Using Facebook to Recruit

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Over the last few weeks, we’ve discussed how to best use social media to find your next hire. While there are a lot of methods and several networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, one of the best ways to recruit your next hire is to use Facebook. Using Facebook to recruit is actually a lot simpler than using some of the other social networks. However, there is still some work involved.

Build Up Your Following

Before you can expect to see any results on Facebook, or any social network for that matter, you have to build up your following. In order to effectively use Facebook as a recruiting tool, you need to have an audience to share content with. Without followers on Facebook, you’ll be sharing content and job postings to no one.

Create a Careers Tab

With a Company Page on Facebook, you have the opportunity to create different tabs. Through these tabs, you can hold contests, share content, and even post your job openings. By creating a Careers Tab on your company page, you are providing followers and those who visit your page with the opportunity to see what positions you have open.

Share Content

With Facebook, it’s all about being real, which means sharing content that your page followers actually want to see and read. Don’t just share your own blog posts, but share content from other sources, post pictures, share quotes, and encourage your followers to reach out to you.

Engage Your Followers

Being on any social media site is about engagement. It’s about making connections with people, which means you need to be monitoring your social sites. It also means you need to be asking questions, answering questions, and talking to the people who follow you and the people you follow.

How do you use Facebook to recruit? We’d love to hear your stories and see how we can help! Leave your questions and stories int he comments section below.

Using Twitter to Recruit

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Last week, we discussed how you can start using LinkedIn for your recruiting efforts . This week, it’s all about using Twitter to recruit. With all of the social networks, it can become a little tedious to monitor them and keep up with everything. Using Twitter for recruiting doesn’t have to be quite as time consuming as some of the other networks, but that’s not to say you should be passive. Here are a few ways you can start using Twitter to find your next hire:

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Using Social Media to Recruit

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It’s next to impossible to not be on social media today. Whether it’s your personal accounts or company accounts, you probably have some sort of interaction with social media sites on a daily basis. The use of mobile devices is on the rise and that rise is driving the importance of social media. Many companies are now using social media networks as tools for recruiting top talent.

While this sounds like a fantastic idea (and it may very well be) there are certainly right and wrong ways to go about using social media to recruit talent. Here are a few things you need to think about before launching into using social media for recruiting:

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Finding and Keeping Top Talent

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A lot of thoughts and theories exist out there when it comes to finding top talent for any industry. You have to choose from dozens of different online job boards. Then there are traditional postings like newspapers. And in today’s world, many companies are turning to social media to find talent. But at the end of the process, you need a specific type of talent. You need to find and keep top talent.

Wanting the best of the best is not enough to actually get you the best of the best. It takes time and effort to succeed at finding and keeping top talent. However, the efforts you make will be worth it in the end because you can reduce your costs and turnover rates by finding top talent in the first place.

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Checking References

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When you start collecting all of those resumes, there is a lot of information to take in. You’ll look at education, work experience, skills, and accomplishments. One thing you’ll look at is references, though you’ll probably avoid it as long as possible.

Really, you don’t need to check references until after your initial applicant screenings, but keep in mind that reference checking is an important part of the process. Once you determine which applicants would make great candidates, you, you can start checking references. Applicants should have provided you with their references, but you may need to ask. Once you have the references, it’s time to start checking them. Here are a few tips on how to properly check references:

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4 Resume Red Flags

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As you start sifting through all of the resumes you’ve collected from job applicants, you might find that they tend to all look the same. Flipping from resume to resume, they start to blur together and you just don’t know which one is which. It can happen and that makes finding the right candidates even more difficult.

When resumes start to look the same, you can easily overlook small mistakes that candidates made or even miss something huge like incorrect information. While you probably don’t want to be skeptical of candidates, you need to treat resumes with a certain grain of salt. Fact checking is important when it comes to hiring new employees. But what do you look for? What could candidates be lying about? Here are four resume red flags to be looking out for:

  1. Listing a university, but not a degree.  You may see that the applicant studied at a prestigious school and think that it would be a great thing. However, you need to make sure that there is also a degree listed. If only a university or school is provided, it can be a resume red flag for not having completed the degree. When screening the candidate on the phone, be sure you ask why they left out the information.
  2. General employment dates.  Gaps in employment history can look really bad for an applicant, so in an effort to hide those gaps, a resume may contain years instead of specific dates for previous positions. Applicants are able to hide up to 12 months of unemployment by doing this. You need to know the circumstances around those gaps, so ask for a detailed work history with more specific dates.
  3. Exaggeration of job titles.  Trying to make themselves appear more important, applicants modify their job titles. While this looks impressive, it can cause work histories to not have a natural flow. If someone moves from an entry-level position to a director position, a resume red flag should be thrown. Don’t just look at titles. Read job descriptions to make sure those titles make sense and the responsibilities match.
  4. Overstating accomplishments.  It’s no secret that awards, certifications, and achievements look impressive, but sometimes there isn’t any real substance behind them. While some applicants certainly earned their awards, some may have simply paid for their awards. If you find that an applicant has a few different awards and you don’t recognize them, take a few minutes to do some research. You can easily find out the requirements of an award and it can be achieved.

