BarryStaff Holds Successful Job Fair

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There were several unknowns.

BarryStaff opened its Springfield branch in 2015 and expectations for a job fair in mid-June were somewhat tempered. Did people know about the new office? If not, were they willing to find it?

There was nothing to worry about.

The job fair, held June 8, was more successful than BarryStaff ever imagined. More than 50 percent of the applicants interviewed were qualified to fill oft-needed positions at Clark County area companies.

One man, who said he saw advertisements for the job fair in the newspaper and on TV, said people are willing to do anything to work.

“I think (job fairs) are a good thing,” he said. “There are a lot of people who need jobs and there are a lot of good workers who aren’t working.”

Roughly 25 people interviewed over the span of a few hours.

BarryStaff is currently in the midst of planning another job fair, this time at the company’s headquarters in Dayton. Details will be released as plans are finalized.

How to Make the Job Search Process More Enjoyable Than a Trip to the Dentist

1) Break it down

Not as in MC Hammer moves, but if that helps, go for it!

The process is large and daunting. Where to begin? Well, at the beginning. Start with a self-evaluation or online assessment to keep things as objective (vs. emotionally driven or reactive) as possible.

You want to set yourself up for success, so make an effort to ensure that jobs to which you apply are relevant, of interest, mesh with your personality, fit within your requirements and meet most of your “desirable” components of a job.

2) Call in the troops

Ask for help.

I’ll say it again: ASK FOR HELP.

Why not? Your cousin could know a neighbor that has the best job that hasn’t even been posted yet. How do you know if you don’t ask? Why in the world do you want to make the process even more challenging?

Feel awkward asking for help? That’s okay. It’s really not “Hi. I’m unemployed. Whatcha got for me?” It’s more along the lines of perhaps having coffee with a previous colleague, neighbor or friend, sharing your story and stating you’d love to hear their suggestions regarding type of position, suggested companies and/or if they’d mind taking a look at your resume.

3) Stay organized

If you launch into a fierce job search, you need to make sure you keep up with the status of each position to which you’ve applied.

If you state you’re going to follow up with a recruiter (and you should) be sure to do so. If you’ve created a schedule outlining 3 information sessions/coffee talks with colleagues each week, why, that requires both planning and follow up. It can be overwhelming. Take it one step at a time.

To stay organized, use what works best for you. Perhaps it’s an app, an online calendar or you prefer to rock the old school folder option (in my opinion, this is the most effective).

4) Do something fun

Bribing is so underrated.

Looking for a job will feel like a job.

Set yourself up for small rewards. Granted, probably your cash flow is a bit more limited, so I’m not saying take yourself out for a lobster dinner nightly. Perhaps it’s just giving yourself “me” time, a relaxing bath, a run at the park, taking your daughter to lunch, meeting up with a friend, reading a book, etc.

Still, if you look forward to it, it helps get you through the tedious parts (say, oh, completing yet another job application!).

5) Learn something new

If the job search process is occurring while you’re unemployed, perhaps you find yourself with a little extra time on your hands.

Now’s a great time to learn a new skill. Coursera.org and other sites have amazing free courses that are from our nation’s (and other countries, in fact) top schools. It’s an instant ego boost and conversation starter “So, yeah, I’m also taking this Leading Strategic Innovation in Organizations course and thinking about enrolling in Penn State’s Creativity, Innovation and Change.

If courses aren’t of interest, what about a new sport or outside activity? If neither is of interest, perhaps consider volunteering.

Stay positive, proactive and professional. Easier said than done, absolutely.

5 Strange Historical Facts About Dayton, Ohio

6 Tips on How to Get what You Want

If you ever find yourself in a position where you feel unmotivated, uninspired or under appreciated, it might be time to change things up. Sometimes all that is needed is to ask for the thing that you need – whether that’s a promotion, a pay rise or just a simple request for a change in responsibilities – the only way it can happen is if you ask. Many people become frustrated when they feel like this, feeling though there needs should have already been met. Whining about your needs won’t change anything, and no one is a mind reader. So it’s important to actually talk to people and ask for what you want in order to get what you want.

