New Hire Onboarding Tips - Simple but Effective

First impressions last. Good one's give you and your organization an advantage going forward. Bad one's seed doubt in the eyes of the new hire. Take day one as the opportunity to sink that new recruit deeply into the organization immediately. The recruiting process is so similar to good old fashioned courtship and dating - it is scary. The first day of employment is like the first day of being married, it is still courtship (because that never ends), and the true test of what a company says about who they are, their culture, people, environment, and what they are prepared to do to make you successful are all realized by the first impression you make on their first day. Well, maybe not 100% of it rides on Day 1, however a well thought out and executed onboarding process will set the foundation for a fast start and strong foundation for a long term commitment to one another. It is all about the relationship and as the employer - this can mean validation or disappointment.

Preparing for Day 1:

This is the day your new recruit will face the organization and receive their company-wide first impression. As the employer, you want to make sure that the organization makes a strong first impression on the candidate. As the new hire, they want to ensure they leave a strong first impression with their team, department and the entire organization. It takes some preparation and open lines of communication working together to deliver the proper onboarding process.

• Call the new hire a few days before Day 1, and tell them what they can expect. Things like time to arrive, what to wear, where to park and what to bring are a few that come to mind.
• Create the agenda for the day, and better yet - the agenda for the week or first few weeks.
• Business Cards, door name plate, mailbox all printed and labeled ready to go
• E-mail address set up, signature created and laptop, cell phone, tablet, desk phone programmed and all user names and passwords created and set up. When they walk in, they are ready to get to work.  
• Prior to meeting specific people in the organization, preparing them with a few of your own observations prior to the meeting can be very helpful. It helps take the edge off and often times helps speed up the getting acquainted process.
• Arrange the scheduled meetings with deliberate intentions: who they meet and spend time with early on Day 1, sends a message organizationally. Their position, role, and functional capacity should be considered when planning their first day. 
• Arranging a relaxed, unstructured meet & greet for coffee can be a nice first impression to get better acquainted with staff from different departments organizationally. People they will work with, count on, and trust to help them be successful should all be on the invite list.
• If the hire is controversial, be sure to engage the faction of supporters and have them assist with the integration process - keeping a careful watch for those people who do not agree or do not support the hiring decision.
• Always keep in mind, this is a great opportunity to give praise to every single employee by making a strong introduction. It can be something as simple as "this is John, he has been with the company for 14 years and he was responsible for leading the XYZ project, which was a $50M mixed use project that was delivered on time and we have a very happy client". Remember, do not forget to give the receptionist just as great of an introduction. 
• The way you communicate, the way you interact with others internally and the level of respect you give to your colleagues will be watched and mirrored. So be aware.

The way the day ends is just as important as the way the day began. They will walk out of the building and into their homes and face the question "So, how did it go?" and this is where the organization can make a huge impression with the spouse or significant other. So close the day on a high note. Send them home with a welcome package that includes company gear, personalized thank you notes, company information, handbook, newsletters, list of suggested reading (or a book the company uses as a baseline - Good to Great as an example) and anything else you think could make an impact. Give them a nice handshake, smile and whatever you do - make sure you are there to say "It is great to have you here".

Construction Corporate Culture Exposed

There is no escaping the connection between culture and it's risks. In booming economic times, success can mask cultural deterioration. In downturns, the flaws show up - vividly. Culturally strong firms accommodate and adapt to recessions, why culturally flawed firms struggle. Culture can dramatically impact market share, either positively or negatively. Culture emerges as the defining competitive advantage, because it is nearly impossible to imitate or copy. Strong producers (Executives, Project Leaders, Superintendents, Estimators and the rising future leaders) rally around a powerful cultural core, while other firms, obsess over their personal circumstances as their culture, revenue and margin diminishes. 

Convictions, which people hold dear, are not easy to alter. So when a company must change there is reluctance. By having a strong culture, it acts as the glue that holds the organization together and overcome adversities in the market. Culture binds organizations, strategy and it's top performers together in the face of significant change. It can help maintain core beliefs and values while allowing major changes in strategy and organization.

Culture is a stronger force for unity and collaboration than any formal document in the employee manual that says something about vision, mission and values. The people need to have a strong commitment to their beliefs and the organizations culture drives this phenomenon. 

This is also true when companies experience massive growth. This growth delivers a double whammy; it exposes organizational complexity and introduces legions of culturally raw recruits. Both characteristics may easily undermine or confuse cultural beliefs. When a construction company hires experienced senior level talent from the industry the dynamics are even more challenging. Yet firms with strong cultural beliefs are bound together despite these rough waters. Weaker cultures are exposed and are hit hard.

Again, core cultural beliefs help sustain competitive advantage for construction companies. How are you doing? 

I've got some work to do as well.

Talent Alignment - Be Fierce, Be Deliberate

Your people are your future and your long-term success all rides on your time, focus and deployment of an employee recruitment, engagement, development and retention strategy. These are the people who with your help and guidance are the future professionals and leaders who will build the firm from generation to generation. Just as there are rainmakers there are leaders who become savvy developers of people - and these leaders are especially adept at building talent within a firm. They, and the ambitious firms they work for, understand the basic fact of life in business: the people you pay are more important than the people who pay you.

Why? Talent is a firms only sustainable source of competitive advantage. If you look at a great firm and ask, "Which came first, the talent or the client?" the talent cam first almost every time. The Construction industry achieve and maintain greatness by attracting and retaining talent who attract and retain clients and in turn, more new talent. Make sense?

What does this mean to you? The key to your firms continuing success is building talent. Not landing the biggest project or client - clients and projects can be stolen or lost. Not creating a new construction process or delivery methodology - it can be copied. Not being the first to expand into a new market - competitors can move there too. None of these advantages are sustainable, Talent is. It is what can create a Construction Companies enduring competitive edge!

Building this talent begins with the competition for top talent, which have never been fiercer. As more and more of the Construction industry they have to compete on brains, demand is exploding for the kind of skills and capabilities that power Construction Companies. In fact we would be willing to bet that in the time you spend in a single unproductive weekly meeting two things will happen: (1) One of your key clients (you can't afford to lose) will have dinner with a competitor; (2) one of your top employees (a future executive in the making) will accept another job or think seriously about doing so.

Take a few moments to think about your priorities last week, what steps did you take to stay in front and get ahead of these critical issues - that will have more of an impact on your business than anything else. Next week, modify your priorities and re-focus. 

Construction Interview Guide for Employers

Performing the Interview

In over 21 years of recruiting experience I've learned two important lessons: First, past performance is the best predictor of future performance; and second, people who have been top performers tend to stay top performers. The goal of every interview should be to uncover a clear picture of the candidate’s past accomplishments. You can conduct a complete interview to accurately measure past performance and predict future performance with only four questions.

