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All Resumes Must Answer This One Question

HMG Success on October 7, 2026

All Resumes Must Answer This One Question

The next time you sit down to write a resume, you need to look at one important question and see if it answers the question. In fact, instead of waiting to write a new resume, edit your current one to make sure it answers the important question discussed here. If you can answer the one question all resumes should answer, it will help you stand out from the rest of the crowd, and this is important in such a tough business world.

Goal of the Resume

The ultimate goal of your resume, no matter which version, is to entice a company to contact you for one of their open jobs. You can put as much work experience and skills as you want on your resume, but these alone will not get a company to contact you about their open job. You must be able to turn all of your work experience and skills learned in previous jobs into the reason why companies call you. You must paint a picture.

The Question That Must be Answered

The question that all resumes must answer is, “What makes you a better candidate than all others who have applied for this job?” As mentioned above, you need to paint a picture in order to answer this question appropriately. The picture you paint must tell the company why you are the best pick for the open job and not someone else.

What Answers This Question?

So, what is it about you that can provide a stellar answer to this question? You need to think past the mundane tasks you perform each day, from the minute you arrive to the minute you leave. You need to think about your biggest career accomplishments, achievements, accolades, articles and awards. When you put all of these items on your resume, in an appropriate manner and location, you should have no problem answering the question and getting a company to contact you about their open job.

Hundreds of people apply for the same open jobs at companies across the country. Because of this, HR managers and recruiters come across mediocre resumes and applicants who are not worth a second look. This means that you will need to work extra hard to get your resume noticed. Make sure you answer this question as thoroughly as possible to get noticed.

 

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How to Stay Off a Recruiter’s Blacklist

HMG Success on October 7, 2026

How to Stay Off a Recruiter's Blacklist

Trying to find a job today is not easy. Even with the help of the Internet and social media, landing a job you want can take months because hundreds of people apply for the same jobs as you. Turning your job search into a success can be done by working with a recruiter. One thing you must know when working with a recruiter is that you need to stay off of their blacklist. Being on a recruiter’s blacklist can ruin your job search, so follow these tips to stay off this list!

Exaggerating Skills or Claims

One of the biggest reasons why a recruiter will put you on their blacklist is because you have been caught exaggerating your skills or claims on your resume. It is understandable that people exaggerate a little bit on their resumes, but it can be very detrimental their job search. Recruiters will be able to see through lies on your resume because they read thousands of resumes per year. Avoid exaggerating about your skills or claims on your resume to stay off a recruiter’s blacklist.

Self-Employed Viewed as Unemployed

Even though this seems a little harsh, many recruiters view self-employed job seekers as unemployed job seekers, even if the job seeker has been running a successful business independently. It is difficult to change this perception in front of recruiters, but it can be done. Make sure you include some stats about your independently owned business that proves you have been working for the past five-to-ten years, and not just sitting around the house.

Aggression Does Not Work

Even though being an aggressive job seeker can be better than being a passive one, it can get you blacklisted by a recruiter if you work with one. Contacting a recruiter multiple times per week via phone or email will get you blacklisted for sure. There is no need to constantly bother a recruiter about an open job or an interview you had with a company. If the company liked you, the recruiter will reach out to you when necessary.

Failure to Fit the Culture

Job seekers could have an incredible resume and all the references in the world, but not fitting in with a company’s culture could cause you to hit the blacklist. This can be determined through screening processes, an interview with the company and much more. If this happens more than once, a recruiter might have to blacklist you to avoid wasting anyone else’s time.

Stay off of a recruiter’s blacklist by keeping aggression to a minimum, avoiding exaggeration on your resume and by fitting into a company’s culture.

 

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Referral Contest – Win Thanksgiving Dinner on us!

HMG Success on October 7, 2026

Refer a friend and when they complete our application process

You will be entered in a drawing for a Thanksgiving Dinner Gift Basket that includes a gift certificate for a turkey & all the ingredients for side dishes and dessert!

Applicant must register at one of our Branch Offices between the dates of October 5th – November 13th.

