Four Ways to Spot a Bad Candidate Who Has a Great Resume

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Although a candidate may submit a top-notch resume, there may be less substance than what appears to on paper. Therefore, pay close attention during the interview to determine whether a candidate is all they seem to be. Here are four ways to spot a bad candidate with a great resume.

  • Talking About Only Him-/Herself

When you ask about the candidate’s career goals, they don’t mention the name of a successful person they admire. When you ask the candidate about how their previous work experience led them to where they are now, they don’t mention receiving help from a colleague, boss, client, or anyone else.

  • Taking Credit for Everything Positive

The candidate may mention collaborating with team members, but they take all the credit for achieving desired outcomes. Also, the candidate most likely claims others’ ideas as their own and talks as though any success is the result of only the candidate’s hard work.

  • Not Discussing Weaknesses

The candidate lacks insight into or accountability for their actions. When you ask about a bad decision they made during their career, they don’t acknowledge any wrongdoing or admit their actions resulted in adverse outcomes. Also, they can’t explain how they learned from their mistakes because they won’t admit to making any. Because the candidate lacks self-awareness, they’ll continue making the same or bigger mistakes rather than learning from their experience and correcting their behavior.

  • Acting Unprofessionally

The candidate may be late for the interview and fail to notify or apologize to the hiring manager. They may know nothing about your company or what the position entails because they didn’t perform their research prior to the interview. In addition, the candidate may answer a question in an inappropriate manner, such as speaking negatively about a previous employer or fail to display polite, mature, composed actions before, during, or after the interview.

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For help securing your next finance, accounting, engineering, IT or marketing position, contact WinCorp Solutions!

Ways to Assess Candidates for Cultural Fit

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Interviewing for cultural fit is an important part of the hiring process. Candidates who blend well with company culture are more productive and help move the organization forward. Here are six ways to assess job candidates for cultural fit.

  • What Are Your Expectations and Interests in Working Here?

Discover whether the candidate wants to join the company for appropriate reasons. For example, determine whether the candidate possesses the skills and experience for working with a company at its developmental stage. Also, uncover whether the candidate effectively handles ambiguity. In addition, find out whether the candidate can quickly make decisions with limited resources.

  • What Motivates You to Come to Work Daily?

Find out whether the candidate has a substantial amount of energy and curiosity. The candidate will want to learn new things and help out however they can. An energetic and curious candidate knows learning is a daily process and wants to stay informed about the company and the industry. The candidate will also play a significant part in identifying and capitalizing on trends to help the company grow.

  • What Are You Passionate About?

Uncover whether the candidate’s passions align with the company’s mission and values. When the candidate has a personal connection to the organization’s purpose, the candidate will be motivated to efficiently and effectively complete their work and find ways to achieve company goals.

  • Which Person Most Inspires You and Why?

Determine who a candidate’s role models are and what makes them stand out. The candidate’s answer will provide insight into the role models they use for their behavioral patterns and how the candidate may respond to a work situation.

  • How Does Your Reliance on Others Help Improve Your Performance?

Discover how much self-awareness the candidate possesses. For example, notice whether they state that they don’t know everything and are aware of their strengths and weaknesses. Also, see how transparent the candidate is when discussing what they learned from their successes and failures. In addition, determine how much the candidate enjoys individual and collaborative contributions to projects.

  • How Quickly Do You Adapt to Change?

Because the business world is constantly evolving, the candidate needs to quickly adapt to change. Whether change involves a new office, rapidly growing staff or a wider set of work responsibilities, the candidate has to effectively incorporate change into their daily life and evolve at the same pace as the organization.

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These are six ways to assess candidates for cultural fit. For assistance with securing top industry professionals, contact WinCorp Solutions.

Tips for Successful Employee Recruitment

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Recruiting employees is a necessary part of managing a company. Due to the time and expense involved with hiring, training and retaining top talent, hiring managers need to find candidates with the required skills and experience who will fit best with the company culture. Fortunately, there are steps managers can take to improve the process. Here are five tips for successful employee recruitment.

Be Perceived as a Top Employer

Ensure employee practices for involvement, motivation, accountability, recognition, reward, promotion and retention make the business attractive. Also, encourage employees to discuss why they enjoy working for the organization and what benefits it may provide job candidates.

