Making The Irrefutable Offer

Under experience, i see you are an expert fetch player? Excellent!

The most crucial part of the hiring process might seem like it’s the interviewing and the vetting, but in reality the success of a candidate placement comes down to you, the Employer. When you have a talented, successful, and vetted candidate sitting in front of you, it should make you a bit nervous not to mess this up. This candidate most likely has other options but is interested in you. Think back to your teenage years of dating when your heart had butterflies and you had nervous hand sweats, and would like, totally die if you messed anything up. This is how we want you to feel about the candidates.

Now that we have you nervous, you can calm down because we’ve got you covered.

When giving your candidate an offer, you have your budget and you have your wiggle room with offering price. But there is more to a successful job offer than just the agreement on number. Here are some ways to make your top candidate an irrefutable offer!

Don’t Drag Your Feet: A candidate this awesome doesn’t come around very often and it’s up to you to grab him before he’s gone. Besides, the interviewing process is long enough without the added delay in decision-making, right? Best policy, day of final interview with the candidate, make a decision and contact them with the offer! Not only are you easing your own and the candidate’s nervousness, it shows enthusiasm that you want them. Everyone wants to be wanted after all.

To Call or Email the Offer? Call them! Remember when we talked about enthusiasm for the candidate? Calling the candidate with the offer so you can convey your excitement for them and be able to answer any questions they might have.

If you call and there is no answer, leave a message for the candidate to call you back and send an email stating the same as your voicemail!

Explain Benefits to a T: Explain your benefits and pay as accurately as possible will help the candidate make his decision quickly and give them a sense of trust for you. This will also be beneficial to you later down the road when an employee is not expecting more out of you then what was promised.

Get A Commitment: Your candidate might want some time to think about your offer, which is OK. However, make sure that you ask if there is anything you can clear up that might be making them hesitate. You want to see what they think about the offer in order to make their acceptance more likely.

Write it out: Now that you have given a verbal offer to the candidate, write it all down in either an email or a letter and send it to the candidate. Be sure to give them a deadline to get a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’ back to you within two to three days. This will hopefully keep them from dragging out the acceptance process.

Of course your Search Solution Group recruiter will be involved in the steps of the offer process, so if you have any questions, we are here to help!

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6 Interview Killing Mistakes

Lets face it, at some point in your life you were just a little bit imperfect. We at Search Solution Group have never experienced an ounce of imperfection, but we hear it’s a common occurrence for other folk. One of those awkward or imperfect moments was most likely career search or interview related. While there are some people who seem to be natural-born interviewers who can land a job like nothing, it actually is a combination of Practice, Conscious Effort, and Experience that give these people immense power to land any job.

From the mouths of top Recruiters at Search Solution Group, here are 6 ways to kill any chance of acing an interview:

• A Terrible Personality: It should go without saying that you want to be perceived as a team player, a people enthusiast, and someone who won’t drag down the environment of the office. Being outgoing and personable during your interview goes a long way towards success. No matter how skillful or intelligent you are, a recruiter has a really hard time approving of a candidate who is lacking in the personality department.
• Focusing on Your Needs: When you go in for an initial interview, your main goal should be to make a good impression, find out more about the position, and decide whether or not you think you’d be a good fit with the company. While you may be thinking about the salary and benefits, DON’T ask about it. When a candidate is initially interviewing, the recruiter wants to see interest in the position and not perks of the job. Wait until further interviews when the recruiter or interviewer brings up compensation.
• Um, Like, You Know! : These words are fillers and they make you sound dumb in an interview. If you need time to think of a response to an answer, do just that! Don’t open your mouth to answer until you have a complete answer. This will avoid those filler words and your interviewers won’t mind the pause. In fact, showing that you carefully formulate answers will be a good sign of intelligence
• Dressing Like a Slob: It doesn’t matter if you are interviewing to be a Barrista or the Creative Director at Starbucks, always dress nicer than you think is necessary. It is better to look professional than run the risk of being judged on your low appearance. If your shirt wrinkles easily just from wearing it, it probably isn’t the best thing to wear to an interview. Gentlemen, wear a nice tie and a suit jacket, shave your face, and shine your shoes. Ladies, wear a nice and simple suit either of the pant or skirt variety, wear minimal makeup/perfume, and wear shoes with a reasonable heel.
• Disorganization: When asked about specifics on your resumé, and you can’t answer the question, that is a HUGE red flag to recruiters. Why would we take you seriously as a candidate if you can’t explain your past experiences. Additionally, when dates and positions with past companies don’t match up, you are either labeled as sketchy or sloppy.
• Unprofessionalism: First and foremost, not being early to an interview is being late. Additionally, when you have terrible eye-contact or a weak handshake, you didn’t  bring multiple copies of your resumé, all label you as a lame candidate and can potentially devastatingly kill your chances at landing that job. However, luckily for you, all it takes is some practice and conscious effort to not make these mistakes.

