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Straight Talk for the Recruiting Profession


Articles tagged 'hiring'

Jeff's On Call!

Jeff’s On Call!: Candidates Paying Back Fees

by on Oct. 31, 2011


law_gavel

This week’s inquiry comes from Tim Burkhart:

Hello Jeff — really enjoy your industry input and availability via The Fordyce Letter. Always helpful.

I have been in the placement industry since 1984. Always on the perm staffing side of the business. Our company focus is in the accounting and finance area.

Quick question: a candidate of mine living in the city where I work has taken a job out of state via another recruiter. The candidate shows up for his first day of work and gets surprised with a ‘please sign this if you leave in the first year’ agreement. Basically, it states ‘if you leave our employ in the first year(12 months) you have to pay back the fee.’ That was never discussed by the recruiter (ever) or the client (ever) during the whole interview/offer /acceptance process. Is this legal or is he truly bound firmly to the agreement? He feels he signed this under duress for fearing his job offer would be rescinded.

Tim

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Industry News

Slight Jobs Increase In September; Not Enough For Much to Change

by on Oct. 7, 2011


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The U.S. Department of Labor issued one of its better jobs reports this morning, showing job growth in September was better than what economists expected, and revising upward its zero growth August numbers. The monthly employment report also showed improvement in hourly earnings large enough to offset the loss in August.

American non-farm payrolls grew by 103,000 jobs last month and by 57,000 jobs in August. The Labor Department also revised up its July jobs numbers from 85,000 to 127,000. Economists predicted September’s number would come in closer to 60,000.

Certainly a positive, the numbers weren’t enough to make a dent in the ranks of the unemployed, leaving the unemployment rate at 9.1 percent. It has hovered there since April.

A big part of the September increase in the jobs count was due to the return to work of some 45,000 Verizon employees who were on strike in August. Even so, the jobs report showed the private sector added 92,000 after accounting for the returning strikers.

Job growth was strongest in healthcare, which added 44,000 positions; construction grew by 26,000; and, retailers added 13,600. The professional and technical category increased by 48,000 jobs, fueled largely by increases in IT, management, accounting, and technical services. Staffing and related services added almost 24,000 jobs.

Government was the biggest loser as it has been for months, shedding 34,000 jobs in September, while manufacturing cut 13,000 positions.

The report showed little appetite in the private sector for aggressive hiring.

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Ask Barb

Ask Barb: My Clients Make Slow Decisions

by on Oct. 5, 2011


Ask Barb

Dear Barb:

Is it me or are employers just unable to make hiring decisions? I have lost four candidates just this past month due to delays. My clients drag their feet and my candidates accept other offers. The clients are then angry when I tell them my candidates are off the market. It was their fault in the first place for not moving faster. When I try to get the process to move faster I’m accused of hard selling. I feel like I’m caught between a rock and a hard place with my clients. How do I tell them it’s their fault and if they don’t move faster there is not one thing I can do about preventing these candidates from accepting other jobs?

Jason T., Kansas City, MO

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For Managers

Finding Transcendent Talent: How to Recruit and Manage the Best of the Best

by on Sep. 22, 2011


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The economy is perking up. Hiring is on the rise in corporate America. Recruiters and recruiting firms are flourishing and our clients are seeking transcendent talent to help them thrive today and in the future. Executive recruiting firms like Lucas Group are seeking that talent as well.

What constitutes transcendent talent? What professional and personal characteristics should you look for in high-performing recruiters? How do you recruit, manage, and incentivize top performers and help them become million dollar billers?

Over the last three decades in the recruiting industry, I have learned how critically important talent, cultural fit, and professional achievement are in our world. Below are a few of the lessons that I’ve learned in my career that have helped Lucas Group grow from a four-person shop helping military personnel transition into the business marketplace, to a major executive recruiting firm with offices in 15 cities across North America and successful recruiters working in every major industry.

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For Managers

Force-Multiply Your Production By Leveraging Recyclability and Systems

by on Sep. 13, 2011


everythings bigger in TX

We’ve got a saying in Texas — “It ain’t braggin’ if it’s true.” We are KILLING it this year, on pace for 300% growth year over year, and over 50% more than my career high from 2005. We have more business than we can possibly handle, and I just recently hired another two project people to meet the demand.

So I asked myself recently — what’s different? What am I doing this year that’s kicking it into high gear and taking my search practice to the NEXT LEVEL?

