SAP Recruiter Podcast | ASAP Talent Services

A Quick Guide on Career Mapping

Jeremy@ASAPTalentServices.com (Jeremy Sisemore) — Wed, 17 Jun 2020 07:57:00 -0700

If you aren’t already, it’s time to start hosting career mapping sessions with your employees. In today’s message, we’ll discuss why.

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This is a bit of an older video I made, but the message of it still rings true today. If you’re in a leadership position within your company, there are a few things you need to know about using career mapping in your business. Before we get into what these things are, let’s first go over what career mapping is.

Like a performance review, career mapping is designed to help you keep tabs on your employees. However, while a performance review is more about your perspective on how an employee is doing in their role, career mapping is more geared toward helping you and your employees understand the trajectory of their career. In short, performance reviews are driven by your perspective as a company leader, while career mapping sessions are driven by the employee’s perspective. Most career mapping these days is done via Zoom.

With that out of the way, one of the first things any leader should know about career mapping is that these sessions should not coincide with performance reviews. Hosting them at different times of year is usually best.

“

Career mapping conversations increase employee retention, engagement, productivity, and fellowship.

”

Another good tip is to ask your employees what they do (and don’t) love about their career, as well as where they see themselves in three to five years. You should address their strengths and weaknesses, too, but always realize that someone’s strengths might not necessarily be their passions.

When your employees know that you care, they’ll care more, too. For this reason, career mapping conversations increase employee retention, engagement, productivity, and fellowship.

If you don’t already hold career mapping sessions, either virtually or in person, it’s time to start thinking about doing so. If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Cybersecurity’s Value Can’t Be Overstated

Jeremy@ASAPTalentServices.com (Jeremy Sisemore) — Mon, 17 Feb 2020 13:43:00 -0800

It’s 2020, and your data faces more threats than ever before. Here’s what you need to know about prioritizing cybersecurity in your business.

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Our firm does a lot of work in the executive search space related to CISOs, or chief information security officers, for large corporations across all industries.

It’s estimated that cyber attacks cost corporations in the U.S. an estimated $1.5 trillion in 2018 and 2019, so it’s no wonder why the average board of directors considers cyber attacks the No. 1 or No. 2 threat facing their organization today.

A lot of the clients we serve here at ASAP Talent Services have had their infrastructure crippled by cyber attacks. When there’s been a major data breach at a company, that news becomes public and is very damaging to the brand.

"Please don’t wait until a cyberattack occurs to improve your cybersecurity department."

Cybersecurity isn’t just about focusing on preventative measures; it’s about creating a concrete crisis communications plan should the worst-case scenario arise.

A talented CISO works with your organization at the CFO level, alongside your chief legal counsel and public relations and marketing executives. Together, they devise protocol to enable your company to get out in front of any potential attack so that the damage to your data and your brand is mitigated.

Remember: In today’s digital age, it’s not if something’s going to happen, it’s when. Sadly, too many companies lack a cybersecurity department mature enough to handle crises; there may not be personnel, or the department may be severely underfunded.

Please don’t wait until a cyber attack occurs to improve your cybersecurity department, and make sure you hire only top talent for the role.

If you have any questions about cybersecurity in 2020 or how to find talented CISOs, please feel free to reach out to me via phone or email. I’d love to speak with you.

8 Tips to Improve Your Workplace Productivity

Jeremy@ASAPTalentServices.com (Jeremy Sisemore) — Mon, 3 Feb 2020 11:39:00 -0800

There are eight tips you need to follow if you want to improve your workplace productivity in 2020.

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Do you feel like you have too much on your plate, or there just aren’t enough hours in the day? Here are eight tips that will boost your workplace productivity:

1. Prioritize a top 10 list each day. Rank each item that needs to be done and start checking them off of your list. This will create a sense of accomplishment; it’s OK if you don’t get everything done.

2. Block your time. Many people have learned to block their time in 30- or 60-minute increments. With this approach, you can focus on what’s included within each block and accomplish more in your day.

3. Remove any distractions. We hear and see more smartphone notifications than ever before in 2020, and these notifications take us off point from what we need to be doing to be the best version of ourselves each day. Turn off the notifications!

4. Multitask less and focus more. Embrace the idea that people are not great at multitasking and be fully committed to one thing at a time. For example, be intentionally focused in every meeting you attend so you’re not overly distracted by convincing yourself you’re multitasking.

5. Use your smartphone to schedule your weekly events. You can use tools like Calendly to allow others access to your calendar and schedule meetings with you. Bringing organization into your life will be the best thing you ever do.

6. Schedule a few small breaks in your day to check your email or make calls. We all know that life happens, and this will allow you to check LinkedIn every once in a while or call a family member if needed.

7. Protect your time. Teach people that, although you have an open-door policy, they still need to treat it with respect. Tell them to let you know when they can get on your calendar or block a certain time of day when team members can talk to you. They shouldn’t think they can barge into your door at any time.

8. Give yourself a break. Like I already said, it’s OK if you don’t accomplish everything you set out to do in a single day. Give yourself the flexibility to react to urgent situations and push other items onto the next day.

I hope these tips help you have a great 2020. If you have any questions about this topic, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’d love to help you.

My Thoughts: CIO Magazine Article Names Top Skills

Jeremy@ASAPTalentServices.com (Jeremy Sisemore) — Tue, 17 Dec 2019 10:43:00 -0800

Earlier this year a list of top SAP-related certifications was compiled by CIO Magazine. Here’s what my list would’ve contained.

