Five Questions to Never Ask in an Interview

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Bob Larson, CPC

BERMAN LARSON KANE

Career Report

June  2017

 Feature Story

 

Five Questions to Never Ask in an Interview

Hiring managers and HR pros will often close out a job interview by asking an applicant if he or she has any questions themselves. This is a great opportunity to find out more about the job and the company’s expectations, but you can’t forget that the interviewer hasn’t stopped judging You. Here are five questions from an article published by Monster.com that can make a bad impression on your interviewer and potentially scuttle your chances of getting the job.

1. When will I be promoted?

This is one of the most common questions that applicants come up with, and it should be avoided, said Rebecca Woods, vice president of human resources at Doherty Employer Services. “It’s inappropriate because it puts the cart before the horse.” Instead of asking when the promotion will occur, Woods said a better approach is to ask what you would need to do to get a promotion.

2. What’s the salary for this position?

Asking about salary and benefits in the first interview “always turns me off,” said Norma Beasant, founder of Talent Human Resources Consulting and an HR consultant at the University of Minnesota. “I’m always disappointed when they ask this, especially in the first interview.” Beasant added that the first interview is more about selling yourself to the interviewer and that questions about salary and benefits should really wait until a later interview.

3. When can I expect a raise?

Talking about compensation can be difficult, but asking about raises is not the way to go about it, Woods told Monster.com. So many companies have frozen salaries and raises that it makes more sense to ask about the process to follow or what can be done to work up to higher compensation level. Talking about “expecting” a raise, Woods added, “shows a person is out of touch with reality.”

4. What sort of flextime options do you have?

This kind of question can make it sound like you’re interested in getting out of the office as much as possible. “When I hear this question, I’m wondering, are you interested in the job?” Beasant said. Many companies have many options for scheduling, but asking about it in the first interview is “not appropriate,” she added.

5. Any question that shows you haven’t been listening.

Woods said she interviewed an applicant for a position that was 60 miles from the person’s home. She told the applicant that the company was flexible about many things, but it did not offer telecommuting. “At the end of the interview, the applicant asked if she would be able to work from home,” Woods said. “Was she even listening? So some ‘bad questions’ can be more situational to the interview itself.”

With the economy the way it is, employers are much more choosy and picky, the Monster.com article pointed out. Knowing the right questions to ask at the end of interview, and staying clear of ones that hiring managers find inappropriate, can clearly help you stand out – in a good way.

NEWS FROM BLK

The summer months are almost here and unemployment continues to decline and skill shortages in numerous niches continues to experience hot competition for top and not-so-top talent.  We at Berman Larson Kane find that we have to dig deeper and deeper into our ATS and make more phone calls and solicitation emails to discover good candidates for our clients.

We thank all of you for the privilege of helping you staff your teams and for the confidence of job-seekers to allow us to help with their job search and career development.

Bob Larson, President BLK will be a featured speaker at the NAPS convention in Denver Co. in September  http://www.naps360.org/page/2017Agenda .  His talk titled “Talent Acquisition Lessons Learned on the Yoga Matt”.  Bob will share his combined 40 years in talent acquisition with his 20 years experience  on the yoga mat.  “Many of the lessons I’ve learned on the Yoga mat like listening closely, present moment awareness and beginners mind are so relevant to our recruiting profession” say Bob.

 

Job Seeking Tips After 50

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Bob Larson, CPC

BERMAN LARSON KANE

Career Report

May  2017

 Feature Story

 

7 TIPS FOR GETTING HIRED AFTER AGE 50 (Reprint by Popular Request)

Finding a new job can be a lot of work for many, but it can be especially challenging for anyone in their 50s and 60s. And while the unemployment rate for older workers is lower than that of younger workers, once out of work older workers seem to have greater difficulties landing a new position than others. In fact, according to an AARP data analysis cited in a U.S. News & World Report article, the average duration of unemployment for job seekers was 55 weeks as of December 2014, compared with 28.2 weeks for younger workers.

To help older workers in their quest to find a new position, here from the U.S. News & World Report article are seven strategies to consider:

Start your job search right away. Don’t wait until your unemployment runs out to start looking for a new position. “It does seem like prospects are best for the unemployed as soon as they leave their jobs, so it might be a good idea to start job searching in earnest right at the beginning, rather than easing into job searching while on unemployment,” said Joanna Lahey, an associate professor at Texas A&M University, who studies age discrimination. A large gap on your résumé and a growing sense of frustration with the job search process can make it even more difficult to get hired aging.

