Author Archives: Intersect

Five ways to avoid burnout

As the nights draw in our energy levels will dip, but the demands placed upon us probably won’t. Here’s how to avoid burnout

While the trees begin to shed their leaves and slip into a long slumber this autumn (here in the UK at least), we humans have no such luxury. For most of us, life continues at the same relentless pace into the darker months, just as the desire to hunker down increases. It puts us at risk of fatigue or – worse – burnout, which research suggests is a growing issue.   

 According to a report by Glassdoor – a website where employees anonymously rate their employers – reviews mentioning burnout have reached the highest level since the company started tracking data in 2016.  

Meanwhile, the pervasiveness of technology, the constant barrage of bad news via mainstream news outlets, and cost of living pressures all serve to ramp up cortisol levels. Here’s how to bring them down and avoid burnout.  

1. Tick off the basics

Getting enough sleep, eating well and exercising are the cornerstones of good mental and physical health. Other activities, such as journaling, reading and yoga have been shown to lower cortisol levels. Even a walk in the woods can help. “Studies show that people who regularly go for walks in a forest or in green spaces have lower levels of cortisol,” says Rose Abbott, a GP.  

Image: Christina Deravedisian

2. Introduce ‘healthy stress’ to your life

“The sabre-tooth tiger is not outside the cave any more, but we think it is,” says mental health coach Anthony Mullally, pointing out that modern stresses such as deadlines elicit the same ‘fight or flight’ response as the tiger. “Learning to manage small stresses such as exposure to cold water helps us contextualise the threat … and build tolerance,” he says. Mindful breathing also helps. “It regulates the nervous system,” adds Mullally.  

Image: Jorge Fernandez

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3. Set boundaries – and stick to them

As the poet Robert Frost wrote: “Good fences make good neighbours.” It’s also important to set boundaries with yourself. “When we define what we need to feel secure and healthy … and protect those parts of ourselves, we can do wonders for our wellbeing,” writes therapist Joe Sanok in a blog. Boundaries may include the hours you work, how much screen time you have, or when you go to bed.   

Image: AbsolutVision

4. Shape your definition of success

Success is a slippery concept. For some, it’s about having meaningful relationships and fulfilling experiences, for others it’s tied to career wins and financial gains. Defining what success means to you is a first step towards establishing priorities in life, enabling a focus of energy on the things that matter to you. Challenge your definition, too. Is success really a fancy new car, or actually working less?    

Image: Johen Redman

5. Avoid workplaces where burnout is normalised

The latest State of the Global Workforce report suggests that 40% of UK employees are stressed. But how do we avoid lurching from one toxic job to another? “Watch out for red flags [in the recruitment process],” says Joel Lalgee, host of the Recruiting is No Joke podcast. “Poor communication, ghosting, endless rounds of interviews, repetitive questions and untrained interviewers” are bad signs, he adds.  

Image: Priscilla du Preez

Main image: LightFieldStudios

Words byGavin Haines

Here are some tips you can follow to get back on top of your game without causing further exhaustion after the holidays. 

 1. Take it light

This is the moment when most of us make a list of resolutions for the new year. While it’s nice to start fresh and work on your goals, you can also take this time to reflect on the last year and make realistic decisions. The best thing to do is to go easy with your New Year’s resolutions. Research has shown that almost 23% of people quit their resolutions by the end of the first week, so don’t just load your list with a bunch of plans. Instead, pick one goal for every month and work towards achieving it. 

2. Less planning and more action

One of the biggest mistakes people tend to make is planning a lot at the beginning of the year and getting lost in a sea of action items. This overwhelming feeling can be avoided by taking one step at a time without planning the entire course. As Brian Tracy notes in his book Eat That Frog!, when you have an ultimate goal, breaking the tasks down into simple goals helps you concentrate and provides better results. This also ensures you always stay on top of your goals without putting too much pressure on yourself.  

 3. Indulge in holiday delights

Holiday treats aren’t just for the holidays. Sometimes, it’s okay to indulge in activities you usually do during your time off—like grabbing a cup of hot chocolate or baking a batch of brownies—just to remind yourself that not all fun is lost once the holidays are over. 

