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June 27, 2022

How to Deal With a Client Who Goes Back on Their Word

When you’re in business, the only thing worse than losing a customer is when you lose a customer who still owes you money. When this happens, your best course of action may be to have a serious sit-down with the client and attempt to work out an arrangement that makes everyone happy…but if that doesn’t happen, you should know how to deal with it legally as well. Here are some tips on how to make sure a client pays you for the work you have completed; dedicating time to this can increase your business by ensuring you are paid on time.

Sign a contract

When starting a new business deal with a potential client, always make sure to sign a contract. This protects your interests in case your client later decides to back out of an agreement or simply doesn’t pay you for work done. As such, it’s critical that both parties agree to contractual terms before any work is started. If you don’t, you run into potential trouble down the road when it’s time to get paid and your client is less than enthusiastic about honoring their agreement. Plus, this is a time where you set your rates and discuss expectations, so make sure you are valuing yourself in this transaction!

When they want to change the contract details

This could be because they want more work than you’ve agreed, or they want fewer resources. If you don’t allow them to change details in your contract and you feel that it makes things worse for you, then renegotiate. Tell them why it makes things worse and ask them if they are willing to cover additional costs that might occur with their changes. Whatever you do, don’t just say you will “add it in later” or only get a verbal commitment; make sure to get everything in writing. 

Once you are finished with your end of the project

Send them an invoice as soon as possible and make sure you get paid. In fact, you should send invoices within 24 hours of finishing a project, but it can always be later if absolutely necessary. If they have not responded after 48 hours, you may want to follow up with another email or call reminding them of your request. Start off just by ensuring they received your invoice — things can get lost in the shuffle! Then, send a reminder halfway through the term of the invoice. For example, if your window is thirty days, reach out at fifteen just to send a nice reminder.

When the term limit is up, send them a notice. After that, it is up to you to decide how often to send reminder invoices. At this point, you should also call them to check in, and you can institute a late payment policy where they are charged extra if the invoice reaches a certain date without being paid.

Finally, you may need to take legal action. At that point reach out to an attorney for help with collections. You should determine if this is a course of action you want to take. Sometimes invoices are small, so trying to do extra work to get payments can cost more than what you are owed.

When to refuse future offers

If you’re offering a service, it can be hard to turn down repeat business, but you should. If you are aware that your client is not paying their bills and cannot pay future ones in full and on time, it’s only going to cause problems for you in the long run. Setting clear expectations with clients about payment is vital, so always let them know if they are unable to maintain payments that you will stop work until payment has been received.

It is also okay to turn down work if you notice someone exhibiting a certain behavior that, for your business, indicates they may not pay based on your experiences. For example, perhaps you’ve noticed that if someone takes two weeks to return an email, it is hard to collect payments from them. It’s always okay to say no. Even if you meet someone and the work seems just right, if you have a gut feeling about it, follow it!

What advice do you have for those just starting in business that are struggling to collect payments? Reach out and let us know!

 

 

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June 20, 2022

Don’t Fall For This Scam

We’ve written several blogs on how to spot a fake hiring scam before, but we wanted to warn you of a new, very elaborate scam we’ve encountered recently. 

It started with an email.

A friend of mine named Carol was applying for jobs. She received a very official-looking email from someone offering her a job with a similar title to the one she was interviewing for with many other companies. The email detailed a marketing position, the title, the pay, and asked if Carol was interested in an interview. The problem? Carol never applied with this company. However, she kept good records of every place she did apply to, and there was one organization with a kind of similar name and a kind of similar job position. She wanted to make sure this was NOT that position.

The first thing Carol did was check the email address. It said something along the lines of jsmith@company.co — it matched the email signature which said something like Jay Smith with Company.co plus it provided a photo of Jay Smith. Carol then searched for Company.co online and easily found it. She looked at the Careers page on the site, and all it said was that they were actively hiring and encouraged anyone interested in their company to reach out.

Everything seemed fine. Carol was still a little unsure about it, but then she received a text message. She provided her cell phone on her résumé and in her applications, so it was not unusual for a company to have that. The text was from Jay Smith, asking Carol to verify that she received his email because he was worried it went to spam. Carol reassured him it did not and said she would be looking at it later. Jay thanked her and said he anxiously awaited her response.

She re-read the email. Searched the company again. Looked for them on social media and found they had an impressive following. The names all matched, the logos matched, everything really did seem above board, but something about the whole ordeal was bothering Carol.

Still, Carol decided to reach out. She asked what the job position actually entailed as a list of duties had not been included in the original email. Jay responded saying they would give Carol details once she agreed to an interview. That was a big red flag. Carol pushed further for the exact job description, but Jay just kept saying she would receive it during the interview. While Carol debated over what to do next, Jay sent her another email with the ‘President’ of the company copied into it. The president’s name was something like Jack, and he said he looked forward to interviewing Carol for the position. He too had an email signature with a photo.