Work you network. Although there are certainly many modern ways to find jobs online and through social media, having contacts at the company you would like to work for is still one of the best ways to find out about openings and get hired. “The number one way to find a job is through personal contacts,” Lahey pointed out. “You can avoid a lot of implicit discrimination if someone who knows you is willing to vouch for you.”

Reassure a younger manager. Some managers may feel uncomfortable supervising someone who is more experienced than they are. “The big thing to keep in mind is that the person supervising you or making the hiring decision may well be younger than you are, and insecure about supervising someone with more experience,” said Peter Cappelli, a management professor and director of the Center for Human Resources at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. “So it is important to let them know you are OK with the role you’re applying for, that you don’t want their job and that you are expecting to take direction from them.”

Don’t mention your age or the interviewer’s age. You don’t want to call attention to your age by listing jobs you held over 20 years ago on your résumé or mentioning age during the interview process. Equally as important, don’t comment on the age of a younger manager. “Even if the person interviewing you is no older than your children, never make any reference to their age thinly veiled or otherwise,” said Nancy Collamer, a career coach and author of  “Second-Act Careers: 50+ Ways to Profit from Your Passions During Semi-Retirement.”

Shorten your résumé. You don’t need to include every position you have ever held on your résumé. “Don’t make your résumé a history lesson. Highlight your most recent achievements and the new talents you’re acquiring,” Collander said. “In general, you should keep the spotlight on the last 10 years of relevant experience.”

Explain why you’re not overqualified. Having 20 or 30 years of work experience can make you seem overqualified for many positions. “Make sure your cover letter explains why you’re right for the job you’re applying to,” Lahey said. “Explain any gaps or why you’re applying for something for which it seems like you’re overqualified.”

Demonstrate your fluency with technology. Older workers are often perceived as being unable to effectively use technology. Make it clear to potential employers that you are tech-savvy and continuing to keep up with new developments. “I think the single most important thing you can do to overcome age bias is to demonstrate your comfort with technology and social media during the interview process,” Collamer said. “There are lots of different ways to subtly let potential employers know you’re tech-friendly: [For example] include your LinkedIn URL on your résumé, mention an interesting article you found on the employer’s Twitter feed or be a regular contributor to industry-related groups on LinkedIn.”

NEWS FROM BLK

Bob Larson, President BLK will be a featured speaker at the NAPS convention in Denver Co. in September  http://www.naps360.org/page/2017Agenda .  His talk titled “Talent Acquisition Lessons Learned on the Yoga Matt”.  Bob will share his combined 40 years in talent acquisition with his 20 years experience  on the yoga mat.  “Many of the lessons I’ve learned on the Yoga mat like listening closely, present moment awareness and beginners mind are so relevant to our recruiting profession” say Bob.

As the summer vacation season approaches we continue to see an increase in direct hire orders with the competition for top talent more competitive and salaries beginning to rise rapidly.  We all at BLK thank you for your business and thank you for allowing the honor of staffing for your organizations.

 

 

Boss Is Half Your Age ?

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Bob Larson, CPC

WHEN THE BOSS IS HALF YOUR AGE

With companies looking to fill management ranks with people who are “digital natives” –frequently translating to millennials and Gen X-ers – and with more baby boomers staying on the job longer, the odds are becoming greater that older workers will increasingly be answering to managers young enough to be their children, according to an article in The New York Times.

“Obviously, there have always been younger people in the work force, but in the past, younger workers were on the lower floor and older workers were executives on the upper floors and in the executive dining room,” said Jill Chapman, a senior performance consultant with Insperity, a personnel management firm.

But because younger workers now have the advantage in sheer numbers, “there are more opportunities for them to move into management ranks,” Chapman continued. “They’re in their 30s, and they had lots of experience because of internships we older workers gave them when they were in high school and college. They had those experiences, and they had the chops for exec positions at an earlier age.”

According to the article, if older workers have difficulty adjusting, there’s good reason: It goes against the natural order that the subordinate would have several decades on the supervisor.

“Research shows that older workers are not as responsive to at younger boss because they feel he or she shouldn’t be in that position,” said Orlando Richard, an associate professor of management at the University of Texas at Dallas, who recently completed a study on status incongruence.

