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Interview question generator - New Reed AI tool
Why should recruiters and hiring managers use our tool?Well-crafted interview questions are essential for determining an interviewee's skills, experience, and fit for the role.If you are looking for good interview questions for recruiters or managers, our interview question generator is your go-to resource for fast, comprehensive interview question generation, providing you with a wide range of relevant and effective questions to choose from.Our tool uses advanced AI algorithms to generate a list of interview questions to ask candidates that are tailored to the specific requirements of the role and your company. Using the tool ensures that the questions you ask at an interview are relevant, effective, and comprehensive, allowing you to gain a deeper understanding of each interviewee’s strengths and weaknesses. Our interview question generator will save you time and effort, while ensuring that you are asking the right questions to identify the best candidates for your open positions.Tailoring questions to your industry and roleOur interview question generator will craft a set of interview questions to suit any role, in any sector, across a range of seniority levels, from entry level to c-suite.Helping recruiters and managers craft better interview questionsBy highlighting your top-three most sought-after soft skills, this AI-powered interview question generator will align with your hiring needs, helping you uncover the best talent to help your team thrive.Helping hiring managers save timeWhat used to take hours of searching the internet for the best interview questions, will take you no more than five minutes.
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Download - ESG interview questions for senior roles
ESG or environmental, social and governance is a holistic approach to sustainability.Getting the right people to implement any environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategy is clearly important, making the interview stage for senior ESG appointments a key moment.Choosing the right ESG interview questions will allow employers to understand the sort of leadership capabilities a candidate has alongside the expertise they bring. What is ESG?:At the most basic level ESG stands for environmental, social and governance, with these three criteria broken down individually within a company’s ESG policy.Environmental: The environmental aspect of ESG looks at how a business operates as a steward of the natural environment, focusing on all aspects of sustainability including waste, pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and climate change.Social: The social element of a company’s ESG framework examines the impact of operations on the human rights of workers, covering areas such as diversity and inclusion, workplace equality and pay and conditions.Governance: The governance aspect of ESG looks at how a business polices itself and its corporate governance. This can relate to issues such as transparency, accountability, and compliance.ESG interview questions:Our downloadable template contains ESG job interview questions that should be asked of someone applying for a senior environmental, social and governance role. It includes important questions such as:What experience do you have with ESG frameworks?What do you see as the three essential pillars of ESG?What ESG key performance indicators do you work towards?How do you keep track of evolving trends in ESG?What ESG certifications do you hold?These questions will allow employers to understand the sort of leadership capabilities a candidate has alongside the expertise they bring. You will find many more on our downloadable template to give you the best possible chance of recruiting the highest calibre of ESG professional.Download our free template, ‘ESG interview questions for senior roles’, by clicking on the button at the top of the page.
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The power of your personal brand and how to build it
Personal branding is the practice of creating, managing, and influencing your own brand. Everything you want people to know about you is your personal brand. While you can’t control how others perceive you, you can take strides to ensure you highlight the best parts of yourself. It involves taking control of how you present yourself to the world and making sure you are seen in a positive light.The adage ‘It’s not what you know but who you know’ isn’t exactly true – it’s more about who knows you and how they see you. It’s not only professional accolades that help professionals progress in their careers, but who they are as people as well. Just as a company works to promote its business to clients, customers, candidates and employees, to stand out from competitors, individuals can also market themselves to employers and other professional contacts in their network. Your experience, expertise, values, personality and everything that makes you unique can contribute to your personal brand. How to build your personal brandHere are some tips to help get you started and keep up the momentum: 1. Define your target audienceKnowing who you want to reach with your personal brand is essential for success. Research your target audience and consider what kind of content, tone and style of communication will resonate with them. 2. Set yourself apartYour brand must be an honest representation of yourself if you are to highlight your unique skills and traits. Think about the qualities and experiences you can use to set yourself apart and emphasise how you’re different from others. 3. Create a compelling messageWhat values do you stand for as a person? Creating a tagline or mission statement is a great way to articulate your personal brand in a concise, memorable way. Your message should be one of positivity and optimism. 4. Build an online presenceSocial media is essential for building an online presence. Choose the platforms that make the most sense for your target audience and start creating content around your personal brand. You might decide to build your own website as well – some use this as a way of showcasing their portfolio of previous work and their ‘about me’ page. 5. Be a thought leaderSharing your knowledge with others adds value to your social media profiles and people will recognise you as an authoritative voice on a subject and a trustworthy source of information. 6. Be approachableWhile you want to show your professionalism, you don’t want to overdo it by using jargon or words that most people wouldn’t use in everyday conversation. Using language that shows you’re a person and not a corporate robot will help others identify with you. 7. Be consistentIn order to ensure your brand is successful, you need to be consistent. Keep your message and branding consistent across all your platforms and maintain an active presence. This shows your authenticity and builds trust in your audience. 8. Keep up with trendsTo ensure your brand stays relevant and cutting-edge, you must be up to date with trends and know what people are interested in now. Stay abreast of industry news, what your competition is doing and check in regularly with your contacts. 9. Monitor your progressSet goals, track your progress and measure the success of your efforts. Use analytics tools to analyse the data and adjust your tactics accordingly. Everything you do must be intentional and have a purpose. 10. NetworkNetworking is essential to building a successful personal brand. Develop meaningful relationships with your peers in the industry and look for opportunities to collaborate. 11. Take constructive criticismMost people will shy away from criticism they don’t want to hear, but it’s useful for improving your personal brand and adjusting your strategy. Listening to your audience is another way to connect with them and keep learning. Building a strong personal brand takes some work, but it’s worth it in the end, allowing you to unlock new opportunities and set yourself up for success. To find your next opportunity, or the perfect professional to join your team, contact us today.