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Today I want to discuss an article written earlier this year that I recently read in CIO Magazine. It’s called, “The 10 IT Skills Paying the Highest Premiums Today,” by Sarah White.

Now, there were things in this article that I agreed with, things that I disagreed with, and things I was surprised to see left out entirely.

Do bear in mind that the data informing the article was collected by European company Foot Partners, so it may be less relevant to the U.S.

Here are the 10 certifications mentioned in the article:

1. SAP Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS)
2. General Data Protection Regulation
3. Lawson, an ERP software competing with SAP.
4. SAP Forecasting and Replenishment.
5. SAP Point-of-Sale Data Management
6. SAP Financial Services
7. Java Software Development
8. Microsoft Visio (a data visualization program)
9. Data visualization tools such as Tableau
10. Quantitative analysis, regression analysis, and interpreting big data

It could be that there are notable differences between the North American and European markets, but I was shocked to see that the Internet of Things and connectivity had been left off the list, along with AI and predictive analytics and robot process automation.

Also missing from the list were the in-demand skills of cybersecurity, identity and access management, governance, risk, and compliance.

I would have included others like e-commerce and hybrid cloud projects. Clients are always chasing talent with these certifications and are willing to supply them with an enviable income.

Lastly, within SAP, we’re seeing more demand for Hybris, Callidus Cloud, and Qualtrics—something the article did not mention.

Meanwhile, EHS, the list’s No. 1 spot, strikes me as an interesting selection. We just honestly don’t see a lot of demand for SAP EHS skills.

I encourage you to read the article for yourselves. Email me if you have any questions or thoughts, I’d love to see what you agreed or disagreed with.

5 Creative Ways to Hire the Finest Talent

Jeremy@ASAPTalentServices.com (Jeremy Sisemore) — Tue, 10 Dec 2019 12:04:00 -0800

Five creative ways to hire the best talent for your business.

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Today I want to discuss creative ways to land the toughest, finest talent. We all want them, but they’re a little more difficult to entice with an offer. I’m sharing five tips today that can help you nab the most challenging, talented people.

1. Ask great questions. Ask excellent questions early during the interview process. For example, what do they love about their current opportunities, and where do they want to be in three to five years? Then build their answers into your sales pitch and discuss how the role you want them for can help them get where they want to be even quicker.

2. Do something non-monetary. Find out what non-financial benefits you can provide that will make your offer stand out. Candidates don’t always just look at the salary. For example, for no extra cost, could you make the title of the position more enticing?

3. Work-life balance. Ensure your offer can provide your potential new hire with proper work-life balance, quality of life, and flexibility. These are things that are tempting to many people. Can your opportunity allow a flexible work schedule? Can you allow occasional work from home? Build these things into your sales pitch.

4. Make your offer better. Can you make your total package offer at least 20% better than your possible new hire’s current package? No lowballing, come in with the best offer right away, and maybe consider a six-month performance review in the offer letter. This allows them to feel that if they are doing wonderfully, they already know they have a chance to earn a raise.

5. Sign-up bonus. Get creative with your sign-up bonuses. When you can’t get there on the salary, what can you do creatively at sign-on? For example, offer a $30,000 sign-on bonus, but they only receive $10,000 on their first paycheck, then give them $10,000 more on their one- and two-year anniversaries. That’s $30,000 of guaranteed income right away.

If you have any further questions about hiring the best talent, feel free to reach out by phone or email. We would love to help you. We wish you a great holiday season and look forward to engaging with you more in the future.

Don’t Make These Mistakes If You’re Hiring During the Holiday Season

Jeremy@ASAPTalentServices.com (Jeremy Sisemore) — Thu, 21 Nov 2019 14:13:00 -0800

Many hiring authorities tend to think that hiring should slow or stop around the holidays. That’s simply not true, and I have a few reasons why.

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Today I’d like to talk about common mistakes that businesses make with regards to hiring during the holiday season.

As a recruiting firm, we’ve noticed that hiring managers, HR leadership, and other company leaders out in the marketplace tend to think that hiring needs to slow down or stop altogether due to the holidays.

That’s just not true. Some of our best months at our recruiting firm have been November and December. There are a couple of reasons why I think that is.

First, Christmas and New Year’s are times of reflection. People are always looking at New Year’s resolutions, and one of the most popular resolutions people make is to find a new job or career, especially if they’re unhappy with their current one.

November and December can be great times to continue hiring, depending on a company’s fiscal year. If you want to get a headcount filled in the calendar year, sometimes it’s better to get that position filled in the latter months of the year, on the slight possibility that the leadership within your company may cancel the role altogether.

Some of our best months at our recruiting firm have been November and December.

For another reason, companies don’t always think ahead about their calendars in terms of start dates for new hires. If you want someone to start in December, the time to start that recruiting process is now because the recruiting and interviewing cycles can take up to two weeks each.

On top of that, navigating that process while also juggling the busy schedules companies and candidates alike have surrounding the holidays can become really difficult. For many, those two weeks are shot.

Further still, while the recruiting cycle can take up to two weeks, the interviewing process to get to the offer stage can take up to two weeks, you also have the two-week notice that most people will have to give at their current job before they can start their new role at your company.

It’s very easy to see why, even if you think you want to hire someone in January, the time to get started on recruiting new talent starts right now in November. Don’t wait until late December or January, or you'll risk pushing that starting date all the way back into February or March.

