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Underqualified Candidates Can Be a Valuable Company Asset
Very often, hiring managers are faced with the decision of what to do with great candidates who have the right personality and fit for a company, but lack certain qualifications of a job. It’s a shame, because they could have potential in the company’s future.
Have you ever wondered if an underqualified candidate could be a valuable asset to the company? Here are some reasons why.
Not every company has the budget for “superstar” candidates.
In the startup or rapid growth phases of companies, the funds may be limited in terms of offering a superstar candidate enough to convince them to join the company. Therefore, hiring an underqualified candidate at a slightly lower salary may make better sense. This person can be developed into an outstanding employee and over time can get a promotion to a higher earning bracket.
Underqualified candidates often make the most loyal employees.
It’s hard finding loyal employees nowadays. Especially with the younger generations, candidates are prone to skipping from job-to-job within a year or two. When you give an underqualified candidate an opportunity, they will generally be more loyal to the company. This grateful attitude will also help the company to develop the person into a future leader because of the need to prove themselves.
People can learn if they have the right qualities to begin with.
It’s really hard to say if there is such a thing as a perfect candidate. However, when you give an underqualified candidate a chance, they have the ability to learn new skills that will enable them to excel in the job. Focus on some of the more important traits that the candidate has; such as a positive personality, a track record with former employers, and their ability and desire to learn new things.
Refer underqualified candidates to partner companies.
You may not be able to give an underqualified candidate a career right now. This is ok. But do not dismiss this candidate. Instead, refer an underqualified candidate to a partner company or to an area of staffing agency that you work with. The candidate will appreciate a chance to be introduced to another opportunity, and you will not lose track of them. Who knows? The candidate may be the perfect fit in the future for your business.
Is the Candidate Your New Soulmate?
You stare across the desk into the dreamy eyes of a well-dressed and attractive individual. Then, suddenly your heart and mind starts to race, you get sweaty palms, and you stumble over your words, giggling nervously. Uh, oh? Are you in love?
Sounds a little like dating, right? Sadly, no…this isn’t another Nicholas Sparks movie scene. In reality, you are just another recruiter engaged in an interview with a job candidate.
It can be funny to think about recruitment in terms of the dating game, but it also makes sense. You are presenting a certain brand to try to impress a person you’ve never met before. You smile, shake hands, make small talk, and try to make the other person feel comfortable. You even selected a small, intimate office space where you can get to know the candidate on a deeper level.
How can you know if all of this effort will be worth it? Will you do enough, say all the right things, and get the person to take an interest in what you are pitching – in this case, an opportunity with your company? And then, is this the right person for the company? Do they have the perfect qualities for the job? Will others like this person when you introduce them?
Finding the right hire is like finding your soulmate.
Think about the concept in practical terms. This has to be someone who connects with you and the company brand. An interview is not just a meeting. It’s a chance to exchange meaningful words and energy between you and the
candidate. How well you do this can make a big difference in the way the candidate views the career opportunity. If you are not on your game, the candidate will sense this. If the candidate is turned off, not feeling it, or finds that they are not all that interested – things are bound to end up not working out.
When you interview candidates, think about the interpersonal skills you have. Can they be improved upon? Are you seeking that perfect candidate with every work order you try to fill or are you merely hiring based on shallow traits? Don’t settle. Hire the best person for every job and think about this as a start of a new and beautiful relationship.
New Year, Same Old Hiring Mistakes!
As the saying goes, “Old habits die hard”. This is very true when it comes to many aspects of business, including recruitment practices. Oftentimes the HR team or the recruitment team goes into a New Year wanting to do things better, but keeps falling into the same old ways of doing things. The problem is at this takes away from the effectiveness of the recruitment team and can actually put your company at risk. In order to improve processes this year, here are some recruiting and interviewing behaviors to leave behind.
Not conducting a thorough background check
One of the biggest hiring mistakes that companies can make is not conducting a thorough background check for every single applicant. You cannot take a candidate at face value no matter how professional they look or act during the interview — they could be hiding things in their history. Take the time to call all career references and verify work history and character. Criminal background checks are a must. Failure to do so can put your company at risk and it also caused harm to other employees.
