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If you work in human resources, you are constantly making decisions. We all make countless decisions each day, as we are faced with a huge array of choices. So, with all of this decision making, what can we do to make better decisions?

Most of the decisions we make are made pretty much by habit. We react to something that is making a demand on us. So, it’s not surprising that because of this we often make bad decisions. There is also something researchers call decision fatigue – the more decisions we make, the less ability we have to make additional decisions well. So, we need to get a handle on our decision making. How? Business analyst Tony Schwartz provides a few ideas.

The first thing is to avoid making bad decisions. That means taking control of your decision-making. That is, don’t be reactive. Some things act as triggers for our behavior. Something happens and it just triggers a response that is almost automatic. But this is what you have to avoid. If you feel compelled to do something, don’t. This is just automatic behavior, something you have not deliberated about, something that is not intentional.

So, become more aware of what you are feeling. If you are emotional, if the adrenaline is pumping, you know this is not a good time to make a decision. The first thing to do is calm down and take a few deep breaths.

Another thing you need to do is to take the long view. A certain decision might make you feel good right now, but how about down the road a bit? Will you wish you had done something else instead? What decision will add the most value to your life and deliver the most bang for the buck over the long haul? Schwartz suggests doing your most important work, making the most important decisions, first thing in the morning, when you are the most energetic and have fewer obligations than later in the day.

Another dimension to making good decisions is a moral one. What decision will make you feel good about yourself, not just feel good? What kind of decision will put your values into action? These types of decisions obviously are often more difficult to make, as they involve sacrifice and discomfort in the short term. But if you simply choose the most pleasurable alternative, how will you feel about yourself later? What kind of person do you want to be?

When looking for great employees for your San Antonio-area company, don’t go it alone. Let Trinity Staffing Services help your find terrific workers for your temporary and direct-hire assignments. We look forward to hearing from you!

In this day and age, everyone has an Internet persona. With all the tweets, status updates, comments and such, it’s unavoidable not to be online (or searchable) in some way, shape or form.

In a 2011 Reppler survey about how recruiters use social networks to screen candidates, 91% of the respondents claimed they have visited a potential candidate’s profile on a social network as part of the screening process, and 69% have even rejected a candidate based on what they found on his or her social networking profiles, such as an inappropriate photo, a post about the candidate using illegal substances or negative comments about a previous employer.

But what are hiring managers and recruiters actually hoping to accomplish by doing this? And what happens when they find something questionable?

For one thing, it’s expensive for companies to hire someone only to learn weeks or months later that he or she isn’t the right fit for the job. With social media, it’s possible to learn a lot more about a person than what’s on their resume, giving recruiters and hiring managers more insight into the behaviors and personal lives of their candidates.

“Businesses and recruiters want to know as much as they can about a person who they may give a job offer,” says Eric Meyer, partner in the labor and employment group at Dilworth Paxson LLP. “But the real purpose behind screening is to make sure the person you’re hiring doesn’t have any red flags that would make them a bad fit or a potential liability for the business.”

Most social media profiles aren’t updated with recruiters in mind. People are posting about things that are relevant to their lives, interests and personalities. By screening candidates’ social media profiles, recruiters are getting a clearer picture of the person behind the resume.

What to Expect When Employers Find a Red Flag

Most job seekers should know there’s a chance a hiring manager might glance at at least one of their social media profiles throughout the duration of the hiring and interviewing process. There’s also a chance he or she might find something questionable, like a nasty comment about a former boss, causing a red flag to go up and throwing a wrench in the hiring process.

While recruiters have rejected candidates based on what they’ve found on a social network, some would prefer to give the candidate a chance to explain the reasoning behind it.

“I think it’s a good practice as an employer who’s doing really any kind of a background check to give candidates a chance to explain themselves,” Meyer says. “Oftentimes there’s a story behind what was posted online or what might show up in a background check.”

Maybe those stories won’t hold up, and in that case the candidate probably wasn’t the right fit for the company. But just as 69% of recruiters have rejected a candidate based on content found on his or her social networking profile, 68% have actually hired someone. Of those, 39% did it because whatever they found “gave a positive impression of the candidate’s personality and organizational fit.”

