Chances are, when you’re considering seasonal or temporary employees, you need them in a pinch during an extremely busy period in your industry. While you may consider having your HR Department process the hires to save a few dollars, there might be a huge headache waiting in the wings during an already stressful and hectic time for your workplace.
Let’s say you need a bundle of temporary workers …
We at DePaul Industries are proud to officially announce our VETS FIRST initiative, a concerted hiring effort helping veterans and disabled veterans overcome barriers to competitive employment.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2011, unemployment rates for the most recent U.S. veterans, Gulf War-era II veterans (those who served on active duty anytime after September 2001), was 12.1 percent in 2011. Why such a high unemployment rate? Veterans, particularly disabled veterans, face all kinds of barriers when transitioning from military service into civilian employment. Often there’s a lack of clear translation of their military occupational specialty (MOS) to civilian job descriptions, or misconceptions surrounding their service-connected disability, or even a perceived high cost of Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) on-the-job accommodations.
“VETS FIRST is about recognizing and prioritizing our efforts to hire veterans, and to help determine how their military skills translate to the civilian workforce,” says Travis Pearson, Vice President & Chief Operating Officer at DePaul Industries and a veteran of both the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Coast Guard. “Veterans are rife with transferable job skills and a great work ethic, and we’re going to continue to invest in them as quality employees.”
At DePaul, we’ve built a reputation on employing people with disabilities, and that includes veterans—one in four Gulf War-era II veterans have a service-connected disability. DePaul employed 475 veterans in 2011, including staffing an entire administrative services contract at Fort Huachuca in Sierra Vista, AZ with 100% veterans. With business growth opportunities expanding in 2012, we’re ramping up our efforts to provide employment to those who have served our country.
Are you a veteran seeking employment, or an employer looking to hire veterans? Leave a comment below to learn more about DePaul’s VETS FIRST initiative.
This post is written by Kylie Foster, Public Relations Support Specialist at Portland Habilitation Center (PHC) NW. PHC Northwest has provided nearly 60 years of broad-based educational, training and job opportunities for thousands of people with developmental, physical and mental disabilities.
After a decade as a recruiter for a variety of organizations, Janis Williams, PHC Northwest’s Recruitment and Placement Specialist, has more than a few stories to tell. “I’ve seen great interviews, and I’ve seen interviews where the hiring manager didn’t even have a copy of the candidate’s resume,” she recalled as we sat in her office discussing what wisdom we can impart to today’s job seekers.
As we talked, it became clear that simply focusing on how to boost your resume or interview conversation tips wasn’t taking a ten thousand foot view of what a successful job candidate will need. Our conversation turned to a different idea: telling a story. Thanks to our partners at DePaul Industries, we have the opportunity to help you rethink the way you’re telling your own tale to the employers you meet with.
1. Decide on the important details.
As Janis says, “Your best friend on a job hunt is the job description.” The advertisement an employer supplies will help you decide the best way to tell them your story, as it provides the important details they will be trying to pick out during your interview. As you read about what the successful candidate will have, think about the ways in which you have done these things before. Maybe you had a job that required you to interact with different kinds of people, showing off your great customer service skills. Rather than try to cram your entire life into a few minutes, decide on a few of these important details that show you can do the job well. (The Employer Assistance and Resource Network has a great article on their PAR method, too). That way, you can use all your time showing the employer how your skills meet their needs.
2. Addressing the past.
It may be that you have been let go from a position, or perhaps you experienced illness that caused a gap in your employment history. First and foremost, be honest about these occurrences. Rather than speak harshly about the new manager that let you go, keep it short and simple with an explanation like, “A new supervisor didn’t feel my work performance was up to par. I had an impeccable record before that, so it was very surprising to me.” In the case of illness, simply stating that you were ill and are now recovered is a good answer focusing on the important details. (If this sounds like you, check out this article on resume tips for people with disabilities as well). Again, remember to always tell the truth and keep your answers positive. Employers will remember this.
3. Rehearse your interview.
Practice really does make perfect. If you can sit down with a family member, friend, or job coach before your interview, you will have the opportunity to get their feedback on how you’re telling your story. They may be able to help you think about the ways in which you match the job description perfectly, helping you focus in on those important details that will give employers a clearer picture of your skills. Preparing some great answers before the interview may mean the difference between a resume in the trash and staying in the running for the job. Some questions you should always be prepared to answer:
- Why are you interested in this job?
