I work for a staffing service so I tend to think in terms of candidates, clients, and of course staffing services. What are the continuing issues?
Staffing services. Naturally, Merit never does anything wrong, ever, but as for the others? Oh dearie me… in 2017, it’s going to be a) Return candidates’ phone calls promptly. b) Remember to give candidates some feedback. I’m thinking specifically when clients don’t return OUR calls; we have to remember to let the candidates know. “No message to relate” often becomes “forget to tell the world it’s no message”. c) Give good advice about resume writing and thank you letters. As a quick rule of thumb, if an agency tells you something I disagree with, I’m always right, and don’t listen to anyone else who tells you otherwise (er, cough, cough). e.g. Who are these recruiters out there who still say resumes can only be one page? Puh-leeze.
Candidates. a) You don’t always follow up often or quickly enough with the agency. We CARE how the interview went. b)You have to proof your resumes and thank you letters really carefully. You’re not always going to get anal Margaret to do it for you, so please quadruple-check everything. c) Take it all very seriously if you really want a job. Return phone calls as quickly as possible, be on time for interviews (you’d think that would be a DUH one), look and act the part, do your homework, keep the agency in the loop.
Clients. At the risk of annoying any of my clients who are all FABULOUS, btw, other agencies’ clients sometimes take f-a-r- too long to get back about resumes, interview times, interview feedback, and final decisions, especially when, alas, it’s a no. We know they have all sorts of other priorities but still…
Finally..2017. What are the new-ish issues? a) NYC doesn’t allow credit checking anymore. Woo hoo. b) Companies more and more these days are expecting a four-year degree for accounting, administrative, reception, sales and customer service jobs. Previously it was advantageous, not essential. What to do if you don’t have a four-year degree? Find a staffing service that can persuade the client that they’re being silly. c) We’re seeing more jobs at last becoming available than we did in 2015 and 2016, especially in the administrative and accounting fields. Long may this trend continue.