4 Bad Hires that Staffing Agencies Can Help You Avoid - Spark Hire

4 Bad Hires that Staffing Agencies Can Help You Avoid - Spark HireWeve talked a bit about how much hiring mistakes can cost your company. However, being too afraid to make a staffing decision can also cost you valuable time and good candidates. What to do? Consider using a staffing agency to help solve some of your manpower issues. Staffing agencies allow you to hire employees for a pre-determined amount of time, or on a temp-to-hire basis. This provides invaluable insight into your candidates before you put them on your permanent payroll, and helps you steer clear of bad employees. Here are 4 bad hires that staffing agencies can help you avoidThe One Who Doesnt Play NiceLets start with the obvious a new hire that doesnt get along with your existing employees is a bad fit. Hiring through a staffing agency allows a new hire to spend weeks, or even months, working closely with your existing employees. If someone isnt going to get along, youll find out during this trial period. This is an easy way to sidestep office conflict and discontent.The ComplainerHiring someone who doesnt like the job you have available is another common hiring mistake. Many candidates, especially in this job market, feel the need to jump on any job that they are offered even though they may really dislike the work. The trial period provided by a staffing agency will give you time to see how a candidate really feels about working for your company. They wont be able to avoid complaining for long, and then youll know that you should keep looking.The Lazy OneCandidates can talk a big game during an bewerberinterview I was THE HARDEST WORKER at my old office. A candidate who lies about his/her work ethic can be a big hiring mistake. During the trial period provided by your staffing agency, a candidates work ethic will become clear. Youll be able to see how much s/he will really be able to contribute to your company.The One Who Cost Too MuchHiring a candidate for the wrong salary is a very commo n hiring mistake. It is often caused by the pressure to fill an opening quickly, or to reel in top talent. A staffing agency can be a big help here, as well. While employees provided by a staffing agency can be on a temp-to-hire basis, they can also simply be temporary. If youd like the extra few months to conduct a broad and intensive job search, but dont want to lose the productivity during that time, temporary staffing can be a big help. You wont feel pressured to overpay a candidate, and youll have the time you need to make the best possible decision.What hiring mistakes have you avoided through staffing agencies? Tell your best stories belowwe know youve got emIMAGE Courtesy of Flickr bybgottsab

Customize this Outstanding Experienced Police Officers Resume Template

Customize this Outstanding Experienced Police Officers Resume TemplateCustomize this Outstanding Experienced Police Officers Resume TemplatePolice departments continue to recruit officers, and a strong resume can help you stand out to recruiters. Take the time to think strategically about your resume, making koranvers its targeted to the department and position youre applying for.Whether youre applying at a new department or looking for a new role in your current department, your experience as a police officer will be highly sought after. As an experienced police officer, you can highlight your achievements from previous policing roles to demonstrate your empathy, judgement, or leadership skills. Also add your credentials, including academy training and any ons could include led a 10-person task force on gang violence, or collaborated with other experienced staff to train 1012 officers per year.4. How do you list references on a police resume? As you can see in the police resume samp le, it is no longer necessary to put your references on your resume. It is also not recommended to list something like references available upon request. If a recruiter wants to pursue you as a candidate for a position, he or she will assume you have references and will ask for them when ready. It can seem presumptuous to include them from the get-go.5. What goes in the header of a police resume?The header is important because it contains your contact information. If employers decide to interview you, make sure it is easy for them to contact you. Take a look at the police resume sample for an idea of a proper heading.List your name, phone number, professional email address, and any online contact information such as a LinkedIn profile. You can also add your city and zip code, but it is no longer necessary to list your full street address. Get more help by using the resume builder, an effortless way to write your resume.More Law Enforcement and Security ResumesEntry Level Police Offi cers Resume TemplatesPolice Officers Resume Templates

Get Back!

Get BackGet BackIt was January of 1969, and The Beatles were a mess. The recording of an album tentatively titled Get Back was meant to be a back to the basics return to their roots, but personal problems between the Beatles escalated and culminated in George Harrisons walking out on the band.https//vimeo.com/95681569t=0m60sAfter letting feelings calm down a bit, they got together again at their companys headquarters on Saville Row in London. On the afternoon of January 30th, 1969, the Beatles walked out onto their roof and into history with a 42-minute gig that brought central London to a standstill.With Billy Preston joining on keyboards, the Beatles played a great Last Concert that re-energized them and got them through the rest of the year. Featuring now-classic songs such as Get Back and Dont Let Me Down, the videos are a wonderful look at the last live performance of the 20th centurys greatest music phenomenon.And I think the experience is instructive.As The Beatles did, when i ts time to get yourself re-energized and re-enthused, its a great idea to break with the past and throw yourself into the new.Well, with Summer almost behind us, and Labor Day upon us, what can you do this week to get your job, or your job search, reinvigorated? Get out of your den, go for a run, shake your head in the breeze, grow a groovy beard like Paul, and change your routine. It will give you a fresh perspective and a new outlook on things.Oh, and be sure to be as polite as the always-sly John Lennon when he addressed the audience at the end, saying, Id like to say Thank you on behalf of the group and ourselves, and I hope we passed the audition.I hope youre having a great Summer dig a pony this week, ReadersIll be rooting for you.

