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The year's fourth quarter (October, November, December) is almost upon us. That means retail, wholesale and logistics (delivery) companies are ramping up their capacity for the holiday shopping rush.   It means they'll be adding hundreds of thousands of jobs to handle the increased demand. Most of those jobs are seasonal — when the holidays are over, so is the job. If you're looking to make some extra cash for your own holiday spending plans, a temporary assignment with one of these companies could be the perfect solution.   You may choose to apply directly with the company, or go through a staffing agency such as Integrity. At Integrity, we don't just drop you after your temporary assignment is finished. We'll keep you in mind for future assignments, and notify you of job openings we think you'd be interested in.   While you can expect to have the seasonal assignment come to an end in late December-early January, it's not a hard-and-fast rule. Many of our temporary...

As a specialist in high volume and RPO staffing, Integrity is tasked with managing teams at our clients' locations across the country. We'd like to share some of our strategies for maintaining efficiencies in these challenging conditions, especially as we head into peak season. Centralized Functions Inconsistent procedures and duplication of effort are the bane of a geographically dispersed organization. To avoid these pitfalls, our administrative teams based at Integrity headquarters handle operations not directly related to worker supervision. Candidate sourcing is implemented under Integrity's unified strategic umbrella, with a specific plan developed for each site's market conditions. Cost efficiencies are achieved with bulk buys of client branded media assets as well as utilizing Integrity's own PPC, job board seats and LinkedIn recruiter licenses. Our applicant tracking system provides the client with real-time data for making hiring decisions. The compliance team...

There's no question that increasing your knowledge and skills increases your income. But how can you acquire this education if you're already working, and don't have the time or money to go to full-time school?   In this blog, we'll discuss some practical ways to get you onto a more lucrative career path.   Take advantage of employer sponsored formal education. Many large companies offer opportunities to take courses that will make you a more valuable employee, paying some or all of the costs. In some cases, you enroll with a local school and make arrangements through HR for paying the tuition. In others, the courses are provided by the employer.   At Integrity, our Next Step U online training programs are free to all associates and employees (and can even be accessed on their mobile phones). In partnership with Penn Foster, an accredited educational institution, our course offerings range from bookkeeping and computer skills to administration and basic English — all...

As in other fields, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the ways we hire and maintain a strong workforce. Especially in evidence is the accelerated transition from paper and human processing to digital technology. Artificial intelligence will save HR professionals countless hours of drudgework and minimize the potential for error in decision making. At the same time, it's important to remember that nothing so far available can replace human interaction for both judging a candidate's character and keeping employees engaged. Here's a rundown of the most significant recent developments in recruiting technology. Applicant Experience The application and interview process can be such a hassle that promising candidates decide to look elsewhere. According to CareerBuilder, 60% of job seekers abandoned an online job application because it took more than 10 minutes to complete or was too complex. With today's technology, you can design a straightforward online...

Doing what you love — and making a living at it — is the ultimate dream, isn't it? You may believe it's an impossible dream, but we're here to tell you it can be done. Not with a giant leap into the unknown, but with small steps that will take you safely to your destination.   Learn more about your desired career. You may already be an expert at baking vegan cupcakes or making cosplay costumes in your own home. What you need is knowledge of how to make money at it.   Some ways to get that knowledge include:   Connections with people who are already doing it — through friends, social media, professional forums, blogs, etc. Apprenticeship or internship at a company in your desired field Books on starting a business Certificate courses to acquire needed skills   Start small. The biggest roadblock for most people is that they can't afford to quit their day job. In addition, you'll need to save money for the start-up costs of your new business.   Luckily,...

Your first few days at a new place of employment, you're going to be nervous. Unfortunately, your nerves could make you do things that give your co-workers the wrong impression.   Here's how to sidestep those pitfalls and set yourself up for success.   1. Not asking enough questions. Some people think it's a sign of failure to admit they don't understand something. So they take a guess and often end up with an even bigger fail. Your trainer, supervisor and teammates all want you to succeed at your new tasks, because it will help them succeed, too. So please, speak up if you need further explanation or you feel like important information was not covered during your onboarding.   Then there are the people who don't ask questions because they think they already know everything that's being discussed. It's true you may know some of it, but things may be done a bit differently by this company or this boss. So, listen carefully! (Anyway, nobody likes a know-it-all attitude.)...

The associate experience is comprised of several individual parts. Sure, workplace culture, infrastructure, and advancement opportunities matter, but so do the lengths a company will go to protect mental wellness and ensure employee health and safety. With so much up in the air for workplaces at this time, workers want to know their physical and mental best interests are protected. They want to know that their employers will allow them to handle impromptu health issues for them or their loved ones so that they won't put their production or job security in question. Employers that integrate telemedicine into their health care benefit packages provide associates that peace of mind. Telemedicine assists in building credibility with employees, allowing employers to offer coverage to associates, ensure business continuity, and improve experience in the following ways: 1. It helps with the building of trust and credibility with employees. Measuring engagement within your staff is a...

  Even if it only lasts a couple of months, you can reap benefits from your summer job for years to come — if you play your cards right.   What are those benefits?   1. If the job is in the industry you'd like to pursue, you'll gain valuable knowledge and experience.   2. You'll add contacts to your professional network. Even if those people aren't working in your desired field, one of them — or someone they know — might connect you to your dream job someday.   3. If you make a great impression with your employer at the temporary job, you might be offered a full-time position there.   How can you make that great impression?   Whether you end up working full-time there or not, being seen as a valuable employee will pay off for you in the long run. Here's how to get favorable attention:   1. Take the job seriously. Dress the part, don't show up late/cut out early, seek out opportunities to learn new skills.   2. Ask questions about the work and the...

Trust in the workplace is a valuable currency. When colleagues believe in one another and their managers, they believe in what they’re doing. They can focus on the task at hand and know they’re up to date on what’s happening at the company.   When trust is present, employee and associate engagement levels go up. The result? Higher-quality output as well as a more stable and productive internal culture. Measuring engagement provides a useful snapshot of where you stand with associates and how strong their buy-in is. To bring those metrics into focus, try the following:   1. Survey your employees regularly. Trust in the workplace and engagement can each become more apparent through regular, open feedback loops with staff. No matter how you take the temperature of your team, this feedback is critical to measuring engagement.   An employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS), for instance, presents workers with several questions about how likely they are to be advocates for the company...

Technical qualifications aren't the only things employers look for when deciding which candidate to hire. They know it takes more than that to be the kind of employee who will contribute to their company's success.   So, you may not be the candidate with the most education or experience in the job you're applying for, but as long as you have a basic foundation you can still win out — if you have the right soft skills.   What are soft skills and why are they important?   Soft skills are what make you a good worker — an asset to the team. A person can have decades of education and experience, but if they're lazy, disorganized, close-minded or otherwise counterproductive, companies would prefer not to bring them on board. They'd much rather hire someone who has more to learn, but the right attitude and ability to make that learning happen.   Another great thing about soft skills is that they're transferrable — they apply to just about any job in any field. So it's...