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Hiring

When applicants are overqualified

12/01/2005
You’ve posted an entry-level position, and now you’re getting flooded with résumés from candidates with substantial skills, education and experience. What do you do with these overqualified applicants? Here’s some expert advice:

Obtain OK to share background-Check info with clients

12/01/2005

Q. Our company routinely runs background checks on all people to whom we offer positions. Can we legally disclose an employee’s background information to a customer who requests it? (The employee is working on the customer’s job site.) —L.B., North Carolina

Secure one-time consent for all employee credit checks

12/01/2005
Issue: Must you seek permission each time you want to review an employees’ credit record?
Benefit: As a new court ruling shows, the answer is ‘no;’ you can obtain one …

Know how to accommodate employee vision problems

12/01/2005
The EEOC just issued new guidelines that explain issues such as:
  • When a vision impairment qualifies as a “disability” under the ADA;
  • What questions you can ask job …

Push hiring managers to specify their applicant criteria

12/01/2005
Issue: Too often, hiring managers will poorly define to HR the type of employee they’re looking to hire.
Risk: This can result in wasted time and costs, plus mounting frustration …

Sharpen your recruiting with new matchmaker sites

12/01/2005
Issue: Some new job boards this year take their cues from dating sites, trying to match employers with applicants.
Benefit/risk: Such sites can eliminate unqualified applicants, but they’re fishing in …

How important are post-interview thank-you notes?

11/01/2005
About 15 percent of the 650 hiring managers in a recent CareerBuilder survey said they wouldn’t hire someone who failed to send a thank-you note after an interview. Another 32 percent …

Correct errors found in ‘Old’ I-9 forms

11/01/2005

Q. Soon after I started in a new HR department, I reviewed the files and found that some of the employees’ I-9 forms don’t have dates or signatures, or they’ve been completed using outdated forms. Can I go back to employees and redo the forms, collecting current documentation? Or should I just make sure the right forms are used from now on? —J.M., Ohio

Use safety as a recruiting tool; learn from the best

11/01/2005
Issue: Safety-conscious companies look beyond the bottom line.
Benefit: In addition to reducing costs and boosting morale, safety can be promoted as a recruiting tool to applicants.
Action: Reduce …

Continued employment enough to bind employees to noncompete pact

10/01/2005
You may be afraid that your top salesperson or IT whiz is about to jump ship to the competition, but you failed to sign those employees to noncompete agreements when you …