Headlines

The last Jon Bartos Session of 2020 will take place on Wednesday, November 11th. The session will be recapping a couple of things that were discussed the entire year, but the real focus will be "An In-depth look at planning and goal setting for 2021".

NPAworldwide is saddened to inform the membership that we recently learned that Jack King of Newman-Johnson-King Inc., (#5196) passed away earlier this year.

Today's discussion revolves around obtaining job orders and when a split is due to your partner. In our first case, which is the correct answer?

Agency A sends or discusses a job order with Agency B. B takes no action. Subsequently B discovers the job order independently through normal marketing efforts and makes a placement.

A. This is NOT a split placement, as long   as, B did not use any information provided by A to acquire the job order.

B. This IS a split placement since A initially informed B regardless.

C. Neither A or B

Matchmaker has a chat feature that allows members communicate quickly in real-time. It also includes a default status message of "I'm available."

Dear Nicky,

It is tough sometimes to explain to your clients that you work with NPAworldwide partners and why timely feedback is essential. It is not their reputation on the line with NPA partners, it is mine. Any ideas to help drive this point home?

Waiting in Wayland
 
 

COVID has provided many of us the opportunity for some reflection.

Dear Nicky,

I can't figure out how to participate in Practice Group calls OR get them added to my email calendar. Help!

Frustrated in Fenton

NPAworldwide has posted the newest monthly Achievers report.

Monthly placement and brokerage report broken down by region, practice groups, and salary ranges, including the monthly Achievers page.

We are excited to announce our upcoming AsiaPac Virtual Conference from 18th - 20th November. This will be an online event held via Zoom.

We have had an uptick in questions about members not being able to upload candidates to Matchmaker, or candidates not being able to register on the Job Board.

Dear Nicky,

I have hired a new recruiter and need to add her to Matchmaker BUT I don't see the "Add a Recruiter" page anymore. Where do I do that?

Hiring in Holton

Members are reminded to review your Candidate and Job alerts for accuracy.

The NPAworldwide mission statement emphasizes that we value professionalism, honesty and integrity, knowledge, and teamwork. Ethics are important to our membership.

As always, consider how would YOU like to be treated if you were on the other end. Put yourself in the reverse position before you decide your course of action.  

Members are reminded that we have a new process for adding new recruiters into our system.

Heather Douglass (NPA #6097) has made her first split placement since joining the staff of HK Tech in South Jordan, UT, USA.

John Basar (NPA #5079) of HC-Resource in Denver, CO, USA, has made the firm’s first split placement with Alex Bakker (NPA #1441) of USA Staffing Network, Inc. in Webster, NY, USA.

NPAworldwide has posted the newest monthly Achievers report.

Monthly placement and brokerage report broken down by region, practice groups, and salary ranges, including the monthly Achievers page.

It is now over 20 years since I last practised law and so I am a bit rusty. One of the concepts that I still recall from contract law is the "Indoor Management rule." An outsider dealing with a company should be able to make certain assumptions about the regularity of the internal affairs of the company. This provides certainty to people dealing with a company that they cannot just say, "Oh sorry, Donny wasn't authorised to do that."

NPAworldwide has created a new marketing video for you to use with your clients.

Last week we held a drawing for a $50 gift card. Everyone who has a profile picture on their NPA Central profile was entered to win.

There has been increase in clients looking to hire workers on a contract basis and with that, an increase in questions from members about adding contract roles to Matchmaker.

Dear Nicky,

I'm really liking the new NPA Central but I'm confused why some events show a time zone and others don't. It would sure help if ALL the events included a time zone.

Scheduling in Schnectady

In a year of tragedies from massive bush fires, devastating floods and the insipid coronavirus pandemic, this one really hit home. Our dear friend and trusted trading partner Moshe Goldberg of Allegro Recruitment Consulting sadly passed away this week after a brave battle with cancer.

In this challenging market, I have found it necessary to get back to basics.
 
I started my sales career 37 years ago in B2B Financial Services. Specifically, selling big ticket life insurance products into the corporate executive benefits marketplace.

