Do Some Good

As I get older, I realize it is a good thing to do some good. At CoreTechs, while doing our best to stay in business, we also want to contribute something to the world in general. We have adopted the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital as our place to help. We have donated over the years, but we are trying to up that contribution.

In the month of December, all placements we make we will donate $100.00 to the Children's Hospital.

In addition, we are sponsoring a bike team (www.ctscycling.com) . That bike team has committed to donating all profits it makes to the Children's Hospital too! If you are into riding bikes, check them out. You can ride and help at the same time.

Let us know what you think about the cycling team. We are interested in hearing!

Clean up the resume

We see a lot of resumes every day. We speak to many people who are looking for work. I notice a trend that gets people in trouble in their job search. The key to a resume is to get you the interview, not the job. So make sure the resume is tailored to the job, then expand in the interview. Keep the resume straight forward and simple. Don't write a book. Use bullet points!

Regarding the resume, it has become fashionable to only list years of employment. So now, we see resumes with date ranges such as 2008 to 2009. Does that mean Dec to Jan (2 months) or Jan to Dec (2 years)? Well, it usually means 2 months and hiring managers have figured that out. So, like the IRS looking for flags, this is a flag to managers looking for candidates. It is better to list specifics and even put in parentheses how long you were there along with reason for leaving. Make it a very short reason (2 years, left for better opportunity), or (2 months, temp assignment ended).

Also, make sure to list skills you can speak too. Managers are now prone to ask questions about anything on your resume, regardless if it applies their position. So if you are applying for a Web developer position, but you list QA as well. Make sure you can answer questions about QA too, otherwise, take it off the resume.

The Art of Negotiating

The world is getting better. That does not mean it is fully recovered. Power still resides with the money, which means the power is with the company and not the candidate. So how do you negotiate when the power is not in your hands?

First you need to draw a line in your mind. What is the number and what are the benefits you really want and what will you accept? Once you know your walk away benefits and salary, you will be more comfortable negotiating. Some companies (the bigger companies especially) have a top salary they can pay for a given position. So it may make more sense to negotiate benefits and title. It is also worthwhile to negotiate a six month review with the possibility of a raise at that point. Once inside, and showing your worth, companies are more likely to be amenable to what you want.

One key I have noticed in negotiating is the ability to ensure the conversations do not get confrontational. Make sure to start the conversation with an assurance that you want the position and that you look forward to supporting the company. Then in the middle state your case and end again with a reiteration of the fact that you are excited about the company and the future potential. No one wants to hire a pain in the rear, but they are open to negotiating with someone positive and still assertive. Good luck!

Get a job!

As a job searcher, it is important to update your resume on all the Internet sites on a regular basis. Also, go to our site and update your info. Simply click this link: http://candidate.coretechsinc.com/candidatelookup.asp

Interviewing Tips!

We send many candidates to various clients through out the United States. We do our best to prepare them to do well in an interview. It is still amazing the number of people that shoot themselves in the foot. So, here are a few tips to do well:

1. Read the job description and understand what position the company is hiring for!
2. Review the company's web site and be familiar with what the company does. Approximately 65% of the people interviewing don't bother to take the time to do this. When asked about the company they answer, "I don't know what you guys do" or some variation. Gee, sure would love to have that person on my team.
3. Read your resume. Some interviewers say if the info is on their resume it is fair game to ask them about. So even if the skill listed has nothing to do with the job you are applying, assume you may be asked a question about that skill. If you can not speak to it, remove it!
4. Come up with some insightful questions about the job and the company. During the interview you will be asked if you have any questions. This is the time to show you are interested and have done your homework. This is NOT the time to ask about salary or benefits.
5. If asked what sort of job you are looking for, or where do you want to be in five years, than have your answer apply to the job you are interviewing for. An example would be if interviewing for a sales job, "I love sales and would like to find something exactly like the job description you have." I have asked that question when interviewing and have heard, "I am looking for anything right now.", or "I am open to either sales or accounting". The interviewer wants to know this is what you want. So make that plain to them.
6. Don't get comfortable! Some interviewers try to put candidates at ease so they can see how they act normally and not in an interview situation. Be wary of disclosing too much info. This is not the time to talk about how many beers you used to drink in college.
7. Finally, during the interview, act professional. That means sit up, look the interviewer in the eye, speak clearly and dress well.

Of course if you don't care if you get the job, just ignore all this and keep doing whatever the heck you want...Good luck out there!

Our View of the World

It is the middle of September and the news reports claim the US is no longer in a recession. Of course that does not mean we are healthy either. From a staffing perspective, we are bumping around the bottom. Things have improved and clients we speak with are feeling more positive. They have not picked up the hiring, but they now are able to give us info about real projects scheduled to take place in the next quarter or two. From all the talk I hear, 2010 should be a slightly up year, which in the scheme of things is a huge improvement over 2009.

In speaking with a lead economist from Wells Fargo this morning, she says that she expects interest rates to stay reasonable for the next nine months to a year and that inflation should not be a large factor until 2011. Also she stated she expects hiring to pick up in 2010. The theory goes that companies hire temps first and once fully confident in their own recovery start to bring on direct hire employees. Knocking on wood that the theory holds up this recovery!

Also, if you are a candidate, make sure to update your profile in our system so we can contact you with new jobs! Just click the link to find your record. http://candidate.coretechsinc.com/candidatelookup.asp

Don't hire temps direct!

In a rough economy companies are trying their best to save costs anyway they can, I get that. One place it really does not make sense to try and "save" is on hiring contractors direct. Microsoft used to do this all the time until a contractor filed a class action against them for discrimination. How's that you ask? Well, back in the dot com days, MS hired people on a temp basis, but paid them with MS checks, and no middle man. Since they called these people temps, they did not offer them any benefits, like stock options, health coverage, 401k and so on. When stock prices went crazy, all these so called temps, missed out on becoming instant millionaires (remember those days?). Anyway, they sued and MS lost. The judge asked, is the "temp" doing the same job as a perm person? Are they receiving payment from the same source (a MS check)? Answer was yes and they lost.

Now days the possibility of an instant millionaire no longer is a big risk. What is a risk though is that same discrimination. This time for not allowing the temp health care coverage, or not allowing them a 401k that others get. If they are getting a check directly from the employer, than why are they not getting the benefits? If the temp gets hurt running, or skiing can they come after their employer for medical bills? They can if they did not receive medical coverage other employees were offered.

Last point, are you withholding payroll taxes for the temp? Are you paying employer payroll contributions for that temp? If not, and you are saying the temp is a 1099, make sure they meet the definition of a 1099. That means you pay them by the project (not the hour), you do not manage their time or work. You don't provide them with any company supplies (computer, desk, chair, space...). If any of these items don't fit what you are doing, the IRS will have an issue with your company...and don't mess with the IRS, they don't seem like such nice people.

For all these reasons, we suggest using an agency to either payroll your person or help you find them and then payroll them. Yes, it is self serving since we are an agency, but it is the world right now and for a few bucks an hour, why not have this security?

Essential additions for the workplace vocabulary:

BLAMESTORMING: Sitting around in a group, discussing why a deadline was missed or a project failed, and who was responsible.
SEAGULL MANAGER: A manager, who flies in, makes a lot of noise, craps on everything, and then leaves.
ASSMOSIS: The process by which some people seem to absorb success and advancement by kissing up to the boss rather than working hard.
SALMON DAY: The experience of spending an entire day swimming upstream only to get screwed and die in the end.
CUBE FARM: An office filled with cubicles.
PRAIRIE DOGGING: When someone yells or drops something loudly in a cube farm, and people's heads pop up over the walls to see what's going on.
MOUSE POTATO: The on-line, wired generation's answer to the couch potato.
SITCOMS: Single Income, Two Children, Oppressive Mortgage. What yuppies turn into when they have children and one of them stops working to stay home with the kids.
STRESS PUPPY: A person who seems to thrive on being stressed out and whiney.

Hiring Someone- Some Keys

Through our work we speak with many people in charge of hiring. One thing I have noticed is that interviewing is treated as an art and not a science. By this I mean, it rare an interviewer actually takes time to prepare for an interview. What then happens is that hiring decisions are made based on "feelings" or intuition. Hard way to ensure you are finding the best available person for your position.

The other issue I see consistently is an interviewer asks the candidate to make stuff up or answer what the interviewer wants to hear. Questions such as, "what are your strengths?", "what can you improve?", "where do you want to be in five years?" really tell you nothing of use. So what should you do?

First, realize that research has shown people are creatures of habit and that 85% of what they have done and how they react to situations in the past is exactly how they will perform and react in the future. So, ask questions about their experiences. Some sample questions:

1) When you found your largest account at your past company, how did you find it?
2) How did you solve a large issue that may have come up at your past company?
3) When you had a disagreement in your past company, what was it and how did you solve it?

Now here is the kicker, when you check references, make sure to check the answers to the above with the reference. Ask the reference the same questions about your candidate. If the answers pan out and are to your liking, you have found a good candidate! Good luck!

Resumes and the mistakes I see.

I see a lot of resumes. Probably 10 to 15 a day. One thing that would make life better for the job seeker is to understand that the resume will not get you the job. What it will do is peek the interest of the hiring manager to want to have a conversation. That is it. If you understand that, than you can better set up the resume to get you an interview. Here are a couple of the common mistakes I see.

1) The "objective" is not a fit for the job. If you are applying for a QA position but you list that your objective is to be a programmer, you have just told the hiring manager, you really don't want the job and will leave the first chance you get. So remove the "Objective" or make it very specific to the job you are applying for.
2) Way too much info. A manager will spend four seconds per resume. Make it easy to scan. Do bullet points. Highlight just the info that is listed in the job description so you look like a great fit.
3) Do a spell check for goodness sakes!

Make the resume easy for the hiring manager to scan and see a good fit. A manager will not "work" to see if you are a fit. If they don't see it in four seconds, you will lose out!

Good luck!