Berks & Beyond Blog

Are you completely prepared for your next interview?

If you answered “Yes,” you definitely need to hear about this article.

According to a recent CBS MoneyWatch article by Robert Pagliarini, the typical job seeker is woefully unprepared for his next interview – and doesn’t even know it.  Despite conducting his research, rehearsing answers to tough interview questions and perfecting his 30-second “personal sales pitch,” the average job hunter commonly overlooks one critical element – psychological tells.

So, what’s a psychological tell?  Simply put, it’s the hidden tendencies, issues and mental roadblocks an individual inadvertently exposes during an interview.  Stemming from cognitive distortions – the limiting or weak habits of thinking that prevent someone from seeing things as they really are – psychological tells can undermine personal growth and success.  Ultimately, negative psychological tells can cost a candidate the job.

When you head into your next interview, make sure you’re fully prepared.  Appear confident and project a positive attitude by avoiding these cognitive distortions that lead to negative psychological tells:

1. Fallacy of Fairness:  Do you feel angry and frustrated because you think you know what’s fair, but life and other people won’t agree with you?  If so, it can cause you to sound like a whiny complainer:  “I worked hard for my last employer for three years – and I still got laid off.”  The reality?  The employer may have been forced to downsize because of the economy.
2. Filtering:  Do you see the world through a special filter that highlights negative details and filters out the positive ones?  If so, it can portray you as an inherently pessimistic person:  “When my last company went out of business, it was a disaster.  I should’ve jumped ship before being taken down with it.”  The reality?  The company may have gone out of business, but you should also point out the positive things you took away from an otherwise negative experience.
3. External Control Fallacy:  Do you view your behavior and success as something that is beyond your control (i.e., generated by something outside yourself)?  If so, it can make you sound like a helpless victim of fate and circumstance:  “I wanted to go back and get my degree, but there was nothing I could do.”  The reality?  Nobody wants to hire someone who believes he has no responsibility for his own life choices.
4. Always Being Right:  Will you go to any length to demonstrate why you’re right?  If so, it can portray you as single-minded and lacking mental flexibility:  “Even though we lost the account, there is nothing I would have done differently.”  The reality?  You should admit your mistakes, instead of minimizing them or suggesting you don’t make any.  None of us is perfect, and a smart employer will not hire someone who claims to be.

Want to learn more?  Follow this link to the full article.

The truth is, it can be difficult to recognize these cognitive distortions (and the psychological tells they lead to) in ourselves.  But without knowing it, we all communicate our deep psychological beliefs, attitudes and weaknesses every time we open our mouths.  The trick is to learn how to control the messages we send when interviewing.

So if you suspect mental roadblocks like these my be hindering you in an interview situation, ask a trusted friend for his honest opinion.  Try to determine where your negative or faulty thinking stems from, and then practice more positive approaches to explaining career difficulties.  Bottom line, it’s better to identify and correct your thinking now than miss out on job opportunities down the road.

As a leading Central and Southern Pennsylvania employment agency, Berks & Beyond can help you sharpen your interview skills and ultimately land a great temporary, temp-to-hire or direct hire position with leading employers in Berks County and beyond.  Contact a Recruiter today to learn more or Search Jobs in Southern and Central Pennsylvania.

When it comes to the ways Pennsylvania employers classify employees, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

More and more, federal government agencies are cracking down on companies that violate worker classification guidelines.  The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has strict regulations about employment classification – specifically, how much control the employer has over the way work is performed.  To ensure compliance, the IRS is increasing on-site audits.

At the state level, lawmakers are also drawing a line in the sand.  Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and California are among those that have enacted worker misclassification laws, imposing severe penalties on violating employers.

Given the risks, why would an employer classify a true employee as an independent contractor?  One word – money.  Classifying workers as independent contractors helps a business significantly reduce employment-related expenses by:

• eliminating Social Security, Medicare and unemployment taxes;
• working around overtime and anti-discrimination regulations, as well as minimum wage levels;
• avoiding costly fringe benefits, such as health insurance, vacation pay and sick pay.

But while it may be tempting to save money this way, it’s also dangerous.  If a business owner is found to have misclassified employees, the IRS will collect delinquent employment taxes and may also impose severe financial penalties.  Misclassification can also lead to a host of other unpleasant consequences, including problems with benefits eligibility, work authorization and ultimately the company’s reputation.

