Simply JK Blog

For many companies, the 2021 holiday season marks the return of office holiday parties after over a year of social distancing. According to Tripleseat, 66 percent of employers will be holding a holiday celebration this year, and 84 percent of those events will be in person. The workforce is eager to interact socially once again, and office parties are a great way to reward the hard work of employees with good food and good conversation.While these parties are a great way to strengthen culture and build personal connections with peers, it’s important to keep in mind some best practices to avoid regretful behavior or uncomfortable situations with your coworkers. Below are some answers to common party etiquette questions that will ensure you get the most out of your holiday celebration while maintaining a positive reputation and healthy professional relationships.

Luckily, enhancing your LinkedIn profile doesn’t require major changes or time-consuming updates. A few simple tweaks and following some best practices can make all the difference the next time a hiring professional lands on your page.

Hiring during busy periods can be stressful, but there are ways to ensure your listing stands out amongst your industry competitors to find the right fit. Keep these three things in mind when conducting a job search during fall to make the most out of the autumn hiring surge.

The global workforce is recovering from a year of working remote and quarantining, with little thought given to planning vacations while the future remained uncertain. This isolation and forced adjustment to remote work left many professionals feeling overworked, stressed, and anxious.

Coming out of a year riddled with travel restrictions and quarantines, Americans are eager to spend their weekends outdoors and making memories with loved ones. Companies, especially in New York and big cities, are seeing the restlessness in their workforce that comes with short months of warm weather, amplified only by the ability to enjoy conveniences temporarily unavailable during the pandemic.

Changing regulations around COVID vaccine guidelines are leaving many employers with more questions than answers. As offices reopen and workers look to return to their desks, leaders must act fast to ensure that guidelines are clear for a smooth and safe transition back to the workplace. Below, we address some of the most frequent questions we have received from leaders seeking HR guidance as they compile their vaccine guidelines.

The work-from-home concept has changed how many employees do their job, communicate with team members, and so much more. As companies get ‘back to normal,’ will the flexibility of processes and protocols stay in place?

One of the most critical differentiators for an organization is its culture. Establishing a strong culture drives employment fulfillment, resulting in customer satisfaction.

As an executive, what are you doing to connect with your employees and grow your business? Taking an active role to invest in your staff is instrumental.

The job market has evolved into a candidate-driven market, and companies are working hard to attract the right candidates and retain current employees.

Why should every professional have a “Me File?” Sometimes, we need subtle reminders of our value, impact, and success to keep us motivated.

Hiring a new leader can be stressful. As executive recruiters, here are some tips to ensure an effortless transition.

Believe it or not, the end of the year is consistently the busiest hiring season for JK Executive Strategies – with 70% of our current active searches coming in at the start of Q4.

For those who love podcasts, check out our top diversity and inclusion Ted Talks to listen to right now.

At JK Executive Strategies, we believe that diversity makes an organization stronger. Here are 3 DI&E resources to review.

Download and view our checklist of the Top 10 HR Compliance Topics to ensure your compliant with the new changes!

Our HR Consulting Division works with companies on new policies and procedures. View our Remote Work Policy & Agreement template.

Each employer has its own unique employment record maintenance practices. Employee records can be maintained in paper form, scanned or completed and maintained electronically. No matter what format is used, the maintenance, security and retention requirements are the same.

FLSA Exemption Questionnaire – NYS: Note to employers: This questionnaire serves as a basic outline for an employer’s initial analysis of positions being considered for exemption under the FLSA and is meant to serve as one of several tools in such an analysis. Job titles are insufficient to determine exempt status. Additionally, state wage and hour laws may have different requirements.

Companies of all sizes face increasing HR complexities as the number of employment laws and regulations are on the rise, and the risk of penalties for non-compliance has never been greater. When developing HR policies and procedures, HR leaders should know, for example, that:

For small businesses, the Human Resources function can be helpful for much more than simply processing payroll or handling the annual open enrollment season. Human Resources plays an essential role in developing a company's strategy as well as handling the employee-centered activities of an organization.

Most people become incredibly anxious at the thought of attending a networking event of any kind, whether it is a Chamber of Commerce event, professional organization or a group of fellow jobseekers. However, the thought of attending a social event or party at a friend’s home doesn’t elicit the same level of tension, though on a fundamental basis, the two events are very similar.

Your resume is the first impression a company has of you, action verbs help portray the energy associated with the work you did!

Did you know that an interview with a company starts the MINUTE you apply for a position? Don't let a question prevent you from sealing the deal, here is a list of 75 commonly asked behavioral questions to help you prepare for your next interview!