“In terms of mindset and outlook on life, people use their social networks and their blogs to really express themselves,” says Rachel Dotson, content manager for ZipRecruiter. “If you see someone consistently posting negative things and it’s apparent they have a poor outlook on life, that’s the kind of thing (especially at a small company like ours) that’s going to give us a lot of pause. One toxic employee can ruin an entire department or organization, depending on its size.”

Reminders for Job Seekers

Whether candidates are active on just one or multiple social media profiles, they can’t assume anything they put online is private.

“You may have privacy restrictions set up on Facebook and the like, and an employer may not be able to view what’s behind those privacy restrictions, but you never know how they might gain lawful access to that information,” says Meyer.

For most job seekers, these points are pretty common sense. But if more and more hiring managers start demanding login information for candidates’ social media profiles, employers will have more to worry about than what’s on a job seeker’s Facebook profile, such as the legality of accessing electronic information without authorization, or the of risk losing top talent due to a perceived lack of trust.

“Employers run the risk that if they require job candidates to relinquish Facebook logins and passwords as a condition of employment, those candidates will respond by removing their names from consideration,” Meyer adds. “At the moment the company requests that private information, it projects a lack of trust, which is a bad building block for an employer-employee relationship.”

What other best practices should social job seekers consider for maintaining their social reputation online?

Jennifer King is an HR Analyst for Software Advice, a company that compares and reviews employee evaluation and HR software. She blogs about trends, technology and best practices in HR and career development.

Chances are you’ll have the chance to lead or mentor someone at some point during your career.
What’s more, you may not even know a leadership role is coming; we’re often placed in a leadership/mentoring role at a moment’s notice.

Follow the tips below as you “learn leadership as you go.”

• Remember that leadership is as much mentoring as it is “leading.” It’s your job as a leader to help your staff grow professionally. Take time to learn what your team members hope to accomplish both at your company and in their career. Build relatiionships and don’t forget to focus on the long view as well as the short-term.
• Yes, you should and must focus on your department’s or team’s goals and responsibilities, as well as your own goals. But the best leaders have a knack of making sure their own goals include the goals of their team.
• Don’t forget to “lead” your own superiors. What’s that? Don’t forget that your own boss is looking to you for help in achieving his or her goals. Aim to make sure you help those goals come to fruition. You also can lead up by offering “advice” to your superiors in the form of articles you find of use, advice you heard – in other words, you “influence” your boss to help him or her achieve greater things.
• You’ll also need to be sure you communicate regularly with both your team members and your superiors. This can be as simple as sending a weekly e-mail to your manager regarding projects completed, in progress and challenges overcome/still facing. You also can speak with your team members together and one-on-one to go over project needs, challenges, etc.

No matter is you’re looking for a new leadership position or if you’re looking for a new leader for your department, if you’re in the San Antonio area, come to Trinity Staffing Services. We’ve been helping great employers and workers come together since 1996 and we look forward to begin this type of professional “matchmaker” for years to come. Contact us today!

If you’ve been moved into management recently, or even if you’ve been a supervisor for several years, we’re sure you’re always looking to improve.

Below are some tips to help you improve your “boss performance.”

1. Perhaps the best way to improve your management skills is to improve how well you listen. Sure, you may think you’re good at listening. After all, every day, hour by hour, you hear your employees’ concerns, complaints, suggestions etc. But do you really hear them? Are you going to them every now and then and just asking them how they’re doing and if there’s anything you can do to make their job better and/or more successful? Listen to their concerns and suggestions. You don’t have to act on them right away, but by listening and hearing your staff you’ll be amazed at how much their performance improves.
2. Sure, your main job as boss is to make sure projects are finished on time and done well. But another important part of your job is to help your people shine, to help them grow and be the best they can be. With that in mind, take a look at your staffers and notice what they do best. Then let them do those things as much as possible within the constraints of their job description and their job duties.
3. Never correct an employee in public. In addition, never shame someone in front of others. Sure, you may be fed up with the employee, and the employee may have made a huge mistake – again! – but instead of the employee being seeing as receiving a worthy public flogging, you’ll be seen as a tyrant and a bully. Plus, the employee will never want to do it your way ever again – you’ve made a big enemy. Always take an employee to a private room and correct him or her as soon as you can – the same day as possible. Try using the “reverse Oreo” technique: compliment the employee sincerely on something her or she does well, offer your critique/need for improvement, finish with another bit of praise about the employee.
4. As you’ll correct in private, you should praise in public. Let the good work of an employee be known and don’t be shy. When someone does something above and beyond, acknowledge it. You also may want to offer an employee of the month program, with some sort of small reward (gift certificates to the movies, for coffee, etc.). A little praise will go a long, long way!
5. To be a better boss, hire great people in the first place. In fact, some of the greatest leaders in the world make a point of hiring people they believe are “better” than they are. If you’d like to hire great people for your San Antonio company, contact Trinity Staffing Services. We know where to find “the good guys,” and we’d look forward to finding them for your company. Contact us today!

