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What we’re reading: Hiring advice from across the web

Written by: Marc Schultz
Published on: Feb 14, 2019

READING

There’s never a shortage of practical human resources stories online. Here’s a few that caught our eye over the past month – including a new recommendation from the Society of Human Resource Managers, candid tips from working managers, guerilla tactics for recruiting, a look at how (and why) to attract older candidates, and a bias-busting browser tool that’s both practical and adorable.

Society for Human Resource Managers: SHRM urges employers to consider applicants with criminal histories
“‘One in 3 adults in the United States currently has a criminal background,’ said Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP, SHRM president and CEO... ‘Not only is it the right thing to do – to give a deserving person a second chance – but it is becoming imperative as businesses continue to experience recruiting difficulty at an alarming rate.’” (Be sure to check out the free resource toolkit developed by SHRM.)

Forbes: Older workers need to eat, too: The importance of attracting and retaining older workers
The President and CEO of Goodwill Industries of East Texas shares advice on recruiting and engaging older workers: “Advertise in publications that cater to older workers... accept various modes of communication… [and] offer good benefits. We take it for granted, but many people are working so they can have good health and dental care. Educational and training benefits are great attractions as well.”

Eagle Hill Consulting: Five guerilla recruiting tactics for hiring top tech talent
Though the headline says “tech,” the advice here works for any small business looking to recruit above their weight-class: “Use a ‘day in the life' storytelling approach to write job descriptions that candidates can easily identify with – and get excited about… Emphasize behavior-based motivators over rote skills and spotlight the potential personal impact and ownership inherent in a role.”

Boston Globe: Should I hire an overqualified or underqualified candidate?
Consultant and coach Elaine Varelas explores the pros and cons of this common hiring dilemma: “Finding out what the motivations are for your overqualified candidate will give you a better sense of how engaged they will be in the role – and how long they will likely stay. For a stretch candidate… there may be more of a learning curve, but what they learn will be aligned with company operating norms and policies."

Ask a Manager: Our firm asks job candidates, “What salary do you need to turn up happy every day?”
Frequently-asked manager Alison Green reveals the best way to communicate a salary range – and why this approach is a non-starter: “People will dissect the question, try to second-guess what you’re looking for and what’s reasonable, worry about leaving money on the table, and worry about shooting too high… all of which leads to you getting an answer that’s born of anxiety and worry, not honesty.”

BBC: Can dogs help us avoid hiring bias?
This profile a clever tool for overcoming bias in the recruiting and screening process – a browser extension that replaces all LinkedIn profile photos with images of dogs – reveals how tenacious our biases can be: “There is a likelihood you could make a snap judgement about someone’s trustworthiness with a randomly generated dog image, too.”