Be bold:

When asking for something, you should be bold, clear and confident in your request. This should come naturally if you truly believe in what you are asking for.  Avoid coming across aggressively and be polite when conversing but make sure your request is explicit.

Accept rejection:

Before going in with your request, it’s best to remember that the outcome may not turn out as you had hoped. If someone says no or rejects your request, don’t take it personally.

Leave the hints at home:

If you want something and are trying to hint at it, STOP! Not only can it make you appear passive aggressive, but it can also worsen your frustration at a situation. If you want something, the best thing to do is to stop beating around the bush and be direct.

 Figure it out:

Before you ask the big question, jot down your thoughts in a note pad. This will help you organize your thoughts and make it easier to ask for what you want, with a clear end goal.

Take the other persons needs into account:

When you’re asking for a request, it can be easy to concentrate on yourself and your thoughts. Instead, you should remember to think about the other person, and their needs. Talk about your request from a different angle to your own.

Be concise:

If you have a request, don’t pile on the reasons they should fulfill it. If you have one main concise reason that should be enough.

9 Important (and Scary) Facts About Youth Employment

1. Still too high: Youth unemployment is at 15%, meaning nearly 6 million of America’s workers from ages 16 to 24 are not working and not in school.

2. Declaration of dependence: High youth unemployment leads to delayed marriages, depressed home ownership rates and an increased inability to move out of parental homes and establishing independence.

3. So why’d I even go to college?: The number of young people with college degrees who work minimum wage jobs has more than doubled in the past five years.

4. Seriously, China?: According to Dow Jones reporter Riva Froymovich, millennial workers should expect lower wages, less job security and a higher cost of living when compared to similar workers in China and Brazil.

5. I’d work more if I could: The number of 20- to 24-year-olds working part-time because full-time work isn’t available to them has doubled in the past decade.

6. Who pays for all of this?: Higher rates of youth unemployment lead to increased tax burdens for other workers, as governments forgo income tax revenue, Social Security and Medicare taxes and have to pay out more in welfare and unemployment insurance costs. It is estimated that high youth unemployment costs various governments $25 billion a year.

7. Sorry, we’re not hiring right now: Youth unemployment grew much faster during the recession for African Americans and Latinos.

8. Home, but not alone: The percentage of adults 24 and under who live with their parents rose 10% in the past five years.

9. HigherEdNotDebt: Student loan debt tripled over the past decade and is now more than $1 trillion.

6 Interesting Facts About Staffing Agencies

1)  In the current marketplace 13% of all labor is placed by staffing companies.

 

2)  80% of staffing clients say staffing firms offer a good way to find people who can become permanent employees.

 

3)  More than 10 million people worked for U.S. Staffing companies in 2015.

 

4)  Over 2 million people per day are employed by staffing companies.

 

5)  Staffing agencies are constantly hiring employees and doing the interview process even if they have no open positions.

 

6)  79% of staffing agency employees work full time, virtually the same as the rest of the work force.

 

Call BarryStaff today to see how we can help with your hiring needs!

25 Fun Facts About Resumes, Interviews, & Social Recruitment

Think you know what the job search market looks like in 2016? These figures tell quite an intriguing story. Enjoy!

  • In the US, there are 3 million unfilled jobs and 11.8 million unemployed workers.
  • The average time spent by recruiters looking at a resume: 5 to 7 seconds.
  • 76% of resumes are discarded for an unprofessional email address.
  • 88% rejection rate when you include a photo on your resume.
  • In 2000, 22% of resumes were submitted via email or posted on the web. In 2015, over 90% of resumes are now posted online or sent via email.
  • Only 35% of applicants are actually qualified for the jobs they apply to.
  • Applicant Tracking Software, the robots that read your resume, are able to quickly eliminate 75% of the applicants.
  • 427,000 resumes are posted each week on Monster.
  • 68% of employers will find you on Facebook.
  • There are 15 million brands and organizations on Facebook.
  • 18,400,000 applicants found their job on Facebook.
  • 10,200,000 applicants found their job on LinkedIn.
  • 89% of recruiters have hired someone through LinkedIn.
  • 8,000,000 applicants found their job on Twitter.
  • 93% of recruiters are likely to look at a candidate’s social media profile.
  • 43% of job seekers have used their mobile device to engage in a job search with 7% of all job seekers conducting their job search online while in the restroom.
  • While the average length of an interview is 40 minutes, 33% of 2000 surveyed bosses indicated they know within the first 90 seconds if they will hire that candidate.