What can you do when you absolutely, positively, Hate (that’s with a capital H), despise, abhor, simply can’t. Stand. Your. Job?

You may think, especially as word comes about that a jobs recovery is upon us (albeit a very slow one), that you can sing the words of the old working man’s standard of a song, “Take This Job and Shove It” as you say those sweet words we too often long to say: “I quit!”

But you’d be wrong. So very, very, very wrong.

One should never leave a job in a huff. Never. Burning bridges in this manner can have repercussions on your career and life for months, if not years, to come. Word gets around about how unprofessional someone is when leaving a job (references, anyone?). So a word to the wise: no matter how bad a job is, never leave in anger. Even if you decide to quit without having another position lined up, give plenty of notice, be professional and polite and, above all, continue doing your job properly until the day you leave.

But what about until that glorious day? How does one stay in a hated job?

Follow these tips:

If your hatred of your job is because a colleague or boss is overbearing if not outright angry and mean (but on this side of being abusive), understand that there’s not much you can do to change his or her behavior. But you can learn to live with it. Aim to change how you respond to the disliked colleague/boss. Try to see things from his or her perspective (without giving in to things you feel are totally wrong to agree to). Learn to not take it personally.

Meanwhile, no one should have to live with boorish behavior. If you let an inappropriate comment or action “go,” you’re only reinforcing it. If someone yells at you (even your boss), you should let the individual know you that it’s not appropriate to speak to you that way. (Don’t shout or yell this in public, by the way…). When things are calm, meet with the person in private and professionally, courteously and firmly state your case.

If things continue their downhill slide, you may have to get your boss involved (if the problem person is a colleague) or even HR (if the problem is your boss). But before heading for the big guns, aim to work with the person on your own, without bringing management into it.

If the problem with your job is that you feel you’re being passed up for recognition or promotion, before settling in to a big ol’ pity party, examine your own behavior, particularly as it pertains to your performance. What can you do to improve? What circumstances beyond your control truly are putting a wall in front of your success?

Is your job one where you have little say in how you to do it? You may be surprised to find that your boss is open to allowing you more autonomy. Approach your supervisor with an attitude of professional collegiality and discuss how more freedom will mean increased productivity. Done in a professional manner, you’ll probably be pleasantly surprised how amenable your boss is to your idea.

If you’re looking for greener pastures in the San Antonio job market, send your resume to Trinity Staffing Services. We have many positions – some of them direct-hire – with many of the region’s top employers. We look forward to hearing from you.

When you are looking for a new job, your focus naturally is on selling yourself to a company, but in order to do this you need to know, and know well, the job to which you are applying. You need to understand exactly what your role will be in the company, what you will be doing and what you won’t be doing. Sometimes people are so anxious to land the job, they don’t bother to get a really clear idea of exactly what the job entails.

It could mean the difference between having a satisfying career, one with personal growth, and suffering through a big disappointment, and a possible job change.

So, it’s important to know what your role will be, according to business analyst Bill Barnett. To do this, Barnett says, you first need to look over the job description before the interview to get as good an idea of what the job entails from the description. But you also need to be aware that the job description is just a start. It may not be as clear as it should about certain aspects of the job, or it may even be out of date. So, when you go to the interview you need to be prepared to ask questions about the job duties, and you need to get specific: find out what you will be doing on a daily basis, with whom who you will be working, what challenges and responsibilities go with the job, etc.