As a candidate, our recruiters at Search Solution Group work to make your interview process as smooth as possible. We act like a coach with our candidates and are looking for a huge win for you!

Interview Questions to Dodge

Before every job interview, it is necessary to prepare for the questions you may be asked. It is also important to be aware of the types of questions to not answer during an interview. Most often an interviewer is not asking such questions maliciously, but in a friendly manner. Keeping a friendly demeanor yourself and not responding defensively will allow you to transition the conversation to find the real reason behind the questionable question.

Be ready to dodge, duck, dip, dive, and dodge around these following questions:

1) How Old Are You? : Your first instinct may be to say, “Not as old as your mom!”, but we all know that wouldn’t turn out well. Some companies have established retirement age and may ask if you are below that age or on the opposite spectrum ask if you are above the legal minimum for a job. These questions are acceptable for them to ask and pertinent for you to answer. However, if an interviewer directly asks “How old are you?” or “What is your date of birth?”, be prepared to redirect that question with the answer ” I do not feel my age is an issue with my performance in this job”. This will give the interviewer the opportunity to explain if age might be an issue, or take your answer and move on to the next question.

2) Are You Religious? : During an interview, you may be asked if you are available for normal hours of the work week. However, if you are asked what about your religious affiliation, that is straight up illegal. Be prepared to answer any questions regarding religion with the succinct answer: “my faith will not interfere with my ability to do the job”.

3) Are You Married? Do You have Children? Are You Planning on Having Children?: The interviewer could be trying to establish if you would be able to travel for the position, or it could just be friendly small talk. But it is actually illegal for an interviewer to ask about your marital status, if you have children, if you are planning on it, and your spouse’s occupation and salary.  To answer, you could turn the beat around say “It sounds like family is important here, are you married?” or let them know that you are able to perform all the duties of the position.

4) What is Your Nationality?  While you may want to immediately say ” Uh, no. My forefathers are not the ones interviewing here”, the question may have been asked to determine whether or not you are bilingual or if you are legally able to work in the country. Before jumping to conclusions,  you can either say  “These questions do not pertain to my abilities” or you could say “Yes! I am actually fluent in German, Swiss, Chinese, and Portuguese”.  Just make sure you actually are that multilingual.

What did you just ask me?

5) What is Your Credit Score? Questions about your financial situation or your credit score are not ones you should answer unless you are interviewing for a finance or banking position. Additionally, employers can check your credit history only with your permission. It is up to you whether or not to divulge that information. Any question that you may be uncomfortable with is not a question that you have to answer.

Before going in to an interview, think of any other questions that may pertain to you and find appropriate ways to answer these questions without putting yourself in perilous position. Our recruiters at Search Solution Group are experts at navigating such situations. If you have any questions, we are here to help!

 

Golden Post-Interview Steps To Take

After an interview, as soon as you can get back to your computer, send a quick and thoughtful email thanking the interviewers for their time.

The age-old suggestion to send a thank you note after an interview is still the best step to take. It doesn’t take long to write a simple note and it’s a good way to reiterate your interest in the position. Plus, any extra time that the interviewer is thinking of you positively is a huge plus.

A good tip to remember when writing your thank you email and note is to KISS ( Keep It Simple Stupid ) !

Sample Layout of a successful thank you note:

Paragraph one: A few quick sentences on your appreciation for the interview and their time. Remind them why you are writing.. to thank them! 

Paragraph two: This is the part where you remind the interviewer of how you are a great fit for the position and how you will be an asset to their company. If you felt you need to improve or add to any question that occurred in the interview, now is your time.