The Right Stuff

The best predictors of success are a track record of high energy (work ethic, initiative), team leadership, and some level of comparable past performance. The likelihood of success is high for candidates with this profile. Add the strong ability to adept and produce in a new environment and you've got an excellent candidate. Using just four questions, this type of profile can be determined for any candidate. Asking about four to eight major past accomplishments in a patterned question format is the key to this type of interviewing approach. Past accomplishments should focus on individuals, teams, and specific projects. When combined with fact-finding, these questions can reveal all the important details of each accomplishment.

The Four Questions: What to Listen For

Question 1: "Please describe your most significant accomplishment."

Ask this question for the past two or three projects. Listen for personal energy and impact. Use fact-finding to get many examples and details--when, why, how, impact, results, and timeline. Ask SMART questions (Specific, Measurable, Action-Oriented, Results-based, Time-bound). This should take five to ten minutes. Make sure the candidate paints a detailed word picture of each accomplishment and provides specific examples.

Question 2: "Please draw an organizational chart and describe your most significant team or management accomplishment."

Look for Span of Control and team leadership over the last two or three projects. Get examples of the candidate's actual role, the time and effort involved, any interpersonal challenges that arose, how well the candidate motivated others and dealt with conflict. During this five or ten-minute discussion; get details about actual team results and what the candidate would have done differently.

Question 3: Anchoring: "One of our key performance objectives is __________ [Insert the most important S.M.A.R.T. objective for the position]. Tell me about your most significant comparable accomplishment."

What you're looking for here is Job Specific Competency. Make sure you dig out plenty of details in order to minimize exaggeration. Many candidates can come up with initial examples that sound great, but as you delve deeper and probe you will discover the scope, initiative, and resources that helped them to achieve their results. Make sure that the candidate can anchor each major performance objective of the new job with a comparable past accomplishment. This question will take at least 10 minutes to answer if you are pushing for details. If they were working on a team, make sure the candidate clearly identifies their role and not just team accomplishments. You’re not hiring the team, just the individual player.

Question 4: Visualization: "If you were to get this job, how would you go about implementing and organizing ____________ [Insert the most important performance objective]?"

The purpose of this question is to see how effectively a candidate would apply his or her capabilities to new job needs. We call this a visualization question. Their answer should give a good idea of a candidate's adaptability, as well as their ability to contribute in a new environment. As you listen to the answer, consider these specifics:

o    Job-specific problem solving

o    Verbal communications

o    Reasoning and thinking skills

o    Adaptability and flexibility

o    Self-confidence

o    Insight and job knowledge

o    Creativity

o    Organizational skills

o    Logic and Intellect

 Ask this question for the top two or three performance objectives.

Sound simple? It absolutely is … and it's guaranteed to help you find and qualify candidates. Just make sure you use fact-finding and lots of examples to get all the necessary details (when, why, how, impact, result, and time). Ask SMART questions. Situational questions help target job-specific problem solving, flexibility, insight, communication skills, strategic and tactical planning, intelligence, self-confidence, and communication skills. Caution: you must combine this with a strong pattern of past performance.

Panel Interviews: Learn More While Staying Cool

If you want to save time, learn more, and eliminate your emotional biases, try a Panel Interview. If done right, it can be one of the most effective tools for assessing competency. Shorter interviews test chemistry and fit but tend to be a little superficial. Hint: "Interviewing" personality is not the same as "on-the-job" personality.

Here is some basic advice on conducting a panel interview:

• Make sure each interviewer has reviewed the resume and Performance Profile before the interview. This is critical. Unless everybody on the interviewing team has a clear understanding of the specific performance objectives of the job, a panel interview will be a waste of time.
• Tell the candidate beforehand that there will be a panel interview; don’t surprise them!
• Avoid intimidating the candidate by limiting the panel to three or four people. Use a round table, if at all possible.
• Assign a leader. This leader will be responsible for keeping the group on topic. Only leaders can change the topic. Other interviewers should be observant and ask fact-finding and follow-up questions for clarification. Leaders should make sure each important topic is explored completely and not change subjects too quickly. Explore each topic thoroughly and weave a thread around the topic with follow-up questions, fact-finding, and examples. The leader also keeps the discussion moving. Once a topic is fully explored, he or she should move on to another topic quickly. Also make sure that other interviewers don't come into the panel interview with a list of prepared questions.
• Ask the candidate to visualize how they would solve a specific job or project related challenge. Get into a give-and-take discussion using the "visualize" question (i.e., "How would you handle the task or solve the problem, if you were to get the job?").

Evaluation and Follow Up

We've told you about the four-question interview, and how to use it to zoom in on the best candidates. Let's expand that a bit now, with a Checklist for Candidate Assessment. This is how you implement the four questions to look for the traits you want in a winning candidate.

Use the checklist to rate candidates on a scale of 1 (weak) to 5 (strong).

1. Energy, Drive, Initiative.

Don't ever compromise on this one, because it's the universal trait of success. The key to personal success is to do more than you have to, so look for this quality in every past job. Get examples of initiative and extra effort. Don't assume that an extroverted personality means lots of energy; have the candidate prove it by example, including specific dates, facts, and quantities. But the reverse is also true: a low-key person often has more energy and enthusiasm than an extrovert. It takes patience on your part to draw them out.

2. Trend of Performance Over Time.

By asking questions about leadership and impact on a company, you get detailed examples of a candidate's major accomplishments and organizational changes over the past five to ten years. From this, it's easy to see how the candidate has grown and impacted the organization. The ideal candidate has had comparable jobs and is still showing signs of upward growth. Rank this person a 5 on your scale. But remember: a comparable job doesn't have to be an identical job. Look at staff size, issue complexity, performance standards, company growth rate, sophistication level, etc. Combine these factors and search for an upward growth pattern.

3. Comparability of Past Accomplishments.

Use SMART (Specific, Measurable, Action-oriented, Results-based, and Time-based) objectives to compare a candidate's past accomplishments with the required performance objectives of the job to be filled. Be concerned about mismatching. A highly energetic engineer might be ineffective as a manager, and highly intelligent leaders aren't always the best candidates for technical or business development jobs. Make sure you have a copy of all the SMART objectives handy during the interview, and get anchoring accomplishments for each one. Give a candidate a 5 if comparable past accomplishments for each one are offered, a 4 if all but one matches up, and so on.

4. Experiences, Education and Industry Background.

Use this in tandem with the Past Accomplishments category. Strong education and experience can sometimes offset a weaker accomplishment rating. Examine experience in the context of the environment-the pace, style, and standards of performance where the experience took place. If the candidate's previous company had a slower pace and lower standards, of course, 10 years of experience doesn't mean as much. Give some credit for direct market segment or competitor experience and education. Add a point or two if these add significantly to the candidate's ability, or if they improve the job fit.

