Screening applicants to find a quality hire can be a difficult process.  Assessing a candidate's talent, training, skill, and motivation is just the beginning.  A company may also need to take into consideration background, financial status, driving record, and physical limitations.

Much of this information is considered private and protected, so how and when should an employer get the final information they need to make an educated decision prior to a job offer?

The "Ban the Box" provisions

The box refers to the checkbox on many applications that job seekers must check if they have been convicted of, or possibly arrested for, a crime.  States now have a provision, that will be going into effect over the next couple of years, banning the question on applications.  Asking candidates, prior to them needing to be vetted for hiring, about their arrests or convictions is considered a violation of their privacy.  A best practice is to remove the checkbox from applications now, before your company is open to litigation.

Use of criminal background information

The EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Committee) has given a number of decisions governing the requesting of, and use of criminal background information.  One of the most important is when backgrounds should be considered.  The EEOC states that criminal history should be requested and evaluated after the interview process, as part of the final review for a job offer.

In order to get the information your company needs to have the job seeker sign a request for information form, just the same as the credit application process.  Background checks fall under the same regulations, Fair Credit Reporting Act, requiring documentation and true intent of use.  In credit reporting this means a person shows intent of purchase, and is not being "pre-qualified", the same holds for criminal backgrounds.

Once you get authorization and receive a report you have decisions on the use of the information.  The EEOC states that arrests without conviction are not to be considered (they show on a criminal background) as the applicant is deemed innocent without a conviction.  Additionally, any convictions need to be relevant to the position being sought by the job seeker to be used in the hiring process.  An example would be ignoring a 10 year old conviction for trespassing, when vetting a person for a position as a mechanic.  The felony isn't recent and doesn't show an inability to perform the job.  This can become very complicated, and the EEOC has opened the door for applicants to bring discrimination suits against companies they feel unfairly use their background.  A best practice is to have a labor attorney draft a set of guidelines for hiring, carefully considering different types of offenses and their relevancy.

The last part of the criminal background process is the pre-averse action notice, and final averse action notice.  The FCRA states that when a report is used to judge the worthiness of a candidate the job seeker has the right to refute the information, or enter clarifying statements.  This means you need to send a notification to the candidate that your company found information on their background report and are using it as part of the vetting process.  Applicants are then given 28 days to respond with information that either corrects, or refutes the criminal information being used in the decision making process.  Once that time is up you send a final averse action notice if you are not hiring the candidate.  Again, have a labor attorney help draft your averse action notices and reasons for not hiring.  You need to protect your company from suit.

Compensation, medical, disability, and drug screening

The ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) covers issues with physical limitation, and prior compensation.  Pre-employment screening cannot include medical exams, questions about disabilities, or questions about prior compensation.  It is a very common practice to ask job seekers about prior earns, it is even listed on many standard form job applications.  This is a violation of the job seekers privacy, and prohibited.

The only exception to the medical examination rule is drug screening.  A drug test is not considered a medical exam, and the ADA does not give protection to any job seeker that test positive for an illegal substance.  This includes marijuana.  Even in states where recreational marijuana is legal companies have no obligation to hire anyone that fails a drug test, and its use is not protected.

Social media, and Google search

As of the latest government survey (2016), 78% of HR professionals use social media, and online search in the vetting process for candidates.  Their are also companies that compile profiles from data gained from sources like Facebook, Google, and Twitter.  As of now there are limited regulations on this information, though there has been some move to include it in the FCRA.

In 2016 two of the companies that compile social information were heavily fined for violating the FCRA.  The government deemed the reports as a background check, without applicant consent or averse notification.  To protect your company ask your labor attorney to draft a document, similar to the background check authorization, for social media search.  Protect your company from being an example case for privacy.

Making a complete decision on a candidate needs to include criminal background, financial checks, drug screening, and evidence of negative behavior (social media).  It is important to know when and how to get the information you need.  Never search for information without written consent from a candidate (even social media).  Wait to get background information until after the applicant has been through your standard interview process, to demonstrate that you protected their privacy by holding off on gaining information until absolutely necessary.  Use a labor attorney to put together guidelines, and documents that will protect your company.

Are you game planning for revenue growth in the upcoming year?  Working with Sales and Marketing to drive new clients in the first quarter?  The highest growth ROI isn’t in an ad campaign, it resides in Human Resource with preventative recruiting.

Lost opportunity, due to understaffing, is the largest drag on profit in any business.  Every day your company is short a client facing employee hundreds of dollars in profit is lost.  Taking a month to fill a sales role, when you start the search short the person, can result in between $15,000 and $30,000 in unrealized profit.  Now consider being a few sales reps short?  You can easily be throwing away six figures worth of profit each month.

Most managers only consider the cost of recruiting and time invested in screening.  With all the cost effective options available to market a job, this is a drop in the bucket against the real money at stake.  Recruiting prior to feeling the pain of need is the key boosting results.

Preventative recruiting is planning ahead of sales by 3 to 6 months.  Advertise in anticipation of the next two quarters.  Build a pipeline of qualified candidates ready to step in immediately, and cultivate future candidates that are only starting to consider a new position.  A typical new sales rep takes 90 days to fully understand your business’ process and product.  Be ready to hire for March now, and target later candidates to fill in for June.

Here are just a few of the benefits of preventative recruiting:

1. Less time pressure means more time to interview and vet candidates, resulting in better hires.
2. Advertising during off-peak sales periods gets higher quality applicants, because there are fewer competitors for job seekers.
3. Having candidates in a pipeline reduces time to hire, speeding up production.
4. Consistent advertising has an employer branding effect.  This allows you to reach presently employed passive job seekers prior to them actually getting in the job market.
5. Never get caught understaffed losing thousands a month.

As you meet with your team about 2018, get your hiring plan in gear.  Have an employment advertising plan, and a commitment to consistently interview candidates even if you aren’t prepared to hire them on today (though keep an open mind).  If you are the Manager that places a job ad when you notice customers aren’t being helped, you already are losing out.

Happy hunting for your next star.  Contact us for more questions on building a consistent ad plan on a budget, no cost and no obligation.

Finding quality sales representatives takes a lot of work and patience.  Advertising, screening, interviewing, and training takes up valuable time, energy, and money.  What happens when your new hires are introduced to the general population?

For many organizations new sales reps are left to fend for themselves.  After a very short introduction period, usually just a few days, new hires are expected to compete for clients with existing sales staff.  They are at a severe disadvantage.

Here are a few best practices to help your new reps weather their onboarding to your sales department:

1. Assign new sales reps a manager mentor.  Charge this person with building tasks for the day, keeping testy veteran sales reps at arms length, and guiding the new salesperson towards potential clients.  Do not hand this task off to one of your experienced sales reps!  
2. Give real leads to new salespeople with supervision.  Many times new salespeople are given old leads, or cold calls.  They are started out with potential clients with the least likelihood of sale, while experienced reps are given the best traffic.  Trust your management supervision and give new hires an equal opportunity to work with high quality leads, such as recent web leads or orphaned lease renewals.
3. Put team bonuses in place to motivate the veteran staff to want the new reps to succeed.  The existing staff is going to view new reps as taking a piece of the potential client pie.  Combat this instinct with a monetary reward that includes having the new staffers sell.  
4. Incorporate training pay into your compensation plan.  While your new staff is learning, and gaining the confidence to compete for traffic with your veteran staff, give a training salary.  It can take 60 to 90 days for a new employee to complete basic training requirements, and feel like they are on equal footing with the rest of the staff.  Help them financially get to this point.

Hiring new help is expensive, and time consuming.  Make the most of your investment.

Greg Gershman- Managing Partner - Recruitment HQ

Deciding what parts of your business to entrust with a vendor, and what to keep in house is a daunting task.  It seems there is someone willing to take over any part of your business that you will allow.  Hiring is one of the largest.

