Friday, April 27, 2012

Ready, Aim, Hire!

A colleague was preparing a presentation to give to small business owners and asked me for input.  His topic was how successfully hire people for their companies and he asked me for a short list of items to include.  I broke my list up into three areas and I decided I would share them with my readers via my blog.

Before beginning a candidate search, an employer must be sure they are truly ready to bring in someone new.  A few simple questions need to be asked.  Does money exist in the budget for a new hire?  Is there a real need and a substantial body of work for this person to take on when hired?  If the person is being recruited to replace an existing employee, is the company really looking to make a change or just testing the waters in search of greener pastures?

Once the employer determines they are ready to hire, they must decide what they aim to accomplish with this process.  What skills and past experiences are essential in a potential hire?  Are there skills or qualities that would be nice to have but could be learned on the job if needed?  How would they describe their ideal candidate and are they able to realistically expect to find such a person within their salary guidelines?

Finally, the employer must understand when it is right to stop interviewing candidates and make a hire.  All too often, I watch companies bring in several people, find someone they really think is a fit yet they continue interviewing others.  By the time they realize the person they met earlier on is the best match, they often lose out because another company moved quicker.

To summarize, employers should be very sure they are ready to hire before opening a search and also need to know the type of person they need.  Once they find that person, the key is to act swiftly and make the best offer possible!

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Interesting Boston Opportunity!

Excellent contract assignment in downtown Boston requires a customer support person with excellent internet skills to support users of educational websites via phone and online.  Must be able to quickly resolve issues with minimal escalation; be very comfortable with current Windows products; and knowledge of all popular internet tools.  Send resumes in MS Word format to harold@smartstaff.jobs or call Harold Levin at 908-508-0300, ext. 205.

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Employer's Option

Whether you like it or not, employers control your fate as an employee and you are working simply because they have given you the opportunity to do so.  Certainly, you were hired because of the specific qualities and talents they saw in you which they felt would help there business but keep in mind who signs the paycheck each week.

Each time I place a consultant into a new workplace, I remind them that their talents, personality, past work history, etc. got them the job but that they need to remember that every day is an audition.  Beyond performing the skills required and producing workflow on schedule, you need to fit into the company's environment.  Way too often, I receive a call after a few weeks saying that the consultant knows what they are doing but needs to stop telling their co-workers and/or managers what they are doing wrong and what needs to be fixed by the employer.  Unless you are asked to do so, just perform the tasks at hand and be thankful to be employed.

One such call I received talked about a consultant who told a vice president that his company had no idea what they were doing!  This person also informed co-workers that the creamer provided for the FREE coffee offered each day was not healthy!  I was told they were considering ending an 8 month assignment after a few weeks unless this individual calmed down and showed respect to the employer.  Happily, this situation was resolved by explaining chain of command and suggesting to bring  their own milk for the coffee.

While I do understand the need to be conscientious and to feel like you must do the job to the best of your ability, please remeber who gives you the opportunity to earn income each day.  As long as nothing you are being asked to do is unsafe, illegal, or dangerous, you need to follow the companies policies and procedures and to acknowledge that you appreciate the chance you have been given to work there.

Monday, April 16, 2012

Early Birds.....

Personally, I was raised by parents who thought sleeping past 6:30 AM on weekends was wasting your day away so I have always shown up for meetings and appointments early whenever possible. Candidates who habitually arrive at interviews after the appointed time have no place in my pool of prospects to send to my clients. Also, I have issues with people who tell me they desperately need a job but take 2-3 days to call me back after I leave word to schedule an interview with a hiring manager.

We all know that hiring decisions have taken weeks or even months to come to fruition over the past few years so our sense of urgency kind of lost its edge. Watch out! In the last 4 weeks, I have had 3 companies go from job posting to resume review to interviews to hiring decisions in 10 working days or less! To a veteran recruiter, this is better than a shot of adrenalin!

In each case, the clients asked me to set up 2 candidates for interviews, giving me no more than 24 hours to make things happen. Only one candidate per opportunity got back to me fast enough to attend the interview and all 3 were quickly offered jobs. the others took anywhere from 3-5 days to respond and were out of luck.

I asked each of the slow responders for their reasons for taking a bit too long to reply. Two said they only check voice mails and emails every two days and the third said she did not think it was urgent even though my message said to call back immediately. Please be aware that the early bird certainly still stands the best chance of catching the worm!

