Michael DeSafey | Executive Recruiter and HR Professional
Tips for Hiring New Graduates who will Succeed in Your Organization
Tips for Hiring New Graduates who will Succeed in Your Organization
The construction, engineering, and environmental industry is a great place for new graduates to start their careers. It’s a challenging and rewarding field that offers growth opportunities. However, it can also be challenging for new graduates to break into this industry. That’s why we’ve put together some tips to help you find and hire the best new graduates for your organization.
1) Use Social Media to Your Advantage
Social media is a great way to connect with potential graduate candidates. Use it to post job openings and reach out to new graduates who might be interested in working for your organization.
LinkedIn is a great platform to use when hiring college graduates. Many construction, engineering and environmental professionals are active on LinkedIn, so it’s a great way to connect with potential candidates.
When creating your job posting, include information about your company culture and what makes your organization a great place to work. This will help attract top talent to your company. Include a link to your company website in your job postings so that candidates can learn more about your organization.
Ensure that you’re clear about the qualifications and skills you are looking for in a candidate. This will help you weed out candidates who are not a good fit for your organization.
Be prepared to answer any questions candidates may have about the job or your company. Candidates will want to know what they can expect if hired, so be sure to have this information ready.
Be flexible with your start dates. Many new graduates will already have other commitments to juggle, such as school or other jobs. If you can be flexible with their start date, candidates will find it easier to accept your offer of employment.
2) Network with New Graduates
Attend job fairs and career fairs at local colleges and universities. This is a great way to meet potential candidates and learn about their skills and qualifications. Make sure you have business cards available, or some other way for candidates to contact you after the event.
Follow up with any promising candidates that you meet at these events—send them an email or give them a call to gauge their level of interest in working for your organization. If you know any new graduates looking for a job, reach out to them and see if they might be interested in working for your company.
3) Give Candidates a Chance to Shine
When interviewing college candidates, allow them to show off their skills and qualifications. Ask them questions about their experience and education. If you have any projects that new employees could work on, consider assigning them to these projects during the interview process. This will allow candidates to show you what they’re capable of and how they could be an asset to your organization.
After the interview, follow up with candidates to let them know you appreciate their time and their interest in working for your company.
4) Be Clear About Your Expectations
When hiring new graduates, set realistic expectations for their first few months on the job. Let them know what you expect from them regarding work hours and workload. Make sure they understand your company’s policies and procedures. Give them a chance to ask questions about their job, and answer any questions they might have about your expectations regarding their performance.
5) Offer a Competitive Salary and Benefits Package
When offering a job to a new graduate, be sure to offer a competitive salary and benefits package. Many new college graduates are looking for jobs that offer good pay and benefits. A competitive salary and benefits package will help you attract the best candidates to your company.
Be prepared to negotiate on salary and benefits if necessary. Many new graduates are willing to negotiate on these items to get the job they want.
6) Be Patient
Many new graduates need some time to adjust to the workforce. They may make mistakes at first, or have difficulty with some of their job responsibilities. Be patient with new employees—give them a chance to learn, grow into their positions and to improve their skills / knowledge over time.
Hiring new graduates can be a great way to bring fresh talent into your business. By following these tips, you’ll give your new hires the best chance to succeed in their new roles. If you offer them a bit of time and support, they’ll soon reward you with significant contributions to your company.
Michael DeSafey is a leading executive recruiter for professionals in the construction, engineering, and environmental industries. He is currently the President of Webuild Staffing: www.webuildstaffing.com. To learn more about Michael, or to follow his blog, please visit www.michaeldesafey.com.
How to Strengthen Your Organization By Hiring Talent
How to Strengthen Your Organization By Hiring Talent
If you are looking to hire talent that performs well in the construction or engineering industry, you want to make sure you are not limiting yourself in the way you think about recruitment. Improving your recruitment strategy can help upgrade the level of talent that you are attracting and hiring. WeBuild Staffing is considered one of the nation’s leading staffing agencies and is dedicated to scouting high quality, industry-specific technical professionals. We are committed to finding exceptional employees, and you should be too. Do you think your recruitment strategy might be flawed? Here are some Dos and Don’ts that might help you identify issues.
Don’t…
Rely Too Much On The Interview
Interviews are essential to landing a job, but they not everything. The person you are interviewing could be having a bad day or display uncharacteristic anxious. Some people will also say anything to secure a job, and great social skills and interview performance do not guarantee they are the most qualified for the job. This is especially important in the construction and engineering industries, where the new hire will be performing specific and specialized tasks.
