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Reasons Why You Lose Job Opportunities | Candidate Advice

Raza Rauf on February 14, 2013

As a job seeker, you may have spent months trying to find the perfect job, but you’ve yet to get a decent offer. This can be for a variety of reasons, including a limited work history, lack of credentials or just not being in the right place at the right time. However, sometimes it comes down to the ways in which you approach the job search and interview process that could be sabotaging your success. You may not even realize this and it’s not entirely your fault at all.

To boost your ability to land a great job, here are some of the top reasons why you lose job opportunities – avoid them at all costs!

  • Ineffective Cover Letter – While some recruiters have done away with the cover letter, many others are requiring them to weed out less desirable candidates. However, make sure you actually take the time to write a meaningful cover letter. Skip the “form letter” and write a compelling and personal cover letter than gives the hiring manager a glimpse into who you are and what you bring to the table.
  • Unreachable References – One of the most frustrating aspects of being a recruiter is not being able to get in touch with candidate’s past work and personal references. Make sure you are providing the most up-to-date and responsive references and their accurate contact information on your application so that you will get called back for an interview.
  • Bad Resume Format – A bad resume can make even the best candidate look terrible to a hiring manager. Poor formats, misspelled words, and dates that don’t make sense are the reasons why a recruiter may toss yours into the nearest trash bin. Be sure your resume is easy to read, correct and in a friendly format.
  • Lack of Credentials – Take the time to carefully read each job description before applying. Note that the educational level and any industry certifications are generally necessary for consideration. If you want to go after more jobs in your chosen industry you may want to head back to school to obtain those credentials.
  • Poor Professionalism – Your appearance and behavior during interviews is critical to success. Arriving late, not dressed in business attire, forgetting to bring a pen, or using inadequate communication skills can hurt your chances of getting hired.

Finding a job can be a challenge, but with the right effort and attention to details, you can land a great assignment by working with a local staffing agency, like Advance Staffing Solutions. You will be able to browse through hundreds of new jobs and be matched to the best fitting assignments by a caring recruiter.

Attract Candidates with Socially Responsible Company Policies

Raza Rauf on February 8, 2013

As a hiring manager, you could see more of the top candidates for positions flock to your business by updating your current company policies to be more “socially conscious”. Why’s that?

It comes down to one simple fact. If you want to compete for the best talent, one of the must-do steps is to show that you care about being socially responsible as a business – for both your community and your employees’ benefits. Put aside your business bottom line for a moment and really consider what this means to you.

Know the Facts

Consider a few important facts about being socially conscious as a company as well as what it means to your business’s ability to draw in the best talent.

  • About 66 percent of workers will take a lower salary if this means they will work with a company with more sustainable business practices (according to a study done by Bain and Co.)
  • Social responsibility is the 3rd most important employee engagement driver (according to Towers Perrin).
  • When it comes to your company’s commitment to the community, according to Deloite , a whopping 70 percent of people say that’s important to their decision to work with one company or another.

People want to work for companies that show they care. They don’t want to work for a money-grubbing business that has power suits at the head.

How to Change Your Company Policies

How can you change your company policies, then, to attract these highly talented workers? There are a variety of steps you can take, including the following.

  • Make a commitment to going green. From reducing paper use to installing new lighting fixtures, taking every step you can to reduce the impact on the environment is critical.
  • Become active in your community in some way.  It’s more than just donating something. Do something that makes a difference and impacts those who you work for – the community and customers.
  • Put in place a volunteer program. Find a way to help someone or something in your community and engage your employees in the process.

Perhaps even more important is to put in place a transparent culture. This means ensuring that rather than having the boss locked in the upper offices, he or she is on the floor, interacting. This shows that the boss is not just a number crunching person, but rather someone that the employee can work with, get to know and go into battle with on a regular basis. By putting policies like these in place, the business becomes more socially aware and capable.

Is your business doing everything it can to be socially conscious? If not, put in place new policies that encourage this. When you do, and let the world know about it, you will begin to draw in better talent. Additionally, work with a staffing agency, like Advance Staffing Solutions, to source great candidates and develop a solid recruitment strategy. In many cases, you’ll bring in even better talent than you have had in the past. That can make a big difference in your productivity and bottom line.

