Staffing Agencies Whats With All the Sameness - Spark Hire

Staffing Agencies Whats With All the Sameness - Spark HireThe staffing industry is large and growing. And though the industry felt the effects of the recession as much as any other industry, in 2012 staffing companies hired 11.5 million people for both temporary and contract work, a sizable piece of the workforce.But with so many staffing agencies available, how in the world is one supposed to stand out above the rest? When the goal of each is just about the same to partner with companies in reservierung to fill their open positions what can a staffing company leverage in buchen to help them stand apart?To begin, a staffing agency will stand out if it has a clear focus on clientele. Matt Lowney at ere.net says this means that a staffing agency should not have every company in town as a client. If staffing agencies contract with every business, it limits the ability for them to leverage with a single company by showing how they can take talent away from a competitor who may be in th e same area.Lowney also discusses the ever-daunting task of creating a strong presence or statement which describes how your services are unique. Talk about your recruiting process, client relations, local market connections, and client success, Lowney says in order to nail down who youre serving and how best to serve them. You also create a stronger presence by understanding what your neighborly competition is doing. Seek to understand how they are drawing in their clients and try something different to attract your own. As Lowney remarks, this in-depth knowledge of the competitive landscape should provide you with worlds of opportunity, as well as place you above the rest, who are likely not spending much time trying to do things differently than their competitors.It is also beneficial for a staffing agency to keep on top of developing technology in order to attract tech-savvy clients. Spark Hires video interviewing tactics are just one example of technology that could help to set your staffing agency apart. Tired of dealing with the unfortunate skills gap? Video interviews can help staffing professionals connect with highly skilled and highly desired passive job seekers.Also, a hiring manager can conduct ten one-way video interviews in the same time it takes to make a single screening phone call. When staffing pros can vet more candidates faster, theyll spend less time overall looking for someone to fill their open positions. Lastly, video interviews can help you get around some of the traditional roadblocks of recruiting, such as aligning schedules for interviews and time wasted due to travel to and from an interview.And whenever you can, focus on the people you have working for you. Trust your employees to be better sales people than the competition and give them the tools they need to make the case for your agency over another.What have you found to be effective for an agency who wants to stand above the rest? Leave us a comment and let us knowIMAGE Cour tesy of Flickr byLeyram Odacrem

