What we can help you with:

• Creating job descriptions
• Job Posting - how write them
• Searching for resumes using job boards
• Searching for Candidate's using search engines
• Looking for passive job seekers
• We can even help you create sales tracking forms to drive sales
  

Our fees are based on 1-2 days working along side your staff or we can customize our service that fits your needs. We believe in rolling up our sleeves and working with you and your team. The fee is typically 70% less than the cost of a recruiter.

Article From "Automatic Merchandiser"

Looking for good help? Internet search engines are a great tool if you know how to use them

The one upside of a worsening economy has been a bigger labor pool. But finding and keeping quality employees - the backbone of every vending operation - is as difficult as ever. In response to this ever present challenge, NAMA hosted a panel on human resource issues during the recent expo at McCormick Place in Chicago.

Tom Siciliano, left, explains how operators can find prospective employees using Internet search engines.He is flanked by Jackie Iannicelli, Cinnelly, Sheehan Moran, center, and Patti dunean of Five Star Food Service Inc.

One tool that employers now have in meeting this perpetual challenge is the Internet. Vending operators who attended the seminar learned several ways to use the Internet to find good employees. The panel was moderated by Jan Corban, NAMA director of human resources and associate director. Panelists were: Jackie Iannicelli, an attorney with NAMA's legal counsel, Chicago-based Connelly Sheehan Moran; Patti Dungan, vice president of human resources, Dalton, Ga.-based Five Star Food Service Inc.; and Tom Siciliano, president of Integrity Recruiting Team, a professional recruiting company based in Huntley, Ill. o Few use the web. Siciliano offered information on ways to use the Internet to find quality employees. A show of hands in the room revealed that almost no one is currently using this valuable tool to meet this critical need.

For employers, the two key challenges are knowing where to place listings and knowing where to find prospective employees.

o Focus on the skills you seek.
The elements of an effective job listing on the Internet are the same as in print. "You need to keep a focused, clear job description," he said. The objective is to filter out useless resumes.
"You need to keep the requirements and 'must haves' in the qualifications," he said. In writing a job description, Siciliano noted it helps to put yourself in the shoes of the job seeker. "It's easier for us (to write an effective position listing) to look at this information as job seekers than as job posting writers."

o Include salary?
One of the biggest questions about job postings is whether or not salary should be included. While there are downsides to doing this, Siciliano said he favors doing it. If you don't, you can spend a lot of time interviewing a candidate only to find out his or her salary aspirations are not within your budget.

The disadvantage of listing salary requirements, he added, is that if the salary range is higher than what existing employees are paid and they see the posting, they will be angry.
One benefit of Internet listings over print listings is that even those Internet job boards that charge don't charge by the word. This gives the job lister more opportunity to describe the job qualifications and responsibilities.

However, Internet job seekers are just as much in a hurry as job seekers anywhere, so it's important to make the listing easy to get through, quickly. "I'm looking for bullet-pointed information, something I can look at and move on," Siciliano explained.

o Give contact information.
It's also just as important to make it easy for the prospect to contact you, either by fax or email.

Siciliano then got to the meat of his presentation: using Internet search engines to find people and positions available.

All of the major search engines - HotBot, Altavista, InfoSeek, Northern Light, Snap, Yahoo and Google - have job boards. To find listed resumes, the seeker goes to the search box and inputs the key words that narrow the search to what he is looking for.

Every key word is entered in the search box, separated by a space and the word "AND" in capital letters. The key words are in lower case letters. The series of key words separated by spaces and capitalized "AND" is called a "Boolean" string.

For example, someone looking for a sales job in Chicago will enter the following: "resume AND sales AND chicago." This will pull up listings for sales positions in Chicago. By adding vending or food service, he or she will narrow the search even further.

o Optimize your Internet search.
Use as many search engines as possible to expand the possibilities, Siciliano said. The search engines all have different information. This is because the information they index is based on the actual searches they have conducted. "Every different search engine has different information based on the searches done on that engine," he said. 'Tour search is structured by information other people have looked at."

"You might have to use several different search engines to find the people you are looking for," he said.

The likelihood of a job seeker finding your listing is based on what information is in the listing.
Siciliano recommended reviewing the help section of each search engine to see what "Boolean" operators are supported. For example, the capitalized word "AND" is a Boolean key in most search engines that will deliver results with inputted terms.

The capitalized word "OR" will usually deliver results with either of the terms requested, such as "MCSE" or "M.C.S.E."

The capitalized word "NOT" will not deliver certain words in search results. For example, "Java NOT coffee" will deliver closer results for "Java software programmers" than "Java Coffee."

o Pay and free job boards.

There are both pay and free Internet job boards (see lists). Siciliano said the free job boards are harder to use since they aren't as well organized and the information is not as timely.
The pay job boards are free to the person listing their resume but not to the person who wants to post job listings or review the resumes.

Pay job boards can be worthwhile for companies that have multiple jobs to fill, Siciliano said. "Unless you're filling multiple jobs, a $10,000 1 fee to use their search engine to find resumes can be a very expensive proposition," he said.

The Internet offers a wealth of prospects through organizations and associations. "Somewhere on the Internet there's a listing of people who are attending this show," he said. Business organizations and schools have alumni lists on the Internet.

"I use association information all the time," Siciliano said. "It is a great way to find good people, particularly people who are not looking for a job."

The benefit of soliciting people not looking, he noted, is that they aren't comparing your offer against others. "You're not negotiating against someone else," he said.

Another way to find good people who aren't actively looking, he added, is to look at the references from resumes of people who are looking.

Siciliano also pointed out the benefit of working with a headhunter. A third party can solicit competitors' employees without incurring the ethical problems the employer would have.

He offered the following tips about working with recruiters:

Not all are looking out for your best interest.

• Make sure they can explain how they find "passive" candidates, meaning candidates not actively looking.
• Get an agreement signed up front with terms and conditions.
• Normal fees range between 20 and 33 percent of the first year's salary.
• The recruiter should handle reference checks and provide the employer the information.
• Get a list of references from the recruiter if they are new to the business. Siciliano will come out to an employer's site for an hourly rate and teach the staff how to utilize the search engines, or he can conduct the search himself.
  
  o Do drivers use the Internet?
  
  One operator in the audience pointed out that most route drivers - who are in big demand - don't use the Internet. He asked how a vending operator might find prospective route drivers.
  Siciliano suggested networking through the organizations that route drivers are likely to belong to, such as Lions Clubs. Simply call the local Lions Club and ask the president if he knows anyone who might be interested in working as a route driver.