You will want to find out if the job will be able to give you what you need to be successful: will you have the authority and the responsibility to achieve the things you want and are asked to? Find out who your boss will be and try to ascertain if that person will give you the kind of support you will need to be successful.

Also, you will need to evaluate if you are ready for the job. Do the skills and experience you have gained adequately prepare you for what you will face? You don’t want to set yourself up for failure.

Also, think about what you expect to learn in the job, and then compare that to what you have actually learned after you have been in the job or a while. How do they compare?

Working in temporary assignments is a great way to “test drive” a position as well as a company. Temporary positions often become regular employment…if you and Trinity Staffing’s client company believe a good match has been made. If you’re looking for work in the San Antonio area, give us a call!

No matter what kind of work you end up doing, at various times along your career arc, you’re going to be confronted with obstacles, problems and challenges. The key to being successful is not to avoid these pitfalls – because there is no way you can – but to take a positive approach toward them.

In fact, three business analysts suggest that the best way to approach obstacles is – get ready for this because it is the height of counter intuition – to be grateful for them. By doing this, they say, you will turn your problems into an advantage. Looking at problems as presents to you is a good way to approach them, according to business analysts Leonard Schlesinger, Charles Kiefer and Paul Brown.

There are several reasons why taking this approach can be helpful. For example, you will be more open to getting opinions about your problem from other people. It is a gift in the sense that it helps you gain different perspectives. It is a gift because the input you get could take you in a path you had not even considered, one that might be more fruitful than anything you had thought of.

It is a gift because all these ideas and perspectives on it are giving you facts about what you need to confront.

But what if, for example, it is a real piece of lousy news. Your boss hates your new idea, and there is no way you can change his or her mind. Again, think about the gift. Do not merely resign yourself to the situation, but embrace it. Turn the fact that the decision is final into an advantage. Perhaps it harbors a hidden opportunity. Maybe your boss didn’t like a new software program idea, for example. Can you incorporate it into your product or service in a way that no competitor would even think of doing? Is it something you can develop on your own? Maybe it is an idea you could take to a rival, something that might land you an even better job.

They emphasize that to be successful, you have to work with what you’ve got, and bring to bear everything you can get your hands on to reach a goal. You should be grateful for problems because they are just opportunities for learning more and developing more resources to use.

If your San Antonio job search is stalled and you feel you’ve run out of great job search ideas, come to Trinity Staffing Services. We can help you jump start your search by presenting your qualifications to some of our area’s top companies. We look forward to hearing from you!

Some employers do not look very favorably on a person who has jumped around to a number of jobs in a short period of time, assuming that he or she is just flighty, not capable of staying focused

Others might see it as a willingness to take risks and try new things.

But on a resume, the important thing is not the number of jobs you have had, but how you portray those jobs, says business consultant Tamara Erickson. Your resume needs to tell a story, and what you choose to focus on can make a big difference between a career that looks like a hodgepodge and one that looks like a focused and logical career trajectory.

Erickson gives the example of a resume that lists the following jobs, all held within a short period of time: a waitress at a small restaurant, a researcher at a small advertising firm, a stable operator, and general manager of a quarry.

An employer might not be disposed to look very favorably on a job candidate with that list of jobs, and would likely have trouble even figuring out what the person is qualified for.

But suppose the person added more information about these jobs, telling a story in the process, Erickson says.

Instead of just listing work as a waitress, the person also includes information about becoming interested in management, learning about purchasing and cash management, and taking over opening and closing the restaurant.

Instead of just listing work as an advertising company researcher, she also notes that she managed the market research team, a larger group of analysts, and that she developed good team management and project management skills.

Instead of just listing work as a stable operator, she states that she managed all of the daily operations of the business, supervised the staff, monitored the quality of service to customers, worked with suppliers, and also managed the books.

Instead of just listing work as manager of a quarry, she notes that she managed all aspects of the $20 million business, from attracting new customers, to delivery of the products and design services. She states also that she supervised a staff of 20 people and managed customer relationships.

Now, instead of a work history that looks like an unrelated hodgepodge of jobs, there is a clear and compelling narrative that tells a story about a logical and straightforward progression, a focused path.