ASME Launches New Social Networking Features

ASME Launches New Social Networking Features ASME Launches New Social Networking Features ASME Launches New Social Networking FeaturesUsually when I address the ASME audience, it is to bring you a new technological development in the field of mechanical engineering. However, today I would like to talk to you about a fundamental change to ASME.org itself. ASME is proud to introduce a significant new enhancement to its flagship website - social networking features designed to provide exciting possibilities for networking, knowledge-sharing and collaborating with other engineering professionals throughout the world. ASMEs vision is to be the essential resurce for mechanical engineers and other technical professionals throughout the world for solutions that benefit humankind. To help deliver on this vision, ASME is providing its users the opportunity to be part of a robust virtual global engineering community with digital features that allow them to engage, network, share knowl edge and collaborate with other professionals, as often as they have time from anywhere in the world. Watch video.Here are some of the ways users will benefit Find professional colleagues and make new connections in an online community tailored to the needs of engineers. Network and share information and insights with other engineering colleagues. Participate in ASME Groups based on technical or other interests, making collaboration easier and more convenient Comment on articles and debate current issues Stay informed about activities and events that engineering professionals in their fields are attending Connect with a broader, more diverse range of engineers from all over the worldThe new social networking features on ASME.org offer many exciting opportunities.Millions of people have embraced mainstream social media platforms such as Facebook and LinkedIn, said Thomas G. Loughlin, ASMEs Executive Director. Now, ASME is proud to offer the global engineering community a d ifferent experience an array of social networking features with an exclusive and in-depth focus on facilitating dialogue across a broad range of topics that are of critical importance to anyone with an interest in engineering - everything from careers, the latest technical developments, to professional networking and public policy. These features have the potential to transform the way engineers around the world engage with each other and are a testament to ASMEs passion for our profession and our belief in the power of collaboration.Taking advantage of ASMEs new social networking features is easy and free. Simply register, right on ASME.org and then, as an ASME.org Participant, youll have access to these new featuresParticipant ProfileThis allows you to create a professional identity within a global engineering community. Create a public profile that describes your interests, experience, education, and credentials such as publications, certifications, patents, and pro jects. Creating a profile is easy simply complete the data fields or import information from a LinkedIn or ASME member account. Creating a complete profile will help you get the most out of your ASME online experience.DashboardThis is your personal one-stop-shop for your ASME activities, network and purchases. Manage your ASME account, membership and benefits. Send messages, share links and comments, and see your ASME Group and committee activities.ASME GroupsASME has a wide variety of groups and committees formed around shared interests, technical specialties or geographies. As an ASME.org Participant, you can join any open Group by searching the Group Directory and sending a request to join. You can also create your own group based on a topic or industry. Group features include the ability to share and interact with other Group Participants and to have private discussions. Groups can be the way to stay up-to-date on conferences, events, articles and publications in specific interest areas.Participant and Group DirectoryThe directories are an easy and convenient way to expand your professional contacts and establish new relationships. Find other Participants to add to your network and search for ASME Groups based on your interests. Through the browsing, filtering and search functions, you can find engineering professionals according to industry, education level, interest area, geographic location and professional status.CommentingThe new commenting feature allow users to join the conversation to share thoughts and unique insights on a host of topics and articles on ASME.org and, of course, see what other professionals are saying as well. ASME.org Participants will be able to post a comment or respond to other posts. Comments will be displayed publicly and youll be able to view all of your comments on your Dashboard.So, if you havent done so already, take the opportunity to register, create a profile and departure exploring the pos sibilities of ASMEs new social networking features.

Elias Howe

Elias Howe Elias Howe Elias HoweDespite her busy schedule, Nasreen Khan, a native of Bangladesh, still finds time for her hobby, working with her Singer sewing machine. I love doing it. I feel Ive accomplished something when I finish sewing, the 48-year-old Fairfax, VA, schoolteacher said. You get a sense of liberation.However, when asked if she had ever heard of a man named Elias Howe (1819 1867), who is credited with patenting the first sewing machine more than 150 years ago, she looked puzzled. Whos he? she asked.Elias Howe patented the first ever lockstitch sewing machine in the world in 1846. His invention helped the mass production of sewing machines and clothing. That in turn revolutionized the sewing industry and freed women from some of the drudgery of daily life at the time.Howes story is a brief but turbulent one. It welches one that led to the birth of the first proper sewing machine industry, which triggered the greatest manufacturing expansion in history and led to the employment of millions, especially women in the developing world.One of the biggest beneficiaries of Howes invention is Khans native Bangladesh, a Muslim-majority country where women have suffered for generations due to lack of opportunities and proper education. The growth of the garment industry in the 20th century opened up opportunities in many developing countries around the world, and in particular for millions of Bangladeshi women, who now make up 90% of the countrys workforce in this sector. The garment revolution not only liberated a vast population of illiterate women but also put the country ahead of many other Muslim countries as a model for the empowerment of women.Elias Howe, Jr. was born on July 29, 1819, in Massachusetts and spent his childhood and early adult years there. In 1835, he apprenticed in a textile factory in Lowell, MA. After the mill closed in 1837 he moved to Cambridge to work as a mechanic with Carding machinery. A year later he worked for the shop of Ari Davis, a master mechanic in Cambridge who specialized in the manufacture and repair of chronometers and other precision instruments. It was under Davis that Howe seized upon the idea of the sewing machine.Elias Howe is credited with patenting the first sewing machine.Contrary to popular belief, Howe was not the first to conceive of the idea of a sewing machine. Many other people formulated the idea of such a machine before him, one as early as 1790, and some had even patented their designs and produced working machines, in one case, at least 80 of them.It was Howe, however, who came up with significant refinements to the design concepts of his predecessors, and on September 10, 1846, he was awarded the first U.S. Patent (4,750) for a sewing machine using a lockstitch design. His machine contained the three essential features common in most modern machines a needle with the eye at the point a shuttle operating beneath the cloth to form the lock stitch and an automatic feed.Howes design demonstrated the novel idea of a needle that carried the thread forward, through a piece of material, where another thread, held in a metal shuttle, passed through a loop in the middle thread (caused by the needle moving forward then suddenly backward). The needle was then retracted and this action pulled the two threads to lock them in the fabric. This is how the lockstitch was born.The abundance of cheaper garments made the world look better because, simply, we all dressed better, says Alex Askaroff, who has written a definitive book on the life and work of Elias Howe. Just how much easier and faster cloth-making became is underscored by the example of the famous New York tailor, Brooks Brothers. The company was able to cut down the waiting time for their first class overcoats from three weeks to just six days after Howes sewing machines first hit the market, and the price dropped accordingly. Hats, which everyone wore, however rich or poor, could be made ten-times faster on a sewing machine than by hand.Howe established the Howe machine company in Bridgeport, CT, in 1865. His geschftliches miteinander flourished and he became one of the richest men in America, eventually marrying Elizabeth Jennings Ames in 1841, with whom he had three children. However, he didnt live long to enjoy his wealth. The great inventor died at age 48 in 1867 and was buried in Brooklyn, NY.Arshad Mahmud is an independent writer.The growth of the garment industry in the 20th century opened up opportunities in many developing countries around the world.