Preparing for the New Workforce | Recruitment to Replace Retiring Employees

Raza Rauf on January 29, 2013

Think about the figures – over the next 19 years, about 10,000 people each day will enter the official retirement age of 65, according to the Pew Research Center. Nevertheless, your staff is getting older and you need to prepare for a new generation in your workforce. What does this mean for your company?

What Will Change?

There are likely to be a number of changes evident over the coming years. There is likely to be a shortage of some qualified workers, for example. Yes, unemployment figures remain very high, but with your older generation retiring, few young people will have the experience and know-how to help you to fill those gaps. You’ll need to get their training up to speed.

A secondary change will be those new workers themselves. It’s a different world today than it used to be. These workers:

  • Expect and need constant and ongoing feedback.
  • Prefer instant gratification.
  • Enjoy casual dress and attire so employees can be themselves.
  • Provide more flexibility with scheduling and are flexible in where they work.
  • Value the importance of work sometimes more than the pay or the benefits.

It’s going to take some changes on your part as a manager in this field. With shorter attention spans and more desire to be themselves, you’ll need to find new ways to reach this group.

What to Do Now

Managers can do many things today to ensure that their staff fits the mold when the time comes. What can you do to ensure that this transition is a smooth one?

  • Do a demographic risk-analysis of the current team. What does the team lack? What are the ages and talents of various team members currently?
  • Put in place, and then accelerate, training as well as transition planning. Even if you have a yearly process of assessing talent and creating some type of succession plan, don’t put it off. It’s important to put plans in place sooner rather than later.
  • Create an environment for success. It’s also necessary to put in place a plan that will build on the environment to make it more accepting to new works. This may include adjusting to flexible work schedules, engagement of talent and even making the job more enjoyable. These are traits the new recruits are waiting and watching for.

When it comes down to it, the Baby Boomer generation is here and knocking on the door to retirement. With those farewell parties will come big changes to any business. The question is, do you have the right game plan in place to accommodate the new generation? If not, it may be time to focus on making some changes to encourage this. Otherwise, you may be caught with less talent and an environment that doesn’t conform to the needs of your younger staff.

Advance Staffing Solutions can support your recruitment strategy as you begin to plan for workforce aging out. Consider the benefits of working with a quality temporary staffing agency in the Michigan area now.

Optimizing Your New LinkedIn Profile | Update Alert

Raza Rauf on January 25, 2013

Just when you thought you were getting used to LinkedIn’s career and social network system, they decided to do yet another upgrade to make user profiles even smarter. Have you taken the time to update your profile yet? If you are a job seeker, now is a good time to sign into your LinkedIn account and start making some simple updates that can help you attract more hiring agencies this year.

Let’s get started with the things you need to do now to optimize your LinkedIn profile.

Improve your image. One of the first things you will want to do to maximize your LinkedIn profile is to update both your photo and your description. Upload a professional, high resolution image. Create a powerful personal headline to inspire others to contact you, in 100 words or less.

Add a list of highlighted achievements. In addition to a standard resume format, LinkedIn now also provides a summary section where you can create content that highlights your main achievements and talents. Make sure you list a few of your top skills, achievements, and a good description to let others know you are an expert.

Update your work history. Take a moment to browse through your work history and update it with any additional assignments or volunteer work you’ve completed this year. Then republish it, an action that will send an update out to your networks.

Add new educational information. Additionally, now is the time to include any new learning initiatives you are engaged in or plan to attend this year. Update with the name of any colleges or universities you will attend, or certificate programs you are taking.

Ask for endorsements and testimonials. Take the time to write testimonials for others in your network and then ask them to do the same for you. To save time, LinkedIn now also offers one-click endorsement panels where you can perform a similar task and have others rank you on your knowledge.

Link your professional blog or portfolio. If you haven’t already done so, make sure you have your RSS set up to keep your blog or your portfolio connected to your LinkedIn profile to take advantage of the new content feed. Your new posts will appear in the reading list for your followers.

Join new LinkedIn groups. There have been a great number of new industry and recruiting groups to get engaged in LinkedIn connections. In addition, companies now also post company pages, which you can follow and add to your groups. These companies very often post unadvertised job openings directly onto their LinkedIn profiles.

