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Hiring

Salary negotiations: When to talk money, and how to base the initial offer

10/16/2013

“How much does this job pay?” Some candidates come right out and ask. In other cases, employers will raise the issue first. A new CareerBuilder survey finds that only 11% of employers include wage or salary information in their job listings. About half (48%) discuss salary during initial conversations or during the first job interview.

Employee referrals take off as preferred hiring strategy

10/14/2013
As hiring heats up, more service-sector firms are ramping up employee referral programs, which reward workers for encouraging qualified external candidates to apply for jobs.

Interviewers should take notes; HR should collect them

10/11/2013

It’s impossible for everyone to re­­member exactly what happened during an interview held several years earlier. But that’s what an interview panel may be asked to do if a candidate sues. The best approach: ask the panelists to take notes.

Can we give preference to hiring veterans?

10/10/2013
Q. We pride ourselves on supporting veterans who have served in the armed forces. We know we should generally not use an applicant’s class (such as gender, race, etc.) when making hiring decisions. But we have heard that the law does allow us to give a hiring preference to veterans. Is that true?

Are we allowed to ask questions about an applicant’s family medical history?

10/10/2013
Q. We make offers to applicants contingent on passing a physical examination. As a part of the examination the doctor asks for a medical history, including questions about the applicant’s family medical history. We have heard that we should not ask about the applicant’s family medical history, but we aren’t sure if that’s true. Should we not ask for this information?

Leave ‘overqualified’ out of hiring lexicon

10/09/2013
While supervisors may use the term “overqualified” when discussing potential job candidates, be aware that it’s a legally explosive term. Rejected applicants could view “overqualified” as an age-related code word.

What rules must we follow if we must lay off work-visa employees?

10/02/2013
Q. Do we have any duties or obligations if we discharge employees who are in the United States on work visas?

Austin F.D. stops hiring after EEOC claims testing bias

10/02/2013
The Austin Fire Department has stopped hiring candidates from its 2012 candidate list now that the EEOC has declared that its hiring test discriminated against black and Hispanic candidates. The EEOC pointed to disparities in pass rates between the groups.

Interview performance can be the hiring tiebreaker

10/02/2013
When several qualified candidates are in the running for a job, you can use interview performance as the deciding factor. Just make sure interviewers note their specific reasons why one applicant seemed better than the others.

Be alert for hidden–or overt–bias when hiring manager rejects qualified candidate

10/02/2013
Do some of your supervisors gripe about having to follow anti-discrimination laws? Rein them in. Otherwise, you’ll wind up in court if a job candidate gets rejected for obviously illegal reasons.