 4. Try to establish a work-life balance

It doesn’t always need to be about work once you step into a new year. A Frontiers Psychology study found that proper work-life balance improves job performance by enhancing job-related satisfaction. This implies that for greater overall success, your number one priority should be to find a balance between your work schedule and your personal life. As the old adage goes, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy,” so try to strike an equilibrium. Take sufficient breaks, go on a walk when you feel overwhelmed, and plan your time off to avoid burnout and improve your quality of life.   

 5. Do something you’ve never done before

New experiences always fuel the soul. To make this upcoming year more entertaining, find things that interest you and channel your energy towards them. In the process of learning or doing something new, you will end up rediscovering yourself without the concerted effort. 

While getting back to work can be daunting, you can still make the best of your days ahead with simple yet fulfilling activities. 

Article by Sheryl for https://www.zoho.com/blog/cliq/5-tips-to-revitalize-after-your-holiday-break

It can be tough getting back to work after your summer break and for some, it can feel impossible to return to work with enthusiasm and determination right after the holiday fun; your body and mind likely aren’t going to give 100%. But don’t be too hard on yourself! The key is to take it one step at a time.

Here are some tips you can follow to get back on top of your game without causing further exhaustion after the holidays. 

 1. Take it light

This is the moment when most of us make a list of resolutions for the new year. While it’s nice to start fresh and work on your goals, you can also take this time to reflect on the last year and make realistic decisions. The best thing to do is to go easy with your New Year’s resolutions. Research has shown that almost 23% of people quit their resolutions by the end of the first week, so don’t just load your list with a bunch of plans. Instead, pick one goal for every month and work towards achieving it. 

2. Less planning and more action

One of the biggest mistakes people tend to make is planning a lot at the beginning of the year and getting lost in a sea of action items. This overwhelming feeling can be avoided by taking one step at a time without planning the entire course. As Brian Tracy notes in his book Eat That Frog!, when you have an ultimate goal, breaking the tasks down into simple goals helps you concentrate and provides better results. This also ensures you always stay on top of your goals without putting too much pressure on yourself.  

 3. Indulge in holiday delights

Holiday treats aren’t just for the holidays. Sometimes, it’s okay to indulge in activities you usually do during your time off—like grabbing a cup of hot chocolate or baking a batch of brownies—just to remind yourself that not all fun is lost once the holidays are over. 

 4. Try to establish a work-life balance

It doesn’t always need to be about work once you step into a new year. A Frontiers Psychology study found that proper work-life balance improves job performance by enhancing job-related satisfaction. This implies that for greater overall success, your number one priority should be to find a balance between your work schedule and your personal life. As the old adage goes, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy,” so try to strike an equilibrium. Take sufficient breaks, go on a walk when you feel overwhelmed, and plan your time off to avoid burnout and improve your quality of life.   

 5. Do something you’ve never done before

New experiences always fuel the soul. To make this upcoming year more entertaining, find things that interest you and channel your energy towards them. In the process of learning or doing something new, you will end up rediscovering yourself without the concerted effort. 

While getting back to work can be daunting, you can still make the best of your days ahead with simple yet fulfilling activities. 

Article by Sheryl for https://www.zoho.com/blog/cliq/5-tips-to-revitalize-after-your-holiday-break

In recent years, the simple act of flipping on the evening news has become a challenging experience for those of us who strive to maintain a positive attitude. Just sitting there in your living room, watching one upsetting news story after another whether on the TV, your tablet, or a smartphone, can cause even the most optimistic person to become a bit jaded.

Of course, negativity doesn’t only emanate from screens. Exposing yourself to toxic people, those surly souls who find fault in everything around them – including you – can bring you down, too. If you aren’t careful to protect your personal boundaries, you can be drawn right into their negative orbit.

So, how do we remain positive and chipper in a chaotic world? How do we protect our own state of mind when we’re around those Negative Nellies? Let’s explore some positive actions that can help us navigate the doom and gloom we encounter out there.

