The questions below are actual ones that have been asked during interviews.

· You lack experience, and I don’t have time to train you. With that in mind, why should I hire you over another candidate who fits the job description perfectly?

The interviewer is looking for you to demonstrate that you are a self-starter. This question is also an opportunity for you to highlight times you hit the ground running with little or no training.

· You’ve been unemployed for a long time. How are you keeping your skills from turning stale?

If you are keeping your skills up-to-date while you are unemployed, this is an easy question to answer. However, if you aren’t, your answer can blow the interview. To avoid leaving a negative impression, enroll in a class or volunteer in an organization that will utilize your skill set (or at least mention that you were just looking through the offerings at your local college or professional organization for a chance to upgrade your skills.)

· I’m not comfortable offering you the position because you are a job hopper. How do I know you wouldn’t get bored and leave this position within a year?

This question shouldn’t throw you off balance. After all, your job-hopper image is showcased on your resume. Although the interviewer knows about your work history, she invited you in for an interview anyway. This is a good sign that the interviewer is open to listening to your explanation. Simply answer the question honestly and without getting defensive.

· You are over qualified for this job. How do I know that you won’t leave as soon as a better opportunity arises?

In this job market, many companies will interview employees who possess qualifications that exceed the requirements they seek. You should explain that you are seeking an opportunity with a Company that provides stability and an opportunity for growth. If the Company perceives you as “overqualified” then perhaps when an opportunity for a promotion becomes available, you’ll be one of the top candidates for consideration.

Conclusion

Interviewers ask tough questions to test your demeanor. Sometimes it doesn’t matter what your answer is. The interviewer will focus more on whether or not you keep your cool under pressure. This isn’t to suggest that your responses shouldn’t be coherent. Obviously you are accountable for everything you say during an interview. But no matter what you say, a negative tone in your voice and a defensive nonverbal stance sends a strong message—one that doesn’t work in your favor.

For example, if you are dynamic throughout the interview but your demeanor noticeably changes when asked tough yet reasonable questions, the hiring manager may interpret that as a lack of self-confidence or that you aren’t able to withstand constructive feedback.  Interviewers will overlook many indiscretions, but not candidates who demonstrate they don’t believe in themselves or are easily tripped up.

-Written by Linda Matias

This is because an employer cannot possibly identify all she needs to know just by reading your resume. He will need to ask clarifying questions. Just as important, he will assess your personality to determine compatibility.

On the flipside, you will want to conduct your own due diligence by actively participating during the interview. In other words, you should ask questions because you can’t learn everything you need to know about the hiring organization by only reading the classifieds.

As you can see, neither you nor the interviewer can make a definitive decision solely based on a piece of paper. Keep that in mind when you are tempted to respond to a question with, “You can find the answer on my resume.” This response is not only rude, but if you feel that you are repeating information from the resume, that means you are not providing the interviewer with well-rounded responses. The resume provides a snippet of your experience. The interview is an opportunity for you to expand on your experience. It is not a time to provide a play-by-play repeat of the resume.

That said, you could use your resume to your advantage by referring to it and expanding on the information. For example, let’s say the interviewer asks, “Name an accomplishment you are most proud of.” You can respond by saying something like, “In the introduction of my resume, you will note that I included that I am a sought-after change agent who paves the way for smooth-running, lucrative retail organizations. An example of this is the time I reversed the department’s prior history of low efficiency and productivity by shifting district manager mindset from a reactionary ‘put out fires’ outlook to a proactive approach. This included championing change-management solutions that focused on setting benchmarks and measuring results to achieve high performance levels.” By elaborating on the statement during the interview, you are providing context and concrete details that will interest the interviewer.

The resume and the interview work as a team. You need the resume to get in the door, and you need the interview to land a job offer. So give each the time and effort it deserves.

Written by Linda Matias

As gaming company revenues decline, so does hiring. Job Boards and Executive Search firms are seeing a 50 – 75% reduction in requests for staffing services and an insurgence of job seekers.  The International Labor Organization estimates that the current global unemployment rate of 6.1% – with 198 million unemployed worldwide, (of which 12.5 million reside in the US), may rise to 7.1% by end of 2009.