Paragraph three: Emphasize your enthusiasm and appreciation again, thank them, and if you had discussed the follow up process, mention how you are looking forward to following up with them soon. 

After you have squared away the important pleasantries, get down to business taking notes on your impression of the company, how you think you did in the interview, and ways to improve your next interview with the company.

Unless the company asked you to get back in touch with them if you have heard from them in a designated time-frame, only reach out to your recruiter if a week has passed and you haven’t heard any response.

Search Solution Group Recruiters are always willing to help with any step of your interview process!

Ace Every Phone Interview

Phone interviews can be daunting, but completing a successful phone interview is an integral part of most interview processes. If played right, phone interviews can be fun and instrumental in placing yourself higher on the pile of applicants.

Be Prepared

Prepare for a phone interview just as you would for an in-person interview. By this we mean, research, research, research! You should know everything and anything about the company, the job position, and the person who is interviewing you before you get on the phone.

Make a list of intelligent questions to ask as well as your answers to any typical interview question. It happens too often that candidates start phone interviews blind and unprepared because they don’t take them seriously. ALWAYS feel free to reach out to your Search Solution Group  Recruiter, too, to help you with any information you may need prior to your call.

The beauty of phone interviews is that you can have a ridiculous amount of material at your disposal without the interviewer knowing.

• Have a copy of your resume printed out as well as a copy of the job description
• With access to the Internet during a phone interview, you can have a browser open to the company’s web page and the ability to search topics discussed during the interview.
• Give yourself enough time to talk for as long as the interviewer wants. It takes 15 seconds for the interviewer to decide whether you are a worthy candidate and the longer you have them interested, the better you’re doing. Running out of time and cutting off the interviewer because your lunch hour is up is the last thing you want to happen.

Smile!

Having a smile on your face while on the phone gives your voice excitement and a lively energy. Your voice can seem monotonous or even irritated without a smile. Since the interviewer can’t see you, being overly animated and smiley won’t make you seem like cheerleader, but rather an engaging and enthusiastic professional.

Be Compelling

Your main job during a phone interview is to be so compelling and interesting that the interviewer is convinced that meeting you in person won’t be waste of time. Reiterate your experience, your enthusiasm for the position, and desire to continue the conversation in person.

Some small things to consider:

• Don’t interrupt the interviewer; Speak slowly and enunciate.
• Do have water handy to wet your whistle.
• Dress professionally and sit as you would in person.
• Remember to say “Thank you” and send a follow-up thank you note or email to restate your interest in the opportunity.

First Impressions In The Blink Of An Eye

It takes only a quick blink of the eye for an employer to initially evaluate you. Within those first three to seven seconds of an interview, you could either be making a great professional impression, or failing miserably. Your appearance, behavior, body language, and how you are dressed are all taken in to account and judged accordingly. To make a great impression, follow these cardinal interview rules.

Be On Time

An employer you are meeting for the first time is not interested if the train was long or if traffic was slow. Taking those possible delays into accordance is imperative when traveling to an interview. It is better to sit in the parking lot for 10 extra minutes then walk in one minute late.  Plan to show up five to 10 minutes early to hit the sweet spot.

Look Your Best

While you may not want to sit in the bushes to stalk the company’s dress code, it never hurts to ask the hiring manager. Having freshly cleaned and pressed clothing is a no-brainer, but the little things like shining your shoes or lint rolling off the dog hair are conditions that employers notice. Covering up tattoos, removing excessive piercings, and having a clean-shaven face and controlled hair could be impressive or could doom you to failure in your career search if left unchecked.

Let Your Body Talk 

Mirroring body posture and communication style of your interviewer instantly gives you an edge. Humans unconsciously associate strongly with people they see following their body posture and expressions.  By mirroring, you are effectively saying to an interviewer that you are trustworthy, receptive to his or her opinions, and will be a confident and familiar employee.

“Look Eye! Always Look Eye!”

In the words of Mr.Miyagi, making eye contact shows confidence and confidence is key. In relation to good eye contact is a firm handshake. Limp-fish style handshakes are related to timidity and no one wants a timid employee.

Be Prepared

Like a good Scout, being prepared with pen, paper, extra resumes, and any sample work will do wonders to make a good impression. Taking notes during your interview will give you material to make a decision on your part while showing an employer that you are interested in what he is saying.