There are implications for the organization, too, the article pointed out. “The older workers with younger bosses are less committed to the company,” Professor Richard said. “They’re not as engaged in the job. If they’re close to retirement, they may not leave, but they may not work as hard.”

Of course, there are plenty of older workers who continue to give the job their all, even though they now report to someone who thinks of Nirvana as an oldies band. The way they see it, though, that younger boss sure doesn’t make it easy.

There are, indeed, challenges on both sides of the May-December workplace divide, according to the article. Older workers may feel they’ve lost their shot at running the show, and younger workers may feel their older subordinates just can’t wait for them to mess up, said David Stillman, an author of the new book “Gen Z @ Work.” The co-author: his son, Jonah, 17, perhaps a future younger boss.

Further, older workers, accustomed to the parental role, may reflexively offer advice to younger bosses who chafe at the effrontery. “They’ll say, ‘In my day….’ Implying your day is wrong,’” Stillman said.

For their part, some younger bosses act as though the world began only when they arrived on the scene, “which makes older workers feel that their own considerable experience doesn’t matter,” Stillman said.

Smart companies are making efforts to address the growing issue. AT&T, for example, offers supervisors a two-hour course, “Managing the Cross-General Workforce, which “helps prepare them to effectively communicate with and motivate their direct reports,” Jan Rasmussen, a company spokesperson, told the newspaper.

And not every older worker feels marginalized or underappreciated, nor does every younger boss feel disdainful and misunderstood.

Take Valentino Lanoce, for example.  “I don’t look at age – I look at business intelligence,” said the 54-year old Lanoce, the regional director of operations for the restaurant chain Verts Mediterranean Grill, who reports to the company’s founders, Dominik Stein, 29, and Michael Heyne, 32. “Dominik and Michael respect my experience in the industry, and they ask for my opinion and advice. It’s very collaborative.”

Lanoce said that his interview with Stein and Heyne “was like sitting with mature officers of a company.” He said: “They’re disciplined and professional. Otherwise, I never would have left where I was to come to work for them.”

That said, as in many new relationships, the article pointed out, there’s a struggle to find a way. Diversity issues have long been part of the terrain, and “there are all these hang-ups at first,” said Chapman of Insperity.

It was a similar dynamic, she added, when women were coming into the workforce. “It’s something we have to figure out how to make it work,” Chapman said.

 

Dress for Success for Next Job Interview

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Bob Larson, CPC

Dress for Success for Next Job Interview

It’s probably one of the most overused phrases in job-hunting, but also one of the most underutilized by job-seekers: dress for success. In job-hunting, first impressions are critical since you are making a product – yourself – to a potential employer, and the first thing the employer will see when greeting you is your attire. Therefore, you must make every effort to dress properly for the type of job you are seeking. Will this get you the job? Of course not, but it will give you a competitive edge and help you to make a positive first impression.

Here from a report carried by NBC News.com are 10 tips for dressing for success on a job interview:

  1. Opt for a conservative look, not an outlandish one.Whether you are seeking an executive or manager position or a job that will require you to roll up your sleeves and get dirty, attire that is distracting is a no-no. In most cases it makes sense to choose simple, understated styles and colors – blues and greys, for example. Black also could work, so long as you won’t be mistaken for an undertaker or a Johnny Cash wannabe. To avoid that fate, soften your look by wearing another color near your face.
  2. When in doubt, ask.If you’re honestly not sure what kind of attire would be most appropriate for an interview with a particular employer, call the company and ask for some guidance. Don’t bother the hiring manager with this; instead, call the human resources department and say, “I have an interview with so-and-so in the such-and-such department. Could you let me know what would be appropriate attire for this interview?
  3. Dress for the job you really want.Some hiring managers recommend dressing one or two levels up from the position you’re seeking. The point behind this would be to show that you’re a serious job candidate who cares about making a good impression.
  4. Accessorize with great care.This isn’t the time to go with strong perfume or cologne, wild nail polish, face jewelry, opened toed-shoes or bare legs, or brightly colored briefcases or purses. All of your accessories should be understated, inconspicuous and professional.
  5. Cleanliness is next to employability.Clean, pressed clothes are important, of course, but here are some other key areas to remember. Have clean, polished shoes in good repair; clean, groomed hair and fingernails; well-brushed teeth, fresh breath, and absolutely no body odor.
  6. Stay up to date.For men, suits and tie patterns can look dated if you’ve been regularly wearing casual clothes to work. Even worse, your suit might be tight. The same goes for women’s suits and dress-shirt patterns. To find out whether you may be looking a little bit out-of-date, ask a trusted friend to help you assess your professional wardrobe.
  7. Don’t wear these items! Just say no to: short skirts, Capri pants, leggings, leather jackets for men and women; or turtlenecks for men. Men should wear collard shirts on job interviews – and in almost every situation, a tie won’t hurt your cause.
  8. Your common sense and good judgment should prevail. If you know for sure that wearing a tie on a particular interview wouldn’t be the right thing to do, then don’t do it. Same for a formal business suit. But don’t stubbornly think that this is the time to make a flashy fashion statement. Instead, this is the time to make sure your appearance doesn’t distract in any way from all the good information you have to share about yourself.
  9. There’s no need to break the bank.Some of these tips might make you think you need to rush out and drop hundreds of dollars on fancy new suits and shoes. That’s not true. You can find professional clothes on sale at deep discounts at major department stores and discount retailers.
  10. Set aside enough time for an initial once-over.Before you walk into the actual interview, slip into the restroom and look in the mirror. Is your tie flipped around? Do you have any food in your teeth? Is your hair standing straight up? If not, you’re good to go!