Employers want to hear how you can add value to their company. What skills do you possess that will help you be successful in the position? Make sure you’re ready to share them.
- Why should I hire you?
“This is not the time to be shy. Advocate for yourself,” says Janis. “Sometimes it is hard to tell people how good you are. Use your practice interviewing to make this seem smooth, but lead with what they want, right from the job description. Go over it again and underline what seems most important. Staying focused on showing how your skills match their needs is the best way to prepare for an interview.”
- Do you need any accommodations to do this job?
If asked what accommodations you need, feel free to answer honestly. Remember to keep your answers positive and mention that you’ve read the job description and feel confident in your ability to perform all the tasks required of the successful applicant.
PHCNW trains and employs people with disabilities in a wide variety of occupations, including landscaping services, and currently employs over 400 workers with disabilities to fulfill service contracts with various state, federal, and commercial entities. To learn more about PHC Northwest, visit phcnw.com.
In an effort to help close workforce talent gaps and reduce turnover in the Tri-Cities food processing industry, we teamed up with the Northwest Food Processors Association (NWFPA) to create a roundtable discussion among area food processors at the Port of Pasco that led to the development of some great new ideas for attracting skilled talent to the industry and area.
Building off of some alarming statistics from a NWFPA survey of food processors last year—indicating 40% of the food processing management workforce is eligible for retirement within the next five years, and that food processors in rural areas are actually experiencing this management retirement issue currently—we wanted to encourage a conversation among key industry leaders to present some solutions and best practices to address this workforce pipeline issue.
Here were some of the findings:
• Military veterans, across several different skill-levels, are a great fit for jobs in food processing—but many veterans don’t know the wide array of positions available, or how those positions connect with the jobs they had while in the military. Attracting them to the industry by directly correlating their Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) code to specific job opportunities is a great practice to consider.
• Food processors adopting the National Career Readiness Certificate (NCRC) as a preferred method to measure and certify skill levels in the industry is a way to standardize the hierarchy of skills, and a good way to easily recognize skilled seasonal candidates.
• Pre-employment training programs, such as our own DePaul Industries’ Heart of the Workforce (HOW) program and Mechatronics, preparing employees for industry-based skills before they step in the door, are proven ways to build skills and increase the likelihood of candidates beginning to build careers in food processing.
Attendees represented operations managers and HR managers from the industry. “I found the session highly meaningful, with several actionable takeaways,” said Selina Hoflund, Manager & Plant HR at McCain Foods USA, Inc. in Othello, WA. “I’d love to see more food processors involved to share ideas about how to expand our talent pool.”
NWFPA, known for its extensive research within the food processing industry throughout Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, is on the lookout for food processors in the Tri-Cities area to get in touch with the organization in order to contribute to the conversation, provide best hiring practices from their respective plants and seasons, and benefit from the shared resources offered by other processors.
“As an association, we’re interested in obtaining a broader idea of the workforce pipeline issues and hard-to-fill skilled positions within the industry,” says David McGiverin, Sustainability and Productivity Manager at NWFPA. “There’s a huge benefit to food processors working together to solve these issues, and it’s imperative—given the alarming pending retirement rate—to begin now.”
Do you have any best practice ideas to share about attracting talent to the food processing industry?
HR education & career resource OnlineHumanResources.Net (OHR) highlighted our Strategic Plan in a recent blog post, stating that our grand plans for expansion of revenue and employment of people with disabilities is good news for people in human resources. OHR emphasizes the point that “hiring people with disabilities is not only an ethical, and socially responsible thing to do, it also helps make a profit for your company.” This is, of course, what DePaul Industries is based on.
OHR continues: “The ADA, USBLN and many other federal organizations have made the information available for the business case for hiring people with disabilities for quite some time; it was just a matter of time before major enterprises such as DePaul Industries acted on this knowledge. After … news of the $1.37-$1.94 trillions lost each year due to the lack of people with disabilities in the workforce, this comes as a sigh of relief.”
This is important for anyone in HR to know: Your business can reap financial benefits from hiring people with disabilities — not just social and ethical ones. For DePaul, it’s not just a theory — it’s a proven practice.
To read the full blog post, click here. Many thanks to Online Human Resources for the support.
Interested in learning more? Contact us to find out more about our temporary staffing employees.