This is the way to help your next employer see your abilities and get yourself into the job you want, Erickson says.

Another great way to have an employer “see your abilities” is to contact a recruiter at Trinity Staffing Services. We can present your resume and qualifications to a number of San Antonio’s best employers. Contact us today!

It’s no secret that businesses more and more are using social media to recruit workers – and to check up on job candidates as well.

A lot has been written about putting your best foot forward on your Facebook or LinkedIn profile. Be careful, the advice goes, about what you put on them that could reflect poorly on your judgment or character.

Social media specialists also advise to be careful about the pictures you put on your site that could reflect poorly on you. But there is another picture that often does not get enough attention, or enough thought, when it appears on a site – your profile photo.

According to Kelly Dingee, a strategic recruiting manager, there are a few things to keep in mind when you post your picture on professional networking sites. First, she says, do not use a fake photograph of yourself. Avoid the drawings and the caricatures or the cartoon pictures.

Be careful what kind of image the photograph gives of you. For example, Dingee says, if you are a woman, avoid things like tube tops if you are going to put just a head and shoulders photograph on your site – everyone looking at the picture will know you are really not nude in the photograph, but that is the impression it will give.

She recalls a presentation she gave recently where she was talking about a top-notch job applicant she had. The person was perfect for the job opening, and Dingee was showing everyone the person’s social media page to highlight her accomplishments. But everyone focused on the person’s picture instead. The reason was that the person was wearing a strapless top and had cropped the picture at the shoulders, giving the appearance that she was naked. A little forethought and this problem could have been avoided, Dingee says. You need to think about the impression you are giving with your picture.

She also says to avoid including your children in the picture. They also do not belong on a professional job networking site.

Human resource workers are human beings like everyone else, and like everyone else, they make quick judgments about people from looking at their pictures; it’s just human nature. So, if your photo is a little quirky, a little off the beaten track, it may get human resource’s attention, but not in a good way. Look at your social media profile photo picture as you would when dressing for an interview, Dingee says. Make it appropriate, because first impressions count.

If you think your Facebook or LinkedIn profile could use some “proofing,” come to San Antonio’s Trinity Staffing Services. We’ll be happy to take a look at your profile and offer our suggestions for improvement. We look forward to hearing from you!

For job seekers, human resource departments are generally seen as the enemy. They know that the purpose of human resources is not to find the most qualified candidate to hire, but to weed out the problem candidates.

If you are looking for a job, this part of the application process may appear like some kind of barrier to overcome, but there are good reasons why companies do it, according to business consultant Amy Gallo. She recommends that rather than seeing this phase in an adversarial way, the applicant should look at ways he or she can work with human resources to get past this step.

It’s no secret that most of the job applications get tossed without a hiring manager ever seeing them. In fact, about 95 percent of all candidates never make it past the human resources screening process. Because of this, the applicant really needs to take this part of the process seriously and try to see human resources as a friend rather than an enemy.

Gallo recommends rethinking how you view a company’s human resources department. It is true that its purpose is to weed people out, but instead of looking at it this way, focus on how you can show HR professionals that you are the best person for the job, and a good fit with the company. You should take the situation not as a chore, but look at it as an opportunity to show that you are a better candidate than everyone else.

You also may believe that the people in human resources don’t really know what the job requires. While it may be true that they don’t know all the technical aspects of the job, they do have a generally good idea of what the hiring manager is looking for.

And yes, getting through the screening process means avoiding typographical errors on your application/resume and making nice with the human resources staffer, but don’t rely just on good grammar and being nice to get you through: work to convince the person that it’s your skills and knowledge that set you apart.

In preparation for talking with human resources, be sure to research the company thoroughly. This means doing more than just checking out Web pages on the Internet. Try to contact people in the company through social media and find out what they have to say.

Finally, and this should come as no surprise, prepare for the interview questions you are likely to be asked, such as why you are interested in the job, and what kind of person you are.

The recruiters and staff here at Trinity Staffing Services are here to help job seekers find new opportunities at some of the San Antonio area’s best firms. Contact us today to learn more about the temp-to-hire, long-term temporary and direct-hire opportunities we have available!