Staffing

Tips For Interviewing Candidates in 2014

By Darwin Redshield

Recruiting new personnel is essential to business growth and expansion. Personal interviews play an important part in the recruitment process. Managers who are knowledgeable in conducting interviews will be more successful in hiring the right personnel to meet their company's needs. The following offers some valuable tips on conducting interviews to obtain optimum results.

Tips for Preparing your Interview

Interviews are more effect in person, when possible, as they enable you to establish a rapport with your job candidate. If the interview is to be done by phone, make it a video conference that gives you visual contact as you talk.

Structure your interview in advance by creating an agenda for your candidate's visit. Your agenda should include an interview time frame, job description, company overview, question and answer time and possibly personal interviews with other managers in the department. Tour of the company and lunch are optional. Make sure your candidate receives a copy of the agenda in advance so he can prepare.

Come prepared to take notes in the interview as it makes it easier to follow up on information that was shared. You should also take time to observe your candidate's non-verbal responses in addition to listening to what is being said.

Tips for Preparing Questions

Interview questions generally fall into four categories: factual, problem solving, creative thinking and behavioral. Through factual questions, you can learn more about a candidate's experience, abilities and skills. This information should also be available through his resume.

Problem solving questions give you an idea of your candidate's ability to resolve potential problems that may arise. You can create a hypothetical situation and ask the candidate how he would respond or request that he share a personal experience in resolving a problem in his former job that he may encounter in the new position. Such questions will help you to evaluate your candidate's critical thinking, creativity and adaptability skills.

Creative thinking questions test a candidates' ability to grasp the bigger picture in business development or trends. Questions such as "Why are you here" or "What is your passion?" compel applicants to look deeper into their career commitments and assess future aspects of their profession.

Behavioral questions reveal how people react to different situations that arise. The questions can be hypothetical, delving into real life situations of past employment or role play in which candidates respond to impromptu situations or needs. Behavioral questions reveal a lot about a person's character and personality and indicate whether he would fit in within the company's business environment.

Top 10 Best Practices for Conducting an Interview

By Tim Atterberry

Often, hiring is being done by managers and owners that have never been trained on any proper procedures for conducting an interview. Even HR Managers often learn more about recruiting than doing a proper interview.

Every Hiring Manager can use a few pointers on better interviewing. I have had my share of difficult office settings and rapid interviews back to back. These conditions make it difficult at times to be properly prepared or properly conduct an interview. Here, I have compiled the top 10 best practices that I believe can help you be a top interviewer.

1. Be prepared.

Review the resume, application, research the employee on the internet, and whatever else you need to look at or whoever you need to talk to about the candidate before the interview. This may take a little time, but you are about to bring someone aboard to bring in revenue. Human capital is costly. Don't make the mistake of missing something important when preparing for the interview. being prepared will help you be more comfortable and conversational in the interview. This will allow the candidate to feel that they truly are a potential candidate and will help them more readily engage in the process.

2. Set aside enough time.

Rushing through an interview could cause you to focus on getting the interview done, versus focusing on the person you are interviewing. I've had my share of fast interviews, many great opportunities can be missed by not having time to be properly introduced and give information on the process they have been brought into. Having time to listen, ask probing questions, and observing body language between taking notes requires more time. The interview is not about the notes, nor the questions. It is about the person and why they make the choices they make. This takes time to decipher. According to the article

3. Diminish interruptions.

Interruptions can be a distraction for the interviewer and the candidate. Make sure the phone is not ringing, outside noises are quieted, and you are not trying to multitask while asking the questions. This is time for you both to decide if you are making a right or wrong decision in the consideration of your company's future and the candidates career.

4. Create a comfortable atmosphere for the candidate

It is difficult enough for the candidate to walk blindly into a new situation. From start to finish, interviews vary greatly. Sometimes interviewers like keeping the candidate in the hot seat as if it will help know how they handle stressful situations. I'm not going to disagree that the candidate will probably find themselves in stressful situations on the job, but the reason for the interview is to obtain as much information as possible about them as quickly as possible. Creating a comfortable atmosphere will help get to know them better, and in the process of answering the right questions, the interviewer can learn how they handle stress. I would go with comfort over stress when it comes to creating an interviewing atmosphere. I often try to joke a little, have a little fun if I see too much stress on the candidate.

