Now that social media has gained a real prominence in our society and in the workplace, employers are using it more and more to check out job candidates.

Career counselors are telling those looking for jobs to be careful regarding what they put on their Facebook pages or what they tweet on Twitter because potential employers could be watching. Job applicants should only put information on their sites that will help their chances of finding employment.

But employers need to be savvy as well when perusing social media sites, to be aware of the conventions and customs that are in general use so that they don’t misinterpret things.

For example, a social media site is not a résumé, and should not be treated as one. If you are looking at a job applicant’s site, don’t be too worried about misspellings or grammar problems. Online slang has become common usage, phrases such as “lol” are tossed around a lot. People use shortcuts all the time, so it would be a mistake to look at it any other way than as casual, conversational writing.  Don’t take it as a sign of the candidate’s writing ability.

Other things to ignore are rude remarks. Again, looking at someone’s personal profile, you will see personal conversations, teasing and back-and-forth bantering that will likely have some coarse language. That doesn’t mean that the person will behave the same way in a professional setting.

Also, avoid personal photos. These really have nothing to do with the hiring process, and you don’t want them to affect your opinion. Other information not to take too seriously are remarks about job histories that a candidate might have on his or her Facebook site. Don’t regard these comments as anything definitive about the candidate’s qualifications – use the résumé for that.

Finally, federal law prohibits job discrimination based on race, religion, gender, national origin, and against people with disabilities. If you think this kind of information might affect your hiring decisions, it might be best to avoid looking at social media sites completely, since some of this information will be on the site.

RealStreet Staffing can help your Washington, DC-area engineering, construction, architecture company gear up for major projects — or gear down when the project is complete. Contact us when you need skilled, reliable employees!

If you are an employer and, in the course of your recruiting, you come across applicants who seem to have more education and experience than are required for the job, don’t reject them out of hand.  As a matter of fact, give them serious consideration.

As much as this seems to intuitively go against the grain, new research is revealing that workers considered to be overqualified usually outperform other workers – and they don’t leave any earlier than any other workers.

The bias of hiring managers against employees who are considered to be overqualified is common throughout the business world.  Businesses usually look for candidates who match the job requirements as closely as possible, as opposed to someone who has more education or experience than is required.  At first glance, this seems to be a good policy, because studies have shown that employees who believe themselves to be overqualified tend to be more dissatisfied at work.  A recent study of more than 150 call-center workers showed just that – there was a strong connection between workers who were overqualified and dissatisfaction at work.

And rejecting someone because he or she is considered to be overqualified conforms to all legal guidelines, unlike other discrimination cases based on age or gender.  Moreover, the refusal to consider people thought to be overqualified has cast them into the pool of those who have been unemployed for more than year, labeled as the long-term unemployed, a group that now makes up about half of all those who are out of work.

But even before the recession hit, having too many overqualified workers was a problem around the world, especially in emerging countries where education levels are rising and the job market cannot keep pace.

However, by not looking at these workers, businesses are passing up a tremendous opportunity.  One study  looked at people with above average intelligence who washed cars and collected garbage.  Not only did these people perform better than others on the job, they generally stayed on the job longer than other employees.  Money was not the key consideration.  For some, it was the lifestyle that the job offered, such as the working hours, or the values of the company.

The studies also showed that companies can lessen the feelings of job dissatisfaction of so-called overqualified employees by giving them more decision-making authority on the job.  By empowering them like this, it makes them more engaged and happier in their jobs.

If you have a need for qualified and reliable workers for your Washington Metro company, contact RealStreet Staffing. We can source and vet hard-working individuals for your temporary, temp-to-hire and direct-hire assignments. We look forward to hearing from you.

If you’re currently employed and — lucky you! — have been offered another position — in this economy! — you now have some thinking to do.

Taking the new job may not be an automatic no-brainer. Here are some tips to help you decide if you should stay where you are now or if you should take the new position.

First of all, consider why you applied for the position in the first place. Is your current commute too long and adversely affecting the quality of your personal life. Are you being paid below-market wages? Is there little room for advancement?

