Pranks and Practical Jokes – Don’t be a Fool

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April Fools’ Day provides an excellent opportunity to relieve stress and inject some humor into a potentially tedious office environment. However, there are limits. Taken too far, pranks and practical jokes, even when conceived as harmless fun, can create serious issues.    It’s essential to loosen up at the office from time to time. Studies show that encouraging fun in the workplace can lead to concrete business benefits. For instance, a survey conducted by Robert Half International showed that 84% of executives associate a good sense of humor with good job performance. Meanwhile, 91% of respondents view humor as helpful for career advancement.  … Read more »

LaborMAX Memo on COVID-19

Posted on by tonyshine

Dear Valued Customers,    The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continue to monitor Coronavirus (COVID-19). We wanted to assure you that LaborMax Staffing is taking preventative measures such as implementing travel bans to stop the potential spread of COVID-19 within our locations. It remains our top priority to continue to provide a safe workplace and encourage practices protecting the health of employees, customers, and visitors. We will continue to comply with all government requirements while resuming normal business operations.   We are asking all employees to cooperate in taking steps to reduce the transmission of communicable diseases in the workplace while following guidelines from the World Health Organization and CDC. Listed below is what LaborMax Staffing has implemented thus far.   Employee Expectations:  Staying home when sick  Frequently washing hands  … Read more »

Answering the Interview Question ‘Why Should I Hire You?’

Posted on by tonyshine

It’s one of the simplest and most popular interview questions: “why should we hire you?” You might even consider it the most fundamental question you can receive. It gets to the basic quandary in any hiring process.    While it seems simple, the “why should I hire you” query actually seeks to discover some nuanced information. Underlying the question are several sub-questions, ones you need to be ready to answer. Think of the question in these slightly more complex terms: what can you bring to the organization that someone else couldn’t?   Providing a full answer to this requires some thought. However, it also… Read more »

How to Build a Great Employee Referral Program

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Developing a strong employee referral program gives you an excellent complement to your current recruiting efforts. These initiatives allow you to turn hiring into a total-company effort. By involving your current employees, you make building the team everyone’s business, leading to better hiring outcomes and developing a more cohesive company culture.   Benefits of an Employee Referral Program  Employee referral programs offer a number of essential benefits. You can lower the cost of recruitment and bring in more passive talent. Meanwhile, using one of these systems can increase your retention rates and shorten your training times.   But how do you make sure you create… Read more »

Proofreading Tips for a Mistake-Free Resume

Posted on by tonyshine

You get only a brief chance to make a first impression when applying for a job. Studies show that recruiters spend an average of seven seconds reviewing any given resume. That’s a thin sliver of time to make a make your case. Given the small margin for error, it’s essential to keep your resume free of mistakes, a dynamic that puts a high premium on proofreading.   Your worst-case scenario is to submit a resume with a glaring error. Suddenly, you won’t even get your seven seconds. Instead, you’ll get a single glance before your resume ends up scrapped, and you miss out… Read more »

Minimizing Repetitive Stress Injuries

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Repetitive stress injuries represent a significant workplace danger. Employers do what they can to avoid these conditions, but it is up to you to take the necessary precautions to keep yourself healthy. With the proper steps, you can minimize the risk that repetitive stress will take its toll.   When people think of workplace injuries, they usually imagine sudden, devastating accidents. Slipping and falling, falling off a scaffold, getting caught in a machine – terrible, one-time events that can completely alter a person’s life. However, these abrupt calamities aren’t the only way to find yourself hurt on the job. Rather, repetitive… Read more »

What to Expect on Your First Assignment

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First days can be intimidating. It was true in junior high, and remains true even as you advance through your career. However, as scary as they can be, new experiences can also prove exciting and educational. With the right preparation and a good attitude, you can position yourself for success right from your first assignment.   Of course, hearing this advice doesn’t stop the butterflies. At the same time, operating through a staffing agency can sometimes make the feelings of dislocation and uncertainty worse. It doesn’t have to be that way, though.    Your first staffing assignment also represents a major opportunity. You’ve opened up a… Read more »

How to Invite Passive Talent to an Interview

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Including passive talent in your recruiting process offers significant team-building benefits. However, it’s often a more complicated process than the traditional recruiting procedure. Getting passive talent to agree to an interview takes some planning and requires a little nuance.   The upsides often justify the added hassle. After all, the recruiting process typically comes down to luck, at least partially. The right people apply for the right job at the right time – a lot of things that have fit together perfectly for you to discover the ideal hire.   Reaching out to passive talent can lower your reliance on chance encounters.… Read more »

How to Look Like a Unicorn on Your Resume, Without Lying About Experience

Posted on by tonyshine

Every employer is looking for a unicorn, that magical creature who can fulfill every job requirement, and then some. Typically, these are viewed as near-mythical searches…no HR staffer ever really expects to find one. Hence the term “unicorn.”  However, it doesn’t have to be that way. By setting up your resume the right way, you can get as close to being a unicorn as possible. This will let you stand out during the early stages of the application process, and give you an advantage as the recruitment process progresses.   Here are a few steps you can take to look like a unicorn, without actually… Read more »

Emergency Notification Procedures

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Putting in place emergency notification procedures helps keep your workplace safe, no matter what comes up. In dangerous situations, strong communication and a well-established protocol ensure that everyone takes the appropriate action. This can minimize damage, avoid injuries, and save lives.   After all, emergencies happen suddenly, and they happen unexpectedly. In some ways, there’s no way to be 100% ready when they occur. That said, getting through an emergency with the minimum amount of negative consequences requires significant preparation. In other words, you have to get as ready as possible.   Here are a few types of incidents that require emergency… Read more »