Author: admin

Have you been at your job for too long even though you’re overqualified? Has your boss been dismissing your expert advice? And have all these frustrations dimmed your shine and turned you into a talentless employee with no opinions of your own? This happens to a lot of people in the workforce who constantly deal with managers and coworkers who completely ignore their talent. Talent in itself is a combination of natural born tendencies, hard work, skills and experience. Together they can create a competent, efficient and extremely valuable individual who can contribute greatly to their team. Not many managers, however, can identify talent and nurture it. Instead roles are blurred, value is placed in the wrong people and a lot of talent is lost in translation. So, if you are in such a situation what can you do?

Do Freelance Work
One way to keep your talent alive is by using it no matter what. If your work environment does not accommodate that, you can focus on freelance work and choose projects that allow you to do what you do best. This way you can keep putting your talent and skills into something useful.

Start Your Own Business
One step further is starting your own business. If you feel you’ve got the right amount of experience and confidence, then go ahead and use your skills and talent to create something of your own.

Keep an Idea Diary
A smaller way to maintain your talent is to keep a diary where you write down all your creative ideas and thoughts. You may not be able to fulfill them all but it will help you keep your mind fresh.

Take Initiative at Work
Even if you feel like your ideas are not being heard, you can keep taking an initiative and trying to put your thoughts forward. Sometimes bosses are difficult, but if you keep expressing your thoughts there’s a good chance they will finally listen.

Find a New Job
Lastly, you can always look for a new job where your talent is rewarded and nurtured. This is where GRS can help you find your ideal job and set you off on the right career path.

Great ideas stall and productivity dips when people stop talking or worse, when they talk past one another. In an era of hybrid schedules, instant-messaging overload, and rapid change, clear communication is no longer a “nice to have”; it’s the engine that powers collaboration, innovation, and ultimately the bottom line. Suppose your team is struggling with crossed wires, radio silence, or information silos. In that case, the guidelines below will help you rebuild an open, results-driven dialogue across every level of the organisation.

1. Keep Everyone Informed and in the know

Informing your employees about changes happening in the company, new decisions, meetings being arranged, and any other updates will make them feel that they matter and therefore more comfortable and confident to communicate their opinions.

2. Create Shared Documents & Calendars

Don’t isolate your team members from each other’s work. Let them have access to everything happening, even if it’s not their personal task. This will make them feel like they are part of the overall company rather than just their job description.

3. When They Talk, Listen

When opinions are expressed, reward them by listening attentively and, when possible, execute the suggestions. This way, your team members will know that expressing their opinions and communicating their frustrations will not go to waste.

4. Have Frequent Meetings

Take the time to have weekly or at least frequent team meetings where everyone can share their tasks and workload with the rest of team. This way the entire team understands what their colleagues are doing and can easily approach them to discuss further.

5. Involve the Team in Making Decisions

When you are deciding on the next team building event, which venue to use for the Christmas party or what colour to paint the office walls, ask your team to be involved and express their opinions. This will not only make them feel highly rewarded, but it will also encourage them to communicate their opinions in general.

6. Encourage On-the-Spot Meetings

Let your employees know that they can call their own meetings at any time to discuss a project, resolve a problem, or do anything else for work-related reasons. This gives them their own right in the workspace to decide when a discussion needs to be made and communicate what needs to be communicated.

7. Schedule Brainstorming Sessions

Brainstorming is a great way to get all employees to express their opinions without worrying about sounding stupid or being reprimanded. This creates a light atmosphere where jokes can be exchanged and barriers can be broken, allowing even the most timid of members to open up.

8. Limit the Hierarchy Ladder

If the team has too many managers, they become isolated with their immediate superior rather than being able to speak to whoever they are most comfortable with. This limits their communication with each other and leads to lack of initiative.

9. Allow Freedom of Speech

If team members know that they can express their opinions, even the less pleasant ones, they will be more comfortable communicating their concerns, making suggestions and speaking to their colleagues more freely and openly.