Monthly placement and brokerage report broken down by region, practice groups, and salary ranges, including the monthly Achievers page.

While we are waiting for job orders to pick up this fall, you can use Constant Contact to keep in touch with your prospects. It is an email marketing program that is simple to use and inexpensive. All you need to do is create an Excel spreadsheet with the email addresses that you have in your files for prospects you haven’t been in touch with for a while.

We were delighted to have Rod Hore from HHMC speak with us earlier this month.

As most recruiters and business entrepreneurs know only too well; money is only one of many scarce resources right now. In addition to our clients re-evaluating budgets, shelter-in-place is creating a new remote reality for many of our candidates.

Dear Nicky,

I see there is a brand-new NPA Central. What pointers can you give me about this new site?

Learning in LaGrange

I have a small confession to make and there is no better forum than the Vignette. I have a secret love: gadgets. I could spend hours in a Brookstone and the Sharper Image (musical cake knife anyone?).

Hello!  If you are looking for a great way to interview and manage candidates in a non face-to-face pandemic world,  check out this tool Hinterview.  It offers a great was to introduce candidates to employers.  A new way for new times!

The benefits available to NPAworldwide Members are as follows:

Members are reminded to contact NPAworldwide Headquarters regarding any pending placement activity with former recruiters. Brokerage is still due on all placements made with any member's former recruiters for a period of one year following termination.

All members, upon enrollment, are subject to a probationary period of six months and must abide by the terms and conditions of the NPAworldwide Membership Agreement.

The following firms have made application for NPAworldwide membership. Please forward any information that will be helpful in evaluating this application to our Director of Membership, Sarah Freiburger. Please share your feedback within one week of receiving this update.

Dear Nicky,

I was on a Practice Group call the other day and mentioned a job I have that is not posted to Matchmaker. I did not post as I don’t want to get inundated with candidates that are not a fit. A member on the call mentioned that is not a best practice and to set expectations upfront.

Too Many Candidates in Tilden

What if I told you that I could get you one warm call with a potential client a week? A client that loves recruiters, a client that is happy to pay your fees; a client who will appreciate you working with them?

Sounds good? Well that is one of the key benefits of our network. Everyone accepted wants to split with you. They hopefully love recruiters (given that’s what they are), they are happy to pay your fees as you are helping them make a placement that would otherwise not have happened and they appreciate you as you have either made their client / candidate happy.

A federal employment law shields workers from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, according to a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling on June 15.

See full article from SHRM:

Matchmaker has a feature that allows users to easily send an email to a partner requesting more information about a posted job. Too many of these "request for more information" messages are extremely generic. Many of them simply say, "I would like more information about this job" or "Please send me more info about this role" or similar. These kinds of notes are not helpful to the importer (partner with the job).

We are pleased to announce the creation of two new specialty groups within NPAworldwide. 

As more members have recently been working with candidates, we are seeing an increase in tech support requests related to difficulty parsing resumes. In almost every instance, the resume in question is full of logos, pictures, tables, or other images. The resume parser can ONLY read text. Resumes that are filled with images will not parse correctly.

Dear Nicky,

I have a retainer with my client and sometimes get engagement fees up front with other clients. I do not feel I need to share these with my NPAworldwide split partners. Is it right to do that?

Stingy in Steubenville

Well, it *was* recently my birthday, not a milestone number but given what has happened the last few months, every birthday is worth celebrating. I love surprises especially for my birthday.

I equally dislike surprises at work. You know the feeling when you reach for your phone and see the name of a candidate who is due to start work tomorrow or a client calls you 20 minutes after an interview is meant to have started. These are the surprises we can all do without.

We have recently rolled out a new modal window to make it easier to select relocation options for candidates who are open to multiple areas. When you enter a candidate, you will see an Add Details button under Will Candidate Relocate. Click the button to open the modal window.

For US members, one way to reduce your credit risk with clients is by becoming a "secured" creditor. Here's a roughly 17-minute video from Wilson Cole at Adams, Evens & Ross that walks you through the steps you need to take to become secured.

