The Secrets to Job Hunting Success
Sunday, February 21, 2010
By Tracey Read
Bob Gandee estimates that half the resumes he sees in his Mentor recruitment operation are poorly done.
"There is no excuse for that," said Gandee, president of Recruiting Solutions International.
Gandee is also president of Mentor-based BackTrack employment background check company, which was named one of the nation's fastest-growing companies by Inc. magazine.
Gandee spoke recently with The News-Herald about what techniques offer the best chances of landing a job in today's challenging market.
The News-Herald: What types of mistakes do you see job seekers make most often?
Gandee: I think most people have little experience in interviewing and writing resumes. I think many job seekers are laboring with a lot of misconceptions about how to interview and market themselves.
For example, on resumes we'll see misspellings, typos and extraneous information, like, 'I love to play golf.'
That's the kiss of death. I've heard sales managers say, 'Well, are they gonna be out on the golf course during the day or out pounding the pavement?'
Or they might indicate some allegiance to one political party or the other. If you're a Democrat interviewing with a conservative Republican, you've already got a strike against you. Or many times, they'll put a career goal on their resume and their career goal might be in conflict with the job they're interviewing for.
Everything starts with going back and putting together an effective resume.
People should look at a resume like a car manufacturer looks at their brochures — it's an advertising piece that is going to be the document in many cases that will determine whether or not you're even interviewed. Have people you respect critique your resume.
N-H: After the resume is fixed, what next?
Gandee: We encourage people to explore all avenues for job listings. On the Internet, post your resume on monster and careerbuilder. People should certainly be on LinkedIn. That has gotten to be a tremendous networking site that employers and recruiters utilize.
Also, take note of what skills you have to offer and put together a list of companies that might be interested in your skills. And then put together a mini-marketing program about how you might sell your services to those companies. For example, e-mail your resume to the person who would most likely be the person who would hire you. Then follow up with a phone call a few days later.
Contact recruitment companies and send your resume to them. Recruiters try to find people that have the skills that companies are looking for. Oftentimes, we'll find the person's resume on the Internet or recruit someone who isn't actively looking for work.
The people who are aggressively promoting themselves by posting their resumes on various job boards and marketing themselves directly to companies are more likely to find some openings that aren't being advertised.
N-H: Besides careless errors and too much personal information, what are some other examples of things you should never do on a resume?
Gandee: Don't lie. A lot of people are eliminated unnecessarily because they took liberties on their resumes. Employers don't look kindly on this. Probably 60 to 70 percent of employers now contract with screening companies like ours to do background checks before you're even offered the job. The No. 1 thing people lie about are their education credentials. The second biggest thing are exaggerations of their previous employment — their responsibilities and achievements.
N-H: Are there old job hunting techniques that just don't hold up in today's market?
Gandee: I've been in the industry for 35 years, and the same dynamics that worked 35 years ago still work today. It's just the technology that's different. People hire who they like. So when you're interviewing, you need to be likable.
N-H: What one simple thing should job seekers do right now?
Gandee: Go out and get this book (by Martin Yate) titled, "Knock 'em Dead." It was on the New York Times Bestseller lists a number of years ago. It's probably the best book I've ever seen regarding how to write a resume, how to interview and how to market yourself. We have been known to send the book out to some of our candidates, but it got to be kind of expensive.
Top 10 interview bloopers
-Poor handshake. The "dead fish" gives the impression of disinterest or - weakness.
-Talking too much. The impression: The candidate is covering something up or is outright lying.
-Talking negatively about current or past employers/managers: Even if your last boss was Attila the Hun, never state your ill feelings about him or her.
-Showing up late or too early. Always arrive on time, but never more than 10 minutes early.
-Treating the receptionist rudely: Don't mistake low rank for low input.
-Asking about benefits, vacation time or salary: What if a car salesman asked to see your credit report before allowing you to test drive the cars?
-Not preparing for the interview.
-Verbal tics: "Ummm," "like," "you know."
-Not enough/too much eye contact.
-Failure to match communication styles: Mirror the way the interviewer treats you.
Source: quintcareers.com.
URL: http://www.news-herald.com/articles/2010/02/21/life/nh1979351.prt
© 2010 news-herald.com, a Journal Register Property
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Filtration & Separations Recruiter - Do You Google Your Applicants?
My name is Lisa Sprowls and I am a Filtration Recruiter. I work on many sales/ engineering/executive/ and management level positions serving the search and recruitment needs of both large and small manufacturers and distributors in the Filtration/Water & Wastewater/ Separations/and Environmental Industries.
With each and every finalist candidate that we present to our clients, we also provide a complete background check. Our background checks are provided by our parent company, BackTrack Inc., www.backtracker.com. All reports provided include employment verification, education verification, social security trace report, motor vehicle report, reference checking and criminal records searches.
Do You Google Your Applicants?