Before agreeing to an interview, Carol then asked how Jay discovered her. He said he used a recruitment company. Carol researched that company as well. They were very official with a large social media following and a nice website. However, the whole thing did not sit right with Carol. She never went through a recruitment agency; in fact, she wasn’t sure how an agency would even get her information. Plus, that particular agency specialized in the medical field, and Carol was looking for a job in marketing. The salary listed in the email bothered her because it was much higher than what others were offering. Finally, she knew something was very wrong since this Jay person would not give her the job description. Bonus: Jay — and now Jack — were sending her several emails, pressuring her for an interview.

She searched up Company.co again, but this time she looked at the URL. When she typed in company.co into her address bar, the URL was automatically changed to company.COM. Many companies have these sort of redirects automatically set up to help get customers to their site in case they make a typo. However, those redirects will not be included in email addresses. If someone emails you from a company, it will be from the MAIN url. Carol double checked the email address, and it said company.CO and not company.COM.

That confirmed that the email she received was fake. Next, she reverse Google image searched the man’s picture in the email signature for Jay. She immediately found him. Only, his name was not Jay. It was something like James. And James didn’t work for Company.com or Company.co, instead he worked for a completely different company altogether. She found his information on the company’s staff page. He had nothing to do with recruiting or HR. He was the vice president of the company. With this information, she backtracked to LinkedIn where she found his profile. It confirmed he never worked with any sort of Company.co.

She reached out to him and asked if he was the one emailing her. He was not. In fact, he was at a technology conference in Dubai at the time. She then did the same thing for Jack. He too was a real person that never worked for Company.co and he, in fact, never worked with the real James. His name was also actually John.

Carol went back to Company.com and reached out to them, asking if they were hiring in marketing. Company.com got back to her and confirmed they used a redirect so that if anyone typed in Company.co they would get to Company.com, and they also confirmed they were NOT hiring anyone in marketing.

It was a scam, and a good one at that. They knew the type of jobs Carol was searching for, and they used the real company’s logos. They chose names almost identical to real organizations, and they used real people’s photos they found online (although not their true names, but they got close using Jay instead of James and Jack instead of John — they did use the exact same last names as these fake people’s real counterparts). Finally, she searched up the cell phone number she received the text from and found it was a burner number purchased through an online service.

Carol was not one to be deterred. She replied back to the fake email, said she knew it was spam and that she had reported it to the correct company. 

She thought it was over.

It was not.

A few days later, Carol received a text message from a different phone number. It addressed her by name. It said it was from a company that discovered her information on a job site (yes, it was a site she used frequently). The text was from someone named something like Mary. This Mary person said she wanted to reach out quickly to see if Carol was interested, and if so she would set up an interview.

Carol felt this was a scam, but this time around they knew one of the job sites she was using, so maybe, just maybe, this was real. Plus, she quickly looked up the phone number, but this said it was unlisted so it had a bit more of a legitimate feel. She responded saying she was interested. Mary gave her a code and asked her to message that code to the company’s HR department through Skype so they could set up an interview time. When using Skype (for those not familiar), you sign up with an email address and send messages using that, so Carol saw no problem in moving onto the next step.

Carol followed instructions. HR responded, and then immediately tried to video call Carol, which she hung up on. She sent a message saying she wanted to schedule a time, not chat right at that moment. The HR person responded saying they understood. Then they said something strange: they were sitting around, waiting on Skype all day, so any time Carol wanted to call she could. She did not need to set up a specific time.

Carol then asked if they could provide more job details before she scheduled a time, and that’s when they said: you will get more information on the job description once in the interview. It was worded the exact same way as when it came from the Jay Smith person days before. It was the same people. Different tactic this time with texts, a different company name, different job title (though still in the same field), and a different interview situation through Skype. But, it was all the same wording. Throughout this entire time, the HR person was messaging Carol insistently through Skype, pushing for an interview.

Carol blocked them on Skype and reported them to the site where they claimed to have found her information. For the next two months, she received emails and text messages from different numbers and addresses, all offering slightly similar job positions from somewhat official looking accounts. Carol ignored them, and in time, they left her alone. She has not received one of those messages for six months now.

So, what was the point? Carol did a lot of research on what scammers were after, but this scam doesn’t seem to be well documented online. In our expertise, we believe that they were hoping to lure Carol into an ‘interview’. Once there, they would tell her she received the job, and then they would ask for personal information — information such as bank numbers for a ‘direct deposit’ or even a social security number for ‘tax purposes.’

She was never sent a link to click or a file to download. Each time, they just really tried to pressure her into an interview to get more details.

We wanted to pass this story along to try and keep you all safe. Carol has no clue how these people received her information. Our best guess is one of the job listings she applied for was fake, but the scammers didn’t use the same company name on the ad as they did to contact Carol — scammers often do this because their listing gets removed by job sites the minute they are discovered as scams. Carol no longer uses the particular job site the scammers mentioned in their text.