Accustomed to Your Miserable Job Heres How to Tell If You Have #8216;Golden Handcuffs#8217; Syndrome

Accustomed to Your Miserable Job Here’s How to Tell If You Have #8216;Golden Handcuffs#8217; Syndrome Accustomed to Your Miserable Job Here’s How to Tell If You Have #8216;Golden Handcuffs#8217; Syndrome I’m counting the months/years until I retire. I hate my job, but love the income. My job situation is bound to get better if I just hang in  there. I may not like my current career, but I know I’m good at it. I’m constantly worried about my position being eliminated. I’ve lost interest in my work, but I enjoy the camaraderie of the people. My associates know the caliber of my work. I don’t have to keep proving myself. The chances of my finding a job I will truly enjoy are slim to  none. When friends talk about their new careers, I wish I had the courage to make a change as well. Changing careers is much riskier  than staying where I am. I doubt I can find an equivalent position at another company. I would rather swim with sharks than start a job search. I tend to focus on the negatives of a career change, rather than contemplating the positives. My family and friends think I’m in the catbird seat. They tell me I’d be crazy to make a change. Work isn’t meant to be satisfying. That’s why it’s called work. If you checked one or two of these statements, you may have just had a bad day;  if you checked several, you’re probably stuck in the rut of comfortable  misery. Those who suffer from this malady go through the motions of completing their projects and daily tasks but experience little satisfaction or sense of accomplishment. So, why do professionals cling to their hated occupations? There are many reasons: Many talented professionals question their marketability. Often they’ve been employed by one company for a number of years and find it difficult to believe anyone else will hire them. They may also have no understanding of how their skills and experience can transfer to the world beyond their current company. Optimists and pessimists alike tend to embrace the status quo. Optimists are sure things will get better if they stick around long enough; pessimists assume there are no truly satisfying positions anywhere, so why expend the effort looking for one? “Golden Handcuffs” account for a lot of the comfortable misery.” A prestigious company, attractive compensation package, impressive  title, and the promise of more to come keep people from leaving jobs they hate. When a person is frustrated and unmotivated by their position, simply doing the  job can sap their strength. When just showing up at work each day is a major effort, just imagining the search for  another job adds to the mental fatigue. Feedback from trusted others can cause us to rely on the status quo instead of pursuing something better. It is common for people to stay in jobs they hate because their friends and family question their motives for leaving. A comfortable work environment that doesn’t expect too much, appreciates your work, and surrounds you with friendly colleagues can be a very enticing place, even when the job leaves much to be desired. Lots of professionals stay where they are because they can’t face the prospect of looking for a new opportunity. A job search is hard work and often full of rejection. Unless a merger or downsizing forces them into it, a number of dissatisfied careerists will sacrifice long-term gain to avoid short-term pain.

How To Double-Check Decisions for Gender Discrimination

How To Double-Check Decisions for Gender Discrimination How To Double-Check Decisions for Gender Discrimination Societal norms are the reason why we see some jobs as gender-specific. While changing society’s perspective on gender roles in the workplace is a lofty goal, HR can still make an effort to increase gender diversity by the way it hires. Here are ways to avoid gender discrimination throughout the hiring process. Job Requisite Recruiting The first place to stop gender discrimination and to promote gender diversity in the hiring process is the job requisite. The job’s major responsibilities should be scoured for gender-specific words. According to Time’s “Study: Women Do Not Apply To ‘Male-Sounding’ Jobs,” these words sounded too masculine and deterred women from applying for jobs: assertive, independent, and analytical. In Evidence That Gendered Wording in Job Advertisements Exists and Sustains Gender Inequality, some “female-associated words” were: understanding, supportive and interpersonal. A way to avoid gender discrimination when picking applicants to move forward on and interview is to remove the names on the resume and choose the applicants that will best fit the job. The Interview and Deciding on the Right Candidate Before the interview, HR should be included to review the questions that are going to be asked. Like a job posting, there can be subtle gender-biased words in the interview questions. During the interview, the potential candidate should be interviewed by different members of the team to offer different perspectives. Another tip is to document or transcribe answers to interview questions so you can review later to avoid discrimination. Something helpful would be creating a scorecard of desired attributes and score candidates. This will prevent inadvertent subconscious bias, and the hiring will be based on objective qualities versus a subjective feeling. After Hiring the Candidate After the hiring manager has vetted all of the potential candidates and decided on the right person, make sure that the manager and new hire have completed all of their training on gender diversity issues. Offer quarterly check-ins so they can come to HR in private with any issues. Something that should happen throughout the year is evaluating if the company’s culture is really aligned with diversity. How do the company’s workforce diversity reports compare to companies in the same industry? Keep up with how other companies are tackling the diversity issue and learn from their mistakes as well as their beneficial strategies to make gender diversity a priority.

