Q & A: Cost of Hiring A Candidate

February 26th, 2010 No comments »

By Joe Redshaw

Joe RedshawWhat is the internal cost to hiring a candidate – reviewing interviews, selecting the short list, scheduling interview in terms of lost productivity of interviewers/peer reviews?

This is a tough question and could be different for many companies.  Cost of hiring a candidate can be a chapter by itself.

You really should look at it from a company standpoint.  Is the position open at that time?  If so, what is the lost productivity of that person?  And what other employees are helping fill in?

A recruiter or HR person needs to post, source, review and screen resumes.  Just posting a resume on Monster, Dice, Hot Jobs or LinkedIn could be hundreds of dollars.  The screening process could take weeks.  Then the hiring manager needs to review the resumes.  If the first person did a good job screening it may not take too much time from the manager.

Then you have to team interview a candidate.  If the average person on the team made $30/hr and the interview lasted 4 hours, then you just paid $120 to interview the candidate.  And we know that number is low.  There is the time away from each person’s job.  So if you have to interview 5 people to fill the job, it could be quite a bit of money and time away from your desk.

And if the process takes 45 days to finally get someone in that seat, how much money is lost?  A salesperson in some companies can sell thousands of dollars in 45 days.  The new hire now needs to ramp up and probably won’t be productive for at least a few weeks.  More potential for lost money.  And then there is the people who have to help train the new hire.  What are they not getting done because they have to spend time with the new employee?

In the end, it could easily cost thousands and thousands of dollars.

About Joe Redshaw

Joe Redshaw is the Corporate Recruiter for Gomez, the Web Performance Division of Compuware.  He has been a recruiter for almost 10 years and has experience on the agency and corporate side. Joe has screened thousands of candidates and has agreed to provide NEJS his perspective on HR/Recruiter practices.

NEJS encourages you to start a dialogue with Joe by submitting your questions via the comments section at the end of the blog article. Keep an eye out for more Q & A with Joe.

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Twitter: The 25 most influential HR Professionals

February 25th, 2010 No comments »

Talent Buzz provided a list of the 25 most influential HR Professionals on twitter.  Look at their Twitter postings to get the latest scoop:

  1. Sharlyn Lauby – @hrbartender
  2. Laurie Ruettimann – @lruettimann
  3. Mark Stelzner – @stelzner
  4. SHRM Research – @SHRM_Research
  5. Jennifer McClure – @CincyRecruiter
  6. Debbie McGrath – @dmcgrath
  7. Lance Haun – @thelance
  8. Nora Burns – @PHRSPH
  9. SHRM Public Affairs – @SHRMPA
  10. HR World Today – @hrworldtoday
  11. Halogen Software – @HalogenSoftware
  12. Kurt Kennedy – @KurtKennedy
  13. April Dowling – @adowling
  14. HR Review – @HRreview
  15. HR Software -@effortlesshr
  16. Traci Deveau – @Devoted2HR
  17. Jessica Booth – @HRClubsyd
  18. People Management – @PeopleMgt
  19. David Shepherd – @oldshep
  20. Heather Vogel – @hrwhisperer
  21. Susan Heathfield – @SusanHeathfield
  22. Daily HR Tips – @dailyhrtips
  23. Guy Ellis – @PeopleStuf
  24. Ben Baran – @BenBaran
  25. Diane Pfadenhauer – @hrlawyer

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Twitter: How To Use It For Your Job Search

February 24th, 2010 1 comment »

Marci Rynolds Cover Page Book

Twitter.  It is in the news just about every day.  At seminars, workshops, and networking meeting job seekers are advised to add a Twitter strategy to their job hunt marketing plan. Yet it seems that most people don’t really have any idea how to strategically use the technology to better their chances of landing a job.

Instead of tweeting about your morning trip to Dunkin Donuts develop a strategy that compliments your job seeking goals.  The best place to start on that strategy is to find knowledgeable resources that can educate you on the best uses of Twitter.  A former NEJS blog contributor, Marci Reynolds, has recently written and released an eBook that can act as a guide as you move into the Twitter world.

Although there are many books in circulation covering how to use Twitter for business this new eBook,  “How To Use Twitter For Your Job Search” , is one of the few resources dedicated to the unique needs of job seekers.