Promises of finding perfect people, with no work on behalf of your business, are boasted from multiple vendors but rarely can be achieved.  The plain fact is that some parts of your process of getting staff should only be given over to your own employees.  The secret to successfully using outside resources is knowing what to handle yourself.

In-Source your staffing by only using vendors for tasks that make your own employees better at hiring.  Stop buying services that try to replace your management and only add high costs.

Here are the major tasks needed to get the staff you need, and the viability for using outside resources to help:

Ad writing - The larger the crop of candidates pooled in the beginning the better the odds of finding the best talent in your market.  Advertising needs to be well written, with appropriate keywords and search engine optimization.  Job Boards like Indeed rank results based on wording, and your ranking can be the difference between the right candidate finding your ad, or applying somewhere else.  Quality ad writing can make a big difference, and costs little to outsource.  Give this one to an agency or vendor.

Job Board Placement - Online advertising has become a volume business.  One example is CareerBuilder, the regular retail price for a single ad is over $500, where a volume price for a contract with multiple ads can be under $100.  In addition, volume advertisers get prime placement on job boards.  This means the agencies get more ads for the dollar, and better search result.  Let a firm book your ads.  You will spend less for more advertising.

Applicant tracking and initial screening - Dealing with applicant traffic, is no different than sales traffic.  Your results are only going to be as good as your ability to track leads and establish which are worthwhile.  If your business has enough staff to dedicate to following up on applications, including calling every person that applies, keep this in-house.  If you do not have a separated staff let a company handle the routing of leads, including establishing separating the wheat from the chaff.  Only outsource if it is a low cost option, no need to pay thousands to have someone track and review applications.  Only use a low cost option, if you cannot dedicate staff in your own company.

Face to face interviews - The only way to really know who to hire is to meet face to face.  This can be a daunting and involved process.  Usually left to a department manager with limited experience in examining candidates.  While it is tempting to try and let a company meet applicants for you, and try and free up the department head to go about their daily business, this is the most critical step in hiring and has to stay in your hands.  Invest in training for your own employees, there are lots of HR training classes and webinars that are specifically designed to make your manager better at selecting the right candidates.  Train and In-Source the task of meeting candidates and interviews.  Never hand off to an outsider.

Orientation and training - Employees are won or lost in the first few days of employment.  The view of your business is set by how a new employee is introduced to the company and staff, and how easy it is for them to begin being productive.  There is no substitute for the leaders in a business taking a hands on approach to new staff coming to their department.  Having an outsider handle the first few days of a staff member enter your business has a negative impact on the long term retention of an employee.  In-source this to your staff.

Scrutinize your vendors carefully and start In-Sourcing more of your hiring process.

Greg Gershman - Managing Partner Recruitment HQ

Finding the best employees takes top flight marketing to appeal to the most candidates, and then an interview process to bring the right people forward.  Job boards like Indeed are making advertising your job easier than ever, but accessing candidates is still the weak link.

The answer lies in the same principals in quantum mechanics.  Quantum theory states that all things exist in more than one state and only become one definitive state once measured.   You can perform an easy example right at your desk.  Take a coin, spin it on a table, and then cover it with your hand stopping it.  While the coin is spinning is it heads or tails?  Quantum theory says that it is both in those moments, and doesn't become one or the other until we choose to stop the coin and measure it as heads or tails, and it is how we stop the coin that dictates what side the coin ends up.

So how does this relate to selecting the best candidates?  Much like the example of the coin, our interview (method of measuring) dictates whether we access a candidate as a good or bad fit for our company.