2013 Salary Survey Engineers Ride the Wave

2013 Salary Survey Engineers Ride the Wave 2013 Salary Survey Engineers Ride the Wave With global health and energy challenges rising, the demand for engineers continues to grow, and thanks to an improved economy and a declining unemployment rate in the U.S., engineering salaries continue to rise as well. For the third consecutive year, respondents to the 2013 Engineering Income and Salary Survey, conducted by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), reported an average increase in salaries over the previous year. A total of 10,627 engineers from the U.S. responded to the online salary survey between April 1, 2012 and March 31, 2013, providing insights into salaries and the job market. The survey data revealed that the average total annual income, including bonuses, for an engineer in the U.S. was $104,303, nearly 0.8% higher than the $103,497 figure reported in the 2012 survey and almost 4.5% more than the $99,738 figure reported in the 2011 survey. Thats a nearly 5% increase over three years. According to the 2013 survey, about 75.6% of all respondents indicated a base salary increase in the past year. Out of 10,627 respondents polled in the survey, 1,777 engineers (16.7%) said they changed employers and 1,892 (17.8%) got promotions. Income by length of experience (full-time salaried only). Job Experience The engineers who saw their salaries increase consistently were those with increased engineering experience. The median income of full-time salaried respondents increased regularly from $55,000 for those with under one year of experience to $130,000 for those with 25 years of experience or more. Also, engineers who continued to pursue higher education received higher compensation. Full-time salaried respondents holding doctoral degrees in engineering have a median income of $118,000. Those with an M.S. in engineering earn a median of $95,000 and those with a B.S. in engineering earn a median income of $85,276. Those holding a doctorate in engineering earn a median 38.0% more than those with a B.S. in engineering. Finally, full-time salaried survey respondents holding an M.B.A. or an M.B.A. and an M.A. or M.S. have higher median incomes than those holding an M.S. in engineering. Job Location Like the last two years, engineers in the Pacific Southwest States took home the highest median salary of $110,000. The South Central States ($105,000) were second, followed by the Upper Mountain States ($98,005). The lowest full-time salaried median incomes were found in the Central Plains States ($87,525), the Pacific Northwest States ($90,000), and the Great Lakes States ($91,000). 10 highest incomes by metropolitan area (full-time salaried only). Per metropolitan area, the highest full-time salaried median income was found in Wichita, KS ($129,500); Albuquerque, NM ($127,000); Ventura, CA (126,000); Bakersfield, CA ($125,386); and Houston, TX ($124,000). The lowest full-time salaried median incomes found were in Fort Lauderdale, FL ($59,125); San Luis Obispo-Atascadero-Paso Robles, CA ($68,250); Des Moines, IA ($68,300); Nashville, TN ($70,081); and Duluth-Superior, MN-WI ($71,100). Job Discipline Job discipline played a key role in what salary engineers took home and like last year, respondents working in ocean engineering received the highest full-time salaried median income ($137,763). This group is followed by those in minerals and metals ($133,500), offshore ($132,258), petroleum ($130,000), computer ($124,000), fire protection ($123,000), and nuclear ($119,000). Mechanical engineers reported a median income of $100,000. At the other end of the full-time salaried median income spectrum are those employed in optical, plumbing, corrosion, geotechnical, civil, and agriculture (all between $68,354 and $80,000). The highest full-time salaried median incomes of the 27 industry groups studied were received by respondents employed in petroleum/natural gas products ($120,000), communication services ($120,000), utilities pipelines ($119,050), and food, beverage, and tobacco products ($112,349). Those receiving the lowest full-time salaried median incomes are employed by a state government ($76,000), transportation services ($76,900), private practice ($80,000), local government ($88,000), and fabricated metal products ($88,590). Engineers with a P.E. license reported a median income of $104,132, up more than 4% from 2012. Engineers with no professional registration or certification reported income of $98,000. For engineers who reported an additional license or certification, such as environmental or land surveyor, median income was about $5,000 more than a P.E. Job Skills Overall, ASMEs Engineering Income and Salary Survey showed that 2012-2013 was a good year for mechanical engineers. As the worlds population increases, so will the demands on the next generation of engineers to provide solutions for global challenges. Mechanical engineers will be at the forefront of solving these problems. According to ASMEs President Madiha El Mehelmy Kotb, to show that mechanical engineering is an exciting career, We need to communicate the things engineers do and the impact they have on everyday life. There is a footprint of mechanical engineering in almost everything we do in life. Its important to remember that and celebrate that. Kotbs advice to young students considering a career in engineering is: The future is waiting for them. Billions of jobs, well-respected and stimulating job opportunities are waiting for them to conquer. It takes hard work to succeed in anything that we do and the engineering profession is no exception. Download the executive summary of the report and look out for new additions, including a salary calculator, in ASMEs 2014 salary survey. For Further Discussion It takes hard work to succeed in anything that we do and the engineering profession is no exception.Madiha El Mehelmy Kotb, President, ASME