Hiring authorities may just not have considered some of these things in their process, but these absolutely will impact start dates and hiring all the way into January and February. Again, don’t wait until it’s too late.

On that note, I want to wish everyone a great holiday season for 2019. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

What You Should Know About Career Mapping

Jeremy@ASAPTalentServices.com (Jeremy Sisemore) — Mon, 28 Oct 2019 10:57:00 -0700

If you aren’t already, it’s time to start hosting career mapping sessions with your employees. In today’s message, we’ll discuss why.

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Request a Free Consultation

If you’re in a leadership position within your company, then there are a few things you need to know about using career mapping in your business. Before we get into what these things are, let’s first go over what career mapping is.

Like a performance review, career mapping is designed to help you keep tabs on your employees. However, while a performance review is more about your perspective on how an employee is doing in their role, career mapping is more geared toward helping you and your employees understand the trajectory of their career. In short, performance reviews are driven by your perspective as a company leader, while career mapping sessions are driven by your employee’s perspective.

With that out of the way, one of the first things any leader should know about career mapping is that these sessions should not coincide with performance reviews. Hosting them at different times of year is usually best.

“

Career mapping conversations increases employee retention, engagement, productivity, and fellowship.

”

Another good tip is to ask your employees what they do (and don’t) love about their career, as well as where they see themselves in three to five years. You should address their strengths and weaknesses, too, but always realize that someone’s strengths might not necessarily be their passions.

When your employees know that you care, they’ll care more, too. For this reason, career mapping conversations increases employee retention, engagement, productivity, and fellowship.

If you don’t already hold career mapping sessions, it’s time to start thinking about doing so. If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Economic Slowdowns, Recessions, & the Market

Jeremy@ASAPTalentServices.com (Jeremy Sisemore) — Mon, 14 Oct 2019 11:34:00 -0700

Are we going through an economic slowdown, and how do slowdowns affect the hiring process? Find out today.

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Everyone in the market today is talking about slowdowns, early indicators, and whether or not a recession is imminent. Today I want to discuss these topics and talk about how market conditions might affect you in the coming few months.

Though early market indicators suggest we might be in the midst of a slowdown, we’re definitely not in a recession.

How are slowdowns and recessions different?

A recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth in GDP, which currently isn’t the case. A slowdown is defined as a period in which the economy is still growing, just at a slower rate than usual.

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We’re definitely not in a recession right now, though indicators suggest we might be in the midst of a slowdown.

”

How do slowdowns affect the hiring process for authorities and job-seekers in the marketplace?

As someone who owns an executive search firm, I’m very in tune with the employment market. A slowdown will actually help hiring authorities be better able to find talented candidates. For the last two or three years, I know it’s been tough to find talented people. This also means that job-seekers will better be able to find work. Mind you, no one is rooting for a full-on recession, but a little economic slowdown won’t necessarily be a bad thing for us at all.

What positives can we look for in a slowed market?

For consumers, interest rates are better and inflation won’t be as high. For homebuyers, you’ll have more purchasing power and the market will tend to favor you. For sellers, you’ll have a larger pool of buyers able to afford your home.

In the end, a market slowdown isn’t always as bad as the media would have you believe. The key is to know how you can empower yourself to make the best of the situation as a consumer, hiring authority, or job-seeker.

If you have any questions about today’s topic, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’d love to hear from you.

3 Business Lessons I Learned From the Astros

Jeremy@ASAPTalentServices.com (Jeremy Sisemore) — Mon, 22 Jul 2019 11:30:00 -0700

The Houston Astros are not only my favorite baseball team, but they’re also great teachers of business. Here’s what I mean.

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I’m a big Astros fan, but their recent World Series title isn’t the only thing they’ve given me to smile about. They’ve also taught me a lot about business, and I think there are three things that all hiring authorities can learn from the Houston Astros:

1. Rebuilding. The Astros literally went from worst to first in less than five years. How did they do it? They recognized the need for a rebuild if they wanted to achieve their ultimate goal. Human capital is the No. 1 predictor of their success, which is true of our organizations as well. The people that we hire and build our organizations around are our top asset.

2. Embrace the new generation. The Astros did this, and it went on to lead them to a World Series. How can you hire the next generation to impact your business positively? The Astros brought on players like George Springer, Alex Bregman, and Carlos Correa to rebuild themselves into a dynasty.

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I recommend tunneling your focus into one or two positions.

”

3. Tunnel focus. A hitter like Jose Altuve has to focus on hitting one ball and making contact. If he has to start focusing on multiple balls at once, he’s not going to hit anything, even though he’s a great hitter. In hiring, we try to do everything all at once and it leads us nowhere. I recommend focusing on one or two positions that can most dramatically impact the organization. Prioritize the most critical needs first and just move down the list. This will give you a much better result.

I hope this has given you some good ideas for your organization. If you have any questions for us in the meantime, don’t hesitate to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Model Your Hiring After the Chicago Bulls

Jeremy@ASAPTalentServices.com (Jeremy Sisemore) — Fri, 5 Jul 2019 10:51:00 -0700

Michael Jordan taught us how to dream. The Chicago Bulls taught us how to handle the hiring process.

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Back in 1983, the Chicago Bulls took Michael Jordan in the first round of the NBA draft, and as you probably know, that pick transformed their organization forevermore.

With Jordan at the helm, the Bulls amassed six out of ten championships throughout the ‘90s, and to this day Michael Jordan is widely considered the greatest player to have ever set foot on a basketball court.

