The Meat of the Resume

If you’ve listed a job opening anywhere in the last two months, you’ve undoubtedly had your inbox deluged with applications. It’s a daunting task to undertake evaluating them all.

A recent study found the HR professionals only need to spend 15 seconds on the initial resume review.  You’re probably thinking, “great, but I’m not a HR professional. I’m just a small business owner.” That doesn’t mean you can’t learn to quickly peruse the resumes by learning what to ignore.

First, skip the cover letter altogether because that’s more of an endgame document rather than the kickoff to the process. It’ll help more in the final decision process than it will in the initial perusal. Then, don’t look at the name at the top of the page. It’s not important unless the rest of the resume passes muster.  Next, just look to see if they have the appropriate degree you’ve required, don’t concern yourself where the degree is from; that will come into play during the second review. Awards and achievements? Don’t bother with them. They’re best for when you’re really trying to narrow the list down during the third round.

What’s that leave you? The real meat of the resume, the work history. It only takes a few seconds to read this section and discern if this person has the right experience for the advertised position. Even if the person has an entire page of work history, you can reasonably get through it in less than a minute – and only 15 seconds if you scan it quickly.

It may seem counterproductive to not give each resume a thorough review, but when you consider that time is money, and you’re burning through it every extra minute you spend on this task, it seems worth it.

Want a Congressman in Your Pocket?

There’s an interesting read over at LSJ.com about Michigan state lawmakers being forced onto the job market due to term limits that have tossed them out of office. They are now being faced with the same dismal prospects that are beleaguering their former constituents.

As an employer there are several ways for you to benefit from this news. First, you can hire one of these guys and have someone with strong political knowledge and connections to help grow your business tax free. Or if that makes you uncomfortable (and it probably should) you can recruit a very qualified candidate for your company with very unique experience.

The moral of this story is that the applicant pool for your open position is richer than it ever was. This means it’s very profitable for you to take a little extra time perusing the resumes that are being sent your way. It’s not just the recently unemployed who are shooting feelers your way. It’s also very qualified people at faltering companies looking to avoid the sting of recession.

It’s up to you whether or not you’re going to seize this opportunity to welcome a highly qualified new member to your team.

E-Verify

If you’ve spent anytime listening to NPR, then you’ve undoubtedly heard of E-Verify as it’s a prominent sponsor of “All Things C0nsidered.” What is it? Well, it’s a joint program between the Department for Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration that can check the eligibility of new hires to work. It cross references information on their I9 with the Social Security and Homeland Security databases.

It’s not mandatory for employers to use (unless you live in Arizona or Mississippi), but it is an excellent tool none-the-less. “E-Verify virtually eliminates Social Security mismatch letters, improves the accuracy of wage and tax reporting, protects jobs for authorized U.S. workers, and helps U.S. employers maintain a legal workforce,” according to the official site.

It’s currently estimated that 12,000 employers use the site to verify their new hires. It’s easy to join their ranks, just sign up here.

Outsourcing Doesn’t Have to Be All Bad

The current economic climate is leading a lot of companies to look for ways to manage their budgets more efficiently and maximize the effectiveness of every aspect of their business. In a previous blog we discussed the benefits of spending a small amount of money on a background check to save yourself thousands of dollars in internal left, law suits, etc. Another option that will offer benefits in multiple areas is using a staffing/recruiting agency.

Many employers are not willing to spend money to have someone else do their interviewing for them, but this could be a mistake for several reasons. First of all, the top management staff that typically conducts interviews has a multitude of daily tasks and demands on time that are necessary to keep business flowing smoothly. In order to find time to review applications and résumés, interview candidates thoroughly and select the best person for the job, other tasks have to be done more rapidly or ignored altogether. Secondly, in an effort to maintain productivity and get everything done, the hiring decisions may be done quickly and a better-suited candidate may be passed over accidentally. This may have long-term effects for the company if the selected candidate turns out to be a bad match, and then more time must be invested in finding a suitable replacement.

If employers initially turn to the services of a staffing agency, they could be saved a great deal of money in the long run which outweighs the outsourcing cost (also, don’t forget that a lot of agencies only charge if a candidate is actually hired). Allowing a staffing agency to handle the application review and interview process will provide a company with the following benefits:

1) Management staff will have more time to focus on actual business and ensure that everything is running according to plan

2) A decision will not be made hastily in order to simply fill a slot and move on to another task – a staffing agency is entirely devoted to filling your availabilities and need not divert attention to anything else

3) Hiring an applicant after a much more thorough review/interview process helps ensure that they are the BEST possible match, subsequently reducing turnover rates

4) Reducing turnover rates prevents the company from investing even more time and money in repeating the hiring process.

I’ve been told that it’s better to spend a little money now to save a lot of money later, and I think this is a perfect example of that handy little aphorism!

How to Walk the Tightrope Between Friend and Boss

From my experience managing roughly 25 employees who were all within 3 years of my own age, I can understand the difficulties that all employers face while trying to balance on that thin line between friendship and employer/employee.

The two common pitfalls:

1) “I don’t care if they like me! I’m their boss!” – but then you have a staff of uninspired employees with no real motivation to perform their best. Like they say in the movie Office Space, they’re willing to work just hard enough not to get fired. And in the worst case scenario, your staff detests you and dreads your company which does nothing positive for the overall office environment.

2) “I want them all to like me.” – first of all, you have heard the phrase that you can’t please everyone all the time, right? And also, this mentality leads to a staff that holds no respect for your authority and continually disregards your directions or reprimands.

To be absolutely honest, I fluctuated between both of these extremes as a new manager, and it took me quite a few weeks to find my balance. In the end, I discovered the best way to interact with my employees was to lead with the strict and soften it with the friend. I told both old and new hires that there were policies which had to be followed strictly, but there were also places where leniency could be allowed – yes, you do have to meet this deadline, but I’m comfortable with you taking a 10 minute break to clear your head and walk down to the coffee shop.

Both extremes lead to an unproductive atmosphere, which is why the tightrope-walk is so important. Work with the dynamic of your office, and establish yourself as the type of manager that your employees value both for your authority and your friendship. This happy medium creates a much more positive environment and employees who are motivated to produce quality work.