Provisional Accounting Blog

Some employees make it loud and clear when they’re ready to move on from your company, but others are much stealthier. Passive job seekers aren’t necessarily unhappy with their current role, but they’ve grown a bit bored and are willing to move on for the right opportunity.

Often times, these people are your best workers, so receiving a resignation letter is rather shocking. Learn the telltale signs an employee is quietly searching for a new job, so you’re not blindsided by the news.

5 Signs an Employee Might Be Looking for a New Job

If an employee commits one of these acts, it may simply be a coincidence, but multiple instances can be very telling.

Mysterious Days Off

It’s one thing if an employee takes a week off for vacation, but if the person keeps requesting days off at the last minute — without an explanation — they might be going on job interviews. Be even more suspicious if someone who never takes sick days starts falling ill a lot, but seems very healthy.

Suspiciously Long Lunches

Passive job seekers commonly take lunch meetings to discuss career opportunities. If a habitual brown bagger regularly starts heading out to eat without inviting any team members to join — and pushes the one-hour time limit — this could be a red flag.

Increased Networking Activity

Networking is something all of your employees should be doing, but if an employee seems especially into it lately, there’s probably a reason. From becoming very active in professional organizations to making lots of new connections on LinkedIn, a surge in networking likely means one thing.

Decreased Productivity

They certainly don’t want to get fired, so passive job seekers still do their work and contribute to the team, but if someone who once always went the extra mile is now content with mediocrity, they’re probably checked out. When people know their time with a company is limited, they stop trying to move up the ladder.

Noticeable Wardrobe Upgrade

If a certain employee has recently started coming into work dressed much nicer than usual, they’re probably trying to make a great impression — on another employer. Be extra suspicious if the person sometimes shows up to your casual office wearing a suit.

Fill your open positions with the best and brightest talent in the Northwest, by partnering with Accountingpros Recruiting + Staffing. Our recruiting managers will use a personalized approach to help you find the right accounting and finance, audit and taxation, cost accounting, analytics and reporting, and accounting support professionals for your company.

If you spend an above-average amount of time at the office, you’re not alone. In fact, 50% of full-time employees in the U.S. work more than 40 hours per week, according to a 2014 Gallup poll. Of these workers, 11% reported working 41 to 49 hours weekly, 21% said they work 50 to 59 hours per week, and 18% described a standard workweek as 60 or more hours.

Whether you love your job or hate it, achieving a strong work-life balance is essential for your health and happiness. Just as it’s important to concentrate on your job when you’re at work, you need to focus on your personal life during those precious few off-hours. Learn how to leave your job at the office when you head home for the day.

Stop Checking Your Work Email

In today’s digital era, you’re always expected to be connected, but you have to know when to pull the plug. Stop logging into your work email during your evening, weekend, and vacation hours. Let your colleagues know you’ll no longer be checking in during your free time, and if a true emergency does happen, instruct them to give you a call instead.

Keep Work Talk to a Minimum

Work is a major part of your life, so it’s only natural to want to share a few stories about your day with your spouse, family, or friends, but limit yourself. Dwelling on your bad day or the huge project you’re working on stresses you out and keeps you mentally at the office. Instead, focus your attention on what’s going on around you right now and appreciate the moment.

Do Something You Enjoy

Spending time doing something that makes you happy is the best possible way to push work to the back of your mind. Go for a run, make dinner with your family, or curl up on the couch and watch your favorite television show to fully separate yourself from the office. When you’re busy having fun, there’s no time to think about anything else.

If you’re searching for a rewarding accounting or finance position in the Seattle area, contact Accountingpros Recruiting + Staffing. We’re committed to connecting talented professionals like you with competitive temporary/contract, temp-to-hire, and direct hire opportunities at some of the best companies in the Northwest.

Starting a new job is both exciting and intimidating. New hires rely on their employer to provide a thorough introduction to the organization, and if you fail to deliver, they feel lost, confused, and disconnected.

A total of 93% of companies have some type of new hire orientation in place, according to the Society for Human Resource Management, but approximately 30% consider it a mere formality largely composed of mundane tasks. If your onboarding program is limited to gathering new hires in a conference room on their first day to show them a video and have them complete an overwhelming amount of paperwork, it’s time to wake up and make some major changes.

