While the United States boasts an unparalleled diversity of cultures and customs, the American business calendar is traditionally orchestrated around the Christmas holiday – it’s customary for businesses to close for Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. The week in between is often a quiet time in the office. Many employees take vacation days, others may be working shortened hours, and everyone tends to have their minds on the holidays as much as on the work at hand.
So you’ve done your prep work, you’ve initiated the call, and you’ve laid the ground work by introducing yourself, your company, and your open position (see yesterday’s post). Now what? How do you direct the conversation and get what you need to form a fuller picture of the candidate? Let’s return to the call…
It’s true… reference checks take time. Not every reference will be available to speak with you. Good reference checks require you to make the effort of digging a little deeper and using your analytical skills.
Yesterday, we took a look at some things to consider when writing your job ad to ensure you end up with an enticing, informative advertisement.
If we really stop to think about it, job ads are actually marketing tools. You have a product (the job), and you need to find the right people to express interest in it (top candidates). This means your ad needs to be focused and effective.
The Department of Labor predicts a growth rate of 22% for the paralegal field by the year 2016. That sounds pretty good in an economy that’s struggling to create new jobs and get Americans back to work. This prediction is based on a variety of factors: a spike in the retirement rate as the current workforce ages; an increase in positions at non-traditional employers such as banks and real estate firms; a growing need for legal services by an expanding and aging national population; a trend toward assigning paralegals more tasks once reserved for licensed attorneys.
Unbelievably, it is Thanksgiving time already. Some colleagues are already gone, headed off in various directions to gather with family and friends, eat too much good food, and watch too much football. Personally, I feel as if I just carved my pumpkin. And I still have Halloween candy. Admittedly, it’s that junky candy that always lingers too long because no one likes it. But still. How can it be Thanksgiving tomorrow?
We’ve all seen those math questions that include the words “Explain how…” and “Show your work”. And you know a lot of students are sitting at their desks thinking, “I’m in a math class, why am I writing an essay?!”
Do you know how much it’s costing you to identify, screen, hire, and train new employees? We mean really know how much this is costing you? According to recent findings by the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment.: Replacing a single employee can cost between $2000 and $7000 – or more! Some estimates for upper-level positions put the figure at 100-150% of the position’s salary. What happens if that employee doesn’t work out and leaves your organization after only a short time? You’re right back in the vicious, expensive hiring cycle.
Every organization is looking for ways to identify top candidates who know their stuff and can be up to speed on job tasks quickly. But most online employment assessment services are geared for large corporations, with high rates, longterm commitments, and tests that are irrelevant to the needs of small and medium-sized businesses. We found the same thing again and again as we tried to improve our hiring process over the last several years. We just wanted relevant, reliable pre-employment tests that we could quickly and easily manage online.