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Onboarding Post-COVID

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Now that award season is in full swing, many companies are hiring to fill open opportunities. Yet, the whole process looks different. We aren’t meeting people in person for interviews, our “first impressions” are only as good as our video connectivity, and once hired, now you have to prepare them for a mostly-virtual environment.

So, how do you do it?

In this 50 minute session, BOOST’s Director of HR, Nicole Ferritto and Director of Recruiting, Caitlin Ruiz walk you through:
• First Day Must-Dos
• Procedures You Can Prepare Ahead of Time
• How to Introduce New Employees to the Team
• and more!

Employer Branding | | The Missing Piece of Your Recruiting Strategy 

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Editor’s Note: This Article Has Been Updated on September 20, 2022

Here’s a little–known fact: GovCon recruiting is the money-making department you didn’t know you had. If your GovCon recruiting strategy is considering your employer brand, and your hiring process reflects that brand through great candidate experience, then your employee retention rates should be looking great and your costs low. If there is a disconnect anywhere in that ecosystem then it all crumbles, expectations aren’t met across the board, people quit or get fired, and your costs just skyrocketed, making you re-do all of your strategic pricing. (Scary, right?) 

Recruiting GovCon Employee Candidates

Finding quality GovCon candidates quickly is essential to your bottom line, as is keeping them retained and not having to backfill them. That whole cycle starts with GovCon recruiting, and your employer brand. When we say “employer brand” we are referring to the unique pieces of your government contractor company and culture that set you apart from other employers.  Your employer brand is comprised of elements like your Glassdoor reviews, the voice and tone of your job descriptions, the media (social and news-oriented) on your organization, and of course what people experience when interacting with your brand as a customer OR as a candidate or employee. In order to attract quality candidates in a market flooded with more jobs than talent, your employer brand is the most important differentiating factor you have control over. Your brand isn’t some logo or fancy webpage, it’s how people experience your government contractor organization, it’s what they think of when they think of your organization specifically. Your employer brand begins with the hiring process and how your recruiting process is designed to reflect that. 

Take the Stress out of GovCon Recruiting

Why Should Candidates Choose Your GovCon?

If candidates have multiple options in terms of GovCon organizations looking for someone like them, why should they choose you over someone else? What makes you stand out? Do you have a great company culture or mission that would attract candidates? Or would it at least help them take your Recruiter’s phone call? When looking for hard-to-find and highly sought-after talent (Everyone wants the A-Player!) you have to bring something to the table in this talent shortage.   

Here are a few questions to ask yourself to determine the strength of your employer branding:   

  • Do your GovCon have a social presence?
    If the answer is yes, does it mirror your mission and values? Does it adequately speak for your company in a what-you-see-is-what-you-get type of feel?     Do you have the projects you’re really proud of showcased on your website? Does your website promote diversity in practice? 
  • Do your GovCon have Glassdoor reviews?
    In the     GovCon industry specifically, positive (and realistic) Glassdoor reviews are paramount to inviting and retaining top talent.  

Here at BOOST we work with our clients on building their brands day-in and day-out to help differentiate themselves in a saturated market. We craft recruiting strategies specific to each search we take on because one size does NOT fit all. We love to help government contractors strategize and grow! Let’s chat, today.  

Current Events and the Job Market

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Updated 03/17/2023

It goes without saying that the world is in quite an upheaval in culture and moving toward a new normal.
Yet, as we’ve said before, business must continue especially in the GovCon market and that includes hiring.

We must ask: Are you in the job market right now?

If so, you’re probably questioning whether to use your “professional platform” like LinkedIn to express your viewpoint during this #blacklivesmatter social justice movement. Well, you’re certainly not alone. Our talent acquisition team is constantly looking at candidates on a multitude of platforms before moving forward with them in the hiring process*. It would be difficult to present an outwardly misogynistic candidate – per his Instagram page – to a woman-owned/operated small business.  That would probably blow up in our faces as it should. However, simply moving forward with a candidate based on the meeting of requirements alone, sans a full picture of digital activity, is a definite oversight and a lesson learned once and forever. As social media presences have mattered before to recruiters, you can be sure they continue to be important now. The job market is too tight for recruiters to skip checking your platforms, with cultural fit being as important as credentials.

What does that mean for you as a candidate in an already COVID-19 riddled US job market?

Do you shy away from posting things, or go out of your way to make accounts uber private and difficult for a google search or your name to find? Our answer to you would be a resounding “Hell NO!” Do not shy away from posting well-thought-out viewpoints because you’re concerned an organization may use it against your candidacy. Quite frankly if they do, you don’t want to work for them anyway, believe us. The US job market right now is much too nice for you to settle for a company that doesn’t agree with your principles. Our Talent Acquisition team wants to know that you are confident, expressive (a great way to show off your writing skills!), committed, and vocal when it mattered above all else. We wouldn’t want you to be any other way. If the tables were turned (we have ALL been candidates before) we would absolutely post about a ‘controversial’ topic without thinking twice about the ramifications because we’re very secure in our value as a candidate, and we would hope an organization would see it the same way. Our advice to all of the recruiters and the candidates in the market today would be to lean in. Lean in purposefully, kindly, with your eyes and hearts wide open. Through well thought out action we can all work toward the change that we’ve hoped to see in this world. With the job market being what it is, you’re going to make a great candidate for an organization, but you can’t settle for offers along the way that don’t fit who you are.

(*As a note, we are NOT lawyers, but we know some great ones, so to CYA you may want to double-check things with your lawyer friends to be safe.)

If you would like to discuss more about your digital footprint and best practices for job searching as a candidate or as a company, let’s have a conversation. Our Recruiting and Marketing teams know the job market right now, and will work together to determine our client’s company culture and how you appear online to your potential employees.

Be Very, Very Quiet… We’re hunting Unicorns…

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The definition of a unicorn is a mythical beast that looks like a horse with a horn projecting from its forehead.  However, in this context, we’re talking about the ever-elusive purple unicorn; something that is highly desirable but difficult to find or obtain.  In the recruiting world, companies are always looking for the purple unicorn, but is this reasonable?  Unfortunately for the hunters, the answer is no.

Of course, every employer would like to check off every box on the “requirements for the job description” section. Yet there are very few individuals (if any) who would match every job description perfectly, and this becomes a sticking point for any employer, even more so when the employer in question is a GovCon.

As a recruiter, here are a few pointers on how to come close to finding the unicorn for your GovCon:

• Review the job requirements. This step is the most important. You will want to be sure that you have captured everything that the person will need to do as well as any specific knowledge, skills, and abilities or KSAs. These KSAs are a great starting point when performing recruiting services for GovCons, narrowing the candidate field significantly.

• List the requirements from most important to least important. By ranking the requirements, it provides good insight into what are the “must-haves” and “need to have” for the role.  Of course, we want it all, but there is no perfect person or job out there where everything will match 100% of the time.

• Be sure to know the difference between what you want and what you need. Having too many requirements and expecting the individual to have all the KSAs is unreasonable.  By knowing what you want versus what you need, you are in a better position to identify where compromises can be acknowledged to get closer to the individual that would best fit in the organization. If working with recruiting services for GovCons, make sure to emphasize which key points are most important to you for the role you’re looking to fill.

• Be willing to compromise on the KSAs. In some roles, especially for the high-tech positions, certifications are key.  We have found that in some cases, years of experience can be swapped out for certain certifications. In addition, by knowing where you are willing to compromise you will open up the target candidate pool to find those diamonds in the rough.

• Hire not only for KSAs but for cultural fit. When considering hiring someone, make sure that the person will fit into your corporate culture as well as function within the team.  We cannot stress enough that making the wrong hire can be extremely costly to the bottom line.  It is estimated for a role that is considered mid-career it can cost an organization upwards of $50,000 or more.  That is a lot of money and time that has been invested in hiring someone who doesn’t “fit” the company. Ensuring this cultural fit is one of the most important tasks of all recruiting services for GovCons.

As mentioned, hunting and hiring the purple unicorn can be difficult if near impossible.  There are a multitude of factors to consider such as cultural fit and understanding what is really needed to do the job.  When we are hunting the unicorns, we use the mentioned bulleted items to open up our candidate pool to find that diamond in the rough because he or she, just might be the purple unicorn hiding in plain sight. We offer recruiting services for GovCons as part of our offerings, as we have years of experience in finding the best-fitting candidate for your position through this exact technique. 

If you’re looking for purple unicorn search support, let us know! BOOST functions as a boutique recruiting firm, with customized, targeted recruiting efforts for your billable positions, C-suite or corporate positions. Give us a shout, [email protected]

 

Military Spouses as Employees | Part 1

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The following is the first in a two-part piece discussing the challenges and strengths of being, hiring and working with military spouses.

 

Military Spouses are among the most dedicated groups in our nation. It is not easy to understand or imagine their struggle as one half of a highly dedicated and honorable partnership.

I recently watched a show about a military attachment where there was local unrest about a war. A military spouse (mil spouse) stood up to the protestors outside of a prominent military base, and asked why they weren’t supporting their troops?
The leader of the protestors asked something to the effect of “how do we know that the troops even support fighting this war.” The mil spouse responded, “how do we know you have a sense of honor?”

In that one question, she hit a very pertinent nail on its head.
Why do mil spouses make great employees?  Honor.
They have it and that same honor is instilled throughout their families. Honor is the backbone to many of the desired features of a “model” employee. From there you can include the characteristics of someone who is reliable, trustworthy and has a good work ethic. These are highly marketable and employable qualities.

Here’s the challenge for mil spouses:

  • They move constantly
  • They are readily tasked with rearing their children alone as a result of the active duty service member’s obligations

Here is a solution:

This challenge is surmountable! Do they have skills they can do from anywhere? Simply because they have a license in one state does not mean they are doomed when the PCS (permanent change in station) orders arrive. Consulting is a viable career option that adds schedule flexibility.

 

BOOST provides back-office support services such as accounting, bookkeeping, contracts, and recruiting. While our niche is GovCon, it can be learned by the “right” type of employee. One that is willing to work for the knowledge. Based on the criterion we search for, a mil spouse could be a fantastic addition.

For spouses lacking skills in back-office services, there are a variety of programs to assist with career advancement. A specific program that teaches GovCon back office skills may not readily exist there may be an opportunity for a non-profit to boost mil spouse employment.

*For Example See MyCAA at military.com that describes tuition assistance for spouses of
E-1 to E-5, W-1 to W-2 and O-1 to O-2 members.

If you would like more information regarding the opportunities for mil spouses as employees for BOOST or some of our trusted partners, please connect with us on LinkedIn or email [email protected].

 

 

 

*From https://www.military.com/education/money-for-school/military-spouse-career-advancement-accounts-financial-aid.html