Big Business vs. Small Business How to Adjust Your Recruiting Strategy - Spark Hire

Big Business vs. Small Business How to Adjust Your Recruiting Strategy - Spark HireIf your small business is struggling with its recruiting strategy, you are not alone. It can be daunting to know that you are going after the same limited candidate pool that your larger competitors are focusing on.Without the well-established brands and reputations that many big businesses have, your small business may need to adjust its existing recruiting strategy in order to attract top talent.Focus on your brand strategyWhat does your brand say about you? When you are competing with big businesses for the same top talent, you need to make sure that your small business has an attractive brand.Todays top talent is paying close attention to a companys first impression and that first impression is your brand.If your business is not promoting its brand via social media outlets and online advertisement, you need to get on this pronto.Consider why someone would want to work for your small business and go from there. Promote videos of your current employees stating why they enjoy working at your company. You would be surprised at the strong effect video can have when it comes to portraying your company brand and employee experience.If your small business offers perks such as flexible schedules, gym memberships, company outings or activities, be sure to advertise these things.Dont forget to also promote any charity organizations that your small business takes part in. Top talent is attracted to companies that care and make a difference.Get proactiveOne of the traps that many small businesses fall into is that of reactive recruiting recruiting only when the need is there. If this is your current recruiting strategy, trash it immediately and start over.A key reason why big businesses are beating you to the punch when it comes to winning over top talent is that they are simply communicating with top talent long before they need them, thus building stronger relationships with them.Alway s. Be. Recruiting. No matter what. Yes, I know that running a small business is very time consuming and spending time recruiting candidates who arent immediately needed can feel like a waste of time. Trust me, it is not a waste of time and you will never regret the time you spend proactively recruiting.When you are developing relationships with top talent long before you have an immediate opening, it will help in positioning your company to be able to quickly hire top talent when you need them.For example, rather than having to spend time wooing top talent while you have an open position, you have already wooed that candidate and will be able to quickly fill the opening when its available. Not only do you have a quicker hire, but you have also beat your competition by having developed a good relationship with top talent first.What are some other ways to adjust your small businesss recruiting strategy in order to stay ahead of big business? Please share your tips in the comments belo w.Image Jakub Jirsak/BigStock.com

