How to Ask for an Informational Interview Without Looking Desperate
Anyone looking for new a job knows how much a strong network can help. Among the many benefits of a strong network is the ability to land informational interviews. Informational interviews give job seekers the opportunity to meet with hiring managers at target companies, learn about the work environment, and get the inside scoop on what makes for a great candidate. Informational...
Read More
7 Easy Ways to Reduce the Stress of Job Hunting
Job hunting is incredibly stressful. You may be without a line of income, working tirelessly, and facing a high degree of uncertainty all at the same time. The longer you spend looking for jobs, the more stressed you become as the pressure mounts. With 12.4 percent of the unemployed population suffering from a history of depression – more than double the rate of the general population –...
Read More
The Art of Keeping Your Sanity as a Solopreneur
Many articles deal with the trials and tribulations of entrepreneurship, but comparatively little is said about "solopreneurship." Like an entrepreneur, a solopreneur is a person who starts their own business. The difference is that an entrepreneur typically has the support of a team of some kind, whereas a solopreneur runs their business alone, single-handedly. I myself am a...
Read More
Why It Is Time to Integrate Corporate Social Responsibility Into Your Business Model
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is no longer just a nice-to-have differentiator. It's practically a requirement for any business if it is to succeed with consumers and talent in today's world. Ninety percent of consumers expect companies to do more than aim for maximum profits these days, and 84 percent of consumers actively seek out companies with strong CSR components,...
Read More
7 Signs a Candidate Will Be an Engaged Employee
Welcome to Recruiter QA, where we pose employment-related questions to the experts and share their answers! Have a question you'd like to ask? Leave it in the comments, and you might just see it in the next installment of Recruiter QA! Today's Question: What signs do you look for in candidates to determine whether or not they will be engaged on the...
Read More
From the Outdoors Looking In: How CEOs Can Build Authentic Company Cultures
You're the CEO of a growing company. In the last six months, you've brought on 20 new people – and now you find yourself frantically scrambling to maintain your high standards of company culture and instill in your new hires the core values you spent so much effort to create. You envision a workplace where team members trust one another, personal connections thrive, passion inspires...
Read More
Regaining Your Freedom at Work
It's terrible to feel trapped at work. It's also very common. I meet professionals every day who feel chained to their jobs. They are very often in unhealthy situations that make them miserable. Some have abusive bosses, while others work for companies they no longer believe in. Unfortunately, they're stuck in their roles because they rely on the income. I empathize so much with people...
Read More
The 5 Drivers of Disengagement
All of us have been trained since birth to wipe out change by using several different filters. We find these filters used often in the workplace to resist change, but they also undermine morale and transparency. Effective change requires that we recognize these filters exist in all of us and learn to become aware of them when they are in play. The reactions are often so commonplace and...
Read More
Does Organizational Change Have to Be Hard?
There are numerous well-known methodologies for change management. They are mainly based in logic, and historically they've worked to effect change. However, the way we communicate as individuals and organizations has completely shifted in response to technology, and methods to enact change have advanced accordingly. Continuous crowdsourcing platforms allow organizations to reimagine...
Read More
Wage Theft: Employers Steal Almost $50 Billion Annually From Workers
The average annual cost of all robberies, burglaries, larcenies, and motor vehicle thefts in the U.S. amounts to about $14 billion. That may seem like a lot, but it's nothing compared to wage theft, which costs victims about $50 billion annually. That's according to "Wage Theft in 2017," a report from the Wage Authority Group, a collection of attorneys specializing in wage and overtime...
Read More
Hey Job Seekers: Stop Focusing So Hard on Job Descriptions and Do This Instead
Every job seeker has done the frantic window-shifting dance on their computer: from the job description to your resume, back to the description, then to your cover letter. Rinse and repeat. While job descriptions undoubtedly contain crucial information, it's just as important to look for other clues outside the job description that can help you stand out as a candidate. That is exactly...
Read More
How to Create a Sense of Ownership on Your Team Without Employee Stock Options
A business thrives when all employees feel a sense of ownership over its success. Some companies foster this sense through employee stock options, but even in offices without the financial incentive, managers can take certain steps to ensure each employee has a personal stake in team-wide endeavors. 1. Value Your Employees A workplace thrives when each team member feels valued. Managers...
