HR Articles

Podcast with Nick Fishman and Kevin Grossman

I recently sat down with HRMarketer’s Kevin Grossman to discuss the the growing threat of diploma mills and the risk they pose to employers. With more job applicants claiming to have these phony degrees, it’s more important than ever for employers to include an Education Verification in their background screening program. We highlighted this issue and its impact in our recent white paper, Smoke, Mirrors and Resumes: The Growing Threat of Diploma Mills.

Nick Fishman Podcast with HRMarketer

I recently sat down with HRMarketer's Kevin Grossman to discuss the the growing threat of diploma mills and the risk they pose to employers. With more job applicants claiming to have these phony degrees, it's more important than ever for employers to include an Education Verification in their background screening program. We highlighted this issue and its impact in our recent white paper, Smoke, Mirros and Resumes: The Growing Threat of Diploma Mills.

Pre Employment Tests are Changing

If you're applying for a sales job, chances are potential employers will ask you to take pre employment tests.

These tests are often used by employers to determine many aspects of a potential candidate and can include everything from personality to skills-based questions. However, some new types of tests are trying to distinguish themselves from all the others.

Traditional sales personality tests and sales aptitude tests are often called sales assessment tests, even though they are not. At the same time, conventional sales personality tests can ignore the impact of an applicant's experience, sales training and knowledge of sales techniques.

These tests can actually produce an adverse outcome and leave employers with the wrong candidate instead of the ideal one. For instance, a college graduate with no sales experience and someone with 25 years of sales experience are capable of scoring the same on a sales personality test if they share similar personality traits.

Those types of results can lead employers to make the wrong hiring decision, as the person with more experience would most likely outsell the college graduate, even though they both receive the same personality score.

Situations like these are why many employers are realizing that old sales personality tests are inadequate for hiring top salespeople. Because of this, companies are beginning to create tests that don't cater to the limitations of traditional tests.

One example is The JOY Tests of Total Sales Ability, which tests candidates for:

• sales prospecting ability
• appointment setting, cold calling, rapport and presentation ability
• objection handling and negotiating ability
• sales closing ability and asking for payment/deposit
• cementing the sale and the ability to get referrals
• computer, Internet, e-mail, CRM and sales tools ability
• miscellaneous crucial sales and marketing abilities
• sales team recruitment ability
• sales team management, leadership and motivation ability
• advertising, marketing and public relations ability

Tests such as these are able to test business development professionals at various career levels, including salespeople, sales managers, sales directors or vice presidents of sales. They also can be used for testing manufacturer's representatives, sales engineers, distributors and franchisees.

Where to Find Fort Lauderdale Work

Those currently looking for Fort Lauderdale work can take solace in the many opportunities the area's stable economy has to offer.

The Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach area is one of the few that has managed to remain relatively stable and continue to add jobs as of late. During August, the area saw its unemployment rate decrease from 9.7 percent to 9.5 percent, which was lower than the national unemployment rate at the time of 9.7 percent.

The area had a total non-farm employment of 735,800 workers during August, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is up from 727,200 workers during July, but a 3.6 percent decrease from last year.

Fort Lauderdale is home to two Fortune 500 companies, AutoNation and Spherion. Other companies based in the city include: Citrix Systems, DHL Express, Spirit Airlines and the National Beverage Corporation. Gulfstream International Airlines is based in nearby Dania Beach.

The largest employers in the area include: Tenet Healthcare Corporation with 5,000 workers; American Express with 4,200 workers; The Continental Group with 3,900 workers; Motorola with 3,000 workers; and Maxim Integrated Products, Inc. with 2,000 workers.

The city's recently renovated downtown area is home to many new hotels and condominiums, as well as the Las Olas River House, Las Olas Grand, 110 Tower, Bank of America Plaza, One Financial Plaza, Broward Financial Center, Wachovia Center, New River Center, One Corporate Center, 101 Tower and SouthTrust Tower.

Fort Lauderdale has a strong tourism industry, with cruise ships and nautical recreation providing the basis for much of the industry's revenue. Each year, about 30 percent of the city's 10 million visitors attend events at the local convention center.

The city also serves as a strong center for yacht manufacturing and maintenance, with the boating industry accounting for about 109,000 jobs. Fort Lauderdale is home to about 42,000 boats and 100 marinas and boatyards, as well as the annual Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, which is the largest boat show in the world.

Portland Jobs Go Green

As of late, many places throughout the country are focusing on being more environmentally friendly by creating green jobs. Oregon is no exception, as many green jobs can now be found throughout the state, including in places like Portland. Click here to learn more about Portland green jobs.

As of 2008, 5,025 different employers were offering 51,402 green jobs in Oregon, according to a report from WorkSource Oregon. Last year, the state's green workforce made up about 3 percent of its 1,686,524 private, state and local government jobs, which is almost equal to the number of employees working in private hospitals throughout the state.

The construction industry employed the largest number of workers in green jobs, at 17 percent, followed by wholesale and retail trade at 16 percent, administrative and waste services at 14 percent, natural resources and mining at 11 percent, professional and technical services at 11 percent and state and local government at 10 percent. Every other industry combined accounted for about 20 percent of green jobs.

Many green jobs require little to no educational experience. About 32 percent of green jobs cite no specific education requirements, while the same amount require a high school education. Only 18 percent require a bachelor's or graduate's degree, 7 percent require an associate or vocational degree, 7 percent require some college and 4 percent have another educational requirement.

On a bright note for workers, the estimated average hourly wage for a green job in 2008 was $22.61, which is higher than the average hourly wage for all jobs of $19.92. About 75 percent of green jobs in the state paid $15 or more.

Workers with management, architecture and engineering or business and financial occupations jobs tended to have the highest paying salaries. About 50 percent of workers with green jobs int he management occupation sector earned at least $50 per hour, while 99 percent of those with green jobs in the architecture and engineering sector earned at least $15 per hour.

Workers with green jobs in the food preparation and serving occupations earned the lowest salary, with 56 percent of employees earning less than $10 per hour and 89 percent of employees earning less than $15 per hour.