5. Problem Solving and Thinking Skills.

How smart does a candidate need to be to be effective on the job? Just smart enough--any less and you're in trouble. A strong candidate needs to understand the work, solve job-related problems, and anticipate what needs to be done. Collecting and processing information to make appropriate decisions is important; so is the ability to apply previous knowledge and experience to solving new problems. Asking a SMART visualization question about the actual job tests all of these things much better than any intelligence test ever devised. You'll gain an understanding of the candidate's thinking and reasoning skills, adaptability, communications skills, logic, decision-making powers, and problem solving abilities.

6. Overall Talents, Technical Competency, and Potential.

How you rank a candidate in this broad category depends very much on the needs of the job to be filled. The score should represent the candidate's ability to grow, develop, and take on bigger roles. To get a 4 or a 5 in this category, candidates should have a broader focus than the job demands. Search for thinking skills (the same ones described in Category 5, but here you're looking at them in conjunction with other abilities to evaluate potential); breadth of business understanding (candidates who see the broader needs of a business beyond their own functional requirements add strength to an organization); application of technical skills (the ability to learn technical skills is often more important than already having them, unless the job is very technically intensive and requires immediate knowledge.)

7. Management and Organization.

Most interviewers focus on individual competency instead of managerial skills. This approach is a major cause of hiring error! If the management and organizational aspects of the job are important, spend as much time as necessary to validate a candidate's competency. Use projects to get at organizational skills, even if the candidate doesn't have a big staff. Ask a candidate to describe their most complex team project--you might be surprised at the answer. Early in the interview, have the candidate draw an organizational chart for the last few positions. Assign names, title, and direct and indirect staff size. This shows the size and scope of candidate responsibility; perfect for comparison with your current job needs.

8. Team Leadership: The Ability to Persuade and Motivate Others.

Team leadership is a component of both management and personality: it's important enough to consider separately. It represents the ability to tap into and harness the energy of others -- getting them to move in the same direction, to do something they might not want to do. Team leadership has two aspects -- motivating your immediate subordinates and motivating people who work in different departments. Motivating a subordinate is easier: look for managers who can point to a number of people they have personally helped to become successful. Give high scores to candidates who consistently go out of their way to hire superior people, and then take a sincere interest in upgrading their skills. As for motivating people outside their own department, get examples of major projects and use fact-finding to uncover the candidate's true role.

9. Character: Values, Commitment, and Goals.

Character is a deep-rooted trait that summarizes a person's integrity, honesty, responsibility, openness, fairness in dealing with others, and personal values. Save this whole topic until the end of the first interview, or wait for the second interview. It will be more relevant then, and candidates will be more open and comfortable with their responses. Ask candidates to explain their personal value system and how they developed it. Be sure to listen carefully; this answer can be very revealing. It's important to know why someone wants to change jobs and what aspects of work that the person finds important. Understanding a candidate's value system allows you to predict how they will react to various work-related circumstances. When talking about goals, be specific: ask a candidate to describe one or two major goals already accomplished.

10. Personalities and Cultural Fit.

Personality is revealed in an individual's accomplishments. Look for flexibility and a pattern of accomplishments in different situations: as a team member, as leader of a team, and as an individual contributor. You can discover a preferred relationship pattern by categorizing the candidate's accomplishments on the ABC scale: "Alone," "Belong to team," or "in Charge of the team." This type of analysis becomes even more valuable when the candidate is free to pick the accomplishment. Keep track of the responses by putting little marks on top of your notes (I always make three columns: A, B, and C). By the end of the interview, a definite and revealing pattern should emerge. 

Construction Business Development - Gorilla Warfare 101

By Shawn Desgrosellier of Vitality Group

When we are faced with a recession, what happens? The strong survive and the weak die.

Client after client refer to this market as "gorilla warfare" and I would agree. It is tough out there and it is impacting the A&E Firms, Program and Construction Management firms, General Contractors and the entire Specialty Contractor market segment in all sectors and sizes. So what do you do? Do you go where you have never been before and competitively pursue and bid every project that hits the wire? Do you get into the Federal market since that is where all of the money seems to be? Do you diversify geographically and have a wider reach and expect your project teams to travel? Do you scale back and wait it out? I think you get my point, there are more "what if" scenarios than ever before, so the question is: What are YOU going to do?

The companies that have survived gorilla warfare are: steadfast in their strategy, equipped with the right weapons, know their enemy (competition), and have one objective-  to Win the WAR. Here are some tips to improve your strategy.

Steadfast Strategy:

When planning for war, you must operate with precision - no mistakes. You must be in control and not at the mercy of your opponent. Market Mastery is an offensive sales and business development approach that can dramatically improve your depth and breadth in the market, uncovering every possible prospect without trying to be everything to everybody. Focus on your core.

Here is an exercise that can draw out opportunities:

Get your Top Guns or Seal Team (the best of the best at all levels in the room) and drive a discussion around market segments, organizational expertise, and your niche or specialization. Identify all possible prospects (organizations and people within those organizations) in that fit into your market niche or area of specialization. The longer the list the better.

Compartmentalize your targets by market segment: Healthcare, Education, Federal, Municipality, Retail, Office, Industrial, etc. Next you need to identify contacts at a local or what some call "national account" level as well as local or regional contacts who influence the decision making process.

This will be your guide and from this you will carefully and strategically work this long list of opportunities into a short and manageable list of targets/strategic accounts. When this is at a manageable level, how do you approach these clients and how often is critical. If you create a SOP for client prospecting, in no time at all you will know every step by memory and can track each prospect by stage and moving each prospect from stage 1 to stage 2 and so on will show you the progress or lack thereof you are making with each prospect.

How often do you have a great meeting with a client prospect and it goes dormant? It happens more than it should, so how do you and your organization prevent that from happening? You need to stay in touch with your clients and it can be as simple as adding every prospect to an e-mail or U.S. Mail distribution list and sending them something monthly. Just that alone could dramatically increase your market coverage and keep your company on the top of their mind when an opportunity arises- it is all about timing in sales and that is where most sales people and companies miss huge opportunities. Strength of numbers and law of averages is a theme that over time can change the direction of your company forever!

Of course your past projects and the people who were involved in selecting your firm as the contractor are great targets that also need to be on your list. You need to stay in touch with those people, track them in a database, and assign someone internally who connected well with them at both a personal and professional level.

If you gather all of your troops into the WAR room and if each member can move each prospect from stage to stage effectively - in no time at all your organization will be ready and in position when the timing is right- to strike.