Good article here from ERE reminding all of us that many RECRUITING activities - branding, pipeline development, relationship-building - are NOT on hold (and should not be). This is a great time to focus on adding value to clients and candidates alike so that you are top-of-mind for them when the economy recovers.

Recently, there has been an increase in tech support requests for job alerts that appear to be delivering results for incorrect locations. In almost all instances, this has been due to location details either being incorrect, missing, or not updated from the old Matchmaker interface. If you want a search alert (candidates or jobs) to deliver records for a specific geographic location, you MUST include that information in the Location field on Matchmaker. Without it, your alert will contain records from other geographic locations.

Dear Nicky,

In this turbulent time, I really want to connect with as many NPAworldwide partners as possible. I think we can work together to make it through this economic crisis. What is the best way for me to effectively make those connections?

Networking in Nunica

I woke up at 5 am the other day to the sound of laughter with my 10 year-old son watching TV. Curious as to what was causing cacophony—was it his favourite Disney show? the latest sitcom? No, he was cackling at the final scene from the 1979 Monty Python classic “Life of Brian.”

His laughter turned into melody as he started singing “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life”.

A fairly common support request we receive at NPAworldwide is regarding PDF resumes that won't upload to Matchmaker. If your candidate has embedded images, tables, odd fonts, or other problematic data in the PDF, you'll likely encounter difficulties getting that resume/CV uploaded. You may even have trouble opening the file. As more candidates use mobile devices for their career searches, we think that PDF versions of resumes are likely to increase, since they can easily be stored and opened on a mobile device.

Dear Nicky,

I'm an exporter and will REALLY need to rely on my NPAworldwide partners to help me get through this cycle. I know there are still jobs to be filled! What advice do you have for me so I can minimize wasted time?

Headhunting in Hadley

Andrew Thoseby of 1st Executive in Melbourne, Australia is sharing free business support materials, available globally to all NPAworldwide members and their clients. Materials include a weekly outplacement webinar, free online courses, a workforce planning guide and more.

Firstly I hope you and your families are safe and well. It seems like a long time since our wonderful Global Conference in New Orleans but the world has changed. Many of us are locked down or in isolation to reduce the spread of the virus. Many of us have witnessed major changes to our businesses, especially cash flow and revenue. I mentioned in the last Vignette the importance of a network such as NPAworldwide in times like this.

Greg Savage, recruitment trainer / speaker / entrepreneur extraordinaire has assembled a comprehensive suite of tools and ideas to help recruiters survive during a crisis. This includes webinars, podcasts, resource materials and more, and it's all available free of charge (be sure to subscribe so that you receive updates as he adds them):

Dear Nicky,

I just found out from my trading partner that my candidate has accepted a position with my partner's client. I'm so excited! What needs to happen next?

Exporting in Excelsior

There is an old Chinese curse that says “may you live in interesting times” and indeed we are living in some very interesting times now.

A few months ago, COVID-19 sounded like a video game but this is no game. This is an unprecedented pandemic on a worldwide scale and the biggest challenge to our industry since the GFC.

I watched this yesterday and it gave me hope and ideas for how we can control our own destiny even in these difficult times.  It is long...1 hour and 45 minutes but worth a look in my opinion.  Remember, we have a deal with NextLevelExchange that gets you access for about US$90 per month.  We have 20-30 members that are users.  Give this one webinar a look...
 

We hold on to what was rather than adapt to new conditions...it is human nature.  There will be sectors that heat up due to the Covid-19 crisis and there will be sectors that stop.  Yiu will see below an article of immediate job openings that need to be filled even as we shut down the economy and all stay home. 
 

If I had a magic wand - I would wave it and enable NPAworldwide to be everything to every member. The nature of our network serves the collective interests of our members. We are a not-for-profit organization with limited resources and our governance is provided by volunteers who are nominated and elected by our members.

Who We Are? A member owned cooperative network

Who We Are not? A privately-owned network or company

If you are searching for contract roles on Matchmaker, please be sure to select Contract/Temporary from the Employment Type dropdown menu (see screenshot at the end of this post). Conversely, if you are POSTING contract roles, please be sure change the Employment Type to Contract/Temporary (the default is Full Time / Direct Hire) AND enter the salary as an HOURLY rate (the default is yearly).

