5 Reasons to Attend a Hiring Fair

Thinking about attending a job fair to look for your next career move? Here are 5 reasons you should attend a job fair in your area.

1. Companies are investing time and money: Companies that are willing to invest time and money into finding employees are typically more interested in finding good employees over cheap employees.
2. Networking: Although you may not find a job that’s perfect for you at the hiring fair, you've had a chance to get your resume in front of people that matter. Exchange business cards and follow up a month or two later with your resume to let them know you’re still interested in working for the company. If something has opened up, you’ll get pushed to the top.
3. Practice Interviewing: Often you can interview for a position while at the job fair. How many interviews have you gone on? This is a great opportunity to practice your interviewing ability. When you finally get the interview for your dream job, you’ll be prepared.
4. Learn to ask questions: The one thing most people regret when taking a new job is failing to ask the right questions. Accepting a job is like getting into a new relationship. Perhaps this is the perfect job and you’ll be there forever. Or, perhaps it just won’t work out and you’ll break it off and move on. Point is, you wouldn't get start dating someone unless you knew a few things about the other person and thought you were a match. Most job seekers are so excited about something new that they jump right in, forgetting important questions about salary, health benefits, vacation time and hours. Ask these questions when talking to employers about positions to get comfortable asking the right questions.
5. Get a job: This might be obvious but don’t forget you might find the perfect job at a hiring fair. Keep an open mind, bring a stack of resumes and pack those business cards.

I’m getting ready to represent my company at the upcoming eMerge Americas Techweek hiring fair on May 6th at the Miami Beach Convention Center. This is one of the biggest hiring fairs in south Florida and is a must attend for anyone interested in a new career. Know of any other upcoming hiring fairs? Share in the comments below!

Elizabeth Becker, Marketing Manager at PROTECH.

Unplug & Cash in that Vacation Time

Did you know that Americans forfeit 226 million vacation days each year? Giving up vacation time is not only causing more stress but is also is linked to increased health problems. 70% of healthcare visits are related to stress. Missing out on vacation is not only taking a toll on your body but it’s also taking a toll on your brain, contributing to depression, irritability and a lack of focus.

Sounds like it’s time to unplug and book a vacation!

1. Don’t be afraid to take longer vacations. Many Americans report they don’t take longer vacations because they are afraid it will impact their career. If you’re worried your boss will realize you really aren’t worth your payroll, then you really do need a vacation. Anytime you’re worried about being replaced, you realize you aren’t giving 100% and you need to recharge. Take a week or two off, set up your email autorespond and completely disconnect.
2. Don’t spend your vacation social networking. Yes, we all love our social networks and want to brag about our vacation. If you’re like a majority of Americans, you spend most of the workweek staring at a screen. Why turn your vacation into a work-like environment? Leave your smartphone, tablet and any other device you have at home. Try reading a book or just gazing off into the distance. Let your brain – and eyes – have a break from the glare.
3. Mix up your routine. If you typically stay out late, try going to sleep early. Or, if you typically go to bed early, stay up late. Vacations are all about spicing it up and having a different routine. How many times do we wish we could take a 3 pm nap while at work? You’re on vacation, take that nap you’ve been dreaming off!
4. Be active…if you want…but don’t waste time. I know plenty of people that have taken vacation then were disappointed because they didn’t really enjoy it because they wasted too much time wasting time. Wasting time isn’t the same as relaxing. Try being active while on vacation. I don’t mean going to the gym, I’m talking about trying something fun and exciting like going horseback riding, snorkeling or hiking (followed by a nap on the beach). Try at least one thing that will get your adrenaline racing.
5. Meet new people. You’re unplugged from social media so try the old fashioned way of connecting with others – real life social networking. Talk to people: ask them how their vacation is going, go out of your way to offer to take a photo for a group or help someone out.

What are your reasons to take a vacation? Let me know in the comments!

-Elizabeth Becker, Marketing Manager at PROTECH.

Gauging the Effectiveness of Social Media

As companies, we know that having a active social media platform is vital to getting the attention of new fans and followers. Building up our platform seems to mean having to be on Facebook, Twitter, G+ and LinkedIn 24/7 while still making sure to continue other more traditional marketing efforts. How can you make sure that the time spent and money invested in Social Media is making an impact?