The Final CEO Challenge - Finding the Right Successor

By: Shawn Desgrosellier

There I was, in the depth of a phone conversation with a CEO discussing the future of his organization. He was experiencing one of life's greatest challenges for a Founder and CEO - succession planning. He used three categories that were in his opinion most important: alignment of the team, selecting the successor, and mentally preparing to let go of control.

The evaluation and alignment of the current team requires the experience to first of all understand the needs of the business. The successor needs to earn the respect of each employee and openly evaluate their skill set, identify with thier strengths, and move them into the right position for the best interest of the organization. Without the team, there is no company. The successor needs to have the right emotional strength to not only make the decision but to more importantly win over the employees and get their full support. "Rally the troops and charge the hill", mentality by all.

Selecting the right successor is far more complicated than the evaluation and alignment of the team. The company and it's success was created by the founder and due to the fact the organization was built around the competencies and beliefs of the founder make the search for the right successor even more complicated. When there is a business with a history of success and an existing employee base with decades of tenure this is a huge undertaking. The process will include a comprehensive evaluation of the organization, culture, client or customer base, reputation, history, niche or value proposition in the market, employees and their backgrounds, culture and so on...no detail should go overlooked and a handful of scenarios should be taken into consideration. This candidate ideally is already hired and has a proven track record with the organization. That however, is not always the case and often times the best candidate to succeed a founder is working elsewhere.

What happens when a founder leaves the company, what happens to the employees, what happens to the culture, and how do you mitigate to the best of your ability to find a person who can make the transition and hold it all together? The magic question- who will it be? It can't be emotional- this is business and this one of the paramount business decisions a founder or CEO will ever make. The person needs to be the perfect blend of leader, motivator, strategist, communicator, politician, and prepared to work harder than ever before.

Releasing Control- the behemoth! Release of control is the most challenging part of succession planning for this CEO and Founder. He was so torn with what he will do after he is no longer the decision maker and how can he help them and guide them from afar. He knew they were going to make mistakes but what worried him most was what made me write this post. He wanted them to continue to take risks and sieze opportunities. The CEO knew that without a little guts there was going to be no glory and the problem is that he is the only one that remembers the risks he took to get them to the place they are today. The same risks are required to continue to grow the organization by seizing opportunities. "Saving for a raing day", he said was being ready and able to strike when the time was right. Meanwhile, always knowing in the back of his mind that it might not work the way he intended. It took decades of making good decisions that built their foundation but it was when his experience and knowledge game him the confidence to take the big leaps that paid off and ultimately made the company what it is today. If it were not for those decisions and risks- we would be a very different company.

This final challenge is like a final thesis- and as he said to me "if there is anything I do right, this one has to be my masterpiece".

YOUR Career: the right PLACE at the right time

By: Shawn Desgrosellier

When you hear the phrase, "the right place at the right time" what resonates with you? It has relevenacy for so many scenarios, however I want to talk about how it relates to you and your career. As you can see from the title of this article I added CAPS to the words "YOUR" and "PLACE" so why are those two words so important?

YOUR career may look very different than it did 12-24 months ago and the next 12-24 months may continue to be both very uncomfortable and unpredictable. You have had 12-24 months to get adjusted to the volitility, so what are you doing about it? Have you at the very least changed your work habits? Are you getting in early and staying late? Are you working on your business development skills and are you investing your time and energy in an area that will help deliver revenue? If no, then have you at least worked on YOU and I mean character traits that need to be improved upon, such things as: reliability, creativity, attitude, energy, compassion, committment and trust? Now is the time to invest in yourself and your future.

What about your PLACE of employment, are you working for an organization who is taking advantage of this time to retool, make changes, cleanse itself of unproductive operations and people? Are you surrounded by people who are making you better at what you do? Are they the best in the business- the elite of the industry? What are they doing to push themselves to the next level? How do they stay motivated? How are they adjusting to the new economy? If you are not surrrounded by these people then the timing might be just right for you to consider your career options.

You are one of the highest sought after people in your industry and your career options have never been better.

Are you in the right place at the right time?

Employee Retention is the CEO's job

If costs , customers, and quality service is important, then turnover should be at the top of your list. If the CEO does not own turnover, he is more comfortable with poor performance than he may admit. High turnover that is something that unquestionably costs money and time for existing staff, but its tentacles extend to just about everything a company does. If you can reduce turnover it will positively affect the entire organization, it links to every department and ultimately every customer, client or future employee.

Turnover is fundamentally about the culture of the organization and whether or not it cares about retaining good people, not only because it is the right thing to do, but because it puts your among the best in your industry and financial well being.

Until the recent downturn, many leaders could legitimately blame turnover on external factors, such as shortages of people across all industries and the hot job market. Many of those external pressures have resided and now is a perfect time to for senior leaders to address the internal problems causing turnover. By doing so, CEO's can better attack problems with morale, unproductive teams, client service, and mistakes.

Many CEO's don't see employee turnover as an area where they can (or should) make a substantial impact. Maybe they can't match higher salaries being paid elsewhere. Maybe they can't match the challenging smaller more nimble competitor. Concerns about turnover are often directed to HR. But, CEO's can make a huge difference in employee turnover.

A focused strategy on retention and reduction of turnover does not mean that low performers should be allowed to hang around. Quite the opposite, in fact. If low performance means that you may lose your job it creates a sense of ownership for each employee and become embedded into the fabric of the culture. The turnover of low performers is very healthy it is when you lose top performers it can literally implode and organization from the inside out.

CEO's need to own turnover no matter what industry. Employee mortality can mean the difference between profit and loss and thriving or survival.

Hiring in 2010 - What's the Real Deal?

By: Shawn Desgrosellier of Vitality Group

This year has been a whirlwind in the construction recruiting business! I thought it might be interesting to recap what has happened in the first quarter of 2010 to give you a real look at what is really going on out there. I will tell you about our findings in the job market, the employers perspective on recruiting and hiring in 2010, and a few tips for the jobless.

In January and February we spent most of the month on the road. We met with the CEO's, COO's and HR Executives in the Commercial, Civil, Industrial and Specialty Contracting industry. We targeted in the San Francisco Bay Area, Hawaii, and Texas which is where our strong relationships, market knowledge, experience and best opportunity to secure new search assignments exist. We also fielded hundreds of calls from the candidate community and met in person many of the top candidates who were unemployed, underemployed or were preparing for an expected layoff or downsizing.

I recall in 2000 when we were faced with high unemployment in construction, search assignments were very tough to come by. If there was a demand it was for Business Development, Estimating, Senior Project Management or Project Executive level candidates in a technical market segment like bio tech, life sciences, pharmaceutical or health care. We placed dozens of candidates at that time with that experience so we learned quickly to stay away from everything else and focus our effort exclusively in that area. Ten years later we are faced with a similar story with the same characters but the niche and industry experience has shifted.

