Florida has a hot job market, but companies are tougher about the people they hire

May 9 2005

Florida's job market has been steaming forward for the past two years, with unrivaled job growth compared to other parts of the country.

Local employment is just as good. In March, the tri-county South Florida area added more jobs than any other part of the state, according to state employment figures.

But a strong labor market doesn't ensure automatic employment for job seekers. Many aspects of the job search have changed in recent years. Employers are now much more circumspect about the hiring process.

Many are becoming much more selective, said Jim Hickey, a local district manager with Randstad, a staffing company. That's in part because of lessons learned during leaner economic times when companies couldn't afford to make poor hiring choices.

"I think they're starting to understand the actual costs of making a bad decision," Hickey said.

That means companies carefully screen resumes and cover letters for the right skills. Drug testing and background screening are now routine. Most importantly, though, employers are looking for a worker that "fits" with a company's culture and values -- which may mean multiple interviews, initially conducted by phone.

Here's a guide to clearing the preliminary hurdles in today's job market, with a look at initial resume screening, background tests and finally, interviews.

Getting past the screeners

Many medium and larger businesses use third-party companies like Randstad to guide them through the hiring process. That means job seekers may have their resumes screened or even interviews conducted by an outside staffing company.

One of the newest approaches to hiring is a recruiting process done entirely via telephone or online, which is what San Francisco-based Jobflash.com does when finding workers for clients like Norwegian Cruise Lines and the Venetian Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

"We allow applicants to pick a position, apply, check the status, all using a telephone" system that is bilingual, said Reena Jadhav, the company's co-founder and chief marketing officer.

How do you get around a hiring process that doesn't involve much human contact?

"Don't treat it like it's an enemy and you need to game it," advises Jadhav. She points out that eventually you'll have to meet the employer in person, so just "be really honest."

To start out, make sure your resume is correct. Third-party companies often do initial screening for companies, checking that resumes fit the job description. They also double-check the accuracy. More than 60 percent of employers said they sometimes or often found inaccuracies in people's resumes, according to one Society for Human Resource Management poll.

"It may well be that somebody overstated their accomplishments, overstated their education or left jobs off their resume," said Romayne Berry, a senior vice president with Right Management Consultants.

This is where it gets tricky for jobseekers. Companies want to know all the jobs that applicants have held, even if not related to the field they're applying for, Berry said. That makes it hard for people trying to highlight on their resume the particular skills that make them especially qualified for a job. But "You can't skinny it down," said Berry, adding that it's common for senior executives to have resumes that are two to three pages long.

Clearing the background check

Employers have become increasingly diligent about checking both employee resumes and backgrounds. Two years ago, more than 82 percent of human resource professionals said they conducted background checks on potential workers. That's compared with just 66 percent in 1996, according to another Society for Human Resource Management study.

Employment lawyer Robert Turk says that background testing is standard for all of his clients. He also recommends that they dig deeper into people's backgrounds. He suggests more questions on job applications that ask not just whether candidates have been convicted a felony, but whether they have been convicted of a lesser crime, pled no contest or even had "adjudication withheld" -- where there isn't always a conviction, but sometimes parties can still be found guilty.

The bottom line: Job seekers have to be completely honest when answering questions about a criminal record. Turk says employers in turn have a legal obligation to consider each case individually and not to disqualify candidates unless they were convicted of a crime that directly relates to the job they are seeking.

Source: Sun-Sentinel.com

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