(apply on-line or call branch for appointment time)

Drawing will be held on Monday, November 16th

turkey

** In addition to this referral bonus you will also be eligible for our regular $25 referral bonus**

(To qualify for the $25 referral bonus the applicant or employee must complete 80 hours of work)

 

www.advancestaffingsolutions.com

5 Ways To Find Hardworking Millennials

HMG Success on October 7, 2026

5-Ways-To-Find-Hardworking-Millennials

 

Millennials are overtaking the workforce as baby boomers continue to retire, which is why companies are trying to find new ways to land hardworking millennials. Some are incredibly easy to find because they work internships with a company before receiving an offer of employment. Others might not be so easy to find because they do not want to be found, or are not actively looking for a new job. Use these five tips for finding hardworking millennials.

 

Check Their Hunger for a Job

 

One of the best ways to find a hardworking millennial is to check their hunger for a job. There are millennials out there who accept an entry-level job and then walk away from it two weeks to one month later because they feel that they are above the work they are doing, simply because of where they went to school. In order to avoid this type of behavior and attitude, you must perform a hunger check. Tell the candidate up front that they will be doing entry-level work, and if the conversation ends, so be it. If it doesn’t, you might have someone hungry for the job.

 

Brutal Honesty During the Interview Works

 

The second method to finding hardworking millennials is to be brutally honest with the candidate during the job interview. Explain to the candidate exactly what the job entails, what you don’t want at your office and what you do expect at the office in terms of behavior and attitude. If the candidate is still sitting there at the end of your speech, they must really want the job.

 

Be Open to Shaking Things Up

 

There are companies out there that love employing millennial workers because they know how to handle them. They are open to shaking things up at work. There is nothing wrong with being a fair boss who is also tough on employees. It is one of the best ways to get strong work from employees. In some instances, you have to be like a tough parent with millennials in order for them to perform at the levels they are truly capable of.

 

Candidates Show Themselves in Interviews

 

Whether you know it or not, candidates will show their true selves during job interviews. Even if you think they are putting on an act simply to impress you and receive the offer, at some point they will show you who they truly are. If this is the case, and it scares or frightens you, do not hire that candidate. You will only live to regret the decision.

 

Help Millennials Advance

 

Do your best to help millennials advance when you find strong ones, even if it means they climb the corporate ladder at a different company. This will help your company build a strong reputation for taking care of employees, which will make it easier to recruit top talent in the future.

Try to use all five of these methods in order to bring in the best talent possible for your company. If you need more help finding and bringing talented millennials or other employees into your workplace, contact Advance Staffing Solutions today! 

 

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Open House – NEW jobs in Monroe County!

HMG Success on October 7, 2026

Job Fair/Open House

Thursday, August 27th 2015

9am-4pm

 

35 E. Front St. Monroe, MI 48161

734-457-0056

www.advancestaffingsolutions.com

 

Along with the many General Labor, Assembly, & Press Operating positions available in Monroe, Dundee, Carleton, & Temperance, we also have the following open positions:

  • Extrusion/Machine Operator, All shifts, Monroe $13.65-$14.55/hr
  • General Laborers, 1st shift, Carleton, $9/hr
  • Welders, 1st shift, Carleton and Dundee, $10-$15/hr
  • Warehouse/Forklift/Quality, 1st/2nd shift, Monroe, $10.60/hr
  • Machine Operator, 1st shift, Milan, $10/hr + Overtime
  • Delivery/Warehouse, 1st shift, Monroe, $10-$12/hr
  • Industrial Cleaner, 3rd shift, Flat Rock, $10/hr
  • Maintenance, 1st shift, Temperance, $ Based on experience
  • Part-Time Bookkeepers, 1st shift, Milan and Temperance $11-$13/hr
  • Part-Time Office Clerk, 1st shift, Monroe, $10/hr
  • Data Entry/Customer Service, 1st shift, Carleton, $11-$12/hr

Bring 2 valid forms of ID and a resume, Must be at least 18 years of age, Have a Diploma/GED and Verifiable work experience in the last 12 months.