Use the Company Website for Recruiting

Make sure all information on the company’s vision, mission, values, goals and products/services is prominently displayed to attract candidates with similar interests and beliefs. Also, include employee interviews that provide insight into what it is like working for the organization. Include an employment section detailing open positions and what skills and experience the best candidate will possess.

Improve the Candidate Pool

Cultivate relationships with recruiters and staffing firms. Encourage employees to participate in industry conferences and professional associations so that they can network with potential job candidates. In addition, monitor job boards for active or passive candidates who may be looking for a new role. Place job postings on websites and in magazines of professional associations. Search for candidates on LinkedIn or other social media as well.

Involve Employees in Recruiting

Encourage employees to recommend candidates for open positions. Provide a monetary incentive if the candidate is hired and stays for a set time. Ask employees to review resumes and potential fit with company culture for candidates interested in working in their department. Employees know what their jobs entail and what company culture is like, making them perfect for that task. In addition, request that top employees meet with candidates during interviews to discuss their role within the organization and what they enjoy most about working there.

Increase Compensation, Benefits and Perks

Offer compensation, benefits and perks that are greater than what your competitors offer. For example, research what the average salary is for a position in your industry and offer a slightly higher salary. Also, find out what the average benefits package is within your industry, beyond health insurance and a retirement plan, and add in other benefits your company can afford. In addition, determine what perks your employees value most, such as working remotely or setting their own schedule, and offer what you are able to. Furthermore, educate candidates on the value of your compensation, benefits and perks so that they understand they are highly valued and want to work for you.

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For assistance with securing professional workers, get in touch with WinCorp Solutions.

The Importance of Staffing Firms

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Staffing firms recruit, train and manage workers who help with companies’ production on an as-needed basis. Whether providing qualified workers for a few days or months or on a potentially permanent basis, utilizing staffing firms’ services can provide advantages for employers. Here are five reasons why staffing firms are important.

Expertise

Staffing firms’ employees are experts in their field. Because they typically have higher levels of education, skills and work experience, the employees are highly knowledgeable about companies’ job requirements, employment trends and best recruitment practices. Firms’ employees also remain current with news and trends in their industry, especially if they specialize in a specific niche, which provides additional value when sending workers to a company. In addition, because firms’ employees collectively have a larger network than a typical company does, firms can quickly provide qualified workers to fill job vacancies when needed. Furthermore, firms’ employees are well-trained in prescreening job candidates to fill an organization’s needs.

Flexibility

Working with staffing firms provides flexibility.  For example, if a company’s employee is absent due to a planned event such as a vacation or unplanned circumstances such as illness, using an employee from a staffing firm can replace the employee for as long as necessary. Also, if an employer is looking to fill a long-term position, they can offer a temporary-to-permanent position that allows the employer to observe a worker’s qualifications, personality and job performance before deciding whether to hire the worker as a permanent employee.

Productivity

Mixing temporary workers with employees helps improve productivity. For example, bringing aboard temporary workers during busy times can help reduce employee workloads, decrease work errors, lower absences and prevent burnout. Also, because staffing firms invest the time and money needed to recruit, train and retain temporary workers, hiring managers can focus on other production responsibilities.

Lower Cost

Partnering with staffing firms typically results in lower costs. For example, because temporary workers are the firm’s employees, the firm covers costs related to pre-employment testing, background checks, drug screens and other parts of the employment process. The firm also handles payroll processing and benefits administration, further reducing an employer’s labor costs. In addition, having the firm quickly provide workers when needed results in continued productivity rather than an open position that results in an employer spending time and money to do their own search. Furthermore, because workers are brought aboard only when needed, companies again save on labor costs.

Reduced Risk

Because there are many legal responsibilities involved with owning a company, bringing aboard temporary workers reduces risk. For example, being an employer involves paying payroll and different types of taxes; providing health, unemployment and other types of insurance; and complying with labor and employment laws. Also, employers face financial and operational risks such as hiring and firing employees or filling unexpected job vacancies. Since temporary workers are the staffing firm’s employees, the firm assumes associated risks.

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Partnering with WinCorp Solutions will help fill your staffing needs. We ensure every candidate entering your office meets all your job requirements. Contact WinCorp Solutions today.