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Crane Maintenance Manager - Newark NJ

Industry leader in the marine shipping industry
needs a consummate professional with 10+ years of progressive experience including maintenance, engineering, and operations management of super heavy duty quay cranes. Prior union experience and extensive crane background a must. B.S. in Mechanical, Electrical, Structural, Electronic Engineering or similar required. To learn more about this opportunity, send a detailed resume in MS Word format to Harold Levin of SmartStaff Personnel (908-508-0300, ext. 205) at harold@smartstaff.jobs --Only candidates of interest will be contacted. Our client will provide relocation assistance if needed.

Friday, April 13, 2012

QA / Application Support Job

The following posting is for a 4-6 month project in Bergen County, NJ:
2+ years QA testing experience with eText, LMS, CMS, and media products plus administrator applications support such as add/delete users, network topology, FTP, etc.
Please send resume in MS Word format to harold@smartstaff.jobs or call Harold Levin at 908-508-0300, ext. 205.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

A Pretty Big Oops!

UCLA fell victim to a pretty significant technical glitch this week which left many potential college students with the impression they were moved from the waiting list to the ranks of those accepted by the school. Unfortunately, this was a huge mistake. Read more by following this link:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/campus-overload/post/ucla-accidentally-accepts-894-waitlisters/2012/04/11/gIQACtTeAT_blog.html?hpid=z4

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

What Not to Wear

No one will ever hire me to replace Clinton Kelly on 'What Not to Wear' or any of the other fashion related television shows that have become so popular! My wife and daughter have tried without luck to change my clothing style for a very long time. Putting all this aside, I do get questions from job seekers all the time about how to dress for interviews and I ask this question of hiring managers quite often.

The days of following the rule that a candidate must always wear a business suit have faded a bit. The best suggestions I can make are that you want to look professional but not overdressed, conservative but not stodgy, and to appear comfortable however you choose to dress. Of course, the type of job or industry will dictate somewhat how you should look. A machine shop mechanic probably needs to be a bit more casual than a CPA for example but no matter what, you must be well groomed and neat at all times.

For women, coordinated separates are totally acceptable, especially with conservative jewelry and footwear. Avoid wild designs on your nails and streaking your hair with colors such as green, purple, or pink (yes, I have seen this more than once on interviews i have conducted)! Into is okay for men to wear a blazer and khakis as long as they are well pressed. Some guys feel the need to douse themselves in very strong smelling cologne. Leave it off on interview days! Also, avoid blazers that are bright yellow or neon green (yup, I have seen this too)!

Basically, neat, somewhat conservative, and tasteful are the rules. Visiting discount clothing stores is fine if your budget is a bit restricted. No one is expecting you to spend all of your resources on your wardrobe!

Friday, April 6, 2012

A Good Holiday!

This weekend is unique with the holidays of Passover and Easter in full swing simultaneously. Even in these challenging times with so many out of work, underemployed, or simply worried about the future, taking a little time to celebrate holidays with family and friends is always refreshing. I wish everyone nothing but the best and hope that the coming months will be fruitful for all of us!

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Formula for Stimulus

April has arrived with just a bit more positive energy on the job front. I have actually seen some hires made in the past few weeks and a handful of employers have indicated they are close to adding additional staff to their very depleted ranks. At the same time, a fair number of hiring managers have shared stories of all time lows in new orders for their goods and services. Trying to analyze which industries are hot has been puzzling as the results of my unofficial canvassing are not showing a steady trend.

My opinion is that the success of a company is driven by some factors they cannot control such as overall demand for what they produce or distribute, transportation costs to get their goods or even their service people to their customers, competition from foreign markets, and the public's perception of the economy. The areas I believe a company can control are quality of product, level of customer support and service, turnaround time for delivering the order, and ability to offer their product at a competitive price. Where some companies appear to be struggling is a reluctance to modify their product or service to the current expectations of their customers. Most consumers are looking for a bigger bang for their dollar and feel entitled to additional bells and whistles at little or no increase in cost to purchase.

This is where the job market could be impacted. Companies that stand by their original concepts and are unwilling to be flexible look to be the ones struggling the most right now. There are many talented individuals on the job market. I suggest that this is a great time to look for talent with innovative ideas, offer them a job, perhaps on a contract to permanent basis initially, and see if they can identify some tweaks to your process which could bring in additional revenue. The old adage that sometimes you have to spend a little money to make money definitely applies here.

Stimulus packages can appear in subtle ways and I think this is one of them. Imagine this, if every employer added 1-2% to their workforce to try to bring in creative minds, the national unemployment rate could possibly drop under 8%. All those people who were re-employed would have money in their pockets to pay off debt and perhaps do a little shopping which would help fill the empty storefronts and put even more people back to work. Feel free to let me know if you think I am dreaming but I trully think this could go somewhere!