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*Not able to make it to our Open House/Job Fair but would like to be considered for a job opening?  No problem! You can either send us your resume at monroejobs@advancestaffingsolutions.com or go to our website and apply online.  Recruiters review resumes and applications on a daily basis and will contact you within 48 hours of receiving your information.

Is Your New Hire Your Next Superstar?

HMG Success on October 7, 2026

Is Your New Hire Your Next Superstar

It’s every hiring manager’s dream to place someone in a new job and then, weeks later, discover that he or she has star potential. When a new hire is driven to success early on, it means that they not only make themselves look good, but your company does too. High performance candidates can be hard to spot, and they are rare indeed, but the person sitting across from you at the interviewing table could be your next superstar employee. Here’s how to find out.

Know what a superstar employee is

The definition of a superstar employee is someone who provides an above average ROI once you bring them on board. Mitchell Harper co-founder of Big Commerce defines superstars as, “someone who will generate 5x the important performance indicator of a normal person. For example, a superstar engineer will crank out 5x as much quality code as a normal engineer.” In other words, a superstar consistently outperforms other employees and rises to the top of the team quickly.

Choose the candidate qualities you want

When hiring, its critical to understand what factors will make a candidate become a future rock star employee. Make a list of the top 5 characteristics of your top performance employees, then focus on this as you read through resumes, meet with candidates, and evaluate their skills and abilities. It’s not always a certain personality type, but it’s the desire to make a difference in the industry that sets these candidates apart from others.

Use an assessment to weed out the “talkers”

One way to cut through the chatter when trying to identify your best prospects in stellar candidates is to use candidate assessment tests. People generally will say and do just about anything to get a job, including stretching the truth about their experience and skills. Give candidates a chance to prove they have what it takes to be on top.

Look for a progressive career advancement

Highly-driven candidates are concerned with career advancement and their work histories will show this. Unless they’ve been laid off in the past, you will usually see a progression of personal and career growth, including ongoing learning activities and advancing areas of responsibility. Look for candidates who have a mind and heart for business, as the entrepreneurial spirit is a sign of a superstar candidate.

If you see these characteristics in your candidate, take the time to dig deeper to see if he or she may be a good fit for your company. Need help recruiting amazing candidates? Look to the support of Advance Staffing Solutions today.

 

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Don’t Assume You Got the Job!

HMG Success on October 7, 2026

Don't Assume You Got the Job

 

It’s one thing to look forward to hearing back from an employer following an interview; it’s another to expect a job offer right away. These things take time. Therefore, it’s important not to get too wrapped up in a particular company until you have an offer of employment solidified. This is known as having a “job crush” and it can be detrimental to your career. Even if you had a fantastic interview where everything went perfect, you don’t want to sit back and do nothing.

The hard-fast rule in any job search is to never assume you got the job. Instead, here are some ways to make your job search count, and to check on the status of things after an interview.

Keep applying for jobs you are qualified for

Just because you just experienced an outstanding job interview or applied for a job that you are perfect for means you got the job yet. Keep up the effort of applying for new jobs and companies that you are qualified for and interested in. Remember that every job gets hundreds of applicants so you must do your best to stand out with a great cover letter, resume, and work history that highlights achievements.

Keep learning while you are looking

It’s always a good idea to continue to enhance your marketable skills while you are waiting for a job offer. You can do this a variety of ways, from taking community education courses and night classes at local colleges to free and low cost online classes. Focus on courses that add to your current skills or cater to the software and processes that you are finding employers are looking for.

Keep networking in your career search

Just because you think you may have a job offer soon doesn’t mean you should stop networking activities. In fact, now is the time to step things up in this effort. Keep connecting with people at your target companies, recruitment firms, and industry leaders. Use social networking, business events, and industry associations to seek other like-minded professionals.

Keep following up on all job applications

It’s a good idea to check back in with the recruiters and hiring companies you have contacted recently. Once you have applied for a job its ok to send an email or drop a note in the mail once. If you have interviewed for the job, check back in by phone and drop a note in the mail once per week until you know the outcome.

