On this episode we have a conversation with iMPact recruiter Kyle Brummans about how to find a job as a Technician and how you can progress in your engineering career from there. We discuss:

- What type of Technician roles are available
- Salary expectations and career progression into Engineering roles
- What do we look for in a candidate for a Technician role

Find more information about becoming a Technician and connect with us here, please visit: https://impactbusinessgroup.com/technician-jobs/

On this episode of Job Talk, we talk to Amanda Quirk (Monster) and Sylvia Dahlby (SmartSearch) about why most job descriptions suck and how they can be improved.  If you write job descriptions and want advice on how to get more and better candidates, this podcast is for you.


The topics we discuss include:
- How to write an effective job title
- Writing a compelling job description
- Candidates are clear about the information they want from a job description. Are you addressing the information they're looking for?
  * Company culture
  * Job purpose 
- Optimizing your job title and description for Google and SEO
- Responsibilities; how many should you include?
- Requirements: Must have's and nice to have's. Why it's important to separate them
- Benefits: Aside from the expected benefits, what else should you mention?
- Call to action; Are you communicating next steps?


Do you have open positions you're haveing a challenge finding qualified candidates for? iMPact Business Group specialized in helping our clients find qualified candidates for positions in IT, Engineering, Accounting/Finance, Business Admin (HR, Marketing etc). Reach out to us today for more information https://www.impactbusinessgroup.com/opportunities/. Job seekers, please view all of our open positions here  https://jobs.impactbusinessgroup.com/ 

According to people analytics firm Visier, 84% of job seekers have ghosted their employer or potential employer in the past 18 months. Especially in the late stages of hiring and onboarding. On this episode we talk to iMPact's owner Matt Peal, and iMPact Sr. Account Manager Curt Willbrandt about candidate ghosting and what employers should handle it.

For more information about iMPact Business Group, visit us on https://www.impactbusinessgroup.com

When you make the decision to leave your organization for a new opportunity - and you're presented with a counteroffer; should you accept it?  We also talk about a newer phenomenon that's becoming more common: 1st day ghosting - employees no-showing on the 1st day of work.

In this episode, we talk to iMPact's owner Matt Peal and Account Manager Mark Herman and their insights on counteroffers. Topics include:

- What is a counteroffer? 
- What are the reasons a company will make a counteroffer?
- What should an employee consider before deciding whether to accept a counteroffer?
- Is there a situation where accepting a counteroffer can workout?
- 1st day of work ghosting

To learn more about iMPact Business Group and view all of our currently available job opportunities, please visit https://www.impactbusinessgroup.com

In this episode of Job Talk, iMPact Recruiter Gershia Lassiter shares her experience and insights into how you can tell if your job interview went well,  signs that it's not going well and what you can do to turn it around. A few of the topics we discuss include:


What are the top signs that an interview went well?

o   What does it mean if an interview goes longer than the scheduled time?

o   Introduction to others (potential co-workers) in the organization during the interview.

o   Should you be worried if you don't get invited to a 2nd interview right away?

o   What does it mean if the interviewer starts asking about your other job prospects?

o   Interviewer trying to impress you with extensive job and company details - is that common or a good sign?

o   What should you read into the interviewer discussing the next steps in the interview process?

o  Are there any differences between in-person and virtual interviews?

What are some signs that the interview didn’t go well?  

o   Is it always a bad sign if your interview is short?

o   Interviewer didn’t offer a lot of details about the company or role - does that mean they are not interested?

o   Interviewer expressed concerns about items on your resume. How can you address any red flags?

o   Interviewer seemed distracted during the interview. Is that always a bad sign and how can you re-capture the interviewer's attention?
 
o  What are the most common reasons for a candidate to misread how the interview went?

o   When working with a recruiter, how can they help overcome an interview that didn’t go well?

o   How can a recruiter help bridge the gap if there are misunderstandings between the interviewer and candidates during the interview?

o   Interview prep before the interview with insights about the company, job role, and interviewer

Visit our website https://www.impactbusinessgroup.com for more information and to view all of our current job postings,

Welcome to our 2nd annual Salary Report. This survey is intended to provide you and hiring companies in the area with an 'overview' of current salaries and hiring trends within our field/industry. We asked our candidates and hiring managers to provide an overview of salaries and hiring in 2022 in hopes we all have a better picture. 

This year's report has information about how employees and job seekers in our three core areas of Information Technology, Engineering and Finance/Accounting are viewing and valuing their workplace, salary situation, benefits and career plans. 

We hope you find this report valuable.

For more information about iMPact Business Group and to see all of our currently available job postings, please visit https://www.impactbusinessgroup.com

In this episode of Job Talk we have a conversation with iMPact Owner, Matt Peal and Account Manager/Recruiter Mark Herman about resume best practices and advice for 2022. 

So much about the workforce has changed in the past couple of years with jobs going remote, an all digital hiring process – how has the resume evolved over the past few years?

-          How long should a resume be in 2022?

-          Are custom objectives still recommended? 
-          How should a resume be formatted?

o   Do employers prefer reverse chronological order or a functoinal resume?

-          Items hiring managers/recruiters are looking for that weren’t as common a few years ago?

-          What’s the ideal format for a resume? (PDF, Word, LinkedIn, other?

-          How to format a resume

o   Plain white page or use a template with different colors/blocks to highlight skills?
 
 -          How to address employment gaps, especially if it’s due to a Covid layoff? 

-          Other resume changes for the upcoming year?


View all of our available job openings on  https://jobs.impactbusinessgroup.com/

Most job seekers will reach out to recruiters when they are already in need of a new job; sometimes the need might be urgent. At that point all you can do is hope a recruiter will want to connect with you and have a job available for you that is a match. Being proactive and establishing a relationship with a recruiter ahead of time is a good long-term move. Even if you're not looking for new opportunities, you may be presented with the occasional job that's a good fit and could be a great career move. And should you find yourself in a situation where you need a new job quickly, having an already established relationship with a recruiter can prove to be very valuable.

In this episode, we talk to iMPact recruiters Lauren Sylvester and Kyle Rynkar about how to go about finding and networking with recruiters ahead of time, and why it can be mutually beneficial. Topics discussed include:

- Why should you start a relationship with a recruiter even if you're not looking for a job right away?

- What recruiters do, and don't do
   - Help clients find candidates vs help candidates find open positions

- How to determine which recruiter(s) to connect with
   - Skills & career objectives

- Where to find recruiters
   - Social media
   - Networking
   - Find staffing agencies

- The best ways to keep in touch
 
Please view our job board https://jobs.impactbusinessgroup.com for all open positions in IT, Engineering, Finance/Accounting and other professional roles such as HR, Sales, Marketing.

On this episode we talk to  iMPact's owner Matt Peal and Account Manager, Drew Kunkel, about best practices for interviewers and how to sell their organization to a potential employee during the interview process

• It’s a candidate-driven market, and candidates have options. How should interviewers talk about, and sell the benefits of working for their company to stand out from the competition?
  • Culture, work-life balance, growth opportunities, benefits, other?
• What’s the best way to honestly and proactively discuss things that may be perceived negatively by a candidate?
  
  
• How can distractions during the interview make a candidate lose interest, and what are things an interviewer should avoid doing that could be distracting?
  • Checking emails, taking calls, interruptions by other employees etc
• Just like a candidate is expected to prepare by researching the company a bit and have questions ready, what are some of the most important things an interviewer should prepare for ahead of time?
  • Additional preparation tips if it’s a 2nd (or 3rd) round interview?
• What are some tips for how to best conduct the interview as a productive conversation instead of either party leading the interview in a question/answer format?
  
  
• What type of small talk is appropriate and what are topics and questions that should be avoided? 
  
  
• If the interview process is too long with too many rounds of interviews, assessments etc, there’s a good chance the candidate will accept another job offer. What are some best practices for conducting several rounds of interviews?
  • Should the interview process be different for a permanent job vs a contract job?
• What are the risks/benefits of asking abstract/oddball questions such as:
  • If you could be any animal, what would it be and why?  If you were President for a day what would your first day in the office look like? Questions like these have no validity. 
• While interviewing someone for a specific role, what should an interviewer keep in mind/ask during the interview for other positions within the company that the candidate might be a better fit for?

To view all available job opportunities, please visit our job board https://jobs.impactbusinessgroup.com and to connect with us about finding talent for an open position, please contact us: https://www.impactbusinessgroup.com/employers/request-employee/ 

Get tips and best practices on how to navigate the salary negotiation during the interview process. In this episode, we talk to iMPact's owner Matt Peal and Sr. Account Manager Curt Willbrandt. Topics include:

-          When and how to discuss salary during the interview process

o   What to do if the employer hasn’t advertised or given their salary range, or are unwilling to bring it up first during the interview?

o   How to discuss salary expectations, and your current salary (if/when asked), especially if you’re looking for a big increase
 
 

-          Salary negotiation strategies

o   Should you ask for more than your desired salary, and if so, how much more (%) to start out the negotiation?
 
 

-          Avoid bad faith negotiation. Don’t surprise the employer with a new and higher salary range at the end of the interview process.
 
 

-          What should you do if your current employer makes you a salary counteroffer?
 
 

-          How can working with a staffing agency/recruiter help you with salary negotiation and obtaining the salary you’re looking for?

o   Interview feedback

o   Avoid miscommunication/misunderstandings

iMPact Business Group is a professional staffing agency based in Grand Rapids, MI, and Tampa FL serving clients and candidates nationwide. We specialize in Information Technology, Engineering, Finance/Accounting and Business Process/Operations (HR, Marketing etc).
For more information about iMPact and to find our most recent job opportunities, please visit https://www.impactbusinessgroup.com