The rules governing worker classification are notoriously complex.  Still, as a responsible employer, it’s important to follow a proper vetting process to ensure you are properly classifying independent contractors.  If one or more of these criteria applies to your contractors, they may actually be improperly classified (according to IRS guidelines):

• the employer has control over the means and/or methods of accomplishing work;
• the employer furnishes tools, equipment and/or materials for the worker;
• the worker is not allowed to work for other employers;
• the worker has agreed to work for the employer for an indefinite length of time.

These general criteria are no substitute for professional legal advice.  If you suspect you may be misclassifying employees, be safe and consult your attorney.

Temporary and Contract Staffing Services – A Smart Way to Prevent Worker Misclassification

If you have work to be performed which is temporary, project-based or otherwise outside of your core business, consider using temporary or contract staff – as opposed to independent contractors.  Berks & Beyond’s temporary and contract employees can help you complete critical projects, access specialized expertise and avoid the pitfalls of worker misclassification.  Contact us today to learn more.

Hiring decisions are critical to your company’s success.  Logically, you should do everything in your power to make sure your candidates are upstanding, law-abiding citizens with spotless criminal records, right?

Maybe, maybe not.

While it may be reasonable for you to not want to hire an axe murderer, you need to be careful about your company’s criminal background policies.  They could cost you dearly.  In fact, Pepsi Beverages recently agreed to pay $3.13 million to settle a lawsuit brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over alleged discriminatory background screening practices.

The case centered around Pepsi’s policy to not hire applicants on a permanent basis whose background checks revealed an arrest that did not lead to conviction for positions at their factory.  The EEOC said that 300 black applicants were denied permanent employment due to arrests that did not lead to convictions.

The policy was deemed discriminatory because there was “reasonable cause to believe that the criminal background check policy formerly used by Pepsi discriminated against African Americans in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.”

Some experts predict that these types of enforcement actions will only increase with time.  So what’s a responsible employer to do?

In some cases, criminal background checks are a necessary part of business.  Too often, candidates give incomplete – or downright false – information, because they know that certain facts about past actions may disqualify them from consideration.  If you do choose to conduct a background check to get more information about an applicant, use these common-sense tips:

• Get the applicant’s consent in writing – before you check anything.  Explain clearly what you plan to check and how you will gather information.  This gives candidates the opportunity to remove themselves from consideration before embarrassing details are discovered, and it prevents applicants from later claiming that their privacy has been violated.
• Make sure your inquiries are relevant to the job in question.  If you are hiring a security guard who will carry a weapon, it’s reasonable to want to check for past criminal convictions.  If you’re hiring an administrative assistant, however, a criminal background check may be unwarranted.  As a reminder, Pennsylvania only allows employers to consider felony and misdemeanor convictions to the extent that they relate to the applicant’s suitability for a specific position.
• Apply your policies consistently.  Conduct the same checks for every candidate who makes the “final cut” and is being considered for a certain job.
• When in doubt, consult with your attorney.  It’s smartest and safest to work with an attorney when reviewing and/or changing your criminal background check policy.

Minimize Your Employment Risks with Berks & Beyond. 

As our temporary and contract employees’ employer of record, we assume all employment-related risks.  When we send you temporary employees, rest assured they are thoroughly screened and authorized to work for your organization.

To make staffing safer and simpler for you, Berks & Beyond chooses to participate in E-Verify.  Since 2007, every employee we’ve placed has been screened with this system.  Want to learn more?  Contact Berks & Beyond today.

When it comes to staffing, recruiting and talent management, the one thing you can count on is change.

Each December/January, staffing and HR experts publish their predictions for the upcoming year.  Here are a few of the top picks which will likely affect employers throughout Central and Southern Pennsylvania:

Rapid increase in mobile technology as a platform for recruiting.  Dr. John Sullivan, a highly respected thought leader in HR, says that if 2011 was the year of social media, 2012 will be “The Year of the Mobile Platform.”  By the end of this year, Sullivan predicts that mobile technology will have become the dominant communications and interaction platform in use by leading-edge companies.  As such, talent management leaders should invest in recruiting initiatives that leverage smartphone and tablet technology.

• Staffing tip:  Work with a staffing partner who already incorporates social media as part of its recruiting strategy (like Berks & Beyond).  Staffing companies that keep pace with changes in technology will have a distinct recruiting advantage as mobile platforms take an even stronger hold.

Unemployment will remain high.  Dr. Ira Wolfe, author of The Perfect Labor Storm 2.0, predicts that we will continue to experience relatively high unemployment for as much as 10 years.  While this may lead you to assume that you won’t need a staffing service to recruit top talent, that’s not necessarily the case.  Wolf says that despite high unemployment rates, employers are finding it increasingly difficult to find people with the mix of hard and soft skills they need.