The demand in 2010 is for Business Development, Estimating, Senior Project Management and Project Executive level candidates however in 2010 employers want to see federal, health care or renewable energy experience. I guarantee if you have that experience you are not looking for work right now. If you do not have that experience you need to figure out a way to get it and get it fast.

The employers pespective is varied, most fall into the cut costs, reduce overhead and expand the responsibilities of the current staff company wide and are not hiring or even interviewing. Then there are companies who also are cutting costs, fixed expenses, overhead but also continue to interview and replace the "B" and "C" players with "A" talent from the competition. If they ultimately do not hire, at the very least they are evaluating the available talent and driving a corporate strategy which includes the potential talent they have access to because of their active participation in candidate recruitment. For obvious reasons, this makes smart business sense.

As a job seeker it is tough out there, those who treat their job search as a full time endeavor are having more success then those who are not. It is not a part time job! The one's who are involved in the construction market, community and are socially engaging in activities that create opportunities are also having success. The one thing you can not rely upon is adding your resume to Career Builder and Monster and simply let that do the work for you, you will go hungry with that approach right now. You are in control of your destiny and if you cast a wide net will find opportunities where you least expect them. If you take one thing away from this post remember CHEMISTRY is everything in these challenging times so take initiative and get out there and meet potential employers, clients, customers and vendors- it will be one of the best investments you make today.

Decide What's Next

By: Shawn Desgrosellier

You don't have to take life the way it comes to you. You can design your life to come to you the way you want it. This is your life, your one and only life, and you don't want to miss any part of it. So what's it going to be? You decide, starting today you can make your life the most exciting, satisfying, productive, and amazing journey imaginable. Time to forget about telling those stories and memories of the past and work on creating those stories and memories for the future. Let them go and set yourself free.

There are different areas of your life that require you to take a fresh look at and honestly evaluate or even call upon the insight of your close friends and relatives to help you see what you are and where you may be falling short. A great place to start.

What are the "areas" of your life that fall into the equation: career, family, health or physical, financial, charitable, spiritual are the big ones.

I thought to keep this short and sweet I would list a few questions that will get you thinking about you and your mission, values and dreams and it is up to you to take this to a deeper and more applicable level for you based upon what you want to accomplish in 2010 and beyond.

What are your talents? What are you doing with them? What do you dream about? Do you dream about the things you used to dream about when you were younger? What is the next step for you? Are you surrounding yourself with the people that will help you get there? Why not? Do you say "someday I will"? What are those things you want to achieve, places you want to see, things you want to have, the person you want to be? Why someday and not today? How high are you aiming? Are you satisfied with comfortable? Are you stretching yourself spiritually? When is the last time you looked deep inside at yourself and were happy with the who you are and what you have become? Did you cry? Did you regret? Did you do anything about it to change the future? Are you working hard at all the things that are important to you in life? Are you lazy? Are you taking care of yourself? Are you getting the right exercise and eating the right foods? Do you you need to wait until that wake up call comes before you take action- but then will it be too late? Are you kind to others? Do you procrastinate? Are you trying new things? Are you open to possibilities? Are you spontaneous? Are you taking risks? Are you trusting your crazy ideas? Are you grateful?

I think I can keep on going literally forever, but just writing it down and thinking about it will hopefully inspire you to do something or change something.

Make 2010 one to remember, prioritize your life and set goals that are important to you, not necessarily others and go get them!

LIFE IS NOW!

The Numbers Game

By: Shawn Desgrosellier of Vitality Group

Here we are, week two of the new year and for some reason and I would say some very strange reason resumes have not been flooding my inbox. I wonder why that is, and I wonder why those millions of job seekers that are in the market seeking employment are not pursuing the recruiters who are market makers in a specific industry.

I have heard from the current job seekers that at one time or another I have spoken to, recruited for a position, or placed in a new company- but still the new candidate is the hot candidate as far as a recruiter is concerned and the numbers are way down. Why are they not using every waking moment of every day trying to reach out and connect to those recruiters who have tenure, contacts and relationships, and influence to make or create a job for the right person?

I am quickly approaching 20 years in the recruiting industry and have placed hundreds if not over a thousand people in mid to senior level management positions across a number of industries with an emphasis over the last decade in Commercial Construction and Real Estate. If I get a Linked In request from a job seeker with a track record in my niche and area of specialization I accept them immediately- I want to help them anyway I possibly can and if I have a connection that they need to get a job right now I am happy to be that pathway. Remember the movie "Pay it Forward" it holds true right now and if you take the time to reach out and help someone it is the right thing to do. So why are job seekers not using Linked In and trying to connect with people of like backgrounds and like industries. I have had conversation after conversation with Executive Level contacts in my industry and they are happy to add someone new to their network and connections, but they are busy so the job seekers has to at the very least take the initiative.

If you have been recently been affected by a downsize, lay-off or have been seeking employment for 6-12 months or in some cases even longer- what are you doing about it? Don't give up, suck it up and with a carefully created plan you too can take this time to deepen your network and diversify your industry knowledge and relationships- depth and breadth you can call it. All I ask, is that you get up early and get after it each and every day and give it your best shot, reach out and touch someone and by using the strength of numbers and law of averages you can tap that right person tomorrow or next month- it all depends upon your velocity.

I wish you success out there and hope this inspires you to take action tomorrow!

What a whip!

As a recruiter and someone who has posted hundreds if not over a thousand positions on job boards, reviewed thousands of resumes, interviewed thousands of people on the phone and in person from a wide variety of career paths, waited for candidate follow up of really any kind, and then add what I would call, The Multiplier- 10% UNEMPLOYMENT there are just some things you do and don't do to land a job.

My recent hiring experience was mind blowing and I thought I would share it with you as validation that you and your company are not alone. People please, read this.

I posted a position for a part-time work from home Administrative Assistant with the intent to find someone who at one time had a professional career and was trying to balance family and career or someone who wanted to re-enter the workforce. I may have caused my own problems here with this posting and I take full responsibility- but here is what happened.

1. 1,240 resumes received

2. 9 of the responses were actual administrative outsourcing companies- which I thought was a pretty cool idea.

3. 211 of the resumes were from out of state- my posting said they need to physically come to the office one day per week.

4. Over 700 of the resumes (too many to count actually) were absolutely terrible- now if you would have seen my face as I was reviewing resumes I was reminding myself "this person is responding to an administrative position" are you kidding me?

5. I am not sure how many- but most were responding to just satisfy the total applications they need to turn in for unemployment purposes, and some even told me this!