How Negative People Can Affect Our Positive Mindset

Let’s address the “negative people” issue first, since unlike the depressing TV news that we can just turn off at will, it isn’t so easy to avoid negative people. But even if you work with someone who walks around with a storm cloud over their head all day, there are ways to protect yourself from being sucked into their dark vortex. Consider these actions:

Kill them with kindness. Be the yin to their yang, the salt to their pepper. The most effective way to disarm someone who is giving off negative vibes is to counter it with a smile. Pay them a compliment when they criticise you. Mention the beautiful weather when they fixate on the negatives. Be the bright light in their day, and then let it go.

Limit your exposure. Sometimes, a grumpy person is bound and determined to marinate in that negative stew, and nothing you can do will change that. If that is the case, your best strategy is to distance yourself. Make a concerted effort to spend as little time as possible being exposed to that person’s negative energy.

Don’t take it personally. Most of us are sensitive people who feel badly when someone is unkind to us or critical because we can’t help but take it personally. Instead of taking someone else’s bad attitude personally, realize that they are probably not even aware of how they come off to others. They may be going through a difficult chapter in their lives, so their behavior may have nothing to do with you.

5 Ways to Protect Our Positive Attitudes

Now let’s zoom out a bit to consider some other ways our joy can be hijacked by negativity, and what we can do about it:

Limit news consumption. The daily news cycle, filled with a steady barrage of sensational headlines, seems designed to turn us all into news junkies. Resist! Being too immersed in political drama, conspiracy theories, or upsetting news stories is a recipe for negativity. Limit your news intake to an hour a day. Grab the headlines, and then focus on the positive things in your life.

Spend time in meditation. The world is noisy and distracting, and often prevents us from focusing on the positive. One of the most effective strategies to tune out the negative and direct your thoughts towards positive goals and dreams is through meditation. Mindvalley Masterclass guides you toward accessing a higher state of consciousness and personal growth. Instead of allowing yourself to become a victim of negativity, you’ll learn how to shape the world according to your thoughts.

Live in gratitude. Cultivating a grateful mindset takes practice. Be intentional about seeing the positive as you go through your day. Notice how that super friendly checker at the grocery store brightened your morning. Note the kindness of a stranger you interacted with at the post office. Soak up the sheer beauty of a spring day. Look for reasons to be grateful and you will find them.

Surround yourself with beauty. Create your own safe haven, a space that negativity cannot penetrate. Whether it is an office, a home, or a garden, design a place of serenity that feeds your soul. Include items that make you smile, such as artwork or soft pillows or beautiful garden statues. If your sanctuary is a particular room, fill the space with your favourite music, a soothing colour palette, and things that hold special meaning for you.

Don’t let fear, worry, or self-doubt creep in and sow the seeds of negativity in your psyche. If you focus on what is true and good, and expend your precious energy on the things you can actually control, then you will indeed stand firm in your positivity.

Despite a hybrid return to the office, interviews continue to be conducted via video link as a first port of call followed by face to face second stage interviews.

So, what can you do to ensure you are invited for second interview?

The Do’s

Always ensure you are in a quiet location and that you have a professional looking background.

Ensure you dress appropriately.

Test the video link prior to your interview so you are familiar with it. Also test the sound and picture quality. Have a practice call with a friend or family member so you can adjust if required.

Ensure you have a strong internet connection, and should it fail during your interview you are able to toggle from your phone or have another backup.

Smile and relax, the more at ease you seem the more likely they will want to offer you a second interview.

The Don’ts

Don’t have mirrors in your background which could reflect on other areas of your home or the people within it, it is also best to avoid any personal items like photographs etc as this could be distracting.

Avoid cafes if possible, they tend to be too noisy for interviews and you are likely to be disturbed.

Avoid casual hoodies or lounge wear.

Don’t interrupt the interviewer, use the raise hand function if you have a question.

Don’t move too much, stand or leave the room until the interview is over.

By following these simple tips, you know you’re putting your best foot forward.