Do…
Make sure you consider the application as a whole, taking into account the candidate’s experience and any projects they have done, without letting yourself be blinded by the way —good or bad— in which they present themselves.
Don’t…
Feel Threatened by Someone More Qualified Than You
In fear that they might jeopardize their position, managers are often hesitant to take on someone with better skills or who seem more talented. However, this person could become a vital asset and improve your company.
Do…
Look at special certifications or skills that a candidate will bring that are not already available at your company. There is no such thing as being overqualified for the job!
Don’t…
Let the Job Description Misrepresent the Job
The term itself could be misleading; a good job description is in fact more than just a description. You cannot simply offer an overview of the job, and even a long explanation might be too broad, leaving your new employees to be caught off guard by some of the duties they are asked to perform.
Do…
Include a list of duties as part of the job specifications. Make sure you indicate exactly what skills and requirements are needed to attract the right talent and discourage unqualified individuals from applying. Put yourself in the shoes of someone looking for a job: wouldn’t you want to know exactly what will be expected of you?
Don’t…
Wait For The Perfect Candidate
Most employers want to find people who check every box. However, it is time-consuming and nearly impossible to find the perfect fit for every position. The longer you wait for a candidate who is exactly what you pictured, the more you are jeopardizing your team.
Do…
Keep an open mind about what you are looking for, and consider giving a chance to someone who shows potential and is eager to grow and learn. They can end up being a valuable team member.
Don’t…
Overthink References
While references are a key part of the hiring process and give an insight into whether a candidate is a good fit for the job, they are not everything. Job seekers are very likely to have gathered their references from people they knew would give them a positive review —often close friends as well as employers— and a good experience at one company doesn’t mean it will be the same for yours.
Do…
Use references as one element for consideration in the comprehensive process of forming your own judgement about the value a candidate can bring to your company.
Michael DeSafey is a leading executive recruiter for professionals in the construction, engineering and environmental industries. He is currently the President of Webuild Staffing www.webuildstaffing.com . To learn more about Michael or to follow his blog please visit www.michaeldesafey.com
Teamwork in Recruiting Build a Hiring Dream Team
Teamwork in Recruiting — Build a Hiring Dream Team
Recruiting is expensive and time-consuming. Whether you’re looking for entry-level laborers or top talent, employers can expect to spend thousands of dollars — and several weeks — searching for that one special recruit. One study published by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), suggests it costs nearly $4,200 to hire one employee, and takes an average of 42 days of advertising and interviewing time to settle on one recruit.
It’s only natural that those numbers get bigger for mass hiring’s. While bulk advertising rates might lower the resources spent reaching out, every potential recruit will need to be interviewed and vetted. Depending on your organization’s pre-hire requirements (like drug testing), mass hiring can get costly.
In the construction and environmental industries in particular, organizations looking to hire entire crews at once will invest even more resources into recruiting and vetting.
That’s why the most efficient organizations put considerable thought into building an effective hiring team. Whether your business is large or small, your hiring team will be responsible for selecting the best candidates, and ensuring your recruiting dollars are well spent. This hiring dream team needs to know about the job at hand, have a solid understanding of HR topics, and be a terrific judge of character.
But it’s practically impossible to find a single person with all those qualities, so start your hiring dream team with the right hiring manager.
The Right Hiring Manager is the Foundation of Your Hiring Team
Whether you need one or ten, hiring managers need to work well with your HR department. It will be their job to:
- Identify open positions or create new posts within your organization.
- Craft accurate job descriptions that attract the best candidates.
- Define roles and responsibilities for the rest of your hiring team.
- Serve as the point person and primary interviewer throughout the interview process.
- Give the final hiring approval (in some cases pending executive approval).
- And sometimes negotiate the terms of employment, like wages, overtime and vacation
With all these tasks in mind, many firms prefer to select a hiring manager who has a background in human resources. If you’re hiring from within, look to your HR department first for the perfect candidate. Dependability is a must!
However, a background in sales and contract management could also be fruitful for the organization. Outstanding salespeople will have a knack for persuasion. This could be tremendously helpful in competitive hiring markets — if you can spare them from the sales department.
Once you’ve selected a solid hiring manager, flesh out the rest of the recruiting team.
The Rest of Your Hiring Dream Team
Depending on the company’s goals, your hiring team might need anywhere from one to ten support personnel. It helps to have at least one person who is extremely internet savvy in the modern employment marketplace. This person would be tasked with monitoring job boards, posting positions and earmarking the best potential recruits as resumes come in.
An administrative assistant could be a great addition too. This person should be able to schedule appointments, maintain a calendar for the hiring manager, and track down licensing and compliance issues as they arise. This way, your hiring manager can focus on legitimate candidates first.
Ultimately, your hiring team will be as unique as your organization. But it will undoubtedly need a chief, an internet performer and an administrator to get started.
Michael DeSafey is a leading executive recruiter for professionals in the construction, engineering and environmental industries. He is currently the President of Webuild Staffing www.webuildstaffing.com . To learn more about Michael or to follow his blog please visit www.michaeldesafey.com
Environmental Construction: 3 Functions of a Seawal
Environmental Construction: 3 Functions of a Seawall
If you’ve ever been to a coastal town, chances are good you’ve noticed they have a seawall. Sometimes they’re big and impressive, sometimes they’re smaller and more subtle, but they’re a common sight wherever the land meets the water. Those who don’t live near the coast, and who don’t have to deal with the moods of the ocean, may wonder why these seawalls are necessary, and why humans have been building them for literally thousands of years, now.
Well, a seawall serves multiple functions, and they’re one of the best methods we’ve found for getting the results we want. For example…
#1: Storm Protection
When severe weather begins ramping up, the coast is where the beating falls first. From gale force winds to full-on hurricanes, the normal, gentle waves can quickly be whipped into a hammer that can destroy buildings, wreck roads, and cause all sorts of damage. This kind of weather can also lead to flooding, both mild and severe. A seawall acts as a shield, preventing at least some of this force from making landfall, and diluting the blows of severe weather to help protect the community living on land.
This is also why different communities have different seawall designs. Seawalls may be curved, they may be in a stepped design, or they may have other, unique features. Sometimes they’re placed up on the land itself, sometimes they’re at the water’s edge, and sometimes they’re actually placed further out in the water, providing a break that protects both the land and a section of the water (often a bay, beach, or some other place where there tends to be a lot of traffic). These are often made with the weather patterns in mind, ensuring the seawall can do its job and weather the storms, according to Wise Geek.
#2: Erosion Control
Even when waves haven’t been whipped into a frenzy by inclement weather, they can still damage the coastline. Erosion is a real problem, and the more powerful the waves get, the bigger a problem it becomes. A seawall helps take some of the sting out of waves, ensuring that beaches, hills, and other coastal areas are preserved against this kind of damage as long as possible. In many coastal areas where conservation and reinvigorating the local wilderness are top priorities, seawalls are one of the best tools available.
Erosion is not just a beach concern, either. Docks and piers can also expect to see long-term damage from exposure to waves that individually were seen as harmless. A seawall prevents this damage, as well, allowing these other constructions to last longer than they would if they were simply left on their own to weather their contact with the ebb and flow of the water.
#3: Safer Waterways
In addition to protecting harbors, beaches, and land, seawalls also provide cover and safety for smaller waterways. This can be particularly important during periods of stormy weather, when everyone is trying to get safely away from open water. Even if the boats in question don’t have a regular berth in a particular waterway, protecting the access points provides safe havens, and helps avoid clogging caused by too many boats coming in too quickly.
As long as a sea wall provides a buffer between a waterway and the churning waves of the open water, it’s performing a vital function. Giving vessels breathing room to maneuver, find safety, and avoid damaging themselves, each other, and any land they might otherwise run afoul of is a particularly helpful use of these walls in communities where there are a number of personal (or even commercial) vessels.
Strong Walls Need Dedicated Professionals
Coastal real estate is always going to be in-demand, and as long as people live near the water there’s going to be a need for strong seawalls to help keep them and their homes safe. Civil engineers, construction professionals, structural engineers, and others are all requires to build these walls, install them, and maintain them against the ravages of time, and the pounding surf.
Even the strongest shield needs to be replaced from time to time, meaning that as long as there are people living within sight of the coast, there’s going to be a seawall somewhere that needs the attention of professionals to ensure it’s capable of serving its purpose.
Michael DeSafey is a leading executive recruiter for professionals in the construction, engineering and environmental industries. He is currently the President of Webuild Staffing www.webuildstaffing.com . To learn more about Michael or to follow his blog please visit www.michaeldesafey.com