Welcome back, everyone! Today, we’re here to send you into the weekend full of delight. That’s right, by following the below, you’ll be sure to unplug from work obligations, clear your mind, and capitalize on the free time afforded by the weekend.

Weekend Delight through These Strategies:

• Set Boundaries in Advance: In order to truly achieve the goal of unplugging, it’s crucial to set yourself up for success by creating boundaries in advance. Whether this means a time of day, a specific day in the week, or a limited number of times checked, set a restriction for yourself to follow regarding your work and technology. Implementing these subtle goals will provide you with a sense of achievement and a “rule” to stay accountable to. There are also many ways that you can hold yourself accountable within your own mobile device, set screen time limits and reminders on social apps so that you can truly understand the amount of time you’re spending scrolling.
• Capitalize on Open Space and Time: If you feel the same way as I do, then you know that creeping feeling that settles in that you should be doing “more” when lying in bed or sitting unoccupied. For that reason, try to occupy yourself over the weekend by creating a schedule or set of plans to take action. If it’s nice outside, make sure to get outdoors for a walk, a picnic, a trip to the dog park, a barbeque, a drink outside, or even a workout class. This is also a great way to keep up with friends in a socially casual setting doing something that you enjoy! Especially if you’re looking to broaden your friendships, we encourage you to reach out to someone new and ask if they’d like to get together this weekend to connect.
• Be the Initiator! On the same note as the above, we all know the all-too-easy feeling of allowing others to initiate plans and maintain friendships. However, we challenge YOU to call up a friend for a coffee date, schedule a walk, coordinate a restaurant reservation or night out to the movies, and otherwise get the group together! After all, creating plans with others is a clear bet to pay off for you in the end too; so, look up fun activities in your city this afternoon and call up a friend you haven’t connected with in some time to connect over quality time this weekend.
  • Extra Tip: Today marks the start of Chicago’s restaurant week; is there a new restaurant you’ve been itching to try recently? The next few weeks are a perfect excuse to explore the city and find your new favorite spot to eat.
• Maintain Open Communication With Your Team: If a sense of guilt is taking over your mind, it may be a result of a difference between operating standards within your team or organization. Remember, just because your coworker or manager may stay online through all hours of the night does not mean that you must! Having an open communication plan where you let your manager know when you will and will not be reachable by mail or whatever it may be will relieve your sense of uncertainty and therefore need to stay in contact at all times. Something that I do that I find super helpful is muting any notifications from ‘work apps’ on my phone throughout the weekend – this way, even if someone is emailing on a Sunday, I won’t be reminded of it until Monday morning.
• Treat Yourself to Something FUN! Whether this is a few dollars spent on a new coffee from your local shop, a trip to the spa, an outing to dinner, a sports game, a concert, a new piece of jewelry, an hour of meditation, a daily journaling session, or anything else that brings you joy … treat yourself this weekend! It is all too often that days pass us by without even a moment of acknowledgment of doing something solely for YOU. So, regardless of spend, find an activity or treat that will bring you joy this weekend and indulge.. after all, we work to live!

Welcome back to Part 2 of our 2-part series surrounding job offer declines and more positively, acceptances! Keep reading along to tune into all of the ways to seamlessly move through a job acceptance process, while also ensuring that your needs are met and expectations set for long-term job satisfaction!

Elements of Job Acceptance

Express Appreciation

Immediately after your interview concludes, and regardless of the outcome of your journey, we encourage you to continue showing gratitude to all employees who assisted you in the interview process (whether internal or external). Writing a follow-up email, handwritten letter, and saying ‘thank you for your time’ before your interview concludes is a fantastic way to set yourself up for success! Even better, if you’re interviewing for an internal role, take advantage of any opportunity to express gratitude in person instead of through a screen; expressing appreciation and excitement will set the tone off the right way for the rest of your interview experience, especially if your next step is negotiating.

Time Length

Maintain awareness of important timelines regarding your offer acceptance. Once you receive a formal offer letter (either through email or sent to your permanent address), take a meaningful amount of time to review the terms, conditions, benefits, compensation, and all aspects of what your role will include. Doing so may take a few days, and that’s okay! Make sure to continue communicating with the hiring manager, maintain transparency, and proceed when you’re comfortable and ready. Establishing the window of acceptance during the interview process is a great way to set expectations; make sure to ask the right questions during your interview to understand when to expect to hear back, when your answer should be submitted, and if/when a negotiation period will begin.

