This week I am excited to say companies are hiring. In the past I talked about job opportunities coming from companies that employ 500 or less and I also said that employers were commenting about the high caliber and quality of the individuals in the talent pool.

What we are seeing now are companies looking at the advantages and benefits of bringing outsourced and contract services in house. You will see an example of this in our client story:

Carol had expertise in both marketing and public relations.  She enjoyed PR work more, but was competent in both. She attended a networking event and received a referral to a company who was looking for a Marketing Manager.  She sent her resume; the company called and asked her to come in.  The interview went well and in the course of the conversation the employer picked up she really was excited about PR.  There were three people in the room and they started a brainstorming session. The employer always thought he would receive a better return if he had an in house PR Manager instead of using an outside firm.  Two hrs later, Carol was given two assignments:  Her first assignment was to write a job description that would integrate both departments; her second assignment was to write a press release about a new service they were rolling out.  You might say she was auditioning for her job!  She has a second meeting with the employer on Jul 2nd.  I will keep you posted.

Could It Be You Don’t Know How to Close?

The closing of your interview is “showtime”.  The reason is, it is your time to shine. You have the opportunity to be you, insert your personality, comments and ask the “wow” questions.

Here are some ways to close an interview:

If you are applying for a sales position, than asking for the probably job is not optional.  If you don’t ask for the job in the interview, you won’t get it.  The employer wants you to be able to close the sale.  Why should the employer give you a chance selling his or her product or service when you can’t even sell yourself?

Remember, the job of a sales representative is to ask for the order and to close the deal, not just make a nice presentation.

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How to Prepare for a Background Check

When you know you are going to be on the job market, take the following steps to reduce the chances that you and/or the potential employer will be "surprised" by information found in the background check process:

• Order a copy of your credit report. If there is something you do not recognize or that you disagree with, dispute the information with the creditor and/or credit bureau before you have to explain it to the interviewer. Another individual's name may appear on your credit report. This happens when someone mistakenly writes down the wrong Social Security number on a credit application causing that name to appear on your file. Or you might be a victim of identity theft. (See PRC Fact Sheet 6 on your credit reporting rights, www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs6-crdt.htm, and Fact Sheet 17a on identity theft, www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs17a.htm.)

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