BarryStaff Inc. Selected as Google’s Featured Business

Featured Business
BARRYSTAFF

Dayton, Ohio
“Our Internet presence was absolutely crucial for us, coming out of the recession”

Doug Barry, Owner
25% annual growth since 2009

Founded as a family-owned staffing franchise in 1980, BARRYSTAFF became an independent company with a new name in 2000. Today they specialize in industrial, clerical and permanent placements. “Most of the staffing we do is in manufacturing,” says Doug Barry, owner of the Dayton-based company founded by his parents. As one of the few local staffing companies left in the area following the recent recession, “we picked up a lot of the work from our competitors who went out of business,” he notes. Doug credits their current growth in large part to the Internet and digital tools from Google.

Doug rebranded BARRYSTAFF in 2010. “We have had to change our total strategy on how we go out and sell, based on social media and the Internet—which has been good,” he explains. Google is part of that strategy. The company uses Google Maps for “getting people from point A to point B, not only to our office but also from their house to the job site.” Employees use Gmail and Google Calendar to keep up-to-date, and Google Search to stay current with both clients and prospects. The staff is also mobile, equipped with smartphones and tablets for complete access to all of their digital tools from anywhere. The company plans to create training videos on YouTube, and to use social media to attract new workers as well as new clients.

Manufacturing is on the rebound in Ohio, Doug says. With fewer local staffing resources available, “companies were looking around for someone who could pick up the slack. We had an Internet presence, and that is where a lot of them found us. It was absolutely crucial for us coming out of the recession, and it has helped us with our growth going forward.” BARRYSTAFF now has four locations—another good economic sign for the Buckeye State.

Check out the story on Google

 

Getting Back to Work after a Long Time Off

So, you took several years off from work to be Manager of your own household, taking care of a new baby and developing your interpersonal skills of persuasion and patience. Or maybe you’ve been traveling, caring for an ailing family member or working on volunteer pursuits. Now you’re ready to go back to work, but where do you start? Working with a quality staffing company like BarryStaff might be a good place to start. But to ease your transition back into the working world here are a few helpful steps to take.

1. Notify your network
It’s the best first step in any job search: Tell your family, friends, acquaintances and former colleagues that you’re completing your stint as stay-at-home parent or full-time caretaker and you’re planning to go back to work. Before you reach out to your network, make sure your résumé is ready; if one of your contacts knows about a good opportunity, you’ll want to be able to send out an application package immediately.

 2. Prepare your pitch
When you start your job search, you need to be able to talk to anyone you meet or reacquaint with about why you’re going back to work and what you hope to find in a job. Practice your 30-second elevator pitch so that it comes naturally. Don’t hide the fact that you’ve been on hiatus, and do project a positive attitude about your situation. You might say, “I’m an accountant with eight years of experience. I took the last several years off to be with my kids (or travel or take care of a sick parent), and now I’m looking forward to rejoining the workforce.” Then briefly list your previous jobs and describe what kind of position you’re looking for now.

 3. Build up your résumé by volunteering
If you’re able to fit it into your schedule, volunteering can be a great way to boost your résumé and keep your skills current. For example, you could help a local nonprofit or charitable organization or tutor students. Giving of your time like this is a great way to slowly re-enter the working world, dust off your skills and network with people who might be able to help you in your job search.

 4. Take classes
Whether you’ve been out for two years or 10 years, it never hurts to brush up on your hard skills. Technology is always changing, and it’s essential for job seekers to keep up-to-date on the latest industry best practices. Check out the class schedule at a nearby community college, or try to find online courses that will meet your needs. Don’t forget about MOOCs (massive open online courses), the vast majority of which are free. Search for courses at MOOC-list.com.

5. Consider temporary or part-time work
If you’re at all nervous about going back to work, try easing into it with temporary assignments or a part-time position. This can be an especially smart method if you’ve taken time off to be a stay-at-home parent, as transitioning directly from full-time parenting to a 9-to-5 job can be jarring for both you and your family. Accepting temporary positions also gives you the opportunity to sample several types of employers and job roles and assess which ones are good fits and which are not.