 Try connecting with Advance Temporary Staffing Solutions on our very own LinkedIn company page, for updates on new assignments in Ohio and Michigan!

Attracting Talent with Your Employer Brand

Raza Rauf on January 18, 2013

Attracting talent is the number one goal of many businesses today. After a long-term hiring freeze, many businesses are just beginning the hiring process once again. Now the goals have shifted from what they were five or six years ago—for the companies doing the hiring as well as job seekers who are looking for jobs.

In most cases, bitter experience has taught the currently employed that they should never stop looking for a job. But another explanation could be that they are seeking validation that they made the right decision when choosing their job by comparing what they have to what other companies have to offer.

Your mission, as a business in the competitive world in which we live, is to make sure your employer brand makes you an attractive choice to job prospects rather than one that has them actively seeking out what other companies have to offer instead. Here are a few ways you can accomplish that mission.

Build an Employer Brand that Clarifies Your Company Culture

It’s important that the company culture you present to the world is the one your company actually promotes. Failing to do so can lead to a lot of short-term employees or a disengaged work force. Many candidates do a lot of homework before deciding which jobs they’re going to apply for. One of the biggest things they look for is an employer culture that represents the values they feel are important in the work place.

It’s not all about benefits packages, higher salaries, or stock options for today’s job seekers. It’s about finding a company that promotes from within, values input from employees, and supports a work-life balance—or countless other things that some people find more important than others.

Some people need micromanagement, for instance, while some find it to be creatively stifling. If you misrepresent yourself in the matter, one or the other style of employee is going to be disappointed and, perhaps, extremely unhappy, with the career choice he or she made.

Actively Participate in Engagement Efforts

Engagement is a word we’re hearing more and more about in the modern workplace. It’s one of the most important tools for employee retention and attraction a company has to offer. What is your company doing to engage existing employees? This is something you’ll want to discuss in your online literature, recruitment pages, and social media outlets. This is something you also want to get your employees excited enough to talk about in these venues as well. Happy employees (outside of upper management) are the first sign that job seekers have that your company is a great company to work for.

As an employer of choice, you’ll want to bring in top talent to work on your employer brand. If you want results, make small changes that favor engagement and factually represent your company culture to the world in order to enjoy a more positive outcome for attracting new talent to come work for your company. If you are looking for staffing agencies in Michigan to help find top talent for your company, look no further, contact Advance today!

More relevant posts on this topic to enjoy!

Improving Company Culture – Helpful Tips

Developing Core Values and Company Culture as One

Predicting Recruitment in 2013 – Six Recruiting Trends to Watch For

Raza Rauf on January 11, 2013

What’s in store for recruitment processes in the coming year? According to experts, recruiting is about to hit a major boom in 2013. This is for several reasons. First, with the unemployment rate dropping slightly in many regions, this is an indicator that more companies are hiring – meaning that they are ready for great candidates sourced by professional recruiters.

Since there have been many advancements in recruiting technology, including new social recruiting methods and candidate tracking systems, there are some predictions for the recruiting market in 2013. Here are just a few.

Recruiters will use content knowledge to attract candidates. The term in-bound marketing is one used to describe how conversion is created through online connections. This will become a trend in the recruiting world too as more recruiters share their expertise to attract the best candidates vs. traditional sourcing and research methods.

Social recruiting will provide advanced applicant tracking tools. In terms of recruiting, social networking has given recruiters the power to find candidates faster and more effectively online. To step things up even more, social recruiting developers will begin to recognize how important it is to track metrics to provide ROI information for recruiting teams.

Online job boards will become interactive. While popular job boards will remain strong going into 2013, the ability to connect in real time will present itself as an added benefit of using these resources. In fact, many recruiters are already turning to social networks and other live communication tools to connect with and influence job seekers.

Virtual recruiting teams will continue to grow. There is a huge push for qualified recruiters to work in niche industries yet many companies are not ready to hire on additional recruiters. To offset these needs, there will be an increase in the number of recruitment teams who work collectively, with pooled resources, to source and place the best candidates.