Read More
10 Questions to Ask When Hiring for Culture Fit
Successful companies know that creating a great workplace o not only helps to attract and retain top talent, but also leads to impressive business results. For nearly a decade, CHG Healthcare has been recognized as one of the country's best companies to work for – but that wasn't always the case. Back in 2001, our turnover rate was almost 50 percent. As you likely know, a high level of...
Read More
Leaders, Do You Have Commitment Issues?
Have you ever gotten frustrated because you didn't hit a goal you had set for yourself? I'm betting you have. It happens to even the best leaders from time to time. When something doesn't happen or a ball gets dropped along the way to achieving a goal, the result is often irritation and the sense that the goal may have been unreachable after all. But I don't agree with that. I think...
Read More
7 Ways to Make the Most of Your 'Blank' Moments
Article by Tammy Danan We've all been there: You're on deadline, but your mind refuses to get going. The phenomenon goes by many names, including "writer's block," "creative block," and "dry spell." I call them "blank moments." Because of the many blank moments I've encountered in my life – and the intense level of procrastination I've faced – I've learned how to harness each...
Read More
Tools and Tips to Better Proofread Your Resume and Cover Letter
A resume riddled with spelling and grammar errors will impress nobody. Think you're immune? There is a good chance you aren't: According to CareerBuilder, 58 percent of employers commonly dismiss candidates because their resumes have typos. Avoid being rejected outright by making use of the following tools to proofread your resume and cover letter: 1. Spell Check This is a common...
Read More
3 Steps to Automating Employee Reviews
The employee review process is important if you want to keep productivity, morale, and engagement high. Unfortunately, the process can also be time-consuming and unwieldy – but a new infographic from online form builder Formstack aims to help make it a little more efficient for all parties. The graphic, which you can check out in full below, outlines the three steps to totally...
Read More
Dealing With a Bad Boss: Why Empathy Is Key
A boss can make the workplace miserable. Given how much time people spend in the office, life itself can become wretched when dealing with a bad boss. You may feel angry, humiliated, anxious, and/or depressed. You tell your coworkers just how bad this supervisor is. Your boss really is a "jerk," you claim. "A schmuck," you all agree. You consider doing something about it, but...
Read More
Inferential Reasoning and the Power of Implicit Search in Sourcing Candidates
The pressure to hunt and capture the right candidates in the labor market continues to mount on recruiters. With unemployment at a 16-year low and a growing talent shortage, especially in high-tech jobs, recruitment is an uphill battle that job postings alone cannot address. A recent survey by Talent Tech Labs found 69 percent of business leaders are worried about the talent shortage. This...
Read More
Nailing the Interview Process, Part 5: First Impressions Count
I'm sure you were told as a child to look the person with whom you were talking in the eyes. You may have also been instructed to deliver a firm, yet gentle handshake, not a limp one. I bet you were told to smile, too. Your guardians wanted you to come across as likable, because being likable would get you far in this world. All of these lessons you were taught as a child apply today. Now...
Read More
Need an Applicant Tracking System? Here Are Your 10 Best Options:
Welcome to Top 10, Recruiter.com's weekly rundown of the best of the best in recruiting! Every Friday, we release a list of some of our favorite people, things, and ideas dominating the industry. From awesome tech tools and cool companies to great books and powerful trends, no stone in the recruiting space will be left unturned. This Week: Top 10 Applicant Tracking...
Read More
3 Strategies for Reducing Employee Turnover
As the historically low unemployment rate continues to sustain a candidate-driven market, it is important for employers to consider the needs and wants of their employees if they are to attract new talent, retain existing talent, and avoid costly turnover of talent. The job landscape is as competitive as I have ever seen, so much so that we have seen candidates leave their jobs —...
Read More
Keeping the Bridge Intact: 5 Ways You Can Network
"I am too busy to network." I hear this all the time from people at every rung of the career ladder, from the C-suite all the way down to new professionals. For those who do it well, however, networking has long been the preferred strategy for pursuing career opportunities. These days, our hyper-connected society means there are more opportunities than ever to leverage your networks and...
Read More
This One Detail Could Totally Transform Your Resume
People tend to leave one crucial detail out of their resumes: their results! However, including this detail could totally transform your resume and make it much more effective. Don't sell yourself short. Give your results a prominent place on your resume. Why Do Results Matter? Anyone can say they're a great employee, but very few people can actually prove it. That's where results...