Why Flatiron Health

Why Flatiron Health At Flatiron Health, people come first. This means doctors, patients, clients AND their employees. They work hard to support a culture of learning and empathy, and are looking for passionate, collaborative problem-solvers to join their team.Check out all of their open roles here, and dont forget to press Follow to receive custom job matches, exclusive event invites, and more One of the biggest challenges in almost all industries today is achieving gender parity. Gender diversity provides huge benefits in the workplace. pWhile some industries have made significant advancements in gender diversity, some industries lag further behind... and the construction industry is well-known for being in the latter category. If someone says, construction workers, youll likely picture a group of men in yellow hard hats analyzing an architects plans or laying bricks on top of a scaffold. And men at work signs only help to reinforce this image.pThis stereotype is rooted in reality. When was the last time you actually spotted a woman on a construction site? Or hired a female plumber or carpenter? Your answer is most likely never. In fact, the Bureau of Labor Statisticsreports that only 3.4% of the total of 8.3 million construction employees are women.pBut the construction industry has a lot more to offer than steel-toed boots and hard hats, and it needs women to help advance the industry in this era of rapid change. Here are 5 reasons why women joining the workforce or looking to make a pivot should consider a career in construction.h21. Fuel Innovation/h2pNot only is diversity the socially and morally right thing to do, but it is also actually an excellent business strategy. pResearch presented in the Harvard Business Reviewshows that diverse teams develop more innovative ideas. This is further supported by a study conducted by Gallupon the performance of gender-diverse teams versus single-gender teams, which found that the difference in backgrounds and perspectives led to better business performance and problem-solving. h22. Capitalize on Demand/h2pThe construction industry is currently experiencing a labor shortage. The industry itself is booming and projected to be one of the fastest-growing industries, with total spending projected to exceed $1.45 trillion in 2023/a. However, most construction companies are unable to meet the rising demand. pAccording to the Associated General Contractors of America/a, more than 80% of contractors are experiencing difficulties filling hourly craft positions that represent the bulk of the construction workforce.pAnd demand isnt limited to individual contributor roles. Given the industry boom, there are a number of open stable and high-paying roles (any project managers out there?) waiting for the right candidateh23. Leadership Opportunities/h2pAccording to the Bureau of Labor Statistics/a, women compose only 7.7% of the total 1 million managerial positions in construction.br/pBut given the highly collaborative nature of construction work, more women in leadership roles would help drive innovation and enhance productivity.Furthermore, as a woman in construction in a leadership position, youd have the unique opportunity to drive change for the industry and make it a more attractive option for other women.h24. High-Income Potential/h2pSalaries for many skilled positions in construction are on the rise, making a construction career a prime choice for women looking for a high-paying job,pThe 2018 Construction Craft Salary Surveyconducted by the National Center for Construction Education and Research revealed that salaries for many skilled craft areas are increasing. Project managers and project supervisors topped the list at $92,523 and $88,355, respectively. The next platzset of highest-paying jobs include those of combo welders ($71,067), instrumentation technicians ($70,080), pipe welders ($69,222), power line workers ($68,262) and ind ustrial electricians ($67,269). Of the 32 categories of workers in the survey, 19 positions earned an average salary of $60,000 or higher.h25. Sense of accomplishment/h2p The construction industry can give employees a unique sense of achievement. Yes, the job is stressful and the work can be demanding, but nothing beats the feeling of being able to build something from the ground up. pHow many professionals in other industries can point at a school, a hospital, or a skyscraper and say I helped build that?pThe construction industry has a long way to go in combating gender bias and supporting women in the workforce, but given the current demand for workers, theres no better time to pick up a sledgehammer (figurative or literal) and smash the gender stereotypes plaguing the construction industry.

Habits That Make You Look Unapproachable at Work - The Muse

Habits That Make You Look Unapproachable at Work - The MuseHabits That Make You Look Unapproachable at WorkImagine that youre sitting at your desk and your co-worker, Tanya, walks by holding a sign-up sheet for the companys kickball team. Without even pausing, she passes you and asks your neighbor if hed like to join. Maybe you didnt opt to participate in the softball league last season, but that doesnt mean youve sworn off all organized sports forever. But, instead of piping up and asking if theres space for you to play, you let your mind wander with worry Maybe Tanya intentionally didnt stop at your spot. Maybe she and others dont want you on the team.But, why?You may not be a social schmetterlingsschwimmen, but you like to hang out with your co-workers, at least every now and then. If you find yourself opting out more often than you opt in, you might want to take a close look at how this appears to your colleagues. Is it possible that your work demeanor (business first) has colore d your co-workers impression of you? Are you inadvertently intimidating your colleagues with your head-down approach to tackling each day?If youre guilty of one or more of these three common (but potentially problematic) habits, then the answer is probably yes, your co-workers are scared to approach you.1. You Live in Your HeadphonesListening to music while working can aid focus and block out distractions. But it also makes it hard for a colleague to strike up a conversation with you. Concentration is necessary for meeting deadlines, but consider the benefits of taking a mental break every now and again- that means parting with those headphones and being open to conversation. Heck, you could even go the extra mile and initiate one yourself. Dont always wait to be included. Be the outgoing person sometimes, and show your colleagues youre nothing if not approachable. 2. You Rarely Engage in Office BanterNot everyone enjoys office banter (pretty rampant in open office setups) and maybe you avoid joining the chatter around you more often than not. You may even be the office introvert, but, regardless of your social preferences, you should still sometimes put forth an effort with your extroverted colleagues. Start small. Maybe instead of chiming into the discussion on this seasons The Walking Dead with eight of your nearest co-workers, you initiate a more intimate meeting (coffee) with a member of your team. This set-up gives you an opportunity to get to know someone in a relaxed setting, without having to put yourself out there with a big group. Making this kind of effort demonstrates that you do care about getting to know your co-workers beyond the shared spreadsheet. 3. Youre Always in a RushMoving quickly- from the door, to your desk, to the bathroom, back to your desk- may be your normal pace, but to others, it just looks like youre in a huge hurry. When you seem like youre in a rush, most peoplell be reluctant to interrupt you, for fear that youre too busy fo r them. Eating lunch at your desk reinforces the impression that you dont have time to spare. And, if you never ever stick around for happy hour, your co-workers probably dont have the first clue about how to include you in things. It might not be easy, but what if you tried changing up your routine every now and then? Give the impression that, while busy and focused, youre not so crazed that people should fear approaching you. Join your team for lunch in the office kitchen one afternoon, or check out one of the many social events on offer. Stop and say more than two words to your colleague the next time you bump into each other in the hall prove that you do come up for air every now and again. Make it a goal this week to try maybe one or two of these bad habits to increase your approachability. You dont have to completely change your routines, but one or two small changes can make a big difference in how your co-workers view you. While you may never be considered the office social butterfly (not your goal, anyway) you do wish to be included. So, next time, dont be afraid to pipe up and show your interest when its time for team sign-ups. You never know, you may even become the next MVP of the office cornhole league.