How does the story of the Chicago Bulls and Michael Jordan tie into our roles as hiring authorities? And what can we learn from that historic 1983 selection when it comes to the way we recruit and hire?

Much to their detriment, a lot of hiring authorities are overly focused on bullets points in a job description. Even after accounting for such credentials as skills, experience, and education, they tend to place undue emphasis on the specifics of the role they’re hiring for. In other words, the hiring authority wants to know if the applicant has already done what they’ll be directing them to do.

For the sake of argument, let’s say the Chicago Bulls took the same approach. They certainly wouldn’t have gone after a player fresh out of college with no professional experience. Instead, perhaps they would have pursued a power forward with experience in the NBA playoffs or a player with a championship already under their belt.

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Seeing the process through this new lens might just fundamentally change the way you do your hiring in 2019.

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During the period between the ‘80s and early ‘90s, the Chicago Bulls weren’t a great organization and were easily outmatched against forces like the Lakers and Celtics. But when they drafted Jordan, the Bulls took a chance on an unknown quantity and rightly saw something in his raw skills and experience.

In addition, they assessed his soft skills—was he a leader at the University of North Carolina? Will he and how can he be a leader at the professional level? They looked at the totality of what Jordan had to offer, and, as they say, the rest is history.

Let this be a lesson to all of us about how we craft our job descriptions and consider the weight that raw skills and experience carry versus prior experience when we do our hiring. Ultimately, our focus should be on an applicant’s probability of success in our organization, rather than if they have direct experience in very specific areas. Seeing the process through this new lens might just fundamentally change the way you do your hiring in 2019.

If you have any questions or would like to have a conversation with me, feel free to reach out. I’d be happy to hear from you!

Retention and Employee Engagement—Part 2

Jeremy@ASAPTalentServices.com (Jeremy Sisemore) — Mon, 17 Jun 2019 12:36:00 -0700

Welcome back to part two of our series! Today we’ll focus on the importance of employee engagement and how it can impact your company as a whole.

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Last time in part one of this series, we discussed strategies for boosting employee retention. Today in part two, we’ll focus on another important aspect of being an employer: employee engagement.

Since 2010, numerous studies have come out that have really enlightened us as to what constitutes employee engagement, how it impacts productivity, and how it impacts employee retention. These studies have suggested that up to 80% of people don’t like their jobs and that dissatisfaction influences their disengagement.

But what do those employees look like? Well, those are the people that might distract themselves with social media throughout the day. Their lightbulbs aren’t on, they just seem unmotivated, and they don’t rally behind their company’s mission.

Why is it that people seem to be disengaged from their jobs? Well, the studies found that there are two key reasons:

1. They feel undervalued
2. They’re dissatisfied with the company’s leadership

This reminds me of a great quote by Simon Sinek: “Leadership isn’t about being in charge; it’s about taking care of those in our charge.” Studies have also shown that employees with lower engagement are four times more likely to leave than those who are highly engaged, so we know this is an important topic.

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Leadership isn’t about being in charge; it’s about taking care of those in our charge.

”

C-suite executives view this issue as one of the top issues that constitute a threat to their business, and it actually ends up costing the U.S. One study said that the issue of employee disengagement costs the country at large over $400 billion a year.

So what can be done to alleviate this problem? Here are a couple of things to think about in your own business:

1. Build trust in leadership. This includes middle-management, not just c-suite management. We have to show our people that we truly care about them personally, not just professionally, and we have to act with integrity. People in our organizations can see how we act behind closed doors as well as how we act with our customers.

2. Demonstrate competence. If mid-management is disengaged, it can trickle down to the people who work in their groups. What’s important isn’t what we do as a job function—it’s about why we do it. The question, then, is how do we capture our mission to change our communities and leave a lasting impact in our one-on-one, daily, and weekly meetings?

Ultimately, the first step to solving these issues is to realize how important it is, and now that we know what we can do, tactically speaking, to help move the needle in the area of employee engagement. Shifting your own perspective, and therefore your employees’, can have a huge spillover effect when it comes to retaining your top talent and increasing your organization’s productivity.

If you have any questions or comments about this topic, feel free to reach out to us. We’d love to have a conversation with you.

Employee Retention and Engagement, Part 1

Jeremy@ASAPTalentServices.com (Jeremy Sisemore) — Tue, 4 Jun 2019 10:35:00 -0700

Today’s focus is on employee retention and a few actions you can take to keep your “A-players” around to promote the good health of your company.

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Today I’m bringing you part one in my two-part series that will aim to help you with retention and employee engagement. They go hand in hand and are equally important in your workplace environment, but they’re also distinct from each other, so I’ve decided to focus on retention for part one.

Retention is the ability to hold onto the “A-players” in your organization that you value greatly and, in the event that they were to leave, would leave big shoes to fill.

Granted, there are times where we don’t take issue with or may even want an employee’s resignation if that particular person is underperforming or if they pollute the culture you’ve worked to build. That can be viewed as an opportunity to top-grade that position and hire someone who adds to the culture and is a stronger fit.

With the labor market as tight as it is today, though, it’s especially important not to lose your most indispensable players or even those who are one rung down from that.

“

Retention is the ability to hold onto the “A-players” in your organization that you value greatly and, in the event that they were to leave, would leave big shoes to fill.

”

Here are a few things you can do, tactically speaking, to bring about greater retention in your organization:

First, conduct performance reviews and convey what your employees are doing well and the areas where they can improve. Rather than seeing it through the company lens, make the review about the employee, and gain a richer understanding of where they’d like to be in both the short term and long term.

