Careers Blog
Many businesses have been beat up by the global pandemic that has dominated 2020. Mandated shutdowns forced businesses to close their doors and many were unable to weather the storm. While some chose to defy government-ordered closure, the vast majority went along with the demands. The results have been damaging to many and catastrophic to some.
The global pandemic has led to lay offs, losses, and, in many cases, permanent closures. It’s led many people to reconsider their career path.
People who have found themselves working in the same industry for an extended amount of time will often say that they didn’t set out to work in the industry they’re in. They got a job, started work, and the opportunities and demands of life kept them in a routine. Life has a way of going by very quickly, and before you know it, you’ve been in a job longer than you ever planned. You’ve reached a “point of no return” in your job that makes the potential of leaving and starting over in an entirely different industry totally unreasonable.
It seems that every time we start thinking the pandemic is winding down, a new surge in cases again fills our news cycle and reignites our uncertainty about the future. Our economy, for a while, was all but dead as a result of this crisis. Small business owners took the biggest hit. Many shut their doors forever as the mandated shutdown stopped them in their tracks, and people were forced out of work. As things slowly began to reopen, we saw a new reality unfolding before us. Restaurants — those that actually survived the shut down — began functioning at a significantly limited capacity and with scaled-back menus. Retail shops started enforcing capacity limits and mask mandates. Entertainment venues changed their seating and rearranged their programming just to keep at least some revenue in motion. Supply chain delays began to impact shoppers, storeowners, and the trades. The reality of a slow economic recovery began to become more and more evident.
Deciding on a Career Move in the Midst of a Chaotic Economy
Now that you’ve got that classic song from The Clash in your head, the question must be asked: Should you stay at the job you’re at or use this strange economic season to explore new options, go a different direction, or consider a monumental shift in your life’s trajectory?
There’s an old saying in the job search world that says, “Don’t pull up anchor without a motor in the water.” In other words, make sure you have your plans to move forward in place before you take any decisive tangible actions.
As you’re deciding on what’s best for your career and life plans, consider these couple questions to help you make your next move:
The Twin Cities is one of the greatest places to live and work in the country. With a strong economy, excellent school systems, and beautiful landscapes and recreational opportunities, ours is a metro area that has become a destination for entrepreneurs, business owners, and expanding companies.
Are you in the interview process; back in the job hunt? Have layoffs or cutback pushed you back into the world of updating your resumé and looking through LinkedIn? Just in case you’re out of practice or have forgotten exactly how to move through an interview putting your best foot forward, we thought we’d give you some thoughts on how you can talk about yourself naturally yet effectively in an interview.
Some Advice for the Suddenly Unemployed
The economy has taken a turn for the completely unexpected. Just a couple months ago, companies were scratching their heads, wondering how they’d ever find employees who could fill their open positions. How could they incentivize people to join their team?
Now, with an economy that has taken an about-face and with companies trying to navigate their next thirty days — much less their next 30 years — the job market is changing. Some companies are never going to come back from this. Some are going to change their structure or expectations for what it means to “come to work.” Some may never return to full force and others will redefine themselves and their definition of success.
As you navigate this new market and changing landscape, take some time to consider where you are and what is next for you.
How a change in your work environment can mean good things for what’s next
As these words are being written, our nation and world is in the middle of a lockdown. It’s an unprecedented time, as commerce has been halted and financial markets have been on a tumultuous up and down. The oil industry has crashed and companies with 5 employees and companies with 5,000 are questioning how to navigate the next three days (let alone the next three months).
For some people, this shutdown has meant a hiatus from their jobs. For others, it has meant unemployment. Some businesses are getting help from the government to keep their employees — and their bills — paid. Other businesses were forced to close their doors and are probably not going too reopen. This unfortunate turn of events and entirely new scenario is a stark contrast to the booming economy of just a few months ago.
Regardless of where this economic season has taken you, it doesn’t have to be one that is without opportunity. Some of the biggest innovations in history have come out of times of necessity. Some of the most explosive and successful companies were birthed in times and atmospheres of resistance.
Your Job Looks Different When You Work from Home.
As life has changed, many people have been forced into a work-from-home scenario that they weren’t previously equipped for. If you are working from home, consider incorporating some basic guidelines for your new work environment.
Turning these suggestions into action can help you stay productive and can keep you energetic and less distracted by the life around you.
How to Know It’s Time for a New Job
The worst time to look for a job is when you need one. You’re at the mercy of the economy, the bills you have to pay, and the clock. Time that passes and opportunities that you don’t get only seem to reinforce the urgency surrounding you. You have to find something, and you’re getting close to taking anything.
But when you don’t need a new job, but simply are ready for a new, better opportunity, that's an entirely different scenario. Deciding that it's time to move into a new job gives you a chance to take risks, to move into new industries or new positions, and push yourself beyond where you currently are.
3 Leadership Traits You Want to See in Your Boss
You may be interviewing for a new job or deciding whether you should stay at the job you have. You might be looking at the greener pastures of a different company or questioning your future in the one you’re at. Whatever the case may be for your employment, there are certain traits to look for in a manager that will help you determine whether the work environment is a healthy one. There are certain components of leadership that, if present, should indicate to you that the company is a place worth staying (or starting) at.
Is Your Company Committed to You?
