The Risks of Misclassification: 3 Mitigation Tips Every Business Should Know
In June of last year, global delivery giant FedEx settled a decade-long lawsuit involving the alleged misclassification of more than 2,000 drivers in California as independent contractors. The class action lawsuit reached a settlement to the tune of $228 million. FedEx isn't the only company under the microscope: Uber, Lowe's, and Doordash are just a few of the names on the long list of...
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Navigating the Gig Economy as an Employer
For several years now, the world of work has been in flux. When the economy was ailing, many organizations were able to attract top talent by offering highly competitive wages. However, as the economy came roaring back to life, many employees found they were unsatisfied with this model and took to the job market, seeking new opportunities. Today, we've evolved our way into a "gig...
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Don't Hire Based on First Impressions
We've all seen that candidate who just wasn't ready for the interview. Their laptop broke down the night before, or the bus was late, or something else happened so that the interview just didn't go the way they had planned. Should your first impression of such an unfortunate candidate decide their fate? For Many, the First Impression Is the Last Plenty of interviewers make their...
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Startup Heroes: 8 Entrepreneurs on Who Inspires Them
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: Every entrepreneur has an idol whom they look up to and draw inspiration from. Who is your startup hero, and...
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Your Leadership Experience Isn't as Important as You Think It Is, Young Graduate
A friend called me recently with a question I was not expecting. He asked, "Why is it that all the resumes I get from recent college graduates are packed with their leadership experience? I don't care about that. I want to know what they can really do for my company, work-wise. What are their skills?" To give a little context, my friend is a hiring manager who employs engineers. He would...
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How to Make a Compelling Counteroffer and Retain Your Superstar
No employer wants to find themselves desperately trying to retain a superstar who is being lured away by the competition. It's the worse kind of negotiation to enter into, because the employee has the upper hand. And even if you do convince your superstar to stick around, the chances of them staying on board for the long term are slim: In one survey of Australian workers, 80 percent of...
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3 Things You Need to Know About Leadership and Recruiting
Does anyone out there wish it were easier to attract and retain top performers? According to a recent global survey, just over a third of you find it more difficult than you did a year ago. The secret to improvement may lie in a difficult conversation with the C-Suite. At The McQuaig Institute, we surveyed nearly 450 HR professionals from around the globe in our 2016 McQuaig Global...
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If You Want to Engage Millennials, Flip Engagement on Its Head
Patrick Cournoyer, vice president of people and training at FlightCar, knows what it's like to manage a millennial workforce: A significant number of his company's employees are millennials. This wasn't exactly a conscious decision – FlightCar has nothing against non-millennial workers – but, rather, a natural result of the kind of work FlightCar does. FlightCar is sort of like...
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Getting Your Candidate to Speak: 7 Nonverbal Techniques
Candidates aren't always forthcoming; then again, there are times when they talk too much. How, as a recruiter, can you get your candidates to strike that perfect middle ground? Here, we will explore seven techniques that you can employ during conversations with candidates to demonstrate that you are listening – to encourage your candidates to open up and reveal. And, for those times...
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Ensuring Employee Retention in a Confident Job Market
Employees quit and start new jobs all the time. That's nothing new. But as someone working in HR, you'd do well to keep tabs on trends in the employment market, such as how many people are getting hired/leaving their jobs every month. Paying attention to these market trends can help you develop more solid strategies for retention. Know the Market First, let's look at some recent numbers...
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7 Blunders That Will Kill a Job Interview
Have you had multiple interviews and no job offers? It could be that you're annoying your interviewers – and your flawless resume can't save you if that's the case. There are a number of ways that candidates can accidentally turn off their interviewers. Make sure you avoid the following seven pitfalls: 1. Arrogant Much? You could be one of the strongest assets a company could...
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The Gig Economy: What Job Seekers Need to Know
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 should job seekers know about the gig economy? How can they make the most of this new approach to...
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10 Majors That (Almost) Guarantee You a Great Job
People fortunate enough to get their degrees are likely to end up with good careers, but not all majors are equal. Some can lead to more prestigious jobs than others. Below is a short summary of 10 majors that are most likely to help you land an excellent job after college: 1. Chemical Engineering All engineering majors are good choices if you want to land a high-paying job,...
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Managing Employees Who Value the Dollar
Ahh, pay day – that wonderful feeling that comes when a direct deposit hits your dwindling checking account. For some, money is why they do what they do, the one and only work motivator. For others, money is secondary to internal fulfillment, a bonus to meaningful work. Though we like to shy away from the idea of money as a motivator in today's work world of craft beer fridges and...
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Resumes Are the Worst
Isn't it ironic that the people who think it's their job to look at resumes (i.e., recruiters) try their hardest to not look at resumes? It feels almost sacrilegious to start calling out resumes because of how dependent we are on them – employers and employees alike – but they've been an obstacle in the hiring process for too long. An Ineffective Tool for a Complex Problem The...
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How to Make Your Hiring Manager Happier: 2 Experts Weigh In
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: The hiring manager-recruiter relationship is not always great – but we believe it can be! What do you think recruiters can...
