employment in dayton ohio
5 misconceptions about the staffing industry
Business owners often seek to control the perception of their companies so that they accurately reflect reality. This is easier said than done. Perceptions are like habits – they tend to die hard. The staffing business has long battled a sometimes lackluster perception. At BARRYSTAFF, here are the most common misconceptions we run into … and how we set the record straight.
“Temporary” employees are nothing more than short-term fixes. In truth, the term “temp” is outdated. We no longer refer to ourselves as a “temp agency,” but rather as a “staffing company.” There’s a significant difference. Gone are the days when folks would show up to the local agency each morning and collect a paycheck for a single job later that afternoon. In reality, what we’re doing is probably much different than what people are prone to imagining.
We give companies employees to try out on a limited basis. If an employee is working out then companies may extend a permanent job offer after 90 days. We handle everything until that job offer is extended. This process allows the company – and the employee – to feel each other out. One of the key analytics we study is our retention rate. In other words, we want our companies and employees to stick together. That’s our goal.
We only staff for one industry. While it’s true that staffing companies have specializations (BARRYSTAFF’s is manufacturing), many agencies are capable of recruiting for many, many fields. At BARRYSTAFF, we have placed architects, engineers and chemists. We have an entire team solely dedicated to filling clerical positions. So while manufacturing is our wheelhouse, we’ll never turn away someone looking for a communications position. Or graphic design. Or IT. We can help them too.
Job seekers have to pay to use our service. Job seekers pay nothing. Zero. Zilch. That’s not how we make money. Instead, the companies we partner with pay us to help them find quality employees. No job seeker will ever need to pay a dime to a company like BARRYSTAFF.
We only offer dead end jobs. The fact of the matter is that there is plenty of room for advancement in the jobs we hire for. Many of our placements have gone on to management positions.
We only work with struggling companies (Why else would they need a staffing company?) This is one we have to push back against fairly often. We work with big companies and small companies. Some are international. Others are hyper local. They use us because it is time-consuming to search, interview and drug screen candidates. It’s expensive. It cuts down on production. Advertising alone can run up a hefty tab. And these days, the job search is changing drastically from year to year. We live in a fast-paced digital world now, and our clients need to stay focused on what they’re doing. More of them are trusting experts like BARRYSTAFF to handle this work. It’s a specialized service during a time of rapid change.
And our services don’t stop at staffing. We often find ourselves working as a fully- functional HR branch for companies. It’s just another amenity we’re proud to offer.
BARRYSTAFF plans hiring blitz to fill 100+ positions
BarryStaff will hold a hiring blitz in order to fill over 100 open positions with various employers throughout the Miami Valley, particularly with a prominent automotive engine manufacturer.
BARRYSTAFF competes for prestigious award
BarryStaff is competing for the prestigious Better Business Bureau Eclipse Integrity Award.
After receiving a nomination last year, the company has submitted an entry that speaks to its ethical practices. Among the highlights are specific excerpts from its code of conduct, handwritten letters from supporters, an explanation of safety practices and testimony from employees and clients alike.
“It may sound like a cliche but the truth of the matter is that I’m extremely proud that my group is nominated,” said president Doug Barry. “They roll up their sleeves and work hard every day. Every one of them represents the work ethic that my parents founded this company on.”
In fact, co-founder Pam Barry wrote a letter to judges that’s included in the entry.
“This company is personal to us,” she said. “We gambled when we ventured out on our own. We’ve made many memories over the past 30 years.”
Two employees have been with BarryStaff for almost that entire run. One of them is office manager Kerri Voelkel.
“My job has been my safe place and my sanctuary when the rest of the world around me has been crazy,” Voelkel said with a laugh.
If BarryStaff is selected as a finalist, company representatives will attend an awards dinner in early May. Winners are announced that evening.
“It’s been a fun process,” Doug Barry said. “Everyone’s gotten involved and we’ve dusted off a bit of history when putting together our entry. It brought everything back home.”
Employee Spotlight: Catherine Harlamert of Gapi USA Inc.
Learning curves are intimidating. No doubt about it.
“I’ll have someone call up and need a three-eighths inch rod that specs to an ASTM D-1710,” says Catherine Harlamert of Gapi USA Inc. in Clayton.