Managing in a Down Economy

On a positive note, today’s talent management technology provides the tools for HR and management to make the right decisions about their workforce.  Instead of making the mass job cuts that characterized previous recessions, many organizations are taking a more intelligent and nuanced approach to cutting their costs, while maintaining a commitment to the retention of key talent.

Employers are taking a long, hard look at their compensation and incentive programs, to determine where they can make cuts in discretionary spending by eliminating overtime, employee events and entertainment, freezing pay increases, eliminating bonuses and 401K contributions, and reducing training & development programs and employee travel. Yet, many are concerned about alienating their top performers.

Taleo Corporation, a provider of talent management solutions, recently conducted a global survey of 345 corporate executives and respected talent management leaders to develop the Top Do’s and Don’ts for Managing Talent in a downturn economy.

The research was based on the premise that this recession is different than any experienced by those in today’s leadership and HR management positions. Therefore, recognizing that workforce expenses usually account for as much as 70% of a business’s overall cost, the research sought to distill the best practices in staffing management for making better cost-cutting and productivity-impacting decisions, regardless of geography.

Best Practices in Downsizing:

• Identify the work that is core to retaining business (not just the work that is being done well). Look at core and critical positions to prioritize where, if necessary, headcount can be cut.

• Identify competencies needed to meet business goals. Use workforce planning and performance management to make better decisions.

• Protect your bottom line and your brand. When making downsizing decisions, consider that poor execution and planning has long-term brand effects and instant Internet scrutiny. If you must let go of personnel, do so without burning your bridges.

• Communicate constantly. Let staff know what you know, when you know it and provide them the dignity they deserve.

• Pay attention to survivors. Let them know why they were kept, or bear the consequences ranging from low engagement and productivity to leaving of their own volition.

HR management (many with recruitment staffs and budgets slashed up to 75%), must anticipate and be prepared for a time when the economy will improve.  They should not rely on traditional recruitment methods; but should implement new and more flexible ways to manage their employee recruitment process.

How to Find the Best Talent

• Ask employees for referrals.  Employee referrals generate high-quality candidates.
• Ask new hires for referrals.  During orientation, ask them for names of colleagues who are qualified and might be interested.
• Recruit at professional events.  Encourage your executives to speak at these events to improve your brand image.
• Develop a video to more effectively show why your property is a great place to work.
• Reach out to alumni employees who have left the company or retired to see about their interest in returning.
• If some time has passed, contact top candidates who turned down a job offer from you and re-sell the position.
• Use interns.  Many college students will work free for the experience.
• Utilize cost-effective industry-specific recruitment resources to publicize your company brand and opportunities on the Internet and target qualified job seekers using a direct marketing email program.
• Develop a strong online presence by:
  • Creating a corporate Facebook page.
  • Starting a LinkedIn group.
  • Developing a YouTube broadcast.
  • Providing IM or a Job Seeker Inquiry form on your web site

Retention in the Down Economy

Retention still tops the list of toughest staffing challenges according to a new Robert Half Internal survey.  When asked what currently concerned them the most, employers listed:

• Retaining current employees (39%)
• Recruiting new employees (22%)
• Keeping productivity high (17%) and
• Improving moral (17%)

When HR professionals were asked what their top retention programs were, the overwhelming response was tuition reimbursement, competitive vacation and holiday benefits and competitive salaries.  These are certainly important benefits, but when all companies offer the same retention elements, how effective can the program be?  So while employers will tell you their most valuable asset is their employees, they are not placing much effort or creativity on retaining this asset.

Retention of an employee base in today’s gaming environment needs a three-pronged approach:

• Frank talk from management.

• Focus on creativity to find better ways to do things.
• Programs to help employees cope.

How to Keep Employees

In this trying economic time, it is a herculean task for both human resources and staff managers to maintain a loyal and productive workforce.  It is understandably hard for employees to focus on their jobs when they are fearful that tomorrow they may not have one.

So what can gaming companies do retain their workforce and manage property morale?