Keep active in your career

You don’t have to sit around waiting for the phone to ring. Instead, keep working and earning by taking temporary assignments in the meantime. There are multiple part time, full time, and contract jobs out there that have good hourly wages and help get your foot in the door with great companies. At the very least, you will look good to recruiters as you stay employed and active in your career. You may even land a great job with your dream company this way.

 

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Are You Giving Killer Customer Service to Your Candidates?

HMG Success on October 7, 2026

As the old saying goes, “The customer is always right.” Even if some of your employees or managers might not believe this, it must be practiced by everyone at your company in order to be successful. Companies that find themselves struggling to hold onto clients/customers should look at the customer service being provided. If you give killer customer service to clients/customers and job candidates, your company should be highly successful. Here’s how…

Happy Employees Lead to Happy Customers

An important thing to remember here is that happy employees lead to happy customers. Because of this notion, you need to do everything possible to make your employees happy. This includes treating them fairly at work, offering benefits and perks, rewarding employees for their hard work and much more. When you do not keep your employees happy you run the risk of them not providing strong customer service to clients.

Use Guidelines and Not Rules

Companies establish policies and rules because they might not trust their employees to do the right thing. But, when it comes to providing customer service, try to use guidelines instead of rules. Guidelines will help employees better do their jobs when it comes to dealing with customers. Guidelines allow employees the opportunity to make decisions on their own when it comes to helping customers. The worst thing an employee can do is tell a customer he or she cannot do anything for a customer because of a company rule or policy.

Treat Candidates Like Customers

You also need to treat your job candidates like customers. They are choosing your company as much as you are choosing one of them for the open job. If you do not treat them well while they are in your presence, it is likely he or she will turn down an offer of employment, remove themselves from the running or badmouth the company to friends who might apply there. Make sure you welcome candidates to your office at the front door, offer them water, show them around, give them a tour of the office, introduce them to everyone they see and much more.

Turn Customer Complaints Into Opportunities

Make it a point to turn any and all customer complaints into opportunities. These opportunities should be learning opportunities for everyone involved. Do not be the company that views customers complaints as problems. When you do this, nothing is gained from it or fixed and your company’s image will suffer. Tell your employees to look for learning opportunities in every customer complaint so they can improve their customer service skills and keep customers happy.

Go Above and Beyond for Customers and Candidates

As a company, you must do whatever possible to go above and beyond for customers and candidates. This should be done on a regular basis in order to keep both factions happy. You don’t have to spend a ton of money to make this happen either. Consider offering customers upgrades to products or services either for free or for a percentage off the price.
Providing killer customer service to clients and candidates is important in today’s competitive business world because it can mean the difference between success and a poor image.

A Short Work Experience Doesn’t Keep You Out of the Race!

HMG Success on October 7, 2026

Are you a new college grad with limited career experience? Have you been working a series of short term jobs with no real direction? Do not let a short work experience keep you from landing a new job. Short work experience should not prevent you from landing the job of your dreams in your industry, but it can hurt if you do not know how to sell that experience to potential employers.

Here, we will discuss how you can sell your skills and take the focus off the short work experience to employers so you can land a job.

Explain Your Skills Learned

One of the first things you need to do when interviewing for a job with a short work experience is to explain the skills learned in that short period. After explaining the skills learned, talk about how they will be useful to the company if you are hired. You should also talk about any training received while at previous companies or if you are planning to return to school for an advanced degree. You can also share other experience like volunteer work, special projects completed, and freelance work performed. All of this information will only help your case when interviewing for a job.

Discuss Your Responsibilities

Another good idea when trying to land a job with short work experience is to talk about the responsibilities you held at prior companies. Maybe you worked for one year or more as a department manager. Maybe you were put in charge of payroll at a smaller company. Both of these items will help you land a new job even if you have short work experience during your career. The more responsibilities you have to discuss, the better chance you have at the job.

Stress Your Educational Background

For most people with a short work background, many of them are just out of college or returning to the workforce after raising a family. Because of these two reasons, you must stress your education background. Be prepared to inform the company about the degree you earned, which classes were most important to your major, any internships you worked and any clubs you were involved in that would help you learn about your profession. By talking about your education, you show the employer how dedicated you were while in school to land a job such as the one you are interviewing for right now.