That Brings us to our Next Point… Negotiate!

After reviewing an offer letter, we highly encourage you to negotiate details of benefits, or compensation in the form of salary, PTO, benefits, etc. Whether you value a 401K plan, health insurance coverage, or a few extra days off each year will be a completely personal and unique assessment of your career and future mindset. Remember, there’s no better time to achieve the exact offer that you want than right before you accept, so make sure to take advantage of the moment while it’s there! Negotiating offers is also crucial to the way your employer perceives you – make sure to stay calm, kind, and polite in all environments!

• Extra Tip: Conduct market research before entering negotiations to understand the going rate of your role across the industry and at a variety of companies, general benefits that contribute to offer letters, education expectations, or other certificates that may result in higher compensation, etc. Providing validation and evidence to justify your negotiation is a phenomenal way to showcase that, not only did you take meaningful time to craft a proposal, but your expectations are validated by your industry at large.

Accepting the Offer

Finally, accept the job offer! Write an acceptance letter; if you correspond via email, you can also email your letter. Ensure that you express gratitude again and thank the company for the opportunity. Make sure to include verbiage stating that you accept the company’s offer (“I formally accept…”) and state the title of the role, salary, and benefits that you agreed on. Recapping the salary and benefits will help ensure there isn’t any confusion on either side and that there is a written trail of expectations. Lastly, include the date you expect to start!

Ready, set, …. accept!!

Searching for a new position? Check out our open jobs list!

Happy New Year to our family, friends, and adored Esquire followers!

A few reflective thoughts to wrap up 2023…

While 2023 was layered with unforgettable memories, happiness, and equally difficult parts of the year, we hope you feel you’ve grown through it all. As we often encourage, this is a fabulous time of year to reflect, map out goals, clear out spaces, and rejuvenate in order to achieve a productive and refreshed January. However, don’t be too hard on yourself this weekend or in the following month; remember the importance of affording yourself breaks, grace, and time to adapt to new environments as well as lifestyles.

Many of you will embark on a ‘dry January’ or even a 75-hard challenge (never heard of it? Click here to find out more about the components of this diet/lifestyle and its benefits!), and many of us will center our days around redefined ‘resolutions’. Whatever the New Year will look like for you, we hope that it brings you a sense of fulfillment, contentment, and satisfaction. 

Even more of you will contemplate your professional identity in the New Year; is your current job a good fit? Are you on a trajectory toward a career you’re inspired by? Do you feel aligned with your company’s mission and vision? Do you feel you can grow in your current role? Are you challenged? Are you content with your ‘work from home’ vs. in-office balance? All of these questions will likely shape your desire to remain in your role or search for a new one; if you’re feeling inspired to embrace change in the new year, then make sure to check out our open jobs list!

And finally, we’ll leave you with the most important note of all. While scrolling on social platforms may lead you to believe that there is more ‘crazy’ and extreme thinking than there are neutral feelings about any and all social movements and political views, we encourage you to demonstrate kindness through it all. Even when it feels significantly more challenging to rise above aggression happening online, it’ll always pay off, in the long run, to maintain a positive online identity as you would in treating people face-to-face. At the end of the day, I believe that as humans we are all more similar than we are different; if we afford a chance to hear others, respect different opinions, and grow through adversity, we will rise together and be stronger for it. 

We are so proud of our Esquire candidates, our followers, and our growth this year! We cannot wait to meet more of you, continue connecting, and ensure that we find roles for YOU that will bring challenge, growth, and fulfillment… no matter the industry or position! Believe in yourselves and your potential in this New Year; your opportunities are endless!

Welcome back everyone and an early Merry Christmas to those who celebrate! We hope that you are enjoying rest, relaxation, and quality time with family and friends all around you. Today, we felt inclined to re-center around one of our favorite concepts and another annual note (there are quite a few this time of year!). Keep reading below to hone in on the positivity that YOU can bring into the New Year…

Exude Positivity and Light in 2024!