6. Of the 16 I e-mailed asking their availability only 9 responded. Seriously?

7. The 9 I called and actually had a conversation with, I set up interviews with 6 of them.

8. Of the 6 I set up interviews with- 2 of them no-showed. I guess a job is easy to come by these days?

9. The 4 I met with, there were 3 that were very talented, had great experience, and were possible hires.

10. So you thought it was over- here comes the fun part.

So lets call them candidate A, B, C, and D- so you can follow me.

Candidate A- she arrived on time, dressed professionally, seemed eager to work, asked great questions, pulled her chair up closer to my desk as I was showing her projects, again asked great questions and then......we went down a personal path of discussion and I guess she felt comfortable talking to me about her pregnancy, her bed ridden orders from her doctor, her bleeding, the birth of her child, and on and on and on....

Candidate B- she arrived on time, dressed professionally, and engaged immediately- I thought we might have a finalist here and then she started talking about some real estate company and how she also has a mortgage company and a real estate firm and has another part time administrative position for a real estate investor where she deals with tenant related issues for only about 10 hours per week. I was a little surprised because the way her resume read it did not say all those things I learned in the interview. I guess the moral to her story is-- GREAT JOB ON HER RESUME!

Candidate C- she dressed professionally, was quiet and seemed to have a bitterness to her and besides continually adjusting her top (pulling it up) as if her shirt was too small and I think either it was a new shirt and maybe a little small but from the one glance I did take I think her body may have been enhanced since the last time she wore that shirt- I was more uncomfortable in the interview than you can imagine. She proceeded to tell me she was going through a divorce and her husband and his new girlfriend moved into the Big House and she and the kids are in the small house and that a part time 20 hour a week job is all she needed to support her kids. Oh, and she told me her husband- soon to be ex was being investigated or indicted for fraud and she worked for him for the past 8 years.

Candidate D- She had the least amount of experience, was finishing college and needed a part time job, she wanted something that can work into full time when she graduates in 6 months, was getting married in 8 months- stability, she liked marketing and being creative, had good technical abilities, and seemed to be what I would call normal.

Candidate Selected- take a guess?

Contacting all candidates and informing them the position has been filled:

In this job market the one thing that I hear time and time again is the fact that job seekers never do hear back from the employer once they respond to a position so I decided I was going to send every single candidate a message to them directly that the position was filled, thanking them for their application, and wishing them success in their search.

So most responded favorably and were very thankful I sent out the note there were a few that I had to tell you about- here are their responses to my e-mail:

"Thank you anyways, but if it is OK with you, I will list you as one of my 5 contacts for the week I need to do, to keep up for my unemployment purposes. I will just list you as one of my contacts for this week!! Thank you again, and the best of luck to you and the more qualified candidate you selected!! And have a wonderful upcoming weekend, as well as a Happy Holidays to you all!!" - JAMES

"Oh, you missed out on a great employee and the most efficient administrative assistant around, best of luck to you" - MARCIA

"In other words, I'm too old. Don't be concerned. I'm not going to pursue it. It didn't sound like a good fit anyway" - LINDA

I will tell you that there was more drama, more work, and more people who just do not understand what it takes to land a job in this market today. Please people, help yourself to the information out there that will dramatically help your chances of landing a position in this market.

Avoid These Interview Killers

By DIANA MIDDLETON

With so much competition for every job listing out there—there are more than 6.1 job seekers for every job opening, according to the latest job-opening and turnover data from the U.S. Department of Labor—wowing a recruiter during a job interview is even more crucial. According to a new survey of nearly 500 human-resources professionals released by the Society for Human Resource Management, there are plenty of ways to derail a job interview—and some of them may surprise you.

The basic don'ts: arriving late to an interview or trashing a previous employer. But some hiring managers say even experienced professionals have made other slip-ups.
Often, job candidates speak in a too-familiar way with hiring managers—a major problem, according to 20% of survey respondents. Mary Willoughby, director of human resources at the Center for Disability Rights in Rochester, N.Y., once interviewed someone who was so comfortable, he commented on a sty she had near her eye.

"My mind was made up at that point," she says. The candidate was not hired.

For 67% of hiring managers who responded to the survey, dressing provocatively is a major deal breaker—even more significant than having a typo in your application materials (58% found this to be an interview killer). Chantal Verbeek, head of enterprise talent at ING U.S. Financial Services, says she'll forgive a typo if the applicant's skills are extraordinary, but revealing or sloppy apparel equals an instant rejection. "You'd think that'd be obvious," she says.
Job seekers have also been blasting HR managers with questions about benefits, vacation time and schedule flexibility much too soon in the interview process, according to the survey. (Thirty percent of hiring managers say it's okay for applicants to inquire about salary in post-interview follow-up conversations.) Some 39% of hiring managers surveyed said applicants shouldn't bring up salary at all—unless the interviewer brings it up first.

"I've had candidates ask if they can work part-time from home right off the bat," Ms. Willoughby says. "Let's figure out if you're the right person for this job before we discuss how little you want to be in the office."

Using clichés like "This is my dream job" are also major turnoffs for hiring managers. Instead of telling an interviewer you think outside the box, actually do it. Ms. Willoughby recalls a job candidate for an IT programmer position who gently pointed out that the Center for Disability Rights' Web site had several programming errors. "He handled it in a way that didn't make us feel ridiculed or demeaned," she says. "It showed that he was really serious about the job."
Shawn Desgrosellier, president of Vitality Group Executive Search, coaches job candidates to go into an interview with something—anything—in their hands. The step maintains focus. (He suggested a pen, a notepad or your résumé.) "It's just awkward going into an interview with nothing," he says.

There's also some good news for people with numerous public profiles online: Although social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook are rife with clues about job candidates' private lives, 75% of HR managers surveyed don't bother to check them.
And the formal thank-you letter after the interview? More than 60% of HR managers who responded say skipping the step is not a big deal. A brief email will suffice—cards and balloons are all overboard.

Write to Diana Middleton at diana.middleton@wsj.com

The Successful Team Leader

A team leader requires a unique set of leadership skills and attitudes. Unlike his or her counterpart in other corporate or business structures, a team leader manages a highly talented group of like-minded professionals who know what to do but need leadership to stay motivated and focused. Much like the trainer of a group of thoroughbred horses, a team leader's job is to motivate team members to run a winning race.

Three distinct mindsets are necessary to become a team leader:
1. Have your game perfected.
2. Have a strong desire and willingness to focus on other people and their success.
3. Use team or practice leadership skills consistent with a “let me help” attitude rather than a “follow me” attitude.

Perfecting your game since your job as team leader is motivational development of others; you need to ensure that your energy and enthusiasm are contagious. Spreading your “energy virus” to your team is the first step for professional talent development.

