Sunday, July 26, 2020

QA with Carla Rebelo, Managing Director, Hays Brazil Viewpoint careers advice blog

QA with Carla Rebelo, Managing Director, Hays Brazil In this interview, Carla Rebelo, Managing Director, Hays Brazil, based in Sao Paulo, shares her experience of gender diversity in the workplace, her progression into a leadership role and assesses the survey results in Brazil. What was your route to Hays? After several leadership roles, in 2003 I joined Ranstad as CFO in Portugal and in 2008 changed roles to Senior Group Controller and relocated to Ranstads Corporate Headquarters in Amsterdam. I was responsible for providing insight and guidance on the performance of 8-9 operating companies. In 2011, I moved to Brazil to work for Kelly Services as Country General Manager. I joined Hays in June 2013 as Managing Director of Brazil and am responsible for managing all aspects of the business. I have a financial background, with a PhD in decision making sciences and have worked as a Chief Accountant, Finance Manager and CFO for companies such as Nestle Waters, Akzo Nobel and Deloitte. Before moving to   Brazil I had accrued international experience, living and working in Portugal and the Netherlands as well as work experience in the US, Canada, Argentina, Chile and Poland, due to my responsibilities in Amsterdam as Group Controller. Tell us about your progression into a leadership role, what challenges did you face along the way? I haven’t faced any gender specific challenges in my career so far, nor have I felt like being a woman has been a road block. My main challenge came from starting work at a very early age; I secured my first leadership role when I was very young. I began working at 16 and at 19 I was Chief Accountant for Nestle Waters. This is something we see a lot of now, especially from Generation Y. More young people are working in leadership/decision making positions and because they are young they cannot draw on experience to help them in these roles. A concern is that young people see other young professionals in leadership roles and think, ‘if they can do it so can I’. This is not always the case. You need to be prepared, not only technically but mentally. My advice would be that you have to be completely focused and dedicated to your role and willing to make sacrifices to do what the company needs at a specific moment of the economic and business cycle. If you show companies that you are determined, focused and hardworking they will be more likely to give you a chance. This will pay off with career progression and recognition that meets your ambition, even if you do not have much experience. In your opinion is there a difference between how men and women progress in their careers? Some companies still often question whether a woman with children will be able to work the necessary hours required or will be able to travel for her job. I think that having children does impact a woman’s career progression because companies become concerned that she won’t be able to dedicate the same amount of time to her job if she has family commitments. Have you encountered any gender specific obstacles in your career? I have not experienced any gender specific obstacles in my career. I am not a mother so I have the flexibility to work as many hours as is needed. I am not saying that working mothers can’t do this; women can have an organised home life and it can work really well. However there is an attitude that you can’t be as dedicated to your job if you have children and employers are more cautious about hiring because of this. Do you have any advice for female professionals who are in, or looking to work in, a leadership role? In my experience, men tend to network more than women which is significant when you want to progress in your career. Networking plays a big part in working your way up to a leadership role and succeeding within a leadership role. It’s about knowing the right people. Focus and determination is also very important, focusing on what you want to achieve and having a vision of what you want to do. Reconcile this with your family life, this is my advice. In Brazil, 51% of respondents said that their organisation did not have formal gender policies in place and 9% weren’t sure. What do you think are the implications of these statistics? This is not surprising. It is not yet that common for companies in Brazil to focus on diversity; it is not a high priority in company policy. There is also no push to increase public awareness about diversity in the workplace as well. However, out of the respondents who said their organisation had formal gender policies in place, 83% feel they are adhered to well/fairly well. This implies that gender policies are valued in companies that have them. Is this something you agree with? This statistic is most likely due to international companies, specifically American companies, which are more focused on diversity in the workplace. It is mandatory in the US for companies to have diversity policies and the Brazilian economy is more connected with the US compared to Europe. Brazilians look to the US for guidance and best practice and there is a lot of cross selling between the US and Brazil. This international and American influence is shown in the survey results. Globally, 48% of women do not think they have the same career opportunities as men. In Brazil only 41% of females do not think they have the same career opportunities as men. What do you think about this? This statistic is surprising. In Brazil family is still regarded as the responsibility of the woman and there is a belief that businesses think women will not be able to be as dedicated to their job once they have had children. This is a cultural attitude. Males do not have the same family responsibility and this will impact women’s career opportunities. 70% of female Brazilian respondents believe there is equal pay between genders, compared to 92% of male Brazilian respondents. Is this an expected trend? These statistics are quite high which is what I would expect. As recruiters we do not see clients asking to pay differently depending on whether a candidate is male or female. However, men are more aggressive in negotiating salaries compared to women. This may contribute to these statistics too. Globally respondents (both male and female) believe that allowing more flexible working practices and changes in workplace culture through education across the business, will have the biggest impact on diversity in the workplace. What do you think about this? I agree that flexible hours will have a positive impact on diversity, especially for women. However flexible practices work better in mature markets where there is more control/awareness of the work being carried out on a flexible basis. From that perspective Brazil, like many other south European countries (Portugal, Italy, Greece)   is not a mature market and therefore flexible hours may have some negative impacts, breakdown of communication and the loss of cohesiveness within teams for example. This could compromise productivity; people may think that because they are at home they do not have to work as hard because no one else is there. Brazil is moving towards being able to implement flexible hours but I think that it is important to gradually implement these policies, starting with only allowing working from home to select employees, not everyone. If you enjoyed the above diversity blog then you might also appreciate the following: Get the organisational culture right and the diversity will follow 4 business benefits of diversity Tales from the top: gender diversity QA with Carla Rebelo, MD of Hays Brazil Facing diversity Gender diversity: still a long way from equality More female leaders, please h3strong Share this blog: /strong/h3