Look the part, be the part, get the part. And don’t forget to smile!

It’s Not Where it Started…It’s Where It’s Going That Matters!

I had this funny feeling this morning as I was driving into work about all the random decisions that we make as individuals and how they impact those closest to us. I was turning off my street onto Central Ave (means nothing to some of you) and I noticed that it is getting cooler outside. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure this one out….but my thought was “I can’t believe I am driving to my office”. For years I would wake up, feed Tanner eat some breakfast and work out of my home office in my PJ’s. I was void of ever having a morning car accident, fighting the morning commute or wondering what kind of mood my co-workers were going to be in. It was all I knew for years, it was great!

Then one amazing evening I sat down and met Stella for what I thought was an interview, she swears to this day she had no idea what we were doing or going to talk about. Yes, this is a concern still for me..ha ha. Even worse was the autobiography she told me was reading, feel free to ask her what book it was. It should make you wonder why I hired her.  But as it turns out it was one of my top 5 best decisions I ever made. In the grander scheme of it all Stella said yes to the job offer (thank GOD). These decisions that we made that day and continue to make have allowed us to hire a bunch of great people such as Eric, Ashley, Elena, Aaron, Michelle, LC and Vinny. They have helped us add value to others people lives because we now make our clients hiring process 10X better and have given a bunch of good people some solid jobs. Our team and their decisions everyday have made my life better. They don’t cause any problems, they get here on time and stay late. They are all usually smiling after they have some coffee. We have dogs running around, food in the fridge and we are being successful and having fun.

 My point is that I am no longer throwing out Aluminum Cans (see previous blogs) I realize how important these decisions that we make everyday are and how they impact everyone’s lives around us. I am still making a significant effort to make sure that everything I do is done with a smile realizing how much we affect everyone around us.

 The coolest part is not so much where it started but where Search Solution Group is going! Thank you to everyone who makes this possible every day

The Worst Job in America

For the last two years I have been receiving calls from a sales rep for the Charlotte Bobcats. Every time she calls I remind her that she has the worst job in America. I think she finds it amusing but I’m telling her this because it’s the truth. She is trying to sell me tickets to the Bobcats…who wants tickets to the Bobcats? Come on. This product she is selling is broken, it does not work, there is not interest in the product locally or Nationally! “Hi this is Jenn calling on behalf of the worst basketball team that ever existed can I interest you in some tickets?”

Imagine the great Steve Jobs selling iPods that didn’t work. His sales pitch would have went something like “This is going to be a great product right now you can buy it and in a few years you can play music from it, eventually it will work and get better I promise.” That’s the biggest joke ever, that is what every sales person who works for the Charlotte Bobcats has faced everyday for the past few years and will face for the near future. As I wake up in California this morning staring out my hotel window, I can’t imagine how low morale must be over there.

Here is my PLEDGE…I will interview any SALES person who works for the Bobcats. I want nothing more than to hire a sales rep from the Bobcats. Even better if you play on the team, I’ll interview you and consider hiring you. In fact any HR, accountant or professional staff who can’t take it anymore call us. We will do anything we can to find you a better job with a winning company. 704-332-8702

You think your employer treats you good? 21 reason why we’re the best!

Sometimes in the hustle and bustle of day to day life we miss things. Rumor has it that one year my Dad forgot his Anniversary with my Mom. Now I am pretty confident my Dad will deny this with a smile on his face but my point is that we forget about things from time to time. I forgot that this is the 10TH Anniversary of Search Solution Group. That means that we have beat all the statistics out there about new businesses failing.

I tell my teammates all the time that without bad employees and failed business we would struggle. Search Solution Group was started shortly after 9/11 when a ton of businesses were laying people off, but I personally was not left with a lot of options so I gave it a shot. I will forever be thankful to my parents, my friends who let me use their Monster accounts, friends who hired from me and gave me my first placements and a friend who helped me come up with my business name and everything else that comes along with starting a new business. I was not to proud then nor am I today to ask for help and tell people that I just don’t know what to do. Which leads me to the next phase of Search Solution Group……What to do next??

We have started the process of being better. For me at this time it means why you should work with Search Solution Group and be a part of our team. So here goes my list for 2012 that we are offering to our current employees and future employees that make us better than your employer.