The internet has become a wonderful tool in many different ways. We can find out pretty much anything we want to know from anywhere around the world. Want to know what the weather is currently like where you are going on vacation? Internet it. Want to know what type of vehicle has the best safety features? Internet the question. Want to know if your job applicant has a MySpace page? How easy can it be to check. While the checking may be very easy, what are you going to do with it once you have the information? Can it be used in a hiring decision? Can I Google someone and find out information and use that for a hiring decision?
If you ask a reputable screening agency, the first thing they should tell you is to consult your legal department. This is a decision that your company has to decide for themselves. However, there are some things that an employer needs to be aware of when doing these searches. If you Google someone and find out that they were arrested half way across the United States and you found the arrest records or even a newspaper article about it – that is not a conviction. Records are unsubstantiated. You don’t know if there was a conviction or if the case even went to court. If you find out that your candidate prefers an alternative life style, of what use is that information to you and would it affect the job that they would be doing for the company?
Recent surveys show that approximately 25% of hiring managers use internet search engines to research potential employees, according to an online survey released by CareerBuilder and 12% do searches on social networking sites such as MySpace or Face Book. Of those hiring managers, 63% have indicated they did not hire a person based on what they found. A question that should come up is – on MySpace or Face Book, who put in the information? Was it our candidate or was it someone who is considered a peer? Is it fact or fiction?
Filtration & Separations Recruiter - Do You Google Your Applicants?
Lisa Sprowls
Filtration Recruiter
Recruiter Solutions International
8850 Tyler Blvd.
Mentor, OH 44060
800-992-3875 ext. 313
lisa@rsipeople.com
Filtration Recruiter, Water Recruiter, Wastewater Recruiter, Environmental Recruiter, Fluid Power Recruiter. As an executive recruiter/headhunter dedicated to serving the search and recruitment needs in both large and small manufacturers and distributors. Dan specializes in the search and placement of sales, engineering, management and upper level management positions. Keywords: Filtration Recruiter, Water Recruiter, Wastewater Recruiter, Pumps, Filters, Microfiltration, Water, Oil, Gas, Air, Industrial, Cartridge, Filtration & Separation, Membrane, Reverse Osmosis, Filtration Equipment, Filter Media, Filtration Supplies, Wastewater, Fuel, Environmental, Storm Water, Dewatering Equipment, Woven, Non Woven, Ultrafiltration, Recruiter Solutions International, RSI, Lisa Sprowls, Dan Regovich, Headhunter Filtration, Filtration Headhunter, Filtration Industry Recruiter, Wastewater and Filtration, Water Treatment, Wastewater
With each and every finalist candidate that we present to our clients, we also provide a complete background check. Our background checks are provided by our parent company, BackTrack Inc., www.backtracker.com. All reports provided include employment verification, education verification, social security trace report, motor vehicle report, reference checking and criminal records searches.
Do You Google Your Applicants?
The internet has become a wonderful tool in many different ways. We can find out pretty much anything we want to know from anywhere around the world. Want to know what the weather is currently like where you are going on vacation? Internet it. Want to know what type of vehicle has the best safety features? Internet the question. Want to know if your job applicant has a MySpace page? How easy can it be to check. While the checking may be very easy, what are you going to do with it once you have the information? Can it be used in a hiring decision? Can I Google someone and find out information and use that for a hiring decision?
If you ask a reputable screening agency, the first thing they should tell you is to consult your legal department. This is a decision that your company has to decide for themselves. However, there are some things that an employer needs to be aware of when doing these searches. If you Google someone and find out that they were arrested half way across the United States and you found the arrest records or even a newspaper article about it – that is not a conviction. Records are unsubstantiated. You don’t know if there was a conviction or if the case even went to court. If you find out that your candidate prefers an alternative life style, of what use is that information to you and would it affect the job that they would be doing for the company?
Recent surveys show that approximately 25% of hiring managers use internet search engines to research potential employees, according to an online survey released by CareerBuilder and 12% do searches on social networking sites such as MySpace or Face Book. Of those hiring managers, 63% have indicated they did not hire a person based on what they found. A question that should come up is – on MySpace or Face Book, who put in the information? Was it our candidate or was it someone who is considered a peer? Is it fact or fiction?
Filtration & Separations Recruiter - Do You Google Your Applicants?