Saturday, July 18, 2020

Career Path Of A Project Manager - Work It Daily

Profession Path Of A Project Manager - Work It Daily This is a genuine story as advised to LatPro.com where you can discover supportive vocation meetings and quest for new employment counsel in your ideal industry. Visit to discover a lifelong meeting in your field today. My present word related title is an Assistant Director and I work in government. I've been in this vocation way for around 15 years. In any event the most recent 7 years have been spent on venture the executives related assignments and duties. The Career Path Of A Project Manager As an underlying beginning in venture the executives, my first presentation started as an examiner being appointed some unique activities in PC framework usage. My job at the time was to assess the possibility reports and affirm that the undertaking could really be finished as proposed inside the budgetary arrangement gave. That experience at that point formed into bigger and bigger undertaking surveys lastly an advancement into venture the board as such. In the event that I would transform anything about that profession way it's that in government time after time individuals ascend in their vocations in storehouses and just at a specific sufficiently high degree of the board do they at that point get introduction to consolidated gave. In the event that I had my druthers, unmistakably progressively broadly educating across controls would have been useful. My ordinary occupation includes assessing and twofold checking what execution item is being created while the general assignment includes dealing with an offered undertaking to culmination. The two are interconnected as the every day undertakings and surveys create the reports that I vet and afterward push ahead to official administration for conclusive pay off endorsement for monetary duty or for notices. I think one about the greatest legends about being a task supervisor is that it's a celebrated foreman's activity. The truth of the matter is a task director does far, unmistakably more; he is basically liable for taking an undertaking from realization to finish, which means managing everything from planning, to bookkeeping, to configuration, building, development or usage, checking, survey and reviews, lastly close-out. This sort of job includes definitely something other than checking several laborers to keep them on target with work undertakings. As far as fulfillment score, the task the board side of things likely rates high in the area of a 8 in any event. There is a sure close to home fulfillment that accompanies realizing an undertaking was brought to fruition inside desires and surpassing the first objectives set. Then again, the individuals the executives viewpoint presumably takes the most time and vitality just to keep the human factor on target. Characters, faculty issues, and conclusion contrasts can make various unnecessary obstructions en route that must be survived. While being a venture supervisor has certainly given my vocation life a feeling of satisfaction, it's not what I would portray as a widely inclusive life reason. Toward the day's end, venture the executives includes control and affecting others to complete work. Whenever done right, there is no real development or creation by and by acted all the while. In contrast with really working with instruments and being one of the hands-on makers, the venture chief needs to kick back and supervise the procedure rather, observing advancement to ensure it's worthy. Not that it is fundamentally one of a kind to extend the board versus different sorts of the executives, yet the aptitude to learn cross-discipline believing is basic to progress as a task chief. Commonly, the essential job of a venture director isn't simply the task yet rather the exchange and connections that should be worked to guarantee bolster and maintain a strategic distance from delays. That originates from delicate aptitudes and realizing how to function with others, especially those in different business zones that may have a common intrigue or stake in the advancement or results. This is perhaps the hardest exercise for another undertaking supervisor to learn in the event that he isn't an extrovert as of now. Thinking back on school in contrast with the work world, I would state to any understudy now not to consider classes taken as any immediate connection to work. There's simply considerably an excessive amount of contrast from class hypothesis to genuine office application. Rather, center around learning the general standards educated. These will turn into the fundamental apparatuses that shape how an individual thinks and approaches genuine issues later on in the workplace. Further, don't expect there will bunches of time to get ready for an answer. Ordinarily venture supervisors need to think and react quickly and settle on speedy choices that can represent the moment of truth an undertaking. This weight of evaluated speculating accompanies the duty of being the one in control. Achievement relies upon having great individuals around you to rely upon for quality data when deciding. All things considered, individuals ought to likewise be set up to be astounded. There has been an undertaking I have taken a shot at, put in a great deal of time and vitality with others, carried it to progress just to see official administration at that point reassess it. It's extremely abnormal to witness this with no genuine sensible explanation concerning why. You learn not to think about these kind of circumstances literally, yet it tends to be intellectually depleting. All things being equal, those needing or in the field of undertaking the executives consistently need to make sure to invest significant time to decompress. Physical exercise and time to unwind are key as the activity's pressure can truly eat at you. Every day is a weight cooker when a venture is truly going to keep it on target. On the off chance that discharge isn't drilled routinely, all that pressure gets brought home, messing family up at night. Venture director vocation way picture from Shutterstock Have you joined our vocation development club?Join Us Today!