Why Do Many Employees Hate Work?

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Best Staffing Options

Feature Story

WHY DO MANY EMPLOYEES HATE WORK?

The way we’re working isn’t working, according to an article from the archives of The New York Times.  For many employees, there is probably little excitement when they get to the office, they don’t feel much appreciated while they are there, they find it difficult to get their most important work done amid the distractions, and they don’t believe what they’re doing makes much of a difference, the article pointed out.

By the time they get home, many employees are pretty much running on empty, and still answering emails until they fall asleep.

Increasingly, this experience is common not just to middle managers, but also to top executives, according to article authors Tony Schwartz, CEO of consulting firm The Energy Project and consultant Christine Porath, associate professor at Georgetown University.

More broadly, just 30 percent of employees in America feel engaged at work, according to a 2013 report by Gallup cited in the story. Around the world, across 142 countries, the proportion of employees who feel engaged at work is just 13 percent. For most of us, in short, work is a depleting, dispiriting experience, and in some obvious ways, it’s getting worse.

According to the article, demand for our time is increasingly exceeding our capacity — draining us of the energy we need to bring our skill and talent fully to life. Increased competitiveness and a leaner, post-recession work force add to the pressures. Moreover, the rise of digital technology is perhaps the biggest influence, exposing us to an unprecedented flood of information and requests that we feel compelled to read and respond to at all hours of the day and night.

Curious to understand what most influences people’s engagement and productivity at work, The Energy Project, which works with organizations and their leaders to improve employee engagement and more sustainable performance, partnered with the Harvard Business Review in 2014 to conduct a survey of more than 12,000 mostly white-collar employees across a broad range of companies and industries.

The Energy Project also polled workers at two of its clients — one a manufacturing company with 6,000 employees, the other a financial services company with 2,500 employees. The results, according to article, were remarkably similar across all three populations.

Workers More Satisfied When Core Needs Met

Employees are more satisfied and productive, it turns out, when four of their core needs are met: physical, through opportunities to regularly renew and recharge at work; emotional, by feeling valued and appreciated for contributions; mental, when they have the opportunity to focus on their most important tasks and define when/where they get work done; and spiritual, by doing more of what they do best and enjoy most, and feeling connected to a higher purpose at work.

The more effectively leaders and organizations support employees in meeting these needs, the more likely employees are to experience engagement, loyalty, job satisfaction and positive energy, with lower levels of stress. When employees have one need met, compared with none, all of their performance variables improve. The more needs met, the more positive the impact.

Engagement — defined as “involvement, commitment, passion, enthusiasm, focused effort and energy” — has been widely correlated with higher corporate performance. In a meta-analysis of research studies across 192 companies, Gallup found that companies in the top quartile for engaged employees, compared with the bottom quartile, had 22 percent higher profitability, 10 percent higher customer ratings, 28 percent less theft and 48 percent fewer safety incidents.

Put simply, the way people feel at work profoundly influences how they perform. What the study revealed, the article noted, is just how much impact companies can have when they meet each of the following core employee needs.