“I basically moved from jacket sales to high-molecular plastic and it’s a totally different world,” she said.
Indeed it is, but Harlamert caught on. Now her responsibilities are increasing and she may start traveling with a sales rep to meet distributors face-to-face. A trip to Italy may be in the works.
BarryStaff placed Harlamert at Gapi after she approached the company looking for a change. She knew she could do the job … if she kept the faith.
“It’s really been one of the smoothest transitions I could have asked for,” said the former salesperson of school jewelry and athletic wear.
Gapi is a manufacturer of custom molded polyurethane products. The company has a presence in many countries around the world.
In spite of its global status, what’s impressed Harlamert the most has been the family atmosphere in Clayton. When new decor was needed for the walls, management took employees to Hobby Lobby to pick out pictures for decorating. Then they were treated to dinner.
“It’s nice to see a company include the staff in these types of changes, it really shows how much the management respects the employees and wants to make sure they are happy and involved at work on all levels” she said.
The road ahead is bright for Harlamert. And she credits BarryStaff with giving her a nudge in a new direction.
“BarryStaff has been awesome,” she said. “If I have any questions, my emails are always answered quickly.
“I wouldn’t be here if not for Barrystaff,” she said.
Click here to watch a short video featuring Catherine Harlamert.
Candid candidates: The 10 weirdest interview mistakes

It’s like Christmas in January—that most wonderful time of the year in which CareerBuilder.com releases its annual list of job interview quirks and missteps committed by candidates in the preceding year.
The employment website polled 2,600 HR pros and hiring managers late last year and whittled the interview weirdness down to the following 10 “winners” in which a candidate:
- Called his wife to ask her if the starting salary was enough before continuing the interview
- Brought childhood toys to the interview
- Said her hair was perfect when asked why she should become part of the team
- Bragged about being in the local newspaper for alleged theft
- Ate a pizza he brought with him
- Ate crumbs off the table
- Asked where the nearest bar was located
- Invited interviewer to dinner afterwards
- Stated that if the interviewer wanted to get to heaven, she would hire him
- Asked interviewer why her aura didn’t like her.
CareerBuilder also asked about candidate behavior that would prompt an instant “Don’t call us, we’ll call you” rejection.
Job interview deal-breakers
Being caught lying: 66%
Answering a phone call: 64%
Appearing arrogant: 59%
Dressing inappropriately: 49%
Lacking accountability: 48%
Source: CareerBuilder.com survey, January 2017
29 annoying words and phrases on your résumé that make hiring managers cringe
While many large companies use automated résumé-screener software to cut down the initial pool of job applicants, loading your résumé with meaningless buzzwords is not the smartest way to get noticed.
“Nearly everyone is guilty of using buzzwords from time to time, but professionals are evaluated increasingly on their ability to communicate,” says Paul McDonald, senior executive director for professional-placement firm Robert Half.
Some of the major problems with using buzzwords, according to Mary Lorenz, a corporate-communications manager at CareerBuilder, are that they have become so overused that they’ve lost all meaning, and they don’t differentiate the job seeker from other candidates because they’re so generic.
Other, less jargony words and terms should be avoided when they serve little purpose to the hiring manager. All these words do is waste their time and, as a result, you lose out on the few precious seconds a recruiter spends scanning your résumé.
Instead, Lorenz says job seekers should speak in terms of accomplishments and show rather than tell.
“Avoiding overused terms can help job seekers convey their message and stand out from the crowd,” McDonald says.
Here’s what you should avoid:
1. ‘Leadership’
According to LinkedIn, “leadership” was the top buzzword on its user’s profiles. And if the word doesn’t help you stand out on your LinkedIn profile, you can bet it won’t make your résumé more eye-catching, either.
Rather than saying you have excellent leadership skills, you’d do better to highlight specific examples of when you demonstrated these skills and what kind of results you saw.
2. ‘Exceptional communicator’
Tina Nicolai, who has read more than 40,000 résumés since founding her company Résumé Writers’ Ink, previously told Business Insider that skills like being an “exceptional communicator” are “baseline expectations in today’s market.” Stating that you are really great at communication isn’t, in fact, saying very much.