5. Presenting yourself as more conversational rather than cold.

Gaining quick rapport is the goal of both the interviewer and the candidate being interviewed. The colder and more distant you are, the more difficult it is on the candidate who will spend their time trying to feel comfortable in the ice rather than focusing on the question being asked. Sitting straight up on the other side of a big desk may not be the best approach. Asking a question such as, "Tell me about your last job", simply being more conversational might sound like, "So, what did you like or dislike about your last job, according to your application you were there 6 months."-you are asking the same question, but also referring to their application and coming across as interested in the answer.

6. Stick with open-ended questions when possible.

Open ended questions, ones that make it difficult for the candidate to simply answer yes or no, lend themselves to a conversation. Allow them to get off subject if they wonder that way a bit, just don't linger there. Sometimes you'll learn the most by simply letting them talk. Staying quite for a few seconds after they finish allows them to summarize or share a little more without having to probe.

7. Where possible, do face to face interviews.

We live in a world where much is done online or over the phone. Doing an interview face to face can reveal much more to you than over a phone. Interfacing directly with the candidate allows you to see who they are, how they dress, and their physical behaviors. These can help you determine if they fit your workplace environment. Do they exercise behaviors that express leadership, comfort, and proper preparation? Unless you are an expert at phone psychology, I would leave the phone interviews to someone I had already spoken to in person whenever possible.

8. Don't ask already answered questions.

This will let the candidate know that you were only halfway listening to their previous answers. As a prepared interviewer, you already know what questions you will be asking. If an answer wonders into another question you plan to ask, simply jot the answer down under that question.

9. Take thorough notes.

When writing down your notes consider writing the answer they gave condensed, but close to how they said it. Try not to reword too much. Also consider noting any unusual or exceptional observations in their manner of answering. This can include body language, that they were very engaged, leaned forward, or didn't make eye contact and got quieter. These observations and other simple notes can help you recall the interview and what you liked or disliked the most when interacting with the candidate.

10. Remember how important your decision is.

Often we can forget the people. The person you are interviewing has transferrable skills, but you need to figure out which ones work for you. They are colorful individuals, human beings with families and friends. Some are not the best interviews, but are great people. Others may not have food on the table. Always remember they are human. Respect the candidate and in the end, t will build quick trust and help you make the best decisions about their employment.

Always to remember to give the candidate opportunity to ask questions at the end of the interview. According to Chad brooks, in his article, 7 Tips for Conducting an Effective Job Interview, "asking questions too soon reduces the interview's reliability. Candidates should only be solicited to ask questions after the conclusion of the interview, allowing engagement on a more personal level."

"Do your homework, be nice, take notes, use the whole interview to evaluate each criterion, and don't talk too much", How to Conduct a Job Interview, Sarah Kessler.

Social Media in Recruitment? Beware the Narcissist

By Mike Crimes

Approximately 27% of employers view social media profiles on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn to get a better taste of a candidate's character beyond their CV and application form. But is it fair for employers to do this and what are the risks?

Equality legislation protects much of the information that is held on social media in relation to potential candidates. Eliciting sensitive 'protected' information that is not usually sought during the application process could leave employers open to discrimination claims. Candidates aware of any social media trawl could attribute rejection to this and pursue the hiring organisation.

A number of psychological effects could also impact any interpretation of social media data. Viewing personal data may lead to assumptions and perceptual biases against individuals depending on the content that is reviewed. This can be coupled with people making judgements based on candidate photographs, or that of their friends; in addition to generalising and attributing personal characteristics to hobbies and/or political/cultural affiliations.

One on-line recruitment survey indicated one in six of the employed respondents credited social media for their job, and 52% of all job seekers reported using Facebook to look for work.