3 Reasons You Were Rejected for Being Overqualified

3 Reasons You Were Rejected for Being Overqualified 3 Reasons You Were Rejected for Being Overqualified Being overqualified is something most people fear and most companies try to avoid. Yet, when a company rejects you for being overqualified for a job, they will not tell you. You just receive the standard template, “We have moved on with other candidates we feel are a better fit.” It can be a headache especially if you are overqualified and unemployed. Even the “overqualified” rejection letter never really states what is happening. So, what are the real reasons companies reject you for being overqualified? They fear the following will happen. 1. Fear you cannot be managed Today’s workforce is living longer and retiring later than ever before. Not all companies have figured out how to manage age diversity in the workplace. So, imagine you come into an interview with a stellar resume of fascinating experience but the company knows your manager is younger. The natural fear is that you will be hard to manage because you are working with someone with fewer years of experience. An “overqualified” rejection letter of some sort would never state, “We fear you will be difficult to manage.” So, what do you do? Calming the fear: Prepare for your interview with stories of how you handled diverse situations and worked with people across many departments and ages. Hiring overqualified employees can be a risk to company culture, especially if you are confrontational with those of lesser years of experience. 2. Fear you will get bored quickly We all want to have a job that presents new challenges and goals. The fear of you being overqualified for a job comes from the fact that you had already completed many challenges the company is facing, now. Therefore, you will be bored with the job quickly and will leave. Calming the fear: Come into the interview with stories of how you remain motivated to face these challenges over and over again. Most importantly, explain how you enjoy finding new ways to complete goals and get better each time at it in new work environments. Enthusiasm is key. Being overqualified for a job should never lead you to act like “you are just over the whole thing.” 3. Fear your salary requirements will be too high This is rough if you are overqualified and unemployed. It makes sense that a company would fear a skilled employee of 15 years experience. They fear you cost too much or will one day ask for too much. An “overqualified” rejection letter will never say, “overqualified”, but it may actually say, “Your requirements are too high.” It is natural to think one should ask for less money in order to get hired. But you do not always need to undercut yourself. We have seen overqualified and unemployed skilled workers take massive pay cuts in salary just to get hired. However, when they took a salary cut it made sense to them. If you are overqualified and unemployed there is a way to calm the company’s fear. Calming the fear: If you must reveal your salary history, make it clear you are flexible and that your previous salaries play no part in your decision to negotiate an offer or accept the job. Above all, remember that the label of being “overqualified” is just that...a label. Labels limit what companies can learn about an employee. Your purpose for making the “overqualified” label seem irrelevant is to get the interview. This way, they get to learn more about you!