4 Do’s and Don’ts of Employee Onboarding

Do Tailor the Program to Fit Individual Needs

Instead of using a one-size-fits-all approach, effective onboarding programs are tailored to fit the needs of each person. No two people have the exact same job duties, so create a plan to help your new hire exceed at their specific position. Determine their preferred learning style — read-write, visual, auditory, or kinesthetic — and use this to effectively train them.

Don’t Rush Things

Many companies believe onboarding can be sufficiently completed in a few hours, but this idea couldn’t be more wrong. Getting adjusted to a new company, job, and colleagues takes time. When you gradually ease the person in, they have time to learn key information, ask questions, and get comfortable in the position, building a strong foundation for a successful tenure. Conversely, pushing the new hire to contribute too quickly sets the tone for failure, because they don’t have the chance to really learn what they’re doing.

Do Set Training Goals

Getting acclimated to a new company is hard, and new hires often feel frustrated because they’re not really sure what they should be doing, and if they’re living up to their boss’s expectations. Ease their minds by making your expectations clear from day one. Create a 30-60-90-day plan outlining what you expect them to achieve during each of their first three months on the job. This puts you both on the same page and allows them to have a sense of purpose.

Don’t Make Them Feel Isolated

Training a new employee is a lot of hard work, and can be especially daunting when you already have a lot on your plate. New employees always have lots of questions, but most aren’t comfortable constantly coming to their boss with issues. In addition to meeting with the person and regularly stopping by their desk to check-in, assign a member of your team to be their mentor. It’s very comforting for the new hire to have a designated person to turn to with any questions, comments, and concerns.

Contact Accountingpros Recruiting + Staffing to fill your accounting and finance positions with top Seattle talent every time. Our recruiting mangers won’t stop searching until we’ve found the right fit for your organization!

Temperatures are delightfully warm, the sun is shining brilliantly outside, and you’re stuck in front of your computer searching for jobs. It’s hard to stay focused on taking the next step in career when all you want to do is get outside and enjoy the season, but spending your entire summer poolside won’t get you very far. Learn how to keep your job search in motion when all you want to do is relax and have fun.

Create a Structured Plan

It’s only natural to feel overwhelmed when your job search is in complete disarray. Take the time to get organized, so it doesn’t seem so daunting. Create a list of companies you’re interested in working for and any contacts you have at each organization, write down things you need to do to get your job search off the ground, and set goals for the amount of networking events you’ll attend each week and the number of jobs you’ll apply for on a daily basis. Adding structure to your job search will motivate you and help you stay focused.

Set Aside Time for Job Search Activities

Summer days are often jam-packed, so if you’re not careful, you’ll run out of time for job search activities. Avoid this by blocking time off your calendar each day to dedicate to finding a new job. If you’re serious about starting a new chapter in your career, you have to make it a priority. When you hold yourself accountable for achieving a certain amount each day, you’ll be pleasantly surprised with the amount of progress you can make.

Get Creative with Networking

Traditional networking is certainly essential during the summer months, but can sometimes get a little tricky when people are out of the office on vacation or opt to skip networking events in favor of warm weather activities. Instead of letting networking go by the wayside until fall, turn summer events like pool parties, barbecues, and afternoons in the stands watching your kids’ Little League games into golden opportunities by casually working your job search into conversation. Sometimes your big break doesn’t come from the most obvious places.

Allow Yourself to Have Fun

It goes without saying that you can’t spend the entire summer lying on a raft in the pool, but this is exactly how you should spend some of it. Focusing on your job search 24/7, will only lead to burnout, so find the perfect mix between work and play to become a well-balanced job seeker. By the end of the summer you’ll hopefully be reveling in the bliss of landing a new career opportunity you’re really excited about.

Contact Accountingpros Recruiting + Staffing if you’re ready to take the next step in your accounting or finance career. Our team is here to connect you with some of Seattle’s top employers searching for talented professionals to fill contract, contract-to-hire, and direct-hire positions.