When a prospective employee comes to your company for an interview there are many factors that can make them either a positive or negative possibility for your team.  Some of the most important are:

1. Friendliness of their initial greeting.  When a person enters your store for an interview and they are not treated like someone the dealership is happy to meet it can completely change their energy level for the interview.  A negative initial impression from a company can turn a person that would normally be considered a top candidate into a missed opportunity.
2. Time for a candidate to wait for an appointment.  Applicants coming for an interview are told to be on time and prepared.  They hold the business to the same standard.  Many interviewers tell us they refused to interview a candidate who was late, stating that it showed they weren't dependable.  The same view is held by interviewees.  When they made to wait an hour after their appointment time the desire to win the job is gone, the company is viewed as unreliable and uncaring about new employees.  
3. Preparedness of the interviewer.  The number one way we know someone is listening to what we have to say, in a business setting, is for them to write it down.  Prospective employees want to know that the interviewer cares about the answers they are giving.  It is deflating for a person in an interview when they feel the dealership employee isn't attentive to the answers to the questions being asked.
4. Asking of concise questions.  Many managers try to use a sight test on prospective new hires, "I'll know them when I see them".  Potential employees succeed based on skills like communication, discipline, ability to be outgoing, and empathetic listening.  These are measurable with the right questions.  Making your interview all about selling you a pen, and what sports teams a candidate means you are measuring the wrong way.  This causes you to pick potential employees that are completely wrong for your store, but look right because of how you are measuring them.

The next time your company is lamenting having to terminate an employee, and decide they were a bad hire from the start, ask yourself how did we measure them from the start?

Finding the best employees takes top flight marketing to appeal to the most candidates, and then an interview process to bring the right people forward.  Job boards like Indeed are making advertising your job easier than ever, but accessing candidates is still the weak link.

The answer lies in the same principals in quantum mechanics.  Quantum theory states that all things exist in more than one state and only become one definitive state once measured.   You can perform an easy example right at your desk.  Take a coin, spin it on a table, and then cover it with your hand stopping it.  While the coin is spinning is it heads or tails?  Quantum theory says that it is both in those moments, and doesn't become one or the other until we choose to stop the coin and measure it as heads or tails, and it is how we stop the coin that dictates what side the coin ends up.

So how does this relate to selecting the best candidates?  Much like the example of the coin, our interview (method of measuring) dictates whether we access a candidate as a good or bad fit for our company.

When a prospective employee comes to your company for an interview there are many factors that can make them either a positive or negative possibility for your team.  Some of the most important are:

1. Friendliness of their initial greeting.  When a person enters your store for an interview and they are not treated like someone the dealership is happy to meet it can completely change their energy level for the interview.  A negative initial impression from a company can turn a person that would normally be considered a top candidate into a missed opportunity.
2. Time for a candidate to wait for an appointment.  Applicants coming for an interview are told to be on time and prepared.  They hold the business to the same standard.  Many interviewers tell us they refused to interview a candidate who was late, stating that it showed they weren't dependable.  The same view is held by interviewees.  When they made to wait an hour after their appointment time the desire to win the job is gone, the company is viewed as unreliable and uncaring about new employees.  
3. Preparedness of the interviewer.  The number one way we know someone is listening to what we have to say, in a business setting, is for them to write it down.  Prospective employees want to know that the interviewer cares about the answers they are giving.  It is deflating for a person in an interview when they feel the dealership employee isn't attentive to the answers to the questions being asked.
4. Asking of concise questions.  Many managers try to use a sight test on prospective new hires, "I'll know them when I see them".  Potential employees succeed based on skills like communication, discipline, ability to be outgoing, and empathetic listening.  These are measurable with the right questions.  Making your interview all about selling you a pen, and what sports teams a candidate means you are measuring the wrong way.  This causes you to pick potential employees that are completely wrong for your store, but look right because of how you are measuring them.

The next time your company is lamenting having to terminate an employee, and decide they were a bad hire from the start, ask yourself how did we measure them from the start?

Automotive manufacturers are investing billions of dollars into technological innovation.  Cars are connecting to mobile devices, running on electricity, and moving towards becoming autonomous.  Companies like Google and Apple are running head first into the automotive industry.  Where are the salespeople to sell the cars of the 21st Century?

Just recently I was running a sales training class and a student had to be pulled out of training to help a veteran sales rep pair bluetooth between an Iphone and a client's new car.  Almost every car on the market has bluetooth connection, and has for the last decade.  How can we still have salespeople allowed to sell products they cannot operate?  