 6. Focus on the skills you’ve gained
What skills have you developed during your break from office life? Although your time off might not have given you much time to work on your technical talents, you’ve had many opportunities for personal growth. Employers are increasingly seeking workers who have strong interpersonal skills such as communication, collaboration and adaptability. Mention those assets in your social media profiles, cover letters and job interviews.

Job searching is rarely easy, and it’s even more of a challenge for professionals who’ve been out of the field for a while. It can take time to find a good position when you’re going back to work after an extended break. If you get discouraged, remember all your positives: education, experience, soft skills and determination. With time, patience and perseverance, the right job will come your way.

 

A Job Seekers’ Guide to the Real Meaning of Job Descriptions

We’ve all seen them… job postings that look too good to be true. And like Mom always said, “If it appears too good to be true, it most surely is.”

I’ve been in recruiting for over 20 years. During my tenure, I’ve seen tens of thousands of job descriptions fly across my desk. Some job requirements are very specific, some are vague, a few are humorous, and some are downright misleading.

For those newbie job seekers taking a first look at job descriptions, I thought I would compile a fun little list of what the most popular job description terms MIGHT mean. Obviously, this is a little tongue-in-cheek. So the items on this list may actually have another, more sincere meaning.

A Job Seekers’ Guide to the Real Meaning of Job Descriptions:

IMMEDIATE OPENING
The person who previously held this position suddenly quit and walked out; good luck with training and transition into this role.

ENTRY-LEVEL POSITION
You’ll be making minimum wage… for a long time.

SEEKING ENTHUSIASTIC, FUN, HARD WORKING PEOPLE
We’re actually looking for people who still live with their parents and don’t mind making minimum wage.

JOIN OUR FAST-PACED COMPANY
We have no time to train you; you’ll have to introduce yourself to your co-workers and figure out what to do.

SELF-MOTIVATED
Management doesn’t train and won’t answer questions.

SALES POSITION REQUIRING MOTIVATED SELF-STARTER
We’re not going to supply you with leads; there’s no base salary; you’ll wait over 30 days for your first commission check.

CAREER-MINDED
Female applicants must be childless (and remain that way).

MUST HAVE AN EYE FOR DETAIL
We have no quality control at all.

MUST BE DEADLINE ORIENTED
You’ll be six months behind schedule on your first day.

SOME OVERTIME REQUIRED
Some each night and some each weekend.

SEEKING CANDIDATES WITH A WIDE VARIETY OF EXPERIENCE
You’ll need it to replace the three people who just left.

PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS A MUST
You’re walking into a company in perpetual chaos.

REQUIRES TEAM LEADERSHIP SKILLS
You’ll have the responsibilities of a manager, without the pay or respect.

GOOD COMMUNICATION SKILLS
Management communicates, you listen, figure out what they want and do it.

ABILITY TO HANDLE A HEAVY WORKLOAD
You whine, you’re fired.

JOIN OUR DYNAMIC TEAM
Be prepared for motivational tapes, seminars and a lot of non-productive meetings.

COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT
We have the most amount of turnover in our industry.

FUN WORK ENVIRONMENT
Your co-workers will be insulted if you don’t go out drinking with them.

CASUAL WORK ATMOSPHERE
We don’t pay enough to expect that you’ll dress well; most employees are in t-shirts, shorts, sandals and wear earrings (and that’s the men).

SALARY RANGE X-Y
You’ll start at the lower figure… and like it.

FLEXIBLE HOURS
Work 60 hours; get paid for 30.

DUTIES MAY VARY
Anyone in the office can boss you around.

NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED LEADER
A news organization recently broadcast a fraud expose on us.

WHERE EMPLOYEES FEEL VALUED
Those who missed the last round of lay-offs, that is.

COMPETITIVE SALARY
We remain competitive by paying less than our competitors.

WE OFFER GREAT BENEFITS
After 90 days, you can join our HMO, which has a deductible and a co-pay.