Lisa Sprowls
Filtration Recruiter
Recruiter Solutions International
8850 Tyler Blvd.
Mentor, OH 44060
800-992-3875 ext. 313
lisa@rsipeople.com
Filtration Recruiter, Water Recruiter, Wastewater Recruiter, Environmental Recruiter, Fluid Power Recruiter. As an executive recruiter/headhunter dedicated to serving the search and recruitment needs in both large and small manufacturers and distributors. Dan specializes in the search and placement of sales, engineering, management and upper level management positions. Keywords: Filtration Recruiter, Water Recruiter, Wastewater Recruiter, Pumps, Filters, Microfiltration, Water, Oil, Gas, Air, Industrial, Cartridge, Filtration & Separation, Membrane, Reverse Osmosis, Filtration Equipment, Filter Media, Filtration Supplies, Wastewater, Fuel, Environmental, Storm Water, Dewatering Equipment, Woven, Non Woven, Ultrafiltration, Recruiter Solutions International, RSI, Lisa Sprowls, Dan Regovich, Headhunter Filtration, Filtration Headhunter, Filtration Industry Recruiter, Wastewater and Filtration, Water Treatment, Wastewater
Friday, February 26, 2010
Filtration & Separations Recruiter - Assessment Testing for Employees
My name is Lisa Sprowls and I am a Filtration Recruiter. I work on many sales/ engineering/executive/ and management level positions serving the search and recruitment needs of both large and small manufacturers and distributors in the Filtration/Water & Wastewater/ Separations/and Environmental Industries.
With each and every finalist candidate that we present to our clients, we also provide a complete background check. Our background checks are provided by our parent company, BackTrack Inc., www.backtracker.com. All reports provided include employment verification, education verification, social security trace report, motor vehicle report, reference checking and criminal records searches.
Assessment Testing for Employees
Recruiting, hiring and training of new employees is expensive. You have to recruite or advertise a position, then you start the interview process. During the interview you are trying to determine if this is a candidate that would be a good fit for your company and if the candidate seems to have the skill set that the position requires. Then, when you do bring a new hire in to fill the position you also have to train that person for your company specific standards to the position. All of this is costly in terms of time and money. If you have made a good hire, it is well worth the investment. However, if you hire that person and find out within the few months that the position just isnt a good fit, you are out that money. Worse yet, you need to start all over to fill the position.
While interviews and background checks are a great tool, another tool that may be useful to your organization is assessment testing. There are hundreds of different types of tests out there – skills testing, personality testing, behavior testing, even IQ testing if you are interested. Generally, a company will have agreed to start using these “forecasters” for new employees. Before you start to test potential new hires, you may want to have your top performers that are already working with your company take the tests. This will provide you with a set of “benchmarks” that you can use to gauge new hire testing on. There are traits and characteristics that your top performers have that you may like to see in your new hire candidates as well. Once benchmarks are set, use these to determine if your new hire will be a fit with your organization.
There are some studies out there that indicate as many as 25% of new hires don’t make it the first 3 months within an organization. That is an expensive number. Assessment testing can be a very low cost alternative to be utilitized as another tool to “be sure before you hire”.
Filtration & Separations Recruiter - Assessment Testing for Employees
Lisa Sprowls
Filtration Recruiter
Recruiter Solutions International
8850 Tyler Blvd.
Mentor, OH 44060
800-992-3875 ext. 313
lisa@rsipeople.com
Filtration Recruiter, Water Recruiter, Wastewater Recruiter, Environmental Recruiter, Fluid Power Recruiter. As an executive recruiter/headhunter dedicated to serving the search and recruitment needs in both large and small manufacturers and distributors. Dan specializes in the search and placement of sales, engineering, management and upper level management positions. Keywords: Filtration Recruiter, Water Recruiter, Wastewater Recruiter, Pumps, Filters, Microfiltration, Water, Oil, Gas, Air, Industrial, Cartridge, Filtration & Separation, Membrane, Reverse Osmosis, Filtration Equipment, Filter Media, Filtration Supplies, Wastewater, Fuel, Environmental, Storm Water, Dewatering Equipment, Woven, Non Woven, Ultrafiltration, Recruiter Solutions International, RSI, Lisa Sprowls, Dan Regovich, Headhunter Filtration, Filtration Headhunter, Filtration Industry Recruiter, Wastewater and Filtration, Water Treatment, Wastewater Treatment Please visit our website at www.rsipeople.com/filtration/lisa
With each and every finalist candidate that we present to our clients, we also provide a complete background check. Our background checks are provided by our parent company, BackTrack Inc., www.backtracker.com. All reports provided include employment verification, education verification, social security trace report, motor vehicle report, reference checking and criminal records searches.
Assessment Testing for Employees
Recruiting, hiring and training of new employees is expensive. You have to recruite or advertise a position, then you start the interview process. During the interview you are trying to determine if this is a candidate that would be a good fit for your company and if the candidate seems to have the skill set that the position requires. Then, when you do bring a new hire in to fill the position you also have to train that person for your company specific standards to the position. All of this is costly in terms of time and money. If you have made a good hire, it is well worth the investment. However, if you hire that person and find out within the few months that the position just isnt a good fit, you are out that money. Worse yet, you need to start all over to fill the position.
While interviews and background checks are a great tool, another tool that may be useful to your organization is assessment testing. There are hundreds of different types of tests out there – skills testing, personality testing, behavior testing, even IQ testing if you are interested. Generally, a company will have agreed to start using these “forecasters” for new employees. Before you start to test potential new hires, you may want to have your top performers that are already working with your company take the tests. This will provide you with a set of “benchmarks” that you can use to gauge new hire testing on. There are traits and characteristics that your top performers have that you may like to see in your new hire candidates as well. Once benchmarks are set, use these to determine if your new hire will be a fit with your organization.
