HR Trends in Staffing

Last year I became one of the many casualties of the economy. I was downsized from an Indianapolis Staffing company where I had spent the last 17 years. This was not only a blow to my ego but also stressful to be searching for HR jobs in Indianapolis in a very bleak economy.

After feeling sorry for myself and spending a short amount of time being the youngest snowbird on the Gulf Coast (this was actually a boost to my bruised ego!), I decided to practice what I had been preaching for the last 17 years in my staffing and HR roles:

1)  Do not solely rely on job boards to find your new career. While sites such as CareerBuilder and Monster are valuable, do not assume that only submitting your resume through these sites will land you your dream job.

2)  Network, Network, Network!

o     Reach out to any and all personal and professional contacts. Referrals are a very valuable tool in searching for positions. Your neighbor may know of a position opening up within his company or your former employer may be hiring. People who know you want to help.

o     Contact your college placement department.

o        Contact your former employer’s competitors. You have the industry experience and knowledge they are looking for and you can add new insight to their business.

o        Join professional organizations in your area. There are organizations for HR , Accounting and many other professionals in Indianapolis. There is also the Business Network International Organization (BNI) which is the largest business networking organization in the world and The Network of Women in Business. There are also website groups for Administrative professionals and "virtually" any other type of professional on websites such as LinkedIn, Facebook and MySpace.  These organizations enable you to network yourself directly to hiring officials.

o       Many churches in the Indianapolis area have networking groups which is another great way to market yourself.

o         Volunteer. This is a great way to not only network but to also turn the negative of finding yourself with too much time on your hands into making a positive impact in your community.

3)   Follow the news. Know what companies are coming to your area. While they may not have jobs posted yet, you can proactively market yourself ahead of the pack!

4)  Contact Indianapolis staffing companies. I know of a really GREAT staffing company, called That’s Good HR! Indianapolis Staffing companies work for you. Whether you are looking for Federal Government Contract jobs, Accounting jobs, Administrative jobs or Six Figure jobs in Indianapolis, Indianapolis staffing companies have many contacts within many companies. While you are networking yourself to one company at a time, Indianapolis staffing companies are networking you to many direct hiring sources.

5)  Above all else, stay positive and open-minded. What may appear to be a less than ideal job opportunity could end up being a better career fit for you.  For example, you may start at a more entry-level position than where you previously were.  This may enable you to learn about the company from the ground up. You may have employment offers that are “temporary to hire”. This is an opportunity for you to try out a new company or industry.

In this tight economy with many, many applicants competing for the same Indianapolis job openings, Indianapolis staffing companies need to be diligent in verifying the information provided by prospective job seekers is accurate. Individuals who present false credentials affect the honest job seekers’ chances of securing opportunities.

In my last blog, I talked about companies who provide fake references for employees. There are also companies, known as diploma mills, who create fake academic degrees. A diploma mill is an organization that creates degrees and diplomas, generally without academic study and without being issued by official educational accrediting bodies. The purchaser can then claim to hold an academic degree. These degrees are often awarded based on creatively constructed life experience.

These “degrees” range in cost and are usually anywhere from $475 for an “Associates Degree” up to $550 for a “Doctorate”. This is not only frustrating to Indianapolis staffing companies but to those job seekers who have worked hard to earn a legitimate degree.

The U.S. Department of Education has published a list of schools that are accredited by accrediting agencies recognized by the Secretary of Education. The list can be found at http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation. The Department of Education offers plenty of information on how to identify and avoid diploma mills.

There are many companies that offer to make someone more employable from the fake resume, fake degree and even the fake drug screen  which is why it is so important not to take information provided at face value. Do your homework! Not doing so could result in Indianapolis job openings such as Management positions, HR jobs or Accounting Finance jobs in Indianapolis being filled with individuals that, if you knew their true indentity, you would not want performing those functions within your company.
 

As hiring trends focus more and more on effective screening and background checking, job seekers with questionable pasts are becoming more savvy. Oh, if those folks would only use their powers for good instead of evil!

For Indianapolis Staffing companies working to fill Government jobs, Administrative jobs, Accounting jobs and many other Indianapolis job openings, this is another step we need to take to ensure candidates are who they say they are.

If you Google "fake references", websites like fakeresume.com pull up citing the following”

o         How to fill the gaps in your employment history

o         The best way to get fake references

o         The main reason good liars get job offers and honest people don't!

o         How to get College transcripts from ANY University with any GPA you want!

o         How to rig your resume so it gets picked by the new automated Human Resources systems

ABC News reports on two companies that provide fake references:

CareerExcuse.com, a Web site that says it can fill in gaps on your resume by pledging to "act as your past employer" and provide job references, complete with working phone numbers and people on the other end of each line ready to answer questions posed by prospective employers. Schmidt, who started the Web site after being laid off from his job as a human resource manager in February, said he got the idea after perusing posts on the micro-blogging site Twitter. He was surprised, he said, by how many Twitter users were asking strangers for job references.  

ABC News also reports on AlibiHQ.com, another website which boasts: Assistance with obtaining employment, providing employment and personal references, providing verification of employment, providing verifiable cover's (alibis) for unexcused absences from work or home, Caller ID spoofing, mail forwarding, untraceable phone numbers, virtual phone numbers, novelty Dr. Notes, faxing services, fax Caller ID spoofing, virtual fax numbers, e-mail spoofing, e-mail services and covers, spoofed E-Ticket reservation, fake travel agency confirmations, virtual hotel services, virtual doctor's office, virtual business office, telephone alibi service (we pretend to be anybody you need us to be and place outgoing calls or receive incoming calls), personal assistant services, novelty document services, fake trade show invitations, fake confirmation services and much, much more.

What do Indianapolis Staffing Companies Need to Do?

o         Always check the company’s website to make sure they are a legitimate company

o         Use reverse lookup http://anywho.com/rl.html to verify the number you are calling

o         Request a copy of a candidate’s W-2 if to verify employment with a company and their salary.

Stay tuned for more information on the lengths job seekers with questionable pasts will go to!

As we approach flu season, the question looms large: "do I stay home" or "do I go in and get work done"?

Many Indianapolis Staffing companies and their employees are facing this question.

As this flu season is predicted to be bad, it is, first, important to take precautions to avoid sickness. These include frequent washing of your hands, wiping down your work area (including keyboard and phone) and any other frequently handled surfaces on a daily basis. This also includes coughing or sneezing into your elbow.

Secondly, if you do experience flu-like symptoms, please see your doctor immediately and notify your employer. To review specific information, go to http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/swineflu_you.htm

Indianapolis Companies should develop a plan to ensure sick employees stay home and that the workload is covered. Whether this is determining which employee covers specific tasks for a sick employee or whether a sick employee is set up to work from home.  


There are many types of Central Indiana Jobs that can generally be done from home such as some Management Positions, Executive Headhunters, HR jobs and Accounting Finance jobs while Administrative jobs usually need to be done at the company site.
It is important to determine the workload and employee roles before multiple employees are absent!  It may seem strange to dedicate time to plan for volume absences in the unknown future, but better safe than sorry.