10. Organize Out-of-Work Activities

Nothing will encourage colleagues to communicate better than being comfortable around each other outside the office. Whether it’s through team building activities or simply through going out for after-work drinks, creating a friendly atmosphere will definitely improve communication.

Going to interviews is a challenging and nerve-wrecking chore for most people but considering it’s inevitable, everyone should improve their interviewing skills to find the right job and ultimately the right career. Here are your tips to prepare for a job interview:

Study the Company and Industry You are interviewing for
Always expect a company to question your knowledge about the company itself and the industry. Even if it’s clear that you are a newcomer, you still must show that you’ve taken the time and effort to update yourself on the topic rather than being completely unprepared.

Learn More about Your Interviewer
If you know who will be interviewing you look them up on LinkedIn to get an idea about their accomplishments, the positions they have held and generally who they are. This will help you feel more familiar with them when you meet them and it can come in handy as a great ice-breaker.

Know Your Own USPs
Products have their own unique selling points (USPs) and so should you. Once you’ve clarified your USPs to yourself then you can use them throughout the interview and make them part of the conversation. The more aware you are of your strengths the more they will come through to your interviewer.

Arrive Earlier than Expected
Never aim to arrive on time – this simply means that any little hiccup along the way will make you late! Instead aim to be there at least 15 minutes earlier. Best case scenario you make a great impression worst case scenario you arrive on time and avoid making a bad impression.

Use Rapport to Your Advantage
If you are lucky enough to get an interviewer you immediately click with don’t hesitate to be yourself and crack a few jokes along the way. A friendly connection with your potential manager is always a great sign and will definitely have an impact on the interviewer too.

Be Honest
Slightly bending the truth to work in your advantage is a skill, lying on the other hand can harm you in the long term. If there is a task you can’t do or a job you have no experience in, be honest – after all they’ve already seen it on your CV. In the case that you truly are unqualified this will save you from wasting time but in most cases an interviewer can spot your potential and will appreciate your honesty.

Prepare Your Own Questions
Go to a job interview with the attitude of choosing a job rather than asking for one. Remember that they need you as much as you need them, this means while you are convincing them to hire you, they should be convincing you to choose them. Once they’ve asked their questions make sure you ask yours. This way you will not look desperate and be taken a lot more seriously by your potential employers.

BONUS

Don’t Burn Bridges
If you sense the interview is not going your way don’t give up or sell yourself short. End the interview on a positive note, be as pleasant and respectful as you can be and keep the doors open. You never know when you will work with the same person or get a new opportunity to return to the company. It’s always best to keep good connections in your industry.

Aiming for a higher salary is one of the main reasons people seek new jobs; getting potential employers to give that salary is not always as easy as it sounds. If you are looking to get the paycheck of your dreams go through our tips based on our many years of experience in the recruitment sector.

Know the Exact Salary You Want
Before you head to any interview decide how much you’d like to be making, taking into consideration how much you are worth based on your experience and the current average offers in your industry. Heading to an interview uncertain will make you the weaker link in the negotiation.

How Much Lower are You Willing to Go?
Along with your desired salary, decide what is the lowest you are willing to accept for a job you really like. Just think if that extra 5% is really going to change your life or if it’s worth accepting a slightly lower salary than what you were aiming for, for a great career opportunity.

Don’t Counter Offer Too Many Times
This refers back to the previous point; once you know how much lower you are willing to go you don’t need to go through multiple counter offers. The negotiation can end once you’ve presented the lowest salary you are willing to accept. Going back and forth too many times will tire the employers and they will simply move on to the next best candidate.

Accept that a Company Can’t Afford You
It’s easy to believe that every company can pay the salary you want they just aren’t because you haven’t been persistent enough; that’s not true. Companies have a maximum and minimum budget for every position. For the right candidate they will go up to their maximum offer. So, if they don’t meet your expectations it is very likely that they simply cannot afford you.

Bargain Respectfully
There’s nothing wrong with negotiating the salary you want but do it respectfully and don’t cheapen yourself. Avoid sounding arrogant or demanding because that quickly translates to obnoxious. Remain polite and respectful, but be persistent and assertive. Keep things positive even if it turns out this is not the right job for you.