Seek to understand what skills and experience they’ve developed that make them feel their job is worthwhile, as well as those that they’d like to fine-tune and develop further, so they can realize their greater potential.

As a final tip, although compensation isn’t one of the top two reasons employees leave to pursue new career options, your employees’ compensation should be commensurate with the market standard when accounting for the skill set and experience they bring to the table.

Stay tuned for part two where we dive into employee engagement! If you have any questions or ideas for a future video topic, please let me know. I’d be happy to have a conversation with you!

What’s Your Employer Brand?

Jeremy@ASAPTalentServices.com (Jeremy Sisemore) — Mon, 6 May 2019 09:16:00 -0700

Your employer brand doesn’t impact the ways that consumers view your company, but it can have a huge impact on the kind of people you recruit. Here’s how.

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Today I’m going to talk about your employer brand in the marketplace and what that means for your hiring. It doesn’t matter what kind of company you have—you have multiple “brands” out there.

One thing that we’re all familiar with is the consumer brand. Because of your product or services, you have a brand with them, which is great.

However, today I’m talking about your employer brand. This means that as an employer of people, what do those in the marketplace think about you as a place to work? It’s totally different than your product or service brand.

If you sell cars or drinks, your consumer loves your product, but that doesn’t necessarily translate to being a good employer brand.

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Asking good questions in interviews will improve your employer brand.

”

A lot of things can impact your employer brand. One thing is just being aware of it.

How you treat your existing employees has a major impact on your employer brand. People talk, and a lot of them find out about companies through word of mouth. When people leave or quit, how professional are your exit interviews? Do you learn about why they are leaving and try to change for the better? Doing so will improve your employer brand immensely.

Another factor to consider is how you treat people through the interview process. Asking good questions, giving them fair offers, and all the other little things you do to leave a taste in someone’s mouth will improve your employer brand.

All of these things work together in totality to create your employer brand. Having a good employer brand impacts many things, including retention, hiring, and more.

If you have any questions for me about how to create a better employer brand or about anything else related to your hiring needs, don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Many Job Offers Are Getting Turned Down, But Yours Don’t Have to Be

Jeremy@ASAPTalentServices.com (Jeremy Sisemore) — Mon, 22 Apr 2019 08:46:00 -0700

A lot of job offers are getting turned down in our current market, but there are a few things you need to remember to make sure the same thing doesn’t happen to your company.

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We’re in a candidate-driven market right now, and as a result, more and more job offers are getting turned down. What are some of the trends in this market?

Stiff competition between employers trying to hire the same people
Companies are incentivizing their current employees with strong offers to keep them where they’re at
Some companies have long, drawn-out recruiting cycles that send mixed messages to candidates and discourage them
Companies aren’t properly defining their employment opportunity, or candidates are getting mixed signals from those involved in the interview process
Some employees are just tire kickers—they’re not serious about making a move, and they might only be using a job offer as leverage to get a raise at their current company

How can you adjust to this market and make sure your job offers don’t get turned down? There are four points you need to remember:

1. Recruit from the perspective of the employee, not the employer. Find out what they’re looking for and figure out how your opportunity can help them advance their career.

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Find out what they’re looking for and figure out how your opportunity can help them advance their career.

”

2. Understand what motivates them besides money. Ask open-ended questions that inquire as to what they’re really looking for in their next opportunity. Are they looking to learn new skills? Are they career-motivated or quality-of-life motivated? How does your opportunity apply to their motivations?

3. Don’t make offers without knowing they want to join your organization.

4. Stop lowballing people. Make a great offer on the first try, and only after they’re verbally pre-closed to accept. The only surprises in an offer should be if it’s more than the candidate expects.

If you’d like to talk more about this topic, have any questions, or need more information, feel free to reach out to us. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

The 11 Most In-Demand Jobs of 2019

Jeremy@ASAPTalentServices.com (Jeremy Sisemore) — Fri, 8 Feb 2019 08:32:00 -0800

For today’s message, we’re going to share the top 11 most in-demand jobs of 2019.

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Today, we’d like to shed some light on the top 11 most in-demand jobs of our marketplace in 2019. This list comes straight from an article recently published by Fox Business News.

You can find a more in-depth analysis of this list by checking out the original article here, but, for now, let’s dive right into the top 11 jobs:

1. Data scientist. It’s predicted that more than 4,000 new jobs will be added for this position in the United States.

2. Site reliability engineer. This IT position will be highly in demand this year.

3. Enterprise account executive. This position, which is more geared toward software sales, is also set to be in high demand.

4. Product designer. Those in this IT role are tasked with engineering technology products.

5. Product owner. Those in this role are responsible for handling business analytics and business processing.

6. Customer success manager. This role brings approximately $90,000 a year and is in very high demand.

7. Engagement manager. This includes those involved in IT program management, business analysis, and business process improvement.

8. Solution architect. Though it does not generally involve managing people, this role pays similarly to managerial positions.

9. Information technology leader. More than 1,500 of these jobs are expected to be added in 2019.

10. Scrum master. This position involves managing agile development teams.

11. Cloud architect. Again, more than 1,500 of these jobs are expected to be added in 2019.

If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

What Job Applicants Are Thinking

Jeremy@ASAPTalentServices.com (Jeremy Sisemore) — Fri, 25 Jan 2019 08:05:00 -0800

You could be unintentionally disappointing your applicants, thanks to a bad interview process. Here’s how you can fix it.

