5 Reasons Hiring Managers are Rejecting Your Resume

As top Phoenix recruiters, PrideStaff knows your resume is your ticket into the hiring process. When you have a great resume, you’ll dramatically increase your chance of getting called for an interview. A weak resume riddled with red flags, however, will undermine your best efforts. So what resume mistakes must you avoid? Here’s a look at 5:

#1: Spelling errors.

One small typo won’t necessarily take you out of the running for a job. But if your resume is peppered with errors in spelling and grammar, then it’s going to make a poor impression. A hiring manager will think that if you can’t even submit a resume that’s been proofread, how can they trust you with important details of the job?

#2: Hard-to-read fonts and bright colors.

When it comes to how you format your resume, keep it simple (unless you’re a graphic designer or applying for some similar job in a creative industry). Don’t include a crazy animated gif, or your name bolded in bright red. Keep standard 1-inch margins and use a professional looking font in black.

#3: Not including keywords.

Many employers today – especially large corporations – use software to screen candidate resumes. To make it through this screening process, it’s important to sprinkle a few keywords from the job description throughout your resume. Also, think about what other keywords pertain to the position and include those, as well. For instance, if you’re applying for a job as a web designer, include other keywords, such as digital designer or digital design.

#4: Listing job duties, not accomplishments.

It’s important to give potential employers a sense of your responsibilities in past jobs. But it’s even more important to talk about the positive results you were able to deliver. Statements like “increased sales by 20%,” “expanded audience reach by 30%,” and “negotiated a contract that saved the company $10K,” get the attention of hiring managers.

#5: Sending in a four-page resume.

A resume is a balancing act. You want to give hiring managers a good sense of your career and accomplishments. At the same time, keep in mind: You’re not writing a career autobiography. Keep your points clear and concise. Remove jobs that aren’t relevant today and you held more than 15 years ago. And ditch the ‘relevant’ college course work if you have work experience you can focus on instead.

Remember, hiring managers spend only a few seconds reviewing each resume that comes across their desk. Don’t let one of the mistakes above sabotage your chance of getting a call for an interview.

Would you like professional help with your job search? Call PrideStaff.

As top Phoenix recruiters, we can help you craft a great resume – and connect you with top companies in and around Phoenix. Contact PrideStaff today to learn more about how we can help you.

Can’t Afford to Promote Your Star Employee? Offer More Benefits

We love our top employees and want to keep them happy … which translates to them wanting to stay. But what happens when you know you should promote that person but just don’t have the salary bump to match it? Consider offering more benefits, which many employees consider more important than money anyway.

Flexible scheduling.

Savvy employers understand that, particularly with the millennial generation of workers, flexible scheduling can go a long way toward employee satisfaction, particularly when it comes to attempting a work-life balance. Offering flexibility with scheduling to those who have shown themselves as dedicated employees means you appreciate their contributions and sometimes it helps to work nontraditional hours. Plus studies have found this means when an employee is “on the clock,” he’s more focused on getting his work done rather than worrying about missing something (an appointment, a child’s soccer game, etc.) and actually works more effectively.

High-profile project work.

Sometimes a new opportunity makes up for a lack of promotion…it could be considered a sort of mini-promotion instead, giving an employee the opportunity to work on a major project where they can use their talents and really shine. This keeps them interested by taking them out of the day-to-day work they usually do, and it may pay off down the road in a lateral move and a new title recognizing their efforts if you simply don’t have the capital yet for a financial promotion.

Pay for a perk.

Offering to pay for something such as a gym membership or an extra paid day off such as a birthday or a once-a-month long weekend can really improve employee morale and act as a benefit that keeps on giving, much like a promotion would. By paying for these sorts of benefits, you’re helping improve employees’ quality of life, something that rebounds into the workplace with happier, energized staff. If you can swing it, paying for something such as a one-time getaway or upgraded equipment helps employees feel valued as well.

Sometimes promotions simply can’t happen due to finances, but get creative to see how you can keep your best employees happy and committed. For help with streamlining your business needs, visit PrideStaff.