The Right Resume Gets the Federal Job

The Right Resume Gets the Federal JobThe Right Resume Gets the Federal JobThe Right Resume Gets the Federal Job Heres Statistical Proof that the Right Resume Gets the Federal JobBy Kathryn Troutman, President The Resume Place, Inc., andCreator and Program Director,Ten Steps to a Federal Job Certification ProgramPublished June 23, 2017For decades, weve felt supremely confident that a targeted, detailed, correctly formatted OUTLINE FORMAT federal resume gets results.And now we have up-to-the-minute data that demonstrates that ourconfidence isnt just an intuition.In late May, we surveyed the 150 clients who we were honored to serve in 2016, yielding 54 responses. A large majority of these respondents had great news to share with us 25 had been hired into federal job, and another 16 had earned the status referred, best qualified or interviewedThese numbers are backed up by anecdotes Ive heard from many, many clients from military veterans to women returning to work after their children began school that theyve achieved incredible success in their professional careers with the federal government. But I was still pleasantly surprised at the outstanding results that our resume preparation services have contributed to 74 percent of our 2016 clients have seen positive action on their federal applicationsWHAT ur CLIENTS SAY ABOUT OUR FEDERAL RESUME WRITINGOne of our 2016 clients even gave us statistics on their individual federal job search With the resume you prepared, I was best qualified for about 85 percent of the jobs I applied for, referred for about 75 percent of them, and landed interviews for about 25 percent.Another client shared that, after she posted her Resume Place resume on USAJOBS.gov,I was hired as a contracting specialist. Thank you for the resume, which was phenomenal. It was geared towards the announcement and hit all the key points.Lets talk about her final remark How my colleagues and I can take the raw material of your draft resume and transform it so that federal hiring managers and human resources professionals can easily see how your perfected resume stands out to qualify you for the position you seek.BEFORE AND AFTER FEDERAL RESUME HIRED Take a look at these anonymized before-and-after resumes of decorated veteran of the seestreitmacht Corps, a helicopter crew chief who served in Iraq.Here is the Marine veterans resume before and afterwe helped him adapt it for Federal Human Resources Recruiters.Click to view before and after resumesWhen this war hero came to us with the resume he had been using, we had our work cut out for us. His resume lacked detail on his extensive military experience, including his specialized experience in security, which was ultimately critical to his successful application for the civilian position of Security Assistant or Intelligence Analyst. He wanted to CHANGE HIS CAREER And we had to translate his skills carefully. How did we improve our heros resume?We headlined his most impressive q ualification for any security job his interim top-secret security clearanceWe detailed his professional experience in security and safetyWe used the right keywords to describe his organizational skills, with subheadings like Scheduling and Coordination and Plan and Organize WorkWe detail his supervisory experience with terms like Team LeadSince the job he sought requires the ability to train others, we highlighted his experience in leading Army training classesWe named his accomplishments explicitly they did not stand out in his old resumeWe eliminated the irrelevant, such as the bartending job that was prominent on his old resumeFEDERAL RESUME BOOKS WITH SAMPLES OF THE OUTLINE FORMATfedjobtraining.com/booksFEDERAL RESUME WRITING SERVICESSee our hourly rates resume-place.com/federal-resume-writing/EXCERPTS OF SAMPLE FEDERAL RESUMESresume-place.com/services/federal-resume-samples/GET HELP WITH YOUR FEDERAL RESUMEGET A FEDERAL RESUME QUOTEThe Federal Resume Guidebook,6th Ed. is the Nu mber 2 best-selling resume book on Amazon and all book sellers today