If you EVER feel in your gut like something is a scam, trust yourself. Walk away and find something different. But, if you’re just not sure, here are a few things to look for:

  1. Check the end of the email address (the part that comes after the @) to see if it matches the exact company website — remember, .co and .com are two very different things.
  2. Reverse Google image search any photos of people you see.
  3. Don’t be afraid to reach out to people via LinkedIn or through the company’s website/phone number.
  4. Search for any phone numbers you are provided. If the person is using their personal cell phone, ask them to provide their official phone number with the company.
  5. If you do get into an interview that seems strange, don’t be afraid to leave it. 
  6. NEVER give out personal information in an interview such as a bank account routing number.

Carol is very familiar with job scams, and she was very careful when she interacted with these people. She told us that from the beginning she figured it was a scam, but she was curious to see what it was all about (and if it wasn’t a scam by some miracle, that would have been awesome). That is why she pursued this so far. She also ended up working closely with the real Company.COM and the two people that were impersonated during that first round of the scam to combat that and get it reported online; she said when she realized the email address didn’t match, that’s when she 100% knew, but she wanted to make sure no one else truly fell for their scam so she kept going with it.

Again, if you ever feel like something does not add up, please walk away from it!

Do you have any job scams you’ve encountered recently? Reach out and tell us about it so we can share it to keep everyone safe.

 

 

 

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June 13, 2022

How Often Should I Meet With My Remote Employees?

As a manager of remote employees, how often do you need to meet with your team? The answer isn’t always clear-cut and depends on the needs of your business and the success of your employees. Here are some guidelines to help you decide how often you should meet with your team and why it’s important to keep the lines of communication open.

When to Meet

There’s no right answer to how often remote employees should meet, but there are a few situations in which you should be holding virtual staff meetings such as when your company first starts hiring remote workers. Meeting regularly (at least weekly) is an excellent way to keep everyone on track with their work. Plus, when people who work together aren’t in each other’s physical presence, it can be hard to know if and when work gets done. That’s why a weekly check-in for new hires is important, but it can be every other week too.

If it’s your established remote staff that needs attention, you might only need to schedule meetings monthly or bi-monthly. While meeting less frequently can be seen as a sign of neglect, keep in mind that regular meetings aren’t always productive. In fact, having them too often can actually make people less productive. If virtual employees are meeting more than once per month and nothing is getting done, then it may be time to revisit how you’re holding them accountable for their work.

Having Effective, Not Just Frequent, Meetings

Yes, it’s tempting to invite remote workers into every meeting you have. But even though your remote employees might be able to check in at any time and ask questions, these meetings are still valuable opportunities for them to make contributions and feel connected to your team. Aim for meetings that are effective, not just frequent. For example, you can have a weekly meeting on Mondays that is strictly about workflow updates and project planning.

Also, ensure that remote employees are present and active in your meetings. In a recent survey (which is probably not a shock to our audience), 50% of moms said they enjoyed working from home and planned on continuing to work from home, so working to establish a good remote workforce is important! Consider creating a culture where regular check-ins can happen via phone or video chat to offer these opportunities, and look into other tools that can help keep everyone on the same page.

When Not To Hold a Meeting

Don’t have a meeting to just have a meeting. Holding meetings that don’t have an outcome or purpose can be frustrating and unproductive, especially when you’re working with remote employees who aren’t in-office. Take time before each meeting to think about what you want to get out of it and jot down topics, action items, and follow-up plans so everyone knows what they need to take care of after the meeting.

So, How Often Do We Need To Touch Base?

The magical number is…it depends. That’s probably not the answer you were hoping for, but it’s the best one we can give you. We do have some guidelines we recommend in general:

  1. Check-in often with new hires. This helps the onboarding process, ensures work is being completed, and establishes a good working relationship. We recommend a regular check-in maximum of once per week and a minimum of every other week. Find what works for you, but make sure you are 100% available to help new hires as needed.

 

  1. Schedule meetings around project kick off, mid-project check-ins, and after projects are completed to review how it went. Now, we aren’t talking about every little project that comes across your desk — we’re talking about the BIG projects that require your entire team to complete.

 

  1. Check-in with your regulars. There is no set rule for this. We have seen companies that hold company-wide meetings weekly. We prefer to check-in with our entire team once per month, but we meet individually more often. Find what works for you, and remember that everyone works differently so some folks need more meetings than others to feel connected and productive — but some fall on the other end of that spectrum!

The takeaway is to find what works for you and your team. Meetings with everyone can be difficult with schedules and time zones, so individual meetings are easier to arrange…which might lead to one too many meetings for individual team members. Just keep the lines of communication open and honest to find what works, and go from there!