Quality, not Quantity

We’ve all heard the saying “if you don’t have anything good to say, don’t say it at all.” The same applies to social media. Don’t inundate your audience with posts that aren’t relevant to them or are boring just to get a post out that day. It’s better to not post than to post something that can disengage your audience. Effective social media follows the 80/20 rule. 80% of what you post on social media should be fun, uplifting and not self promotional. Only 20% of your posts can be about you. The whole point of social media is about being social and shouting “me, me, me” all the time is not social, it’s selfish.

Post at the Right Time

You’ve finished your new company blog post and it’s 5 pm. Time to post a link to the new blog all over your social accounts before you call it a day, right? Wrong. Unless the majority of your target audience is online at 5 pm, you’re wasting your post. Each social platform is different when it comes to the best time to post. For example, the best time for most people to post on Facebook is 11 am and 3 pm as the engagement level is the highest. Your audience may fit the norm or it may not, the best way to find out is to experiment with the times to post your content. The days and times that you get the most engagement are when you should be most active on that social platform. This takes some trial and error but when you find out what time works the best, stick to it.

Schedule Posts for Effective Time Management

Tools such as Hootsuite allow you to schedule your posts ahead of time. If you finished writing your new blog at 5 pm and your optimum time to post is 11 am, pop your post into Hootsuite, set the post for 11 am the next morning, then enjoy some well deserved rest without having to worry about having to post it yourself. It saves time because you can schedule one post across multiple social platforms. Remember, social media is still about being social so make sure to check and respond to comments. I highly recommend not fully relying on scheduling tools and making sure you're still staying social.

Monitor Google Analytics

If you don’t have Google Analytics set up on your blog or website, this is something that you need to set up right away. Google Analytics tracks visitors to your site and where they came from (such as which social platform). If you have analytics, there is a section that outlines social acquisition by network. This shows you how many visitors your site received each day from which platform. Plus, you can also see which page they landed on (the link that they clicked). Analyzing these numbers can show you which social network brings you the most traffic as well as which article or blog you posted got the most visits. This is essential information to help you focus on what is working the best to build your network up in the most time effective way possible. One of the most important things to look at is your bounce rate. A ‘bounce’ is when a visitor lands on your site and immediately leaves. The lower the bounce rate the better. How can you decrease your bounce rate when it comes to visits from social networks? Make sure your post description matches your link. We all want to get clever with our posts to get visits to our site but if your description and link are not relevant enough, you’ll get a high bounce rate.

One of my favorite ways to monitor posts is through Google's URL Builder. This tool allows you to track specific campaigns. Let's say you have a new event and you want to share it. Build it with this tool, changing campaign source (ie Facebook, Twitter, G+) and medium (post, ad, comment) for each post, while keeping campaign name (event name) the same. This is also a great way for anyone posting on behalf of companies to show how much return they are getting. I'll usually add my initials into one of the fields (usually medium) so I can pull a report on analytics showing exactly how many clicks I got on links I put out there. Pop new URL's into the Google URL Shortener if you want a cleaner appearance.

Make New Fans

You have great Facebook fans but if you keep sharing posts to those same fans day in and day out, they’ll get bored. Plus, if your fan base is still relatively small, you’re missing out on an opportunity to reach new people. Instead of using your time to post only on your own wall, find and join groups and communities on Facebook and G+. By sharing your posts with new people through these new groups, you’ll avoid boring your audience and you’ll gain new fans. A word of caution - there have been reports from a variety of sources that running campaigns to increase Facebook likes is ineffective because most of the likes you will get are fake. You may get more fans but do not expect greater engagement. Try to reach your fans in other ways rather than buying them through advertising.

Social media is one of the most exciting platforms for businesses of all size because it can connect you with those interested in your services. By using your time on social media effectively, you’ll get the most out of your network while still being able to keep your main focus on your writing.

Elizabeth Becker is the Marketing Manager at PROTECH. Looking for a new career in IT? Choose the experts in Technology Staffing and Recruiting.

[Image via Jim Benton]

Future of Everything? Amazon Fire TV Launch.