How can they make such a decision in less than 2 minutes? In the same survey, respondents noted the following nonverbal mistakes as some of the reasons why you may be eliminated during the interview:

  • 70% indicated applicants were too fashionable or trendy.
  • 67% indicated failure to make eye contact.
  • 55% the way the candidate dressed, acted or walked through the door.
  • 47% of clients who had little or no knowledge of the company.
  • 38% was a tie – quality of voice and overall confidence; and lack of a smile.
  • 33% for bad posture.
  • 26% because the handshake was too weak.
  • 21% for crossing their arms over their chest during the interview.

22 Interesting Office Facts

Here are twenty two interesting office facts to get you through this Tuesday, February 2nd. Feel free to share any of these fun office facts at your next coffee break (no recognition is required).

  1. One percent of U.S. employers allow employees to take naps during working hours.
  2. People in the U.S. spend at least 1896 hours per year at work.
  3. Women business owners employ 35% more people than all the Fortune 500 companies combined.
  4. No piece of normal-size paper can be folded in half more than seven times.
  5. During thinking, we only use about 35% of our brains.
  6. A typist’s fingers travel 12.6 miles during an average workday.
  7. More American workers (18%) call out sick on Friday than any other day of the week.
  8. Tuesday has the lowest percent of absenteeism for American workers—11%.
  9. Difficulty focusing on the computer screen, short-term memory problems and trouble with basic math can be caused by a mere 2% drop in body water. Remember to stay hydrated during work hours.
  10. More people walk to work in Alaska than any other U.S. state.
  11. Americans now spend more than 100 hours a year commuting to work.
  12. More than  50% of lost work days are stress related, keeping approximately 1 million people home from work every day.
  13. The average office worker spends 50 minutes a day looking for lost files and other items.
  14. The United States has the fourth largest workforce in the world, at 154.2 million (does not include those who are unemployed).
  15. Forty percent of worker turnover is due to job stress.
  16. Remember to always take notes during meetings, as the brain retains less than 5% of what is said.
  17. Each person owns at least eight distinctive intelligences (Musical, Bodily-Kinesthetic, Naturalistic, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal, Verbal-Linguistic , Logical-Mathematical, Spatial), and these are further developed whenever used at work.
  18. “Stewardesses” is the longest word typed with only the left hand.
  19. Refrigerating rubber bands makes them last longer.
  20. Eighty percent of jobs are gained through networking.
  21. Sixty-six percent of full-time workers in the U.S. say they are heavy drinkers (consuming five or more drinks per sitting at least five days per month), while only 4.9% of part-time workers in the U.S. say they are heavy drinkers.
  22. People spend one in every four and a half minutes online on social networks and blogs.

Top 25 Worst Passwords of 2015

When it comes to making up passwords, we’re not doing so great as a society.

“Password” and “123456” still claim the top two spots on the list, where they’ve remained for the past five years (we can’t say we’re too surprised). Simple numerical passwords remain an easy go-to; six of the top 10 passwords are comprised of only numbers.

You’ll also find that references to sports and pop culture are fairly common. “Football” and “baseball” are both in the top 10 list, and in line with the release of The Force Awakens, “starwars,” “solo” and “princess” are all new entries on this year’s list.

Several others that weren’t on the 2014 list include “welcome,” “login” and “passw0rd.” Changing that “o” in password to a zero might seem original, but a lot of people had the same idea.

If you see your password on this list, make your 2016 resolution to do better. In parentheses, we’ve noted how that password fared on last year’s list.