Recruiting will continue to influence mobile technology. With more recruiters working remotely, the need for mobile access to recruiting tools is critical to success. Therefore, developers will be focused on building more mobile friendly recruitment apps and portals.

Staffing agencies will become preferred partners. Instead of being viewed as a temporary source of staff, recruitment and staffing agencies will continue to become integral pieces of the puzzle for business growth in 2013. Agencies like Advance Staffing Solutions can provide the support and services that companies need to stay ahead of hiring trends.

Getting Industrial Employees Off on the Right Foot – Starts on the First Day at Work

Raza Rauf on December 28, 2012

With your new industrial employee hired and ready to go, you may be ready to throw him or her on the floor and hope that the employee is the type to jump in and figure it out. If you are not giving your new hire all of the information he or she needs from the start, you may be losing a valuable opportunity to set the framework for your relationship with that employee for years to come.

The First Day as a New Manufacturing Employee

What do you do, then, when a new hire is ready for you? In many industrial businesses, we focus a lot of time on the hands-on training but lose focus of some small, key things you need to do with these new hires.

  • Provide some information about the culture in your business. To do this, provide materials like videos, handbooks and other materials that give an idea to the new employee about the culture of the workplace.
  • Provide a mentor. Another step in the right direction is to assign a mentor to the individual right away. This could be a colleague with the goal of showing the new hire around and to handle any questions they may have. This can help the new employee to feel less out of sorts.
  • Put lunch on the schedule. It is a good idea to meet up with your new hire around lunch time and to talk. This is a great opportunity to bring in a few other team members as well. This type of interaction can really make the individual feel at home and comfortable in the environment.
  • Put some goals in place right from the start. If you do this, make sure they are attainable goals, ones the employee can feel good about reaching at the end of the day or the week. You’ll build up their morale in the process.

By getting these simple things in place now, you can help ensure your new hire fits into the workforce better. In an industrial environment, it can be a challenge to ensure that the team fits in. Work has to be done. Tasks need to be completed. However, putting in place this type of help can help to ensure that your team is receptive and that your new hire gets the best opportunity to do well. After all, you’ve already invested the time and money into this person. Make it count.

Here is an interesting post you may want to review again:

Build a Smart Foundation for Manufacturing Productivity

Managing in this Slow Economy

Raza Rauf on December 21, 2012

A slow economy affects everyone, include managers who have to deal with employee shortages and low staffing budgets. With a still-high unemployment rate and economies around the world struggling to maintain any growth, it is no wonder that today’s average business is struggling to keep the balance between having enough staff and having too many.

As a business, what can you do to ensure you have the right number of people when you need them and not too many that you are busting your budget? Here are some tips.

  • Don’t just focus on cutting, but also use staffing that you have to find ways to new opportunities. This means looking at ways to improve productivity, improve technology or even improve distribution. If you focus on no-growth as your frame of mind, you are missing key opportunities.
  • Don’t over hire or under hire. That’s tricky to do, but if you focus instead on hiring the right staff and then adding to it through the aid of a staffing agency when you need help, you’ll be far better off. Put your core in place and then buffer this with staffing help from Advance Staffing Solutions when you need more people.
  • Manage your capital wisely. Another step to take is simply to put your money into what’s going to make you more. Before any investment decision, consider what will happen to the company if the investment fails. Can the company risk not getting involved in the investment, though?
  • Learn to let go. Let’s face the music here. There are going to be times when your good idea or master plan did not work. You can keep putting time and money into it or you can back out now and conserve resources. Mangers need to be able to notice areas that hold no promise and to get out of them.
  • Don’t cut off your arm. In some cases, companies are downsizing so much so that they are unable to grow and develop at all. If you think that cutting your staff down to the bare bones is going to help your company to do well, think again.

Of course, it is also important for managers and business owners to put the focus on the little guy, too. Though you may still be bringing in the big bucks, that doesn’t mean you can’t ensure your employees are well taken care of. After all, if your core, well-trained staff is out the door, you could be hurting even more than you are now.

We invite you to review some similar posts previously published here at Advance Staffing Solutions, for more information on handling the challenges of managing your staffing needs during uncertain times.