A Wordy Resume Becomes a Two-Page Marketing Machine

A Wordy Resume Becomes a Two-Page Marketing MachineA Wordy Resume Becomes a Two-Page Marketing MachineMarcus Crayton is looking for a job as a absatzwirtschaft director though his functional experience is disparate. With help from certified resume writer Mary Schumacher he welches able to turn a wordy resume into a concise marketing document.When crafting a resume, you can use the bow-and-arrow approach specifically to target a job, or you can use the shotgun approach and just hope that something - anything hits home with an employer.Marcus Crayton was using the shotgun approach.The 34-year-old project manager has been looking for a new position since October 2007 he would like to find a position as director of marketing. Since beginning his search, Crayton has sent out thousands of resumes and applied for countless jobs, he admitted.The shotgun approach meant, however, that his resume was excessively wordy, tipping the scale at three pages.My old resume was like a proposal, Crayto n said.And he should know Crayton currently has an MBA and is pursuing his PhD in organization and management with a specialization in project management.Hed already paid hundreds of dollars to have his resume rewritten and garnered praise from associates who critiqued it. Nevertheless, Crayton said, he knew it still lacked focus. His resume was like a project-management spreadsheet. It was like a flawed analysis. I was putting everything on there.More words, less focusThe proof was in the pudding The shotgun approach wasnt getting him interviews. Thats because, like most resumes that are too long and too wordy, the resume was unfocused. One professional who critiqued the document told him that the resume just didnt let the reader know what Crayton wanted to do.Crayton had been told by a human-resources pro that his resume was just great and that it looks fine, dont change it. But he knew something was wrong, and he decided to try revising it again.In late May, Mary Schumacher revam ped Craytons resume. Schumacher is an MBA, as well as a CPRW, CEIP and CPCC (certified professional resume writer, certified employment interview professional and certified professional career coach) who works with Ladders.When Schumacher looked at Craytons resume, she saw somebody with ample education and a variety of experience who wanted to be a marketing director. (Crayton has a background working for nonprofits and educational institutions.) I havent had experience in big-name companies like IBM or ATT, no Time Warner, Crayton said. Id call my past positions college jobs jobs to get you through.Although he performed marketing functions in every position hes worked at - media specialist and program coordinator are two of his past positions he has never worked strictly as a marketer or had that job title.For Schumacher, the key to positioning Crayton as a marketing director was to tie his marketing experience together explicitly and present him that way on his revamped resume.A ct as ifThe first thing Schumacher did to make over Crayton into a marketing director was to put that title, Marketing Director, at the top of the new document. Immediately after the title, she added a summary section that pulls together Craytons disparate marketing credentials.An areas of expertise section then promotes important keywords buried in the lengthier resume, such as market analysis, negotiations, strategy development, team leadership and client relations.Next, a career highlights section comprises a four-bullet list of Craytons top marketing accomplishments, including such items as boosting educational program customer satisfaction rates by 93 percent by influencing program improvements following rigorous market research and analysis.The result is a resume that pops, Crayton said, and weighs in at two efficient pages.We wanted to pull together from all his different jobs, from all the things hes done, the idea that he can do that marketing job, to anyone whos looking, S chumacher said.Feedback on the revised resume has been glowing. (A previous critic) said, This is much better. Now I can look at it and pick out that he doesnt have a lot of corporate experience but he can learn, so maybe I can find a fit for him in our company, Crayton said.The revised resume pinpoints, even highlights, my skill sets and brings them to the forefront to allow people to say, Hey, this is what this guy can do, lets see if we can give him a shot, Crayton said. I think this will be the turning point.

