Too many managers are ignoring the importance of getting good reference checks on candidates, either not doing them at all or not doing a thorough job. The most common excuses?

• The candidate only provides referees who will give them a glowing report.
• The referee has a grudge against the candidate and slants their reference in an unfairly negative manner.
• The referee gives you a positive report, because they are afraid of the legal ramifications of saying anything bad.
• The referee is restricted by a company policy that limits what they can say about previous employees.

Is it any wonder that checking references has attained a reputation of being a waste of time?

Avoiding the Problems

Problem 1: The candidate only provides referees who will give them a glowing report.

Solution: Ask for extra references beyond those supplied on the resume and see if anyone else from the company can verify the information you collected during the interview. These extra people may still give a positively slanted opinion, but it’s harder for them to slant true facts. And, when referee statements are cross-referenced (see below), any holes that exist will show up.

Problem 2: The referee has a grudge against the candidate and slants their reference in an unfairly negative manner.

Solution: Once again, do at least two reference checks per employer. If one of the two is not so good, do a third one as a cross-reference against the other two. If two out of three are good, the bad one can probably be put into the category of a “suspect reference”.

Problem 3: The referee gives you a positive report because they are afraid of the legal ramifications of saying anything bad.

Solution: It’s vital that you get accurate information. If the referee you are talking to is one of those people who is afraid of saying the wrong thing, you’ll find they are far more comfortable simply confirming facts and figures. They will only become hesitant when asked something that invites their opinion.

Problem 4: The referee is restricted by their company policy that limits what they can say about previous employees.

Solution: This situation will be at least partly resolved when the emphasis is placed on the previous employee’s actual results on the job.

Companies that have such restrictive policies generally don’t mind verifying production statistics, or confirming what positions the employee held and what functions they performed. You can generally get more information, however, by digging deeper on the functional aspects. For example, “So, he was involved with collecting outstanding debts. Did the amount of outstanding debts decrease while he held the job?”

The reference check is, by no means, the main deciding factor. But if it’s done right, it can contribute powerful data to the decision process.

So much job search advice is based on the assumption that all interviewers are exactly the same. But how could that possibly be the case? The interviewer’s personality and interview style both play bigger roles in determining the outcome of an interview than you might think.

Preparing for an interview means more than researching the company and practicing your answers to common questions. You’ll also want to get yourself ready to face any kind of interviewer! Read on to familiarize yourself with some common interviewer archetypes and some effective strategies for dealing with each of them.

In the pre-recession days, the prevailing wisdom was to avoid hiring overqualified applicants. Hiring managers assumed they would easily become bored, lose motivation and would either underperform or leave.

But recent research shows that people who were thought to be overqualified actually performed better at their jobs. It has also shown that people rarely leave a job because they feel they’re too talented for it. People stay or leave because of working conditions, such as interpersonal conflict.

Hiring managers are soon going to be faced with an influx of highly qualified employees, as the job market inches toward recovery. Instead of disqualifying “overqualified” candidates immediately, you might be better off reconsidering your old attitude. Next time you’re looking at a stack of impressive resumes, here are a few things to consider:

Look to the Future

When making hiring decisions, don’t just focus on your current needs, but on your future needs. You never know when you might need someone to move up in the organization, and if you have qualified talent already on your payroll, it will save you a lot of time and money.

Consider Flexibility

If a person has skills that are applicable to other areas of your company, you can give them opportunities to use those skills not only for the job they were hired to do, but also in the company at large. Allowing an “overqualified” employee to use their broader skill set doesn’t just benefit the company, it also engages that person and sends the message that you value them and their experience.

Extra Motivation

“Overqualified” candidates often inject a new energy into a group by inspiring your existing team to “up their game.” They can also bridge the gap between junior and senior-level staff, allowing expertise to come from the team, not management.

More Value

When it comes to overqualified candidates, you often get more than you pay for. There’s no need to overpay, but you may have to pay at the high end of the range—knowing you’re likely to get more bang for your buck.

Bring Them On Carefully

One caveat about hiring the overqualified: Effective interviewing and onboarding are essential. Put all the cards on the table during the interview: ask the candidates directly about how they’ll handle their overqualification for the job. Ask them to convince you why they want the job and try to gauge whether they want the position for the right reasons. If you decide to hire them, set clear expectations as to where and how this person will fit into the organization—set specific job parameters.