Furthermore, the Office for National Statistics recently reported that 16.1% of the UK adult population (8.1 million adults) had never used the Internet, and it could be argued this is more likely to apply to older candidates. This leads to potential age discrimination claims when using social media.

However, even if one puts these considerations aside, a potentially darker issue lays hidden within this media when contributing to appointment decision-making. There are two socially disruptive aspects of narcissistic personalities - grandiose exhibitionism and entitlement/exploitativeness. Narcissism is defined as a personality disorder, where there is an inflated sense of self-importance and an extreme preoccupation with one's self. Recent research has indicated that people who had high scores on grandiose exhibitionism tended to amass more friends on Facebook. The conclusion was that social media platforms are frequently used by those with narcissistic tendencies to feed their egos.

Research suggests people who used Facebook the most tended to have narcissistic or insecure personalities. Other studies in the US have showed that grandiose exhibitionism correlated with self-promotion and entitlement/exploitiveness correlated with anti-social, vain and aggressive behaviors on Facebook. Furthermore, since narcissism is linked to self esteem issues, individuals evidenced with low self-esteem frequently post updates that work against them, i.e. they are more likely to criticise their friends with negative details of their lives.

However, it is not all doom and gloom as some researches argue that social media has made narcissism a social norm, especially for younger people, requiring a redefinition of this psychological construct. So, even though it could be argued the jury is out, there is mounting evidence to show a link between social media and narcissistic tendencies.

It's highly likely that during your career you may come into contact with what's called the destructive narcissist personality. Destructive narcissism manifests in arrogant, controlling and manipulative bullying. This can have a major impact on team and individual performance, especially if this person is in a position of seniority.

How do you spot a destructive narcissist and what traits do they exhibit in the workplace? It's not hard: They are often flamboyant, charismatic and articulate. They are arrogant and self-centered, constantly expecting to have the floor, and needing special treatment and privileges. They are patronising and critical of co-workers but are unwilling to accept any form of criticism. When challenged, the narcissist can even become aggressive. They often target weakness and can harass people to the point of resignation.

Overall, these individuals create an invidious work based culture that can seriously impact goals and objectives. HR intervention costs time, money and energy in terms of monitoring and reporting. Narcissistic behavior can create further costs in terms of stress related illness, absenteeism and rising staff turnover.

There are a number of strategies to combat this behaviour, mainly through effective performance management, i.e. core values and competencies and effective disciplinary systems. However, the destructive narcissist is adept at manipulation, so make sure the systems you have in place can accurately record and measure their behaviors and any complaints received.

In conclusion, If trawling social media as part of a recruitment initiative, beware any evidence of:

• Self-absorption,
• Lack of self reflection,
• A false, inflated self-identity,
• A sense of entitlement,
• Overly aggressive competitiveness,
• Lack of empathy or ability to see other points of view,
• Intolerance of any form of criticism.

Overall, people who use social media to habitually make grandiose statements combined with demonstrating intractable behaviors may have narcissistic personality traits. Their inflated sense of personal performance and productivity may well fall short of their claims, and their inability to integrate socially can seriously impact teams and performance.

If using social media in recruitment - beware the narcissist!

What Should You Put on Your Resume If You Were Fired?

By Richard Pillars

If you were fired from your last job, how do you state that on your resume?

Getting terminated is always a possibility as long as you're an employee. You have to realize that fact. There is always that chance if you are working for someone else. It does not matter whether you are working for a large company or a small one.

As a worker you must recognize that fact and live with it. You have to be ready for the event that your services might no longer be needed by your employer. There are many reasons why you can get terminated. It could be because of something that you did or it could be because of something that is happening with your employer.

The important thing is for you to know how to handle your termination and your loss of job. Your termination should not pull you down into negativity. Instead it should motivate you to take action and start looking for work right away. The world does not owe you a job. You should go out there and find one, no matter what sort of setback you experienced. You should go out there and start looking for work right away.

What to Put on Your Resume

Let's be realistic. Getting terminated is a bad thing and once hiring managers see that you were terminated from your last job, your chances of getting a shot at an interview for that position would go down to zero or close to it. People will assume right away that you were terminated because of something bad that you did. It matters little that it was not your fault that you were terminated to the hiring manager. What do you put on your resume then?