The “what are your weaknesses” question is universally the one that most interviewees are afraid of being asked, and the question that most interviewers are most likely to ask. Therefore there is no reason not to have an excellent answer.

Often at the end of a presentation to jobseekers, people will come up to me and ask me what I think of some piece of advice another coach has given them. I’m always taken aback by some of the things I’ve heard over the years.

Every time I do presentations about how to be a more effective networker, the number one question on everyone’s mind is, how do you start a conversation with someone you don’t know?

Always a Bridesmaid in Job Interviews and Not Getting the Offer? It’s always frustrating during the job interview process to successfully jump over the initial hurdles, only to be met with silence instead of getting an actual offer.

About a year ago I was asked to serve on a panel for a Human Resource conference at Nazareth College. Various HR professionals from around Rochester came to this conference hoping to stay up to date with the latest changes and trends. Why me? When I got there, I quickly realized it was a panel full of Millennials. What was the objective? To let HR professionals from around the Rochester community ask us questions about what we would want to see in an office environment, in a career or an ideal manager. I found this to be refreshing but also a little intimidating.

If you’ve ever had the thought: “I’ve applied to every job I see, but I don’t get called for an interview—what am I doing wrong?” or “Should I get certification in XYZ, is that what’s keeping me from getting a job?”, this article’s for you.

Providing resume writing, job interview coaching and job search coaching to clients around the world.

This is one of those job interview questions that will be asked by the savviest of interviewers. Although it's positively heart-stopping to be on the answering end of this question, if you were the employer, wouldn't you want to know how this seemingly fabulous person ended up on the job market? It's similar to finding a used car that's only got 1000 miles on it and is 3 years old; just a little too good to be true, and you can't believe that no one else has discovered this amazing find.

We all know that people form impressions based on the smallest details. Perhaps when you read this message line you laughed at how improbable it would be to NOT get a job offer because your handshake was too strong or too weak.

Over 15 years ago, I wrote an article entitled “Never Accept a Counteroffer.” Today, I sit down to write a very similar article. Many things have changed over the years. Technology has changed. The job search process has changed. We have all gotten older and wiser. One thing hasn’t changed, however. My advice to Never Accept a Counteroffer still stands firm.

Some people believe that the hardest part of the interview process is the initial phone interview. Refining your confidence and technique will help move you to the next step in the interview process.

Preparing for an interview is as important as going through the actual interview itself. Proper preparation and research can mean the difference in advancing through the interview process to an ultimate job offer.

Over the past 9 months, I have observed a new phenomenon – candidates are submitting their resumes for posted positions without their address included on the resume. WHAT? No address? I’d like to make the case for how important an address is on a resume.

In the first quarter of 2016, less than 10 percent of the Fortune 500 CEOs were diverse (defined in this article as gender and ethnicity). Data for other leadership levels within these organizations were not as readily available, but most sources suggest that the percentage of direct CEO reports, as well as the next level of direct reports, were also less than 10 percent.

In the interview process, your personal brand is very important to landing a new career. Your personal brand starts with your resume, doing an introductory call, and then a physical interview. Through the entire process your brand is being evaluated to see if you are the right fit for the position and the culture of the company. This brings us to the critical last step to the interview process, a thank you letter.

Providing references is a very important part of finding a new job and can often be an afterthought. Here are the Top 5 Must Do’s for managing the reference check process for yourself:

Exactly 56 days ago, I launched a new company. My company. I put my name on the top of a website, business card and everything in between. I never thought I would have the guts. I really didn't. I knew I was ready, but I really didn't think I would have the guts.

For those of you who are honest as the day is long, I am going to apologize ahead of time. This may seem like a rant of a post – but I think it is important. Throughout my tenure in this industry, I have represented unbelievable talent. Ethical. Trustworthy. Professional. I can’t say enough about the majority of candidates I have had the pleasure of representing.

Investment banking job interviews involve plenty of technical and competency based questions, but you’ll inevitably face the generic HR-style stumbling blocks, which are still surprisingly important.

New York City weather is currently hot and muggy. Financial services professionals are dealing with a “summer of hell” commuting into Manhattan, with the MTA scrambling to repair Penn Station after a series of train derailments, leading to ripple effects slowing down the entire transportation system. Many believe that it’s the best city in the world, but it’s also one of the more expensive places to live.

First-person pronouns like “I,” “me,” and “my,” are unavoidable, but they can land you in hot water if you don’t know how to use them.