Career Benefits of Networking - The Muse

Career Benefits of Networking - The MuseCareer Benefits of NetworkingHow many times have you been told how important networking is? Plenty, Im sure. So, at this point, you know that who you know can be the difference between you getting that new gig or not.But, if thats not motivation enough for you to go out and meet new people, here are four more ways networking can help you, beyond just growing your network in preparation for you next big career opportunity.1. Gather Info on the IndustryWhether youre changing industries or furthering your knowledge of your current one, networking and conducting informational interviews are a great way to figure out whats going on in your field of interest.Ask people you meet or sit down with about their recent challenges and accomplishments or about trends theyre seeing in their work. In particular, if something big has recently happened in your industry, see what your conversation lebensgefhrte thinks of the impact it might have on the field as a whole. Youll get a much broader perspective if you expand the conversation beyond your own friends and officemates.2. Learn From the Wins (and Mistakes) of OthersSometimes it can be difficult to get people talking, even if youre meeting one-on-one and not at some large awkward networking event. If this is happening to you, try asking the person youre networking with about his or her successes and failures. Of course, you dont want to say, Tell me about a time you failed- so try asking if, looking back on his career, if theres anything he would do differently, or if theres anything she would definitely recommend to people just starting out in the field.Dont feel weird asking about personal experiences. Theres plenty to be learned from the achievements and mistakes of others, and people love to talk about themselves.3. Get Free Career AdviceAnother bonus of networking is the chance to get some free career advice. Chatting with more experienced professionals in your industry of intere st gives you the chance to ask them what they think of the career moves youve been mulling over.Aside from getting good advice (heres how to know if its not), its also a great way to show people your admiration. You wouldnt be asking for advice if you didnt respect their opinions, right?4. Bounce Ideas Off PeopleYou can also take the advice seeking a step further and bounce ideas off of people you meet through networking. Maybe you have an ambitious work-related project that you want to pitch to your boss or a presentation youre thinking about submitting to an upcoming conference. Seeing what other industry professionals have to say can help you refine your argument and think through weak points. This is also a great way to show off your skills a bit. Sharing some of your ideas gives you an opportunity to talk about your expertise and the issues that you care about. Its usually easier to talk about your ideas than it is to talk about yourself, so if you feel weird tooting your own h orn, this can be a good strategy.Bottom line Theres no excuse to not be networking. You stand to benefit from it no matter what stage of your career youre in. And, if none of these four reasons appeal to you, consider this final perk of networking helping people. Maybe you wont directly benefit this time around, but helping someone else out has its own intrinsic value.Photo courtesy of Nana B Agyei.