Renewal: Employees who take a break every 90 minutes report a 30 percent higher level of focus than those who take no breaks or just one during the day. They also report a nearly 50 percent greater capacity to think creatively and a 46 percent higher level of health and well being.

Value: Feeling cared for by one’s supervisor has more impact on people’s sense of trust and safety than any other behavior by a leader. Employees who say they have more supportive supervisors are 1.3 times as likely to stay with the organization and are 67 percent more engaged.

Focus: Only 20 percent of respondents said they were able to focus on one task at a time, but those who could were 50 percent more engaged. Similarly, only one-third said they were able to prioritize tasks, but those who did were 1.6 times better able to focus on one thing at a time.

Purpose: Employees who derive meaning and significance from work were more than three times as likely to stay with their organizations – the highest single impact of any survey. These workers also reported 1.7 times higher job satisfaction and were 1.4 times more engaged at work.

The Energy Project often asks senior leaders a simple question, the article noted: If your employees feel more energized, valued, focused and purposeful, do they perform better? Not surprisingly, the answer is almost always “Yes.” Next they asked, “So how much do you invest in meeting those needs?” An uncomfortable silence typically ensues.

How to explain this odd disconnect? For some answers and more insights on the topic, read the full article, which can be found here.

NEWS FROM BLK

 2017 hiring has started off like a rocket ship.  Many clients are looking to increase staffing and strengthen their team’s skills.  Replacements continue to increase as many employees have move on to new opportunities within and outside of their respected organizations.

We at BLK have witness an increase in direct hire orders while temp orders have slightly decreased. This appears to be mirroring a national trend as reported by various staffing publications.

Our only caution is the turmoil in Washington as trade, taxes and infrastructure projects are negotiated with congress, countries and business leaders.  However; based on the stock markets strong showing hopefully business and hiring will flourish under this new administration.

 

 

Holiday Call for Unemployment Assistance

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Best Staffing Options
Best Staffing Options

During this Holiday season let us remember the millions of good folks who continue to be adversely affected by our unemployment numbers.

Over the past decades the personal painful histories that I have witnessed, due to no job or meaningful work, continues to be heart wrenching.

During this wonderful festive season, I encourage each of you as professionals to lend a hand, take a phone call, review a resume, coach an interview or pass on some advice to a challenged “job-seeker”.  We all have a special gift of knowledge and compassion that can only help the unemployed.

As president of our organization I assure you that we will continue our free community out-reach program to assist all “job-seekers” with their efforts to gain solid employment. Since beginning these programs nine years ago over 50,000 individuals have participated. My wish is by Thanksgiving 2017 that the need for this service will decrease to zero.

We at Berman Larson Kane continue to thank each of you for your business support during our thirty-six year history.  Have a wonderful holiday and take a moment to please be thankful for your job and take a moment to coach a less fortunate job-seeker.

Career Report October 2016 Issue 200

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Best Staffing Options
Best Staffing Options

BERMAN LARSON KANE

Career Report

October 2016

 

 

Feature Story

WHAT MILLENNIAL EMPLOYEES REALLY WANT

Despite struggling with debt, recession, and the jobs crisis, millennials—who will account for 75% of the workforce in 2025— are not motivated by money. Rather, according to an article in Fast Company, they aim to make the world more compassionate, innovative, and sustainable.

In fact, more than 50 percent of millennials say they would take a pay cut to find work that matches their values, while 90 percent want to use their skills for good.

Clearly, the future of work lies in empowering millennial talent, points out the article’s author Adam Smiley Poswolsky, who wrote the book The Quarter-Life Breakthrough: A Guide For Millennials To Fined Meaningful Work. From interviews with numerous millennial entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs, and leaders with both for-profit, social enterprise, and nonprofit backgrounds, millennials want to work with purpose, and they want their workplace to be aligned with their values.

So how can companies deliver on meaningful employee engagement? Here are a number of ideas offered by the author on ways to attract, retain, and empower top millennial talent.

  1. Don’t Just Talk About Impact, Make An Impact – Many companies use words such as impact and purpose without seriously moving the needle on major social and environmental problems. Millennials want to work for organizations that are transparent on how they’re using their technology, resources, and talent. They also want to create shared value, make positive social and environmental changes, and increase opportunities for disadvantaged populations. Recruiting the top talent of tomorrow begins with making a difference today.
  1. Create Opportunities for Mentorship, Skills Acquisition, and Co-leadership – A common critique of millennials in the workplace is they are impatient, entitled, and not willing to put in the time and hard work needed to succeed. “Delayed gratification” doesn’t apply to them; they want change to happen fast.