If the new position is much closer to home, if you’re receiving a good pay increase and/or if the new job entails a promotion or the opportunity to face new challenges and opportunities (additional skills, etc.), it probably is a good idea to take the offer.

However, and this is important, whenever you leave one position for another, you should be doing so because you’re running to something, not running  from something. If your boss is a jerk, if your co-workers stink, if you’ve discovered the job isn’t a good fit, do not take the first job opportunity that comes along. If you do, you’re trying to escape a bad situation and  you could be running yourself directly into another. Instead, if your current job really is hell on earth, you still should take your time and wait until a truly good opportunity for you comes along.

As you weigh whether or not to accept a new job, here are some things to ask yourself:

• Does the job offer more interesting and challenging work?
• What’s the company culture like? Do you think you’ll be comfortable working there? (For example, the new position will have you working in a cubicle in a large room, but you’re used to having your own office. Will you be able to function in a room that undoubtedly will have more noise and interruptions?
• How much is your total compensation? Is it about the same as your salary now, but are you going from two weeks paid vacation a year to four (and is that important to you)?
• Will the new job be a promotion?
• What is the reputation of the company in your industry? Will having this company as part of your resume be helpful? Do you even care?
• Will the new position give you continuous opportunities to learn new skills?
• How long will your commute be? If you’ll need to move, will the salary allow you to live comfortably in the new city? (Many cost-of-living calculators on the Internet can help you answer that question.)
• How well did you and your potential new boss hit it off? Naturally, you both were on your best behavior during your interviews, but take a deep breath and really think back on your interactions. Look for clues as to how your boss really works. For example, he may have mentioned he hates it when his crew come in late by even just five minutes without calling. Could this be a sign of a micro-manager, or is he someone who just really wants people to be on time because customers/clients start calling at 8 a.m. sharp and it’s important that his team be there to serve them? Think on this type of information and trust your gut.)

You can trust RealStreet Staffing to help you find your next great opportunity at some of Washington DC’s best construction, engineering and architecture firms. When you’re looking for a new opportunity, we want to hear from you.

Never stop networking. Even if you’re currently job searching or you have a position that you believe will be there for you until the day you decide to retire, networking is a wonderful tool to improve your live professionally and personally, no matter what your present circumstances might be.

The primary reason to network is because it gives you the opportunity to meet new people. The more people you know — and the more who know you — the better your chance of using that network when you need it, whether you need a new job or the name of a great dentist.

Most people get the best jobs from people they know. Even if you’re not looking for work now, you may be looking for work sometime in the future. If you have a wide network, you’ll have even more people who can refer you for job openings, to hiring managers, to people who may know people who know people who are hiring, etc.

This is the era of continual learning. Skills become outdated quickly and need to be improved constantly. Meeting others in or out of your profession keeps you on your toes and allows you to learn things you never knew you didn’t know — and needed to learn. Learning goes both ways, of course; don’t be shy about sharing your knowledge with others, too.

Continually networking means people will continually know you exist. When they need a terrific building/coding specialist — or when a friendly firm in another city needs one and mentions it to one of your contacts — you easily could receive a call about a new opportunity, one that will move your career forward even if you’re happy where you are now.

We know the right people at RealStreet Staffing. We know hiring managers at some of the Washington DC area’s best construction, architecture and engineering firms. When you’re looking for a new opportunity, we want to hear from you.

Last week we touched on questions you should ask in an interview. But what about those you should NEVER ask?

Ask these questions and you can probably wave good bye to any chance of getting hired or getting the salary you truly deserve:

How much paid vacation time do I get? While there’s inherently nothing wrong with this question, this one becomes a job-offer killer depending on when you ask it. Ask it during the first interview and you come across as wanting a job only to get a paid vacation. Most employers want their employees to have some R and R after working: employees come back refreshed and ready to be productive, but this questions smacks of “what can you do for me, Ms. Employer?” rather than “Here are my skills and knowledge and here’s how they will benefit your company.”