The next time a resume from an overqualified candidate comes across your desk, don’t discard it automatically. By adjusting your perspective, you just might find that hiring an overqualified candidate is the best decision you could have made.

What’s going to happen in terms of job searching and employment in 2012?

In short, it’s going to be all about mobile, using social networking sites to job search, and going after a new job if you are unhappy in your current position.

Prediction #1:  You’ll need a strong online identity if you want employment success. Social networking is playing an increasingly important role in the employment process, so it’s important for job seekers to choose which networks they want to participate in and shape their online identities accordingly. 90% of recruiters check social networks before hiring a candidate, which means that your online persona should properly represent you and show that you’re the right person for the job.

Prediction #2: You’re going to want to be mobile. The explosion of mobile usage will continue to grow in 2012, causing a shift in the way people exchange information. With more and more people using smartphones, traditional means of networking like exchanging business cards are almost gone. Instead, people are connecting digitally. 77% of job seekers are already using mobile apps when searching, and this figure will rise in the coming year.

Prediction #3: If you don’t like your current job, you can start looking for another. In recent years, many people took positions that weren’t necessarily ideal, simply because they needed a job. As the economy improves and unemployment rates decrease, more people will look to change jobs that make them happier. Just be sure to make the most of your current job while looking for a new position, since it’s easier to get a job when you have a job.

Prediction #4:  Things will finally start looking up—for everyone. There is cautious optimism that the economy — and the job market — will improve in 2012. The recently released National Employment Report from ADP, a private staffing and business services firm, showed private employers added 206,000 jobs in November 2011. University of Michigan economists are predicting a brighter 2012; according to a recent study, the jobless rate should continue to drop to 8.8 percent by the end of 2012.

And some industries are already seeing growth — so much so that some can’t fill their positions fast enough.

If you’re a job seeker, here are nine occupations that are expected to grow in 2012:

1. Biomedical engineer
2. Computer software engineer
3. Customer service representative
4. Home health aide
5. Management analyst
6. Medical assistant
7. Network systems and data communications analyst
8. Registered nurse
9. Retail salesperson

If you have any questions about the job market or your job search in 2012, don’t hesitate to contact us. We predict great success for you if you do!

How can you keep your organization competitive in the drive for top employees? It can be hard for organizations to really stand out from their competitors. But with company culture becoming an important factor in career decisions, it’s time to look at your organization and see how yours compares.

Why do companies as disparate as Google, Southwest Airlines and Zappo’s get such great reviews from their employees? Why do they attract so many candidates, and so many good ones? Easy. They’ve developed company cultures that epitomize strong values, a modern work ethic that includes fun and service to both their customers and their communities.

These top companies know what good employees are looking for, and they make sure to publicize what sets them apart from the competition.

If you want to appeal to the top-drawer candidates that apply to these popular companies in droves, it’s time to think about what your company can offer. Has your company defined its core values? Created a distinct corporate culture? Have you expressed these values on your web site or in your job listings, where candidates can see them?

For example, Google promotes its “all for one and one for all” corporate mentality on its website, by mentioning how “at lunchtime, almost everyone eats in the office café, sitting at whatever table has an opening and enjoying conversations with Googlers from different teams.” This includes the founders and other upper-level executives. They also create an open work environment, with very few solo offices and a generous supply of laptops to allow for mobile coding, anytime email and note taking. They offer plenty of opportunities for exercise and comfort: providing bicycles or scooters to help staffers travel between meetings, massage chairs, large inflatable balls, game rooms and gyms. They even encourage socializing by sponsoring employee groups for different interests, such as meditation, movies, wine tasting and salsa dancing.

Southwest Airlines has long understood how employee satisfaction and environmental awareness go hand in hand. They also know that their employees like to feel like contributing members of society, especially in their home community. That’s why they promote their Charitable Giving and Community Outreach programs. They started Community Giving Boards that have been trained to evaluate charitable giving requests from their local community. The Boards are made up of local employees from various work groups who evaluate the donation requests and donate complimentary, round trip tickets to approved organizations for fundraising or transportation purposes. They also sustain a relationship with Ronald McDonald House Charities so they can aid in the transportation needs of families facing serious illnesses and administers their own Medical Transportation Grant Program in conjunction with hospitals and organizations that assist individuals who must travel to receive medical care.