PROFIT-SHARING PLAN
The profit is shared amongst the C-suite executives; after that, there isn’t any profit to share.

PENSION/RETIREMENT BENEFITS
After three years, you’ll be allowed to join a 401(k), without any matching contributions.

APPLY IN PERSON
If you’re old, fat, or ugly you’ll be told the position has been filled.

NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE
We’ve filled the job; our call for resumes is just a legal formality.

I would love to hear from those of you who have job description terms I may have neglected to include and define on this list.

 

THE MINIMUM WAGE IDENTITY

Minimum-wage increases could appear on the ballot in as many as 34 states this year. President Obama has also proposed increasing the federal minimum wage to $10.10, from $7.25. Who makes the minimum wage, and who would be affected by any of the proposed increases?

All the statistics here apply to those who would be affected by the proposed increase to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10. The analysis also includes a number of workers making slightly above $10.10, who, history suggests, would receive a raise if the minimum wage were increased.

Minimum-wage workers are older than they used to be. Their average age is 35, and 88 percent are at least 20 years old. Half are older than 30, and about a third are at least 40.

These patterns are somewhat new. In 1979, 27 percent of low-wage workers (those making $10.10 per hour or less in today’s dollars) were teenagers, compared with 12 percent in 2013, according to John Schmitt and Janelle Jones

They’re split fairly evenly between full-timers and part-timers. Most — 54 percent — work full-time schedules (at least 35 hours per week), and another 32 percent work at least half time (20-34 hours per week).

Many have kids. About one-quarter (27 percent) of these low-wage workers are parents, compared with 34 percent of all workers. In all, 19 percent of children in the United States have a parent who would benefit from the increase.

One in eight lives in a high-income household. About 12 percent of those who would gain from an increase to $10.10 live in households with incomes above $100,000. This group highlights the fact that the minimum wage is not nearly as well targeted toward poverty reduction as the earned-income tax credit, a wage subsidy whose receipt, unlike the minimum wage, is predicated on family income.

Still, a minimum-wage increase does much more to help low- and moderate-income households than any other groups. Households that make less than $20,000 receive 5 percent of the nation’s total earnings, for instance — but would receive 26 percent of the benefit from the proposed minimum-wage increase.

Who Benefits From a Minimum-Wage Increase?

A federal proposal to increase the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, from $7.25, would help some high-income households but mostly low- and middle-income ones.

 

Most are women. Women make up 48 percent of the work force yet 55 percent of the would-be beneficiaries of the increase in the minimum wage.

Most are white, but minorities are overrepresented. Hispanic workers account for 16 percent of the work force but 24 percent of those who would be affected by the wage increase. For African-Americans, the comparable shares are 11 percent of the work force and 15 percent of those who would gain from the increase.

They’ve got some schooling, though less than other workers. Of those who would be affected by the increase, 78 percent have at least finished high school, about one-third have some college under their belts, and about 10 percent have graduated from college. By comparison, 91 percent of the total work force has at least graduated from high school, and 34 percent have completed college.

As with the population as a whole, low-wage workers are more educated than in the past. In the late 1960s, less than half had finished high school and only 17 percent had attended any college at all.

Their earnings are a big part of their family budgets. The average worker in this group brings home half of his or her household’s earnings; 19 percent of those who would get the raise are sole earners. Parents who would benefit from the increase bring home an even larger share of their families’ earnings: 60 percent.

They’re in every state, but are overrepresented in the South. Because most of the states that have raised their minimums above the federal level are outside the South, a national increase would have more bite there. Workers in Southern states make up 17 percent of the nation’s work force but 21 percent of minimum-wage beneficiaries; workers in Northern states make up about the same share of the work force but just 16 percent of those who benefit from the proposed increase.

The debate to raise the minimum rage will no doubt rage on, as diverse views persist both in the work force and the halls of politics. But it’s important to know who we’re talking about in terms of those who benefit from the policy. Our workers, including the low-wage sector, have aged and become more educated in recent decades, at the same time that changes in trade, technology, and bargaining power have pushed against their earnings.