Truth or Dare You and Your Recruiter - Your Career Intel

Truth or Dare You and Your Recruiter - Your Career IntelThis is parte two of a three part series In last weeks blog I talked about the importance of engaging a recruiter in your specific industry. Now Id like to focus on the ways in which you can best work with a recruiter to maximize your opportunities. If you havent read the first post, you can catch it here.Know Your RecruiterYou have identified a recruiter online or been referred to one by a colleague. This persons profile appears to match your industry or your profession and seems to be a good fit for you and your career. Hit the pause button. Before you start working with a recruiter, you should bewerberinterview them as much as they interview you. Make sure you have good chemistry with that recruiter. Youll want to work with someone with whom you feel you have mutual respect.There are two key truths you need to keep in mind when working with a recruiterA recruiter is paid to help a company find the right candidate for a specif ic job. Recruiters are elend paid by the candidate to find a job. Theres a big difference. If you dont understand, take the time right now to re-read that again.Honesty, for RealBe totally honest with the recruiter. Tell them everything. Good and bad. Its not our place to chastise you, but we need to know the truth about everything. Whether its your base salary, your potential bonus, your education, your job description, your dates of employment. Share it all (even why you were let go). Recruiters are paid to find out, so we would rather hear it from you than from another source.A good recruiter will double-check everything, and if something doesnt jive, there will be consequences. Also have your resume littered with accomplishments not just day to day job responsibilities. Tell about your successes and the impactful differences youve personally made. And (important) dont take credit for someone elses accolades. Well be checking those facts, too.Exclusivity, NoNo recruiter should d emand exclusivity from you. In fact, I recommend that every candidate have two or three recruiters that they confer with and trust. I would love to be the sole recruiter in Account Management recruiting, but I would be severely naive to believe no other recruiters can do what I do.The truth is, I cannot possibly know about every job in every agency. But, if I do tell you about a job, I would hope that you respect our partnership as much as I do and not divulge to other recruiters what position(s) were discussing. I, in turn, will not tell any company about your candidacy unless I get your prior authorization. Confidentiality is key for both of us, and it is a must in order for us to successfully work together.In my third and final post in this series, Ill address moving from ideas and discussion to actually making a move. How you act and how you proceed during the course of a job search will directly affect not only the outcome of the immediate search, but perhaps future career move s as well.

3 Career Perks of Speaking Multiple Languages

3 Career Perks of Speaking Multiple Languages Many career-related social platforms, including LinkedIn, ask people to list the languages they can speak. Why do these platforms do that? The answer is because most big employers search for individuals who can best navigate our increasingly internationalized economy by speaking multiple languages.The best companies to work for are those that benchmark their performance and capacity to innovate with global standards, working across different time zones and leveraging cross-border communication. Hence, the demand for multilingual employees is on the rise.Case in point experts say that the U.K. needs more foreign language speakers who can help tap in to the economic benefits of partnering with emerging foreign markets. Also, Johnson and Johnson, GE, GlaxoSmithKline and other multinational companies have a high demand for polyglots who can speak several European languages.Being multilingual goes beyond impressing co-workers at the next offic e party its a strategy for successSo, how can speaking more than one language help you in your career?Here are some of the professional benefits of being multilingual in the workplace.1. You are an asset to the companys growth.Companies seeking growth are always on the look out for new markets. Multilingual employees can help expand the business by assisting in proofreading foreign documents, interpreting meetings with international partners and training new employees who have a different language and cultural background.However, being multilingual goes beyond being able to perform clerical or managerial tasks you can act as a strategic partner and influence the creation of globally relevant solutions.For instance, interacting with prospective customers or business partners from across the globe entails a great deal of information sharing and establishing your companys thought leadership. Content is king in this digital world, and multilingualism can impact on an organizations con tent and information strategy. A company that hopes to capture foreign markets could benefit from having an employee who understands communication and cultural nuances to ensure that the right message is delivered.2. You can promote and leverage cognitive diversity within your team.In the book Linguanomics What is the Market Potential of Multilingualism?, author Gabrielle Hogan-Brun discussed multilingualisms economic benefits and how it drives innovation in organizations and societies.Similar to Hogan-Bruns findings, its no wonder that groups composed of members speaking different languages demonstrate an ability to create innovative and dynamic solutions to practical schwierigkeits, according to research. Depending on a persons linguistic background, the mind may function differently, and so mix-language teams can utilize different approaches to handle a challenge.Research also suggests that having an additional language drives emotional understanding and cultural sensitivity. Thr iving at the workplace is often tethered to how well a person can build internal relationships in a diverse environment. For international and executive level roles, being sensitive to different cultures is important to leverage individual employee strengths and drive business results.3. You develop cognitive skills that only high-performing employees possess.Often in business, winning is not only about who delivers the best quality products/services, but also about who delivers first. So, employers value multitaskers.According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), bilingual brains are quicker at switching between tasks than their monolingual counterparts.Being able to function on more than one language is exercise for the brain. Cognitive skills such memory, problem solving, attention, decision-making and information processing remain sharp, making you an efficient thinker.What are the professional benefits of speaking multiple languages?Being monolingual could be standing in the way of career progression. Multilingualism can make you an ideal candidate for a promotion and international or leadership positions.But how much do you get paid for being bilingual? While rates depend on the job description and assignment location, often, expat employees earn from two sourcesTheir home countryThe country of assignmentIn addition, having a sharper mind means you get to enjoy more income-generating years than peers whose cognitive abilities may deteriorate more quickly.Which languages would be good to start with?Some of the top languages to consider are Mandarin, Japanese and Arabic. China, Japan and the Middle East are major global players and most large companies want to partake in their economic growth.Spanish and German are also good considerations since Spanish is the second most spoken language in the world, and Germany is home to some of the most long-standing brands in the world.Given that the Internet is littered with free apps (e.g. Duolingo), video tu torials and online courses on learning a new language, theres no excuse not to start learning immediately. So, choose a language you have an interest in and become one of the select few that major global companies seek out on Linkedin.--Chiara writes about business, finance, social enterprising, health and medicine and the unique placement of women across these areas. She is also a co-creator at FictionFolk, which designs events that aim to peddle the literature culture.