I find it very interesting that articles on how to retain your employees and how to hire successfully are intimately intertwined.  The overall assumption is that if you interview carefully, you and the candidate will have a long and happy life together. 
As a job applicant, the same rules apply.  For every “suggested question” the interviewer/recruiter asks, you need to ask others to find out what you need to know about the job.  
Some suggested reasons for why employees might not stay, gathered from resource Profiles International, are as follows:
* Inadequate capability
* Poor job fit
* Fuzzy goals and accountabilities
* Poor relationship with manager
* Poor relationship with co-workers
* Health and wellness issues
* Physical and environmental factors
On the other hand, Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) has an article on its site listing the three main goals of a good interview:
* Find out as much as possible about what the candidate knows.
* Learn how their work skills have been applied and tested in work situations.
* Determine where their aptitudes lie, defining the path of future growth and development.

If you glance between the two, it appears that the interview list covers most of the “why they leave” list.  Health and wellness and environmental factors may be harder to control for, but the rest seems to fit. 
The SHRM article gives some great advice – check your interview questions (and expected answers) against the interview goals and make sure they mesh.  Also ask the questions to get the best personal insight from the interviewee. 
One sample question, asked two ways, illustrates the management part of the interview.  The general question “where do you see yourself in five years” is fairly open-ended (they might have a terminal illness!) and won’t get the best response.  Instead “Where does this position fall along your career path” provides the opportunity for a more specific response.
Again, as a job seeker, give real thought to these questions, as you want to make sure this opportunity is a fit for you.  You need to give the prospective employer a chance to know you, to avoid the “misfit” thing.
Of course the one event no one can protect against is a major change in leadership, or even in business focus.  Therefore the employer should always be looking for people who are flexible and willing to learn who can make the sudden leaps that sometime happen in the current business environment.
As usual, good luck!

Tags: candidates, employee morale, hiring process, job seeker attitudes, recruiting

First let me state that I’m not a lawyer, just a law-abiding citizen.  I do pay attention when folks mention problems in the HR world and it seems complying with IRS rules for contractors is very important, and receives a lot of attention. So I’ve hunted around to get input from various groups on what to watch out for.  Here goes.
First, the guiding principles of a contractor vs. employee:
The general rule is that an individual is an independent contractor if the payer has the right to control or direct only the result of the work and not what will be done and how it will be done. The earnings of a person who is working as an independent contractor are subject to Self-Employment Tax.
You are not an independent contractor if you perform services that can be controlled by an employer (what will be done and how it will be done). This applies even if you are given freedom of action. What matters is that the employer has the legal right to control the details of how the services are performed.
From another source, findlaw.com, I find a 20- factor checklist to determine whether you are an independent contractor.  Lawyers can always give more detail. I’ve highlighted most of the list. Here is the quicksummary of when you’re NOT independent.
1. You receive specific instructions on how to do the work from the employer.
2. Training to perform the task in a specific manner, by an experienced employee.
3. Integration of the “contractor’s” services into the business operations.
4. Services must be rendered personally.
5. If the hiring supervisor is responsible for hiring and paying assistants but not contractors, the inference might be made that it’s an employment situation.
6. Continuing relationship – contracts should have a clear ending
7. Set hours of work.
8. Full time required.
9. Doing work on employer’s premises required.
10. Order or sequence of how to do task is set.
11. Regular oral or written reports – implies control.
12. Payment by hour, week or month rather than by task performed or contract term.
13. Payment of business or travel expenses.
14. Furnishing tools or materials
15. If worker has significant investment in the workspace not reimbursed by employer it indicates independence.
16. Working for only one entity implies control and thus employment.
Isn’t life interesting?

Tags: candidates, For Employers, Independent contractor, industry news, recruiters