The reason you should always be aiming higher

The reason you should always be aiming higher The reason you should always be aiming higher James Carville and Paul Begala  tell a story  about the choice a lion faces in deciding to hunt for a mouse or an antelope. “A lion is fully capable of capturing, killing, and eating a field mouse,” they explain. “But it turns out that the energy required to do so exceeds the caloric content of the mouse itself.” Antelopes, in contrast, are much bigger animals, so “they take more speed and strength to capture.” But once captured, an antelope can provide days of food for the lion.The story, as you may have guessed, is a microcosm for life. Most of us go after the mice, instead of the antelopes. We perceive the mouse as a sure thing, and the antelope as more risky. Mice are everywhere; antelopes are few and far between. What’s more, everyone around us is busy hunting mice. We assume that, if we decide to go for antelopes, we might fail and make a fool out of ourselves.This is also the moral of the Icarus myth. His father, the craftsman Daedalus, built wings out of wax for himself and his son to escape the island of Crete. Daedalus warned his son to follow his flight path and not fly too close to the Sun.You probably know what happened next: Icarus ignored his father’s warnings and soared near the Sun. His wings melted, sending Icarus on a plunge into the sea, where he tragically drowned.The lessons of the myth are clear: Those who soar melt their wings and die. Those who stay the course and obey instructions escape the island and survive.There was a guy in the 1970s who rode his way to the top by rejecting this myth. He initially became famous by lifting some weights. He then made some movies. He then governed a state that has  the world’s fifth largest economy. In his surprisingly good autobiography,  Total Recall, Arnold Schwarzenegger writes: “When every aspiring actor was trying to land bit parts in movies, I held out to be a leading man. When every politician tries to work his or her way up from local office, I went straight for the gover norship.”We assume that we’re not cut out to aim straight for the top. We believe that the kind of people who can fly high have better wings immune to melting.Michelle Obama dispelled this myth in a recent interview. “Here is the secret,” she  said. “I have been at probably every powerful table that you can think of, I have worked at nonprofits, I have been at foundations, I have worked in corporations, served on corporate boards, I have been at G-summits, I have sat in at the UN: They are not that smart.”Let me repeat that:  They are not that smart.They just know what most of us never learned: There’s far less competition at the top. Everyone else is busy flying low, chasing mice, assuming they can’t be the governor, the manager, or the leading actor.There’s a second half to the Icarus myth- one that you probably haven’t heard. In addition to telling Icarus to not to fly too high, Daedalus also told him not to fly too  low  because the water would ruin his wings .Yet the second half of the myth doesn’t make the cut. Society seduced us into believing that flying lower is safer than flying higher, that coasting is better than soaring, and that small dreams are preferable to big ones.Altitude, as any pilot will tell you, is your friend. If your engine quits when you’re flying high, you’ve got options for gliding your plane to safety. But at low altitudes, the possibilities in flight- like the possibilities in life- are more limited (the  Hudson River  might be your only bet).So, next time, aim a little higher. Instead of going for a master’s, apply for a PhD. Don’t look for a job comfortably within your reach; aim for one seemingly above your resume.Take comfort in knowing that Daedalus had his physics all wrong. Air gets cooler, not hotter, as you ascend.Your wings won’t melt. You’ll grow the ones you need on the way up. And even if you don’t reach the Sun, you’ll soar higher than you would have before.[Inspiration:  Seth Go din, The Icarus Deception].Ozan Varol is a rocket scientist turned law professor and bestselling author.  Click here  to download a free copy of his e-book, The Contrarian Handbook: 8 Principles for Innovating Your Thinking. Along with your free e-book, you’ll get the Weekly Contrarian - a newsletter that challenges conventional wisdom and changes the way we look at the world (plus access to exclusive content for subscribers only).  This  article  first appeared on  OzanVarol.com.