This doesn’t mean millennials aren’t hard workers. On the contrary, millennials will work hard when you get serious about investing in their skills development. Young talent wants the opportunity to learn from someone with expertise; they want that on-the-ground experience to happen today, not tomorrow—and certainly not in five years.

Companies need to empower millennials by offering co-leadership opportunities, offering young talent a chance to manage and develop a new project—preferably of strategic importance—that excites them. They need to be paired as project-lead with a senior executive, or someone with 15-plus years of experience, giving them an opportunity to learn from a mentor. It also builds on the assumption that millennials can teach something to their more senior colleagues. For example, when it comes to technology and social media, the person with the most innovative idea in the room may happen to be the youngest.

  1. Give Young Talent A Voice – Everyone wants to feel valued at work, especially millennials. There is nothing worse for a millennial than feeling as if your supervisor thinks you have nothing to offer because of your age or inexperience.

In their new book, When Millennials Take Over: Preparing For The Ridiculous Optimistic Future Of Business, authors Maddie Grant and Jamie Notter recommend creating fluid decision-making and organizational structures. They highlight companies such as Medium and Zappos, which have embraced Holocracy, a new organizational and management system that spreads decision-making responsibilities among a set of roles and teams, rather than a hierarchy of people.

A fluid structure empowers more staff—especially new staff—to make decisions and take ownership of solutions. It’s hard to value your employees if you don’t listen to their voice, or give them a seat at the table.

  1. Make HR the New Life Coach – The average millennial is staying at their job less than three years. This might be shocking to corporate America, but the truth is the average American of any age is staying at their job for about four years.

Due in part to rapid changes in technology and a volatile economy, millennials aren’t the only ones job-hopping. How do human resources departments invest in their talent if much of that talent is going to leave the company in several years? Embrace that the workforce of the future is going to be in flux. Currently, some 53 million Americans—or 34% of the workforce—are freelance, and the number of remote and part-time workers is expected to increase.

Companies can no longer expect their employees to be loyal enough to stay for 10 or 20 years, and maybe that’s a good thing. HR departments should design training programs that invest in skills development, while helping their employees prepare for whatever is next in their career two, three, or five years down the line. A future HR professional will look less like Toby Flenderson’s drab character from the TV show The Office, and more like a beloved life coach, who will design personal learning plans for each young staffer based on what they want to accomplish during their stint at the company, and understand their values and interests enough to ensure a smooth landing at their next job.

Looking forward, to remain innovative, impactful, and financially competitive, the Fast Company article points out, companies will most definitely need to go outside their corporate comfort zone to design roles for a purpose-driven millennial workforce.

NEWS FROM BLK

Proud to report that having attended the National Association of Personnel Services NAPS360.org  annual convention in September that  the over view is that hiring will continue to increase over the next 12 months. Many NAPS members complained of the lack to quality candidates in many niches.  With overall competition for this talent increasing daily.

We at Berman Larson Kane continue to also witness shortages in numerous niches and our talent discovery staff find challenges in discovery of top talent.

As we enter the final quarter of 2016 we look forward to assisting our client s with on-boarding the best talent that the market has to offer.  Thanks for your support we so greatly appreciate it as we celebrate the 200 addition of our employment  newsletter.

Career Report August 2016 – Issue 198

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Career Report August 2016  Feature Story

SALARY NEGOTIATION IS A TWO-WAY STREET

During any interview, common thinking says that all the pressure is on the job candidate since, after all, they are the ones trying to set themselves apart from the crowd and impress the company enough to get hired. But, according to an article published by Monster.com, it’s just as important for hiring managers to remember that the interview process is a two-way street.

For companies with an important job to fill, extracting the perfect candidate from the legions of uninspiring resumes can indeed be a challenge. Once you have identified the candidate whom you feel is the right person, and they have passed your rigorous qualifications, you want to get them on board as soon as possible. But then there’s the final question: Can you afford them?

