HR Articles

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.

Denver Medical Jobs

If you're looking to get into a career in healthcare, there are many places to look for Denver medical jobs.

The State of Colorado itself is known as a healthy place to live and has many active and athletic residents. Several studies have shown that Colorado residents have the lowest rate of obesity, with only 17.6 percent of the population considered medically obese in 2007, although that number was up from 16.9 percent during 2004.

Denver, which has long attracted people with it's easy climate and mountain air, is today considered the medical center of the Rocky Mountains. The city operates more than 25 major hospitals, many of which have earned national and international reputations as leading medical research and treatment facilities.

During August, the Denver-Aurora-Broomfield's education and health services industry employed 136,300 workers, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is down from 136,500 workers during July, but a 1.9 percent increase from last year.

Denver's most prominent hospitals include:

• The Children's Hospital - a state-of-the-art facility that serves a 10-state area
• National Jewish Medical and Research Center - a teaching and research center for respiratory, allergic and immunological diseases, which also houses the Environmental Lung Center
• Rose Medical Center - a facility offering a wide range of services and specializes in diabetes treatment, obstetrics and videoscopic surgery

Other major hospitals in Denver include the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, the AMC Cancer Research Center, Denver General Hospital, the Swedish Medical Center, the Colorado Psychiatric Hospital, the St. Anthony Central Hospital and Fitzsimmons Army Medical Center.

Many other healthcare services are continuing to expand throughout Denver. One of the most recent developments is the $175 million Exempla Good Samaritan Medical Center, which opened in 2003. That facility offers adult critical care, caridac and vascular, neonatal, radiology and imaging, rehabilitation, surgical, woman and family, pediatrics and orthopedic services.

ATS Gets Upgraded

MrTed Ltd.'s most recent version of Smart Recruiters, a free applicant tracking system, offers several new and useful features and enhancements.

The software includes: a selection of first reports now available for viewing in the ATS; the ability for users to easily add Google Maps directly to their career sites and display job locations on their career site job lists; integrated job preview overlays; and two new integrated job boards.

The first dashboard reports is the most dramatic visual change in the look of SmartRecruiters. Users can now customize their dashboard to display the two most important and relevant reports on their homepages. The company soon plans to create the ability to export report data.

The Google Maps component allows users to integrate Google Maps into their career sites and show their office location, or the location of any job. The feature is designed to automatically show a user's headquarters location and can be edited to enter any address.

The newest version of SmartRecruiters also allows clients to display the job location on their career site's job list. This feature makes it easy to differentiate when a company posts a job in a location other than their main address.

The job preview overlay feature allows users to simply move their cursor over the names of applicants and an overlay window will automatically show them the most important information about that candidate's application.

Finally, SmartRecruiters has now integrated with TwitterJobSearch and TweetMyJobs. This makes it easier for recruiters to share their jobs on Twiter.

SmartRecruiters, which was unveiled by MrTed less than a year ago, is a Web 2.0 recruiting application that is completely free and designed specifically for businesses with up to 2,500 employees. More than 1,000 small businesses currently use SmartRecruiters, making it the fastest-growing ATS in the recruiting software industry.

Florida Jobs Situation Improves

Although the country is still in the midst of a recession, fewer Florida jobs were lost last month.

During April, the State of Florida saw its unemployment rate decrease from 9.8 percent to 9.6 percent, which is still higher than the national unemployment rate of 8.9 percent. This is the first time since March 2006 that the state has seen a decrease in its unemployment rate.

Florida had an unemployment rate of 7.2 percent during November 2008, 7.6 percent during December 2008, 8.8 percent during January, 9.6 percent during February, 9.8 percent during March and 9.6 percent during April.

Florida had a total non-farm employment of 7,451,000 workers during April, according to the United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is up from 7,449,700 workers during March, but a 4.9 percent decrease from last year.

Although fewer workers were without jobs last month, only one industry added jobs when compared to last year. The education and health services industry employed 1,059,200 workers during April, down from 1,063,100 workers during March, but a 1.6 percent increase from last year.

The manufacturing industry took the biggest hit when it comes to over-the-year employment. The industry employed 339,100 workers during April, down from 343,300 workers during March and a 10.4 percent decrease from last year.