• First, tell employees the bad news. Make sure they know what is happening and hear it from you; not the grapevine or media.  Communicate frequently and honestly including providing the real numbers of staff reductions.
• Ask employees if they would be willing to take a pay cut or accrue additional time off to reduce payroll costs in order to retain more employees.
• Offer employees increased flexibility.  Many employers are giving workers more freedom to set their hours, compress their work week and telecommute.
• Give back to employees where you can by offering flextime, additional vacation time and increased responsibilities not just more work.
• Provide programs to help employees deal with stress.  Those employees who survived downsizing are required to do more work as the responsibilities of downsized employees are assigned to the remaining employees.  Moreover, some of the employees that have survived the downsizing have such restricted hours that they can’t pay their bills. 
• Finally, salaries must be frozen, extraneous programs cut, even benefits reduced.
• “Fix” Incentive Plan.  An incentive plan is put in place to reward and motivate employees.  But if talented employees have no chance of earning incentive dollars because of marketplace changes, the plan begins to have a negative effect on staff morale and retention.

How to Keep Key Employees

In addition to the retention of the employee base, special emphasis needs to be placed on developing stronger retention programs for employees who are critical to the company’s success.   Companies need to make sure these employees are not vulnerable to the aggressive offers that will likely come their way.  The most common elements in traditional employee incentive plans have been annual bonuses based on financial performance and stock options.  But the poor financial performance of gaming companies and the drop in value of their stocks have made these traditional incentive plans somewhat ineffective.

Hay Group recently conducted a global research study in order to assist organizations in understanding the extent to which companies have altered, or are considering altering their reward programs. A total of 2,589 organizations from 91 countries across six continents participated in this study, demonstrating that the effects of the downturn are being felt worldwide.

The majority of the strategies discussed earlier in this article are being implemented worldwide. However, it is important to note that when respondents were asked to list their organization’s biggest concerns regarding key employees during this challenging time, organizations fear the loss of top talent and critical skills.

The top concerns of organizations include:

− Retaining top talent / critical skills

− Maintaining / affording competitive pay

− Maintaining employee engagement / motivation

− Career development / training

− Recruiting top talent / critical skills

To keep their very best and most critical employees companies should consider providing aggressive incentive plans that:

• Guarantee minimum year-end performance-based bonuses in key areas other than EBITA, such as service enhancement, cost-efficiency and innovation
• Grant more stock options/shares/units and consider changing the mix of options/shares/units
• Reduce the performance criteria for vesting
• Provide employment contracts as a cost-free way to show employees how valuable they are to the company.

A program like this will obviously cost money, but it makes sense for certain highly skilled employees.

Performance is Key for HR Credibility

HR leaders understand that the current economic climate has significantly influenced the way they must structure, recruit, retain and motivate their workforce.  They are expected to have a tangible impact on the profitability of their business.

It is critical to keep employees motivated during these times.  Organizations have the opportunity to take a hard look at the intent, design, and implementation of their human resources programs. Those that think strategically and creatively will emerge in a position of strength to take advantage of the future upturn.

HRM technology solutions can help savvy HR professionals strategically manage through the crisis and prepare as the economy inevitably rises. Trends that HR professionals must embrace in 2009 include managing and developing talent, HRM analytics, Web 2.0, on-boarding and implementing a HR technology strategy to do more with less.

Beth Deighan is the President of Casino Careers Online (www.casinocareers.com). The company provides a Job Board & Resume Database, web design, as well as HR consulting services, such as career transition counseling, organizational assessment, compensation analysis, and outplacement exclusively to the Casino-Gaming/Hospitality & Gaming Technology industry.

And even though the list of HR concerns includes myriad topics such as:

-       competition for skilled and experienced employees

-       retention of key talent

-       a workforce of multi-generations presenting issues related to baby boomer retirement and their ability to communicate with generations X & Y

-       assessing and controlling the cost of turnover

-       managing global workforces

-       addressing low levels of employee engagement

-       developing succession planning

-       remaining abreast of outsourcing trends and surviving in a bad economy;

HR leaders realize that successful talent management is a major driver of organizational performance and competitive advantage.

During an economic downturn, attention turns to protecting revenue and trimming expenses. Management strategizes on how to cut costs without cutting jobs and how to increase productivity, morale and staff engagement.  The increased focus on business efficiency can erode employee trust in the organization and increase insecurity, leading to reduced commitment, effort and performance.

At this point in the business cycle when companies need employees to be flexible, adaptable and fully committed, they run the risk of creating the opposite reaction.

Employees can’t help but respond to the negative media and signals in the workplace with fears of company bankruptcy or merger/acquisition. They are concerned that their position may be lost to downsizing or a workforce reduction, or that they will be asked to take a cut in salary, work hours, incur the cessation of 401K contributions, or a cut in benefits.

