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#YourCareer : 9 Questions To Ask Your Boss In An End-Of-Year Review. So, What Questions do You Ask? or Do You? MUSt REad!

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If you find end-of-year reviews stressful, you’re not alone. However, like all other interactions with your boss, it can be a time to show your interest and shine. Asking thoughtful and strategic questions demonstrates engagement, commitment, and desire for growth. So, if you want to keep up the good work into 2024, here are nine questions to ask in an end-of-year review:

What were our team’s most significant accomplishments?

You probably already have an idea of your team’s biggest accomplishments, but a question like this helps make sure your values are aligned with your boss, and that you have a clear sense of your bosses’ goals.

Where can I improve?

In all likelihood, your boss will tell you this. But in the event that they don’t, or if they only have positive feedback, it’s always good to ask. Not only does it show that you want to improve, it offers a chance to get there.

Where have I excelled?

This question goes beyond making you feel good (though it does that, too!). If you get a sense of where you excelled, you’ll begin to better understand your strengths.

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What Skill Sets Do You Have to be ‘Sharpened‘?

 

Did you know?  First Sun Consulting, Llc (FSC) is celebrating over 32 years in delivering corporate & individual outplacement services & programs to over 1200 corporate clients in the U.S., Canada, the UK, & Mexico!   Visit us @ www.firstsun.com  OR Ask for a Quote for Services at  info@firstsun.com

We here at FSC want to thank each of our corporate partners for the opportunity to serve & moving each of their transitioning employee(s) rapidly toward employment!

Article continued …

What new opportunities are there for success?

It’s always good to indicate an interest in growing. If you know what opportunities may arise in 2024, you’ll have a better sense of how to develop your skillset to fit them.

What are the biggest challenges for 2024?

This lets your boss know you’re on the same team, and in it together.

What steps can I take to advance to the next stage of my career?

Clear directives are always useful. Whether your boss suggests volunteering for more projects, getting certified in something outside or work, or mingling more with other teams, getting feedback on how to excel is critical.

What projects would be a good fit for me?

If your boss gives you exact projects, you not only know who to get in touch with, but you also have something to look forward to. Besides, you’ll get some insight into where the company is heading, which is always helpful.

How can I improve my communication?

Communication is so often over-looked. Your boss’ advice may be as specific as getting into more Slack channels, or it might be more general, like thinking carefully about the tone of emails. No matter what, though, checking in on communication is a great idea.

How can I improve team culture?

Just one more indication that you’re committed to the team. Besides, a positive team culture benefits absolutely everyone.

These questions show your commitment to personal and professional growth, your interest in the success of the team, and your willingness to align your efforts with the company’s goals. And remember—the end-of-year review is nerve-wracking, but it’s intended to help you.

 

Forbes.com | December 1, 2023 | Ginny Hogan

#BestofFSCBlog : Reality Check- Recruiters are Not your Friends. There’s No Such Thing as a Professional Job-Finder. MUst REad!

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This fact may burst a bubble for most job seekers. The hard reality is job seekers have the wrong idea about what recruiters and headhunters do for a living. When one starts a search for a new job, the first professional they may try to connect with is a recruiter. A recruiter would know where to find a job…right? They can take the resume and push it to everyone they know…right? Dead wrong.  

Here is the hard-core truth. Recruiters are too busy to call anyone their company isn’t ‘interested in’ for a specific job. Recruiters will not return phone calls, voice mail, email, or text messages to strangers or applicants who don’t meet the minimum job requirements. They are already overwhelmed with communications trying to find the ‘perfect candidate.’ If you are not ‘the match,’ – you can talk ’til you’re blue in the face,’ but it won’t change circumstances. You will only waste your and the recruiter’s time.

There’s no such thing as a professional job-finder. Resume writers, career advisors, career counselors, life coaches, or outplacement service professionals may operate with parallel tasking – but they’re not job-finders. Recruiters are candidate finders. It’s not their responsibility to find a job for job seekers. Don’t blindly contact recruiters and ask them to help you find a job. 

 

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What Skill Sets Do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

Did you know?  First Sun Consulting, LLc (FSC) is celebrating over 30 years in the delivery of corporate & individual outplacement services & programs to over 1200 of our corporate clients in the U.S., Canada, UK, & Mexico!  

We here at FSC want to thank each of corporate partners in the opportunity in serving & moving each of their transitioning employee(s) rapidly toward employment !

Article continued …

It’s also a numbers game – job seekers submit resumes, aim for multiple interviews, and hope for an offer letter. Recruiters review hundreds of resumes from websites, headhunters, or employee referrals for each position, query the resumes for matching keywords, and send the top 5-10 results to a hiring manager. The hiring manager picks the top three to interview and make a decision based on salary (budget), availability, knowledge, skills, experience, abilities, and personality in the interview.  

It sounds harsh, but it is reality. Finding a job is not a matter of justice, fairness, or luck. No one owes anyone a job. Recruiters are your ‘friend’ only if you meet the immediate requirements of an open job requisition. Recruiters don’t have time to invest in job seekers, their inconveniences, and their car or family problems.  Recruiters do care about recruiting, filling jobs, keeping hiring managers happy, and staying within a staffing budget. They will be polite to qualified candidates and perform the steps necessary to get that candidate hired.  Likewise, hiring managers do not care about applicants’ inconveniences and problems.  Hiring managers care whether the qualified candidate has great skills, stays within a labor budget, and can get the job done.  

Recruiters and headhunters are ‘people finders,’ not ‘job finders.’ They have a set number of specific openings at any given time and usually only hire one person per seat. One. Recruiter’s jobs are to conduct a ‘high throughput’ process. It is a matter of getting the right resume with the needed skill set to the recruiter to solve a company’s problem.  

Job seekers must ask when the decision will be made during the interview. If the company is interested in hiring, they’ll call. If you know when the position closes, call the day after if you haven’t gotten a ‘sorry, we found another more qualified candidate’ message. One call…no more. Drop that job lead into the dead file if you get a voicemail and no callback. Most recruiters have an email management system within their ATS, and there is a chance they’ll notify the ‘rejects.’ But most likely, they don’t have time for follow-up. 

To summarize, there is little point in calling a recruiter to ask them to help you, the job seeker, to find a job. Job seekers should recognize the recruiters’ viewpoint for what they do for a living. It is up to the job seeker to find that job and apply. It’s not a recruiter’s responsibility to help the job seeker find or get that next career position.

 

FSC Career Blog Author:

Dawn Boyer, Ph.D., is an associate of First Sun Consulting, and the owner of D. Boyer Consulting – providing resume writing, editing, and publishing consulting services. Reach her at: Dawn.Boyer@DBoyerConsulting.com or http://dboyerconsulting.com.

Bio: Dawn D. Boyer, Ph.D., manages and operates a consulting firm in Norfolk, Richmond, Colonial Beach (Dahlgren), and Gloucester, VA. Her background is 24+ years in the Human Resources field, of which 12+ years are within the Federal & Defense Contracting industry. She is the author of 940+ books on business, human resources research, career search practice, women’s studies, genealogy lineages, and adult coloring books. Her books are listed on Amazon.com under her author’s page for Dawn D. Boyer, Ph.D.

 

FSC Career Blog | October 13, 2022 | Dawn Boyer, Ph. D. 

 

 

 

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