 1. Dog friendly environment. Yes we have water bowls and dog hair on the floor. If you leave food on your desk watch out..ha

2. Flex hours, especially when the sun stays out later.

3. Free lunches 5 days a week

4. Improving benefits

5. A soon to be announced awesome 401K plan

6. Free water, energy drinks, flavored water (my favorite), and POP (I am from NY)

7. FREE snacks and candy galore!!!

8. Free car wash

9. Lots of coffee and espresso shots

10. The best commission structure

11. A base salary because we want you to be happy and secure

12. As much vacation time as you need within reason also known as the “Stella Vacation Policy” SVP (just email her and ask stella@ssgresume.com)

13. An annual SSG week long beach vacation. This is fun!!

14. I will also accompany you to 1 emergency room visit per year and make you smile

15. Free parking

16. We have a couch and have NAP TIMES

17. Ice cream cake birthday celebrations

18. Lots of sarcasm

19. Finally NO ONE will yell at you

20. Entrepreneurial cnvironment in which you can be creative and generate as much money as you want.

21. Happy hour fridays which can be drinks, golfing, food or whatever makes you happy

 We are always looking for hard working talent to join our Search Solution Group Family!

Why are recruiters better than realtors?

Do real estate agents really have their clients’ best interests in mind? That’s the question best-selling authors Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, of “Freakonomics,” ask in the film version of their book, above, and the answer, via Curbed, is probably not. Agents’ own financial best interests lie in selling as many homes as possible rather than in selling each at the best possible price, Levitt and Dubner say. There’s further evidence of that in data that shows that agents leave their own homes on the market for an average of 10 days longer than they do when it comes to the homes of their clients. Watch the clip for more explanation.

 www.freakonomics.com/2007/06/08/how-much-is-a-realtor-worth

 At some point last year I finally got the chance to read Freakonomics. It was such a great book. The book was very insightful and has some really interesting chapters and one of my favorites was the one about real estate agents. The introduction of this week’s blog and the short video clip will give you the cliff note version of the chapter. I am bringing this to your attention today because I honestly feel that the “realtor” and the real estate industry need a MAJOR MAKEOVER. I would love to be the person to do it or help change it because there are so many useless real estate agents that are out there giving others and the industry a BAD REPUTATION. I have not met anyone in that industry who does anything different other than post your house with some silly pictures on the MLS and then hope and pray to the real estate gods.  Maybe I am being a little harsh…….but someone do something different and get some integrity!

 This little rant was caused by a conversation one of my recruiters had with a Controller/CPA candidate this week. It worked out ideally because this candidates wife is actually a realtor. This particular CPA was not interested in working with a recruiter despite having sent us his resume. So right from the start my recruiter was a little confused. He asked  “why did  you send us your resume if  you do not want to work with a recruiter?” The CPA went on to explain that he did not know we were a recruiting firm and blah blah blah. He was very polite and when our recruiter asked why he did not want to work with a recruiter the CPA said he had not had a good experience in the past when he was looking for his last job about nine years ago. This was perfect!! This CPA hadn’t realized that in the past nine years our industry had changed so much that our recruiter had the chance to explain to him why he should work with us and how he should be selective with the recruiting firm he chooses to use and represent him. It was an awesome opportunity to tell him more about Search Solution Group.

 Here are the highlights of that conversation as they were relayed to me:

1. Look to see where you are sending your resume

2. Research the Firm on the Web

3. Use LinkedIn to look up the Recruiter who you are speaking with. A good well networked Recruiter will have tons of connections

4. Make sure your Recruiter has not worked with a bunch of Recruiting Firms in the past and has some credible job history

5. Our Recruiter was able to explain our process and walk him thru the CONFIDENTIAL manner in which we handle all resumes that are sent to us.

6. He walked the CPA thru the job opening we have for him and explained why he thought he was a good fit. He assured the CPA he wasn’t just going to file his resume and do nothing with it.

7. He gave the CPA a few references

After about 20 minutes and some good back and forth, our Recruiter was able to win over the CPA. I think we helped restore some confidence in our Industry and our process and our people. It was a really good conversation for everyone. However the better conversation happened the next day when we called the CPA back to tell him that he has an Interview with our client on April 12th. Keep your fingers crossed!!