Forgetting to follow up with candidates
Another bad habit to shake in the New Year is forgetting to follow up with candidates. Whether they have applied for a job online or they have been screened by phone for a particular job, please take the time to follow up with candidates at least with a courtesy email. It’s not fair to leave people hanging and it is a measure of goodwill when you respect candidates enough to follow up with them and give them a status update. This goes for sending out rejection letters too.
Selecting candidates based on skills only
It can be tempting to just hire people based on the skills that they list on their resume and those that are proven through assessment tests, but this leaves out a large chunk of candidates who may be otherwise qualified and perfect for a position because of their personalities. Work with a staffing agency to assess the personality and culture event of every candidate before you toss them into the rejection pile.
Hiring under pressure instead of planning staffing needs
Human resources is not meant to put out the fires in our organizations. But often times we find ourselves in the position of having to scramble around to replace a lost employee or to find a large number of workers to cover busy seasons. To make better use of our time and energy it’s important that we develop the habit of planning out our staffing needs by staying in touch with our point of contact managers. By planning ahead it’s possible to augment current staff with temporary workers and create a true succession strategy.
Football Party Event
Tyler, Tara, Renee, Jordan, and Donna recently attended the Football Party event sponsored by Southern Wayne County Regional Chamber, and Monroe Chamber! Advance Staffing Solutions is a proud member of both chambers and enjoy the opportunity to network with other community businesses.
How to Hire the Best of December’s New Grads
New grads don’t have a uniform approach to seeking jobs. Some grads would prefer to work for large companies while some would be happy enough if they get a job. Usually, the best grads will be selective and they wouldn’t have to reach out to many companies because the companies will reach out to them. If you want to hire the best of December’s new grads, then you must have a strategy. You cannot expect the best grads to walk in for interviews, unless your company is a brand that is high on the list of preferred organizations to work for.
Here are a few strategies that can help you to hire the best of December’s new grads:
- Roll out an internship program for undergrads. This is the best policy to hire talent at affordable wages or stipends. You would be able to assess the potential of undergrads. There are many grads who have otherwise done well in their exams and may have some accolades from their colleges or universities but whether or not they are ready for the jobs being offered is a different context altogether. By having interns and then hiring them when they graduate, you would know exactly who you are hiring, what their strengths and weaknesses are. Grads too would prefer this as they can have some continuity in their career. There is an increasing difference between educated youth and those who are educated and ready for the professional challenges.
- Campus placements or onsite job interviews are instrumental if you wish to hire the best of December’s new grads. Every year, major companies fan out across the length and breadth of the country and try to tap the best talent in respective niches. As a company, you must target the relevant universities and conduct campus placements. You can work with the career center at a college or some students associations to facilitate such arrangements. You can conduct job fairs at colleges to generate some interest.
- There are many staffing agencies or recruitment companies that specialize in hiring graduates. You can contract such recruitment firms that will send you a select collection of resumes of new grads who have the potential to work in the specific jobs you have to offer. These recruitment firms know exactly where to source the best grads from and will tick the checkboxes or criteria you have. Advance Staffing Solutions keeps a pulse on the top graduates and helps them find matching careers in the fields of their choice.
Need help hiring new grads, or any new candidates? Contact Advance Staffing Solutions today and let us place your next superstar employee tomorrow.
Advance Staffing Solutions Can Help You Succeed in the New Year
Employers in the northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan regions – listen up! 2016 can be an outstanding year for your staffing and recruitment goals. Maybe last year wasn’t so stellar and you have discovered some skill gaps, have lost a few great employees, or are ready to expand operations now. There’s no need to go it alone. Advance Staffing Solutions has the solutions to help your organization succeed in the New Year.
Here’s a rundown of the recruitment services and support we offer at Advance Staffing Solutions:
• 24/7 live staffing support from a team of experienced and committed recruitment professionals. Your business doesn’t top at 5 pm, so why settle for anything less?
• On-demand staffing support for short term and long term needs. Got a staffing emergency or need last minute help for a special project? No problem – just get in touch!