Crisis Management Leadership in Tough Times – Tips for Success

The Secrets to Being a Great Leader

Manufacturing Resume Details for Success in Your Job Search

Raza Rauf on December 14, 2012

Looking for a job in manufacturing and figure you don’t need a resume to get your foot in the door? Think again!  Today’s manufacturing companies have become just as competitive as other industries, so as a job seeker you need to put your best foot forward with a well-written manufacturing resume. With a resume for a manufacturing assignment, the devil is in the details.

Styling Details of a Manufacturing Resume

Writing a resume that’s geared towards the manufacturing sector is about the style, rather than just substance. This is essentially so that hiring managers can learn why they need to hire you right from the first time they review your resume. The style details of your resume should include the following elements.

Complete Contact Information

Make the job of the manufacturing recruiter an easier one by providing your full name and contact information at the start of the resume. Include at least two phone numbers and your email address for ease in communicating career opportunities with you.

Summary of Qualifications

Most recruiters spend less than a minute reviewing each applicant’s resume, therefore you need to make this count by putting your summary of qualifications summary at the top of your resume, under your name and contact information. This tells them at a glance if you are a person who is eligible for the assignments they have to fill.

Bulleted List of Skills and Credentials

In manufacturing, as in other career fields, there will be specific skills that you will need to have in order to work in certain types of industrial roles. This can include not only skills, but credentials like certifications and training that applies to the work you do. Make sure you list these, up to 7 of them, in a bulleted list directly under your summary of qualifications.

Achievements in Manufacturing

Hiring managers like to see that you have gone over and beyond the routine duties of past assignments. Instead of writing dull descriptions of your job duties, create a list of your actual achievements. You may want to include things that indicate you are mindful of working efficiently and meeting deadlines, as well as managing your tasks and working to high quality standards.

Employment History

For a manufacturing resume, most recruiters will only want to see the jobs that you have worked in that are relevant to the tasks you will be doing in a new assignment. Go back no longer than 12 years, and include references for each job to make it easier for the hiring manager to verify your employment background.

Finding a manufacturing job can be made easier by working directly with a staffing agency specializing in this industry. Prepare your best resume and get ready for exciting opportunities in the growing manufacturing sector with a contract assignment from Advance Staffing Solutions in Michigan and Ohio.

Improving Company Culture – Helpful Tips

Raza Rauf on December 7, 2012

It used to be that businesses were filled with employees who were grateful just to have employment. Now, even amid the ups and downs of an unstable economy, employees are looking for more than just a paycheck. The best talent is looking for opportunities to work for organizations that have superior corporate cultures and work values that can help them grow as professionals in their chosen fields.

Making the Corporate Culture Better

While some companies “get this”, others struggle to improve the corporate culture. Yet, there are ways to make the overall culture of any workplace better through a variety of efforts that honor a central values core.

Re-launch the corporate mission and values statement. If your corporate culture is drifting from the organization’s original mission as set forth by the founders, it’s time to send a clear message to all about what the company stands for. Take the time to hold an educational session, market your mission and value statements with some good press, and give employees a reason to uphold your foundational values.

Tone things down with a casual, flexible work environment. All too often, workplaces become overly concerned with fashion shows, politics and strict rules. This can make any corporate culture turn negative over time. Instead, allow employees to dress in appropriate business casual, improve meeting spaces with informal seating arrangements, and give staff the option to use flextime.

Hire the candidates who fit in with your improved culture. You can greatly enhance your corporate culture by bringing on new hires who closely match your company culture. Look for pre-screened candidates who have the right personalities, skill sets, and attitudes the do their assignments well. Make sure you honor diversity and interview candidates several times to make sure they will successfully bring your corporate culture up.

Give employees a reason why they need to be part of the corporate culture’s success. When employees are regularly recognized and rewarded for their contribution to the company, the culture becomes a more pleasant thing. Take the time to celebrate achievements and let your staff know you value them every time you can. Your corporate culture will become legendary.

Improve your corporate culture with highly skilled, pre-screened candidates who have the right personalities and attitudes for your organization. Advance Staffing Solutions can help! Choose contract and temporary employees in multiple industries to support your business growth.