Dear Nicky,

A member sent me a resume and I remembered the name, so I looked in my database and have that candidate. I spoke to them about 5 months ago and assume there is no split owed to the other member if I place the person. Right?

Double-Checking in Douglas

I came across an excellent post today by Katrina Kibben about how to write job posts for REMOTE roles. This is a question that has been cropping up among members as everyone tries to figure out how to handle the location requirements of various job boards and ATS products. You can access the article below.

P.S. If you're not following Katrina on Twitter or LinkedIn, you're missing out on some great advice about writing job postings.

Dear Nicky,

I work IT but I recently noticed my good client has a lot of open accounting jobs. I have never filled an  accounting role. I hear members on the Practice Group calls say to take the jobs and count on your partners to fill them. Really?? I'm not sure I even know how to properly qualify the jobs.

Springport Specialist

I've just read an article from a meetings-related colleague who is in some hot water over using an improperly-sourced image in a blog post. In short, her business failed to follow its own policy regarding photo/image use and inadvertently posted a blog that featured an image that was downloaded from Google search results. Turns out that image was copyrighted and not available for public use. She has received a cease-and-desist letter and is likely to pay a significant fine even though she removed the image immediately upon receiving notice of the error.

I have attached an updates list of locations where Salary History questions to candidates are in someway restricted or unique. It should be noted that 2 states have banned bans...Michigan and Wisconsin.

Dear Nicky,

I recently added a couple of recruiters to my firm. Do I need to add them to Matchmaker, or can we share a single login?

Hiring in Hillsdale

I read a good article in The Staffing Stream (from Staffing Industry Analysts) this week about how to talk about your service in terms of value instead of price, and some pricing strategies recruiters can borrow from other industries. There are some great ideas to consider for your businesses. Here's an excerpt:

Jim Lyons is this week's guest writer.

On a recent project with Mike Sudermann, I got an idea for a new client development tool. I’ve developed an assessment and case studies that help hiring managers think critically about the jobs they need to fill. The 4A’s of Talent Acquisition is a simple assessment focused on the one question hiring managers must consider when bringing a job to market: How long will it likely take to fill this job?

Dear Nicky,

One of my candidates recently called me, upset that she'd been contacted by another NPA partner who saw her details on Matchmaker. Her job search is confidential and she was really worried that her resume was posted on some public site. I know our sharing site is private and members-only, but obviously she didn't understand that. What should I do to avoid a repeat scenario?

Puzzled in Paw Paw

Get to Know Hall of Fame Member Richard Bryant, Bryant Associates, Inc. (#4794), Chicago, IL, USA

What was your favorite NPAworldwide meeting?It was also my most memorable one. I was previously a 20-year member of NPC, a competing network purchased by NPA in 1989. During my last 10 years with that group, I performed a routine that was a parody of Johnny Carson’s soothsayer, Carnac the Magnificent, which I dubbed Norcrap The Magnificent.

Laura LaBine is this week's guest writer.

There are many rewarding aspects to why we work, such as the satisfaction of connecting people to their dream job or celebrating a successful placement with a partner, but at the end of the day money pays the bills.

It’s always a good idea to have a conversation with your partner early and often to discuss payment terms. This doesn’t just refer to getting paid by the client, but also how we pay each other. Since some payment methods can take time to process or set up, it can be beneficial to set expectations with each other at time of placement. We owe it to each other to be super transparent and cooperative in communicating payment terms.

Hiretual is a replacement for LinkedIn Recruiter and Connectifier. In addition to searching the LinkedIn database, they also search other database and then go one step further to provide contact details for candidates. Hiretual gets rave reviews and many recruiters are able to lessen their use of LinkedIn by making the switch.

Dear Nicky,

I was looking for trading partners that do automotive and was surprised there were only 58 in all of NPA. Then I looked at automotive jobs and most of those folks were not the same as I had in my recruiter list.. why is this?? 

Confused in Conklin

Jim Laurenzo of Simplified Search (#4427) in Chicago (USA) is one of our Hall of Fame members and a Double Platinum achiever. We asked Jim to share a little bit of his background so you can get to know him better.