How to Create Winning Team Building Activities

How to Create Winning Team Building ActivitiesHow to Create Winning Team Building ActivitiesWant to make your next gruppe building activity live up to its true potential? Integrate the gruppe building with real-time work goals. Establish a systematic workplace integration and follow-up process - before you go on the kollektiv building adventure. You need to make the good feelings and the outcomes from the kollektiv building activity last beyond the final team building exercise. Impact of Team Building Events Without this attention to integration, corporate team building or planning events are, at best, a short-term boost to employee enthusiasm and positive morale. If they are planned and executed well, people feel good about themselves and about each other. Employees get to know each other better and have a common experience to talk about back at work. A frequent expectation from team building activities is that they build trust. Team building events have little to do with buildi ng trust, however, unless company planning, that is carefully followed up on and yields real results, is part of the team building event or retreat. Team Building Downsides and Risks At worst, team building sessions help employees become cynical about their organizations. It occurs when the team building events are held outside of the context of the companys modell way of doing business. If you send people offsite to an event, for example, but all rewards in your company are based on individual goals and efforts, the team building event will have no lasting impact. People will lose productive hours complaining about the time and energy invested in the team building or planning activities. Unhappiness, management criticism and employees complaining to each other sap energy, productivity, and joy from the workday. An event that is not followed up with meaningful activities in the workplace should not be held. They harm trust, motivation, employee morale, and productivity. They don t solve the problems for which they were scheduled and held. You will eventually lose the people you most want to keep especially if they dont see your organization getting better as a result of off-site team building and planning sessions. If the team building has zero follow up, people become jaded about such events as a waste of time and energy. In fact, I dont lead ansicht events that are just for team building without a business purpose, in addition to, or to build the event around. With recent organizational downsizing and cost cutting, people feel as if they are already doing more than one job. In this context, team building for team buildings sake has lost popularity. Team Building Success Factors The success of a team building or a strategic planning activity begins well before the start of the sessions. Use a team to plan the event since you want to model the behavior you seek from the team building sessions you schedule. The likely long-term effectiveness of a team b uilding event or corporate retreat is enhanced when you incorporate annual team building events into an overall company structure. This cultural framework of philosophies, values, and practices is designed to build the concept of team on a regular basis. In this environment, team building sessions can yield supportive results. Ifteam buildingand other offsite events are to offer value,their inclusion in an overall corporate structure of philosophies, values, and practices is critical. People must already operate in a team-oriented environment that is characterized by such philosophies as a shared purpose,vision,mission,and a performance development system that enables people to grow both personally and professionally. Or, your organization must be proactively pursuing teamwork as a business and employee strategy. In such a system,team behaviors are rewarded and recognized. Teams solve problems and improve processes. There is a genuine concern for employees that the policies and work are employee and employee-family friendly. When a problem or failure occurs, the search is not for the guilty, but instead, managers ask, What about the work system caused that person or team to fail? When such a structure exists on an ongoing basis within an organization,team building events can enhance and help the system grow stronger. Again, build the team building events around a business purpose to which all attendees can contribute, and you have the opportunity for an energizing, exciting growth opportunity. Successful companies regularly demonstrate their commitment to building team unity, trust and positive morale among their employees in their daily workplace. Without this commitment and the presence of team building success factors, negative effects can result from formal team building or planning sessions. I facilitated a team building and planning event recently in which amanagement teamgathered to put together their annual priorities. The group did a salutary job they were set up to spend the quarter both productive and focused. They were excited and felt a strong sense of direction. The next day, much to my sorrow and their lost morale, their manager pulled out a list of everything that had not made their priority list at the team building event. He called this the B list and said that, even though these were not the priorities, they all had to be completed, too. Can you imagine the impact of telling them that all their work, thinking and prioritizing didnt matter? They had to accomplish it all anyway. Conclusion Team building and planning events and activities have the potential to bring the people you employ a strong sense of direction, workable plans, and solutions, a powerful feeling of belonging with and on the team and clear, strategic customer-focusedvalues. Poorly planned and executed, created outside of the context of the total organization, the team building, and planning sessions bring disillusionment,low moraleand negative motiv ation. They fail to deliver the results expected. Organizations flounder with little strategic direction. Everyone works hard, but, usually on the wrong tasks and goals. Employees take baby steps toward accomplishing key action items and nothing important is finished. And, when the next team building or off-site planning event is announced, the cycle generally repeats itself. Which approach to team building would you prefer to institute in your organization?