There are some studies out there that indicate as many as 25% of new hires don’t make it the first 3 months within an organization. That is an expensive number. Assessment testing can be a very low cost alternative to be utilitized as another tool to “be sure before you hire”.
Filtration & Separations Recruiter - Assessment Testing for Employees
Lisa Sprowls
Filtration Recruiter
Recruiter Solutions International
8850 Tyler Blvd.
Mentor, OH 44060
800-992-3875 ext. 313
lisa@rsipeople.com
Filtration Recruiter, Water Recruiter, Wastewater Recruiter, Environmental Recruiter, Fluid Power Recruiter. As an executive recruiter/headhunter dedicated to serving the search and recruitment needs in both large and small manufacturers and distributors. Dan specializes in the search and placement of sales, engineering, management and upper level management positions. Keywords: Filtration Recruiter, Water Recruiter, Wastewater Recruiter, Pumps, Filters, Microfiltration, Water, Oil, Gas, Air, Industrial, Cartridge, Filtration & Separation, Membrane, Reverse Osmosis, Filtration Equipment, Filter Media, Filtration Supplies, Wastewater, Fuel, Environmental, Storm Water, Dewatering Equipment, Woven, Non Woven, Ultrafiltration, Recruiter Solutions International, RSI, Lisa Sprowls, Dan Regovich, Headhunter Filtration, Filtration Headhunter, Filtration Industry Recruiter, Wastewater and Filtration, Water Treatment, Wastewater Treatment Please visit our website at www.rsipeople.com/filtration/lisa
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Filtration & Separations Recruiter - How Did You Do That?
My name is Lisa Sprowls and I am a Filtration Recruiter. I work on many sales/ engineering/executive/ and management level positions serving the search and recruitment needs of both large and small manufacturers and distributors in the Filtration/Water & Wastewater/ Separations/and Environmental Industries.
With each and every finalist candidate that we present to our clients, we also provide a complete background check. Our background checks are provided by our parent company, BackTrack Inc., www.backtracker.com. All reports provided include employment verification, education verification, social security trace report, motor vehicle report, reference checking and criminal records searches.
How Did You Do That?
A common question we get is “where did you find that information?”. There is a large misconception “out there” about secret databases and information stockpiles. In part, this is caused by the internet. In the last 10 years or so, any time we had a question we could go to the internet for the answer. “Just Google it” is a common phrase heard ‘round the world.
However, when background screening is added to this equation, you have to be very careful “just Googleing it”. If you do an internet search for criminal records the records you find may not be accurate. You may be getting records of arrest where a case has been dismissed or someone was found not guilty. You may even find inaccurate information or information that isn’t really related to whomever you are searching for.
A reputable background screening company is going to get the information for you the old fashioned way. They are going to call the employers, they are going to call the schools and they will send court runners in to the courts. The information that they provide to you will be in a report that you can view, print, or keep in a file. That report is also going to be FCRA compliant and can be used as a tool when you make a hiring decision
Filtration & Separations Recruiter - How Did You Do That?
Lisa Sprowls
Filtration Recruiter
Recruiter Solutions International
8850 Tyler Blvd.
Mentor, OH 44060
800-992-3875 ext. 313
lisa@rsipeople.com
Filtration Recruiter, Water Recruiter, Wastewater Recruiter, Environmental Recruiter, Fluid Power Recruiter. As an executive recruiter/headhunter dedicated to serving the search and recruitment needs in both large and small manufacturers and distributors. Dan specializes in the search and placement of sales, engineering, management and upper level management positions. Keywords: Filtration Recruiter, Water Recruiter, Wastewater Recruiter, Pumps, Filters, Microfiltration, Water, Oil, Gas, Air, Industrial, Cartridge, Filtration & Separation, Membrane, Reverse Osmosis, Filtration Equipment, Filter Media, Filtration Supplies, Wastewater, Fuel, Environmental, Storm Water, Dewatering Equipment, Woven, Non Woven, Ultrafiltration, Recruiter Solutions International, RSI, Lisa Sprowls, Dan Regovich, Headhunter Filtration, Filtration Headhunter, Filtration Industry Recruiter, Wastewater and Filtration, Water Treatment, Wastewater Treatment Please visit our website at www.rsipeople.com/filtration/lisa
With each and every finalist candidate that we present to our clients, we also provide a complete background check. Our background checks are provided by our parent company, BackTrack Inc., www.backtracker.com. All reports provided include employment verification, education verification, social security trace report, motor vehicle report, reference checking and criminal records searches.
How Did You Do That?
A common question we get is “where did you find that information?”. There is a large misconception “out there” about secret databases and information stockpiles. In part, this is caused by the internet. In the last 10 years or so, any time we had a question we could go to the internet for the answer. “Just Google it” is a common phrase heard ‘round the world.