Tell Us about the Wrong Turns in Your Career

Tell Us about the 'Wrong Turns' in Your Career Tell Us about the 'Wrong Turns' in Your Career Tell Us about the 'Wrong Turns' in Your Career Good hiring managers will always have their antennae up during job interviews for signs of a good or bad candidate. Recognizing the difference is a skill that comes from experience, gut feel, or both. That's why they can reject you for any one of several reasons. Maybe they didn't like what you wore, or they didn't like your voice, or you reminded them of someone they knew - and didn't like - in the past. Or, on the rational side, it could be one of several reasons listed in a post this week at BNET.com titled Danger! Bad Candidate! Run Away! One of those reasons was: The candidate struggles to answer the question, 'What wrong turns or tragic decisions have you made in your career?' If you can't answer that honestly, writer Mark Jaffe says, you're demonstrating that you can't do an honest, self-critical analysis. Owning up to mistakes and learning from them is a valued trait in many, if not all, workplaces. I think it's a good question to toss out to you for a discussion: What wrong turns have you made in your career? (And in the end, did it work out to your satisfaction?)

37% of workers would leave their job if not offered this essential tool

37% of workers would leave their job if not offered this essential tool 37% of workers would leave their job if not offered this essential tool A new report shows that there’s a skills-training gap in many U.S. workplaces. Employees who need training on various skills aren’t getting it, and employees who want training on various skills aren’t getting it either. This all, of course, affects internal advancement and building yourself as a more desirable candidate when it comes to looking for your next job.The report, called “Future of Work and Employee Learning,” was from the Sitel Group, a customer experience management company.Follow Ladders on Flipboard!Follow Ladders’ magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and more!The most surprising finding was this: a full  37% of employees would leave their job if they weren’t offered training.And yet,  92% of employees say that learning something new at work makes them more motivated and engaged â€" so employers would do well do offer as much training and new opportunities to skill up as they can.In addition: 30% of employees say they have avoided asking their employer for training on a certain skill because it would make them look bad 46% of employees believe their employer penalizes them for not having certain skills at their job. 79% say that when looking for a job, it was important that the employer offers a formal training program to their employees There is a training gap, Aaron Schwarzberg, COO at Learning Tribes USA, part of the Sitel Group, told Ladders. “Employees aren’t necessarily sure how to ask for their employers to address that gap. There is an issue of employees needing additional training, additional resources, additional support and they’re not a hundred percent sure how to ask for it.”Employers need to step upThe responsibility, he says, lies with the employers. “I think it’s incumbent upon the employers to take responsibility for the dynamic and to provide comprehensive learning and development for employees,” Schwarzberg said. He suggests that employers reach out to employers to “proactively find out and uncover what additional services and needs there are” by conducting research and internal studies, for example.In the report, it was found that 51% of employers don’t offer soft skills training. And while 33% of employees say they have had training on technology skills, only 17% say they’ve had management skills training.When looking for a new job, candidates should be explicitly asking prospective employers about what training they offer employees.“That’s one thing that employees should frankly feel very comfortable asking their prospective employer,” Schwarzberg told Ladders. The question can be asked directly: “What are they doing currently to invest in their employees? It’s OK to make it an open-ended question because they more pointed [employees] make it, the easier it is on the employer to speak to the direct question asked versus speaking generally.”Other questions could be, “What are you currently doing right now to address development, to address training, learning, and development needs?” and “What practices are in place currently?”If an employer spent a little time getting to know each candidate and their strengths and weaknesses, it would be a step in the right direction, said Schwarzberg. Nearly 35% of employees felt their employer did not take the time to get to know them in terms of their skills and how to help them advance.“Without actually taking the time to ask someone what they need, or what resources they need, or where they feel that their gaps are, people feel powerless, they feel unimportant, they feel like a cog in the wheel â€" versus an important piece of the puzzle to each organization.”You might also enjoy… New neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happy Strangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds 10 lessons from Benjamin Franklin’s daily schedule that will double your productivity The worst mistakes you can make in an interview, according to 12 CEOs 10 habits of mentally strong people