Read More
Benefits on the Fringe: Healthy Perks That Boost Productivity
Welcome to Benefits on the Fringe, the monthly Recruiter.com column where Jason McDowell covers the most unique benefits today's employers are using to woo talent, as well as advances and innovations in the employee benefits realm. As we learn more about lifestyles and how they impact work performance, many companies are choosing to implement healthy workplace initiatives to help employees...
Read More
Always Take the First Interview
One day, out of the blue, you receive a call from a recruiter. They're recruiting for a position you've never even heard of, let alone applied for. You don't know how they got your name or phone number. The recruiter asks if you know anyone who might be interested. It's always a surprising call to receive, even if you've received similar calls in the past. If you're like many people, you...
Read More
Great Job Performance Won't Make You a Good Manager
In many organizations, promotions into management are based on little else beyond good job performance and tenure. However, being great at one's job doesn't necessarily mean that a person will be a good manager. For example, an employee can have large sales numbers but be too aggressive to manage people. Similarly, producing a high volume of product on an assembly line doesn't qualify one to...
Read More
5 Overlooked Resources Candidates Can Use to Research Employers
Welcome to Recruiter QA, where we pose employment-related questions to the experts and share their answers! Have a question on jobs data you'd like to ask? Leave it in the comments, and you might just see it in the next installment of Recruiter QA! Today's Question: Hiring and recruiting experts are always telling candidates to research potential employers before applying....
Read More
Flexible Work Arrangements: Do You Dare Ask in an Interview?
Flexible work arrangements are growing in popularity. An increasing number of employees work remotely, have flexible schedules, or work compressed workweeks. Flexible work arrangements can be attractive not only to employees, but also to employers who want to prevent burnout and improve employee retention. Basecamp, the popular online project tool, is a Chicago-based company that has found...
Read More
112 Questions to Ask to Get to Know Your New Hire
Building a strong, cohesive team is vital for any company's success. At Red Branch Media, we believe in going beyond the basics of introducing new hires to their responsibilities and workstations. One of our favorite ways to welcome new employees and foster an inclusive work environment is through a fun game we call "New Brancher Trivia." The purpose of this game is twofold. Firstly,...
Read More
Do Your Employees Know Where You Stand on Gender Diversity?
The folks who work over at Google know how their CEO feels about gender diversity in the workplace. When a male software engineer at the tech giant published a 10-page memo entitled "Google's Ideological Echo Chamber" that decried Google's gender diversity initiatives, Sundar Pichai, Google's CEO, responded by firing him. Sixty-six percent of women who work at Google say their CEO supports...
Read More
How to Screen Candidates for Good Business Ethics
"You can always train someone who's missing desired skills. But it's impossible to implant core values into someone who lacks them." — National Ethics Association "Business ethics" refers to ethical business practices in areas such as sales and sourcing, but it also means embracing a corporate culture of fairness and diversity. It is important to recruit ethical employees, especially...
Read More
Beyond the Basics: 4 Often-Forgotten Resume Tips
Looking for a new job has a lot in common with looking for a new significant other. Just like in dating, first impressions count. Deal-breakers, those central non-negotiables, can stop even the most promising partnership in its tracks. Similarly, every recruiter and hiring leader has their turn-offs, those smaller, more trivial missteps that may seem forgettable but are actually extremely...
Read More
This Flowchart Will Show You What Kind of Learner You Are:
Like many professionals, you probably crave opportunities for development. While training sessions and courses of all kinds can be valuable to your career progress, the most beneficial resources will be those that align with your particular style of learning. You see, not everyone learns the same way. Some of us love to soak up info from a well-delivered lecture, while others prefer a more...
Read More
In the Workplace, We Are All Responsible for Engagement
An awakened organization requires that everyone is involved. In a democracy, everyone is responsible for the end result. It is a mistake to assume that the leaders are more engaged than the rest of the population. Indeed, I have met line workers who are more engaged than some of the leaders in charge of engagement programs. We all have much to learn from anyone, no matter their level, who shines...
Read More
How to Talk Your Boss Into Letting You Have a Flexible Schedule
The way America works is changing fast, but some businesses refuse to accept it. Many companies cling to traditional work models despite countless studies showing the benefits flexible work programs have for both workers and the entities for which they work for. In these cases, it's up to the employee to convince management of the value of flexible work. When the company completely lacks a...