The other industries that saw an over-the-year decrease in jobs include:

• trade, transportation and utilities by 5 percent
• information by 6.1 percent
• financial activities by 4.3 percent
• professional and business services by 6.7 percent
• leisure and hospitality by 4.3 percent
• other services by 3.9 percent
• government by .8 percent

Background Checks too Costly, Redundant for Hazmat Drivers

Should truck drivers who transport hazardous materials be given less rigorous background checks?

That's the question some officials in the trucking community are asking. As the number of qualified hazmat drivers continue to dwindle, some people think the rules should be loosened. According to an article by Fleet Owner Magazine, the safety and security of the current rules for truck drivers are not being questioned, but rather the depth and ominous nature of the rules.

Robert Petrancosta, vice president of safety for LTL carrier Con-way Freight, spoke before Congress last week, stressing that hazmat rules may be too tough. He said that there are about one million shipments of hazardous materials in the U.S. each day. Of those, 94 percent are moved by truck. The rate of serious incidents involving the transportation of hazardous materials by motor carriers is only .0001 percent and the number of incidents involving injusries is .00002 percent.

“The … reduction in hazardous materials-qualified drivers is not the result of individuals failing the background check – less than 1 percent fail – but rather is a result of the onerous process associated with obtaining this credential and the fact that drivers often must obtain multiple credentials that entail expensive, duplicative federal background checks,” Petrancosta said.

Many people in the trucking business think the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safey Administration is doing a good job at setting and enforcing the rules.

“We support the PHMSA's leadership in regulating hazardous materials transportation," Petrancosta said. "[They’ve] implemented an enterprise approach to hazardous materials regulation and communicates on a regular basis with key stakeholders, including safety advocates, emergency responders, carriers and shippers."

Many truckers mus pay for multiple background checks. At the same time, federal and state hazmat rules can conflict with eachother, causing delays in obtaining permits. Jurisdiction over hazmat rules is split between the PHMSA and the Occupation Safety and Health Administration, which also complicates things.

Many people feel the biggest issue is redundancy. Many states, municipalities and local goverments are requiring background checks and other credentials for hazmat drivers that duplicate what federal checks are doing.

“Duplicative background checks and redundant credentials have caused a dramatic reduction in the number of qualified drivers that are available to transport hazardous materials,” Petrancosta said.

“Prior to the initiation of the Transportation Security Administration's background check program, there were more than 2.7 million drivers that had obtained hazardous materials endorsements to their commercial drivers licenses,” he continued. “We estimate that the number of HME holders will fall to 1.6 million – some 41 percent – by the spring of 2010.”

The reason the number of drivers will continue to decrease has nothing to do with drivers failing the background checks, Petrancosta said, but with the increasing costs for the checks themselves.

“Drivers that transport hazardous materials must submit to a fingerprint-based background check to obtain HME to their CDL," he said. "This credential costs approximately $100, requires multiple visits to the licensing agency to complete the process and involves a delay of several weeks before the credential is issued.

"Many of these drivers also access port facilities and therefore must obtain a Transportation Worker Identification Credential – these drivers receive a discount if they have already been through an HME check, but still must pay an additional $105.25 for the second credential," Pentrancosta continued, adding that obtaining federal credentials for Con-way's drivers costs about $250,000.

Individual states have more than 40 separate hazardous materials permitting programs, depending on the type of hazardous material being transported through the state. A solution would be the Uniform Program, which is currently administered in seven states. The program ensures participating states will continue to receive the revenue they have come to rely upon under their individual permitting programs. It also would reduce state expenses, as the inspection and administrative functions would be shared by all participating states, while reducing the administrative burden on the regulated industry.

Find Jobs Online with New Web Site

A new Web site has launched to help people in Maine and New Hampshire find jobs online.

Sun Media Group, the parent company of 12 local weekly newspapers, and The Employment Times recently launched MyJobWave. The site is aimed at bringing job seekers and employers in Maine and New Hampshire together, according to an article by the Sun Journal.