• Staffing tip:  Beyond matching traditional skills, work with your provider to identify the soft skills (the ability to fit in, work collaboratively, etc.) needed for success in your available position.  Your staffing firm can leverage its network of specialized experts to pinpoint candidates with the skills, traits and experience to thrive in your environment – all while saving you time and money.

Workers will continue to move away from long-term employment with one company.  Experts predict that contract, part-time and other non-traditional employment arrangements will increase, due to the recession and increased life span.  Gen X workers do not subscribe to the notion that you have to sit at a desk to work, so they’re much more receptive to contract and remote work.

• Staffing tip:  Work with your staffing partner to shift your thinking about how work gets done in your company.  With non-traditional employment arrangements becoming the norm, top talent is now more receptive than ever to shorter-term, project-based work.   Your staffing partner can show you the most cost-effective ways to use temporary and contract staffing to accomplish your goals.

Retention issues will increase dramatically.  Because most corporate retention programs have been so severely degraded, Sullivan predicts that turnover rates in high-demand occupations will increase by 25% this year.  In fact, retention could turn out to be the highest economic impact area in all of talent management.

• Staffing tip:  Work with a staffing provider that treats its employees well.  The better a staffing firm treats its employees, the better those employees will perform for you – and the more likely they’ll be to stay on through the assignment’s duration.  To reward and retain our employees, Berks & Beyond provides its temporary and contract employees with benefits, value-added services and free online training resources.

Contact Berks & Beyond to discuss how these staffing trends will impact your business.  As a leading staffing firm serving Central and Southern Pennsylvania, we can help you develop a strategic, proactive workforce strategy that helps you capitalize on the changes in our industry.

The following top candidates are highly skilled, motivated and ready to go to work for you:

MANAGEMENT PROFESSIONAL in Pottstown, PA

Candidate Initials: G. R. B.

Skills and Experience: Solid ethics, true professionalism and an excellent work history – combined with years of management experience in both manufacturing and customer service – ensure this individual will thrive as part of your management team.  Diverse experience includes: managing five departments and hundreds of employees; serving on teams to improve quality and safety; production management in the direct mail and billing industry; military experience.  Act fast – this candidate won’t last long!

Desired Pay: $20 / hr.

For more information on how this candidate could become part of your team, please contact Heidi in our Pottstown office at 484.945.0516 or e-mail Heidi at Heidi@berksandbeyond.com.

ADMINISTRATIVE PROFESSIONAL in Reading, PA

Candidate Initials: C. F.

Skills and Experience: Well-rounded individual with extensive, stable work history in the manufacturing industry.  Specialized experience in administrative support and accounting functions, including: budgets and operational analysis; strong accounts payable skills; administrative support to VPs and Controllers.  Excellent communication, interpersonal, organizational, customer service and computer skills.  This top-notch candidate is open to temporary, temp-to-hire and direct placement opportunities.

Desired Pay: $13 – 15 / hr.

To learn more about this candidate, please contact Allison in our Reading office at Allison@berksandbeyond.com or call 610.376.9675.

Fact:  the best time to find a job is while you still have a job.

Unfortunately, however, a large portion of the job-hunting population is unemployed – and has been for awhile.  For these job seekers, jobless discrimination is a major, and seemingly unfair, obstacle on the path to employment.

Despite numerous EEO laws and safeguards, some employers ignore the résumés sent to them by job seekers who aren’t working.  These employers believe that requiring that a candidate be gainfully employed is just “smart business” – helping them control the flood of applications and filter out “damaged goods” before spending valuable time and resources on screening and interviewing.

If you’re unemployed and looking for work, it’s hard to see the logic in these hiring practices.