Last but far from least is Zappo’s, a company that makes sure you know they’re about much more than shoes.  They have an entire page on their site devoted to their Family Core values. These include:

1. Deliver WOW Through Service
2. Embrace and Drive Change
3. Be Adventurous, Creative, and Open-Minded
4. Pursue Growth and Learning
5. Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit
6. Do More With Less
7. Be Passionate and Determined

They make it very clear that they expect employees to be innovative, to go above and beyond, to embrace teamwork and to have fun while doing so. They are proud of their unique corporate culture and openly share it through their web site, blogging, videos and more.

If you want to attract great candidates, you have to be a great company to work for. Not every company can be just like Google, Southwest or Zappo’s, but you can certainly take tips from them on how to create a corporate environment that excellent people will want to work in.

If you didn’t include holiday hiring plans in your yearly projections, it’s not too late! While there tends to be a mad rush to begin seasonal hiring once the leaves start to change, many employers are still recruiting for candidates deep into the snowy underbrush of the winter holiday season:

• Thirty-three percent of employers who are hiring seasonal staff reported they are still trying to fill open positions in November.
• Eleven percent said they may still be looking as late as December.

There are various functional areas where companies need help the most during the holiday rush. Across all industries, popular areas for recruitment this holiday season include:

• Customer Service – 30 percent
• Administrative/Clerical support – 16 percent
• Shipping/Delivery – 15 percent
• Technology – 12 percent
• Inventory management – 10 percent
• Non-retail sales – 9 percent
• Accounting/Finance – 8 percent
• Marketing – 8 percent

Have you given any thought to how many people you’ll need, and where?

Think specifically about your recruiting and hiring needs. How flexible will these temporary employees need to be? Will they have regular shifts, or will they need to be available on an as-needed basis?  Be sure to mention this in your job description or any other communications you send out, so potential seasonal employees will know what you expect. Students, homemakers, retirees and other people who are often drawn to seasonal help positions will appreciate knowing what they can fit into their schedules.

Where Can You Find the People You Need?

The fastest and easiest way is to use a qualified temporary staffing agency. If you don’t already have a strong relationship with a staffing agency in your area, contact colleagues and other professionals with whom you network to get references or recommendations. Try to find an agency that specializes in your industry. They can quickly provide prescreened candidates with the experience and flexibility that you need. Make sure you ask questions about their ability to meet your employment needs. If you need to hire a large number of employees for seasonal employment, for example, ensure the agency has the necessary resources and expertise to fulfill your order.

The staffing agency can also weed out the undesirable candidates who aren’t worth your time and money, even on a temporary basis. These would include:

• Someone who is unwilling to work certain hours
• Someone who isn’t enthusiastic
• Someone who knows nothing about your company/products

Your agency will send you people who are knowledgeable about your expectations, your needs, your company, and what you do.

Finally, if you are one of the 30 percent of employers who often transition some seasonal workers into full-time, permanent staff, this is a great way to evaluate potential employees. The assignment has a finite end, so if you don’t think the person would work out full time, it’s easy to shake hands at the end of the assignment and wish them well. If you do want to hire one of your seasonal employees, you may have gotten their new year off to a great start with your offer!

Despite the high unemployment rate, college grads can find jobs in this job market — after all, business is still going on. Opportunities do exist, but today’s college graduates may have to take a different approach to accommodate the drastic changes in the job market, like a longer hiring process and greater competition.

Getting a post-college job in this economy requires a new way of thinking about the job search and looking for work. Here are a half dozen ways to get yourself ready and get a job.