What is your current specialty focus?

Engineering and operations management in plastics and chemicals.

If you've ever had to pursue collection of an overdue invoice from a client, you can appreciate that it's not the most enjoyable part of your day. Wilson Cole from Adams, Evens & Ross recommends that EVERY collection letter contain these 5 elements:

Important reminder to members: If you are posting jobs on the NPAworldwide Job Board, you may NOT include your contact information in ANY of the description fields (What Makes This a Great Job, Job Description, or Qualifications). This would potentially allow a candidate to circumvent the Job Board, meaning NPAworldwide would not receive the required placement fee.

Taufik Arief of People Search Indonesia (#8056) has written an article for The Global Recruiter on the topic of global mobility:

Congratulations to Gary Patton from TKO Recruiting (#5212) in Denver, Colorado (USA)! Gary is a member of our Hall of Fame, and reached the Platinum Premier level of the Recruiter Achievement Status program in July. He joins Mike Pettit and Richard Gross as the only members of NPAworldwide to ever reach this level of production - total salaries of at least US $25 million.

Dear Nicky,

What are the rules around the jobs I can post on Matchmaker and on the Job Board?

Foggy in Frisco

Fellow US-based travelers,

I think we have all become accustomed to making our own business travel plans-- flights and hotel accommodations. It can be fairly simple when things go right. The real challenge is when that last flight out of Chicago to Grand Rapids is canceled due to fog or an exhausted flight crew, or when the hotel is overbooked and you’re scrambling to find a room nearby. If you’re like me and have been using Orbitz, Expedia, Kayak, booking direct or using one of a dozen other flight consolidators, well good luck to you!

 

Dear Nicky,

I submitted 3 new acceptances last month and was expecting to see my name among the top producers in the Placement Results report, but it's not there. Did I do something wrong?

Dealing in Dalton

Dear Nicky,

I took up the challenge and asked my existing clients about their international recruitment needs. To my pleasant surprise they gave me some open positions to work. What’s next so that I get this right for my client and my NPAworldwide partners?

Flummoxed in Fiji

We are excited to see the member interest in the new marketing video. Some of you have asked about how best to use it. I recommend embedding it directly on your website on a page where you discuss your NPAworldwide membership. Lindsay Morgan from People Intelligence has done exactly that - here's how she's using it:

Dear Nicky,

I work with an agency outside of NPAworldwide. He has a tough job, and I'm wondering if I can post it to our Job Board to help him out?

Curious in Coleman

A reminder to those of you who are posting jobs on Matchmaker AND the Job Board. Please be sure you are NOT including private notes or recruiter-to-recruiter comments in the Job Description, Qualifications, or Why Is This a Great Opportunity fields. These are PUBLIC fields that ARE shared on the Job Board. This means job seekers are seeing information that is really not suitable for a public audience.

Dear Nicky,

One of my clients has asked me to quote a project that I have not done before. I'm struggling to figure out how to price it, and am wondering if it's OK to ask my NPAworldwide partners for their advice and assistance.

Pricing in Prescott

If you're noticing that email messages don't seem to display correctly in your inbox, or that there are large empty white "boxes" where you should actually see an image, there may be an easy fix. Add the sender of the email to your Safe Senders list - that way, the images will automatically download in your email.

Dear Nicky

I am fairly new to NPAworldwide and posted some jobs to Matchmaker. I must say I am a bit disappointed in the quality of candidates I am receiving. How can I get better response?

Need Help in Newaygo

Earlier this week, we rolled out a Matchmaker enhancement regarding the way downloaded resumes are named. Previously, when downloading records, the default file name was a series of meaningless alphanumeric characters like this:

• D2D5907C-B9D5-016B-B8827E70BEDE2DD6

Dear Nicky,

I've used BountyJobs regularly throughout my career as a recruiter. Can I post jobs I receive via BountyJobs to Matchmaker? What about candidates I receive from NPAworldwide partners - can those be submitted for consideration via BountyJobs?

Hunting in Huntington Woods