In a different class on business planning for salespeople I asked for a volunteer to create a spreadsheet for forecasting.  In a group of 20 newly hired sales representatives not one person had used Excel previously.  What are the odds for long term success for a person earning a living on commission that doesn't have the basic skills necessary to track their productivity?

The Auto Industry asks for the least educated people desperate for money and that is exactly what they get!

Read the ads for sales representative positions.  They promise high income with no needed skills.  Employment ads tell candidates that the only responsibilities of the job are to greet and sell customers.  There are no educational requirements, and no value given to previous training.  We ask people to show up with a smile and speak well.

We have an industry that has a bright future, with great benefits and income.  It is time to ask for the right people to join it.  Stop hiring a volume of desperate candidates, and start attracting smart applicants.  Many people avoid applying for dealership positions because they feel their skills and education are not valued.  

The next ad you place for sales reps ask for:

• Prior training or experience creating and maintaining a forecast
• Communication skills backed with college level courses or previous experience handling both in person and phone conversations for sales
• Digital skills using a CRM, multiple social media accounts, Microsoft office, and email marketing software such as MailChimp or Constant Contact
• Ability to make 30 to 50 outbound calls daily to clients

If the auto industry starts showing it values technological understanding and education we will have sales representatives coming to us with skills to match.

H Gregory Gershman - Managing Partner - Recruitment HQ

Automotive manufacturers are investing billions of dollars into technological innovation.  Cars are connecting to mobile devices, running on electricity, and moving towards becoming autonomous.  Companies like Google and Apple are running head first into the automotive industry.  Where are the salespeople to sell the cars of the 21st Century?

Just recently I was running a sales training class and a student had to be pulled out of training to help a veteran sales rep pair bluetooth between an Iphone and a client's new car.  Almost every car on the market has bluetooth connection, and has for the last decade.  How can we still have salespeople allowed to sell products they cannot operate?  

In a different class on business planning for salespeople I asked for a volunteer to create a spreadsheet for forecasting.  In a group of 20 newly hired sales representatives not one person had used Excel previously.  What are the odds for long term success for a person earning a living on commission that doesn't have the basic skills necessary to track their productivity?

The Auto Industry asks for the least educated people desperate for money and that is exactly what they get!

Read the ads for sales representative positions.  They promise high income with no needed skills.  Employment ads tell candidates that the only responsibilities of the job are to greet and sell customers.  There are no educational requirements, and no value given to previous training.  We ask people to show up with a smile and speak well.

We have an industry that has a bright future, with great benefits and income.  It is time to ask for the right people to join it.  Stop hiring a volume of desperate candidates, and start attracting smart applicants.  Many people avoid applying for dealership positions because they feel their skills and education are not valued.  

The next ad you place for sales reps ask for:

• Prior training or experience creating and maintaining a forecast
• Communication skills backed with college level courses or previous experience handling both in person and phone conversations for sales
• Digital skills using a CRM, multiple social media accounts, Microsoft office, and email marketing software such as MailChimp or Constant Contact
• Ability to make 30 to 50 outbound calls daily to clients

If the auto industry starts showing it values technological understanding and education we will have sales representatives coming to us with skills to match.

H Gregory Gershman - Managing Partner - Recruitment HQ

Every job hunter ask themselves, "What can I do to get my resume read?".  Google the term resume writing and a dizzying array of websites come up.  Thousands of different takes on what makes a great resume.  We have taken the time to ask our employers and read tons of great advice so we can give you the most concise methods for getting your resume read by prospective employers.