• Let us send a staffing coordinator to work onsite to manage your temporary workforce. No more worry over how to augment your current team with temps – we can handle all the responsibility for you.
• Strategic support for your human resource functions. When you outsource to Advance Staffing Solutions, you can count on us to help you streamline your HR operations so that you get the maximum ROI.
• Human resources consulting is just a phone call away. Advance Staffing Solutions offers HR consulting and guidance on any area of your personnel department. From workforce training and optimizing skills to recruitment, retention and employee engagement support – we can handle it all.
• Candidate screening is our specialty. Advance Staffing Solutions pre-screens all candidates using a secure system and we have risk management in mind. Our process includes resume screening, interviewing, personal background checks, skills testing, reference checks, criminal check, and drug and alcohol testing. We can even coordinate your interview schedule.
• Outplacement services for departing employees are simple. Advance Staffing Solutions offers career counseling, testing, assessments, training, interview coaching, and referrals to help employees who are leaving to prepare for their next career adventure.
• Professional Employer Organization (PEO) and payroll management is a snap. We can provide payroll and benefit administration services to your company, so that the liability is shouldered by our company and not yours.
• Flexible staffing solutions include direct placement, temp to perm, and temporary assistance. Let us source and screen the perfect candidates for your company so that you can reach corporate goals this year.
Get in touch with the caring staffing professionals at Advance Staffing Solutions today for more information about these services and more.
Use a Personal Brand to Start Attracting Top-Tier Candidates
It’s common for companies to think that their corporate brand is more important than their personal brand. Well this might be true for a large well-known brands, for a smaller company the personal brand is part of the corporate brand. Therefore, it’s up to every business to develop a strong personal brand in order to attract high performance candidates.
Here are some ways to start building an outstanding personal brand that will help your company reel in the best employees.
Understand what your brand is about
Your personal corporate brand is essentially what your company stands for, what it’s known for, and how the company is unique in the market. It’s not about being the best, but about being recognizable to the world. Keep this in mind when developing your brand for recruitment purposes.
Why would anyone want to work for your company?
The goal of a personal brand is to convince top tier candidates to get excited about coming to work for you. Think of what it will take to get people thinking about your company as an employer of choice. Could it be the great career opportunities, the above average salaries and benefits, or just the unique work environment you offer?
What kind of impression the company makes
From the moment that candidates are checking out a company for a potential job, they are subtly being exposed to the brand. Verify that your brand makes a positive impression on candidates as they review job openings, the career portal, news and marketing content, and more.
Personal branding with a partner
It’s possible to give your personal business brand a boost by partnering with a company that has an outstanding brand already. A staffing agency, like Advance Staffing, can elevate your business brand because we have a great reputation that thousands of candidates already know about. When we represent you as a client to our high performance job seekers, your business will shine.
Use the above tips when developing a strong brand that will impress the most desirable candidates for your company.
Should You Hire Someone Who Doesn’t Give Their Two Weeks’ Notice?
In the course of an interview, you (the hiring manager) asks the candidate when they can start. The candidate responds with, “When would you like me to start?” In a perfect world, you could request that this perfect candidate start right away, but realistically the candidate is currently working for someone else and must follow some rule about giving two weeks’ notice. But, what if the candidate says that they don’t mind not giving this standard notice? Should you still hire someone like this?
Why not. You want the candidate and you know that you can offer this person a much better career opportunity. They know it and that’s why they are willing to bend a little to get in the door faster. Besides, is the two-week notice even the standard anymore?
Um, not so fast. You want to hire a professional, someone who demonstrates this with ethical decisions and actions. Not giving a proper notice could be viewed as being somewhat unprofessional or hasty. It could also be that the candidate is eager to come work for you and leave the other job behind – for a variety of reasons.
What to do?
First, ask the candidate if not giving a proper notice will burn any bridges with the former employer. After all, they want to use them for a reference in the future, right? This is ultimately up to the candidate to decide, so don’t judge them. Keep in mind that the candidate may have already advised a current employer of departure, or may have some vacation time to use up — so it’s not that big of a deal.
Second, advise the candidate that the start date is flexible, so you can wait if they need to give a two-week notice. This helps the candidate to see you value them in this process. It also gives the candidate the chance to adjust to a new job offer, take care of wrapping things up with a former employer, and get the background screening processing out of the way before the official start date.
If the candidate is still interested in starting soon, let them know you can accommodate them. You want the candidate to be comfortable and have a positive onboarding experience with your company, so be adaptable and work with the candidate to make this a smooth start.
What To Do With “Out of the Box” Job Candidates
As a hiring manager, you’ve probably seen a wide range of candidates who vary from underqualified to perfect for the company. But, every once in a while, a candidate comes across your desk with skills and experience that fall outside of the box. This is someone who could potentially add a great deal of value to your company, even be considered as a future leader, but you don’t have a position available at this time. These people are:
- Creative thinkers who bring a lot of energy to their careers
- Extroverts with above-average leadership and communication skills
- Highly respected and recommended by past employers and colleagues
What do you do with a candidate like this – put them in a pile for later consideration and risk losing them to a competitor, or giving them an opportunity at your company? Read on to learn what you can do with these rare candidates.
Get them on the phone for a screening interview fast
Don’t miss out on the chance to talk with a candidate who has the above traits. Get on the phone and introduce your company and the opportunities there. Find out what the candidate is looking for. Arrange for an in-face interview as soon as you can.
Offer them a contract project
If you don’t have a position already available for a candidate like this, create one with a contract project. Tap into the candidate’s strengths and experience to come up with a project that will challenge the candidate. Let them know successful completion of this project may lead to a permanent job. Offer a generous contract rate to get them on board.
Bring the candidate on as a consultant
An alternative to offering a paid project is to offer the candidate the chance to share their unique knowledge as a consultant to your current team. Set a meeting and introduce them to your leadership team, then come up with an agreement to have them come in for a nice fee to direct your team on certain issues they may be having. When the time is right, offer this candidate a job.
Refer them to a complimentary firm
If you cannot do the above, the very best action you can take is to refer them to a colleague at a complimentary firm. In the future, you can still offer a position or work positively with this person, who will be forever grateful, and your colleagues will thank you for sending a great candidate along.
Referral Contest – Win Thanksgiving Dinner on us!
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
** 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
Exit Interviews: Do you know why your employees are leaving?
Employees leave companies for many different reasons, but sometimes the HR team won’t be able to explain why past employees left. In some cases, employees leave for better advancement opportunities or because they are not happy with their current employer. The only way a company can know or learn why employees are leaving is by taking advantage of the exit interview, and then learning from this feedback.
Encourage Honesty
The next time you hold an exit interview, make sure you encourage honesty on the part of the employee who is leaving the company. Few employees will be brutally honesty during an exit interview, especially when leaving smaller companies, because they do not want to hurt anyone’s feelings. Try to encourage honesty as much as possible so the employee explains the exact reasons why they decided to leave.
Ask These Questions
The following questions should be asked of the employee during an exit interview:
- What will you get from your new employer that you didn’t get from us?
- How do you feel things went here for you?
- How are your career goals being fulfilled at your new job?
- Can you give us any suggestions for improvement?
- Would you like to be notified of any opportunities here in the future?
- Is there anything we could have done to prevent you from leaving?
- In what areas did we come up short?
Reveal Undiscovered Problems
For all you know, there could be some major problems hiding at your company. The only way you can find out about these problems is via the exit interview. The questions from the previous section could help to reveal these problems, which could include issues with the culture and competition that continues to aggressively recruit your talent. An outgoing employee will be able to shed light on these issues and much more if you ask the right questions and encourage honesty.
Make Appropriate Changes
Once you conduct the exit interview, you should begin to make appropriate changes to the company. This could include improving the company’s culture, offering better benefits, increasing salaries and offering more opportunities for advancement.
Companies need to know why their employees leave for other opportunities. They also need to know if an issue at the office led to the employee searching for a new job. The exit interview is the perfect time to find out this information.