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Through working with our 70+ clients, we’ve seen the good, the bad, and everything in between when it comes to job application processes. More importantly, we’ve seen how they affect applicants.

A lot of companies have an interview process that takes too long and fails to give adequate feedback to applicants. When an applicant finally gets their first phone interview after a week of waiting, another week will go by without them hearing anything. Then they get the interview, and another week passes. This often adds up to more than a month, and it’s way too long.

Having so many steps in the process can also eat up time. When candidates have four or five interviews spread across 10 different decision makers, what do you think goes through their head?

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A lot of companies have an interview process that takes too long and fails to give adequate feedback to applicants.

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They think the company is disorganized, indecisive, unfocused, and not interested.

The common thread between these thoughts is that they’re all negative. When looking to find high-level additions for your company, using an interview process fraught with bad impressions is not a good way to do so.

If you’re not interested in an applicant, tell them quickly and professionally. Leave them with a good feeling about the role, and make them think, “I just wasn’t quite right for the role.” If not, they could go and share their dissatisfaction in your company with others in the job market. And if you really are interested in a candidate but they’re carrying all the bad thoughts we mentioned earlier, that’s even worse—they could potentially walk away altogether!

To avoid losing top talent, there should only be a few key decision makers who are all on the same page and who all provide timely feedback. You’ll get to the offer stage quickly and efficiently, and you’ll win a great addition to your team.

If you’d like to speak about your own hiring situation, have any questions, or need more information, feel free to reach out to us. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

A Recap of SAP’s Acquisitions and How They Affect the Company

Jeremy@ASAPTalentServices.com (Jeremy Sisemore) — Wed, 26 Dec 2018 09:23:00 -0800

Here are the recent purchases made by SAP in order to enhance the customer experience.

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Today we’ll be recapping SAP’s recent acquisitions and how these new capabilities affect their offerings as a company. Oftentimes, they acquire competitors and products that will help them do something different from their core offerings.

Qualtrics allows organizations to focus on four key areas to improve the user’s experience: customer, product, employee, and brand data.

Contextor introduces AI and robotic process automation capabilities. Think of when you interact with a bot on a website.

Coresystems is involved with mobile and cloud-based field service management. This helps employees in the field to create real-time customer experiences.

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Oftentimes, they acquire competitors and products that will help them do something different from their core offerings.

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CallidusCloud helps manage sales and marketing automation. This product handles bidding, pricing, quoting, and invoicing processes.

Gigya is an identity management company that businesses can use to join the identity management marketplace. In other words, think of how some sites let you log in with social media sites like Facebook; Gigya handles this process.

Hybris ties into SAP’s increased focus on the customer experience.

Ariba is a major purchasing and supplier-relationship managing company.

If you have any questions or need more information, feel free to reach out to us. We look forward to hearing from you.

Wishing You the Best This Holiday Season

Jeremy@ASAPTalentServices.com (Jeremy Sisemore) — Mon, 10 Dec 2018 08:35:00 -0800

The holiday season is finally here. We wanted to make sure and reach out to wish you the best this year.

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Today I want to send out our best wishes to everyone for the 2018 holiday season. We hope you have a very safe, healthy, and prosperous holiday season and a happy new year. Since we are a search firm first, I would be remiss if I didn’t say that the time to think about your 2019 hiring needs is now, even if you don’t plan on making moves until February or March. If there’s anything we can do to help in the meantime, feel free to reach out.

Why Hiring Managers Should Start Doing Interview Preparation

Jeremy@ASAPTalentServices.com (Jeremy Sisemore) — Wed, 10 Oct 2018 08:01:00 -0700

Job candidates aren’t the only ones who should do their research before an interview. Today, let’s talk about the pre-interview preparations hiring authorities should be engaging in, as well.

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Today I’d like to highlight a crucial but often overlooked step in the interview process. In a candidate-driven market like the one we’re in right now, omitting this step will come back to haunt you when it comes time to make an offer.

What is this critical step? Interview preparation.

Any good candidate knows that preparing for an interview is essential, so why aren’t more interviewers following their example? Of course, pre-interview due diligence is different for interviewers than it is for interviewees.

While candidates will spend their time preparing for the interview by learning about the position and the company, interviewers should do similar research on the candidate, themselves.

Before entering an interview, hiring managers should ask themselves whether they understand who the candidate is, what their hot buttons are, and what is motivating them to make a change.

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Following this step as a hiring authority could be mean the difference between hiring an average worker and hiring an “A” player.

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If the candidate is an “A” player and you hope to bring them on board, there are three main points you’ll need to understand about them:

1. What is it that they feel they’re lacking in their current position?
2. What primary factor (money, quality of life, location, etc.) is motivating their decision to change positions?
3. Does the candidate have any other opportunities lined up?

Knowing the answers to these questions before the candidate comes in for an interview is a must. Everyone on the interview panel should have a sufficient understanding of the candidate’s background before the interview process.

Following this step as a hiring authority could be mean the difference between hiring an average worker and hiring an “A” player.

If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

How to Properly Discuss Your Compensation Expectations

Jeremy@ASAPTalentServices.com (Jeremy Sisemore) — Wed, 26 Sep 2018 10:11:00 -0700

How do you properly discuss salary requirements and expectations? Today we will take a look.

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Today I want to talk about compensation and how to properly discuss your expectations or requirements when you're the job seeker in an interview. Let's jump right in.