However, when background screening is added to this equation, you have to be very careful “just Googleing it”. If you do an internet search for criminal records the records you find may not be accurate. You may be getting records of arrest where a case has been dismissed or someone was found not guilty. You may even find inaccurate information or information that isn’t really related to whomever you are searching for.
A reputable background screening company is going to get the information for you the old fashioned way. They are going to call the employers, they are going to call the schools and they will send court runners in to the courts. The information that they provide to you will be in a report that you can view, print, or keep in a file. That report is also going to be FCRA compliant and can be used as a tool when you make a hiring decision
Filtration & Separations Recruiter - How Did You Do That?
Lisa Sprowls
Filtration Recruiter
Recruiter Solutions International
8850 Tyler Blvd.
Mentor, OH 44060
800-992-3875 ext. 313
lisa@rsipeople.com
Filtration Recruiter, Water Recruiter, Wastewater Recruiter, Environmental Recruiter, Fluid Power Recruiter. As an executive recruiter/headhunter dedicated to serving the search and recruitment needs in both large and small manufacturers and distributors. Dan specializes in the search and placement of sales, engineering, management and upper level management positions. Keywords: Filtration Recruiter, Water Recruiter, Wastewater Recruiter, Pumps, Filters, Microfiltration, Water, Oil, Gas, Air, Industrial, Cartridge, Filtration & Separation, Membrane, Reverse Osmosis, Filtration Equipment, Filter Media, Filtration Supplies, Wastewater, Fuel, Environmental, Storm Water, Dewatering Equipment, Woven, Non Woven, Ultrafiltration, Recruiter Solutions International, RSI, Lisa Sprowls, Dan Regovich, Headhunter Filtration, Filtration Headhunter, Filtration Industry Recruiter, Wastewater and Filtration, Water Treatment, Wastewater Treatment Please visit our website at www.rsipeople.com/filtration/lisa
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Filtration & Separations Recruiter - The Disappearing Client
My name is Lisa Sprowls and I am a Filtration Recruiter. I work on many sales/ engineering/executive/ and management level positions serving the search and recruitment needs of both large and small manufacturers and distributors in the Filtration/Water & Wastewater/ Separations/and Environmental Industries.
With each and every finalist candidate that we present to our clients, we also provide a complete background check. Our background checks are provided by our parent company, BackTrack Inc., www.backtracker.com. All reports provided include employment verification, education verification, social security trace report, motor vehicle report, reference checking and criminal records searches.
The Disappearing Client
We hear it over and over again in our business, “I am looking for a new vendor because I am just unhappy with the (service, turn around time, customer service, etc) my current vendor provides. Chances are that that current vendor also has no idea that there is a problem with their client because they haven’t been notified.
While this type of call comes to us daily, and we certainly are more than happy to discuss with any potential client our services and how we differ, it makes me wonder how many of our clients are “disappearing” clients and potentially seeking another vendor. You know the ones I mean. These are the clients that, in 2007, did X amount of business, in 2008 they are less than half and you haven’t heard from them in 3 months. Every week these clients are probably fielding 2 or 3 calls from a company that offers the same type of product or service that they currently purchase from you. There is a lot of competition out there and many hungry companies willing to do what it takes to land that new account. The “grass is always greener” theory seems to follow along with those phone calls as well.
We have a program where we contact our current clients every 3-6 months to say hello and see how they are doing. This gives us a chance to communicate with our contacts to find out if they have any problems, concerns, or feel that their issues have not been addressed. So, do we still have clients looking for other vendors? They certainly are. However, they are going in with the bar set quite a bit higher because of the service they currently get. Many times, they either don’t change, or they come back to us after a short period of time because they realize that they don’t get the same service elsewhere.
Keeping the lines of communication open between your company and your clients is extremely important. I don’t mean that you deal with just their problems when they call in with an issue – this means picking up the phone and calling them a couple of times a year and finding out what their issues are, or if they have any. Not only does this make for excellent customer service, but it also will benefit your company in the long run. They may be in networking groups and will recommend you to their peers, or they may be willing to act as business references for your company should you need it. Give them something positive to talk about and your customers and clients will keep coming back.
Filtration & Separations Recruiter - The Disappearing Client
Lisa Sprowls
Filtration Recruiter
Recruiter Solutions International
8850 Tyler Blvd.
Mentor, OH 44060
800-992-3875 ext. 313
lisa@rsipeople.com
Filtration Recruiter, Water Recruiter, Wastewater Recruiter, Environmental Recruiter, Fluid Power Recruiter. As an executive recruiter/headhunter dedicated to serving the search and recruitment needs in both large and small manufacturers and distributors. Dan specializes in the search and placement of sales, engineering, management and upper level management positions. Keywords: Filtration Recruiter, Water Recruiter, Wastewater Recruiter, Pumps, Filters, Microfiltration, Water, Oil, Gas, Air, Industrial, Cartridge, Filtration & Separation, Membrane, Reverse Osmosis, Filtration Equipment, Filter Media, Filtration Supplies, Wastewater, Fuel, Environmental, Storm Water, Dewatering Equipment, Woven, Non Woven, Ultrafiltration, Recruiter Solutions International, RSI, Lisa Sprowls, Dan Regovich, Headhunter Filtration, Filtration Headhunter, Filtration Industry Recruiter, Wastewater and Filtration, Water Treatment, Wastewater
With each and every finalist candidate that we present to our clients, we also provide a complete background check. Our background checks are provided by our parent company, BackTrack Inc., www.backtracker.com. All reports provided include employment verification, education verification, social security trace report, motor vehicle report, reference checking and criminal records searches.