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Industry News

The $447 Billion Jobs and Tax Cut Plan and Some Thoughts From Recruiters

by on Sep. 9, 2011


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In broad strokes, last night President Obama outlined a $447 billion plan to bolster the economy and create new jobs.

Over half the cost comes from tax cuts for workers and small businesses. The balance is in spending on infrastructure repairs and improvements, especially to schools; at least 35,000 of them, the President said to a joint session of Congress. (The full text of his speech is here.)

He proposed a $4,000 tax credit for hiring long-term unemployed workers, and other credits for hiring veterans. He called for extending unemployment benefits and providing money to states to pay teachers, rather than lay them off.

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Industry News

ADP Report: Private Sector Jobs Continued Slow Growth in August

by on Aug. 31, 2011


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If you subscribe to the notion that any growth in jobs is good, then today’s report from ADP will be encouraging. The payroll processor said 91,000 new private sector jobs were created in August.

That’s still less than the 100,000 economists were expecting, and it’s about a third of what the U.S. needs each month to bring down the unemployment rate. The company, and Macroeconomic Advisers, its partner in the monthly report, also adjusted downward its July estimate to 109,000 from the original 114,000.

In ever-so-cautious language, the report says that the slow job growth in August is “at a pace below what would be consistent with a stable unemployment rate.” That means that should the trend continue, unemployment may rise.

Economists expect that when the official employment numbers are released Friday by the U.S. Department of Labor, they’ll show the 9.1 percent unemployment rate unchanged. New jobs are expected to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 75,000 (Bloomberg News) to 80,000 (Dow Jones Newswires).

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Industry News

July Jobs Report: Some Relief After a Week of Bad News

by on Aug. 5, 2011


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With Wall Street braced for the worst, the U.S. Labor Department had good news this morning. The U.S. economy added 117,000 jobs in July and the unemployment rate dipped to 9.1 percent.

Coming the day after the Dow plunged more than 500 points, the better-than-expected jobs numbers offered some relief from the last two weeks of pessimistic reports about the economy. Stocks opened higher.

Estimates ahead of the report pegged job growth at around 90,000 during July, though some economists said the number could be as low as 55,000. The unemployment rate, which ticked up in June to 9.2 percent, was expected to be unchanged. ADP’s National Employment Report Wednesday, which is not often in sync with the government report, said 114,000 private sector jobs were added in July. The BLS put that number at a 154,000. Government job losses offset the private sector gains.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which compiles and maintains labor data for the U.S., also revised upwards jobs numbers for May by 53,000 and June by 46,000.

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Industry News

Private Sector Jobs Up for July, Though Other Reports Suggest Stalling Economy

by on Aug. 3, 2011


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Payroll processor ADP says 114,000 private sector jobs were created in July, a number inline, if on the high side, with what economists expected.

All but 9,000 of the jobs were created by small and mid-size businesses employing up to 499 workers. The gain came in the service sector, which added 121,000 jobs during the month, according to ADP and its forecasting partner, Macroeconomic Advisers. The goods-producing sector lost 7,000 jobs, with manufacturing alone shedding 1,00o. Construction was down by 11,000, the third consecutive monthly decline.

Widely watched for clues as to what the U.S. Labor Department’s monthly employment report (out on the Friday after the ADP release) is likely to show, the ADP National Employment Report is often far off the official numbers.

In June, ADP estimated private sector job creation at 157,000, revised down to 145,000 in today’s release. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics put the private sector number at 57,000. For May, ADP said 73,000 jobs were created; the BLS said 36,000. In April, ADP said 179,000 jobs were added; the BLS said 241,00.

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Business, Industry News

Halfway Through 2011: Is Your Glass Half-Full or Half-Empty?

by on Jul. 27, 2011


glass-half-full by vizzzual

This time of the year I like to spend some time reflecting on what the first six months of the year produced as well as listening to what other folks in my industry anticipate for the next six months. Here’s what I have come up with and I hope you find it valuable.

Hiring is back… but not in the same form

The first half of 2011 has continued to be a very busy hiring market. Almost every one I speak with has hired or is planning to hire. There has been a TON of movement in the market but, just because everyone is hiring does not mean “everyone is hiring.” The hiring that I have seen and heard about has been selective, taking longer than usual and not without hiccups. Counter offers are back, salary expectations are unreasonable again, and internal candidates are everywhere. At the same time, budgets are still very much on the forefront of most hiring managers’ agenda and still dictate many of the hiring decisions.

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