Can you see the difference? The first gives the impression that you don’t understand why employers hire people. Hint: they are not doing it out of the goodness of their hearts. Businesses hire people to solve problems. Show an employer how you will solve her problems! That’s truly the key to a successful job interview, one that leads to a job offer.

So save questions about vacation, benefits, etc. for the second or third interview. If the employer happens to mention in the first interview how much vacation time you may expect, thank her for the information and leave it at that.

How much does this position pay? There are two big problems with this question. First of all, it shows the employer you haven’t done any research about her company nor the position for which you’re applying. You should have a general idea as to a salary you can expect for the type of position, the industry and the area of the country where the business is located

The second reason you should never ask this question is that it puts you at a distinct disadvantage. Why? Because 1) if the employer answers with a set amount or even range, you have no wiggle room. The salary is what is, even if you are able to show the employer that your skills are more valuable. 2) The hiring manager actually is most likely to ask you what kind of salary you are looking for.  You pretty much have to answer because it was you, after all, who brought the topic of salary up. So you mention a number/range and, poof! there goes any leverage you had for negotiation.

Never bring up salary until your second or third interview. If the company will be hiring based on just one interview, wait for your interviewer to bring the salary question up.

Residents of the Washington DC area with construction, engineering, architectural and project management skills looking to work with some of the best Metro Washington companies, should contact RealStreet Staffing. We have the contacts, resources an experiences to help you take your career to the next level. Contact us today!

So you’ve landed an interview. Congratulations!

Now you need to prepare for it, and prepare well.

If you researched the company some as you were writing your cover letter and resume (you did didn’t you, so that you could reference your knowledge of the company in your cover letter?), you now need to really dig in so that you’ll be able to discuss thoroughly how your specific skills and background will help the business meet its goals and challenges.

Most of your interview will be filled with you answering questions about your qualifications, your experience and skills and your successes.

But eventually, usually near the end of the session, the hiring manager/interviewer will probably utter these five words: “Do you have any questions?”

Here are some questions you should ask:

• What are the major challenges you see the person who gets the job will face?
• What are the skills and background of the perfect candidate? (Really listen to the answer and then talk about how your skills/background fit the bill.)
• What are the first things you want the person who gets the job to do in the first few weeks of being here?
• Why is the position open? (With this question,  you’ll learn if the position is a new one. Or, if the person who had it before was promoted, you know that this position is a good stepping stone to more responsibility — and pay.)
• You asked me where I want to be in five years; where would you see the person who gets the this job in five years?
• What do you see me lacking for this position? (You can then talk about how, yes, you don’t have this particular skill, but you do have this one, and this one. In fact, you can be very upfront about a skill you lack: “I don’t have the PowerPoint skills you need, but I have excellent Word, Excel, QuickBooks and Publisher skills and I know I can learn PowerPoint quickly and well.”)

As the interview winds up, you should definitely ask what the next steps are. This will tell you if second interviews will be conducted, and when.

Finally, the most important question you can ask is to ask for the job.

When you get up after the interview is over and you’re ready to say good-bye, take the interviewer’s hand, look her straight in the eye and say something like “I really enjoyed speaking with you. I like the opportunity as you presented it and I feel my skills and background are a great fit. I want to work for you and I hope you’ll choose me as the winning candidate.”

Good luck!

If you work in the construction, engineering, architecture and other technical industries in the Washington DC area, contact RealStreet Staffing. We have terrific opportunities with some of the Washington Metro area’s finest firms. We look forward to hearing from you!

As you write a resume, you must remember that its purpose isn’t to get you a job, it’s to get you an interview.

A resume is to pique an employer’s interest in you so much that the hiring manager will call you in for an interview. It’s at the job interview that you can then go into much more detail about how your backgrounds, skills and accomplishments can be of value to the company.

So your resume in many ways is a marketing tool. And what do marketers want the public to do when they read/see/hear an ad? Take action. Buy. Call for more information. Come to the store. Ask for a meeting, etc.

The operative word here is action. And the action you want a hiring manager to do when she reads your resume is to contact you for an interview.