The Biggest Problems Recruiters Face and How to Overcome Them

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Recruiters face many issues each day. Whether it’s a shortage of talent or the market being too crowded, there are always challenges to defeat. Fortunately, there are steps recruiters can take to resolve those issues. Here are three of the biggest problems recruiters face and how to overcome them.

Hiring Managers May Not Collaborate Well

Hiring managers may not be as collaborative as they should be in the recruiting process. For example, managers in highly technical fields often believe sharing information with, or providing feedback to, recruiters is not worth their time because recruiters may not understand what is being said. However, without additional information and feedback, recruiters cannot provide the most qualified candidates for a position.

To encourage hiring managers to collaborate better, recruiters can work on strengthening relationships with them. For example, during the initial meeting, recruiters and hiring managers can set clear expectations for each other. Recruiters may use data to show managers the size of the hiring pool so managers can adjust their expectations accordingly. Both parties can agree to hold each other accountable for meeting the agreed-upon expectations. Also, recruiters and managers can regularly meet to discuss how many candidates applied, where the hiring manager is in the hiring process, whether a manager turned down a candidate or the role has been filled.

Qualified Talent Is Limited

Many fields may be facing a lack of qualified talent. As a result, many job openings remain vacant, and recruiters lose out on filling those opportunities.

To alleviate the lack of candidates who possess the skills and experience required for a position, recruiters can use data to determine the best places to focus their search. For example, LinkedIn’s Talent Pool Reports show where talent supply exceeds demand and provides more recruiting advantages.

Top Candidates Have Many Job Offers

Because highly qualified candidates may be actively pursuing opportunities through more than one recruiter, candidates may be deciding among multiple job offers. If a candidate accepts an offer that originated with one recruiter, despite all the time and effort invested in presenting the candidate with other opportunities, the other recruiters do not get paid.

To help reduce the frequency of losing candidates to another opportunity, recruiters should ensure each candidate has an exceptional interview experience. Ensure candidates have all their business questions answered during an interview. Also, because the interview that candidates care most about is the one with the hiring manager, recruiters can coach the candidate to make the interview more of a two-way conversation rather than an interrogation. In addition, because candidates appreciate meeting a company’s senior leader, recruiters can ask one to briefly talk with a candidate during the interview.

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Partner with a staffing firm that provides answers to recruiters’ problems. Contact WinCorp Solutions today.

Attracting the Top Accounting Talent to Your Business

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Hiring top accounting talent is a necessary part of growing a business. With the high costs involved in recruiting, it’s imperative the right professionals are in place throughout an organization. Here are four ways a company can attract top accounting talent.

  • Network

Networking introduces top accountants to the roles they desire. For example, companies can utilize LinkedIn to search for accountants in the company’s geographic area, find candidates who are already connected to the organization, and ask to be connected with those candidates. Using warm introductions increases the potential for successful results. Also, if managers attended college locally, they can join alumni associations and post in their online message boards and social media groups when positions become available. Managers can contact accountants who left the company on good terms and may want to come back. Those accountants would be more productive when rejoining the company than a new hire without previous experience. Furthermore, managers can host career fairs at local college campuses and open houses at high schools to promote the accounting industry and positions available within the company.

  • Offer Internships

Internship programs provide a direct pipeline to accounting students. Future accountants can adapt to company culture while applying what they learned in school to gain on-the-job experience. Employers can evaluate interns’ performance to determine who should be offered full-time roles within the organization.

  • Provide Opportunities to Advance

When a company has a track record of developing and promoting top employees, more accountants compete to work for the organization. Top professionals want to continually develop their skills so they can move on to greater opportunities. For example, accountants should be able to work with clients from start to finish to experience the entire accounting process. Also, accountants should work in audit, tax, consulting and other areas to see which field they prefer. In addition, accountants should be given increased responsibility, more input in management decisions and the potential to become partners in a firm. Furthermore, continuing education should be provided so that accountants interact with other professionals, stay current in their field and add to their skill sets.

  • Partner With WinCorp Solutions

Partnering with WinCorp Solutions provides access to our vast pool of top accounting professionals. As experts in our field, we place the most qualified candidates to fill all of a company’s accounting needs. Organizations save time and money by engaging us as active participants in their recruiting process.

For assistance securing accounting professionals for your organization, contact WinCorp Solutions today.