How often does your team meet? Reach out to let us know!

 

 

 

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June 6, 2022

7 Tips for Balancing Kids and Work as a Work-at-Home Mom

As a stay-at-home mom, you have an added obstacle when it comes to getting work done at home: kids! From wanting to play with you all day long to those household chores catching your eye when you need to concentrate, there are plenty of distractions that can get in the way of your work. Here are 7 tips that will help you get things done AND make the most of your time as a work-at-home mom while you balance caring for your kids, chores, and, of course, working!

1) Manage Your Time

Managing your time can be difficult when you are working from home, especially when little ones are involved! Sometimes, there’s so much to do that you don’t know where to start. Use apps like Asana or Todoist to help keep track of all your work, home, and personal tasks so you know what you need to focus on next. Manage your time by TAKING TIME to get your to-do list written down in a single location. Taking time to do something like that can seem counterproductive, but this also helps you see what you need to prioritize first. For example, if your kids have activities early in the morning Tuesdays, you can plan out to have meetings in the afternoon so you can still get your kids where they need to go.

It’s also helpful to use collaborative tools like Slack or Google Hangouts to share information with co-workers, family members, or team members who might be involved in various aspects of your projects. If you run into any issues with these apps, check out ClickUp, which offers a single solution for managing your entire business by providing an app suite that enables teams to stay on top of their work together. Use whatever tools work best for you; in a world full of technology, there are so many great things to help you stay connected!

2) Organize Your Life

Okay, so you just completed tip number one. You have all your information in a time management app. Now what? Get organized! You have your schedule laid out and priorities set. Time to work around that. Kids have camp Tuesday morning? Drop them off…then what? That’s where tip #2 comes in handy. Organize ahead of time that you will bring your laptop with you and sit in a nearby coffee shop to work so you’re close to pick up the kids when they are done. Plan ahead to bring your laptop, charger, etc.

Another example (and one of our favorite ways) of organizing your life and creating structure is with a weekly meal plan. Before work, spend time planning out your meals and snacks. You’ll enjoy more variety at dinnertime if you can plan your meals ahead of time, rather than reacting to what happens on particular days or nights. While many work-from-home moms struggle with finding time to get their jobs done and handle family responsibilities, many more have trouble setting aside enough time for themselves each day. Eating a healthy meal is included in that time! 

3) Save Your (Emotional) Energy

Focus on your emotional bank account so that you don’t run out of reserves by getting into too many negative arguments with your kids. I’m not saying your kids will start arguments. What I’m saying is that maybe you have a meeting that doesn’t go well. You’re frustrated. Upset. It happens to all of us. It can be difficult to turn around and be positive — especially if your kids are a little hangry on top of all of that!

It’s important to save your emotional energy, which ties into tips #1 and #2. When you’re managing your time and organizing everything, give yourself a breather. Seriously. You deserve it. Don’t schedule a meeting right on top of picking your kids up from camp. Don’t stress yourself out by cramming your schedule as tight as possible. Most important of all, don’t be afraid to ask for help. Being a mom is hard. Working a job is hard. You’re doing BOTH. You’re amazing, and even you need help once in a while. Please don’t be afraid to ask for it!

4) DON’T Do Laundry

We all know that laundry gets done, but when you’re busy with work (and kids), it can get left behind. Partner up with your family members to divvy up household chores. Sometimes we can actually procrastinate by doing household chores. If this is you, definitely work with your family to split up tasks. Or, they might be distractions too because you just can’t stand it when piles of laundry are all over! Ask your family to help: that might look like putting laundry in a hamper in a closet, trading off who does the laundry, etc.

5) Get Help from Others

When you’re working from home, it can be hard to stay focused on your tasks when there are other things vying for your attention. A few words of advice: Get help! If you have young children, ask a friend or family member to babysit so you can block out time for work and get ahead of any looming deadlines. If you need some time away from your responsibilities but don’t want to travel to an office, use mobile apps like Skype and WhatsApp to set up virtual meetings with colleagues — you can make sure they don’t interrupt you while they can still benefit from your knowledge.

6) Stay Motivated

One of the biggest challenges for working moms is maintaining motivation to work, which can be hard to do when you’re tempted to break from it every time your kids cry or make a mess or ask to play. Setting boundaries is very important here, but so is asking for help! Re-visit tip #5 as many times as you need to. Also, use the community — there are plenty of online forums where other working moms share their tips, tricks, and stories (like ours!) — so that no matter what the mood or activity is at home, there’s always something motivating you to get back to work. Give yourself small daily rewards like gourmet coffee shop drinks or screen time on your favorite app (TikTok anyone?). And give yourself big rewards by going out with friends or getting a mani/pedi after hitting your goals like making a big sale or finishing a large project.

7) Stick to a Schedule

So you’ve put your tasks into a time management app. And you’ve worked on organizing your schedule to save your emotional energy. You even asked for help and split up chores. To top it all off, you set up rewards for yourself to stay motivated to work.