First, realize that it's illegal in some states for potential employers to ask how much you currently make. Instead, they may begin the conversation by asking “What would you like to make?” As the interviewee, you really need to know how to answer this before the interview even begins. If you need to prepare a script for what you'll say and then practice it with a friend. Having your answer prepared and memorized can be greatly helpful when the question does come up.

If you feel comfortable, you can let the company know what you currently make, including your base salary and bonus payout. I like to coach my people to go into interviews and say that they would like the compensation for the role to be reflective of the amount of impact they will have on the organization.

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The problem with giving an exact, quantitative number is that you could tell them a number that is higher than what they had in mind.

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Although this doesn't give the employer a direct answer, it does give you the chance to let them know that you're more about the opportunity. It also shows that you expect the compensation package to reflect your impact on the organization. If it is an important, high-impact role, it will say a lot to the company. You could also say that you want it to be in line with what you pay other people at similar levels.

The problem with giving an exact number is that you could tell them a number that is higher than what they had in mind. This could shoot yourself in the foot and the conversation could go in the wrong direction quickly for a position you really wanted. You want to put yourself in a position to get a great offer for both you and the company.

If you have any additional questions about this or if you're interested in speaking about buying or selling, please feel free to reach out to me. I look forward to speaking with you soon.

How Alumni Can Impact Your Recruiting

Jeremy@ASAPTalentServices.com (Jeremy Sisemore) — Wed, 12 Sep 2018 11:21:00 -0700

How can an alumni program impact your recruiting? Let's take a look.

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Today I want to discuss alumni programs and how they can impact your talent acquisition and recruiting. The type of alumni program that I am talking about isn't a university program, but rather one that mature organizations are setting up to help keep track of great employees who have left their company.

Decades ago, employees who left a given company would tend to feel as if they had burned a bridge. Many of these people felt that, as former employees, they had abandoned their chance of being rehired by that company.

Sophisticated, mature global organizations, however, have now realized that not staying in touch with great former employees can lead to missed opportunities.

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By staying in touch with former employees who go out and get experience with other companies, employers are able to potentially bring them back to their organization in the future.

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With today’s exit interviews, companies let employees leave in a professional manner and keep the relationship intact, creating an alumni network of sorts. With the help of group pages on LinkedIn, for example, employers are able to stay in touch with talented employees who are difficult to replace.

By staying in touch with former employees who go out and get experience with other companies, employers are able to potentially bring them back to their organization in the future.

If you're an HR talent acquisition or hiring authority, you can create a loose affiliation to help make the difference in the war on talent we seem to be finding ourselves in. Keeping in touch with your former employees as they evolve in their careers may help bring them back to you with new skills that are worthy of a different role entirely within your organization.

If you have any questions about this, please feel free to contact me. I look forward to speaking with you soon.

5 Tips to Improve Your Recruiting Process

Jeremy@ASAPTalentServices.com (Jeremy Sisemore) — Wed, 29 Aug 2018 08:11:00 -0700

Today I want to share five ways that you can improve your recruiting process so you can retain great employees.

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Do you know what is hurting your recruiting process? If you are a hiring authority in HR, part of talent acquisition, or in the recruiting business yourself, the five things that I have for you today can help you determine the best methods for hiring the best candidate for your open position.

1. Spend 30 minutes on the front end to save hours on the back end. You need to get with all of the parties in the recruiting process on an intake call so you can describe each person's role and let the recruiting team ask questions. Doing this will save time for the whole team by avoiding recruiting and interviewing the wrong people.

2. Write your job descriptions from the perspective of the job seeker. Most companies write entire job descriptions from the perspective of what they want. Instead, you should include what a great candidate would gain in terms of their career experience by working with your company.

3. Get creative with sign-on bonuses. If you can't quite get the base salary that your candidate wants, consider a sign-on bonus. Just make sure you include a retention clause that states they must pay it back if they don't stay for one to two years. A great example of creativity is one of our clients who structured their sign-on bonus to create retention by offering $10,000 upfront and then another $10,000 for their one and two year anniversaries.

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Include in your job description what a great candidate would love to gain in terms of their career experience by working with your company.

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4. Have them pay back work visas. Sometimes hiring people on a visa is a great option for a hard-to-fill role. You can add a repayment clause on the offer that states if the person accepts the job and leaves within two years, they will pay back the incurred visa fees, which are usually more than $10,000.

5. Spend more time and energy on your onboarding program. Create an extended onboarding plan and execute it over 90 days, six months, or 12 months. This will not only lead to more successful employees, but increase your retention as well.

If you have any questions about this, please don't hesitate to call us. We would love to speak with you.

Have You Adjusted How You Hire Because of Our Full Employment?

Jeremy@ASAPTalentServices.com (Jeremy Sisemore) — Thu, 2 Aug 2018 11:10:00 -0700

What does our current unemployment rate mean for your company if you’re looking for candidates for the end of 2018?

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Today I want to talk about the economy and the unemployment rate and how that will impact companies hiring in the back half of 2018.

To start with, our gross domestic product (GDP) is over 4% for the first time in several years. The economy is booming. This translates to hiring and what unemployment currently looks like.

Unemployment is currently below 4%, which means that we are at full employment. But what does this mean to a company or hiring authority?

In the STEM areas (science, technology, engineering, and math) as well as healthcare, it has become increasingly difficult to find talent because of this full employment. Anybody that is talented is already employed and no longer looking for a job.

This changes how we have to streamline our processes and pursue strong candidates in the marketplace. We have to have a faster response time, as well as set up interviews more quickly. After two or three interviews, we have to try to get to the offer stage within two weeks.