How to protect your job in an uncertain economy

How to protect your job in an uncertain economy How to protect your job in an uncertain economy Things are … weird. Can you feel it?The governments’s partial shutdown is dragging on. Economists are predicting “a Smorgasbord recession” will hit some time this year. The Federal Reserve has been raising interest rates, but might put future hikes on hold for fear of global financial insecurity.The economy feels … sketchy. And for my fellow millennials, this can be a triggering reminder of the Great Recession of 2008, which set up our generation to stumble just as we were just starting our careers.It’s times like these where it’s easy to get risk-averse. To hunker down. To live small. Well, today I want to share a few reasons why that’s the worst possible thing you can do right now â€" and how to act deliberately and intentionally to protect your job security in an uncertain economy.1. Talk to everyone in the industryNow is the time to double down on your network. Seriously. Building strong relationships is one of the best ways to buffer against being lost in an econ omic storm. We’re all going to need friends in high places or just in places if things go south. They can refer you for other positions within their institutions if needed, and share what industry trends they’re seeing, too. You want people to keep you in mind. And it’s always better to foster friendships when you’re not asking for anything.Plus, if you’ve been considering jumping ship for a while now, strengthening your network can accelerate your career change. Because if your workplace doesn’t feel like the right fit now, you might not want to hunker down there to try and ride out an economic storm. If you’re not already getting along with your boss or colleagues, you might be easy target for layoffs and restructuring if the company has to decide who they can live without.And for freelancers and entrepreneurs like me, talking to all your friends in the industry is also a great way to double-down on business development, which we should all be doing right now.2. Chec k in with your managerAnother proactive move to ensure your institution values you and your efforts is to check in early and often with your managers. Make sure your hard work is visible and show that you’re a team player, ready to work for the good of the entire organization.Check in regularly to ask how you can align your priorities with your bosses’ top objectives and ensure that you’re pulling in the same direction. All people want to feel heard and respected â€" including your boss. So the best way you can protect your own ass, is to make sure you’re doing all in your power to make them look good, too.3. RetoolWhile I understand the instinct to tighten the belt during uncertain times, the one exception is to make investments in your own professional development. How can you invest in yourself to make you an even more valuable team player at work? Are there extra certifications you can get? Is there new software to master? Can you hone your leadership skills through trai ning, frankly, like what we do at Bossed Up Bootcamp?The key here is to make yourself more valuable to your team and to your employer. Show them you’re the kind of worker who goes the extra mile to better yourself proactively, and it might just make the difference when the higher-ups are comparing the costs of losing you versus someone else.4. Boost your emergency fundFinally, when the future feels uncertain, do all you can to shore up your emergency fund. You don’t want to find yourself over-leveraged or with a too-tight-for-comfort cash flow. If the ideal goal of saving three month’s worth of living expenses feels too daunting, break it down into smaller, more manageable steps and start there.Future you will thank you for the sacrifices you’re making now to ensure you’re not living off credit later, should things take a turn for the worst.Keep calm and keep bossin’With a ton of fear-mongering rhetoric coming out of Washington these days, the best we can do it to keep c alm and carry on, as our friends across the pond might say.All indicators point to a more subdued market correction coming our way, which is not nearly as severe as the economic crisis spurred on by sub-prime mortgages and the ensuing financial crisis of a decade ago.Part of being a boss is being willing to step into an uncertain future, with the calm confidence in your ability to figure it out as you go.This article was originally published on Bossed Up.