Great! Now what?

It’s time to put it all together in a weekly schedule that you follow. Sunday night work on getting your week into a time management app. Use that to organize your upcoming week. Assign chores on Monday. Reward yourself for making it halfway through the week with your favorite iced coffee on Wednesday. And repeat, weekly.

The unexpected will always happen, but if you have a framework to follow each week, you are sure to cut down on your distractions so that you can balance work, kids, and chores while working from home. Do you have a stellar tip that keeps you on track every week and well-balanced? Reach out to let us know what it is so we can share it!

 

 

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May 23, 2022

5 Tips for Managing Finances as a Freelancer

You just started working as a freelancer. You have your first client…now what?

OR

You’ve been a freelancer for a while, but finances are still a struggle…what should you do?

If you’re a brand new freelancer or a seasoned pro, finance tips are always helpful. We’ve compiled our top five tips for managing money below based on some of the most commonly asked questions we receive. Working as a freelancer can be incredibly rewarding, but it can also be a little scary when it comes down to finances, and we hope these tips help ease some of those fears.

#1 Keep Business and Personal Separate

As a freelancer, or even as a small business owner operating as a DBA, it can be easy to mix your personal and business finances, but this can make it tricky to create a true budget to cover expenses for both options. You can move money around as needed, but keep separate accounts, separate cards, separate receipts, etc. 

Make sure you’re keeping track of business expenses which can be written off of taxes later…

#2 Make Quarterly Estimated Tax Payments

Tax season can be a tense time as you wait to discover just how much you owe, but did you know that you can make payments throughout the year so that you owe less at the end of the year? These are called quarterly estimated tax payments. Work with an accountant to get quarterly vouchers created, and then make the estimated payments. These will cut down on how much you end up owing once tax season rolls around. Quarterly payments are mandatory if your tax burden exceeds $1,000 per year, so be sure to use a 1099 tax calculator that helps you make more accurate tax installments.

If you’re self-employed, you’ll also need to pay self-employment taxes, which are similar to FICA taxes. You’ll be responsible for paying both the employer and employee portions of Social Security and Medicare taxes, which currently total 15.3% of your net earnings from self-employment. However, you can deduct half of your self-employment tax on your income tax return. Be sure to factor in these additional taxes when making your quarterly estimated tax payments.

Depending on how much you bring in, those quarterly estimated payments can still seem like a large sum.  If in doubt, using an invoice generator to track your earnings and ensure that you’re paid by clients is a good way to keep up with your tax obligations, and to avoid any admin errors in the process.

#3 Save Money

Yep, you’ve heard lots of people say this, but we aren’t just talking about squirreling away money for a rainy day. What we’re really talking about is creating a budget. Take those quarterly estimated tax payments and divide out how much you need to save each month, that way when the quarter rolls around and you have to send a check in, it’s not a last minute scramble.

The same can be said for taxes, fees, and expenses overall. Look up tax rates to get a rough estimate of what you might owe each year, and then calculate how much you need to save monthly. If you do this, tax season won’t be as stressful.

But this only covers you from year to year…

#4 Invest in Retirement Options

As a freelancer, you don’t get the option for a traditional 401k in most situations, which means you might not have a long term plan in place for retirement. You still have options available! There are IRAs, HSAs, or even special 401k plans for contractors and small business owners. Make sure to do research on which option is best for you.

And make sure to protect your investments…

#5 Get Insurance

Protect your business as you see fit with insurance, but don’t forget about other forms of insurance such as life insurance. It’s important to have some sort of emergency fund in place in case something happens to you, but also create a cash fund for those small unforeseen things that can happen such as a laptop breaking, new software needing to be purchased, or even a higher charge from an expense! Work this into your budget each month.

These five tips are just a place to start. There are still lots of other great tips out there, but the number one thing we suggest is sitting down with a financial expert. They can help you sort out what sort of insurance, investments, and budgeting needs to take place for you to accomplish your dreams while running a successful business.

Have a favorite finance tip you don’t see listed here? Tell us about it so we can share it!

Disclaimer. The information contained in this site is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be construed as legal advice on any subject matter. You should not act or refrain from acting on the basis of any content included in this site without seeking legal or other professional advice.

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May 16, 2022

A Checklist for Your Team Before Someone Leaves for Vacation

Besides managing the normal workflow, it’s that time of year when people head to the beach, the mountains, or wherever they want on vacations! While your team members are recharging at their favorite relaxation spots, vacation time for those that are still working can be very stressful.

Is your team ready for one of them to go on vacation? Even if it’s you as a manager and business owner (yes, you deserve time off too!)? Below is a checklist that should help you answer those questions with a resounding YES after you’ve completed it!