  1. 123456 (unchanged from 2014)
  2. password (unchanged)
  3. 12345678 (up 1 spot from 2014)
  4. qwerty (up 1)
  5. 12345 (down 2)
  6. 123456789 (unchanged)
  7. football (up 3)
  8. 1234 (down 1)
  9. 1234567 (up 2)
  10. baseball (down 2)
  11. welcome (not on 2014’s list)
  12. 1234567890 (not on 2014’s list)
  13. abc123 (up 1)
  14. 111111 (up 1)
  15. 1qaz2wsx (not on 2014’s list)
  16. dragon (down 7)
  17. master (up 2)
  18. monkey (down 6)
  19. letmein (down 6)
  20. login (not on 2014’s list)
  21. princess (not on 2014’s list)
  22. qwertyuiop (not on 2014’s list)
  23. solo (not on 2014’s list)
  24. passw0rd (not on 2014’s list)
  25. starwars (not on 2014’s list)

ACA Final Rules Issued in Bulk. 12 Changes You Need to Know.

Over the years, federal agencies have issued a plethora of ACA proposed and interim rules, as well as regulatory guidance. But none of it was officially finalized — until now. The feds just issued final rules in bulk, solidifying those earlier efforts. In addition, the rules contain a few surprises you need to know about. 

The final rules were just published as part of a 104-page addition to the Federal Register. They cover a wide swath of the healthcare reform law — including dependent coverage, patient protection rules, lifetime and annual limits, claims appeals, rescissions, HRA integration with Medicare, and grandfathered plan provisions.

For the most part, the rules don’t contain many substantial changes from the regulatory paperwork the feds have issued over the years. But there were a few modifications that employers and insurers will need to know about.

Here’s a breakdown of the most substantial changes and those that will affect the most plans:

Dependent coverage

  • Service area restrictions. Eligibility restrictions requiring plan participants to work, live or reside in a service area (as is typically the case with HMOs) cannot be applied to dependent children until they reach age 26. However, plans can continue to provide coverage only within a designated service area.
  • Variations in coverage. Terms of plan coverage cannot vary based on the age of a dependent child, except for children age 26 and older.

Patient protections

  • Individual primary care designation. If a plan requires participants to designate a primary care provider, each participant must be permitted to designate his or her own provider.
  • Children’s primary care providers. If a plan requires the designation of a primary care provider for a child, the plan must allow any physician who specializes in pediatrics (including subspecialties in pediatrics) — and who is in-network and available to accept the child — to be designated as the child’s primary care provider.
  • OB/GYN access. All women, no matter their age, must be ensured direct access to OB/GYN care. That means no authorizations or referrals can be required to seek OB/GYN care.

Lifetime and annual limits

  • General prohibition on limits. Lifetime and annual dollar limits on coverage for “essential health benefits” are generally prohibited, regardless of whether those benefits are provided by in-network or out-of-network providers.

Claims appeals

  • Evidence. Plans must provide claimants with any new or additional evidence that is being relied upon or used in anyway in connection with a claim, as well as any new or additional rationale for a denial of an internal appeal. This must be provided free of charge automatically. Merely providing a notice of the availability of such information is not enough.

Rescissions

  • Non-payment of COBRA premiums. A retroactive termination of COBRA coverage is permissible if the participant has failed to pay the required premium.

HRA integration

  • Medicare. Employers with fewer than 20 employees that are not required to offer their group health plan coverage to employees who are eligible for Medicare coverage can integrate an HRA with Medicare Part B or D.

Grandfathered plans

  • Multi-employer plans. New contributing employers can join a multi-employer plan for the express purpose of taking advantage of the plan’s grandfathered status without violating anti-abuse rules.
  • Plan changes. One plan’s status change doesn’t change the status of all benefits packages. Example: The loss of grandfathered status for a PPO plan won’t impact the status of an HDHP plan.
  • Generic alternatives. Plans can move brand-name drugs to a higher cost-sharing tier when a generic alternative becomes available without losing grandfathered status.

Disability benefits claims appeals

Published along with the final rules were proposed rules on the claims and appeals rules applicable to plans providing disability benefits.

In a nutshell, the rules would apply the claims and appeals procedure rules for standard healthcare claims to disability benefits claims.