The Disappearing Client
We hear it over and over again in our business, “I am looking for a new vendor because I am just unhappy with the (service, turn around time, customer service, etc) my current vendor provides. Chances are that that current vendor also has no idea that there is a problem with their client because they haven’t been notified.
While this type of call comes to us daily, and we certainly are more than happy to discuss with any potential client our services and how we differ, it makes me wonder how many of our clients are “disappearing” clients and potentially seeking another vendor. You know the ones I mean. These are the clients that, in 2007, did X amount of business, in 2008 they are less than half and you haven’t heard from them in 3 months. Every week these clients are probably fielding 2 or 3 calls from a company that offers the same type of product or service that they currently purchase from you. There is a lot of competition out there and many hungry companies willing to do what it takes to land that new account. The “grass is always greener” theory seems to follow along with those phone calls as well.
We have a program where we contact our current clients every 3-6 months to say hello and see how they are doing. This gives us a chance to communicate with our contacts to find out if they have any problems, concerns, or feel that their issues have not been addressed. So, do we still have clients looking for other vendors? They certainly are. However, they are going in with the bar set quite a bit higher because of the service they currently get. Many times, they either don’t change, or they come back to us after a short period of time because they realize that they don’t get the same service elsewhere.
Keeping the lines of communication open between your company and your clients is extremely important. I don’t mean that you deal with just their problems when they call in with an issue – this means picking up the phone and calling them a couple of times a year and finding out what their issues are, or if they have any. Not only does this make for excellent customer service, but it also will benefit your company in the long run. They may be in networking groups and will recommend you to their peers, or they may be willing to act as business references for your company should you need it. Give them something positive to talk about and your customers and clients will keep coming back.
Filtration & Separations Recruiter - The Disappearing Client
Lisa Sprowls
Filtration Recruiter
Recruiter Solutions International
8850 Tyler Blvd.
Mentor, OH 44060
800-992-3875 ext. 313
lisa@rsipeople.com
Filtration Recruiter, Water Recruiter, Wastewater Recruiter, Environmental Recruiter, Fluid Power Recruiter. As an executive recruiter/headhunter dedicated to serving the search and recruitment needs in both large and small manufacturers and distributors. Dan specializes in the search and placement of sales, engineering, management and upper level management positions. Keywords: Filtration Recruiter, Water Recruiter, Wastewater Recruiter, Pumps, Filters, Microfiltration, Water, Oil, Gas, Air, Industrial, Cartridge, Filtration & Separation, Membrane, Reverse Osmosis, Filtration Equipment, Filter Media, Filtration Supplies, Wastewater, Fuel, Environmental, Storm Water, Dewatering Equipment, Woven, Non Woven, Ultrafiltration, Recruiter Solutions International, RSI, Lisa Sprowls, Dan Regovich, Headhunter Filtration, Filtration Headhunter, Filtration Industry Recruiter, Wastewater and Filtration, Water Treatment, Wastewater
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Competition for Open Jobs
Competition for Open Jobs
The latest statistics from the United States Bureau of Labor shows that unemployment rose from 7.2% to 7.6% in the first months of 2009. Anyone who reads the paper or watches the news knows that the news is grim for job seekers. Job losses are large and widespread across nearly all major industry sectors, and every day brings news that someone else is laying off part of their workforce.
Companies who are thinking of hiring to fill vacant positions are probably going to be receiving more applications and resumes from job candidates than ever before. How can you be sure that the candidate you decide to hire is the right one for your company? If you have 100 people apply for one vacant position, your human resource department is going to have their work cut out for them!
In these trying times, many candidates will be tempted to “fluff” their resumes in order to get a job. Resume falsification is on the rise and expected to increase as the country continues to slog through economic doldrums. Now more than ever, the need for employment screening is clear. The average company will spend between $7,000 and $15,000 in the first year to hire and train someone for the position after they hire the job candidate. That is a lot of money, particularly if you have to do it more than once for a position. If the first candidate you hire doesn’t work out, or if he does not have the qualifications you thought he had, you have to go through the process again.
You can help to eliminate some of the guesswork out of this by doing background checks on candidates. You don’t have to do it on all 100 applications that come in for that one position, but after you narrow it down to a small pool of potential candidates that appear to meet the experience or education level you need, doing a background check on those candidates can save you time, money and hassle.