How to Survive as a New Manager

You’ve just been promoted to manager for the first time. Congratulations! Now comes the hard part – making the transition from employee to supervisor. How can you tackle this challenge effectively? Here are 5 tips to consider:

Schedule one-on-ones.

As one of leading staffing agencies in Phoenix, PrideStaff understands if you’re now managing the people you worked alongside in the past, things could get a little awkward. It’s up to you to set a positive and professional tone from the start. That’s why it’s important to meet one-on-one with each individual team member. Talk about their career goals and aspirations and what challenges and stumbling blocks they’re experiencing on the job.

At this point, you should be asking a lot of questions and listening so you can gain the most insight into each employee. You’ll then be able to formulate a more solid strategy for working effectively and measuring performance going forward.

Set those boundaries.

You might have been friends with your co-workers. But now you’re the boss. That doesn’t mean you can’t be friendly, or go out for a drink after work. But it does mean you should be mindful of new boundaries that need to be in place. For instance, it’s no longer appropriate for you and your best friend/co-worker to commiserate about a certain person on your team you don’t like. You’re the boss now…and you need to set an example.

Create rules…and stick to them.

Setting boundaries and creating rules is simple. It’s enforcing them that’s the hard part. But you’ve got to if you want to earn your team’s respect and trust, and also discourage poor behavior.

Try not to play favorites.

This can be especially tough if you have two people on your staff that you’re good friends with. It’s easy to favor them over other team members. But don’t let these relationships impact your decision-making and judgment. You need to hold everyone accountable consistently and fairly.

Reach out to other leaders.

You might think it’s a sign of weakness to ask for help. But it’s smart to reach out to veteran leaders within your company and ask for key insights and advice on challenges you’re facing. Why spin your wheels or operate in a mode of uncertainty when you can just ask someone else who’s been in the same situation before?

If one of the areas you need help with is hiring for your team, call PrideStaff.

As one of leading staffing agencies in Phoenix, we have the knowledge, experience and proven processes in place to help you source and hire qualified, dependable candidates for your team. We make hiring easier! Contact PrideStaff today to learn more about how we can help you.

5 Ways to Create a Better Company Culture before the New Year

Many elements add up to a winning corporate culture – and it doesn’t happen overnight. Rather, a successful culture grows piece by piece and day by day, by getting buy-in at all organizational levels and paying attention to simple details.

Use these five tips to make a better company culture your 2017 New Year’s resolution.

1. Define where you want to go.

This starts at the top, with your senior leadership team – and without this initial step, change will not occur. Determining cultural direction up front is critical and must originate with top management and then trickle down to all your employees.

Set aside a few minutes at a management meeting to come up with collective ideas to improve your culture. It may take a little while at first to get this creative ball rolling, but if you do this regularly, you will eventually come up with some terrific ideas.

2. Utilize internal and external resources.

Start by tapping into your existing talent and then seek outside help as needed to foster a great company culture.

Solicit suggestions. Encourage employees to contribute constructive ideas on how to improve the overall atmosphere and environment of your workplace.
Consider working with a consultant. If major change is needed, turn to an industry expert to help facilitate cultural improvement. They can provide in-depth knowledge and an objective perspective of the issues that exist.

3. Build your communication skills.

Strong, consistent communication is key to building and maintaining a positive culture. Compare the amount and level of concentrated communication that occurs when wooing a job candidate with the level of interaction you have with existing employees. You may need to rethink your priorities.

4. Recognize and reward.

Rewarding employees appropriately fosters a culture of excellence.

Say thank you. Four out of five employees who feel appreciated stay with their companies. A little “thank you” goes a long way. But it must be thoughtful and personalized. Take a few minutes to tell an employee why you’re grateful for their contribution. Point out something specific that they have accomplished. Don’t make a spectacle of it – some people will actually hate this and your strategy will backfire. Just express sincere gratitude and be sure they know that you mean it.