Explain the Short-Term Jobs

If your short work experience includes temporary jobs or a lot of job hopping, you need to disclose these positions to the employer. Instead of trying to hide these jobs, you must talk to the employer about them and explain why you worked temporary jobs or moved around a lot. Reasons could include you wanted to gain as much experience in a short period of time as possible or that you were laid off from your permanent job and wanted something to hold you over until a new full-time job came along.
The bottom line here is that having a short work experience should not hold you back from landing a new job so long as you take advantage of the tips outlined above. You can fast-track your way to career success by taking on temporary assignments through Advance Staffing and earning more career experience at the same time as getting paid.

Why Candidates Like Rejection Letters — Sort Of

HMG Success on October 7, 2026

A job search can be stressful, no matter how seasoned or qualified someone is. Much of the stress is caused when companies fail to respond to applicants for weeks following an interview. A good practice is to send out a rejection letter promptly to all the candidates who did not get chosen for an employment opportunity this round.

Regardless of what you may think, job seekers like rejection letters – well sort of – because they have a final answer from the company about the job. They at least appreciate the fact that your company has taken the time to personally let them know the outcome so they can move on.

Read on to learn how to handle sending out candidate rejection letters.

Follow Up with a Phone Call First

The first thing you need to do is follow up with the candidate with a phone call. The call should inform the candidate that the company has already offered, or will make an offer, to another candidate for the job. Then, make sure you thank the candidate for their time and assure them that their information will be kept on file for any future openings. The follow-up phone call should not be the last piece of communication. It should be followed by the rejection letter.

How to Write the Rejection Letter

One of the most important things you must include in a rejection letter is how much you appreciate the time the candidate took during the application and interview process. You also need to be as personal as possible. Never address the letter as, “To whom it may concern.” Make sure you use the candidate’s first name. Also, mention something positive you noticed about the candidate from the interview. This will show them you care.

The rejection letter must get right to the point, even if you have already called the candidate and spoken to them on the phone about the decision. Do not ramble on about the company, the candidate’s experience, or anything else. The sooner you get to the point, the sooner the candidate will be able to accept the rejection and move towards applying for more jobs.

If the candidate would fit nicely in your corporate culture, and might be a fit for other open jobs, make sure you mention this in your rejection letter. Even though you are sending a rejection letter for this job, it does not mean the candidate will not find employment at your company. Encourage them to apply for other open jobs, but only do so if you truly believe they will be successful at your company. This means that you should never tell a candidate something you do not mean in the letter. It can come back to haunt you in the future.

One final tip; the rejection letter is your company’s final opportunity to make a good impression on the candidate, who will surely tell colleagues about your application process. Be sure you come across as professional as possible.

Are You Facing an Internal Job Interview?

HMG Success on October 7, 2026

Interviewing for a job can be very stressful. Combine that with the fact that you might already know the interviewer, and the stress level can be extreme. An internal job interview with someone you have worked alongside – or for – over the past handful of years can be daunting. The interviewer already knows your work ethic, your experience and how you fit into the company’s culture. These items can either work for or against you. Below, we will provide you with the tips on how to handle an internal job interview.

Never Take the Interview Too Casually

An important piece of advice for those taking part in an internal interview is that it should never be taken lightly. Just because you know the interviewer, or have worked alongside them in your position, it does not mean you should joke around or be unprofessional. If the interviewer seems relaxed, you can relax too, but only to a point.

Do not slouch in the chair, fail to shave that morning or come unprepared to discuss the job. Make sure you perform your research into the job, have a copy of your resume, and come prepared to provide examples of success from your career with the company.

Avoid Negatives and Complaining

It is an important tip to avoid complaining during a job interview, but this is especially important when interviewing for an internal position with your current employer. Even though you might be interviewed by a co-worker or a supervisor from another department, you should never complain about the company, your current supervisor or any co-workers. This will only come back to bite you, and could lead to you not being promoted. If you feel the need to complain, spin it into a positive by making sure you name something you and your co-workers could do better in order to be more productive while on the job.