Depending on the services you are looking at for your background check, the average cost costs can vary – more if you want an extensive check, less if you want a general check. A good background check run through BackTrack costs under $100, significantly less than the cost of a negligent hiring lawsuit and the potential loss of your company’s good name and reputation. Between interviewing, background checking and possibly assessment testing, you are being as proactive as you can be to ensure that the FIRST person you bring on board with your company will be a good fit.
Companies need to be very diligent when they hire. While the current state of the economy is worrisome, if you are hiring someone to come work for your company you are in a “buyers market” at this point with your choice of talent. Do your research and make sure you are getting your money’s worth.
Lisa Sprowls
The Filtration Group of RSI
www.rsipeople.com/filtration
Filtration Recruiter, Recruiter Solutions International
The latest statistics from the United States Bureau of Labor shows that unemployment rose from 7.2% to 7.6% in the first months of 2009. Anyone who reads the paper or watches the news knows that the news is grim for job seekers. Job losses are large and widespread across nearly all major industry sectors, and every day brings news that someone else is laying off part of their workforce.
Companies who are thinking of hiring to fill vacant positions are probably going to be receiving more applications and resumes from job candidates than ever before. How can you be sure that the candidate you decide to hire is the right one for your company? If you have 100 people apply for one vacant position, your human resource department is going to have their work cut out for them!
In these trying times, many candidates will be tempted to “fluff” their resumes in order to get a job. Resume falsification is on the rise and expected to increase as the country continues to slog through economic doldrums. Now more than ever, the need for employment screening is clear. The average company will spend between $7,000 and $15,000 in the first year to hire and train someone for the position after they hire the job candidate. That is a lot of money, particularly if you have to do it more than once for a position. If the first candidate you hire doesn’t work out, or if he does not have the qualifications you thought he had, you have to go through the process again.
You can help to eliminate some of the guesswork out of this by doing background checks on candidates. You don’t have to do it on all 100 applications that come in for that one position, but after you narrow it down to a small pool of potential candidates that appear to meet the experience or education level you need, doing a background check on those candidates can save you time, money and hassle.
Depending on the services you are looking at for your background check, the average cost costs can vary – more if you want an extensive check, less if you want a general check. A good background check run through BackTrack costs under $100, significantly less than the cost of a negligent hiring lawsuit and the potential loss of your company’s good name and reputation. Between interviewing, background checking and possibly assessment testing, you are being as proactive as you can be to ensure that the FIRST person you bring on board with your company will be a good fit.
Companies need to be very diligent when they hire. While the current state of the economy is worrisome, if you are hiring someone to come work for your company you are in a “buyers market” at this point with your choice of talent. Do your research and make sure you are getting your money’s worth.
Lisa Sprowls
The Filtration Group of RSI
www.rsipeople.com/filtration
Filtration Recruiter, Recruiter Solutions International
Monday, October 5, 2009
Filtration & Separations Recruiter - Diploma Mill in Washington State
My name is Lisa Sprowls and I am a Filtration Recruiter. I work on many sales/ engineering/executive/ and management level positions serving the search and recruitment needs of both large and small manufacturers and distributors in the Filtration/Water & Wastewater/ Separations/and Environmental Industries.
With each and every finalist candidate that we present to our clients, we also provide a complete background check. Our background checks are provided by our parent company, BackTrack Inc., www.backtracker.com. All reports provided include employment verification, education verification, social security trace report, motor vehicle report, reference checking and criminal records searches.
Diploma Mill in Washington State
In early July, Dixie Ellen Randock was sentenced to 3 years in prison for Conspiracy to Commit Wire and Mail Fraud. Her husband, Steve Randock, is scheduled to be sentenced in about a week. Dixie is a high school drop out. What did they do? They have been found guilty of this crime for selling bogus college degrees and high school diplomas from a Spokane, WA diploma mill. The newspaper The Seattle Times (www.seattletimes.com) has since published a couple of lists. One list shows all the people who have purchased degrees and diplomas from this diploma mill – all 9,612 people. Some of these people have multiple degrees that were awarded from this mill.
The US Department of Justice had refused to release the list to the public, and the newspaper is not saying how they obtained the list. The newspaper has conducted a preliminary analysis that shows 135 of these individuals have military ties, 39 have links to the education system, and 17 are employed with government agencies. They got this information through the email addresses that are listed for the individuals (.mil, .gov, or .edu). Their listing does indicate that some of the people who have (*) by their names didn’t necessarily buy degrees, but that their names surfaced for various reasons during the investigation.
What these people were purchasing were bogus degrees from non-existent, online, high schools, colleges and universities. They were also buying counterfeit degrees from real colleges and universities and that documentation was forged. Some of the more than 100 fake schools that degrees were issued from have names that sound like an accredited college that we have all heard of.