5. Build social ties.

Arrange informal get-togethers outside of work and on breaks. Shared hobbies and activities build strong social bonds that help to unify work teams. For instance, it only takes a minute to ask a coworker if they’re available for a drink after work or a walk at lunchtime.

Read together. Create a company culture computer folder and save relevant content there. Encourage people to read it and then have on and offline discussions about it. Your “book club” can start with content such as Jim Collins’ “Grow from Good to Great”

Have we got you thinking about a better company culture in 2017? Let the Pridestaff Modesto experts help you take this strategy to the next level. Read our related posts or contact us today to learn more.

How Can You Improve Your Resume to Make Yourself Irresistible to Employers?

Hiring managers are inundated with applications for the best jobs on the market, so if you want to land an interview, your resume needs to stand out. PrideStaff Las Vegas — one of the top staffing agencies in Las Vegas — understands how frustrating it is to apply for a job you’re really interested in and hear nothing but crickets from the employer.

You already know your resume must have no spelling or grammatical errors, contain certain keywords found in the job description and list your top accomplishments, but you need to take it to the next level to be noticed. Learn how to improve your resume so hiring managers don’t even have to think about inviting you into the office for an interview.

Three Ways to Make Your Resume Shine

Customize it for Each Opportunity

Tailoring your resume to fit each opportunity you apply to certainly takes a lot longer, but it’s well worth the effort. The benefits are two-fold, as this approach helps sell you as the most qualified candidate and it shows the hiring manager you’re willing to put in the extra effort because you know the job is really special.

Choose the Right Format

The chronological presentation is the traditional resume format, but it’s not always the best choice. If you’re trying to change careers or return to the workforce after a prolonged absence, a functional format is the best way to present yourself, as it puts your skills and accomplishments front and center, instead of your most recent job.

Quantify Your Accomplishments

Your resume should absolutely be filled with accomplishments relevant to the job, but make them really jump off the page by quantifying them. For example, if you’re in sales, it sounds much more impressive to say you brought in $2 million in new business during 2016 than simply noting you frequently bring in new clients.

Exceed Your Potential

If you’re ready to find a fantastic temporary, temp-to-hire or direct hire job you truly enjoy, allow PrideStaff Las Vegas to assist with your search. Our team has connections to some of the best employers in Clark County and we want to share them with you! Contact us today to learn more.

5 Things to Look For in Every Resume

When you have a job opening to fill, you typically have to sort through resumes. Lots of resumes. You can save yourself and your team a lot of time and energy by knowing what to look for – right up front. You need to ensure that the candidates you consider are exactly who they say they are and that their credentials are valid and match your needs as an employer.

To get you started on the right path, here are five things to look for on every resume.

Proper Spelling and Grammar

Your gauge of an employee’s commitment and attention to detail starts here. Spelling or grammar errors on a resume are unacceptable. Period.

Shortfalls in spelling or grammar are indicative of what you can expect from a person as an employee. If they can’t get the details right for the most important opportunity they will ever have to make the right impression, why would you have faith that they will do so once hired?

The Right Qualifications

Look for the combination of education, skills and experience that your ideal candidate would possess. Applicants should highlight these on their resume and indicate how they have successfully applied them in their professional lives.

A Relevant Objective

Avoid generic statements that could be used for any job.

A candidate’s objective should be clearly and concisely articulated as it applies to the position. There shouldn’t be too much company-specific jargon or complex terminology, but it should be applicable and immediately strike a chord in terms of your needs.

Measurable Accomplishments

You want hard facts – not fluff. A strong candidate will back up any resume assertions with measurable, quantifiable facts. For instance, instead of an applicant simply stating that they “helped grow the business,” they should say something like, “added 15 new clients over a three-month period.”

Check to see if a person’s LinkedIn and other profiles match the details listed on their resume. Any inconsistency is a red flag.
Buzzwords like “accomplished” or “managed” should be backed by concrete statistics and measurement. Where applicable, look for numbers, dollar figures and percentages.