Agile Manufacturing Leadership Tips

Raza Rauf on November 30, 2012

In agile manufacturing, teams work in short cycles called sprints. These self-organized groups develop products in a modular fashion. This helps to speed up innovation. Such teams evolve on a continuous basis based on experience and customer feedback. How can you improve the management of such structures?

Some key components of management style need to change to allow for improvement in this regard. Consider the following:

  • A customer focus must be a priority. Determining what the customer wants and then defining those wants using tests helps to improve efficiency. Then, the tests provide for short cycles to deliver on those features and finding out what customers think of the new updates. Working with customers is essential.
  • Team organization is self-managed. Teams determine how they are organized in a way that is efficient and effective for the product. In doing this, the team is able to function specifically. A daily standup call ensures every team of small members remains on the same page. Hiring the highest quality candidates also makes sure that they are prepared for this self-managed work style.
  • The team focuses on meeting the guidelines the testing produces as desires from the consumer. This allows such changes to be made far less expensively and enables for the quickest return of the product to market. Unlike other situations where the next product takes five to seven years to launch, the product is in hand faster.
  • There is also a level of business transparency present. The goal is continuous improvement and that is done by ensuring everyone can see what is happening, who is doing what and understands the goals of the process.
  • As with any real management style, in this form, there is a great deal of effective communication taking place. This is called vertical communications instead of the traditional hierarchy form. The project owner does set goals in terms of what should be worked on. He or she is not the traditional boss, though. Rather, the team members are able to communicate openly with the project’s definitions and goals. The management can communicate a clear vision, then, to the group.

Rather than the traditional boss-is-at-the-top style of management, this is a more open concept. In agile manufacturing, the goal is to align with different goals to achieve a better result. Instead of one group at the top making a decision about what needs to be done, changes are made to products based on what the customer wants to see happen. Then, the group works on achieving those goals as a group, open and easily able to communicate.

This type of organization and management style means products in the hands of customers faster, lower costs and improved overall customer satisfaction since the customer is getting exactly what he or she wants. It also means new products and innovation are easier to achieve. But, this all starts with hiring the best team members, who can work well in the agile manufacturing work environment. Look for your new self-starters by working with the staffing experts at Advance Staffing Solutions.

Crisis Management Leadership in Tough Times – Tips for Success

Raza Rauf on November 23, 2012

In every business, there will arrive an event that will quickly become a crisis for management to deal with. From PR disasters and employee injuries to consumer lawsuits and financial strife, businesses are not immune to the effects of a crisis. However, being prepared as a business leader can be the difference between surviving a period of crisis or shutting your doors.

When a Crisis Comes – Keeping a Level Head as a Leader

It’s important to have the tools to become a better leader for crisis management. Read on to learn how to manage things well when a crisis situation comes knocking.

Eliminate False Information

Oftentimes, when a crisis happens, the first thing that will happen is that the rumor mill with begin to circulate amongst employees, clients, and the outside world. You’ll need to be on top of this and stop any rumors and false statements immediately. Hold a press conference or send out an email to all employees to let them know in as little information as possible what has happened, what you as a company leader are doing about it, and what to expect. Hire a press officer to handle outside rumors or slanderous comments by the local media.

Communicate Clearly

Being a leader means having the ability to clearly communicate truthful information to others. As soon as you are able to, have an internal staff meeting to discuss the facts and dispel any fears that your employees may have. Confidently deliver your message to others, and make sure they understand you are personally taking responsibility for the crisis management. Leave the emotions out of your communications, but be  honest.

Maintain and Protect the Team

A crisis can cause people to break away from the team structure, and start looking out for number one. This is when people fear being scapegoated for the problems that have arisen, wondering who is getting thrown under the bus for the crisis. As a leader, it’s up to you to keep your team together and communicating how important it is to stick it out for the betterment of the entire company. Communicate well that every member of your team is valuable and needed during this tough time.

Remember, by hiring great people to be part of your team, you stand the chance of surviving even the most challenging of crises. Advance Staffing Solutions can help support your organizational needs for a better team structure, and people who are capable of leadership in troubling times. Let us help you stay on top of your game during a crisis and anytime of the business season.

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