Keep in mind that it is not illegal to possess a fake degree. If you wish to spend $1,000 to $10,000 for a piece of paper to hang on your wall you are entitled to it. It is illegal to use the degree fraudulently. You can not use it to obtain employment, increased benefits, promotion, or for any other purposes. Unfortunately, with the almost 10,000 people out there with “degrees” from this diploma mill, it is going to be up to the private employer to determine if their employees have degrees or diplomas from a fake institution. That burden is going to rest on the human resource staff.
Filtration & Separations Recruiter - Diploma Mill in Washington State
Lisa Sprowls
Filtration Recruiter
Recruiter Solutions International
8850 Tyler Blvd.
Mentor, OH 44060
800-992-3875 ext. 313
lisa@rsipeople.com
Filtration Recruiter, Water Recruiter, Wastewater Recruiter, Environmental Recruiter, Fluid Power Recruiter. As an executive recruiter/headhunter dedicated to serving the search and recruitment needs in both large and small manufacturers and distributors. Dan specializes in the search and placement of sales, engineering, management and upper level management positions. Keywords: Filtration Recruiter, Water Recruiter, Wastewater Recruiter, Pumps, Filters, Microfiltration, Water, Oil, Gas, Air, Industrial, Cartridge, Filtration & Separation, Membrane, Reverse Osmosis, Filtration Equipment, Filter Media, Filtration Supplies, Wastewater, Fuel, Environmental, Storm Water, Dewatering Equipment, Woven, Non Woven, Ultrafiltration, Recruiter Solutions International, RSI, Lisa Sprowls, Dan Regovich, Headhunter Filtration, Filtration Headhunter, Filtration Industry Recruiter, Wastewater and Filtration, Water Treatment, Wastewater
With each and every finalist candidate that we present to our clients, we also provide a complete background check. Our background checks are provided by our parent company, BackTrack Inc., www.backtracker.com. All reports provided include employment verification, education verification, social security trace report, motor vehicle report, reference checking and criminal records searches.
Diploma Mill in Washington State
In early July, Dixie Ellen Randock was sentenced to 3 years in prison for Conspiracy to Commit Wire and Mail Fraud. Her husband, Steve Randock, is scheduled to be sentenced in about a week. Dixie is a high school drop out. What did they do? They have been found guilty of this crime for selling bogus college degrees and high school diplomas from a Spokane, WA diploma mill. The newspaper The Seattle Times (www.seattletimes.com) has since published a couple of lists. One list shows all the people who have purchased degrees and diplomas from this diploma mill – all 9,612 people. Some of these people have multiple degrees that were awarded from this mill.
The US Department of Justice had refused to release the list to the public, and the newspaper is not saying how they obtained the list. The newspaper has conducted a preliminary analysis that shows 135 of these individuals have military ties, 39 have links to the education system, and 17 are employed with government agencies. They got this information through the email addresses that are listed for the individuals (.mil, .gov, or .edu). Their listing does indicate that some of the people who have (*) by their names didn’t necessarily buy degrees, but that their names surfaced for various reasons during the investigation.
What these people were purchasing were bogus degrees from non-existent, online, high schools, colleges and universities. They were also buying counterfeit degrees from real colleges and universities and that documentation was forged. Some of the more than 100 fake schools that degrees were issued from have names that sound like an accredited college that we have all heard of.
Keep in mind that it is not illegal to possess a fake degree. If you wish to spend $1,000 to $10,000 for a piece of paper to hang on your wall you are entitled to it. It is illegal to use the degree fraudulently. You can not use it to obtain employment, increased benefits, promotion, or for any other purposes. Unfortunately, with the almost 10,000 people out there with “degrees” from this diploma mill, it is going to be up to the private employer to determine if their employees have degrees or diplomas from a fake institution. That burden is going to rest on the human resource staff.
Filtration & Separations Recruiter - Diploma Mill in Washington State
Lisa Sprowls
Filtration Recruiter
Recruiter Solutions International
8850 Tyler Blvd.
Mentor, OH 44060
800-992-3875 ext. 313
lisa@rsipeople.com
Filtration Recruiter, Water Recruiter, Wastewater Recruiter, Environmental Recruiter, Fluid Power Recruiter. As an executive recruiter/headhunter dedicated to serving the search and recruitment needs in both large and small manufacturers and distributors. Dan specializes in the search and placement of sales, engineering, management and upper level management positions. Keywords: Filtration Recruiter, Water Recruiter, Wastewater Recruiter, Pumps, Filters, Microfiltration, Water, Oil, Gas, Air, Industrial, Cartridge, Filtration & Separation, Membrane, Reverse Osmosis, Filtration Equipment, Filter Media, Filtration Supplies, Wastewater, Fuel, Environmental, Storm Water, Dewatering Equipment, Woven, Non Woven, Ultrafiltration, Recruiter Solutions International, RSI, Lisa Sprowls, Dan Regovich, Headhunter Filtration, Filtration Headhunter, Filtration Industry Recruiter, Wastewater and Filtration, Water Treatment, Wastewater
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