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The WOTC Is Back; Here's How to Take Advantage of It
The Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) is a federal income tax credit the encourages businesses to hire individuals who may have a harder time finding employment than others. When an organization hires a person who falls into one of the WOTC's specific target groups, the federal government will reduce the amount of income tax the organization owes on the employee's salary. "Basically, the...
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The Next Big Thing in Recruiting Tech: 6 Expert Predictions
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: ATSs. Job boards. Social recruiting. Mobile recruiting. Big data. We've all seen hot trends come and go in the recruiting...
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5 Ways to Survive and Thrive Under a New Boss
When a new boss comes in, you might feel some mixed emotions: bitterness, excitement, apprehension, and anticipation are all common. However, it is during such times of change that you need to draw on all your emotional intelligence to avoid negativity and stay focused on your professional goals and successes. The reality is that, when a new boss arrives, there are winners and there are...
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Social Media Engagement and Recruiting: Find Better Talent and Build Your Business
For the past several years, social media engagement and recruiting have been gaining steam with agency recruiters. Recruiters and head hunters have learned that, to get the best possible candidates for their clients, they need to get creative. On the flip side, they also know that in order to gain new business, build their companies' brands (and their own personal brands), they need to find...
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Why You Need a Separate Employer Brand Strategy for Each Social Media Channel
Editor's Note: Employer branding firm Universum recently released its Inside Social Media report, which surveys the "current state of the social media landscape for employer brands and the trends shaping how and where you engage talent today." This is the third in a series of articles based on the report. Read the first installment here and the second installment here. Recruiters...
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6 Ways to Motivate Your Employees [Infographic]
Yesterday, we shared an infographic about six types of toxic employees. Today, we have another, similar infographic that sort of serves as a complement to that one. Headway Capital, purveyor of credit for small businesses, has a new infographic that describes six common types of employees based on their Myers-Briggs personality types. The infographic also offers tips on how to motivate...
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5 Important Points to Keep in Mind When Working With Millennials
Millennials are an increasingly critical segment of the workforce, but many business leaders continued to be baffled by them, asking loaded questions like: - Why do they think they deserve everything? - What can we possibly to do to recruit and retain employees who aren't interested in sticking around? In my experience building several high-growth technology companies, I've learned...
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How to Hold Down 3 Jobs Without Going Insane
Things are really chaotic in the job market at the moment. The job-for-life is all but gone, and even the career-for-life idea is fading fast as organizations move from permanent, full-time workforces to contingent workforces composed of freelancers, casual staff, temps, and part-timers. For those of us who prefer the stability of traditional employment, this modern employment...
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Thinking of Returning to a Previous Employer? Consider These Issues First:
Are you thinking about returning to a previous employer? Have you been offered an opportunity with a company for which you used to work that would be really good for you? Are you unsure about how this kind of situation will play out? You're not alone. Many of us have considered the possibility of returning to an ex-company, but there are a few important things to think through before...
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For the Last Time: 'Training' and 'Onboarding' Are Different
How do you welcome new employees to your company? A quick Google search shows just how confusing this can be for employers. Orientation. Onboarding. Training. These terms are often used interchangeably, but they aren't the same thing. What's more, new hires need all of these processes when starting out at your company. Learning the differences between these functions and how...
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How to Be a Social Job Seeker
Job seeking today feels much more complicated than it did in years past. In addition to your resume, cover letter, and business suit, you have a new layer to consider every time you go on the hunt for a new role: your social media presence. We don't always think of social media as part of the job search, but it can be very helpful for you as a job seeker. The Job Hunt Dinner...
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9 Ways to Determine Whether or Not Your Business Idea Is a Good One
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: Plenty of people want to be entrepreneurs, and plenty of people have ideas for businesses and products. But how do you know...
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5 Ways to Succeed as an 'Accidental Manager'
It's easy to believe that the typical manager is completely comfortable in their role, but that's actually not true. In fact, studies suggest that about 6 in 10 managers have had no formal management training. These people see themselves as "accidental managers" – people who just kind of fell into management without necessarily meaning to. This does not have to be a bad thing: The kind...
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4 Ways to Lower Shopping Cart Abandonment Rates for Your eCommerce Business
If you're an eCommerce entrepreneur, your shopping cart abandonment rate – i.e., how often your customers put items in their online shopping carts without finishing the transaction and purchasing those items – should be one of your major concerns. Research from the e-tailing group suggests that about half of all eCommerce goods that got put into shopping carts last year were...
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9 Social Media Tips for Job Seekers
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 should job seekers know about using social media to land jobs? 1. Self-Promote –...
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Strengthen Your Culture With This Simple Workplace Perk
As a startup, my company (and my team) has had its ups and downs in more ways than I can count. From the basement to the urban chic office, from college interns to young professionals, we've all grown – myself included. As we've been on this road together for the past few years, our culture has evolved as well. This has been one turbulent journey. The Red Branch Media culture is unique,...
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How Do I Make Sure My Resume Gets Noticed?