The eBook covers topics such as increasing your online visibility (SEO) with Twitter, finding real time job postings on Twitter, connecting with recruiters on Twitter and creating and implementing your tweet content strategy.  For a better idea of what the book covers View the Table of Contents.

“How To Use Twitter For Your Job Search” is available now for immediate download for just $5.00, with secure PayPal processing.  You can also buy a Kindle version from Amazon.com.

About Marci Reynolds

Marci is the CEO of J2B Marketing, a “Job Seeker 2 Business”™ Internet Marketing Services Firm based in Greater Boston, Massachusetts. She has written a significant number of blog posts about the importance of social media and your job search on www.j2bmarketing.com and, more recently, on the award winning website, www.job-hunt.org. She is also a sought-after speaker on the topic of using social media for your job search at career education and networking functions. Writing and publishing “How To Use Twitter For Your Job Search” was the next step in her quest to better educate job seekers on this important and timely topic.  Before launching J2B Marketing, Reynolds was VP, North American Sales Operations at Monster.com, the leading online careers website.

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Interviews: Notes From a Friend

February 22nd, 2010 No comments »

by Jackie Simmonds, NEJS Blog Editor

Jackie Simmonds

Paul, a friend since my college days, recently emailed me with information designed to help me during my job search.  He was kind enough to pass his thoughts along to me since I am a relative newbie, this being my first experience with unemployment in my career.  Paul has been impacted several times during past economic downturns and knows a thing or two about soul searching, career change, reinventing yourself, improving your skill set, and finding that next opportunity.  This time, as the economy started to head South, he realized it was likely that his job was going to be impacted.  Rather than wait around to be let go he pulled together a project proposal and successfully lobbied for a two year overseas assignment.  Now half way through the two years he is beginning the soul searching once again as he realizes that once this assignment is up he may not have a job.

Paul’s advice to me,  First, Break All The Rules.   “This is a GREAT book and I strongly recommend it.  In fact I have now read it twice in the last 2 months and wrote up these notes to help remind me of key points.  It shows how to improve management and people performance and I also intend to use it to help identify my “Talents” (as defined in the book) in order to help select the best next role for me.  We usually focus on skills and experience and really should focus on natural “talents” or traits to get the right fit if we are hiring or being hired.  Lots of good stuff that can apply to work and also activities outside of work”.

Paul’s notes did a great job of passing along key concepts from the book and it got me thinking. Can we turn this information around and use it to make ourselves stand out in our next interview opportunity?  Can we hand our interviewer the very thing they are looking for before they even ask for it?  I am going to focus in on the talent information that Paul passed along because I think this can help us provide differentiation from competitors during an interview situation.

This information is provided as a tool to managers who are trying to hire talent, we need to understand what they are thinking about during an interview and then use the information to bring our natural talents to the forefront.

4 Keys:  The most important activities of a manager:

  1. Select a person – Talent primarily, then experience, intelligence or determination
  2. Set expectations – define the right outcomes, not steps
  3. Motivate the person – focus on strengths
  4. Develop the person – help them find the right fit, not just the next rung

» Read more: Interviews: Notes From a Friend

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FTC Cracks Down on Con Artists Who Target Jobless Americans

February 21st, 2010 No comments »

Scams Prey on Victims of the Recession With Bogus Job, Money-Making Schemes

The Federal Trade Commission announced a new crackdown on con artists who are preying on unemployed Americans with job-placement and work-at-home scams, promoting empty promises that they can help people get jobs in the federal government, as movie extras, or as mystery shoppers; or make money working from their homes stuffing envelopes or assembling ornaments.

With the U.S. unemployment rate just under 10 percent, the FTC is redoubling its efforts to put a stop to these schemes, which make life even more difficult for hundreds of thousands of Americans already wrestling with the economic downturn.

As part of the law enforcement sweep announced today, dubbed “Operation Bottom Dollar,” the FTC has filed seven cases against the operators of deceptive and illegal job and money-making scams and announced developments in four previously filed job scam cases.  The FTC also announced partnerships with the online job placement service Monster.com, the search engine Bing, by Microsoft, and the centralized network of online communities Craigslist, to help job seekers recognize job scams so they can avoid being victimized. Monster, Careerbuilder, Bing and Craigslist will display FTC consumer education material to people who are using the companies’ Web sites to look for jobs.

