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It's the first week of March, and that means it is nearly spring - the time of year when daylight lasts longer each day, when we might attempt a major 'spring clean' or when we take a look at our New Year's goals with renewed optimism and energy.

Why not use the season as an opportunity to jump start your career?

Whether you are currently on assignment with us or not, it's never a bad time to look at your career goals, your professional skills and your network to make sure you are on track. Is there a skill or technology you'd like to learn? Do you enjoy the work you are doing every day, and take pride in it?

To help inspire you in this process, we've put together a list of some of our favorite career and work related blogs:

• * Ask A Manager
• * LinkedIn Blog
• * Happy Mondays

Take your career to the next level with Employment Enterprises!

“Oh, you’re a recruiter? I hate hiring people.”

I hear that all the time. That’s the standard response when I tell people what I do for a living, and it’s often accompanied by a little shiver.

And I get it. Hiring is hard. It’s exhausting, time-consuming, and, if not done correctly, can result in significant long-term corporate pain if the wrong person is brought in.

It doesn’t have to be that way. A proven process - plus the understanding that this is an opportunity for talent and growth - can make all the difference.

The recruiting process is really pretty simple:

1. Identify your need
2. Get the word out
3. Review resumes
4. Phone screens
5. Set interviews
6. Assess candidates
7. Check references
8. Make the offer!

We’ll take it step by step.

Identify your need 

Sounds simple, right? Employee A left. You need to fill Employee A’s job. Pull out the job description. Except … is it really that simple? Take some time to think about it. Do you want to expand the job? Is that same position the best use of corporate resources? Did Employee A bring some skills to the job that aren’t reflected on the job description? Or did things go undone because Employee A couldn’t handle everything? Ask other managers and employees. Think about your organization and your clients. Review the job description. Rewrite the job description. Be sure what skills and experience are needed.

Get the word out 

If you’re not using a recruiter, use your resources. Post your opening on your corporate website. If you’ve got licenses, post your job on the job boards. Advertise in newspapers, both in print and online. Use your social media! Post your opening on LinkedIn and tweet about it. Make your postings short and appealing. Don’t just post the whole HR-generated job description. This is about marketing. If your eyes glaze over reading your ad, prospective candidates’ will, too.

Review resumes 

Start with a quick review. If you’ve got hard and fast requirements, check those first. Are educational needs met? Count number of years of work experience. How long did the jobs last? Did the candidate job-hop? Is there a likely reason? Read the resume from the bottom up: Did the candidate move progressively through his or her career, with promotions and increased responsibility? Any major gaps? Of course, in this region, make sure the candidate is within a reasonable commuting distance. If your candidate meets all of these requirements, then go back and look for the requisite technical experience.

Phone screens

Know the resume before you pick up the phone. Have your questions ready: Why did you leave your jobs? What are you looking for in your next position? Find something casual and personal to chat about – there’s something in every resume – to establish a connection. Be friendly. Be honest, about the job, the company, the management, and the salary.

Set interviews 

Keep in mind that many people job-hunt while already employed. Interview times first thing in the morning, at lunch, and at the end of the day will help the candidate. Let candidates know, realistically, how long their interviews will last, realizing that a two-hour interview is probably inappropriate for a first meeting. Share with them the names and titles of people with whom they will be meeting, that’s only polite. Warn candidates if they’re going to be facing a panel interview, nobody likes to face a Star Tribunal!

Assess candidates

After all interviews are complete, most likely there are some candidates that don’t warrant a second meeting. (Let them know that, by the way! Take the time to send an email or make a phone call. Anybody who takes the time to come in and meet with you deserves that much.) For the remaining candidates, discuss with your interviewing team. Perhaps generate a spreadsheet of qualities and experience and give weights for different attributes, for comparison purposes. The hiring team should agree, at least generally. Once candidates are rated, select the top performers for second interviews.

Check references 

Many organizations prefer to check references before interviews. Personally, I think that’s a huge burden to put on the references. The people you’re calling are professionals with busy schedules, so taking their time for a person who may not even make it past a first interview is not considerate. Also, remember that making all those calls will consume the time of whatever internal staff member is assigned the task. When you check references, realize that a lot of companies, particularly large ones, will follow the legal requirement to only confirm title, start and end dates, and salary, and nothing else. Don’t hold that against the candidate even if you think it’s suspicious. It really is a standard corporate policy. If you have a reference who is claiming that stance but seems to want to talk, start by asking if they would describe the job. Would the reference hire the candidate again? Often if you ease into questions the reference will open up and speak freely.

Make the offer

The salary range and the candidate’s minimum compensation requirement should have been discussed by now. (That should be done in the initial phone conversation.) Neither number, yours or the candidate’s, should be a surprise at this stage. Don’t come in under the range. If you’re going to offer less than the candidate’s minimum, be prepared to explain why he/she should take a pay cut – Excellent benefits? Better commute? Education, travel, or advancement opportunities? Dream career field? But don’t play games. Coming in a few thousand dollars low will save you a little bit of money week to week, but will start your candidate off with a bad taste in his or her mouth. You want this person to like your company, the boss, the team. You want loyalty. Start by giving some. Pay fairly. You’ve gone through a big long process to identify the right candidate, do you really want to risk not getting that person now?

And that’s it. Use the golden rule: treat your candidates as you would want to be treated. Be honest. Be fair. Be polite. Know the job. Enjoy getting to know the person who may be joining your work family!

Need more detail? 

This is just the beginning! There’s more! Lianne Best will be presenting An Employer’s Guide to Hiring – Steps for Success at the Prince William Chamber in Manassas, VA, on February 28, 2013. Registration at 7:45 a.m., program ends 10:00 a.m. Register at www.pwchamber.org.

By Stacey McKinney, Sr. Business Development Manager

Don’t just “network to network”

Define what type of people or businesses are your target audience and GO FOR IT!

Effective business networking is the linking together of individuals who, through trust and relationship building, become walking, talking advertisements for one another. The best approach to building trust in your customer base and with potential customers is to learn about their business and have more of a “givers gain” mentality. The focus is not necessarily what your customer can do for you, but what you can do for them. Networking in this way and positioning yourself as more of a trusted advisor in your industry is a great approach.

People are genuinely more open to engage in conversation or accept a meeting with someone if they feel the meeting is going to prove mutually beneficial.

Essential Networking Skills For Job Seekers

All active job seekers know the first step in looking for a new opportunity is updating and posting their resume online, registering and attending career fairs, as well as utilizing their existing network of professionals to assist in their job search.

However just as companies market their products and services, all job seekers need to market and sell themselves and their skills to potential employers. Don't just post your resume or job search updates, be sure to advertise your resume credentials as much as possible through job boards and social media sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn. Join social media groups that are relative to your profession or join those groups that you may be interested in if looking to make a career change.

The Value of Building Your Professional Network

Building your network increases your ability to find potential new clients and be found by someone who may benefit from your services.

Getting out and about, meeting with clients face to face, attending networking events and utilizing social media sites such as LinkedIn are very valuable networking efforts. Researching your current connections and finding out who their 2nd and 3rd degree connections are is an easy way to continue to build your professional network.

Remember, making yourself accessible, being dependable and building trust among your network is a great way to get recommendations and referrals.

By Lianne Best, Recruiter

My neighbor Stephen just dropped it into conversation as we stood chatting at the fence last year: “You’re a recruiter, right? Maybe you can help me get a job.”

I didn’t know much about Stephen’s background. His parents and I had lived next door to one another for more than 14 years, and I watched him grow up and move out, but largely our conversations were related to shoveling snow and borrowing eggs. Stephen had moved back home about six months earlier, forced by the twists and turns of personal and economic difficulties to rely again on his parents. He wasn’t thrilled about being there but making the best of it.

“I had no idea it was going to be so hard to get a job here,” he said, shaking his head. “This is DC!”

“Send me your resume,” I told him. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Stephen sent his resume to me the next day. Well-formatted and well-written, there were no immediate clues as to why he was having difficulty. Stephen had a bachelor’s degree from Penn State, plus four years’ service in the US Navy, where he was an Aircrewman/Avionics Electronics Technician supporting Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom.  After receiving his honorable discharge, he moved to upstate New York, where he briefly held a management position at a bank, and then moved to a position as a Quality Assurance Flight Inspector. And now he is living in the DC area, smart, educated, disciplined, with an inactive security clearance, and unable to even score an interview.

Unfortunately, Stephen is in by no means in the minority. More than 1 million troops will be transitioning out of the US military over the next five years, and the need to absorb them into the national workforce is daunting. Unemployment figures are unusually high among the veteran population – 8.3% - and shockingly high for their spouses (26%).

Hiring managers - I know, because I did it myself - look at the resumes of transitioning military and don’t know what to make of them; so many of the jobs held seem, on paper, to be very different from standard corporate opportunities.

I did a little research (thanks to SHRM!), and it turns out the military has over 7,000 jobs in more than 100 functional areas. There is an online tool, O*Net that translates and describes military job titles and even provides salary information. It’s clear, easy to use, and very helpful … and shows that the work isn’t different, it’s just called by different terms.

SHRM also pointed out the qualities that veterans bring to their jobs: In their 2012 SHRM Poll: Military Employment, they found that: 

over 90 percent of respondents that hired military talent in the 36 months preceding the poll agreed that those employees demonstrated:

~ A strong sense of responsibility.
~ Working as part of a team under pressure and with a high degree of professionalism.
~ The ability to see a task through to completion.
~ Strong leadership and problem solving skills.
~ The ability to adapt.

Crucially, these same skills appeared among the top ten skills cited in Critical Skills Needs and Resources for the Changing Workforce (2008) copublished by SHRM and The Wall Street Journal/Career Journal.

Yes, I thought, that’s exactly what I know of Stephen. He’s focused, committed, and smart. And, I realized, a light bulb going off, he can write. And he knows the US Navy. And he knows airplanes.

Just a few weeks later, there was a low-level short-term contract opportunity with a federal contractor client. They needed someone to confidentially search backgrounds. Somebody who was focused, committed, and smart. I submitted Stephen’s resume. The client met with him – and had him start the next day. By the time the contract wrapped up a few weeks later, Stephen had proved himself to be the kind of independent, reliable team member they seek, and they made him a permanent offer. Today, less than a year later, Stephen has a much bigger job title and paycheck, and is on his way in the federal contracting world, using all his avionics skills, Naval understanding, and education. He has overcome his non-traditional-looking resume, and his employer is the better for it.