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Hiring

Top 15 oddball interview questions of 2009

03/05/2010

The change-up is one of the most potent pitches in baseball. Likewise, a change-of-pace interview question can give HR and hiring managers keen insight into a job candidate’s analytical, creative and organizational thinking. Here are 15 of the most intriguing interview questions from the more than 14,000 submitted by job candidates last year through Glassdoor.com:

State Regulations vs. IRS Rules

03/03/2010

HR Law 101: Don’t overlook state laws, which may provide more protection for independent contractors. While the IRS is largely concerned with the issue of who collects and who pays taxes on earnings, states have different interests to protect. Thus, some states may prefer for some contractors to be considered employees under the IRS rule.

Candidates’ most outrageous (and most common) job interview mistakes

03/02/2010

With competition hot for open positions, the pressure is on for job seekers to have flawless interview skills. But sometimes they choke under that pressure. Here are 10 classic job interview flubs recently uncovered in a nationwide survey of hiring managers. Add your own in a special HR Professionals Week edition of the HR Specialist Forum.

5 common I-9 mistakes

03/02/2010

It is remarkable that a seemingly simple, one-page form—the Form I-9—can cause so many headaches. But who ever said a government form was easy, much less an immigration-related form. Here are the most common mistakes employers make.

Feds launch initiative to ID misclassified ‘contractors’

03/01/2010

The U. S. Department of Labor, in conjunction with the IRS, has announced a “misclassification initiative” aimed at employers that misclassify employees as independent contractors. A 2009 Government Accountability Office report labeled misclassification a “significant problem” with “adverse consequences” for the government.

Uniformly enforce blanket ‘no-hire’ policies

03/01/2010

Some employers don’t want to hire applicants who haven’t succeeded elsewhere and create a blanket no-hire rule for any applicant who isn’t eligible for rehire by a former employer. If you’re tempted to do the same, make sure you enforce the rule uniformly and don’t make exceptions.

If fired worker lists us as a reference, will we get in trouble for telling the truth?

03/01/2010

Q. Another company has requested a reference for an employee that we fired. The company has a signed form giving the employee’s written consent to ask us for a reference. Will we have legal problems if we provide negative information about the employee?

Pilgrim’s Pride settles ICE investigation for $4.5 million

03/01/2010

Pilgrim’s Pride Corp., one of the nation’s largest poultry processors, has agreed to settle with the government following a two-year Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigation into allegations that hundreds of its employees were unauthorized to work in the United States.

Communication is top job skill sought by employers

02/26/2010

In a new study by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), employers ranked these (in order) as the top five skills/qualities they look for in potential employees:

The legal danger of playing ‘peek-a-boo’ with job postings

02/24/2010

Job postings go up … they come down. They go up … they come down. It all seems quite normal. That is, unless a job posting is pulled down to avoid a specific type of candidate. As this new case shows, you can’t delist a job or try to hide the position when you don’t like who applies. Peek-a-boo, the court will catch you!