So action must be in your resume. Action verbs, that is, verbs that show what you’ve done for other employers. Verbs that demonstrate your accomplishments, the challenges you overcame and the successes you brought to your previous jobs.

Here are some of the best “action verbs” to place in a resume (be sure you’ve actually done these things; don’t lie on a resume. You could get fired if the company hires you and later finds out you never actually did the things you said:

• Achieved
• Acquired
• Authorized
• Built
• Collected
• Completed
• Devised
• Directed
• Drafted
• Eliminated
• Employed
• Expanded
• Fixed
• Guided
• Improved.
• Invented
• Launched
• Negotiated
• Overcame
• Pioneered
• Produced
• Ran
• Reached
• Reshaped
• Saved
• Started
• Transformed
• Trained
• Undertook
• Volunteered
• Worked

If you’re looking for a new position and feel you’re resume could use some help, bring it to us. We’re experts in helping Washington DC’s workers find great jobs. We’ll look over your resume and give you some pointers. We also may find you a great position! Contact RealStreet Staffing today.

If you have a large gap in your work history, you may be worried that you’ll have an even harder time finding work in today’s tough economy.

That needn’t be the case. Here are some tips to help you handle questions about “holes” in your employment history:

If you’ve just found yourself “between jobs,” as you search for new employment, consider taking on freelance or consulting work. If that’s not possible, offer to volunteer in more of a managerial role with our favorite charity. The freelancing and/or volunteering sting are perfectly legitimate to place on your resume.

If it turns out there’s nothing you can do to fill the “gap” in your resume, as you write it, opt for a “functional” resume rather the typical “chronological” resume, the one that lists your jobs/duties/accomplishments in the order of when you had the jobs (most recent position first). Use caution, however: some recruiters look at functional resumes as red flags: “this applicant has something he doesn’t want to tell me!”

A functional resume details the your background, skills and accomplishments you’ve accomplished over the length of your career. The focus is on what you’ve accomplished for former employers, it’s not just a “list” of your previous jobs. A chronological list of your previous jobs goes at the end of a functional resume.

If there truly is a big fat hole in your work history, you may want to bring this up right away in your cover letter. Write a short one- or two-sentence explanation of the reason for the gap (you left work to take care of a sick relative, to raise children, you couldn’t find a job after being laid off for two years, etc.) Don’t go into too much detail and definitely don’t whine about how long it’s taking you to find a job. Instead, state the facts, and then immediately segue into how your skills and background are a good fit for the open position.

If you’re interviewing and the gap in your job history comes up, once again, briefly state the reason you gave in your cover letter. Then change the subject — ask the interviewer for more information about the job duties, what kind of person they’re looking for etc. And then detail how your backgrounds and skills can help the employer. Take the focus off your gap and on to what you bring to the table

If you’re worried that a large gap in your job history is hindering your search for work, let RealStreet Staffing help you find a great job. We can place you on exciting assignments at businesses throughout the Washington Metro area. In fact, many of our assignments are temp-to-hire or even direct placement! Contact us today.

Have you ever met someone for the first time and, after exchanging the usual pleasantries about what a nice day it is (or isn’t), what each of you do for a living, etc., the person launches into a monologue all about him? His opinions. His tribulations. His day. His week. The funny thing his kid said the other night.

Not a pleasant happenstance, is it?

Well, the stakes are even higher during the job interview.

If we can give you just one piece of advice regarding job interviews, it is this: a job interview is not about you. It is not about your needs. Your desires. Your goals.

Yes, these topics probably will come up. But the purpose of a job interview is so that a potential employer can see how hiring you will benefit him.

In other words, what skills do you bring to his company? What problems of his can you solve? Can your sales background bring him (the company) money? Will your personality fit in his business’ culture?

So as you interview, keep the details about your needs to a minimum.  Never ask about benefits, salary, vacation time, etc. until either your interviewer brings it up or until you have an offer.

