FURTHER SCREENING APPLICANTS WITH A PHONE INTERVIEW

Over the last few weeks, we’ve examined the best way to handle hiring staff in today’s job market. Just as it is a buyer’s market in real estate, it is also an employer’s market in the work world. With unemployment remaining stubbornly high, most job postings garner lots of interest. Except for extremely high-skill jobs, most open positions today have many applicants. Even high-skill positions get loads of applicants, many of whom are under-qualified or just plain unqualified for the job. It is then the task of the HR or department manager to sort the wheat from the chaff. Continue reading →

SCREENING APPLICANTS WITH A PAPER INTERVIEW

For the last few weeks, we examined whether the timing is right for companies to start hiring again.  As some sectors see business pick up, companies in those industries are able, once again, to add staff after years of hiring freezes. Once the decision to hire is made, the next step is to formulate a solid job description of the ‘right candidate’ including not only the technical skills and work experience required for the job but also the personality type, soft skills and innate abilities that best fit the company. With a clear and precise picture in mind, it is easier to determine the best candidates from a pool of applicants.  Continue reading →

FINDING THE RIGHT CANDIDATE – AVOIDING THE SQUARE PEG IN THE ROUND HOLE

Last week, we explored whether it made sense for businesses to begin hiring again. The decision to hire requires careful consideration. As business picks up, some companies — after years of layoffs, hiring freezes and no-growth policies – are considering adding again to their payrolls. Ultimately, though, every company will eventually have to hire staff at one point or another due to normal factors such as departures, family relocation, and retirement of existing staff. Continue reading →

DECIDING WHEN TO HIRE AGAIN

The economy has been in the doldrums for a while. To stay afloat, many businesses – from real estate and financial firms to retailers and manufacturers – have shed staff in order to pare down their payroll. Still, despite rebounds in the stock market, stabilization of the banking system, and some signs of growth, the national unemployment rate remains stubbornly stuck at about 9 1/2%. Businesses, particularly small businesses which make up the vast majority of jobs in the U.S., have resisted hiring new staff or hiring back laid off staff. Why? Businesses won’t hire until consumers start spending again. In turn, consumers aren’t spending because they either don’t have a job, don’t have a high-enough paying job or are worried about losing their job. It is a catch-22. Continue reading →

PART 2: LOW-COST STRATEGIES

There is a myth that bloggers and webmasters should not spend money on advertising.  That myth originated from success stories of people who managed to create popular websites without spending any money on marketing.  The fact is that most of those successful sites were pioneers in their niche.  They became popular back when there was little competition.  Today, the market is crowded and there are thousands (millions?) of websites and blogs competing for audiences even in small market segments. Thus, paid promotional techniques are becoming an important factor in any successful Blog marketing strategy.  Here are a few for you to consider. Continue reading →

PART 1: NO-COST STRATEGIES

You took the plunge and launched a Blog!  Congratulations.  You joined the millions in the Blogosphere who are sharing their thoughts and opinions with the world.  It is a big commitment.  That took courage!  

Perhaps your Blog is about your business, career or occupation?  Commercial real estate.  Law.  Accounting.  Lending.  Etc.  Or perhaps your Blog is focused on a pastime about which you are passionate?  Cooking.  Travel.  Bicycling.  Snowboarding.  Politics.  Etc. Whether personal or professional, the most important next step for your Blog is to have readers.  Now that you’ve designed and launched your Blog and have blogged a few times, you’ll want people to read it or else you’ll lose interest in Blogging.  After all, if you were writing only for yourself, you wouldn’t be posting it online and it would be called a Diary, not a Blog.  Continue reading →

By all accounts, Blogging has become a human-technological phenomena. According to one estimate, there were about 1.2 billion English-speaking Blogs in the Blogosphere as of the beginning of 2010. For anyone thinking about launching a Blog, that number can be intimidating. Here is another Blog statistic even more daunting… perhaps as many as 95% of those Blogs are ‘dead’… meaning they’ve had no activity for three months or more. How do you compete against a billion or so other Blogs for readership (or even 5% of a 1.2 billion Blogs) and how do you ensure your Blog doesn’t become part of the ocean of dead gigabytes cluttering up the Internet superhighway? Continue reading →

Cough-cough. Achoo. Ache. Sniffle. Few things are more uncomfortable than a summer cold at work. During the winter, people understand and expect to get sick or have colleagues who are sick. But in the summer, with the sun shining and everyone sporting a beach tan, it is particularly irritating to be sick. Somehow, summer colds generate less empathy. It doesn’t seem to matter that germs know no seasons and are year-round nuisances. Continue reading →

PART 2: CELL PHONES

Last week, we began a series on the rules of etiquette at the workplace in the age of technology. With the advent of technological devices, such as cell phones, instant messaging, email and the like, the rules of office etiquette are less clear. We posed the question: what is appropriate behavior when it comes to use of technology tools at work? Continue reading →

PART 1: EMAIL MANNERS

We all know it is important to have good manners at work.  Politeness is what makes it possible to work closely with others in a peaceful and productive way.  When it comes to office etiquette, most people know the basics.  Here is a baker’s dozen of examples of general office etiquette. Continue reading →