Prepare for Difficult Questions

As with any job interview, there will be difficult questions. But, some of the most difficult questions can be asked during an internal job interview. When you first interviewed to work at the company, your resume and career goals were much different. Make sure you update your resume and be able to explain what your career goals are now. Prepare to answer questions about shifting job responsibilities and objectives, especially if they will be a major change from what you are doing right now.

Check Your Skills

Prior to the internal job interview, make sure you check your skills. Perform a skills retrospective to determine which skills you already have and which ones you will need for the new job, if hired. Try to acquire some of those new skills prior to the interview, or even during the hiring process, to show the company how dedicated you are. Back up your claims with actual projects you’ve worked on, certifications you’ve earned, and a good word from your current supervisor.

When you follow the above tips, you will be able to confidently handle the internal interview and land a new career to climb the corporate ladder.

Have a “Quirky” Company Culture? How to Find the Perfect Candidate Fit For You!

HMG Success on October 7, 2026

Have a Quirky Company Culture-How to Find the Perfect Candidate Fit For You

 

Is your company highly creative when it comes to the recruitment process? In today’s world, it’s becoming increasingly more popular for companies to come up with unique and sometimes even hilarious ways of recruiting people. Weird and unusual interview questions, activities, and quirky corporate cultures often come into play.

However, in some cases an unusual hiring process or corporate culture can create challenges when it comes to identifying candidates who are the right fit for the organization. The quirky company culture that you love can backfire. Some candidates may be taken aback by the process that you use to select and interview them. They may even refuse to apply for jobs out of fear that they won’t fit in well with the set of values and ideas your corporate culture embraces.

Your company may be quirky if:

  • You have an elaborate application process that uses humor in many places
  • You use odd or silly interview questions and tasks for candidates
  • The work environment is highly creative and filled with lots of playful features

So, if you identified your company as unusual or different in terms of the type of culture you embrace, it’s possible that it’s becoming difficult to find the right candidates. Here are some ways that you can get around this and hire the best talent with the right candidate fit.

Be upfront about your corporate culture

When thinking recruitment, the last thing you want to do is spring a surprise on a candidate – not the least of which should be your corporate culture. Have access to some marketing materials that highlight your corporate culture with visuals and audio tools. Slowly introduce candidates to your corporate culture. Watch for their reaction. If a candidate reels back suddenly upon learning about your corporate culture, there’s a good chance they will not be a good fit

Focus on the candidate experience

There is a lot of research around the impact the candidate experience has on the long-term success of an employee. This should be your ultimate focus when you are interviewing prospective employees. Try to put yourself into the candidate shoes for a moment. Is the application process intuitive? Is the candidate exposed to a positive impression of your company? Is the recruitment team proactively reaching out and then following up with each candidate? Make sure to zip up all of these things in order to improve the candidate experience.

Assess candidate skills with industry testing

It can be very difficult to determine if a candidate is right for the job within the span of just a few moments of reviewing a resume and meeting with them in an interview. Do not expect some quirky or challenging project assigned during an interview to accurately define a candidate’s suitability for your company. Instead, work with your staffing agency to use candidate assessment testing to validate their work-related skills, personality, and corporate culture fit.

Use a multi-layer interview process

Sometimes, creative companies do not spend enough time evaluating the behavioral aspects of candidate interviews. This is why a multiple interview process that includes several layers of team member participation is often a great way to determine a candidate’s fit for the company. People often have different perspectives when meeting someone, therefore, take the time to have at least a few of the team members present during initial interviews. Gather objective feedback and use this for making your hiring decision.

Hire temps first, employees second

Perhaps one of the best ways to recruit for a quirky company is to start everyone out as a temporary employee. This gives your company a chance to benefit from pre-screened candidates who will then have to prove themselves within the first few months on the job. Most staffing agencies have very strict pre-screening requirements and will only send candidates who they believe will be a good fit. If you have a problem with a candidate you can then easily replace them with someone more suitable. This reduces the risk of hiring the wrong person.

Want to learn more about how your company culture could affect your hiring process, or find temps to fit in with your quirky company? Contact Advance Staffing Solutions today!

 

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