Now is a time to stay strong.  Here is some sound advice for beating jobless discrimination – before it beats you:

• Forgive yourself – and move on.  Losing a job is nothing unusual, especially these days.  Mergers, cost-cutting measures and total shutdowns have forced countless people out of their jobs over the past few years.  Whatever your reason for being unemployed, you need a positive mindset to tackle what may be a tough job search.  The best thing you can do is forgive yourself for being out of work, and then move on.
• If you’ve only been out of work for a short time (a few weeks or months), invest a lot of time and energy into networking and informational interviews.  This will help you get past the initial human resources screening that would eliminate you from consideration.  Use networking as a tool to demonstrate your willingness to work hard, and your drive to find a job may overcome the bias against you as a person out of work.
• Ignore the verbiage in job posts that suggests an employer intends to discriminate based on recent employment status.  Just because the discriminatory language is present in a job listing doesn’t mean you have to adhere to the request!  If your job skills and experience are a good fit for the posting, by all means apply for that position – regardless of your employment situation.
• Consider adjusting your résumé.  If you’ve been out of work for awhile, you may want to switch from a chronological to functional résumé format.  This will allow you to lead with your skills and qualifications, outside the context of your employment history.  Additionally, you may want to omit dates from your employment history section.  Once your skills have an employer’s attention, he can inquire about the dates.
• Solidify references from previous employer(s).  When you’re unemployed, a strong endorsement from an employer – even one who let you go – may outweigh the length of your unemployment.

Temporary and Contract Work – Your Best Bet for Beating Jobless Discrimination

Looking for a sure-fire way to overcome your jobless stigma?  Go to work for a staffing service like Berks & Beyond – as soon as possible!  It’s easiest to find a job while you’re working, so stack the deck in your favor.  Beyond merely changing your employment status, temporary and contract work can help you:

• Earn valuable income – at a time when you really need it.
• Keep your spirits up – by being productive and engaged.
• Build your résumé and keep your skills sharp – the variety inherent in temporary assignments presents you with new challenges, allowing you to grow and gain experience.
• Find direct employment – if you prove yourself on the job, your temporary or contract position may convert to a direct opportunity.  Additionally, while you’re on assignment, Berks & Beyond can actively search for direct positions that match your skills, experience and interests.

Contact your local Berks & Beyond office today to learn more about jobs in Reading, Harrisburg, Allentown, Pottstown, York and Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

How’s business?

Overall, an initial glance at January’s first-week economic data shows a positive trend.  Although a few economic indicators came in slightly lower than expected, our economy is undergoing a solid (if slow) recovery.

Here is a look at some of the key statistics, courtesy of Business Insider:

The ASA Staffing Index fell by seven points to 86 last week.  This is due to seasonality and, in fact, the index is back above last January’s levels (after stagnating in mid-2011).

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that Initial jobless claims fell by 9,000 to 372,000. The four week average declined by 1750 to 373,250.  This is the lowest level since mid-2008.  Seasonality will remain significant for a couple of more weeks, so caution is still warranted in reading too much into these extremely good numbers.

Construction spending, Institute for Supply Management manufacturing and services reports, factory orders, vehicle sales, and most importantly, payrolls, all were positive month over month.

Housing data was mixed.  The Mortgage Bankers’ Association reported that seasonally adjusted purchase mortgage applications decreased 9.7% from two weeks ago. While they did not report a year-over-year (YoY) figure, it is nevertheless clear that YoY purchase applications were down, continuing a decline that began about a month ago.  On a positive note, for the sixth week in a row, YoY weekly median asking house prices from 54 metropolitan areas at Housing Tracker were positive, up +2.1% YoY. This is the best reading in close to 5 years.

So, while global worries generally continue to increase, we can rest a little easier for the time being.  In the U.S. (with the sole exception of mortgage applications) there is no hint of any present or imminent downturn in any of the data as we begin 2012.

How is business for your organization?  What’s on tap for 2012?  We at Berks & Beyond would like to know.  As a leading Central & Southern Pennsylvania staffing service, we can help you develop a comprehensive workforce plan to capitalize on our increasing domestic economic stability.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again:  effective interview methods significantly increase your odds of hiring a top performer.

But just how, exactly, do you do this?

A few months back, I posted Five Tips to Help Improve Your Hiring Process to get you started.  As promised in that post, here are a few more strategies to help you eliminate interviewing biases, inconsistencies and inefficiencies – and ultimately hire better:

1. Minimize interviewer inconsistency.  If you can’t personally conduct every interview, you should train interviewers to enhance consistency.  Interviewing styles and effectiveness vary greatly, depending on personality, confidence and amount of formal training.  Some interviewers excel at asking questions; some are great ambassadors for your company; some are very detail-oriented and systematically process responses.  But unfortunately, few are strong in all these areas.  To improve consistency, require interviewers to cite specific candidate statements to back-up their evaluations and/or conclusions.  Train them to support their ratings with examples – rather than recording opinions, impressions or hunches.
2. Ask the recruit why he wants the job.  Our current job market is flooded with the type of applicant who indiscriminately shoots off résumés in response to any posting that matches his keyword search – all in desperate hope of landing any type of interview.  If a recruit can’t tell you why he wants to work for your organization, you probably don’t want him on your team.
3. Make a good first impression on the candidate.  While you are evaluating a candidate, the candidate will be sizing up you and your company.  Increase the likelihood that a top performer will accept your job offer by making a positive first impression:  respect the candidate’s time by being on-time and prepared for the interview; supplement the interview with written or on-line information about the company and/or position; allow time for follow-up questions (a candidate needs to learn about your organization, culture and the available position at the same time you’re learning about him).
4. Plan multiple interviews.  Always conduct at least two interviews (three for higher level positions).  Why?  Recruits may be able to fool you in one interview, but the chances of them misrepresenting themselves successfully across multiple interviews are greatly diminished.  In addition, a more rigorous process will help weed out those candidates who are apathetic and/or unreliable.
5. Hold a post-interview review meeting.  Establish a formal process for finalizing the interview process and making a hiring decision.  Provide a form interviewers can use to summarize each candidate’s interpersonal skills, cultural fit, competency evaluation and technical knowledge.  Give each interviewer equal time to share feedback and make recommendations.  The primary decision maker/hiring manager should give the last report, after which you can begin open discussions about a hiring decision.

Incorporate these suggestions with the tips in my last post, and you’ll be well on your way to better hires in 2012.

Ensure Great Hires with Berks & Beyond

If you lack the time, resources or desire to hire on your own, Berks & Beyond is here to listen and help.  Our direct placement services quickly and cost-effectively deliver candidates with skills, experience and behavioral traits to succeed in your organization.  We use professionally trained interviewers, skills-specific testing, thorough background checks and satisfaction guarantees to ensure the success of your next hire.

From the Berks & Beyond Pottstown, PA office:

“While working on assignment for Berks & Beyond, I have enjoyed working on a wide variety of projects.  It is a great place to work and I’m happy that you are flexible with my hours, giving me time to travel to Ohio to see my family when possible.  

I have never been to an employment agency other than yours, and I find the people very pleasant and friendly.  I am happy to be a part of the Berks & Beyond team.”

–Karl Snyder

At Berks & Beyond, we offer our employees freedom, flexibility and a wide variety of job opportunities with Central and Southern Pennsylvania’s best employers.  We truly listen to your needs, provide the follow-up you expect and pride ourselves in matching you with the right position.  Contact a Berks & Beyond Recruiter today, and jump start your job search in 2012!

Ever feel like your staffing needs are a moving target?

The truth is, effective staffing is often challenging because your needs change so frequently.  For any number of reasons (workload fluctuations, local market conditions, the economy, available labor, etc.), a staffing approach that worked for you a year ago may not be as effective today.

This doesn’t mean you’re out of luck; it just means that you may need to re-examine your staffing strategy.  So start 2012 off right.  Consider these staffing best practices which have proven effective for corporate human resources executives across the country, courtesy of workforce.com:

• Make sure the staffing partner has an adequate balance sheet. Given the relatively low barriers to entry, it is too common to see staffing companies struggle financially.
• Be sure the staffing partner has sufficient size and financial resources to manage the contract. Sourcing 100 or more contract workers on an ongoing basis requires a very different type of staffing organization than providing two or three temps at a time.
• Visit the local office of the staffing company as part of the due-diligence process, especially for large projects, to make sure the operation meets expectations.
• Give your staffing partner feedback on all candidates that you review to help refine the recruiting strategy, and make it easier to find the best candidates.
• Be open-minded about “teachable” candidates, especially for hard-to-fill skill sets. Candidates who are a strong cultural fit and possess transferable skills are likely to succeed and thrive with some training and support.
• Provide enough training, rewards and feedback to keep temps engaged and motivated. One employer notes that small rewards—a free lunch for good performance, for example—go a long way toward winning the loyalty of temps.
• Beware of unfair negative stereotypes about the quality of temp workers. Temps can be—and often are—as qualified as full-time employees, and their skills can be equally useful.

Berks & Beyond – Your Best Staffing Strategy for 2012 and Beyond

With over a decade of experience, Berks & Beyond has grown to become one of Southern Pennsylvania’s largest, and most well established, staffing companies.  You can rest assured we are a stable, successful partner you can trust with your all your workforce management needs – no matter how large or small.

Call us to schedule a 2012 workforce consultation.  Together, we can identify your upcoming needs and develop a proactive, cost-effective staffing strategy that will deliver real bottom-line results.