Here, according to the article by Jim Hopkinson, author of the book, Salary Tutor: Learn the Salary Negotiation Secrets No One Ever Taught You, are five salary negotiation tips for employers to consider:

  1. Access the best candidates — Empower your employees to spread the word that you are looking for amazing new people to join your team, and reward them for quality referrals. This will help identify good, quality candidates who members of your team are familiar with, hopefully making the salary negotiation process smoother and more productive. Studies have shown that upwards of 80 percent of jobs are found through networking, so if job seekers are out there expanding their network and tapping into friends of friends, why aren’t you?
  1. Don’t scare them off — Some employers try to screen out candidates before they even know their name. If your job description or application has hazard label warning language such as RESUMES THAT ARE SUBMITTED THAT DO NOT CONTAIN A FULL SALARY HISTORY WILL BE IGNORED, what does that say about your company?
  1. Give them the tour — Candidates should defer premature salary talk by eager HR screeners by saying something such as, “I’ve done my homework in terms of salary, but would really like to know more about the company before we talk details.” The key for them is not just saying the words, but believing them.

For example, what if they give a low number early, but upon getting a full description of the job’s responsibilities, they find out there is more travel than anticipated, longer working hours, and shrinking budgets. They realize they’d need a lot more compensation to take the job.

Conversely, if they say a high number up front, then instantly click with their would-be manager, find out there’s a fantastic new project in the pipeline, and realize this is their dream job, they could be screened out for being “too expensive.” So before pressing candidates for a bottom line number, make sure they’ve seen the big picture.

  1. Do your research — Some employers begin salary talks by asking the question: “What are you making at your current job?”  The problem with this question is, unless you plan on doing an extensive background check, you won’t know if the candidate is telling the truth, taking their salary +20%, or picking a number out of hat. Furthermore, if the person is unemployed (zero salary), doing some consulting (where rates vary dramatically), or changing careers, it can be difficult to compare the past with the present.

But most importantly, it doesn’t matter what they are making now. The fact is, you are the one offering the job. The assumption here is that you’re hiring because you feel an additional employee will bring in more revenue to your company, so you should have a number in mind that makes sure that the return on investment is worth it.

It’s up to you to do the research and know the market value of the employee you are looking to hire, factoring in years of experience, geographic location, and demand for the position. Fortunately, a host of online resources make it easy to determine a job’s market value for bank tellers in Boise or software engineers in Silicon Valley.

  1. Respect their research — The way a prospective employee handles salary negotiation should give you a pretty good indication of their character. Are they too timid to ask for what they’re worth? Do they get frustrated or demanding if your initial offer doesn’t align with their thinking?

Or, do they calmly and confidently approach this part of the interview like a business transaction? A candidate who has done extensive research on current market rates, shows you supporting documentation for the rate they are asking and ultimately knows their true worth and stands by it sounds like someone you should want on your team.

In the end, negotiating salary can be stressful for all parties involved. But with the right preparation, the article points out, employers can get their money’s worth when the moment of truth arrives to make a job offer.

 

NEWS FROM BLK

As the summer heat wave continues we at Berman Larson Kane continue to witness a continuous increase in client hiring activities.  Disciplines that continue to remain over heated are engineering, scientific, digital marketing and field service.

As we look forward to the cooler fall weather we see no slow down occurring in new hiring activities.  Hope you enjoyed your summer and thanks again for your support we so greatly appreciate it.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR WHEN HIRING FOR CULTURAL FIT

Posted by boblarson on

 

Bob Larson, CPC
Bob Larson, CPC

April 2016 Issue # 194

 Feature Story

WHAT TO LOOK FOR WHEN HIRING FOR CULTURAL FIT

Cultural fit is a concept that can be hard to define but, when it’s missing, everyone in an organization can clearly recognize it, an article in Business News Daily points out.

 For example, imagine a company founder who believes that an open-office plan and team projects promote creativity and progress, but whose employees are overwhelming introverts. Or think about the ambitious employee stuck in an organization that offers no training, tuition reimbursement or room for advancement.

According to the article, at its core, cultural fit means that employees’ beliefs and behaviors are in alignment with their employer’s core values and company culture. Many employers understand the importance of hiring for cultural fit, and research shows that people who fit well into their companies express greater job satisfaction, perform better and are more likely to remain with the same organization for a longer period of time.

In fact, a 2015 survey of international employers found that more than 80 percent of managers named cultural fit a top priority when hiring new staff.

“We can teach someone to do a job. We can’t teach someone to love the way we operate,” said Lauren Kolbe, a founder of brand media agency KolbeCo. “An employee who is not aligned with the culture and is not committed to living it can wreak havoc pretty quickly, even if they bring a great deal of skill and experience to their craft.”