Read More
5 Questions You Should Ask When Selecting Recruiting Technology for Your Staffing Firm
Selecting a new recruiting platform is a big decision. There are many options on the market, but if you want to be a front-running firm, you're going to need an extensible recruiting platform that can rapidly scale with your organization without stifling productivity and efficiency. The right recruiting platform for your business is one that grows along with your business. It should be...
Read More
How Much HR Automation Is Too Much?
Automation has made the recruiting process exponentially more manageable over the last couple of decades. Job boards help us reach global candidate pools without publishing ads in dozens or hundreds of newspapers. Applicant tracking systems (ATS) negate the need to manually sort through resumes, many of which come from candidates who aren't even qualified. Some companies are even using...
Read More
Despite Scandals, Organizations Continue to Embrace the Transparency of Social Media
This past February, former Uber employee Susan J. Fowler wrote a bombshell blog post about sexual harassment at the company. As the post spread around the internet like a wildfire, Uber scrambled to contain the situation with mass firings. Eventually, CEO Travis Kalanick was forced to step down. In July of this year, Google engineer James Damore wrote an internal memo accusing Google of...
Read More
Nailing the Interview Process, Part 4: Practice Makes Perfect
To be an excellent baseball player or pianist, you'd practice. You wouldn't expect to hit home runs effortlessly or play at Carnegie Hall with no preparation. The same principle applies to interview success. At this point, you've come to understand the feelings of despondency caused by losing your job. You've learned about your strengths and weaknesses. You've researched the...
Read More
How to Start – or Change – Your Career on the Right Foot
In May and June, million of graduates threw their caps in the air, rejoicing at the completion of their college degrees. After four years of hitting the books, now it's time to find a grind and get on it. The good news is the job market has definitely improved since the crash of 2008. When the global financial earthquake hit, it certainly affected the job market, and companies had their...
Read More
Benefits on the Fringe: Travel Benefits
Welcome to Benefits on the Fringe, the monthly Recruiter.com column where Jason McDowell covers the most unique benefits today's employers are using to woo talent, as well as advances and innovations in the employee benefits realm. Few buzzwords in the HR realm get more play than "work/life balance." Millennials consistently list it as one of the most important factors in their...
Read More
How to Attract, Foster, and Retain More A-Players
An "A-player" is a top performer who has a measurable impact on your business and whose traits and competencies are desirable in other employers. An A-player has the talent "DNA" you want to replicate to create organizational success. Most companies assume A-players are few and far between, that this type talent only comprises a small minority of the workforce. But what if...
Read More
Outdated Recruiting Methods Don't Work on Millennials
It's important that businesses take the time to understand millennials, given that they are the largest generation in the workforce. Companies with outdated recruiting practices will fail to connect with top talent – and they'll struggle to attract even mid-level candidates. Companies that refuse to update their recruiting methods for our modern workforce risk consigning themselves to more...
Read More
Dear Graduates: Get Ready to Take Risks, Prove Your Passion, and Learn Fast
Many people spend their childhoods confidently answering the question: "What do you want to be when you grow up?" When we respond, we do so unconstrained and driven by passion. We typically answer with creative or bold responses. Funny thing is, once we "grow up," that confidence and boldness typically fades. Now that you have your diploma in hand, it's time to take action. But how...
Read More
Should You Add a Photo to Your Resume?
Recently, I've started regularly receiving a question I hadn't heard much before: "Should I put my photo on my resume?" It's a great question! If you've wondered the same thing, you're not alone. Many resume templates with embedded photos are beginning to pop up on the internet. In all honesty, these templates are often beautifully designed. They look like works of art. At first glance,...
Read More
Find Out When You Can Expect to Retire With This Interactive Map:
We know that baby boomers are retiring later than previous generations did, partly in response to poor economic conditions, but what exactly does retirement age look like around the world? Different economic conditions and cultural customs dictate different retirement ages in different countries, so the question for each of us is: When can I expect to clock out for the last time? Thanks to...
Read More
3 Steps to Evaluating Your Employees' Values
Performance reviews are meant to show the progress of employees toward their goals, but this isn't the only facet of employee performance you should consider when evaluating employees. To truly understand how your employees rank as performers, you also need to understand how their values align with the company's. The reality is when employees don't align with your company values,...
Read More