• Building Connections Online and In-Person: It is phenomenal to acknowledge the ways in which our U.S. workforce has come together under the idea of embracing technology to not only maintain, but also build connections with one another; whether an interview, training session, recurring meeting, or end of year review, we’ve found ways to band together through screens and in person too. Many of us felt the ‘return to normal’ that 2023 brought; companies are back in person at full force, and many employees are hanging up their pajamas for suits as they return to regular work days and routines. However, with this also came a new wave of companies embracing a plethora of different opportunities for employees to have flexibility surrounding their own schedules and days in-office. Never before have candidates and employees had such autonomy over their daily roles and lives – so take advantage of the format that works best for you! And if your current role doesn’t feel like the right fit on a daily basis, the New Year is a PERFECT time to re-center around career goals and begin applying for a new position.
• Saved Commute: Working from home periodically, in a hybrid format, or fully remotely has allowed professionals of all industries the reprieve of extra sleep, relaxation, and the comfort of their own homes. So, although it may be easy to become fatigued by the repetition and environment of your home, it allows you to skip a lengthy commute and pack in a few chores or errands along the way. If your current ‘WFH’ environment feels stale, then the New Year is also a perfect time to revamp or reorganize your space to gain a fresh feeling and sense of motivation; we highly encourage you to evaluate your space on a consistent basis to ensure that you’re comfortable and well-suited for peak performance at home in the same way as you are in your office setting.
• Gratitude and Mindfulness: As we adapt to an ever-changing world dynamic and different challenges that face our society on a daily basis, it has never been more evident that practicing gratitude and mindfulness are essential components of strong mental health and fulfillment. We have been tasked with some of the greatest challenges of our lives, but reminded of the value of those we love, the comfort of our homes, our own health and safety, and the hopeful health and safety of those around us!
  • Extra Tip: Although it may sound cliche, the New Year is a notorious opportunity for you to re-evaluate your personal health and identify any opportunities to dive into fitness. Let 2024 be your year to maximize your personal fitness, mental health, nutritional intake, career trajectory, and more!
• Maintaining Positivity: Above all, staying positive has proven key to the course of our years! While it may feel easy to get knocked down by the struggles our world faces on a daily basis,… remaining calm and grateful for those aspects of life that provide you fulfillment and happiness will prove the key to pushing forward to the future.
  • Extra Tip: Always take time for yourself! Whether this means scheduling in blocks during your workday, carving out solo activities during the weekend, or otherwise practicing ‘self-care’, doing so is an amazing strategy to clear your mind and maintain a positive outlook.

Searching for a new position? Check out our open jobs list!

Happy Friday, everyone! In the midst of the busy season during the holidays, we wanted to acknowledge and regroup on ways to ensure that you instill a work-life balance among your employees. If you are an employee at a company, this article is also for you as it’s equally important to advocate for your own balance in order to avoid burnout! Keep reading below to find out our top strategies for elongating employee well-being throughout the entire year, despite seasonality in work-flow.

Securing a Healthy Well-being Among Employees

Acknowledge Burn-out

Let’s be real here, we have all experienced feelings of fatigue and burn-out when it comes to our roles! Employees across all industries have succumbed to so much repetition that it can, at times, feel like every day is the same. To mitigate this, we recommend leading with time to recharge. As a leader, it is important to acknowledge that you are the one who sets the atmosphere and expectations for your team. Leaving space (whether this is an hour each day, a time block each week, or even a quarterly ‘wellness PTO day’) for self-care, growth, personal development, reflection, etc. is a great way to remind employees to put themselves first at a regular cadence. Doing so will also demonstrate the value you see in their motivation and ability to maintain a sense of direction and avoid repetition. Especially during busy seasons and the holiday times, if you know a certain team’s schedule is overflowing with events and client experiences, acknowledge the need to reset and recharge. Can you shift a day next week to work from home instead of in the office? Can you afford your team an hour late start to catch up on sleep? No matter how ‘big or small’ the relief is, when an employee knows that their leaders have their back and are invested in their well-being, their longevity at a company is immediately increased.

Remind Employees that they have PTO for a Reason!