Employment can be a funny thing. On one hand, a job is a job. You’re being paid to perform a certain task. It’s expected that you perform it to a level of quality that is acceptable and in exchange for your work and for the quality of your work, you receive some level of compensation. Sometimes the compensation is strictly financial. Sometimes there are additional benefits, stock options, and fringe benefits based on performance. But the scenario is pretty straightforward. Performance provides payment.
How can you tell if the company you work for is committed to you?
The story goes something like this:
Members of a leadership team are talking to each other about the issue of training within the company. The senior member of the team asks a poignant question. “What if we spend all of this time and money on our employees to train them, and then they leave?” It’s a good question. It’s one that’s often asked and takes into consideration the challenges of a workforce. But the response the senior leader receives is hard-hitting and impactful. “What if we don’t spend time and money to train them, and they stay?”
The challenge is clear. An untrained workforce is a liability.
At Viking Client Services, we’re building out a team of Account Representatives who will partner with our customers and clients to produce results and work collaboratively as a team to solve problems. Our Account Representatives do the front line work of Viking Client Services.
Giving You Experience That Takes You Places
Those who start their careers at Viking build strong resumés for careers in finance, customer service, management and leadership, sales, and other fields.
Every job rewards performance in one way or another. For some, it’s the “Employee of the Month” banner or a picture on the wall. For some, it’s commissions or bonuses. Some rewards are more anecdotal…like getting more opportunities for your voice to be heard by management or being considered a more likely candidate for promotion.
However your company measures success, there are some things we’ve learned in our 50 years in business about how to measure success, what matters the most, and what really makes the difference in building a workplace that keeps good people doing good work for a long time.
The Work Gap: Between Where You Are and Where You'll End Up
Standing in between where you are now in your career and where you envision yourself being in the future is something called the work gap. The work gap is basically the distance between the person you are at the beginning of your career and the person you are at the end of it. It’s the space between your first job out of high school and the job you retire from some day. The work gap is made up of experience, wisdom, opportunities, risks, failures, successes, questions, and answers. You don’t have the luxury of being on the other side of it right now. You just have the path in front of you.
The Work Gap
Standing in between where you are now in your career and where you envision yourself being in the future is something called the work gap. The work gap is basically the distance between the person you are at the beginning of your career and the person you are at the end of it. It’s the space between your first job out of high school and the job you retire from some day. The work gap is made up of experience, wisdom, opportunities, risks, failures, successes, questions, and answers. You don’t have the luxury of being on the other side of it right now. You just have the path in front of you.
Measuring Success at Work
Every job rewards performance in one way or another. For some, it’s the “Employee of the Month” banner or a picture on the wall. For some, it’s commissions or bonuses. Some rewards are more anecdotal…like getting more opportunities for your voice to be heard by management or being considered a more likely candidate for promotion.
However your company measures success, there are some things we’ve learned in our 50 years in business about how to measure success, what matters the most, and what really makes the difference in building a workplace that keeps good people doing good work for a long time.
Finding the Right Job When You've Finished Your Degree
So you’re starting your career? How do you know where to look? What expectations should you have for your first “real” job after graduation? Before the ink on your diploma has even had time to dry, there’s already pressure to answer the question, “So...What’s next?”
Making Your Boss - And Your Workday - More Successful
Sometimes we need something drastic to wake us up from a mundane routine. Sometimes we just need something subtle. Consider these exercises to make your work day more enjoyable and your job more challenging.
What We Mean by Committed to Good
Whether it’s the interactive and professionally enriching culture that we’re building alongside our employees or the thoughtful, strategic approach we take with every customer interaction, Viking Client Services is committed to good.
Here's how Viking Client Services is committed to good:
3 Questions to Figure Out What's Next for Your Career
When people are in job-search mode, it can be a very frustrating time. Whether they’re looking for a job out of necessity (because they’re currently without one) or for a change of scenery (because they’re not satisfied where they’re at), the process can be frustrating, and even grueling.
Learn to Wait
So when the interview is over and you’ve done the hard work—you’ve answered their questions the best you knew how; you’ve asked the kinds of questions that show you’re a self-starter and engaged; you’ve done your research and tried to impress—that’s when the next step of interview tactics comes into play. It’s called, “The Wait.”
Do Your Homework
As interviewers, we often ask a potential employee a very standard interview question. It's probably a question you've been asked in an interview and you've undoubtedly given a response similar to what we've heard. We, like every other human resources department, have gotten a variety of responses.
Think Beyond the Interview
When going in for an interview, it’s easy to think in the short-term: I need a job. I need a second interview. I need to not talk too much. I need to impress.
Just about everyone, at some point in their professional career, has taken a job out of necessity. The obligation to “make ends meet” superseded the need for job satisfaction (at least in part). For some, that job lasted for a few days or weeks. For others, it lasted for years…even for an entire career. What we’ve discovered at Viking Client Services is that the reason a person starts a job is different from the reasons they stay at it.
Developing Healthy Expectations for Your Boss, Your Job, and Your Colleagues
Expectations.
They can really mess up your perspective on just about anything in life…especially work. Over the 50 years that we have been in business, we’ve employed a lot of people. Some of them have stuck around for quite a while. They’ve helped us build what we are today, a thriving, growing company with a strong presence in our community. Some of our employees have simply been “passing through” on their way to other opportunities.
Through the course of these 50 years, we’ve learned a few things about work, about employees, about what motivates them and about what makes a work environment healthy.
