Employment Background Screening

Take the Time to Hire Right Every Time, Even with a Saturated Job Market

Though everyone’s talking about how great it is that fewer jobs are being lost as compared to this time last year, the truth is that the unemployment rate remains at a record-high level. More people than ever before are in the market for a job and are trying to send their resumes to any type of job they feel they can perform. This is both good and bad for employers; they have a larger pool to choose from, but the downside is that many of the folks who are applying for jobs are simply overqualified.

Being overqualified presents its own challenges to the employer and the candidate. First, the employee is likely to not stay in that position for long enough to bring a real value to the company (imagine what their employment background screening results look like). They are more likely to seek employment elsewhere once “greener pastures” come along. Employees who are overqualified are likely to keep their “feelers out” for better opportunities, both through staffing agencies and through their personal contacts.

Some of the challenges that present themselves for employers who hire overqualified workers include wasting time and money on recruitment and training. This is because the position will need to be filled and re-filled as workers leave for positions that more closely fit their skill-levels. Another cost incurred by employers is the continual need for employment background screening and criminal background searches as each new hire is considered.

However, it’s not all bad news. The good news is that employers have many more candidates to choose from. Aside from the overqualified applicants, many unemployed are perfectly suited for the job. The greater the pool of applicants, the greater your chances of finding the right person in less time than it would have taken otherwise. This means that it takes record time to select the pool of candidates and run employment background screening and criminal background searches.

BusinessWeek ran a story this week on small businesses and how the economy is affected their hiring processes. It was interesting to discover that for small businesses, the opportunities for growth are greater than for larger corporations. It makes perfect sense; small businesses run much leaner than corporations in times of economic hardship, so every person they hire increases their chances of raising profitability even more.

Another benefit that the BusinessWeek story covered was the possibility of a small business being able to reshape their staff’s talent. When the economy causes the job market to be flooded, take advantage of the surplus and use it to replace workers who are doing a less-than-outstanding job. If the best possible decisions were not initially made, or if it wasn’t possible to find the “perfect” person at the time you hired, now is the time to shine. Hire someone who is experienced, passionate, and who just so happens to be unemployed and ready to fill your needs.

Take the time to assess your hiring needs for the coming year. If you find open positions that need to be filled or need to find more qualified individuals, then 2010 is the perfect time to start hiring right.

Hire right every time with Accu-Screen!