Saturday, July 11, 2020

Free online education could help prepare you for your next career - Here is how! - Hallie Crawford

Free online instruction could help set you up for your next profession - Here is the ticket! Does the vocation you had always wanted require training you can't bear? For some individuals this can be a hindrance however it doesn't need to be an impediment. Did you know there are free online classes accessible through monstrous open online courses (MOOCs)? You can peruse progressively about them in this article Here are seven well known MOOCs, every one of which offers various courses: Coursera edX Udacity Udemy Canvas Network iTunes U Saylor.org These free courses could assist you with getting a kind of what another industry may resemble, and could be on initial move towards setting you up for another profession, or upgrading your present one. While most courses are free, some have a charge. A portion of these courses are school level; others are not scholastic by any stretch of the imagination. To distinguish whether you will get school kudos for any course , you should explore each course separately just as the MOOC that offers them. One of these MOOCs, Coursera, even offers a choice to demand a transcript that you can present to your present school for assessment for school credit. Whether or not or not you get school credit, you can in any case take courses that premium you for nothing to research another vocation way or start planning for another one. So begin exploring MOOCs and appreciate acquiring free training in your preferred subjects! and Terry L. Wynne, Ed.S., LPC, BCC Perfect Career Coaches P.S. Are you in the perfect vocation for you? Find out in case you're in the correct profession with our Ideal Career Quiz.

Saturday, July 4, 2020

Preparation Tips for Interviews - what to get ready the day before

Preparation Tips for Interviews - what to get ready the day before Best Tips for Interviews - what to do the day before Practical tips for interviews include taking these simple but essential steps the day before your job interview. Arrive ready to impress the employer as the best prepared job candidate. Know how to find out about the company beforehand, how to prepare for tough interview questions, what documents to take with you to the job interview and how to reduce your interview anxiety. Be prepared for success in your next job interview. Preparation Tips for Interviews Follow these six steps to take before your interview.1. Research the companyGather as much relevant company information as possible. A couple of hours researching the company is your first step to good job interview preparation. This information helps you to answer job interview questions effectively and to ask the most appropriate questions during the interview. Preparation resources for conducting background research.2. Go through your resume Make a couple of good quality copies of your resume. Read through your resume to familiarize yourself with the information the interviewer has about you. Be aware of any red flag areas such as gaps in employment that will have to be addressed in the interview. Get help with job interview answers to difficult issues.3. Tips for interview questionsTaking some time to prepare your best interview answers to common job interview questions and practicing these before the interview is the next essential step. This will give you that extra bit of confidence you need to stand out as the right candidate.Prepare your own list of good interview questions to ask the interviewer when they ask if you have any questions.4. Organize your interview documents Put together a professional folder or file to take with you to the interview. In addition to copies of your resume, include copies of your cover letter and any references you have. Have your job reference list ready in case the interviewer asks for it. Include copies of your relevant certificates or qualifications. Include a notebook and pen so that you can take notes during the interview. Include your background research and list of questions to ask. Take copies of any other information you may need to show such as proposals or presentations.5. Know where to goOne of the most essential tips for interviews is to make sure you know where you are going, how long it will take you to get there and who to ask for at the company. Call the company ahead of time and get good directions. Give yourself enough time to arrive about 10 minutes early so you can settle down before your interview.Sometimes it is worthwhile having a practice run beforehand, particularly if you are unsure of your directions and timing. Include the directions in your folder. If you are using public transport plan your route carefully and make sure you know the right bus or train times. Ask about parking at the company. If you are expected to find your own parking allow some extra time for this. Find out exactly where you need to go when you arrive at the company. This is particularly important when it is a big company with multiple buildings or entrances. You may be expected to go directly to a specific office, make sure you know how to get there once you enter the company.Write down the name and position of the person you should ask for on arrival and get the interviewer's phone number in case you have to contact them for some reason such as getting stuck in traffic. Include all these details in your job interview folder.6. Reduce your anxietyTips for interviews include controlling interview nerves. Before your interview try to get your body moving - go for a walk, do some stretches or any sort of exercise that gets you breathing properly and helps you relax. Remember to eat something before the interview. A light meal or snack will give you some energy and prevent the embarrassing possibility of your stomach rumbling and gurgling during the interview!Practice smiling, repeat to yourself why you are the right candidate for the job and get into a positive frame of mind! Best Tips for Interviews