Sean's Blog

I served in the military some time ago. I was definitely fit, motivated, and disciplined. As part of the military, you’re always ‘on-call’. Though it was more 6am to 5pm job, you really are considered to work around the clock. We often figured out our hourly pay based on that 24×7 schedule. It’s not really like that, but you get the picture.

Fast forward a few years when that soldier has worked in the private sector for over a decade. You start to get a feel for the different careers, staff and management level duties and responsibilities. Many roles have their set hours. Sure, people work longer, put in over-time, have to meet deadlines and put in 50+ hour weeks, but the work schedule is typically set. Accountants go to work, adjust the books, make entries, etc. Project managers map out timelines, coordinate with teams, etc. At night they all go home – unplugging from the day. Some may work from home, but again, you disconnect and most people do.

What about the recruiter?
Continue reading Recruiter – Twenty Four Seven

Often times the staffing world butts heads with corporate human resources. Often depicting them (HR) as the mighty gate keepers preventing the firm from working with a hiring manager and ultimately making money.

Before fleshing this out, it’s important to understand the roles and motivations of those involved when dealing with a job vacancy.

The Firm

No, not the Grisham novel, the IT staffing firm. The sole purpose of the firm is to place a candidate at a company and charge the company an hourly rate while paying the candidate for doing the job. The account executive wants to deal with the people that make the final hiring decision and are holding the money.

Human Resources

HR will be typically be responsible for posting the job, gathering the applicants, phone screening the applicants, partaking in the face-to-face interview, construct an offer, extend an offer and on board the hire. Some will say this is a key responsibility of the HR rep and ultimately save the company the expense of hiring a firm. The HR rep will feel it’s their job. If a firm does this, then what’s the value of the HR rep. When I refer to HR rep it’s typically not a corporate recruiter, necessarily, but can be.

The Hiring Manager

The hiring manager is the ultimate decision maker and needs a person for the vacancy in a timely manner. While they collaborate with the HR rep, they know what they’re looking for – experience, skills, industry lingo, and have more weight in the hire or not hire decision. They also have the budget ok to make the hire, hence they hold the purse.

You can make the above relationships work, but there has to be mutual respect among all parties.

Considerations

Is using a firm to staff the vacancy a viable option?
Continue reading Inside Staffing – Human Resources – Keepers of the Gate

You’re going to use a staffing firm to help you with your job search. What do you need to know? How should you prepare?

Staffing firms can be great resources for those that need help with a job search. They know a ton of people in the industry and work with some reputable companies in your region as well as across the nation. They know companies that are awesome that you will never know about by just living in an area. It’s part of their job.

A good recruiter will tell you what to bring in with you and it’s typically the following:

• Copies of your most recent resume
• Information for your I9 – state ID, passport, permanent resident card, birth certificate, etc
• References

Did I miss any?

A good recruiter will also tell you what to expect when you come in by setting the agenda up front, you’ll:

1. be greeted by our admin.
2. complete an application and fill out paperwork to include I9 and W2.
3. be given a couple skills evaluations – and should list them based on your experience.

Continuing on with the spiel… Continue reading Inside Staffing – Visiting a Staffing Firm

Here we outline how a staffing firm fields a request from a client.

This article may seem to address a new sales exec. Either way, it’s part of knowing about the staffing industry.

Some staffing firms call them job orders, orders, requisitions, positions, leads, etc. It’s what happens when a sales, or account executive, person finally encounters a client that has need of the firm’s services. This could be achieved from a cold call or as a result of their previous 100+ calls to the company.

Standards range from firm to firm as to what actually constitutes a viable request from a client. Some staffing/temporary firms will have a set of criteria that needs to be met before the order is worthy of the team’s valuable time. There are some firms that merely know the client is looking for help with a particular skill set and that is enough for them to consider it an active request. Mileage varies. The more info you have, the quicker and easier it is to facilitate a great experience for everyone – firm, candidate, and client.
Continue reading Inside Staffing – Fielding A Client’s Request