You should mention your last job but don't mention that you were fired from it. State what your job was and your experience there that relates to the current job that you were applying for. You can state the period that you held that job.

Explaining Why You Were Terminated

One of the rules of writing a resume is that you have to be honest. Some people think that it also means volunteering information there. For them that would include mentioning being fired from a job. They believe that it would be better if you were to state it upfront and just provide some explanation as to why you were fired and why it isn't your fault.

Volunteering the information that you were fired from your last job is not a good idea. Even if you provide some explanation as to why it was not your fault, it still would be taken against you and you would probably lose your chance of an interview.

Don't mention on your resume that you were fired from your last job. If you do get a chance at the interview then you will probably be asked as to why you left your last job. That's the time to tell them that you were fired and to justify yourself.

Three Golden Rules for Profiling Decisions

By Susan Douglas

"What profiling assessments should I use?" It's a question I'm often asked. It's a great question. Profiling is a vast topic. It needs consideration.

First of all, what is profiling? Its purpose is to understand someone better through assessment. Assessments can be in areas such as personality, preferred ways of working, verbal and numerical reasoning, and so on. In the corporate world profiling assessments are used a lot for recruitment and development.

I regularly use profiling assessments for executive coaching. And, I have one Client who will not recruit a senior executive without an emotional intelligence assessment as technical ability is usually a given at that level of seniority. The value usually lies in the interpretation of the profiling assessments though, not the report itself.

Here are my 3 Golden Rules for making profiling decisions.

Golden Rule No 1:

Profiling should be linked to the situation. So what's your goal? Are you recruiting for a particular role? If so, what do you seek to gain and to avoid in recruitment? Do you want to learn whether candidates have the profile of an entrepreneur, a social worker, or a potential troublemaker! Do you want to know the person's values? People tend to make decisions and take action based on what they value. Are you developing someone? What attitude and skills do you seek to modify through development? Answering these questions will help steer you towards suitable profiling solutions.

So work out the goal and then map the profiling solution to same.

Golden Rule No 2

Use more than one profiling tool. Multiple assessments:

· Give further insight, knowledge and facts. It's important to stay in a neutral state of mind and base decisions on knowledge and facts rather than opinion as that can lead to discrimination;

· Help validate results as there tends to be some level of correlation between certain assessments; and,

· Help clarify questions and explore findings with candidates / coachees.

A couple of considerations when choosing profiling tools:

i. How well researched is the questionnaire? I tend to use www.psychtesting.org.uk to check this out. The Tab 'Registration and Test Review' gives a list of approved tests; the Tab 'The Register' lets you know who is qualified to administer tests; and, the Tab 'Directories' gives a list of companies that offer practice tests!

ii. What's the cost benefit? To help you with this analysis, most tests are in the region of £20 to £100. Sometimes it can be false economy not to invest in profiling or choose tests based on their price. For example, I profiled an executive three months after they were hired. Things were not working out for the employer or employee. There was nothing wrong with the person's profile - a profile is simply a profile - but it wasn't a good match for the situation. Therefore, the cost of not profiling in this situation included recruitment costs, 3 months' salary, and delayed projects for the employer; and, a stressful and worthless move for the new employee. Needless to say, the Organisation profiled the next round of candidates, and respectfully supported the person who was exiting.

So use multiple tests for more knowledge, facts, insight, and informed decision-making.

Golden Rule No 3

Learned skills and behaviour override personality; people are more than profiles. Natural talents will almost certainly not be suitable for every eventuality in a role. People can flex and modify their approach. For example, an introvert can learn to portray themselves as an extrovert in certain situations in order to fit into our mainly extrovert world. I should know as I've had to do this too! In time, stepping out of our comfort zone can become a new flow in work-life; when we master an area, especially one that used to be our least strong, we tend to enjoy that activity and get lost in the moment. Indeed, it can become a preferred way of working, and even change our profile.

So, when making important decisions for recruitment and development, remember profiling is one important component in these processes. People are complex.