Your Salary is Part of Your Package
Make sure your salary is negotiated as a part of your package including vacation days, working hours, bonus schemes etc. Do not negotiate all other aspects of the job first and once you’ve reached an agreement go back and ask for a higher salary. This will only make you appear demanding. Instead, present all your requirements as one package and take it from there.

Don’t Wait Until the Last Minute
A big mistake many candidates make is not asking for a high salary for fear of not being selected. Once they are selected and have a contract ready to be signed they decide to speak up. This is a huge mistake that you should avoid making at all costs. From the very beginning you should be clear about your salary expectations and save yourself, as well as the company, time.

Alternatively, you can ask the GRS team to connect you with potential employers who already know your salary expectations and can help you reach your goal.

GRS team took part in the 2018 Legion Run in Cyprus following an intense course of obstacles of mud, fire, ice and barbed wire. The GRS Team joined participants from all over Cyprus for the opportunity to challenge their physical and mental limits.

In the photos a few members of the GRS Teams and their partners including Steve Slocombe, Hayley Buckle, Nicole Kazamias, Sophia Christou, Lucianna Zodo, George Kimonos & Despina Antoniou.

This May, Cyprus’ leading recruitment agency, GRS Recruitment, will be exhibiting for the 6th consecutive year at the iFX International Expo, Cyprus. The expo, taking place from May 23rd – May 25th, will be held at the Palais des Sports athletic complex in Limassol, and is expected to attract more than 3000 people in the form of attendees, exhibitors and sponsors.

The annual iFX Expo is a flagship event bringing together thousands of people from the forex, binary options and CFDs industry. This year, the expo will feature more than 100 exhibitors – including GRS Recruitment, alongside marketing firms, tech and payments companies, forex/binary platform providers, industry experts and much more.

With so many industry experts under one roof, this is an exciting opportunity to gain further knowledge of the current market landscape, discover emerging trends and technologies, meet hundreds of key businesspeople and build long-lasting business relationships, making it an event that is surely not to be missed.

Speaking about the event, Philippa Stephanou, business manager at GRS, stated, “The iFX Expo is an exciting and stimulating event that we look forward to every year. 2017 is our 6th year attending as exhibitors and we always look forward to this 3-day event that opens our horizons even further into the financial world of Forex, CFD’s, Payment Solutions, Platforms etc.”

She added, “As Cyprus is the Mediterranean’s preferred business hub, the expo enables business professionals from across the globe to attend and join us in Cyprus, the retail FX hub for a great networking and knowledge exchange event. We as the primary recruiters of this industry have the opportunity to further bond with our existing clients whilst networking and establishing new business relationships.”

The iFX expo is an extremely valuable event that offers countless opportunities for learning, networking and information-sharing. This is a fantastic opportunity to learn about the tools, technologies and best practices that are infiltrating the industry in a relaxed, informal yet exciting setting where business professional of all levels and cultures come together to interact and connect.

Elaborating on the attraction of the event, GRS’ co-founder Donna Stephenson, commented, “This is our 6th consecutive year of exhibiting at the iFX expo. We have supported the expo from its very first year in 2012. We are thrilled to be attending this year’s expo as this is an excellent opportunity to meet our existing clients in a fun and informal setting whilst being available at our booth and throughout the expo venue to meet with new clients.”

Hayley Buckle, business manager for GRS’ Limassol brand, affirmed, “As always the iFX expo is a top event offering excellent opportunities to meet new and existing clients and further cement the relationships that we have made as the leading recruiter in Cyprus. Working with more than 100 brokers on the island, this is a great chance for industry experts to meet under one roof and freely discuss business and new ideas. This is a truly wonderful event that is always marked in my calendar.”

As exhibitors and attendees, GRS Recruitment looks forward to seeing you at this year’s iFX expo 2017 – an exciting event definitely not to be missed! Meet us at Booth #69.