1. Organize Yourself If your parents are your main source of job hunt guidance, consider how much job searching conventions have changed significantly in the last decade. Unless your parents have also had to find new employment in the past few years, you’ll want to seek more current advice.
2. Sell Yourself Make sure your resume doesn’t look like a student’s.  Instead of submitting a resume where the first half of the page is taken up by education, notes on coursework, and honors, play up work experience—internships, volunteer work, and so forth. When a hiring manager makes an initial scan of your resume, you want her to see skills and experience she can use, not a list of college courses.
3. Think Broadly Don’t limit your job search into too narrow a slot. If you’re interested in a particular field, think of all the jobs related or even vaguely related to that field. Do a brainstorming session with friends and family, and search the Internet for even more ideas. This might double, triple, even quadruple your job prospects and your internship possibilities — and may even change the way you were thinking about your future career.
4. Act Globally If you can’t find a job in the United States, consider working abroad. First, it shows initiative, a willingness to learn and adaptability and desire for personal growth. It also will give you a breadth of experience and an edge that other grads won’t have. In today’s world of increasingly globalized activities, being cognizant of other cultural differences and proving that you can operate efficiently in them is a major plus. If you have language and managerial skills that go across countries, you can only help those businesses looking to expand markets in other countries, as most businesses are doing today.
5. Be Productive  If you can’t get a paying gig, take an unpaid internship or volunteer. It’s important to show employers that you know how to use time productively. You don’t want to give employers the image of a college grad hanging out at home or doing odd jobs. You should strive to appear to be progressing and challenging yourself at all times, even if it’s not in a conventional position of employment.
6. Get Help  Use your college’s career office. You may think campus resources are only for current students, but many campuses’ career offices cater specifically to grads. Ask them to connect you with alumni who work in the field you’re interested in.

One of the most daunting prospects in this marketplace is trying to determine which candidates really want to work for your organization and which candidates are just looking for any job they can find until this recession blows over. Most applicants are savvy enough to give you all the right answers during an interview, to make you think you’ve found the right fit for your company. Employers and recruiters have to be diligent when it comes to ensuring the candidates actions will match their words.

So, what’s the definition of a job hopper?

It’s kind of like that famous saying about art, “you know it when you see it.”  If a candidate is 30 and has had 6 jobs since college, he’s probably a job hopper. Job hoppers don’t have staying power.  They’re in it more for themselves and their immediate needs, rather than for a career or for your company.  Quitting 1-2 jobs early when you’re young is acceptable.  At that age, people are exploring life and work options.  But 6 times is a pattern. Job hoppers might perform well while they’re there, but in the end they’re just not likely to stick around.

Consider implementing the following tips during the interview process to help filter out potential job hoppers.

1. Ask Them to Talk About Future Goals One of the best interviewing tactics to identify candidates that might be “settling” for a position is to ask for details about their future goals. By learning more about what a candidate hopes to accomplish one, three or even five years down the line, you’ll be able to get a grasp on whether their desires are realistic at your company or in the role they’ve applied for.
2. Ask Them For Letters Of Recommendation By asking for multiple letters of recommendation and by requesting that those letters address “why this is a good potential job for the candidate,” you might gather some more data. If the letters aren’t consistent with the candidate’s own statements, you might have spotted someone who is “settling.”
3. Consider Running Credit/Financial Checks While there is some debate in the HR community about whether credit checks are helpful or an invasion of privacy, you can see whether the candidate is under significant financial stress and may be taking your job just for the money, or has a spotty history of paying bills. Someone with a strong, stable work history shouldn’t have a poor credit record.

The recession has caused a lot of great employees to lose their jobs, so there are a lot of highly qualified people who will be thrilled to be a productive employee at your company. By taking the necessary steps to separate these high quality candidates from the ones that are looking for “any offer,” you can ensure that your company avoids future job hoppers and comes out of this recovery stronger than before.

Halloween isn’t just about kids and candy anymore. More employers are embracing holiday parties, including Halloween dress-up events, as a way to promote employee morale, teamwork, and interdepartmental cooperation. However, the costume you’d wear to a friend’s Halloween party or a bash at a bar may be different than what you should wear to the office.

Employers should lay down ground rules beforehand when it comes to costumes, said Michael D. Karpeles, head of the labor and employment group at Goldberg Kohn, a Chicago-based law firm.

“It’s OK to allow people to dress up, but I think that companies should let their employees know that certain types of costumes are not appropriate — if they’re especially revealing, for example,” he said.

How to Choose a Work-Appropriate Costume

Some things to consider when choosing a costume to wear to work are:

• Comfort If you’re going to be wearing it for 8+ hours, you definitely want your costume to be comfortable. Will it be too hot or too cool to wear all day? Can you sit at your desk with the costume on?
• Makeup or Mask? Experiment with makeup beforehand if you’re planning to wear it. Some costume makeup can get irritating after a few hours. If you plan to wear a mask while working, make sure you can see — and breathe!
• Effect Avoid disturbing, horror costumes or those with religious themes that might be offensive to your coworkers. And remember, sexual harassment policies are still in effect at work events.