To summarize, link profiling to your situation; collect more knowledge, facts, and insights by using more than one profiling assessment; and, remember people are more than their profiles - learned skills and behavior override personality.

Are you embarking on a situation that requires profiling? Do you require some support? Well, you can contact me to tell me of your situation and we can discuss potential profiling solutions. I may be able to provide you with the relevant solutions, but if not, I can signpost you to a resource.

The Staffing Process

By Robert Turner

Staffing - What Does It Mean?

Staffing can be defined simply in the terms of finding the right aspirant/candidate and fitting him/her in the right job.

It takes account of matching of skills and knowledge of the employees with the requirements of the job in question, i.e., job specification or job description. Staffing is the next step - after the recruitment and selection processes are duly carried out (necessarily on the basis of individual performances in various tests, interviews, etc.) - towards proposed hiring.

In a broader scope, it therefore includes forecasting of manpower, strategizing, manpower planning et al, and it may or may not include a host of other recruitment activities as well, which is beyond the general context of this article. It's also about managing or placing the existing manpower; reallocating and relocating people (resources) as per the need of the companies: their assignments and projects, and other professional duties/tasks included.

The Actual Staffing Job:

Staffing companies make an in-depth study of their clients' job requirements. (Quite simply of course, the clients/companies are those who are on a look out for filling up their open positions for human resources - HR). In point of view of the businesses itself and understanding the business culture before inviting job seeking candidates/aspirants, interviewing them, running background checks and checking all valid references, and finally presenting to the concerned companies the aspirants/candidates/job seekers that staffing companies think are the best. Additionally, the final decision lies with the client company for whom the staffing company is hiring for.

In this regard, the temporary staffing group establishes a "co-employment relationship" with clients and takes responsibility for all compliance issues, HR issues and even administrative issues of employees selected for the company assignments. The permanent staffing group undertakes turn-key and recruitment mandates for permanent fulfillment of the open positions. As a liquidity provider for the client companies, Staffing companies evidently enable better matching of demand-and-supply equations to the labor markets.

The Staffing Process/Review:

Staffing companies can quickly provide to companies with candidates/professionals on any of the aspects as mentioned in the following:

• Contract
• Contract-to-hire
• Direct hire basis

The rigorous interview process of the recruitment makes the intended solutions effective. Throughout the business relationship with the clients/customers, Staffing companies set-up various resources to learn and understand the business environment, products, services, and staffing needs. The fact that integrating the hired professionals into the client operations saves time and money while providing superior results concomitantly.

The important aspect of working out the basic staffing undertaking is that the Staffing companies work directly with client companies to immediately get clarifications on each and every candidate's professional/job expectations; considering every detail: from skill sets description to the elucidation of the personality traits.

Reviewing a multitude of databases, networks and contacts to tracking down the top prospects for the projects, Staffing organizations take responsibility on.

In Conclusion:

Conducting technical assessment interviews, testing, background checks, and even drug screenings based on the requirements, Staffing companies identify the best match for the specified position. Therefore, solutions can be provided that are:

• Flexible
• 100% customized and client focused
• Developed by industry experts
• Immediate
• Cost-effective

The idea of providing flawless matches between client companies and the job professionals allows this technical dealing a guaranteed remedy, which can not only be better and cheaper, but also grant faster solutions to all staffing expectations. To sum up, I.T. Staffing firms can in point of fact help cut costs in a downturn economy.

How to Evaluate Staffing Software

By Steve Taylor

If you are in the market for new staffing software, I suspect that one of the most daunting of tasks will be to sift through the many vendors that are now servicing the staffing industry.

You will find many very qualified companies with good staffing software products. These products will utilize different technologies and different approaches to how they implement and train your company. The choices will be many, the approaches varied, and the results in some cases may be very good and in other cases you may find yourself with a staffing software solution that was over hyped and under delivered.