NPR presented a program Tuesday, February 8 on “All Things Considered” on how to search for jobs effectively. They interviewed folks in the recruiting field as well as hiring managers in large companies.
One contributor suggested that finding a job requires the same type of marketing as starting a new company. A recruiter with a large firm said that now 70% of jobs are not published. Even without publishing jobs, large companies receive almost 10 resumes for each position in the company, whether it is an open position or not.
So – what to do? Throughout the last few months there have been multiple articles on job seeking tips, and having watched this process I think we can boil them down to a consistent list.
First, just mailing out resumes blindly gets you nowhere. You have to have a contact to help you get a foot in the door – just to get them to read the resume! I remember getting a series of resumes, all from New York, all with cover letters in the same format. It was obvious that some recruiting firm was providing a template and probably charging for the service, but it didn’t get points with our hiring people! It was also fairly obvious the “applicant” knew nothing about our company
This brings up another point. Always do thorough research of the company you are targeting. Your cover letter (VERY IMPORTANT) should show that you know exactly what the company is about and should be able to address why you want to be a part of the team.
Your job search has to include visiting the employer somehow. If you can find a contact in your network, use it! If not – try a people search on Linked In to find contacts in companies you are targeting.
By the way, one recruiter estimated that you have to make at least 100 contacts a month in a successful search (and that doesn’t mean just dropping off a resume). Remember you are marketing yourself and so the effort compares to trying to sell an idea or product to customers. It’s tough right now, but perseverance pays off.
Here’s one idea, and a reason you NEVER burn bridges when you leave a company. One job seeker pulled up her employment history and contacted old employers asking if there was an opportunity for her. She got a job with a company she had worked for 10 years before, in a temp position! This is a good strategy for job seeker and employer – the employer has some knowledge of the applicant which helps in the vetting process.
Hard work, and sometimes depressing – but keep your head up and keep hunting!

Tags: applications, candidates, job seeker, recruiting

Don’t miss it – this is a unique event.  It’s easy and free to all.  Our site, www.nmvirtualjobfair.com, will host a winter virtual job fair January 24-28 for tech companies in New Mexico. 
This concept was developed to meet the needs of busy HR & recruiting personnel who spent a lot of time standing in booths at job fairs.  It also helps out the job seekers, saving them from having to stand in line to meet with recruiters.  The fair provides a way for companies to feature current jobs and draw attention to their opportunities, and for job seekers to get relevant feedback.    
Hiring in our state has seen small increases recently in the private sector, and our hope is that this year will see more growth in the tech sector.  People currently looking for new opportunities have their work cut out for them, though, as companies manage tight budgets and look for new ways to be more efficient.  Candidates with broad experience and multiple talents can add value in small organizations needing to grow. 
The 2011 Manpower Outlook Survey found mixed news for US job seekers according Jeffrey Joerres, CEO of Manpower Inc.  He says:
 “Seasonally adjusted data for the United States indicates the most optimistic first-quarter hiring sentiment in three years, yet 73 percent of employers indicate they will keep staff levels unchanged.  So while we’re seeing positive signals in the data, only time will tell if we’ve reached the inflection point in the U.S. labor market recovery.”

Everyone keep at it and let’s make 2011 a good year for the tech industry.

Tags: candidates, Hiring Trends, job fair, recruiters, recruiting, technical jobs

The movie “The Social Network” has stirred interest again in the many ways social networking can be used.  One market that is expanding rapidly is online recruiting and hiring for corporations and even small companies. 
An increasing number of recruiters and organizations are turning to LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and more obscure niche social networking sites to speed up the recruitment process and reduce costs.  The process does, however, need to be managed appropriately. 
As I browsed LinkedIn I saw company (group) memberships that allowed current and past employees to join, and there were job listings on the site.  Some provided alternative links for non-employees to check out  jobs. I also noticed that companies join professional organizations in their industry and through that link attract more-qualified candidates for their needs.
There are a number of ways to use the social media to recruit.  Company blogs may include job opportunities with links to social media sites provided.  For a specific set of skills a company may post a technical question on their network and use the responses to identify a potential recruit.  The social networks also provide another way for a company to highlight their organization to attract a specific group of people.  Organizations may encourage employees to create a LinkedIn account to enhance its employee referral program. 
Cautions for companies diving in to the new social media – don’t stop using your other sources, but allocate efforts among the different recruiting tools.  Also, make sure that your application process is sophisticated enough for the new group of tech-savvy applicants.  Seamless processes help insure that the folks you are interested in will get through.  Otherwise they may  just get impatient and move on to another opportunity.
For job seekers, the trick is to get involved in these networks by searching for appropriate groups and individual links that further your career search.  As mentioned above, getting involved in discussions related to your experience could get you noticed by a recruiter.  Make sure that your own social network page is professional and targeted to the market you are interested in. 
As always, good luck!

Tags: applications, candidates, For Employers, hiring talent, Hiring Trends, industry news, job seeker, recruiters, social network