In recruiters' rush to take advantage of the social media phenomenon, the power of email may have been overlooked. In fact, in a number of business studies conducted during the past year, email has been found to convert more prospects to customers than social media efforts alone.

Recruiters have traditionally relied upon email to market themselves, their services, and their job orders to candidates and companies . . . long before social media sites like LinkedIn and…

Every communication you have with potential and current clients is an opportunity to solicit contract staffing job orders.  Here are several places you could add your contract staffing message:

1. Your firm's Web site
2. Your email signature
3. Your firm's phone book listing
4. Your Business card
5. Your Standard fee schedule
6. Brochures
7. Your Client Newsletter
8. LinkedIn Profiles - both yours and your firm's…

The Department of Labor (DOL) recently recovered more than $219,000 in back wages and liquidated damages on behalf of 44 workers who were misclassified as independent contractors, providing a real-life example of how serious the government's crackdown on misclassification is.

The employer had moved a…

The economy’s getting better! No, it’s not. Yes, it is! No, wait . . . hold on . . . no, it’s not.

I can see why some recruiters have decided to stop watching and reading the news. There’s no point. Do the so-called “experts” have a handle on anything that’s happening? I’d have to say probably not.

Take Friday’s monthly labor report, courtesy of the U.S. government. According to the report, U.S. employers added 39,000 jobs to…

There has been a lot of talk in the media about workplace flexibility, but it usually refers to workers' need for flexibility in their schedules to balance their work and personal lives. But employers need flexibility, too.  They need the ability to adjust their workforces to the ebbs and flows of their business.  In fact, according to a special report by Workforce Management,  “Flexibility has become one of the most important initiatives and priorities as…

A while back, we did a few blog posts on how recruiters placing contractors are using social media to aid their recruiting efforts. Most of the recruiters we work with have found LinkedIn to be the most useful social media tool for recruiting.  With that in mind, we thought our readers might find the…

Are new graduates making the grade in today’s fast-paced business environment?

According to a recent study by the Global Strategy Group, the answer to that question is a firm…

The numbers get thrown around in the national news media all the time. Nearly eight million jobs lost during this recession . . . with only about 600,000 of those jobs recovered . . . and the national unemployment rate expected to hover around 10% for quite some time.

But what…

Incorrectly classifying 1099 independent contractors (ICs) as W-2 employees has been a risky proposition for quite some time now. But as government agencies increasingly work together to end the practice, the financial stakes keep getting higher. 

The government is very concerned about worker misclassification due to the loss of tax revenue it…

If you have clients who have 1099 independent contractors (ICs), you will want to make sure they are aware of the government's latest initiative to crackdown on worker misclassification.

While there are situations where paying workers on 1099 is perfectly legal, many employers abuse the classification, labeling workers who should be employees as ICs.  This results in the loss of tax revenue for state and federal government agencies.  The Obama administration has been particularly…

One of the biggest questions recruiters have when adding contract staffing to their business is how they will find contract staffing clients. 

The easy and unexpected answer is they don't have to run out and find a bunch of new clients to start getting contract job orders. Recruiters have told us that the best source of contract job orders is their current…

Many of the questions we receive from recruiters revolve around the proper classification of workers as either 1099 independent contractors or W-2 employees.  One recent inquiry we received was particularly interesting, and we thought other recruiters could learn from it as well.

The recruiter in question works for a large firm. This particular recruiting firm has a standard practice of asking each contract candidate whether they would prefer to be…

There's a new sheriff in town when it comes to worker misclassification.

Many employers use 1099 independent contractors (ICs) to reduce the costs associated with workers.  By utilizing ICs, employers avoid paying the employer share of payroll taxes, the expenses associated with Workers' Compensation and unemployment, employee benefits costs, and the time and money associated with administering various employment tasks.  However, employers can't just call a worker an…

There may be mixed reports on the overall hiring climate in the United States, but there appears to be little uncertainty when it comes to Technology. All reports indicate that hiring in that sector hot, particularly in the contract staffing realm. Even better, there are plenty of opportunities for recruiters to take advantage of this trend.

Citing a study from TheLadders, Recruiter reports that 70% of today's hottest jobs come from the technology sector. Moreover,…

If 2016 has taught us anything, it’s that there is a very fine line between authenticity and just being a jerk. Discerning between the two may be the difference between landing your next big break in the job market or spending another umpteen weeks driving to and from interviews.

The Information Age

A poor…

Like nearly everyone in business, we have been building our social media presence over the past few years. As recruiters see us out on social media sites, we often get questions about the "right" way to use them. Because most of our exposure and experience is from LinkedIn, many of the questions we receive surround this site. Here are the "Five Ws" of LinkedIn marketing we have learned through our own efforts.

Who?

As with any marketing effort, your success is…

I recently read an interesting article Dr. John Sullivan posted on ERE.Net. The article, entitled "What's Wrong With Reference Checks, Part One," says in essence that reference checks tend to suck. His take on employment reference checks may be a little harsh but not entirely inaccurate. But then, like…

With the multitude of home improvement stores and social media sites like Pinterest, we are increasingly becoming a Do It Yourself nation. Want to remodel your kitchen? DIY. Need a fabulous cake for a party. DIY.  But just because you CAN DIY doesn’t mean you SHOULD.  Saving a few bucks often is not worth the frustration, time, and risk associated with doing it yourself.

And so it goes with contract staffing.  Being cost-conscious, some recruiters try to go it alone when it comes to…