3. ‘Best of breed’
When CareerBuilder surveyed more than 2,200 hiring managers, it found “best of breed” to be the most irritating term to be seen on a résumé.
The phrase offers little meaning and doesn’t help differentiate candidates. “Employers want to know what makes the job seekers unique, and how they will add value to the specific organization for which they’re applying,” Lorenz says.
4. ‘Phone’
Career coach Eli Amdur tells Business Insider that there is no reason to put the word “phone” in front of the actual number: “It’s pretty silly. They know it’s your phone number.”
The same rule applies to email.
5. ‘Results-driven’
“Instead of simply saying that you’re results-driven, write about what you did to actually drive results — and what those results were,” Lorenz suggests.
6. ‘Seasoned’
“Not only does this word conjure up images of curly fries,” says Rita Friedman, a Philadelphia-based career coach, but “it is well-recognized as a code word for ‘much, much older.'”
7. ‘Highly qualified’
McDonald says using terms like “highly qualified” or “extensive experience” won’t make you seem better suited for the job — in fact, it could have the opposite effect. Instead, he suggests you focus on the skills, accomplishments, and credentials you bring to the role.
8. ‘Responsible for’
Superfluous words like “responsible for,” “oversight of,” and “duties included” unnecessarily complicate and hide your experience, says Alyssa Gelbard, founder and president of Résumé Strategists.
“Be direct, concise, and use active verbs to describe your accomplishments,” she suggests.
Instead of writing, “Responsible for training interns …,” simply write, “Train interns …”
9. ‘NYSE’
Vicky Oliver, author of “Power Sales Words” and “301 Smart Answers to Tough Interview Questions,” says you should spell out any acronyms first and put the initials in parentheses. For example, “NYSE” would read “New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).”
“For starters, acronyms are capitalized, and all caps are harder to read than upper and lower case,” she says. “It’s also really difficult to wade through a piece of paper that resembles alphabet soup.”
10. ‘References available by request’
This outdated phrase will unnecessarily show your age, Gelbard says: “If you progress through the interviewing process, you will be asked for personal and professional references.”
11. ‘Ambitious’
“Of course you would never say you’re ‘lazy’ either, but calling yourself ambitious doesn’t make any sense on a résumé,” Friedman says.
“It can imply that you’re targeting this job now, but will quickly be looking to move up in the company because you won’t be satisfied in the role, leaving the employer stuck with doing a new job search in the very near future.”
12. ‘Team player’
“Who doesn’t want to be a team player? If you’re not a team player, you’re probably not going to get the job,” McDonald says.
But using this term isn’t going to make you stand out from other candidates. “Instead, use an example of how you saved a company time, money, and resources on a team project or in collaboration with others.”
13. ‘Microsoft Word’
Yes, you and everyone else.
It’s assumed that you have a basic proficiency in Microsoft Office, Gelbard says. Unless you have expert proficiency, there’s no need to include it on your résumé.
14. ‘Interfaced’
“Words like this make you sound like an automaton,” Oliver says. “Most recruiters would rather meet with a human being. Keep your verbs simple and streamlined.”
15. ‘Hard worker’
It’s true that a company is less likely to consider you if you haven’t worked hard or don’t come across as someone who will put in what it takes to get the job done, but that doesn’t mean writing “hard worker” will convince hiring managers of your efforts.
“Give concrete examples of how you’ve gone the extra mile, rather than using a non-memorable cliché,” McDonald suggests.
16. ‘Hard’
Speaking of the word “hard,” using it to describe your work tasks can also have a negative effect.
ZipRecruiter hosts a database of more than 3,000,000 résumés, which small businesses, individual employers, and recruiters looking for candidates can rate on a scale of one to five stars (one being the lowest, five the highest). After ZipRecruiter analyzed these résumés and their ratings, it found a correlation between certain keywords and low ratings.
The word “hard” was found to a strong correlation with one-star reviews, with up to a 79% greater likelihood of receiving the lowest rating. It’s likely the word gives employers the impression that you’re put off by hard work.
17. ‘Punctual’
Being punctual is great, but it’s also pretty basic to holding down a job. Don’t waste the space on your résumé.
Read the full article from Business Insider by clicking here.