#1 Get the 411

As vacation time nears, schedule a time to sit down with your team. Discuss who is going on vacation, what they are working on, and what the plan is to handle that workload. Now is a great time to delegate tasks so that projects don’t slow down while employees are able to relax.

The sooner you do this, the better. That way small tasks can be handed off bit-by-bit rather than all at once in a mad dash on the final day before someone leaves for vacation. This allows your team to ask questions, get acquainted with new pieces of projects, and not feel so stressed.

#2 Get some ICE

We aren’t talking about the cold kind of ice; we’re talking about In Case of Emergency. Create an emergency vacation coverage plan just in case something goes wrong. What if a website you’re building for a client breaks in the middle of the night? What if in the middle of running an accounting report, the numbers just aren’t adding up? Don’t let it scare you. Run through those crazy what if scenarios. Come up with solutions on what to do so that (hopefully) you don’t have to disturb anyone’s vacation.

Also, get key contacts. If the website does go down, who do you call? Or, what if you normally manage a team of remote workers, do your other employees know how to get in contact with everyone else if it’s you going on vacation? Write it all down where everyone can get access to it. If you are working at a physical location, make sure people that need keys get them. You don’t want to wake up and realize your keys are on their way to the beach!

#3 Get out of the office

Besides literally getting out of the office, ask your employees to set out of office notifications on their emails, instant messages, calendars, and even voicemails. This will make sure that clients know what’s going on if they call; make sure to include who to contact while that employee is out of the office in the meantime!

#4 Get out of your head

A vacation is all about relaxing. If an employee is taking a break, make sure they stick to it. Everyone needs time to recharge, so they shouldn’t be worrying about work. The same goes for you as a manager! Don’t worry about work the whole time. Rest. Relax. Recharge. Get out of your head for a bit! Resist the urge to send that vacation email to your team.

By following this short checklist, vacation time should be a little more relaxing for everyone involved, but if your team is already stretched to the max, you can always look at outsourcing some of the work as well.

Now we need to know, did we miss anything on this checklist? Reach out to tell us about your procedures for employees taking a vacation!

 

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April 25, 2022

Do I need to respond to every applicant that applies for a job?

Are you familiar with the term ghosting? This refers to when someone just leaves a situation with absolutely no explanation. You may have experienced this when someone left you hanging and possibly puzzled you as to why.

Have you, as an employer, ghosted job candidates?

Everyone here understands the struggles of being a business owner: there’s never enough time in the day, never enough help when you need it, or there are days where nothing goes right.

All of that plays into how you go about the hiring process. As a small business, sometimes you just don’t have the manpower to do it all. 

You’re probably asking, when is it considered ‘ghosting’ during the hiring process?

To be honest, there isn’t a clear cut line. What we can say is that the further someone makes it into the hiring process, the more they want to hear a response either way. Each company has its own steps to follow, but if you reach out to a candidate to express interest, it’s at this point that most job seekers start to experience ghosting.

77% of job applicants have been ghosted. That might be after an initial screening phone call, after one face-to-face interview, or after multiple interviews. In fact, some candidates have said they were ghosted by potential employers after a final job offer was submitted to them!

As an employer, ghosting comes down to a judgment call. There are lots of tools available to help you not leave job candidates out in the cold as to where their application stands. One thing we recommend is to write a generic template email saying thank you but no thank you. You can send this to all the candidates at once that aren’t moving to the next round, and that lets them know you aren’t ghosting them — which they will appreciate! You’ll appreciate it too because sometimes ghosting job seekers can lead to more of your time being eaten up when they reach out via phone and email to follow up on their application’s status.

But, what about the flip side?

What should you do as an employer if a candidate ghosts you?

In 2020, job seeker ghostings went up 18% from the previous year. The number one reason job seekers say they ghost employers is because they felt the job was not a good fit. Many applicants ghost early on in the process, but job seekers can wait until the last minute too. In fact, employers have reported that a quarter of new hires don’t show up for their first day on the job.

We’ve experienced this ourselves. We have even experienced new hires showing up for the first few days then ghosting with no explanation. In situations like this, what should employers do? Clearly communicate all expectations from day one. Do not close a job application (or, at least, do not stop the interview process) until a job seeker officially accepts a final offer from your company. Encourage applicants to ask questions. Once they are onboarded, schedule regular one-on-one meetings with them to continuously review expectations and allow them to voice how they are feeling. Be open, and they will follow your lead. If you’re looking for more tips, check out these 3 Mistakes to Avoid When Hiring.

We also suggest checking out these 10 Qualities to Look for When Hiring Team Members. Look for these qualities and their consistency through the interview process, and that will help you to not get ghosted once you’ve hired someone.

In a world of technology where we are all connected, we have never seemed further apart. Ghosting is happening on both sides of the aisle, but it’s for the same reason: either an applicant decided the job was not a good fit OR an employer decided the applicant was not a good fit. We suggest using tools available to send short notes to job candidates to let them know what is happening with their application, and be open and honest with your communication. 