No matter the position you seek or your experience level here is what you need:

1. One size does not fit all.  Be prepared to have multiple resumes tailored to the job you seek.  Many times we will look at a candidate for a client and wonder why they are applying for a particular job, even though their resume doesn't list the necessary qualifiers.  After speaking to the applicant we find out there is information they are missing, because they originally started shopping for a different type of job and only have the relevant information for their original goal job.
2. Location, location, location.  Skip the wordy objective paragraph at the top of your resume and get right into the heart of your experience.  Employers are trying to read through dozens of resumes and are likely to skim for the information they want.  Make it easy to find.  The most important information to an employer is how ready you are to to handle the position they offer.  The best way to demonstrate that is with relative prior work history.  If your work history is at the bottom of your resume it may never get read!
3. Ditch the fancy font.  Recruiting companies and employers use applicant tracking systems (ATS) to collate applicants and their resumes.  A resume in an odd format (only use Word) with fancy font may not even be able to be read by the ATS.  Employers with lots of applicants will simply skip over an application that cannot be read by their system.  They will not take the time to contact an applicant and request something else.
4. Use real data.  It isn't enough to say you were the sales leader, or had create customer satisfaction numbers.  Give an employer hard numbers to substantiate your claim.  Quantify how many thousands or millions of dollars you had in sales.  Document your actual customer satisfaction rating.  Everyone says best sales numbers, most don't back it up.
5. Check your address, email, number, and typos.  Be sure your resume has your full contact info, including present address, cell number, and email.  We receive applications every day with wrong addresses, and regularly employers will tell us to reject the candidate if they cannot even bother to update their resume with their present address.  Applications without contact info are routinely rejected.  Employers aren't going to work to get a hold of a candidate.
6. Page 1 is all that matters.  Sell your resume like Amazon sells books, if page one is dull the book never sells.  If you have to have a resume that is longer than one page make sure the info that will really matter to the employer is in the beginning.  If they aren't convinced your resume is worthwhile on the first page everything after that doesn't matter.

Happy hunting for your next perfect job!

H Gregory Gershman - Managing Partner - Recruitment HQ

Every job hunter ask themselves, "What can I do to get my resume read?".  Google the term resume writing and a dizzying array of websites come up.  Thousands of different takes on what makes a great resume.  We have taken the time to ask our employers and read tons of great advice so we can give you the most concise methods for getting your resume read by prospective employers.

No matter the position you seek or your experience level here is what you need:

1. One size does not fit all.  Be prepared to have multiple resumes tailored to the job you seek.  Many times we will look at a candidate for a client and wonder why they are applying for a particular job, even though their resume doesn't list the necessary qualifiers.  After speaking to the applicant we find out there is information they are missing, because they originally started shopping for a different type of job and only have the relevant information for their original goal job.
2. Location, location, location.  Skip the wordy objective paragraph at the top of your resume and get right into the heart of your experience.  Employers are trying to read through dozens of resumes and are likely to skim for the information they want.  Make it easy to find.  The most important information to an employer is how ready you are to to handle the position they offer.  The best way to demonstrate that is with relative prior work history.  If your work history is at the bottom of your resume it may never get read!
3. Ditch the fancy font.  Recruiting companies and employers use applicant tracking systems (ATS) to collate applicants and their resumes.  A resume in an odd format (only use Word) with fancy font may not even be able to be read by the ATS.  Employers with lots of applicants will simply skip over an application that cannot be read by their system.  They will not take the time to contact an applicant and request something else.
4. Use real data.  It isn't enough to say you were the sales leader, or had create customer satisfaction numbers.  Give an employer hard numbers to substantiate your claim.  Quantify how many thousands or millions of dollars you had in sales.  Document your actual customer satisfaction rating.  Everyone says best sales numbers, most don't back it up.
5. Check your address, email, number, and typos.  Be sure your resume has your full contact info, including present address, cell number, and email.  We receive applications every day with wrong addresses, and regularly employers will tell us to reject the candidate if they cannot even bother to update their resume with their present address.  Applications without contact info are routinely rejected.  Employers aren't going to work to get a hold of a candidate.
6. Page 1 is all that matters.  Sell your resume like Amazon sells books, if page one is dull the book never sells.  If you have to have a resume that is longer than one page make sure the info that will really matter to the employer is in the beginning.  If they aren't convinced your resume is worthwhile on the first page everything after that doesn't matter.

Happy hunting for your next perfect job!

H Gregory Gershman - Managing Partner - Recruitment HQ