For a selection of job opportunities, head over to our job board, you can also get in touch with us via our contact page or connect with us on LinkedIn.

Installations of wind energy infrastructure were up 50% last year compared to 2022, making it a record year for the industry globally.

Some 117GW of new capacity was installed in 54 countries, according to analysis by the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC). Gathering momentum in offshore wind and promising outlooks in developing countries mean the organisation has revised its 2024-2030 growth forecast upwards by around 10%.

However, the GWEC said that policymakers and industry need to unlock more growth to stay on the net-zero pathway.

“Growth is highly concentrated in a few big countries like China, the US, Brazil and Germany, and we need many more countries to remove barriers and improve market frameworks to scale up wind installations,” said GWEC CEO Ben Backwell.

You made it to the interview stage- Congratulations!

But now comes the all-important interview preparation. As well as making sure that you have done your research on the company interviewing you, it is important that you also ensure you are prepared to answer competencies-based questions.

So, what are competencies………? Competencies are the skills, experiences, behaviours and knowledge you’ll bring into the role. They will have been acquired from previous job roles.

Competencies-based interviews are the most widely used interview techniques where hiring managers will use open ended questions to ask you about previous genuine scenarios where you have demonstrated the use of your competencies.

Below are a few examples of the most asked questions:

1. Communication skills
2. Delivering at pace
3. Making effective decisions
4. Collaborating and partnering
5. Leading and communicating
6. Building capability for all
7. Strategic thinking
8. Teamwork
9. Changing and improving
10. Organisational skills
11. Working under pressure
12. Attention to detail
13. Handling a difficult decision or situation
14. Adaptability
15. Delivering value for money
16. Resilience
17. Integrity
18. Taking control of a situation
19. Problem solving
20. Stakeholder management

One of the most widely used competencies-based interview technique used is STAR.

Situation: Describe the background or context.

Task: Describe the task or challenge you were faced with.

Action: Explain the action you took, and how and why you did it.

Result: Describe how it ended, what you accomplished and what you learned from the situation. Relate the skill or ability you’re illustrating back to the vacancy you’re applying for and explain why it’s useful.

The use of the STAR technique will provide employers with evidence of your competencies and strengths. When practising your STAR interview answers, don’t spend too long describing the situation or task – trim any details that are unnecessary. The action you took is the most important part of your answer and should show how effective you were by giving good examples.

Practice with a friend or family member but don’t overdo it as answers that are too well rehearsed can sound robotic.

Good luck!

If you are reading this blog article and you are at the beginning of your job-hunting journey, you may want to read out CV writing blog article.

You may also want to check a selection of our current vacancies by following this link.

And finally…. if you have a any questions or would like to speak to one of our consultants, email us or connect with us on LinkedIn.

A Florida construction firm is seeing fast adoption of its intuitively-made building blocks that work like real-life LEGO bricks.

The interlocking blocks made of a mineral composite and reinforced with glass fiber can be quickly and quietly assembled into walls, floors, and even roofs, with a special adhesive and a rubber mallet being the only tools workers need to get the job done.

By using a process similar to injection molding, Renco USA can take the material and turn it into a variety of shapes, from the standard LEGO bricks to roofbeams and joists. No heavy cutting, welding, or masonry is needed on the job site, and contractors installing plumbing, ventilation, or electrical work can treat the finished block walls like normal concrete.

In Palm Springs, a $21 million, 96-unit housing complex near West Palm Beach is being built by just 11 workers using the blocks and adhesive. Without any cranes or lifts, and no bench saws or metal cutting equipment, the neighbors heard only the muted thud of the rubber mallets.

According to industry reporters, ongoing labor shortages and volatile markets in both steel and concrete are making America’s go-to building strategy for over 100 years more and more difficult to budget for.

Renco’s building system combines standard materials from other industries, like methyl methacrylate glue used in heavy vehicle manufacturing, and recycled glass fiber to reinforce the stability of supply chains and make costs lower and more predictable.