Now we would love to know, do you send candidates something to inform them of your decision? How do you handle this process? Let us know!

 

 

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April 18, 2022

5 Tips for Applying to a Job Listing that Doesn’t Include the Pay Range

You find an interesting job listing…

The company sounds great…

Your experience matches the company’s required qualifications…

This job sounds great! There’s just one problem: the job doesn’t list the pay range. What does that mean? Should you apply, or should you find a different listing?

Why do companies not list the pay range?

There are several reasons as to why companies post listings without salaries. These reasons range from employers hoping to avoid potential questions from current employees to trying to avoid a wage war with competitors. However, the number one reason normally has to do with finding the most passionate job seekers: if a company does not list the pay range, they hope to attract job seekers that are more interested in the role itself than they are the money behind it.

This can be tricky for job seekers, though, as money is obviously a huge factor, and no one wants to waste their time going through the hiring process if salary expectations aren’t the same!

So, should I apply if a job listing doesn’t include the pay range?

In the end, it all comes down to your personal preference. If the job sounds like your dream job, then go for it (and use these tips to make sure your application stands out above the crowd). If the job doesn’t sound like an absolutely amazing fit and you’re on the fence about it, maybe see what else is out there. There’s no wrong answer here! But, if you do choose to apply to job listings without salaries…

Here are 5 tips for when you apply to a job that doesn’t mention wages:

#1. Research what other, similar positions are offering. The job title can help you figure out what the industry standard of pay is for that position. If it’s not quite what you’re hoping for, then figure out what job titles you should be searching for instead.

#2. Go ahead and apply! Take a chance and see what happens. This might just be the position of a lifetime! If not, it’s a great learning experience. Don’t let fear of the unknown hold you back from applying to a potentially great opportunity!

#3. Ask what the pay is! Communication is ALWAYS the key. Ask right away. Establish if this is a good fit for yourself and for the company.

#4. Plan to negotiate your salary. If no numbers are listed, this means the discussion about pay expectations is much more open than listings that include numbers.

#5. Be reasonable, but make sure this is a good fit for yourself. If you learn the pay range isn’t quite what you want, make sure to figure out if the position is truly a good fit beyond that. Consider time management, budget, experience, etc. Is this a position that will help you grow and achieve your career goals? If the answer is no, it’s probably time to apply to another listing.

As mentioned above, applying to a job with no pay range listed is completely a personal preference. We’ve worked with job seekers that did not like applying to those positions because they felt salary expectations were always less than they hoped for. On the other hand, we’ve worked with job seekers that have negotiated an amazing wage that they might not have received with a different job.

Money is a big factor when finding a job, but it’s not the only thing to think about! How does this job fit within your schedule? Does it give you the freedom to learn and grow? Does the company offer benefits that outweigh pay discrepancies? 

Make sure you look at the job as a whole and not just the pay — and let us know: do you apply to listings that do NOT include the pay range, or do you pass them over?

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April 11, 2022

Surviving Summer: 4 Tips to Stay Productive

Do you remember what it was like, waking up on the first day of summer as a kid?

The morning air was cool with a hint of the heat to come. Dew covered the grass as morning doves cooed. You were excited; excited to feel the grass on your bare feet, or play your favorite video game, or catch up with friends, or maybe even go on a big family vacation.

You felt free.

As adults, the first day of summer looks a little different. We know you’re excited to spend time with your kiddos, but there’s some apprehension because you are working from home. 

How are you going to balance working with creating a summer of freedom and fun for your kids?

After working from home for several years, and with several different aged kids, we have some experience in this area. Here are our four favorite tips on how to have a productive summer while your children are home on summer break.

#1 Schedule, schedule, schedule

The number one thing we recommend is to create a schedule for your summer. Map out your vacations, meetings, and even time that you need to set aside for yourself. Let’s be honest, there are so many distractions without kids, that summertime can seem daunting.

Writing everything down on a calendar will help you and your family. In fact, you should also make a summer calendar for your kids too. Block out times when you know they will be at a friend’s house, or when they like to play outside.

If your kiddo goes to a summer camp in the morning, schedule it! If you have a really important meeting you can’t miss, schedule it! Write it all down before the summer starts, but also remember that the best laid plans will encounter problems.

Plan on revisiting your schedule once per week. Sunday nights are a great time to evaluate the coming week.

Most importantly of all, when creating your summer plan, make sure to include lots of flexibility because you never know what the day will bring!

#2 Beat the heat

You’ve heard of the afternoon slump, but did you know a summer slump exists too? The heat tends to make people lethargic, and if you already find yourself experiencing afternoon slumps no matter the season, then summer will make you even more tired.

So, beat the heat! When you’re planning activities or creating your summer schedule, keep in mind what times of day you work best and what times of day you do not.