In a slow economy, hiring authorities and companies move slower and have a lot of time to make their decision.

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When you find someone who is a nine on a scale of one to 10 and they are a good fit with your company’s culture, you need to jump on them.

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Today, however, when you find someone who is a nine on a scale of one to 10 and they are a good fit with your company’s culture, you need to jump on them. You have to put your sales hat on and sell why this is a great opportunity for them.

Then, you have to put your best foot forward and make a great offer. Of course, you should still expect to negotiate.

You will lose great people if you’re too slow or don’t sell your opportunity well. Great candidates are getting multiple offers, so you need to be prepared for this for the second half of 2018.

If you have any more questions about hiring in our economy or there’s anything else I can assist you with, feel free to call or email me anytime. I’d be happy to help you.

What's the Secret to Nailing Your Next Interview?

Jeremy@ASAPTalentServices.com (Jeremy Sisemore) — Fri, 29 Jun 2018 10:29:00 -0700

If you want to be successful during your next job interview, there are five key tips you should follow.

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All of us, even if we’re usually in the role of hiring manager, will sometimes find ourselves on the other side of the table as a potential candidate for a job. So with that being the case, what tips should job seekers follow when interviewing for their next opportunity?

There are five tips we’ll go over today:

1. Research the company in advance. Before entering an interview, it’s important to do your homework. Any opportunity you’re taking seriously enough to spend time and energy on in the form of an interview is worth the time and energy it’ll take to adequately prepare. You should be aware of their annual revenues, any recent or significant news from their press releases, and anything else of note that’s going on within that company. It should be apparent to the person interviewing you that you’ve truly done your homework.

2. Rehearse at least three stories of accomplishments you’ve made in the workplace within the last three to five years. You will always be able to find a time to work these things into the interview process. And to relay these stories, I encourage that you follow the STAR (situation, task, action, result) model. Following this model means first explaining the situation, then clarifying the task that was at hand, outlining the actions you took, and wrapping up the story by sharing its results. This model will help you present your accomplishments in a clear and effective manner.

It should be apparent to the person interviewing you that you’ve truly done your homework.

3. Ask great open-ended questions. Interviewers will expect you to have questions prepared. It’s never a good sign if an applicant has nothing to ask, or only asks the most basic questions they can think of. Asking the right questions, the kind that lead to a dialogue, will demonstrate that you’re an expert in your field.

4. Let the hiring authority know that you’re interested in the role. If you’re confident and excited about potentially joining a company, let the hiring authority know. This will do a great deal to help their impression of you as a candidate.

5. Close the interview by asking the hiring authority if they have any questions. It’s critical for you to not only express that you’re excited and feel qualified for the role, but for you to ask questions to determine if they feel the same way. Finding out whether they have any concerns or questions for you and actively listening to their response will improve your chance of securing the job.

If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

10 Questions to Ask a Hiring Firm

Jeremy@ASAPTalentServices.com (Jeremy Sisemore) — Tue, 19 Jun 2018 07:31:00 -0700

Are you preparing to work with a recruiting partner for your next candidate? Today I have 10 questions you should ask when interviewing a potential search firm.

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Do you know what you should ask a search firm or recruiting partner you are considering working with? Today I have the top 10 questions you should ask.

1. Can you give me examples of recruiting and placing this same type of search with other companies in the last two or three years?

2. Can those companies and hiring authorities be references for the company?

3. Which recruiter in the firm will be working on your searches if you decide to partner with them? This is a great question, because it is not always who you are talking to at the moment.

4. Can they share an example of what a recruiting script might sound like for your opportunity? If they cannot do one specifically for your company, can they share an example script of another search that they may be going right now? The purpose of this question is to understand if they sound good when they go to market with your opportunity. Do they put a compelling story together, or do they sound mediocre?

5. What kind of different pricing options does your firm offer? Ask open-ended questions about multiple firm contingency, exclusivity, price breaks for increasing the partnership, etc. to help you understand what the different ways you might align with the company.

6. Can you share in detail what your recruiting process looks like? You want to know how the weeks will progress and get a detailed step-by-step of their process. This can help you find out when you can expect to meet candidates, do an in-person interview, offer the position, and have a potential start date.

If you do all of these things, you are going to line up with better partners who are able to better represent you in the market.

7. What does their recruiting campaign look like to ensure that every qualified candidate in the market is hearing about the opportunity? You are testing the search firm for perseverance and making sure that no stone is left unturned.

8. Is the firm insured? Do they have general liability insurance, professional liability, errors in omission, etc.? This helps weed out an independent recruiter from an established firm because an established firm knows that they need insurance in case something unforeseen happens.

9. How many similar searches has the firm successfully completed in the same city as your position? While this may be similar to the first question, this delves further into if the firm knows your geographic market. Do they know the local candidates?

10. How many companies has the firm successfully placed people within the same industry vertical as you? You need to know if they understand your industry and if they have client references available.

I have two parting thoughts for you to consider as well. First, it is important that you review the search firm's website, marketing materials, open jobs, and client testimonials to see if they are on brand. Is what the company told you about themselves the same as what you found? And, when you are looking at the recruiting firm and the people, look at their LinkedIn and social media profiles for client testimonials before you decide.

If you do all of these things, you are going to line up with better partners who are able to better represent you in the market. Quality firms that help you can make the best hire you can possibly make.

If you have any additional questions about this or are interested in using my firm, please feel free to reach out to me. I look forward to speaking with you soon.