Employment Gaps

Watch for gaps including employment listed only in years, versus months. An additional red flag often is a functional resume, which avoids providing any dates at all.

Employment gaps are not necessarily deal breakers. However, if a candidate fails to adequately explain them, dig deeper until you get a satisfactory response – or not.

The recruitment experts at PrideStaff Modesto can partner with you to identify your unique staffing and human capital needs, as well as the real skills that each job candidate must offer. The results will be quicker placements, better hires, and enhanced results. Contact us today to learn more.

Is it Ever Bad to Negotiate Salary in a Job Offer?

Question Originally Appeared on Quora: Is Compensation the Primary Driver of Employee Motivation?

As one of the leading staffing agencies Las Vegas, PrideStaff Las Vegas wants you to find a fantastic new job, with a salary you deserve. Money isn’t everything, but it sets the tone for your standard of living. You will quickly grow to resent any job if the salary doesn’t cover your bills and you can no longer afford to do the things you enjoy.

In most cases, negotiating your salary is always a good idea. Many companies expect you to negotiate, so they present you with a low initial offer, and work with you to get to a number that pleases both of you.

Of course, as with any rule, there are a few instances when negotiating your salary isn’t the best move. In fact, attempting to do so may cause the employer to think twice about hiring you. Learn when it’s best to stay mum and accept the salary you’ve been offered.

Three Times to Think Twice About Negotiating Your Salary

It’s at the Top of the Pay Scale

Some companies have limits on the amount of money employees in certain positions can earn, so if you’ve been informed the salary is at the top of the cap for the job, you’re not going to get another penny. If this is the case, do realize you’re probably not going to receive any substantial raises, so you’ll need to get a promotion to see a major pay increase.

You Already Accepted the Job

Negotiations always take place before you accept the job. If you said yes, but later realized you forgot to negotiate your salary, you’re out of luck. Heading back to the table now will make you appear demanding and erratic.

There’s No Rationale Behind Your Request

When you ask for more money, you need to back your request with solid reasoning — your current salary, industry averages for your local area, the amount of money you brought in for your employer last year, etc. If you don’t have any reason to ask for more money, beyond simply wanting it, you’ll just appear greedy.

Make Your Career Dreams Come True

Las Vegas is filled with outstanding job opportunities, but the best are often the hardest to find. At PrideStaff Las Vegas, our recruiters have connections with many of the top employers in Clark County, so allow us to steer your search for the right fit. Contact us today learn more!

What Are Entrance Interviews – & Why Should You Conduct Them?

When you conduct an exit interview, it’s because an employee is leaving and you’d like to find out why. But have you considered conducting entrance interviews? These are interviews with newer employees – typically after they’ve been on the job for a while – to get feedback about how they’re faring. Here are two key reasons entrance interviews are so important:

Reason #1: They can help increase retention.

Consider this statistic: One third of new hires quit after about six months on the job. One of the top reasons people leave? They don’t know what’s expected of them.

At your company, you can offset this alarming statistic through entrance interviews. These interviews give you a chance to sit down and talk with newer employees about questions they have and issues they’re facing, and to clarify goals and expectations. If there is a problem, this helps you to get them back on track before they’re too far off course. And it also sends the message that you value and care about employees and are striving to be an employer of choice.

Reason #2: They can provide you with valuable insight.

As a manager, you’re constantly looking for ways to retain top talent. Entrance interviews can provide the insight you’re after. You can learn about what motivates each individual employee and also identify common challenges. As a result, you can develop and offer more meaningful job opportunities and provide adequate support and development along the way. Your employees will therefore be happier, more engaged and deliver better performance.

So what kinds of questions should you ask during an entrance interview? Here are a few important ones:

What one thing would you change about your work environment?
What would you like to see more of at our organization?
Do you understand what’s expected from you on a daily basis?
What are your goals at work?
Do you feel like you’re on target toward achieving your goals?
Are there ways I can support you better in your job?

