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!
A few weeks ago we asked the users on TipTopJob, how many times each week they were late for work.
When breaking down individuals arrival at work, we felt there are four different types of people....
1. those who are always at least 10 minutes early, never rushing or stressed.
2. those who walk in dead on start time and never before.
3. those who are literally running in, hair wind swept panting either on time or just after.
4. those who are notoriously late with one excuse or another.
Our latest survey run over several weeks, found that 73% say they are NEVER late for work. Excellent figure and we are delighted that these are the people using TipTopJob :)
Sadly though we did discover a % of people who are late, whether that was 1,2,3,4 days or every single day of the week. 13% admitted they are late 1 or 2 days each week, 5% 3 to 4 days and 9% say they are late every single day!!!!
So tell us, do you work with these late comers? And if so, how are they disciplined at work? Is it acceptable to be late in some companies and does it just not matter? What would happen to you if you were late at work?
It has been reported today in the UK, Wednesday 16th November 2016, that the unemployment rate has fallen to its lowest level for almost 11 years in the 3 months after Brexit.
The Office of National Statistics reports that the jobless rate falls to 4.8% between July and September which has not been achieved since 2005.
Brexit created huge uncertainty for Britain's economy and there were fears of a possible recession but these figures prove that the Country is fighting back and maintaining its strong position.
Let us know your thoughts below surrounding these latest statistics.....
Most employees find that it is "The Company" that hinders career progression over anything else. In our latest survey we asked what most employees find holds them back from moving their careers forward out of a number of given options including "The company", "The Role", "Colleagues", "The Boss", "Their Skills" and "Their Confidence".
37% of responses selected "The Company" as the main reason for hindering their progression. Second to this were the individuals "Skills" of which 22% responded. Next, 14% selected "Confidence" from the options available - amazing that so many people have a lack of confidence that holds them back in their career!!
"The Role", "Colleagues" and "The Boss" were at the bottom of the pile. Only 6% chose "Colleagues", 8% "The Boss" and 12% "The Role".
Whatever the reason, career progression is so important to keeping an individual interested in their job and willing them to work for the company for the longer term rather than just the short term. The fact that most employees are stating that it is "The Company" holding them back shows that there are potentially no opportunities to progress within the company they are working for so the only option for promotions or advancements would be to move elsewhere. Have you got experience of a company hindering your career progression? Tell us the details here....
In our latest survey we discovered that 46% of colleagues are able to talk freely and openly to each other whilst at work. Not only that but they feel no restriction on when or where they can have an open natter and at any point throughout the working day, personal discussions happily take place.
36% felt that they could talk openly and freely to their colleagues too but they needed to limit this to out of working hours only. Work hours equal work.
Finally, only 18% of respondents felt they could not talk to their colleagues about personal matters. Colleagues are kept at a professional arms length at all times!
So, which category do you fall into? If you are one of the 36%, do you find yourself emailing and texting each other because of the restrictions in place within working hours or are you simply too busy to even consider a personal discussion?
Our latest findings reveal that 66% of employees carefully select what they post onto their social media profiles as they fear it will negatively affect their chances at work. 48% of this figure feel that it therefore restricts their use of social media.
21% of the employees say it is does not stop them and it does not worry them at all.
Social media is being used everywhere, not just for personal uses but business as well so it is hard to draw a line for some employees if they are using it as part of their job. Surely, someone with access to Facebook who is posting company updates, will sneak the odd peak at their personal profile? No? Should there be some leeway on personal use anyway in an office or does giving an inch turn into a mile?
Well it varies depending on the industry and job role really. Working in the marketing and media industry would require regular use of social media across all platforms. But when working in recruitment there would be constant use of Linkedin required but not so much on Facebook and Twitter. At the end of the day, it is down to the company and what their rules and regulations are. Our advice would be to not take advantage of your situation or you may have to deal with more serious consequences.
What are your thoughts on social media in the workplace? Should it be allowed or is it a distraction?
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.
Over the last few weeks we have seen a dramatic increase in job listings across Nigeria. We have seen over 1,500 new roles posted in just the last week.
Nigeria is notorious for being poor and has a bad reputation for safety in travel, living and working. However, many expats that live and work in Nigeria report that they are aware of these risks but on the whole feel safe and live happily.
Nigeria is the largest economy in the whole of Africa now and job opportunities are available from a wide and varied range of sectors. The most popular industries in Nigeria include Oil, Mining, Banking, Construction and Telecoms. Project management, accountancy, business development, engineering, human resources management, IT systems management are all popular vacancies.
With hundreds of ethnic groups living and working in Nigeria, it provides an interesting and diverse working environment. Although there must be extreme caution taken when it comes to corruption, fraud and safety, but there are many plus points to living and working in this unique Country.
Check out our latest jobs that have been registered across Nigeria on our website. You can search through thousands of jobs and apply online. Do not forget, if you do not find what you are looking for, register and set up Email Alerts and we will notify you when matching jobs are registered. We hope we have something that you are looking for.
We are really excited to be entering another season in partnership with Access MBA. We first began our partnership back in 2013 and have continued to work together ever since. This fall, we begin by promoting the upcoming events across Western Europe.
Access MBA was established in 2004 as an independent media agency that provide personalised services for international business schools and prospective students. They work with the top 200 business schools across the world and connect with students at over 100 international events each year.
Here at TipTopJob, we are able to promote these events within each of the Countries as well as Internationally to our database of active and passive jobseekers. In return, Access MBA are able to market the TipTopJob job hunting services to their network of students.
For this coming fall, Access MBA are currently promoting the following events:-
London on 26th September 2016
Dublin on 27th September 2016
Brussels on 29th September 2016
Paris on 1st October 2016
Zurich on 3rd October 2016
Geneva on 4th October 2016
Vienna on 6th October 2016
Rome on 8th October 2016
Lisbon on 11th October 2016
You can click on the links above to find out more about each and register to attend the event.
We look forward to working alongside Access MBA for the foreseeable future. For anyone with any questions or queries about the events, please do get in touch with us here.
We have just discovered an initiative launched recently allowing new parents to bring their baby to work in a company in New Hampshire, USA. It allows parents to bring their child into work until they reach either 6 months or crawling stage and they are given a dedicated work space to remain comfortable.
The company that has started this program believes it will increase employee engagement, reduce turnover and reduce new parents leaving.
So, we are asking you what you think about this set up? Is it something you would consider as a new parent? Do you think you could fully concentrate on your job? Do you think the baby will benefit or suffer from being confined in an office?
Tell us your thoughts - we would love to hear them :)