We recommend comparing that with your child’s sleep schedules.

If you work best in the morning and your child sleeps in, plan on working in the morning so you can spend afternoons playing (or napping together!). Have a productive summer switching your normal 9-5 schedule around.

#3 On the next episode of Kid Swap…

Remember that show, Wife Swap? While it produced some interesting characters, it also gave moms across the U.S. a great idea: let’s swap kids.

Seriously, it’s that simple. On days when you really need to be productive working from home during summer, ask your neighbors to watch the kids. Then, you can watch their kids when they need it.

Maybe even plan play dates with your child’s friends so that one week the kids go to your house, and the next they are at their friend’s house. As part of your summer calendar for your kids, they are sure to love it, and you will too when you get some time to yourself to power through work.

#4 Once upon a time at the library

Sure, you’re used to home based work, but what about working at the library? Find your nearest library, and check out what is available. Some libraries offer fun summer programs with different activities. Others have rooms you can rent to work out of while your children read books. No matter what, your local library has a kid’s section that can be fun for them to work on puzzles, read books, and play while you get access to wifi and a quiet location.

When you have a stay at home mom job, summer might seem extra stressful when you think about balancing productivity with spending time with your kids. We are here to say that you can do it, and have fun in the process.

There are lots of great resources available out there to help you create a schedule, track your productivity, swap kids, and even spend some time out of the house at the local library.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help, and remember that summers aren’t about huge vacations. Your kids will thank you for the small things like a surprise popsicle from an ice cream cart on an extra hot day, or spending time at their friend’s house building blanket forts.

As a kid, summer is all about freedom and free time. As an adult, that changes a bit, but that does not mean the summer has to be less fun for you! Put these four tips to use on how to have a productive summer, and you will find yourself balancing work and fun with your children just fine!

Do you have another tip you use to stay productive when kids are home for summer break? Let us know about it!

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April 4, 2022

What should I do if a company ghosts me during the hiring process?

It’s not even a spooky season, but you might find yourself encountering more and more ghosts on a regular basis.

Are you familiar with the term ghosting? This refers to when someone just leaves a situation with absolutely no explanation. At least, that’s what the kids are calling it these days! You may have experienced this yourself during the hiring process: you spent lots of time putting together the PERFECT résumé, answering questions in a phone interview, spending time through lots of face-to-face meetings, and then…NOTHING?!?

Ghosting is becoming an all too familiar phenomena in the world of job hunting. In fact, 77% of job seekers have said that potential employers ghosted them. There’s no clear cut line for where ghosting occurs, but you can probably agree that the further you make it in the process, the more a yes or no becomes important to you. But what should you do if you don’t hear back?

#1 Reach out!

Companies ghost candidates for a myriad of reasons, but sometimes they aren’t ghosting you — they’re just working their way through the hiring process which can take some time. It never hurts to reach out and ask about the status of your application. This can show the company your dedication and interest in the position, and it can also get you some peace of mind to know where you stand. 

It’s important, though, to move on if the company is ghosting you. If you have tried to contact them several times with no response, that’s a good indicator they are going in a different direction.

#2 Never stop searching.

Until you have signed a final agreement with an employer, do not stop searching for jobs! This will make sure the hiring process is not at a stand still for you, and always work on innovating. Tweak your cover letter with these 5 tips to stand out to potential employers. Practice your interview skills with family and friends. Ask for feedback from companies that have been responsive to understand what you can do better.

#3 Don’t take it personally.

It helps to put things in perspective and understand that it wasn’t something personal that caused a company to ghost you. We’ve seen situations where companies received over 1,000 applications in a very short period of time which caused them to not be able to respond to everyone. We encourage employers (and employees alike) to communicate instead of ghosting, but there can be extenuating circumstances that prevent that.

One of the businesses that uses HireMyMom wanted to share with you what happens on the business side of things when ghosting might occur:

“As a business owner, I appreciate the tenacity of the person following up. My advice would be to continue that practice, while learning to let it go after a period of time. In my business, it is part of the process. Applying for a job is sales. You make your pitch, follow up, then move on to the next. It has never been my intention to ghost anyone. However, the very fact I came to HireMyMom to get help indicates my own inability to tend to every detail. At least from my side, it’s less about being rude than simply scattered and trying to keep too many plates spinning. Please don’t take it personally.”

Don’t worry, these sorts of ghosts won’t haunt you! If you’re getting ready to start your job search, check out these 14 résumé skills to help you stand out to potential employers. Ghosting is not 100% preventable, but you can refine your materials and skills to the best of your ability to stand out and make it hard for companies to ghost you! Just be open with your communication as to what you expect with your potential employer, remember that it’s just business, and always stay on the hunt for new job listings.

Are you getting ghosted a lot in your job hunt, or is this something you’ve never heard of before? Let us know! 

 

 

 

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