The first step in hiring for cultural fit is to be able to articulate what values, norms and practices define your business. Once that’s in place, it should be clearly expressed in all of your communication materials, including your website and recruiting tools.

Your job ads, in particular, must reflect your business culture and connect back to your core values, said Ian Cluroe, director of global brand and marketing at Alexander Mann Solutions, which helps organizations attract, engage and retain talent.  “You can do this by emphasizing some of the qualitative things you want in a candidate,” Cluroe told Business News Daily, the publication that aims to provide solutions and inspiration to entrepreneurs and small businesses.

Any members of your organization involved in interviewing potential employees also must have a good grasp of your business culture and refer back to it throughout the hiring process, Cluroe noted. It is not sufficient to ask candidates if they will fit into the corporate culture because “a smart candidate will know what you want to hear and give you the right answer,” he added.

To dig deeper, Barnes-Hogg recommended that interviewers ask probing questions that move applicants beyond canned answers and require them to demonstrate how they deal with uncertainty, solve problems and approach new challenges. Then, interviewers must determine how a candidate’s responses align with company culture and business goals.

Additionally, the article, by contributor Paula Fernandes, pointed out that employers can assess candidates for cultural fit by asking them to take personality tests like the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and arranging for them to meet with team members from a range of levels across the organization. A potential employer may even ask prospective hires to spend a day in the office to learn about the inner workings and culture of the business or invite them to join the organization for a trial period.

However, employers should avoid confusing personal similarities with cultural fit. “When cultural fit is used to hire a homogenous workforce, the resulting lack of diversity will often manifest in poor creativity and undermine a company’s competitiveness,” said Pavneet Uppal, a managing partner with law firm Fisher & Phillips that represents employers in labor and employment matters.

“Focusing on hiring based on shared background or experiences may also lead to discriminatory practices,” Uppal added. “Refusing to hire someone because of an alleged lack of cultural fit will not save an employer from legal liability if the real reason for the employment decision is that an individual is perceived to be too old, too black, or too disabled.”

Asking candidates about personal issues — such as age, citizenship status, health, family history or ethnic background — can never be justified on the basis of cultural fit, Uppal stressed in the article.

The end goal, according to the article, is to identify and hire the very best candidates whose skills and attributes match the organization’s core values. Cluroe said this objective is achievable when organizations have a “culture that’s based on positive values that are open enough to enable a diverse selection of people to embody them in their own way.”

News from BLK

The second quarter of 2016 has seen a continuing increase in competition for top talent in numerous sectors.  Leading specialties s experiencing the most competition include scientific, digital media, healthcare and engineering.

Although recent data suggests a small increase in the unemployment rate and a decrease in New Jersey job creation numbers.  The overall direction of our clients continuous with planned additions to staff.

A sign that competition is increasing are the number of counter offers has increased greatly over the past few months. Employers using VORP models are sweetening the compensation as employees resignations trigger their current market value.

 

 

 

Junior Accountant Contact Assignment Livingston NJ

Posted by boblarson on

Junior Accountant Contact Assignment

MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES:

  • Primary responsibility is to assist with the preparation of financial statements and

support schedules according to corporate time lines

  • Excel knowledge, creation of tables and organizing accounting data
  • Assist with the monthly close procedures
  • Prepare account reconciliations (cash, liabilities, fixed assets, payroll accruals)

and supporting sub-ledgers

  • Research and resolve account reconciling items
  • Assist with documentation and testing of internal enterprise reporting system

upgrades and modifications

  • Journal entries and Accounts Receivable
  • Assist with preparation of audit sampling package for external & internal audits
  • Billing experience a plus but not required
  • Support other team members as necessary
  • Other projects as assigned

QUALIFICATIONS:

  • Recent college graduates encouraged to apply
  • 4 year Accounting or Business related degree required
  • Must be highly detail oriented and organized
  • Excellent communication and interpersonal skills with a customer service focus
  • Ability to act and operate independently with minimal daily direction from

manager to accomplish objectives

  • Proficiency with email and Microsoft Office application; especially Excel
  • Fund E-Z would be a tremendous plus
  • Ability to work cooperatively and collaboratively with all levels of employees, management, and external agencies to maximize performance creativity, problem solving, and result

forward resume to:  jobs@jobsbl.com