Why a Diverse Workplace Is Necessary in the Financial Sector

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Diversity is an important element of any company. Employing professionals with various backgrounds provides many benefits to an organization. This is especially true in financial services. Here are four reasons a diverse workplace is necessary in the financial sector.

  • Recruit Top Talent

Focusing on diversity is imperative for hiring the most skilled financial professionals. Due to the continually changing economic climate, firms need to hire and retain the most qualified professionals to remain competitive. Hiring for diversity provides access to a wide range of candidates with the hard and soft skills and experience necessary to increase a firm’s market performance.

  • Cultivate Client Relationships

When financial professionals embody the behaviors necessary for serving a diverse population, they can enter into new markets and increase a firm’s revenue. For example, although women control a substantial amount of money worldwide, their demographic remains relatively untapped by the financial services industry. Not only do a significant number of females not have a financial advisor, a substantial number who do have an advisor feel their advisor does not understand their objectives. Therefore, by having a diverse group of financial advisors, a firm is better equipped for communicating with clients to determine their needs and wants and build trust. Clients will take a more active role in asking questions, choosing their investments and planning their financial future when they feel heard and respected.

  • Fill Client Needs

Because the global population is growing in heterogeneity, having a diverse workforce that anticipates market shifts and the needs and wants of clients provides a competitive advantage. Therefore, it’s important that a firm’s representatives reflect the clients they serve. For example, because female executives tend to more clearly understand the financial needs of female business owners and consumers, firms should be hiring more female executives.

  • Innovate

Hiring for diversity promotes innovation. Having professionals with varying backgrounds provides a strong foundation for solving complex problems in more efficient and effective ways. By encouraging the exploration of unconventional ideas and providing the resources to make those ideas viable, financial professionals desire to further contribute to the firm. As a result, new products and services are created, new markets are captured and revenue streams grow.

For assistance finding staff members or securing a role in finance, accounting or audit, contact WinCorp Solutions today.

The Questions You Need to Be Asking As a Small or Mid Size Business Owner

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As a small business owner, you can’t afford to make a bad choice when it comes to hiring new staff. A ‘bad hire’ can cost you valuable time, money and mis-hire carnage.

No small business stands alone; the best small businesses are collaborative ventures. And that means the best candidates must be strong team players, willing to do what is necessary to reach a project goal or other business deliverable. But teamwork and an entrepreneurial and independent spirit can be challenging to identify on a resume. What questions should you be asking during the interview process to ensure you are choosing the right candidate?

Question #1

When do you do your best work – when working as part of a team or working alone on a single task or assignment.

We all enjoy a little peace and quiet every now and then. And intentional solitude has been proven to boost productivity, but if you’re interviewing a candidate who prefers isolation over teamwork, chances are they’re not the team player your small business needs.

Question #2:

What do you know about this company and why do you want to work here?

This question shows whether the candidate did research on your company. It is a great way to gauge their interest in the position and the organization. An individual who does their research before the interview will stand out as a more informed and competent candidate.

Question #3

Ask your candidate to describe a successful project they worked on, what their role was, and why the project was ultimately successful.

If a candidate quickly tells you about their personal achievements –  and why their role was vital to the project’s success – chances are they’ll be better suited to a position requiring less team focus.

But if the candidate was keen to elaborate on details about the project team – highlighting group actions and collaborative successes – you’ve just identified an ideal team player.

Question #4

We’ve all experienced conflict at some time. Anyone can have a bad day. And while conflict may be unavoidable, how someone chooses to deal with that conflict reveals a great deal about who they really are.

Ask a candidate to describe a situation where they had to deal with conflict and how they resolved the issue.

Did the candidate talk about something that happened months or maybe even years ago – but with very real, very current emotion? If they did, it’s a big red flag. A candidate who displays an emotional response to a work-related conflict is giving you a clear signal that they have a limited capability to thrive in group settings.

But, if your candidate was quick to describe something that happened in an even manner without overt sentiment, they’re demonstrating a strong ability to step aside from personal emotions and focus on moving forward for the benefit of the team. And that’s something only a great team player will do.

Knowing the right questions to ask a candidate can be tricky! If you run a small business, you can’t afford to hire the wrong person; you need to be confident your next employee is the right person for the job. And that’s where the specialized recruiters at WinCorp Solutions can help. They’re specialists, just like you are. Reach out to the team today and let them help you find your next SBS (small-business-superstar).