There’s not much time left ‘til Halloween, so here are a few quick and easy costumes that you can probably create with what you already have on hand. One trip to a costume shop can complete your ensemble if necessary:

• Housewife Wear a nightgown, bathrobe and big slippers, and curlers in your hair while toting a stereotypical item like a box of bon-bons or a dustmop. You can even wear white or green make-up to simulate cold cream or a facial.
• Gypsy or Fortune Teller Wear any flowing skirt, a bright non-matching shirt, a dozen brightly covered bangle bracelets and a scarf or two. Carry a crystal ball or  a magic 8-ball.
• Chef/cook If you’ve got an apron, a mixing bowl and a wooden spoon, just add a wig or a few accessories to become your favorite TV chef.
• Biker A leather jacket, black jeans, boots and a bandana are all that’s really needed for this look. A plaid shirt with the sleeves ripped off and/or a Harley-Davidson T-shirt can add authenticity.

If your workplace is casual and allows for more creativity, you might try:

• Brain Donor: Wear a hospital gown or bathrobe, draw black circles under your eyes and wrap your head in gauze. Fill a clear jar with a small amount of water and some cauliflower. On the front of the jar or the front of your gown put a big label that says “Brain Donor.”

• Nudist on Strike: Probably the easiest costume to put together on short notice. Wear whatever you want and carry a picket sign that says, “Nudist on Strike.”

• Attack Dog Trainer: Take a stuffed dog and sew it to the arm of a long-sleeved shirt so it looks like it is biting you. Wear a name tag (“Jim’s Attack Dog School). Add fake blood for fun!

• Chick Magnet: Attach Barbie dolls or other inexpensive dolls (dressed, please!) all over yourself.

Group costumes can be a fun way to bring a department together. Try getting everyone to dress as characters from a popular TV show, like Mad Men, or movie, like Harry Potter. If your usual dress code is business casual, it might be fun to dress in dark suits and accessorize with sunglasses, a la the Blues Brothers or the Men in Black, or add badges or earpieces to be FBI or Secret Service agents.

The subject of drug testing in the workplace is certainly controversial. The debate has been raging for years, and many arguments exist in support of both sides.

The Pros

Those who argue in favor of drug testing point out that workers who abuse drugs pose a safety risk in the workplace. They also have a higher rate of absenteeism, which costs their employers money. Businesses can face a higher exposure to liability due to drug-related work accidents: According to the United States Department of Labor, 10 to 20 percent of U.S. workers involved in fatal on-the-job accidents tested positive for illicit drugs and alcohol. A drug-using employee is 3.6 times more likely to be involved in an accident, and five times more likely to make a worker’s compensation claim, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Impaired judgment can result in slow reaction times and misguided decisions, which may lead to accidents. Therefore, advocates feel that drug testing makes the workplace safer and increases employee confidence — that is, those employees who don’t use drugs don’t have to worry about their own safety being compromised by their possibly impaired coworkers.  Another potential benefit? If workplace drug testing leads an employee to seek treatment. Some employers may even assist employees in entering (and paying for) a drug treatment program so that employee has a chance to become productive again.

The Cons

Many feel that random workplace drug testing violates an employee’s right to privacy, especially when no probable cause exists. While random testing is legal in the workplace, some groups feel it violates an individual’s constitutional rights. Urine and hair tests only reveal certain aspects of past drug use, not current, illicit use that may have occurred on the job. Employees who are against drug testing often threaten to sue their employer for violations. Even if the plaintiff loses the case, the business still stands to lose money from downtime needed to fight the case and attorney fees. Also, implementing a random drug-testing program can cost thousands of dollars and may result in no one testing positive.

Whether or not to implement drug testing is a difficult decision, and employers should consider their individual circumstances before making it. In environments where employees are responsible for the well being and safety of other people, such as schools, hospitals and transportation, there is more of a reason to create carefully constructed policies that ensure the business will be run by unimpaired people.

In other job settings that aren’t safety related, employers do have a right to expect that employees are not utilizing drugs in the workplace, yet employees have a right to privacy and dignity. One solution is to make your drug testing policy clear to employees before they start working for you.