As you interview, be sure to detail how you’ve solved your previous employers’ problems. Talk about how you solved them not to brag but to show your possible new employer how you can take the skills you used to solve your previous boss’ challenges to solve your new employers’ needs.

We’ve seen it again and again: a hiring manager asks a candidate to “tell me a little about yourself.” And then the candidate launches into a monologue about how it’s always been a dream of his to work for a well-regarded construction firm and so this opportunity to work as a project coordinator is right up his alley, because this is taking him one step closer to his dream and he’s so pumped!

Instead, a savvier candidate will talk just a tiny bit about his background. Then he’ll mention how he read the company’s annual report and found it interesting the firm plans to move into green construction because he helped his last employer research the licensing and certificates necessary to become LEED certified and he’d like to discuss what he discovered with his interviewer, if he may.

May he?!!! He had the hiring manager at “I read your annual report and….”

So be sure to talk about how your skills, background and job history benefits a potential employer. Talk about your successes, of course, but couch them in how they helped a former employer.

Remember (and forget it at your peril): A job interview is not about you. It’s about them.

Need some tips for interviewing? We can help. RealStreet Staffing can coach you in the best interview practices so that you’ll shine before an employer. We can help the Washington Metro area’s construction, engineering, architecture professionals find positions with the area’s best companies. Contact us today.

Many otherwise professional, savvy, mature job seekers turn into puddles of anxiety when it comes to discussing and negotiating their salary requirements when job searching.

The following tips can help you do negotiate a salary with which both you and your future employer will be happy:

Understand that employees cost a business a ton of money. Salaries, benefits, vacation time, etc. creates a huge dent in their bottom line. Many experts, in fact, say that personnel costs make up 70-80 percent of a company’s total expenses!

Naturally, then, an employer is going to try to hire you at the lowest price he or she can.

Your job, and you should accept it, is to get the employer to pay you the highest amount you can negotiate.

Here’s how to do it.

If at all possible, leave any and all talk about your salary requirements until you have a job offer. Spilling the beans before that puts you at a negotiating disadvantage.

If a Washington Metro employer corners you and says it must know your salary requirements before you’re even out of the gate, quote a range, with your stated low figure your actual middle and the high your “if wishes really came true” salary.

For example, let’s say you’ve done your numbers and the absolute bottom salary you can/will accept is $45K, but you tell the employer who insists on a number from the get go that your range is $50K-60K. That way, if the employer says “I can’t pay you more than $45K,” that’s OK with you.

Giving a range higher than your real range allows you lots of wiggle room — it’s easy to negotiate down than up. It also sets the bar high. Chances are good that, if the position pays $50-60K, you’ll get at least $50K.

Again, try your best to avoid any talk of salary until you have a job offer. The above tip is for those times when a potential employer pushes you to a wall and says “Talk price! Now!”

In addition, if an employer says she wants to know your current/last salary, do not give it. Mention desired range, as outlined above. Your last salary should have nothing to do with what this position pays. If you had to take a job that paid $25K annually while you got your life back on track after a personal disaster, but you have the skills for a position that pays $50K, you deserve the $50K. On the flip side, if your last job paid $50K but circumstances are requiring that you’re applying for jobs in the $25K range, telling a hiring manager or HR employee your previous salary will put you out of the running before the gate even opens.

If you’re asked for a salary requirement on an application, write “negotiable.” If the application (or job ad) asks that you include your past salary, leave it blank. Yes, there’s a chance you won’t get called. But employers tend to ignore these missing items in an application if you have pretty much exactly the skills and background an employer seeks.

Remember, it’s the position and qualifications that dictates the salary. Not your wants and past salary history.

With that in mind, be sure you have some idea what a company in this area pays for the type of position you seek. Salaries are much higher in some areas of the country than others, and even within regions. Salaries are much higher in Washington, DC than in cities outside the Beltway, for example. Do your research.

RealStreet Staffing knows the decision makers in the construction, architectural, engineering and Federal communities. We can help you find  terrific opportunities that fit your backgrounds and needs. We look forward to hearing how we can help you create a better future.