"The power of two strong local businesses working together to offer a much-needed service in these challenging economic times is just one of the reasons we wanted to launch this product," Steve Costello, vice president of Sun Media Group, said in the article.

"Many people entering the unemployed ranks have never used an online job board to search for a new career," he continued. "We believe MyJobWave.com will be an easy-to-use tool, providing free resources for the job seeker and low-cost advertising for the employers."

The new site allows employers to post unlimited job openings at a low subscription rate, while there are many features for recruiters and job seekers.

MyJobWave.com also offers an online education center where job seekers can find information on resume writing, networking and best practices for job searches and career enhancement. There also is information for HR professionals, hiring managers, business owners and recruiters.

"MyJobWave.com was founded on the premise that surviving tough economic times requires a superior mode of career enhancement tools and recruitment platforms," Jeanne Paquette, publisher of The Employment Times, said in the article.

"Not only do we realize the need for value-added, cost-saving resources in the marketplace and easy-to-use online tools for people looking for jobs right now, but we also know our leading print publications will enhance the value of the service provided," she added.

Virginia Manufacturing Jobs Faring Well

Virginia manufacturing jobs are faring better than most, according to a new study.

The 2009 Virginia Manufacturers Directory recently reported that Virginia lost 2,699 manufacturing-related jobs from October 2007 to October 2008, smaller than most losses seen throughout the country. The directory is a compilation of state industry, according to an article by MarketWatch.

Virginia is home to 7,231 manufacturers that employ 374,471 workers, ranking the state 18th in the country for number of manufacturers and jobs.

"As with the entire nation, weakening demand continues to hit many of Virginia's core sectors, while the faltering housing market has affected industries such as wood products, furniture and building products," Tom Dubin, President of Manufacturers News, Inc., said in the article. "However, Virginia's favorable business climate and growing stronghold in the automotive industry should continue to help the state attract and retain industrial facilities."

Transportation equipment is the state's largest sector, employing 38,837 people, a 1 percent increase from last year; food products employs 37,472 workers and printing and publishing employs 36,600 workers, a 1.8 percent increase from last year. Other sectors that saw an employment increase include: fabricated metals manufacturing by 3.3 percent and electronics by 7.9 percent.

Sectors that saw employment decrease during the year include: textiles and apparel by 10 percent; furniture and fixtures by 10 percent; paper and allied products by 4.1 percent; lumber and wood by 3.4 percent; industrial machinery and equipment by 1.3 percent and manufacturing jobs in chemicals by 1 percent.

Mid-Atlantic and southern states saw more significant losses, with the industry in Tennessee seeing a 3.3 percent decrease, Kentucky seeing a 2.6 percent decrease, North Carolina seeing a 2.3 percent decrease and Pennsylvania seeing a 1.2 percent decrease.

Job Cuts at Anheuser-Busch InBev

If you're hoping to get a job at a brewery, timing and the economy may not be on your side.

Anheuser-Busch InBev recently announced its plan to cut 1,400 salaried workers, or about 6 percent of the company's United States workforce. The company also plans to leave 250 positions vacant and eliminate 415 contractor positions, according to an article by the Jacksonville Business Journal.

Of the workers to be laid off, about 1,050 are employed in the St. Louis area. Most of those to lose their jobs are employed in the beer-related division of the company and hold positions as engineers, information technology workers and other corporate positions.

Anheuser-Busch InBev plans to provide the employees with severance pay and pension benefits based on age and years of service. Employees also will be offered outplacement services to help them find jobs. The company expects $197 million in pre-tax expenses related with the cutbacks.

The job cuts are part of a plan to save $1 billion in costs, which includes reducing the company's 8,600 person workforce by 10 to 15 percent before next year. More than 1,000 employees previously accepted company buyout and retirement offers, meaning 2,300 jobs have been cut. That's about 40 percent of the 6,000 person workforce in St. Louis.

"These decisions are a result of a careful review of each department," President Dave Peacock said in the article. "As expected, there are overlapping functions and synergies gained through the merger, which have driven part of these reductions.

"Others are the result of ongoing efficiency improvements and additional cost-reductions, including lower capital expenditures," Peacock continued. "These were not easy decisions but were necessary for the organization."