When people first show up at a job, they’re typically motivated, excited and eager to please. It’s poor management experiences – such as unclear goals and expectations – that cause them to grow disengaged and quit. Instead, conduct entrance interviews to get to the root of any issues early and quickly, drastically improving employee satisfaction and productivity, while also cutting down on the need for exit interviews.

Need more help attracting and retaining top talent? Call PrideStaff.

As leading recruiters in Tempe, we have the knowledge, experience and proven processes in place to help you not only source and hire qualified, dependable candidates for your team, but keep them on staff, as well. We make the process easy! Contact PrideStaff today to learn more about how we can help you.

A Guide to Screening Candidates Through Social Media

With so many candidates out there, and you want to believe everything written on their cover letters and resumes, but you may want to get a more complete picture. Enter the wide world of social media. Nearly every candidate has some sort of connection with social media, be it Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Instagram or some combination thereof. Employers using social media to screen candidates has gone up 500 percent within the last 10 years, should you follow their lead?

Social media gives you insight into candidates’ professionalism.

Employers have chosen not to hire candidates who decide to put all of their thoughts and habits online, including drug use, provocative images/videos/information, discriminatory comments, bad-mouthing a previous company, or poor communication skills. It’s perfectly reasonable to look into anything a candidate posts publicly online … and anyone who has a job or wants one should know this and deal with any fallout.

Social media gives you a more complete view of the candidate.

If you want a holistic picture of a candidate outside the confines of an interview or resume, look at their social media posts. Culture has a great deal to do with hiring – the “fit” of a candidate goes a long way toward whether they’ll do well and become part of the team, and you may also find out something interesting that didn’t make it onto the resume, such as their volunteering at homeless shelters or love of art history.

Make your search broad.

To get a full picture, start with their LinkedIn profile to see if they have cultivated a professional persona. You may also see whether you have connections in common, which is always good for networking. If they have a personal website, you’ll want to check out how they present themselves, as well. Look at any Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram account to see what they focus on: Do they have certain interests they post about frequently? Are they well rounded? Good communicators?

Social media encompasses so much of our lives, it only makes sense to screen candidates this way as well. To find your next well-vetted candidate, visit PrideStaff.

Three Ways to Effectively Tell Your Team You’ve Hired New Employees

Things have never been better at your company. In fact, business has spiked so much, your team can barely keep up. Expanding your staff to continue growing your company and meet the seemingly never-ending demand is a must. Of course, you realize this so you’ve already gone ahead and hired a bunch of new employees — now it’s time to break the news to your staff.

PrideStaff Las Vegas is one of the most successful Las Vegas employment agencies, so we understand that change is necessary to keep your business moving forward. Of course, if it’s not handled properly, it will make your existing team feel threated. Your staff is used to working in a tight-knit team with people they know and trust, so you need to approach the subject gingerly. Use these three tips from our recruiting experts present this news in a positive manner, so your employees understand it’s a great move for everyone.

Provide Reassurance of Job Stability

It’s only natural for current staffers to feel threatened when they find out you’re expanding the team. Many people will immediately wonder if they’re being replaced, so make it clear from the start that no one is going anywhere.

Explain the Need for the New Hires

Your employees are rational people, so present them with a business case for hiring new staffers. Explain each new person’s role, how it will promote the greater good of the company and the benefits the team will realize by having more hands on deck.

Give Plenty of Advance Warning

People are bound to feel a bit betrayed if you wait to tell them about the new hires until they’re about to start. Gather your staff as soon as the job offers are accepted, so they feel included in the shift and have time to process it before the new employees arrive for their first day.

Take the time to answer every question your staffers have, so they feel comfortable with their newly expanded team. Work together to define the roles of the new employees, so no one inadvertently steps on anyone else’s toes. If you play your cards right, in no time at all it will feel like the team has been intact for years.

Build the Best Team in Las Vegas

Need a little help finding the best new hires in Las Vegas? The recruiting experts at PrideStaff Las Vegas are here to assist. Contact us today to learn how a partnership can benefit your organization!