“Federal and state law enforcement officials will not tolerate those who take advantage of consumers in times of economic misfortune,” David C. Vladeck, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection said.  “Employment and business opportunity fraud causes terrible hardship to those who are suffering the most in these difficult economic times,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney General Tony West. “The Justice Department is committed to prosecuting those who defraud through false promises of employment or financial success.”

» Read more: FTC Cracks Down on Con Artists Who Target Jobless Americans

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Finances: Tax Tips to Maximize Your Refund This Year

February 18th, 2010 No comments »

If you are unemployed or were unemployed in 2009, you want to make sure not to miss out on many deductions and exemptions available this year.  To help you navigate this year’s returns, Andrew Kucheriavy has put together a checklist of things that you should keep in mind as you prepare your return. Here are some highlights from his article:

2009 Stimulus Package for Unemployed

The 2009 bill signed by President Obama makes the first $2,400 of unemployment income nontaxable.

Deductions for Spending Money on Job Searching

If you were job hunting in 2009, you may be able to deduct many of the expenses incurred while looking for a job.  Anything you spend on creating, printing and mailing your resume is deductible and so are the fees for resume writing services, career coaches or headhunters.  You may also write off phone charges associated with your job search, as well as transportation costs: miles driven to an interview (including parking and tolls) or plane, bus or train fare, for example.

Claiming Your Unemployed Spouse on Your Return

If your spouse has lost their job, you can claim them as your dependent to get a tax credit.  If you have been paying for their living costs, you qualify to receive a tax credit.

Expanded Earned Income Tax Credit

Many couples who file jointly and have children qualify for the expanded Earned Income Credit. The credit increases for families with three or more children to 45 percent (5% increase) of the first $12,570 of earned income.

Health Insurance Assistance for Unemployed

Lowered cost for COBRA health insurance is a valuable benefit for workers who lost their health insurance when they lost their jobs. This government subsidy is designed to help unemployed people keep their health insurance.

» Read more: Finances: Tax Tips to Maximize Your Refund This Year

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Finances: How far is too far?

February 17th, 2010 No comments »

By Thomas Arrison, Certified Public Accountant

Thomas Arrison of Arrison & Olden

Thomas Arrison of Arrison & Olden

You’ve been out of work for months (maybe years) and you finally have found that job you so desperately sought.

It might not be perfect, but it’s a job and you can start paying your bills again.  The problem is it is 100 miles and two hours away.  So for now, 12 hours a day away from home is better than 12 hours on your computer looking for a job.  Did I mention that you could actually start paying your bills?

There is a glitch.  Do you know much it will cost you to drive that 200 miles a day?

The IRS says that the average car costs 50 cents a mile to run (gas, insurance, repairs etc).  That would be $100 a day.  That’s $500 per week— a number that is pretty accurate over a long period of time.

What will you spend out of pocket per week?

And who exactly has an “average car”?

Not too many people.  If you drive a 15-mile per gallon SUV you will spend a lot more than if you drive one of the 50-mile per gallon hybrids.

  • At  $3 per gallon of gas, the SUV will cost $40 a day or $200 per week.  You will probably have to stop everyday to fill it up.
  • The hybrid would cost $12 a day or $60 per week.

It seems that the average mileage people get is between 25 and 30 miles per gallon.  At 30 miles per gallon the out of pocket cost would be $20 per day or $100 per week.

Don’t forget that you will be putting more wear and tear on the vehicle and it will require more maintenance the further you have to drive it.  At 200 miles per day you need to change your oil every 5 weeks (or 3 weeks if you change it every 3000 miles).  A leased vehicle will run over your maximum annual miles quickly.

So a little analysis is necessary to make sure you are really earning more than minimum wage at this wonderful new opportunity.

About Thomas Arrison

Thomas has been a CPA for over 30 years.    Since 1992 he has provided individual and business tax and accounting services at Arrison & Olden, PC in Littleton, MA.  He also has his own blog, Thom’s Tax Talk, a compendium of tax tidbits and information

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