These white lies may seem harmless to applicants, but they can end up hurting you and your organization in the long run. When you don’t know the truth about applicants, you can end up hiring someone who seems impressive, but doesn’t actually have the knowledge or the skills you are looking for. Take the time to look at resumes closely, ask questions when you see a résumé red flag, and spend time with anyone you are thinking about hiring before making your decision.

Call us today at 317.803.2910 so we can help you detect those resume red flags and make sure your candidates are qualified before you ever meet them. 

The Right Interview Questions

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You probably have a huge stack of resumes and cover letters sitting on your desk. Or maybe they are sitting in your inbox. Either way, you are dreading reading them all. Even after carefully reading them and selecting a candidate, you could end up with an employee who turns out to not be what you thought.

While things like resumes and cover letters are certainly helpful in finding candidates, it’s important to focus on the interview. You can’t replace things like first impressions, responses to questions, and dealing with the stress of an interview with the information in resumes and cover letters. However, if you aren’t asking the right questions in the interview, you could still end up hiring someone you think is a great fit, but turns out to not be what you were looking for. Here are a few questions you should be asking in an interview:

1.  Can you tell me about a challenging work situation you experienced and what the situation resulted in?

By asking this question to candidates, you are going to learn how they handle stress and how they perceive results. You should be looking for honest answers, but also answers that have positive results. Candidates should be trying to show you that they work through issues and strive for positive results.

2. Why do you want to work here?

“It seems like a fun work environment.” “I really like the way the company is structured.” “Your brand is really great.” These are typical responses that don’t really carry any meaning. If a candidate gives you an answer like these, you’ll be able to tell they haven’t done much research. Look for specific answers about your company and show that thought and time was put into preparing for the interview.

3. What would you do differently, if you were to start your career over?

The ideal candidate would say nothing and are happy that their career path has lead them to you. But, we don’t live in an ideal world, so you should be looking for answers that focus on, growth, learning, and positive actions. You want a candidate who can recognize mistakes and is willing to make the necessary corrections to get back on track.

4. Where would you like to be in 5 years, career wise?

Sure, it may be a stereotypical question, but it’s an important one to ask. Interviewers sometimes avoid it because of overuse, but it serves a great purpose. You are looking for employees that are going to be dedicated to your organization and want to work for you. By asking this particular question, you can find out the goals of the candidate and if they match those of your company.

5. What type of work environment do you function best in?

As the one interviewing, you should have a handle on the work environment this candidate will be in. Is it fast? Hectic? Slow? Quiet? Once you are able to answer this question for yourself, you can ask candidates what type of work environment they work best in to ensure the two match. Employees who don’t fit with their work environments tend to be unhappy, stressed, and seek out other opportunities.

When it’s all said and done, you need to be asking interview questions that get to the heart of the situation: does this employee fit. Your questions should be tailored to your organization, the requirements of the position, and your overall goals.

Having trouble finding, interviewing, or qualifying candidates? We can help you!

The Diverse Staffing Benefits

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There are thousands of staffing firms across the country. So what is the Diverse Staffing difference? What makes us so special and valuable to your organization? Our award-winning service is unmatched. And our candidates are among the most highly qualified you will ever find. The Diverse Staffing benefits include great features and services:

World-Class Recruiting

With Diverse Staffing, you partner with experts who possess more than 100 years of combined recruiting and staffing experience – strategists with a rich background and extensive training in your specific business areas.

Critical Needs Analysis

Diverse Staffing works with you to develop a comprehensive study of your organization’s immediate and long-term staffing needs. Our important and highly-detailed discovery phase helps us to understand the exact skill requirements necessary for each vital position you need to fill. Most staffing firms can only fill such critical positions with talented “A” candidates some of the time. Our award-winning process helps us to fill your positions with the right candidate every time.

Research-Based Recruitment Methods

Many staffing agencies only rely on regional job board postings to help fill open positions. Diverse Staffing goes much further. Our award-winning, research-based recruiting methodologies include in-depth, proprietary research, valuable information obtained through referral-based communities, and data gleaned from corporate networking systems.

Drug & Background Screening

At the client’s request, Diverse Staffing offers a quick and thorough drug screening, as well as comprehensive background checks on each eligible candidate—tests performed locally for accurate, immediate results at no additional cost to you.

The Candidate/Client Introduction

The first day a new recruit joins your team, a representative from Diverse Staffing will be onsite to help establish responsibilities and priorities. We help streamline an effective communications strategy—one that strengthens your organization’s plans and processes and promotes clarity and constant improvement.