What can you do to insure the best possible result? Below are our six suggestions for evaluating staffing software and the companies that are providing those solutions:

1. Know what you want.

Spend time with the different players in your company and solicit their input on what your new solution should contain. Develop a decision matrix that you can use to evaluate the different staffing software solutions. Understand that no solution will match all of the requirements, at some point you will find that you may have to make a decision to exclude some desired features for the benefit of the total solution.

2. Evaluate the company.

Do they have a solid track record servicing the industry? How long have they been around? Do they have a large, established customer base with companies varying in size that use their products? If at all possible, plan a visit to their offices to see how their staff interacts with you and their environment. This will communicate volumes.

3. Evaluate their services.

Do they put their customers first? How is that demonstrated? Do they ask for feedback on their products and services? Do they regularly communicate with their customers? Do they have an annual users meeting? Do you have access to their top executives if needed?

4. Evaluate their technology.

Do their products use solid, reliable technology so you focus on your staffing needs versus technology bleeds? Do they provide regular enhancements to their products? How many versions have been released, and how often? Are they still on the original product platform released or have they taken advantage of better, more advanced technology as it has become available?

5. Evaluate their software.

Do they offer a way to objectively evaluate their software over a competitive solution? A matrix should be available that can be used to evaluate each feature and compare side by side with the other solutions. Can you 'test-drive' the software so that you can get a hands-on feel for how the application will be utilized in real-life? Make sure that you can do this on your own, away from the sales person.

6. Evaluate the total package price.

Once you determine the solution you like and you are talking about pricing, ask yourself if you are comfortable that all of the costs are outlined and easily understandable? Will the sales rep guarantee you that the actual costs will not exceed the quoted price?

These are just some things to consider. If you want independent help in evaluating the different staffing software solutions, there are consultants available that can help you work through the different choices. Selecting new staffing software can be a great experience for your company. You can learn things about the operations of your business that you haven't thought about in years. Don't just choose something to replace what you have, choose something that will help you to manage and grow your business more effectively than ever before.

Good Luck.

Tips to Make Staffing Solution a Success

By Kaushal R Shah

With time, the adaptability ratio for temporary and contingent workers through staffing agencies has increased tremendously. However, many companies fail to utilize them wisely and get the maximum benefit.

Although a wide variety of staffing solutions are now available for flexible staffing, companies often fail to make it a success. Here are a few tips on how you can make your staffing a success:

Executive support

It is believed that lack of executive support can be the biggest factor contributing to the failure of your staffing solution. Many a times it so happens that recruitment of temporary workers is carried without actually understanding the needs of your managers or how exactly how they will be utilized in your company.

This is a factor that will ascertain the support you will get from your executives. If their needs are discussed and an understanding of how exactly the staff hired will be utilized is gained, executives will be more co-operative and supportive toward the solution you are trying to implement.

Understanding goals

When looking forward to implementing a staffing solution, it is important to understand the goals you have set with respect to the solution. More so, you should keep in mind how your goals may have to be changed as per business dynamics. The solution that you apply for your staffing services should be such that they can meet your goals on a long term basis rather than short term.

Process before automation

There are automated staffing tools available, which makes managing your staffing solution easier. Your staffing should have processes that help in increasing quality, ensure compliance and lead to good reporting. However, if faulty processes are automated, it may result in increased errors and poorer results.

'Enterprise' or 'global' do not always work

Many companies go for 'big' and hence implement staffing solutions throughout the organization that are aimed at giving them big savings. However, going for such solutions may not serve well for all companies, and some may end up not meeting their expectations.

Going 'global' may not exactly prove beneficial for you if your approach is not in sync with your goals. At times, it is advisable to go for a phased approach by country or by department to see how the staffing solution works out for your enterprise.

Agility and flexibility

Many a times it so happens that staffing services such as temporary or contingent labor, or implementation of staffing solutions are done based on the historical data and experiences. However, this can only lead to failure of your approach since business needs keep changing. Hence, agility and flexibility are important for the success of the solution implemented.

Expectations should be basic

While you are trying to sell your staffing services amongst your executives, it is advisable to keep them updated with realistic expectations. On implementing a solution, it may so happen that many of your expectations are only achievable in phases or over a specific period of time.