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Know Those Who Come into Your Life

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women-1209678_640With all the people who will likely come into your life over the years, can you say all them are good for you?

Often, those people will contribute to your life in one form or another. Those positives experiences are things you can look back on in life one day with a smile.

Meantime, there will be some individuals who will not be as positive an influence in your life.

In those situations, could you have avoided such negative encounters to begin with?

Well, no is the answer in some cases. This is especially the case when you bump into people for no clear reason.

In other cases, yes, you may very well have been able to avoid such unpleasant situations.

One of the ways to have steered clear of these situations would have been by doing a background check.

Are Background Checks Worth Your Time?

When it comes to background checks, you may very well discover they are in fact worth your time.

For instance, are you looking at entering the world of online dating?

While the same holds true for both sexes, women need to be especially careful in today’s online dating world.

Stories of dates gone tragically bad are on televisions, newspapers, and even online.

If you are talking to someone and considering meeting, doing a background check on them is fine.

Another example is to know more about that neighbor.

Sure, many people don’t have time to know their own family and friends, let alone who lives across the street.

That said a background check of a neighbor you have some questions about can’t hurt.

By entering a name into one of the background check services, you should turn up information.

Among the items of curiosity would be if they have a criminal record.

If so, are any of the crimes noteworthy for you and your family?

Crimes such as domestic violence, sexual assaults and the like would be of interest.

By knowing more about who comes into your life, you are better off to make decisions about who to associate with.

Should You Check Yourself?

If curiosity has you going, you might even go online for a background search of yourself.

This can be even more important when you are applying for a job, a loan or any number of other major steps in your life.

In knowing what is out there about you, you can be better prepared should someone question you. This tends to be much better than being off guard during a job interview or when applying for a home or car loan.

Such background searches are easy to do. Even someone who is not Internet savvy can handle such efforts.

As employers may use background checks in hiring employees, you should consider them.

Given the information you may very well come across, you might find it to be an eye-opening experience.

Photo credit: Pixabay

About the Author: Dave Thomas covers business topics on the web.

 

 

 

5 Tips to Hiring the Best Employees

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Woman Signing A ContractAs an employer, do you feel like you are hiring the most qualified employees out there?

For many business owners, they will likely say yes to that question. Others, however, may feel like they do not always get the best and brightest talent.

In some cases, they may end up essentially getting someone in to keep a seat warm for a few months, only to have that person move on (be it to another job of their choosing or being let go).

While there is no crystal ball you can use to make sure you get only the best hires, there are some steps you can take to better guarantee your chances.

The most important item to remember is that your hiring choices do in fact reflect back on you. If you make great hires, those under your wing will look at your decision process as being solid. On the other hand, a number of bad decision choices, some under you may question your leadership abilities.

When all is said and done, taking the time in making the right hires is as an important a task as you will have running a company.

Making the Right Choices

So that you can make the right hiring choices more times than not, here are five tips to remember:

  1. Research – Above all else, make sure you (or your HR department, recruiter etc.) put some time and effort into researching all prospective employees. The research is actually made easier these days, especially with all the information one can find on the Internet. Part of that research is remembering that employers should use background checks. By using such checks, you can get to know a lot of background about an individual before they ever set foot in your office or elsewhere for an interview. That information can also help in weeding out bad candidates from those deserving of an interview;
  2. Social media – With millions of people on social media, you’re more than likely to find some of your prospective job candidates active there. As a result, you can get a glimpse into their lives, be it on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram etc. While their social activities are their personal matters, coming across questionable posts and/or images may lead you to think twice about hiring them. Remember to keep the posts in context, knowing that such posts do not necessarily mean they are bad candidates.

Only the Motivated Need Apply

  1. Motivation or lack thereof – Some candidates will have overwhelming interest in your openings, others not so much. Even a short phone interview can prove an interesting nugget. If someone seems to be less than enthusiastic about the opening, are they still worth bringing in for a sit-down interview? Use your intuition to determine if someone is truly interested in the job or just sending out resumes on the fly;
  2. Personalities matter – Most employers will tell you that team chemistry is a must in their offices. The lack of teamwork (and personalities that can co-exist) can prove detrimental to any office. That said it can be hard to gauge personalities from just a short sit-down interview and/or phone call. Introducing prospective candidates to those they’d be working with is not a bad idea. Such short introductions allows you to see how they mingle with others, along with giving your current staff a chance to provide some feedback;
  3. Making them want to work for you – Finally, it only stands to reason that a good job opening will attract good prospective employees. When you have a company that people want to work for, you usually avoid having to interview (maybe even hire) individuals not up to par. By offering a competitive salary, reasonable health benefits, along with a good working environment, you should get some outstanding resumes.

When the time comes to hire new employees, will you bring on only the best?

As an employer, what tips do you have for others running companies as they prepare to hire?

Photo credit: BigStockPhoto.com

About the Author: Dave Thomas covers business topics on the web. Part 2 (how job applicants can improve their chances of landing a position) runs on Friday, Oct. 21.

Make Your Reputation Count When Searching for a Job

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With millions of Americans still searching for work, the stars in many cases have to align perfectly to land that coveted job.

While you can have years of experience, a desire to get the job done yesterday and not tomorrow, and the ability to work well with others, what could possibly be holding you back? Perhaps your reputation?

In today’s 24/7 Internet age, it just takes one unenviable image or statement to get online and cost you a potential job. As more and more companies turn to researching prospective applicants online, job seekers need to make sure their history is not something that will come back to bite them in the end.

Estimates indicate that more than 40 percent of resumes include false or altered information when they arrive on the desk or computer of an employer. Given that figure, is it any wonder more businesses are spending extra time checking out just who their next employee may be?

For the prospective employee, turning to services such as Reputation.com allows them to acquire personal information discovered on different blogs, photo sites, news outlets and social networking venues like Facebook and Twitter. Remember, it just takes one bad comment or image to kill a potential job.

As an example, say you are college grad entering the workforce for the first time. Your grades were super, you did a variety of charitable functions during your four years in school, and you come highly recommended by your professors and even an employer or two where you may have interned or worked part-time. Think that the coast is clear?

Wait a minute…. remember that silly comment you made on Twitter a couple of years ago where you admitted to shoplifting something from a store? Remember the photo you had taken at a frat party that was more than just a tad compromising? Lastly, remember that innocent comment you made on Facebook last year about someone’s ethnicity? Any or all of these scenarios could doom you if a potential employer discovers them through a  simple background check.

To start the process of better understanding your online image, do a simple Google search of your name and see what comes up.

In the event there are issues to be dealt with, using a reputation service company will allow you to put out more positive information about yourself and how you can help a prospective employer. By doing so, such information will move to the front of search-engine results, while pushing the negative details down.

In a world where your reputation can mean the difference between a job and unemployment, don’t bank on assuming your online reputation is squeaky clean.

Photo credit: scoop.it

Dave Thomas has more than 20 years’ experience as a writer, covering news, sports marketing, SEO, press releases, social media and more.Â