PTO is a privilege that should be put on the same priority list as our compensation. Remember, it’s a benefits package for a reason… and make sure to always remind your team to USE their benefits and take a day off for themselves! By utilizing well-earned and well-deserved PTO, employees are guaranteed an opportunity to rejuvenate and ability to avoid the feeling of falling into a stale routine. Also, make sure that you are cascading down the importance of PTO from the top! Think about it like this: if the C-suite, managers, or leaders at a company never take PTO or acknowledge its existence, employees will likely feel unable to engage in the benefit for the sake of matching the expectations of their leaders. It is equally important to showcase your ability to unplug, as well as instill a workflow that can continue in your absence, to allow for PTO and breaks from work.

Create a Space Safe for Honesty

Your employees, and especially your direct reports, should feel comfortable discussing their bandwidth and capacity with you. After all, you’re there to lead, and they are there to learn and follow! So, ensure that you create regular check-ins and set aside time for employees and teammates to discuss their well-being, mental health, motivation levels, and more. Especially as the New Year quickly approaches, it’s never been a better time than now to schedule a recurring coaching meeting for these types of conversations. In the same vein as above, it is crucial to remember that although you may be an approachable and caring manager, employees can often feel intimidated or nervous to share their capacity, burn out, or feelings of being overwhelmed for fear of not meeting performance expectations. Setting the expectation of open communication and growth through honesty is sure to prove more sustainable for long-term employee well-being.

Searching for a new position? Check out our open jobs list!

Welcome back, everyone, and happy (almost) weekend! As December is quickly passing by, we thought this would be the perfect time to recenter around end-of-year compensation discussions. Keep reading below to find out what employees should typically expect about merit increases, bonus incentives, and general salary discussions that will take place over the next few weeks!

End-of-Year Merit Increase

Merit increases are an employer favorite as they are defined by Forbes as a “financial incentive you give your employees based on performance. It’s designed to recognize their hard work and motivate them. As long as you implement it properly, a merit increase may also increase productivity and retain employees.” A win-win for both the employer and employee, merit increases are centered around individual performance and are a great way to differentiate yourself from the rest of the team and draw attention toward the way you’ve exceeded personal goals. For this reason, we highly encourage you to keep track of little and large wins throughout the year. Whether you use an online app like ‘One Note’ or a piece of paper, ensuring that you remember all of the accomplishments you’ve achieved will prove an incredibly useful tool in advocating for why you deserve a merit increase!

Bonus Incentives

Another key component of many offer letters and roles is their bonus incentive; it’s more likely than not that a bonus is tied to your overall compensation package. What does this mean? Likely that, at the end of the year, and depending on company performance (and potentially a mix of personal and company!), you’ll be awarded a bonus on top of your salary. Bonus percentages have incredibly different ranges depending on the industry, so it’s important to keep up to date with your industry trends, salary, and bonus trackers, and ensure you’re properly compensated based on your title and job function.

General Salary Discussions

• Educate Yourself on Company Policies: Above all, we are firm believers in engaging in any type of preparation before meeting with leadership. Whether this is a weekly touch base or an annual compensation discussion, entering into the conversation with a clear understanding of what to expect is the best way to come across as knowledgeable, responsible, and accountable.  You can often access this type of information in your offer letter, goal setting, on an HR portal, or otherwise noted on your internal company page. Anticipate engaging in approximately 30 minutes of investigation, and jotting down any notes about metrics to take into the conversation (ex: target bonus rate, average compensation increase, company performance percentage annual earnings, etc.).
• Express Gratitude: Additionally, no matter what happens, showing grace in the conversation by thanking your manager and any additional leadership is a key strategy for composing yourself and creating a positive atmosphere for years to come. After all, your manager wants the best for you, and any feedback is given so that you can achieve your greatest potential! If you didn’t attain the bonus or merit increase that you had hoped for, this is a great time to hone in on and clarify the critique you’ve received to incorporate it into your growth for next year.
• Ask Questions and Gain Clarity! On that note, ask questions! You should leave compensation discussions feeling well-informed about current performance, how to grow over the next year, and how to track metrics that tie into bonus or merit increases.

Searching for a new position? Check out our open jobs list!

Welcome back and Happy Friday everyone!