For all of you that have been waiting, today Amazon launched their new Amazon Fire TV. Fire TV is set to revolutionize the TV experience by turning your flatscreen into a multi-media maverick. Watch any show, play games, listen to music and more…all thanks to a small, black box.

What Can I Watch?

Netflix will be a partner as well as HBO GO, SHO Anytime, Pandora, Hulu, ESPN and more. Amazon has its own media streaming service (like Netflix or Hulu) that will run on the Amazon Fire. Plus, movies and original content from Amazon Studios will also be available.

Amazon Prime features nearly every movie available but only some are free to watch with an Amazon Prime account. This little black box will let you watch anything you want if you’re willing to pay extra.

You’ll also have access to other games and services. The Amazon Fire is HTML and Android Based so it can support both web and mobile apps.

Other Perks

Amazon has really made some exciting changes to the world of online streaming by combining so many services together with the addition of newer features. You can search by either voice or text. Plus, there is a mic on the remote to avoid shouting across the room at your TV.

Another exciting feature is the photo app that grabs photos from your phone and automatically loads them to your Fire Tv. Great for sharing the vacation photos with family.

X-Ray will give you info about what you’re watching such as actors, directors, release dates and more. Talks of including music lyrics in the future.

You’ll have access to all your favorite music like Pandora, iHeartRadio, TuneIn and other music services.

Gaming

Amazon Fire is also planning on competing against game consoles. It makes sense, with cloud based technology, the hard disc game seems obsolete. Also, why pay so much money for a product that can do just one thing if you can get an all in one product like the Fire TV?

Thousands of games are set to be released next month according to amazon. There is also a game controller that will be selling for $40.

You can by Fire TV today for only $99. Other services (Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu Plus) are all additional.

The Tech Stuff

Amazon Fire runs from a tiny, black box that has a quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM and dual band WiFi. It comes with a small remote that has 7 buttons and a click wheel to navigate easier. If you have an Xbox, you know how difficult it is to watch online tv with the controller. This remote is designed to be much easier to use.

What are your thoughts about Amazon Fire Tv?

Elizabeth Becker - Marketing Manager at PROTECH.

Photos courtesy of Amazon.

Nailing the Interview

You have an interview coming up, now what? The interview is often how employers choose between equally qualified candidates. How do you set yourself apart?

Confident but not Cocky

More and more companies are realizing the importance of team players. An employee may be perfectly capable of performing tasks but if they don’t work well on a team, it’s a no-go. If you come across as being cocky rather than confident, it could blow your chances at your dream job.

Never Oversell

When it comes to hard skills, never oversell yourself. If you’ve only worked with atechnology for 6 months, tell the employer rather than claim expert status. Even at your current job, make sure to be careful when estimating your ability. I know a consultant that was hired by a Fortune 500 company to do staff reviews. He asked each of the staff to give him a list of what they would be able to accomplish that week. At the end of the week, the staff that did not accomplish their own task list were fired. The reason? Being able to gauge your own ability level is a critical. The same goes for interviews. If you oversell yourself and can’t prove it, you most likely won’t be offered the position.

Admit if You Don’t Know

Employers don’t just ask tough question on interviews to see if you know the answer. They’re also trying to see how honest you are. If you don’t know the answer and give an incorrect one, it will look worse that simply admitting you don’t know the answer. If it is a hard skill, they may test you on it so being realistic about your abilities is key.

Come Prepared

Just because you’ve emailed in your resume does not mean it ended up in printed copy in the hands of the hiring manager. Make sure to print and bring a professional copy.

Be Professional

I once interviewed someone for an office position and did not hire her because she was not professional. For the interview, she came in on a motorcycle with her boyfriend. I might not have minded except they both came into my office for the interview and he answered many of the questions. I could have made it clear he wasn’t supposed to be in the interview but there was no need. Employers won’t likely tell you if you’re doing something wrong in an interview. Just from the candidate coming into my office with her boyfriend in tow and letting him answer questions was all the info I needed to know she was not a good fit for the position.

What about you? What are your tips for nailing the interview?

-Elizabeth Becker, Marketing Manager of PROTECH.