MORE NEWS LIKE THIS: These Lego-Like Bricks Make Building a Raised Garden Bed a Snap

“We worked on this [system] for more than 10 years,” Renco co-founder Tom Murphy, Jr. told Engineering News Record. “We had to keep changing it to make it better and easier to work with. As we did that, making a building with it got faster and easier, and… the building got stronger each time.”

Importantly for Florida weather is that early adoption tests show the blocks are incredibly durable and exhibit properties typically associated with the longest-lasting building materials.

They’re rated to withstand wind speeds of 275 mph, and because of a naturally-occurring resin used in the injection molding of the blocks, they wick moisture away rather than absorbing it. They’re even insect repellent. A test saw a section of blocks put into a terrarium with a queen termite and 99 males. A month later the block stood alone amid the dead insects.

All sectors are feeling the pinch in this candidate-led market, with unemployment at record lows as employers scramble to find enough workers to fill their vacant roles.

But nowhere is this more true than in the construction industry, which, according to the latest report by the Construction Skills Network, could struggle to meet expected growth if an additional quarter of a million workers aren’t employed by 2026.

In this article, we discuss the key findings of the report and reveal its suggestions for how recruiters can increase their teams.

As the shock of the pandemic has begun to lessen, the construction sector has had one of the largest bounce backs of all industries. New orders had recovered to their pre-pandemic level by Q2 2021, and annual construction output went on to increase by a record 12.7% in 2021.

And the trend continues, the ONS recently reported that the construction workforce grew by 1.2% in Q1 this year, rising from 2.16m in 2021 Q4 to 2.18m.

But these numbers aren’t going to be enough to support the growth in the sector, with a Construction Skills Network (CSN) report showing that the industry will need an additional 266,000 by 2026.

Back in January, the Construction Products Association (CPA) forecast that industry output would grow by 4.3% in 2022, and the trend will continue. There will be 2.78 million workers employed in the construction industry by 2026 if projected growth is met.

What is driving the growth in the construction industry?

Despite a variety of factors causing supply chain issues, there seems to be no end to the surging demand for private housing, as major housebuilders report that their output will continue to grow over the next few years.

In addition, the government’s drive to achieve Net Zero, along with technological advancements in eco-friendly building techniques, is pushing a growth in sustainable projects.

There is also no slowing down in the infrastructure sector, with civil engineering projects at a high.

Repair and maintenance contracts will also be needed to support the growing built environment. 

Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) chief executive Tim Balcon said: “Construction is vital in supporting the backbone of the UK economy. These future growth projections are encouraging after the stalling effects of the pandemic. However, this is set against a current backdrop of higher energy costs, material shortages, and associated price inflation that is currently hitting companies across the sector.”

What skills are short and where?

The report states that the largest increases in annual demand will be for carpenters, joiners, and construction managers as well as technical roles such as electronics technicians and estimators, and non-site support staff.

The South-West sees the biggest need for additional staff, with 41,950 new workers required to meet demands, while Greater London and the Southeast will need 26,000 and 23,000, respectively.

Suggestions of how to grow teams

The report admits that recruitment is a challenge. Construction vacancies are at a 20-year high and coupled with the competition for talent from other industries, this will mean that employers will need to rethink their recruitment strategies.

The report suggests that there just aren’t enough fully skilled workers in the pool to cover demand, so attracting young people, and training them from the ground up, will be a key strategy. But this means that the industry needs to work on its image to be able to attract talent, with only 2% of people in a recent survey considering construction as their preferred industry of work. 

Employers are encouraged to attract workers from non-traditional routes, such as adult re-skillers as well as develop domestic talent through Further Education (FE).

Balcon also reminded of the need for increased diversity in this traditionally male-dominated environment, “Training routes into the industry will be a focus for us and we have to attract and retain those that are under-represented – in particular women and those from ethnic minorities. It will be a major task, but the industry needs to evolve and reach its untapped potential for the national economy and our competitiveness on a global scale,” he said.

But employers must also ensure that they are working to retain their skilled workers, by providing competitive rewards packages and putting employee experience at the top of their priority list.