We hope that you are having a great week and diving into all that the holiday season can offer in both personal and corporate settings. As I attended a professional society’s Midwest holiday party last night, I thought it’d be the perfect time to dive into WHY it’s so important to capitalize on networking resources. Especially for those of you living in relatively larger urban cities and surrounded by working professionals, this article is for you. Keep reading here to find out how to network with success…

Capitalizing on Networking Resources

Joining Professional Societies

First and foremost, we highly encourage you to dive into your professional community outside of your internal team. Almost any urban city hosts a variety of professional, volunteer-based, or community-driven societies and organizations that you can participate in at your desired cadence! Joining an organization does not need to look like a weekly commitment, and can even be as infrequent as attending events on a quarterly basis. However, keeping up to date with the pulse of your industry, connecting with other professionals in similar positions, and building a reliable network is undoubtedly the key to long-term professional success. So, use a few minutes today to conduct a Google Search on the resources near you and sign up for an upcoming event in your community!

• Preparation and Purpose: Before you walk into a networking event, it’s crucial to conduct a quick search on the people you’re going to be around. Have you conducted recent business with anyone in attendance? Are you about to close or submit a new deal? Even if a project fell through with a client, maintaining a sharp memory of the way you’ve professionally encountered others and utilizing that as a conversation starter is a great way to show you’re prepared. Make sure to ask people how they are, follow up on specific projects or personal attributes you previously learned, and even touch on anecdotes that you share where applicable!
  • For example: Did you go to a sporting event this summer with a client? Did you pick up on their love of a certain team? Player? Following up on the team or individual’s performance is a great way to express that you care and invest in the longevity of the professional relationship.
• Ask Specific Questions: As it relates to our point above, try to avoid ’empty questions’ about someone’s role/career like, “How’d you get here?” or “So, what do you do?” If you’ve initiated a conversation with someone else, it is likely to learn more about their role or company.
  • For example: If you’re speaking to someone on the public relations side of a business, focus questions around, “How have you handled your company’s relationship with X topic/company/etc.? How much of your time do you spend avoiding negative PR vs creating positive PR?” Always make the person you’re speaking to feel valued!
• Maintain the Relationship: Attending professional networking events may be infrequent or even bi-annually, but communication should not be. Make sure to maintain the relationships that you’ve worked to cultivate! Whether this means a weekly check-in, email update of your recent accomplishments, or quick link to a relevant article, make sure to keep consistent contact and follow-up after your thank you note!
  • Extra Tip: Especially in instances where the people you networked with could assist in a future job opportunity or interview process, remember the value in creating personal relationships that span beyond the scope of day-to-day work and tasks. Showing your desire to keep up to date will undoubtedly assist you in building a support network to vouch for you as it relates to any role.

Welcome back and Happy Early Thanksgiving, everyone! We can’t believe that yet another year has passed us by, and we wanted to ensure that we share our annual reminder with you to show the value of being actively grateful and a variety of ways to show it. Keep reading to find out how to show your loved ones that you care this week and throughout the entire holiday season!

Let’s…Show Gratitude!

• Remind Someone That You Care! There’s no greater way to express gratitude than by telling someone, in person, that you appreciate all that they do for you. In the midst of the digital age, it’s easy to thank people through emails, text, or even phone calls, but one of our most valued ways to express gratitude is in person.
• Suprise a Coworker with Coffee: It is far too often that we forget the importance of those that surround us each day. And where do we spend most of our time? That’s right! Work. Make a coworker’s day by simply surprising them with a cup of coffee, grabbing an extra breakfast treat, bringing in donuts for the team, or otherwise providing a ‘surprise and delight when no one is expecting it.
• Instead of Spring Clean… Fall Clean and Donate: As Midwesterners, we know the severity that comes with the coldest holiday months. Take a day to clean through your closet, and donate anything you haven’t worn in the past year! It’s so easy to overlook our surplus of clothing in our closet, and especially the items tucked away in corners that are left forgotten. This week, we encourage you to evaluate what you really need, and what you’re hanging onto that may no longer be providing value. Whether this means collecting no longer worn clothing and donating to a local charity or even handing out a jacket to someone you pass by in need, your impact could change and even save a life.
• Pay for the Person Behind You: The next time you find yourself at a coffee or sandwich shop, double your bill for the person behind you. With such a surprise and an act of kindness, you are guaranteed to make that person’s day and even motivate them to pass on the sharing spirit!
• Clear Your Schedule for Someone Special: This may be a parent, spouse, child, close friend, or even a mentor. Regardless of the relationship, find a day to completely clear your schedule on someone else’s behalf. Bring them their favorite food, dessert, or movie, plan a fun night in or out, or even take them to a festive spot in town. Whatever it may be, there is no better way to express gratitude than to show someone that they’re your priority through quality time.
• Volunteer: There are an endless number of ways to volunteer in every community, no matter where you live or who you are. Find a local food pantry, toy-wrapping event, charity, or any other volunteer opportunity that piques your interest. In the next month, dedicate a day or afternoon’s worth of time to spend giving back to those in need.
• Leave an Extra Tip: Especially in places where the bill doesn’t run too high, leave a tip higher than you regularly would! We can guarantee you that your extra note of gratitude will go far.
• Give Someone an Extra Compliment: About their work, their personality, their appearance, or anything you admire!
• Schedule a Day for You! Self-indulge
• Buy Someone Flowers or Chocolates

