Q TIPS:
Quick and Quintessential Career & Job Tips
Job-hunting tips from the June 7, 2004 issue of
QuintZine.
Are you ready for stealth hiring, dry hiring, and deep hiring? With the employment scene picking up, experts are
seeing these trends:
"Stealth hiring" is defined as recruiting quietly so your competitors won't know you're building your talent strength.
Employers watch what their competitors do in the employment market, since it is a good indicator of how they see the market
and how they position themselves for growth.
"Dry hiring" is taking a candidate through all the steps of the recruitment and selection process, but not actually completing
the hire. It is a technique used to identify desirable and available talent to build bench strength.
"Deep hiring," occurs when employers fill jobs that have been closed for a long time. Now those positions are
being opened and filled, with the staffing process often going deep into the organizational
chart to bring in people to do jobs that had been left vacant during the economic slowdown. Some of these
people are new hires; some are employees returning from layoff. Sometimes, employees
are promoted into these positions, and the resulting vacancy is then filled.
From "Herman Trend Alert," by Roger Herman
and Joyce Gioia, Strategic Business Futurists, copyright 2004.
(800) 227-3566 or The Herman Group.
Increasingly employers are conducting credit checks on prospective
employees. But a recent survey by the University of Florida found
that there was no direct link between a person's credit history and
his or her ability to get the job done.
Read about the study.
Are you an employer who would like to help in the career development of others? OfficeTeam, a staffing
service specializing in highly skilled administrative professionals, suggests serving as a career resource.
"Finding a job isn't a solitary process; candidates rely on a number of personal and professional contacts to assist
them throughout the search," said Liz Hughes, OfficeTeam's executive director. "People who receive help during this
critical time are likely to remember it, and offer the same type of guidance for others moving forward."
Hughes notes that you don't need to be in a position to hire people to be of assistance. She offers these suggestions:
Give an informational interview. Offer to spend 15 minutes talking with a job-seeker about your career or industry. You
can provide valuable insight from your professional experience that could point the candidate in a new direction.
Be a second set of eyes and ears. Volunteer to proofread someone's application materials and role-play interview scenarios
to help him or her make the best impression.
Return to your alma mater. Many college career centers are stretched thin, trying to provide guidance to both current
students and recent graduates looking for work in a competitive job market. Offer to participate in a career day or mentor someone
in his or her job search.
Serve as a reference. The reference check is often the last step in securing a position and it's also one of the most critical.
If you have direct knowledge of a job-seeker's skills, experience and work ethic, offer to be a reference.
Call your local professional association. National business organizations often have local chapters that may need resources
to assist unemployed members. Contact the local chapter and get involved.
Keep in touch. Looking for a new position at times can be an isolating, discouraging experience. Call or e-mail the job-seekers
you know to check in, offer your encouragement or invite them to lunch.
Hughes added that people who assist job seekers help themselves in the process. "By reaching
out to others, you expand your own network and build communication and mentoring skills, which are
critical to your own professional development."
Are you ready for stealth hiring, dry hiring, and deep hiring? With the employment scene picking up, experts are
seeing these trends:
