Category CEO

Embracing Honesty May Be Your Smartest Hiring Tool

You can’t hide a broken hiring process. Whether consequences are felt during the interview process or months after an employee’s start date, your company’s success hinges on getting this right. Even if a hiring manager brings on a great employee only to have him defect to a competitor 18 months later, the process has failed. That employee may have left for any number of reasons, but decades of staffing experience has taught us that most problems could have been predicted and confronted before the hiring decision was even made. Companies… Read more

All is fair in love and References: The art of strategic warfare recruiting

The issue of references is a great topic and often simply overlooked or not viewed as such an important piece of critical data. References can be your Ally or your Enemy in the game of “Recruiting Warfare “ I can’t tell you how often I have actually heard, “who checks those references anyway, I know he/she is the right fit” or even this one, “I verified their previous employers”  and even worse  “I’ve already made the offer.” It is so easy to go thru your process of recruiting – screening-… Read more

Working Moms: The Ultimate Project Managers

“If you want something done, ask a busy person.” Benjamin Franklin may not have been talking about working moms, but his maxim bears out in studies that show a big boost in effectiveness for women who are parents and also employed. Despite today’s rosy, egalitarian views of shared parenting responsibilities, in practice, women still shoulder the lion’s share of household duties. Rather than driving mothers out of the workplace, this double duty has had some surprising effects: Women who parent are excelling in new ways on the job. When we… Read more

How to Be a Leader – Even When It’s Not In Your Job Description

One of the best things you can do to improve your chances of advancement within a company is to start acting the part of a leader, even if you’re not officially the leader. But don’t think that it’s just a matter of “fake it ’till you make it.” There are concrete, well-defined behaviors you can display that prove you’re leadership material, even if you’re still relatively new to the office. When it comes time for upper management to bring someone new into the ranks of the company’s brass, they’re going… Read more

Even when beloved leaders retire, the show must go on

One of the most visible workplace trends in industries across the board is the looming retirement of the Baby Boomer generation. Losing the boomers creates no shortage of obstacles that businesses must overcome, including: Replenishing the work force following the departure of this massive generation. Replacing the experience and talent they’ve accumulated and shared over long and often remarkable careers. But perhaps the hardest part of watching the Baby Boomers take their leave is the prospect of losing beloved and, in some cases, legendary leaders who emerged from the crowd… Read more

How to write a job description that attracts the right candidates

One of the biggest fears a recruiter can have is posting a job opening online and receiving hundreds of resumes from underqualified candidates. Imagine having to sift through all of those resumes only to find out that maybe a handful are worth calling in for an interview. In this situation, the problem is often that the job description didn’t do its job correctly. An effective job description should do two things: attract the right candidates while simultaneously repelling the unqualified ones. To this end, the language and setup of the… Read more

7 tips for conducting practical exit interviews

Why do you interview job candidates before you hire them? The answer should be obvious here: You want to learn more about who they are as a professional in terms of their work style, skills and qualifications to name a few. What’s less obvious is the answer to the question of why you should interview an employee who’s on his or her way out. While exit interviews are fairly common, it’s not always apparent as to why exactly you should be conducting them. What is an exit interview and why… Read more

SEEKING A JOB- IS A FULL TIME JOB!

A job searching schedule can work wonders In the job search, when there’s only so much time in the day, it can be easy to lose track of what you need to get done. Between applications, interviews, networking and the other responsibilities in your daily life, keeping an eye on everything you’ll need to do in a given day can be tough. However, if you set up a cohesive strategy and stick to it over time, you’ll have much more success. “I am still amazed when people tell me they… Read more

Ways you can positively overcome job search frustration

Getting frustrated during a job search is more common than you’d think, so you shouldn’t feel like you’re out of the ordinary if the occasional setback feels hard to take. You need to remember that the search is much more a marathon than a sprint, and you’ll hit walls along the way. That said, if you vent your frustrations the wrong way, it might be harder to reach your second wind. If you keep a level head and follow some useful advice to improve your approach, it can be simple… Read more

Austins Dress for Success

BTS and BIT construction owner Britanie Olvera gathered up her female friends and along with Austin APD police Lt Gena Curtis and her contacts rallied around a local Austin non profit.  This event was appropriately named “Handbags and Happy Hour”.  Since its mission was to bring Austin women to the table around a much worthy cause.. no not happy hour, and as much as we love hanbags, the cause had a greater purpose: Austin’s Dress for Success.  The event was co-sponsored by Gena and Britanie and almost 30 woman gathered… Read more