Offer Help!

Finally, and especially for those college and post-grad students returning home for a hearty Thanksgiving meal, offer your help! Whether this is to your parent, sibling, grandparent, aunt, uncle, cousin, or whoever is preparing for the big day, offering to provide help so that they aren’t doing the heavy lifting alone is the perfect way to display that you’re grateful for their hard work. No matter if you had a cozy night in or spent tonight downtown, get yourself up and out of bed tomorrow morning so that you can fully participate and contribute to the Thanksgiving celebration.

Searching for a new position? Read through our open jobs list!

Another weekend closer to Thanksgiving! If you have your eyes set on the prize as we do, then you are getting more and more about the holiday season coming closer on the horizon with each new day. With the holidays comes time with family, friends, and loved ones, and a natural sense of reflection on the year. While there is no doubt that the last month brought fear, stress, and discomfort to many, we want to remain a shining light on your outlook. So, how can you enter the holiday season, the new Winter season, and any new season of life by manifesting goals and outcomes? Find out here!

Manifesting your New Season

As described by Gabby Bernstein, manifesting is defined as, “cultivating the experience of what it is that you want to feel — and then living and believing in that experience so that you can allow it to come into form. You can practice manifesting to attract whatever you want, whether that’s a successful business, better health, a relationship, or even a material object.” While the abstract idea of manifestation can be one that’s hard to grasp, we encourage you to tune in and push outside of your comfort zone by engaging with one of the below manifestation strategies.

• Verbal Affirmation: The most common method of manifesting your goals and hopes for the future is by speaking them into the Universe! There are many famous manifestations quotes that millions of people use to affirm their days on a daily basis, so we encourage you to identify a frequency that best fits your schedule. Repeat your mantras and one day you’ll be surprised by how naturally they come to you and are embedded into positive thinking and your daily perspective.
• Transcribe: If the idea of repeating a phrase into the mirror to essentially speak to yourself sounds funny, then writing down manifestations is a perfect strategy for you! And, make it fun! Treat yourself to a trendy journal, a notepad, or a physical place for writing that will promote the behavior and make it an activity to look forward to.
  • Extra Tip from Gabby Bernstein’s blog: Think about, “What is it that you want? Become unapologetic about what you want. Own it. Believe it. Trust that it can be yours. Write it down right now. I want to be seen in the world in this way. I want to attract my romantic partner. I want to attract more abundance into my life…Manifesting isn’t about having complete control or satisfying all our short-term desires. True manifesting isn’t even about getting what we think we want. It’s about receiving what is of the highest good for all.”
• Mood Boards: Another topic we’ve referenced is creating mood boards! If you are more of a visual learner or find yourself inspired by imagery, then creating a visual board of your goals is an amazing creative outlet. Grab your favorite magazine, scroll through Pinterest, or even draw your own images! Not only will engaging in this activity stimulate motivation and excitement by welcoming new ideas into your life, but will also help ignite your creative side in a way not directly correlated to your work. However, remember that just because you don’t reach an outcome identical to your ‘vision’ doesn’t mean it isn’t the best-suited next step for you! Mood boards are a great source of inspiration, but our journey may flourish and transform in ways that we cannot even anticipate, so maintain an open mind and heart.

Searching for a new position? Check out our open jobs list!