More and more of our clients are no longer resting with the 3 references that we conduct on our candidates behalf. We are getting word that many of our clients are actually searching online for potential employee's Myspace home page to learn more about their interests and the friends that they associate with. Some have even gone as far as informing us that they may call names from their Myspace page to obtain informal references.
With that being said, how is a candidate to respond to this new method of background checking.
One possible solution is to delete friends that you are concerned with. While it may not sit well to weed through friends that you deem "undesirable", when it comes to finding employment in a tough, competitive marketplace, you may need to make some hard decisions.
As this is a new techique, I would love to hear from you as to your thoughts and recommendations to deal with this new reality.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Monday, August 18, 2008
3 Mistakes To Avoid If Working With a Recruiter
Over the last 14 years, we’ve been fortunate enough to work with a wide variety of clients in not only the Phoenix area but also in California and Washington. In that time, we’ve been a resource for our clients permanent searches, contract needs and contract-to-hire needs.
Through this experience, we have run into several mistakes that we have observed and thought would be worth pointing out
• The first mistake we have seen some clients make, has to do with contract-to hire positions. If at all possible, we suggest opening up your contract-to-hire searches to a direct hire search as well. While contract-to-hire searches have plenty of positive attributes, most notably being able to observe a candidates work product and efforts before making a full time hiring decision, it does limit the audience of job seekers to those that are unemployed or currently contracting. It typically excludes those candidates that are working full time and happy in their jobs, unaware of other opportunities and unwilling to leave their position for a contract to hire position even if they are interested in the opportunity. Opening up the search is a sure-fire way to increase the number of quality candidates to choose from.
• Secondly, if you do hire a position on a contract to hire basis, make sure to discuss with your recruiter, what the full time salary will be once they convert over to your payroll. Don’t make the mistake of ending up having your new employee making less money once they convert to your payroll. This can be a de-motivator and not the ideal way to have them begin full time employment.
• Lastly, don’t make the mistake of overpaying for a new hire. A good recruiter should know the minimal salary that a candidate will accept for an offer even before the offer is extended. Work with your recruiter so that if you do extend an offer, it is one that works for everyone. You shouldn’t have to overpay for a candidate, but also don’t want to underpay. Utilize your recruiter to find out what the right number is to accomplish this goal. Salary negotiation is an emotional issue for both sides; use your recruiter to take the emotion out of the equation and to increase the odds of a successful hire.
Through this experience, we have run into several mistakes that we have observed and thought would be worth pointing out
• The first mistake we have seen some clients make, has to do with contract-to hire positions. If at all possible, we suggest opening up your contract-to-hire searches to a direct hire search as well. While contract-to-hire searches have plenty of positive attributes, most notably being able to observe a candidates work product and efforts before making a full time hiring decision, it does limit the audience of job seekers to those that are unemployed or currently contracting. It typically excludes those candidates that are working full time and happy in their jobs, unaware of other opportunities and unwilling to leave their position for a contract to hire position even if they are interested in the opportunity. Opening up the search is a sure-fire way to increase the number of quality candidates to choose from.
• Secondly, if you do hire a position on a contract to hire basis, make sure to discuss with your recruiter, what the full time salary will be once they convert over to your payroll. Don’t make the mistake of ending up having your new employee making less money once they convert to your payroll. This can be a de-motivator and not the ideal way to have them begin full time employment.
• Lastly, don’t make the mistake of overpaying for a new hire. A good recruiter should know the minimal salary that a candidate will accept for an offer even before the offer is extended. Work with your recruiter so that if you do extend an offer, it is one that works for everyone. You shouldn’t have to overpay for a candidate, but also don’t want to underpay. Utilize your recruiter to find out what the right number is to accomplish this goal. Salary negotiation is an emotional issue for both sides; use your recruiter to take the emotion out of the equation and to increase the odds of a successful hire.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
No Jerks Allowed
Here is a great piece about a company called Successfactors and the type of people that they have working for them.
http://www.successfactors.com/media/video/cnbc-no-jerks/
http://www.successfactors.com/media/video/cnbc-no-jerks/
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