuse to socialise with your work colleagues, enjoy food and drinks paid for by the company and have a night out!

On the other hand though, 25% unfortunately hated the thought of going to their Christmas party and find an excuse not to go. Are you one of these employees? Come on, tell us what your excuse is this year? On top of this, 28% go because they feel that they have to but prefer not to.

If you are one of those people avoiding the celebrations at Christmas with your work colleagues  have a read over the following tips to help with surviving the night:-
- drink a glass of water with every alcoholic drink;
- have a cut off time - pre-book your taxi home and stay safe;
- make sure you either eat before you go out or eat the food that is provided;
- do not go overboard with your choice of outfit and reveal too much flesh;
- pace yourself with the amount you drink and avoid any shots;
- stay away from office politics and gossip as it can get out of control on a night out when everyone relaxes;
- enjoy some dancing but avoid provocative dancing with your work colleagues and bosses;
- avoid posting onto social media throughout the evening;
- try to steer the conversation away from work.

If you can keep some of these pointers in mind, you are sure to enjoy your Christmas party without facing any uncomfortable situations. Have fun, stay safe and be merry!

When you are searching for a new job on TipTopJob, there are several things to bear in mind. Here are 6 Top Tips to help you use the site in the best way to find the perfect role for you. 

1. Register with TipTopJob as a jobseeker first. This will allow you to save jobs to your basket for a later date and easily attach the CV from your account when applying. 

2. Always choose "all" of the relevant industries that the role you are interested in could fall into. If you are looking for a Marketing Manager job for a large Supermarket chain, you must select the "Advertising, Marketing & PR", "Management" and "Retail & Wholesale" industries. You do not want to miss out on any opportunity that may be on the site in an industry you have not looked in!

3. Boolean search is always the best and can result in more accurate results. Take the advice on the Job Search Tips link on the search page on how to use it in the best way. 

4. If you are interested in working in more than 1 Country, start by searching in 1 Country and then move onto the next in a new search. You cannot search for jobs in multiple Countries.

5. If you are not able to find something that you want to apply for, make sure that you register an "Email Alert" which specifies the criteria of the role you want. This will allow the TipTopJob system to send you an email AS SOON AS a new job that is registered matches your criteria. You can then be the first to apply. You can register multiple "Email Alerts" so if you are interested in several types of jobs, register one for each.

6. Make sure that you attach your most up to date CV/Resume and one that is relevant to the job you are applying. You can save multiple CV/Resumes in your account so that you can tailor them accordingly.

Deciding to leave your current career for life in the classroom can be daunting. Check out these top tips from education charity Teach First on retraining as a teacher and putting your industry experience to work in the classroom:

1) Know how to transfer your skills

You won’t be starting from scratch in a new career in teaching. Whatever your background the skills and competencies you have gained will be essential, especially for engaging and inspiring pupils. Over 20% of those who joined the Teach First Programme last year came from other careers, bringing a wealth of skills and experience into the classroom.

2) Prepare yourself for immediate responsibility

Moving into the classroom can be a challenge. Changing career through Teach First harnesses your experience and enables you transfer your skills, so be ready to demonstrate your ability to communicate and be a leader.

3) Tell us about you

Many people consider teaching as they want to give something back and share their knowledge and experience and become positive role models. Whatever your motivation be prepared to be open and transparent about your background, and don’t be afraid to ask frank questions about what teaching involves. Share your stories of leadership and overcoming challenges and communicate your enthusiasm for heading in a new direction. 

4) Look at your options

There are many different routes into the classroom. As a charity, Teach First offers a Leadership Development Programme which is focused on supporting pupils from low-income backgrounds. As part of this, our teachers are provided with a salary while they are training in schools over two years, as well as receiving a full teaching qualification (PGCE) and Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) after the first year.

Teach First recruit on a rolling basis and have a team dedicated to supporting career changers through the application process. For more information, visit their website.

You can also find the current opportunities being advertised by Teach First on TipTopJob here.

Are you after a pay rise or promotion? 

Whilst employed in any job, there are several things you can do to impress your boss to increase the chances of receiving a pay rise, further responsibilities or even a promotion into a new job.

Learn about your boss

By knowing what makes your boss tick, what their goals are and how they work, it will help you relate to them and understand how to work to make them happy. In general, individuals will work better with others if they know and understand them.

Trust

Show your boss that you can deliver what you say you can. Make sure you meet your deadlines and that you consistently complete tasks on time to a high standard. If you can do this, your boss will begin to trust you and rely on your ability to do the tasks you are set. Ultimately, your boss will assign you further responsibilities and you may be offered a promotion.

Rapport

By building a good relationship with your employer, you are more likely to work more productively and make your boss like you. Being friends with him/her and talking about your interests and hobbies will help to build up a good relationship. Always remember though, that they are still your boss!

Make your boss's job easy

As well as doing your current role, try to take the pressure off your boss by helping with additional tasks. If necessary, you may need to work longer hours in order to highlight your skills and abilities and really impress your boss. Try to resolve any problems they face or suggest new methods to issues that arise.

Work out what you are good at & enjoy your work

By organising your day and identifying what you are good at, you can work cleverly to impress your boss. If you can do things very well, then try to get involved in these tasks more to show you are extremely capable of doing them. If you are performing tasks that you are good at, you will enjoy your work more and as a result naturally be more productive.

Appearance and Presentation

Always turn up to work well presented and dress appropriately. You do not want to upset your boss by dressing down, wearing too much make-up or not being clean in the morning. If you can dress up smartly, you look professional and therefore approach your work in a more professional manner.

Acquire new skills and further knowledge

By going on courses and showing you are keen to learn and develop your skills, you will really impress your employer. Not only will this initially create an impact, but also it will give your employer confidence in your future skills and abilities, recognizing your enthusiasm to learn and develop. One of the best ways to secure a promotion is to expand your knowledge and skill sets. Ask your boss about courses, training or such like that will help advance your learning.

Keep up to date with current industry news

It is also known that those who want to succeed should keep up to date with industry news and events as well as interesting trends outside their own speciality. This can prove to be very useful to the company and by showing you are keen to research and keep to date with trends in the industry, you will no doubt make an impression on your boss.

Ask for more responsibility

By asking for more work, more responsibility or volunteering to help out in the department shows interest and desire to be there and to help the company succeed. This in itself will impress the boss.

Be a team player

Teamwork is invaluable to companies and a very important skill to possess. By showing you are a good, effective team player, you will build your reputation and increase your value.

We hope this was useful to you! Why not head over to our Working Life articles in the Career Centre where you can find more related articles?

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.