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A four-day work week: the pros and cons
The past 16 months have given organisations time to consider how they operate, including the number of hours and days they require employees to work.It is no secret that the coronavirus pandemic has transformed the way we work in the UK, with many businesses having to abandon the office to work from home almost overnight. As well as this, over the last year we have seen the introduction of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and the challenge of juggling home schooling, leaving many employers no choice but to allow for flexible working arrangements.With this sudden shift to working from home and an increase in hybrid working, we have seen more and more conversations around work-life balance and businesses questioning their ‘typical working week’.The five-day work week has become a cultural norm, especially in the UK, but after more than a year of change, is it time to rethink this approach and, if we do, would businesses continue to succeed? Or would productivity take a hit?We asked our LinkedIn followers: “Would you consider changing your company’s working hours to a four-day working week?”. With 919 votes, 50% said yes, but with the same hours, 33% said yes but with reduced hours, 12% said no, and 6% said they would consider it, but not at this time.With 83% of those surveyed in favour of a four-day week, there are many considerations companies must make when deciding if this is a course of action they would be willing to take.What is the case for a four-day work week?A four-day work week can be defined in two ways; the first is when an employee compresses their full-time hours (typically 35 hours) over a four-day period. And the second is reducing an employee’s hours (typically to 28 hours) over four days, so they are then able to have a three-day weekend.Many argue that, while the five-day work week used to be effective in the 19th century, it no longer suits the needs of the modern-day professional.With the evolution of technology, some day-to-day tasks are significantly more time-efficient, and with an uplift in office-based roles, we are seeing an argument that longer work hours do not necessarily mean staff are more productive.Notably, over the last couple of years, many countries across the globe including Japan, New Zealand, Spain - and most recently Iceland - have trialled the four-day work week to research the effect it has on its employees.Microsoft trialled four-day weeks in its Japanese offices and found the shortened work week led to more efficient meetings, happier workers and boosted productivity by a staggering 40%. Similarly, Iceland undertook a trial which monitored employees working reduced hours over a variety of public sector workplaces and found it to be an overall success, with 86% of the country's workforce now on a shorter work week for the same pay.In an article for the BBC, Will Stronge, Director of Research at four-day week consultancy Autonomy, said: “It shows that the public sector is ripe for being a pioneer of shorter working weeks - and lessons can be learned for other governments.”In the UK, many businesses have also trialled the four-day work week, and some have even made the permanent switch. Gloucestershire-based PR agency Radioactive Public Relations trialled a four-day week for six months and found the business was even more profitable and employees’ sickness days were halved.What are the advantages of a four-day working week?Large and small-sized companies trialling the concept have created an evidence-base of the benefits a four-day working week could bring to your organisation.An increase in productivity levelsResearch has shown that working fewer hours boosts productivity levels. With employees spending less time at work, they can feel happier and more fulfilled, leading to them focusing on their job when in the workplace.A large New Zealand business, Perpetual Guardian, trialled a four-day work week and found not only a 20% rise in productivity, but work-life balance scores increased from 54% to 78%.Environmental and cost-saving benefitsShortening your working week means that employees do not need to commute as much, reducing their carbon footprint.As we have seen throughout the pandemic, those businesses with employees working on the same four days can save on overheads and in some cases even be eligible for tax relief.Happier employees and fewer absencesAccording to mental health charity Mind, one in six people report experiencing a common mental health problem in any given week in England, and one in five agreed that they have called in sick to avoid work.Four-day work weeks leave employees more time to focus on personal development or spend time with loved ones. This will not only increase employees’ happiness, but can contribute to fewer burnouts, leaving them to be more focused and happier in their role.Better recruitment and retentionThe increase of hybrid working and remote working during the pandemic has led to employees wanting greater flexibility from their employers.The CIPD reported that the majority of people think flexible working is positive for their quality of life, and 30% of people think it positively affects their mental health. So, offering potential new and existing employees a flexible working pattern is a fantastic way of attracting and retaining talented professionals.What are the disadvantages of a four-day working week?Whilst there are benefits to a four-day work week, there are disadvantages too:"A four-day work week wouldn’t work practically because of the need to cover more shifts during a time where we are already facing staff shortages."Not all industries can participateUnfortunately, the four-day working week model does not suit every sector. Some businesses or professions require a 24/7 presence which would make a shortened work week unpractical and, in some cases, delay work - creating longer lead times.A nurse who wanted to remain anonymous expressed her reservations about a four-day week in the healthcare sector, saying: “As an A&E nurse a four-day working week wouldn’t work practically for us. Currently, we work long 12+ hour shifts in order to have four days off, which I prefer as it provides more of a work-life balance. However, while I know a four-day working week would be better for some of my colleagues due to childcare, the shorter, more regular shifts we would have to do on a four-day week wouldn’t work. It would mean the need to cover more shifts during a time where we are already facing staff shortages.”Unutilised labourA four-day week is not for everyone; some employees prefer the structure of a five-day working week or would prefer to put in more hours than a four-day working week offers.Likewise, some professions have tasks which simply take more time than others, which would lead to paying more in overtime or drafting in further staff to make up the shortfall (as happened in healthcare for the Icelandic study), which can ultimately become expensive.Final thoughts: should your business adopt the four-day work week?Although the shortened work week has taken off in many European countries and been successful for many UK businesses, it is an extreme approach for a company to take and requires a shift in mindset from the employer and employees for it to work effectively, so it may not be for everyone.While a more flexible approach on working hours is now expected from employees, a less disruptive, more gradual process would be adopting a hybrid or flexible working policy instead.Likewise, as mentioned above, the four-day model may not work for all sectors. What studies and data have proven is that organisations who are putting more focus on maintaining staff wellbeing, engagement, morale, and productivity are reaping the benefits.