Tip: Answer these questions: Are you excited about what you do every day? Do you look forward to your work? Are you clear on the talents you bring that influence your success?

Focus on others’ success Many team leaders find it challenging to shift from creating their own success to recognizing success through the results of others. An individual contributor has a direct impact on revenue and profitability. A team leader achieves revenue and profitability by managing other people’s drive, energy, enthusiasm, passion, and ambition. This means you no longer have direct impact on the results.

Tip: Once you understand your team’s passion and focus, you need to understand each team member’s talent, passion, and focus. Do you have the technical people skills to do so? How do you know?

Lead by having a “let me help” attitude versus a “follow me” attitude. This requires the skills to influence others without domineering. The army sergeant approach will only alienate and de-motivate the typical professional. And, trust me; nothing is worse than a thoroughbred that refuses to perform?

Tip: Which is your natural leadership style “Let me help” leaders need to enhance their performance management skills to succeed. “Follow me” leaders need to learn coaching skills to direct their team to more effective results.

Meetings are a Whip! How to get the most out of a meeting

When it comes to meetings, they are notorious for being ineffective and time wasters. Here are a few strategies that will make you more effective when conducting and facilitating meetings of all kinds.

Why have meetings?
Only call meetings when you have good reasons to do so.

There are three types of meetings:
Problem solving
Decision making
Informational (try to avoid these unless necessary to build energy around a subject)

Create an agenda:
Open the meeting with authority.
Review the agenda. Get input on agenda and find out if there is anything else the group may want to discuss.
Introduce matters you have deemed important to discuss.
Establish ground rules.
Start on time. End on time.
It should take approximately 30 minutes to cover each subject. Think “flow”.
Agree who can contribute.
Follow the agenda.
Stay on task.

Have a purpose for calling the meeting:
Examples are: Brainstorming, informing, elicit ideas, fix a problem, determine a course of action or clarify roles and responsibilities on a team.
Do not just have a meeting for the sake of feeling like the group is one-big family.
Do not have people attend that do not need to be there-- ask yourself who and why they need to be in the meeting.

Assign roles and responsibilities to members:
Leader-May or may not run meeting but clarifies purpose, objectives, scope of authority and constraints. Takes responsibility for follow up.
Facilitator-Guides the group through discussions.
Scribe-Someone to take notes for future distribution.
Contributor-Participates actively by offering ideas and keeping the discussion on track.
Expert-Contributes expert knowledge on issues AS REQUESTED

Be realistic:
Things will interrupt/disrupt your meeting so be realistic and expect thing like:
People that arrive late or leave early (ask them questions to make sure they are catching up with the group since they missed part of the meeting).
People who whisper or disturb the meeting.
One participant who dominates the meeting and infuriate everyone else.
A group that gets stuck or confused, focusing on only one small point of the issue/meeting and repeats the same point over and over again.
A group that runs out of energy or just falls silent.
A group that commandeers the meeting and begins to focus on items that are off-topic.

Be prepared:
Use active listening and observation to see where your audience is.
If someone is leaning forward, they may have something to say or are actively listening.
If their arms are crossed and they are leaning back in their chair, it is a good sign that they are disengaged in the meeting.

If a participant dominates the discussion:
If you are standing, walk closer to the person. This draws the audience’s attention TO you and AWAY from that person.
Thank him for his input and call on someone else.
Limit/eliminate interruptions.
If he finishes other people’s sentences, encourage him to let them finish what they had to say.
Ask the group to change roles so those that have been quiet take a more active role and the one’s who have been doing all of the talking can take a back-seat.

If someone disturbs the meeting by whispering, talking or interrupting:
Ask a question and then ask the person talking for the answer.

Boomerang:
Return a question to the person who had asked it in order to let the group know that the leader is not the only one responsible for answering questions.

Break into sub-groups:
Break up into smaller groups to elicit more feedback from all members of the meeting.

Ending and ending on time:
When you end on time you gain the trust and appreciation of all participants.
Have someone keep time.
Make sure all points of view are heard.
Periodically remind the group of the items left to discuss and the time left to do so.
Prioritize or postpone agenda items if time is running out.
If you have everything done, end the meeting. Time is too short to keep a large group of people in a meeting in order to fulfill an allotted time for meetings.
Restate and summarize what has been accomplished.
Clarify what comes next.

Get feedback on items missed or that may be important for future meetings.
Ask the group for an evaluation of the meeting. Either in person or via email.

Send out the proposed to do list moving forward.

Interview Advice- the market is fierce so prepare to win

By: Shawn Desgrosellier of Vitality Group

• Arrive early. Plan to arrive for your interview 10-15 minutes early. If you arrive earlier than that, go for a walk, get a cup of coffee, drive around the bock, or sit in the lobby. Arriving too early may create an awkward situation and arriving late definitely creates a bad first impression. Be sure to ask for directions when making arrangements for the interview and always allow enough time for bad traffic.
• Dress professionally. Your interview attire should be appropriate for the position for which you are applying. If you are unsure, choose conservative dress. In most cases, business suits are appropriate for both men and women. Carry a briefcase, portfolio notepad or manila folder. Bring extra resumes, list of references and a list of questions you need to ask.
• Be yourself. Your personality and background may appeal to some employers and not to others. It is to your advantage to be yourself, rather than try to mold yourself to fit an image you think will appeal to an employer. After all, you want to find a position and employer that is compatible with 'who you are' and your career objectives.
• Sell yourself! Six out of ten people don't get the job they want because they don't sell themselves. Be prepared to market your skills and experiences as they relate to the job described. Be self-confident and positive in describing your abilities to do the job. Convince the employer that you are the right person for the job and that you can help the employer solve some of their problems.
• Answering the Tell me about yourself question. Eight out of ten interviews begin with this question. Respond by illustrating how your interests and skills relate to the position and how your experiences and background would enable you to contribute to the position and organization. Spend about 90 seconds to two minutes highlighting your experiences while providing a focused answer. You may want to start out with personal information, then focus on academic experiences and professional experiences, and conclude with the reasons why you are interested in the position.
• Use examples whenever possible. Just stating your skills and strengths is not enough. You must demonstrate how you have successfully applied them. Be sure to give complete answers to questions. A typical answer may take 30 seconds to two minutes to explain.
• Communicate effectively. Speak clearly and enthusiastically about your experiences. Listen carefully in order to effectively and appropriately answer the questions being asked and to learn as much as possible about the position. Be positive about prior experiences, employers, former supervisors, college experiences, even your weaknesses. When describing a bad experience focus on the facts (not your feelings) and be brief.
• Silence is okay. Those pauses may seem longer to you than to the interviewer. A pause before answering a question enables you to organize your thoughts and present a concise answer. If you are unsure about a question, always ask for clarification before answering the question. When you have finished answering a question, stop, don't ramble on endlessly.
• Watch your body language and nonverbal communication. Maintain good eye contact, don't slouch, appear interested--not bored and control any nervous habits (fidgeting, drumming fingers, etc.) Your voice quality also demonstrates your confidence--speak clearly. Have good personal hygiene, do not wear too much make-up, jewelry or cologne/perfume. Pay attention to the details--polished shoes, professional hair style, clean nails, fresh breath, etc.
• Social etiquette and small talk skills are important. Be prepared to engage in small talk at the beginning of the interview. Your conversational skills are part of that first impression. Also, you may be invited to lunch or dinner as part of the interview. The meal is a significant part of the interview especially if your social skills are being evaluated as part of the hiring decision.
• Expect the unexpected. During the interview, you may be asked some unusual questions. Often times the employer is simply seeing how you react to the question.
• Qualities Employers Seek in Job Candidates. Employers typically are looking for individuals who possess a pattern of success (academic accomplishments, leadership qualities, activities;) strong grades, written and oral communication skills; related work experience; interpersonal skills; leadership potential; decision making and problem solving skills; creativity and intelligence; flexibility; initiative/innovation; enthusiasm and positive outlook; self-confidence; polished personal style, honesty and integrity; ability to get along with others--a team player; and good work ethic.