As a recruiter, I am often asked, "What do you look for in a resume?" The answer isn't so uniform. It really depends on what job I am recruiting for and the expectations laid out by the particular hiring managers I am working with (but that's a whole other article). You may have read out there that recruiters spend anywhere from 6 to 30 seconds scanning a resume, and that is 100 percent...
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4 Tips for Job Seekers Whose Resumes Contain Glaring Red Flags
The act of preparing a resume can be fairly straightforward, assuming you can tick all the right boxes – e.g., a good education, some blue-ribbon achievements to brag about, and absolutely no red flags. But for you otherwise fine candidates out there whose resumes unfortunately contain a few warning signs that can handicap your application, preparing a winning resume can be a bit more...
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5 Ways Freelancers Are Changing the Economy [Infographic]
According to a new infographic from On Stride Financial, 40 percent of the new jobs created in the past five years have been self-employment jobs – and it doesn't look like this trend will slow down any time soon. Thanks in part to the rise of the on-demand gig economy, more people are freelancing than ever, and this is going to have some major affects on the future of work as we...
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Hiring an RPO Firm? Read These Expert Opinions First
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 should employers know about recruitment process outsourcing before they hire an RPO firm? 1. RPOs...
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How to Activate Your Global Talent Acquisition Social Media Plan
Editor's Note: Employer branding firm Universum recently released its Inside Social Media report, which surveys the "current state of the social media landscape for employer brands and the trends shaping how and where you engage talent today." This is the second in a series of articles based on the report. Read the first installment here. Some projects are so immense that you...
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5 Bad Ideas That Came Out of the Recruiting Tech World
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: In many ways, the proliferation of new technologies in the recruiting and hiring world has been an absolute blessing...
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TAtech Tip: Post-Social Recruiting
Social recruiting is over. It was a nice idea – that social media would make candidate networking easier and more effective – but it fell apart in the face of human nature. Most people can't be bothered to network unless they have to, and will only do so if there aren't other and easier ways to connect with employers. So, we're now in the era of post-social recruiting, and the key to...
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Leveraging Technology to Keep Job Candidates Attracted to Your Brand
We all want to hire the best talent possible. To do so, we need to remember that it's not about moving people through the process – it's about how the candidate feels while going through the process. We are in a competitive talent market right now, and there aren't many ways to differentiate your brand from your competitors. Salaries and benefits are already competitive and on par for...
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5 Ways to Increase Your Relationship Focus in 2016
It's hard for me to believe that in 2016, a full eight years after I published the original edition of Relationship Economics, I still see a broad range of professionals undervaluing the asset that is your portfolio of relationships. Whether you're a frontline contributor or a senior executive, your ability to reach your goals is closely tied to your ability to leverage the value in your...
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'We Go Bowling': The Challenges of Recruiting and Engagement When Death Is Your Business
"Whether you like it or not, all people die," says Dan Hogan, founder of Medalogix, a tech company that uses predictive analytics to identify patient risks and help clinicians and families provide better end-of-life care. This is not the kind of thing I hear on a daily basis in this line of work. Then again, there's nothing mundane about Medalogix. Hogan founded the company in 2012,...
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5 Ways to Land a New Nonprofit Job in 2016
As a society, we are growing more and more aware of the impacts our actions have on the lives of others and on the planet. This is why millennials' purchasing decisions are largely driven not only by price and quality, but also their consciences. For the same reasons, more and more people are looking to start careers in the nonprofit sector. Doing great work that has the potential for...
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To Retain Your High-Performers, Promote Them
Forgive me if you've heard this one before, but in order to actually retain your quality employees, you have to put forth a strong effort to improve communication, hire strategically, and increase company morale. Companies that increase their numbers of talented managers and double their rates of engaged employees achieve, on average, 147 percent higher earnings per share than their...
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Corporate Social Responsibility Should Be a Part of Your Employee Engagement Strategy
As a blogger in the HR and recruiting space, I've seen a lot of employee engagement solutions – but I haven't seen anything else quite like BlackBaud's AngelPoints, which tackles employee engagement from a corporate social responsibility (CSR) angle. How It Works AngelPoints offers two platforms inside of the overall software: AngelPoints Volunteering and AngelPoints Giving. As the...
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8 Things You Should Know About Business Incubators
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, exactly, do incubators do? How do you know if your startup needs an incubator? How do you pick one that is right for...
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What Can Entrepreneurs Learn From Consumer Infatuation With Uber?
So I got into a cab the other day; I was walking out of the train station to visit a client in Westport, Connecticut, a very affluent neighborhood situated less than an hour from New York City. Since I am in the on-demand space, I typically cart around the city in an Uber, Lyft, or my personal favorite, Via. But on this particular evening, I didn't hail any of those services from my phone. I...
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Career Fairs Aren't Just for Kids
Yesterday, I found myself saying something I often say this time of year: "One of my all-time favorite things is to go to a job fair!" The response I received to this was not unexpected. The job seeker I was talking to hadn't even thought of attending a job fair since college. They seem so juvenile on some level, don't they? Go Big: The Benefits of Large Job Fairs I will admit tiny...
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