360° Total Quality Management (TQM)

We work with you to craft a real-time, complete feedback system that ensures greater opportunities for improvement and peak performance.

Employee Recognition & Retention

We offer various, user-friendly candidate management programs to help attract and retain talented recruits. As well, we inspire greater employee loyalty and motivation through special incentive programs and rewards for meeting and exceeding quality performance goals.

Customized Quarterly Reports

As part of our award-winning service, we offer at no additional charge a number of customized quarterly reports, which allow you to chart the progress of each recruit, as well as the overall status of your project.

Location

Diverse Staffing offers several regional locations to cover the regions you serve in your businesses. HR personnel are always comforted to know that a Diverse Staffing office is “right down the road,” with experts available immediately to help answer your questions and concerns.

Payroll & Billing

If you wish to “preview” talent with no risk to you and no burden to your internal accounting department, hire the candidate through us. Diverse Staffing will put that employee on our payroll and handle all project billing for the candidate. You have no long-term obligations to either Diverse Staffing or the candidate. And you can ensure that each potential employee will work out in advance of your eventual hire.

Reference Checks

Diverse Staffing guarantees due diligence in tracking each candidate’s employment history and performance.

The Diverse Staffing benefits can help you successfully carry out your plans and effectively manage your processes. Call us at 317.803.2910 to learn how we can start helping you today. 

The Anatomy of a Comprehensive Staffing Service

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When you begin searching for a staffing agency to help with your work force needs, it helps if you understand the anatomy of a comprehensive staffing firm. In order to avoid working with a firm that may not provide you the best features or even all of the features you really need, you should be sure that you are receiving comprehensive staffing services. Below, you will find a short guide to comprehensive staffing services and what you need to be on the lookout for.

Evaluating Your Needs

Clients turn to Diverse Staffing, to design a custom, research-based recruiting program built on a unique, metrics-driven staffing model. Unlike programs offered by most recruiting and staffing firms in the market, this extremely proactive Diverse Staffing recruitment system incorporates “Best Staffing Practices”. This allows us to help corporate clients like you identify, build and track a specialized, national database of the country’s most highly skilled job candidates.

Customizing Solutions

Utilizing this powerful proprietary system, Diverse Staffing then “goes the extra mile” by helping to recruit these candidates on behalf of our corporate clients. Our integrated staffing model serves corporate clients through five phases:

  1. A Research Phase – in which Diverse Staffing creates a customized, research-driven recruiting database
  2. A Recruitment Phase – in which Diverse Staffing works with the clients to identify and attract top recruits
  3. A Submittal Phase – in which Diverse Staffing submits top candidates to client for final consideration
  4. An Offer Phase – in which client and candidate come to terms on employment arrangements
  5. A Retention Phase – in which Diverse Staffing performs periodic follow-up evaluations with both client and new employee in a systematic review process.

Measuring Results

Diverse Staffing does not stop working after the “offer phase.” We want to ensure a quality work environment and streamlined communications, as well as increased opportunities for retention. That is why Diverse Staffing follows up on every assignment with both employer and employee by implementing a 360-degree Total Quality Management (TQM) feedback system. This TQM system employs a systematic, data-driven process and allows for feedback and continuous improvement, not only between the client and the employee, but also between any party and Diverse Staffing. We are all looking for opportunities for greater improvement, and this TQM feedback system is the very best in the industry.

Best Practices in Employee Evaluation

A key goal for any staffing agency is to find you and other corporate clients the best and most qualified job candidates. Not all firms offer the comprehensive services that enble them to reach that goal. Our evaluation processes deliver consistent and measurable improvements when it comes to placing qualified talent: Applicant Interview – During the interview, details about skills and experience are discussed. Testing – For certain positions, such as for office/clerical applicants, typing and data entry skills will be required. Thus we will test individuals on their software and clerical skills. We also offer certification of Forklift Operators and ensure that CDL drivers have the required licenses.

Additional employee screening should always include:

  1. Reference Checks – References from previous employers are verified.
  2. Drug Screening – Applicant drug screening can be performed at the client’s request.
  3. Criminal Background Check – Criminal background checks are performed at the client’s request.
  4. Ongoing Recruitment Programs – Through our various recruiting methods, we ensure that we always have the right candidate for you at the right time.
  5. Employee Benefits – Employees can qualify for paid holidays and vacations, 401(k) plans and group health insurance plans, available from Diverse Staffing. Direct Deposit of paychecks and a Debit Card program are also available to all Diverse Staffing employees (thus eliminating the overhead costs to our corporate clients).
  6. Satisfaction Guaranteed

Diverse Staffing even offers you this pledge: If you are not completely satisfied with one of our employees, notify us within the first four (4) hours of the assignment, and we will replace that employee with another and not charge you for the initial hours.