Is it a Training or Management Issue? Performance Management 101

DETERMINE IF IT’S A TRAINING ISSUE

Is the performance issue due to a lack of skill? Is so, training may be the answer. Apply the test, “could the person perform as desired with a gun to their head?” If the answer is yes, training is not the answer. You have a motivational or other issue.

What is the desired task performance (describe what is looks like)

What knowledge and skills are required to perform the task? (e.g. clear job expectations, how to perform the task)

Was the individual ever able to perform the task within acceptable standards? (Or could the individual perform the task if his/her life depended on it?)

WHAT ARE THE OTHER POTENTIAL CAUSES OF SUBSTANDARD PERFORMANCE?

It’s a capability issue- the individual is unable to perform the desired task (not everyone can run a 4-minute mile).

It’s a reward issue – the individual does not perceive an equitable benefit or reward.

It’s a process issue – the process of system prevents or hampers the performance.

It’s a values issue – personal and work values are in conflict.

It’s a management issue – management does not provide clear priorities or model the desired performance.

It’s a resource issue – the individual doesn’t have the tools or information needed to do the job.

The result ….Not every performance problem is a training issue.

Dating in the workplace- beware of the pitfalls

By: Shawn Desgrosellier

Dating in the workplace happens with a higher level of frequency than you can imagine. One statistic I read from a Dallas Texas research company stated that over half- yes 50% or more of today’s married couples met at work. That means inter-office relationships are plentiful in today's society.

Is it okay to date a co-worker? Well, it depends on the company and depends on the people involved. For example, at some companies like Wal-Mart they have very clearly defined policies about dating and relationships in the workplace. It is forbidden and you could put your job and career at risk if you fraternize at work.

There are other companies where inter-office relationships are encouraged. These companies have to deal with a different set of issues and problems. They need to make absolutely sure they have an iron clad harassment policy in place just in case one of those inter-office relationships go bad. It is not a matter of “if” one will go bad, it is more or a “when” will one or more of these inter-office relationships go bad.

I have attended five different weddings over the past five years where the couple met in the workplace- and these were all very close friends. As our society has shifted where both the man and woman are chasing career aspirations this has also shifted where relationships begin. When a couple meeting in high school was the norm in the 70’s, and meeting your future spouse in college was in the 80’s and into the 90’s, today relationships in the workplace are by far the leading place to meet your potential spouse.

Boolean Search Tips and Tricks

What is a Boolean search?

A Boolean search is an advanced keyword search method used to target specific results. When searching resumes on the internet, it can be invaluable in maximizing your time spent searching!

When running Boolean searches, it is important to remember that no search is ever final. Once run, you might find that your Boolean string needs to be modified still.

Running Simple Boolean Searches

The logic behind running a Boolean search is very simple. Basically, by using words such as AND, OR, and AND NOT (to name the most common!), you can quickly cut through the web to find the results that you are looking for.

Other Simple Boolean Search Methods

Though less commonly used, sometimes they're just what you're looking for.

ROOT WORD Searches

Root word searches allow you to pull words that contain the same prefix. The operator for root word searches is an asterisk (*).
For example, if you constructed the following search…
Search For: nurs*Using: Boolean SearchThe results would include "nurse," "nurses," and "nursing."

STEM WORD Searches

Stem word searches allow you to pull words that contain the same base stem. The operator for stem word searches is two asterisks (**).
For example, if you constructed the following search...
Search For: fly**Using: Boolean SearchThe results would include "fly," "flew," "flown," "flying," etc.

Running More Advanced Boolean Searches

Once you can create a simple Boolean string, moving on to a more advanced search is really not much harder. It's all in how you group things!

Parentheses

The most important tool when constructing more advanced Boolean strings are the parentheses (i.e. the characters that are enclosing this clause).
While they seem intimidating at first, using parentheses is actually very easy.

If you think back to high school math, things that are in parentheses are always "grouped together"...
2 * 3 + 1 = 7but2 * (3 + 1) = 8
The parentheses add clarification on which operation should be performed first.

The parentheses function much the same in a Boolean search. For example, if you were looking for an engineer who has CAD experience and either mechanical or electrical experience, you could use the following:

Search For: CAD and engineer* and (mechanical or electrical)Using: Boolean SearchThe results would be everyone who has "CAD," "engineer" / "engineers" / "engineering," and "mechanical" listed, or everyone who has "CAD," "engineer" / "engineers" / "engineering," and "electrical" listed.

Double-Quotes

Another very important set of operators is double-quotes. Double-quotes allow you to search for a specific phrase, not just individual words. For example:
Search For: "web design" and htmlUsing: Boolean SearchThe results would be everyone who has the phrase "web design" in their resume and the word "html."

Burned Badly by Reference Checking

I was involved in a search recently that ended abruptly after the hiring company went through an exhaustive reference checking process.

After the second interview the candidate provided references and the HR Manager only did his job when he reached out to those references and began asking questions about the candidate. Those questions stimulated a deeper discussion about the position the candidate was interviewing for and then into a discussion about career path and so on.

When the call was over the professional reference called the candidate and said "what are you doing? and what would make you consider a job change in this current market?", the candidate immediately pulled themselves out of the process!

The learning experience was that references have always been and always will be a delicate and tricky process. You just never know what is going to happen. When the war for talent was on, the professional reference would call the candidate and try to hire them back versus in this case- tell them to stay put and wait it out. Beware out there!