Most HR executives understand that their goal is to maintain a workforce of engaged employees who are enthusiastic about and highly committed to their jobs and their organizations; who take ownership for, and pride in the quality of their work and who constantly look for ways to improve quality and productivity. Their challenge is to implement effective talent management programs.

Talent management encompasses strategic HR programs designed to maximize workforce productivity. It covers a range of HR functions focusing on attracting, retaining, managing, and developing high quality workforces. It includes performance management, staffing, compensation, learning management, employee development, and succession planning.

Steven T. Hunt, Director of Business Transformation Success Factors Inc., enumerates “common sense” factors for designing and evaluating talent management methods which increase workforce productivity, in his white paper titled “Common Sense Talent Management – Twelve fundamental principles for increasing workforce productivity.”

Hunt contends that the “end goal of talent management initiatives is to help get the right people in the right jobs doing the right things to make a business succeed.”

Gaming industry managers understand that business results are driven by factors within and outside of the control of the organization. Competitor activity, economic market conditions, or government legislation cannot be controlled. However, they can manage business strategy, organizational structure, and workplace policies.

The basic goal of talent management is influencing the behavior of employees to support the company’s business strategies and objectives through effective staffing, compensation, performance management, and career development programs.

Hunt suggests that there are twelve (12) principles that should be considered when developing any form of talent management system.

• Respect Employees

• Clarify Objectives

• Increase Awareness

• Create Dialogue

• Maintain Accountability

• Integrate Development into Work

• Provide a Picture of High Performance

• Give Your Employees Visibility to One Another.

• Support People at Different Phases of Career Growth.

• Evaluate Potential and Experience

• Help People Figure Out What They Want

• Create Processes that Strategically Engage People’s Attention.

Respecting employees involves being sensitive to their interests, needs, and goals. Simply listening to employee concerns is often enough to give employees a sense of being respected. Most employees recognize there are limitations to what an organization can and cannot do to make their lives better.

Clarifying objectives requires clearly defining and communicating the goals employees are expected to achieve in their jobs. One of the most effective ways to maximize workforce productivity is to tell employees exactly what it is you want them to do and to involve them in the goal setting process.

Providing performance feedback gives employees information that both increases their awareness of what they need to change and increases their confidence in their ability to change. Feedback must inspire employees to become more effective by providing suggestions on ways they might be able to change or modify their behavior to improve their performance.

Companies must strive to keep the lines of communication open between managers and employees. Technology is playing an increasing role in meeting this challenge by providing their team members with tools to exchange information about job roles, goals, and performance. However, be careful to ensure that technology does not replace face-to-face meetings and dialogue between managers and their staffs.

Maintaining accountability increases employee commitment toward the company by creating an organizational culture that is perceived to be more fair and equitable. People need to understand the connection between what they do on the job and the rewards they receive from the company. This requires establishing, communicating, and following processes that directly link employee performance to pay, job opportunities, promotions, and other employment decisions.

Integrating employee development into work provides goals that employees can only accomplish by building new competencies, learning new skills and developing new capabilities. The company should demonstrate a commitment to helping the employees learn the new competencies and skills they will need to achieve these goals by providing coaching support, training materials, and other learning resources that allow them to develop the capabilities they need to succeed.

Pictures of high performance should clearly indicate the multidimensional nature of job performance and range of behaviors that impact job success and reflect the multi-cultural makeup of the company. This includes communicating the behaviors the company wishes to encourage and explaining how these are different from behaviors shown by average or ineffective employees.

Companies create teamwork by encouraging their employees to establish connections with coworkers that share similar interests and goals. Corporations are using internet based social networking technology to help establish and maintain connectivity among employees within their workforce. When employees view their coworkers as friends they tend to be more willing to invest their time and energy into supporting the company.

A multi-generational work force consists of employees who are in different phases of careers growth. Younger employees work in different positions as they attempt to find the type of position that best suits their talents and interests. This is followed by employees who are pursuing career advancement by developing specialized skills and moving to positions of increasing responsibility. As employees raise and care for families, they may be reluctant to pursue opportunities that require making major changes to their lives outside of work. When employees are tenured and comfortable in their jobs, they may transition their focus away from work to other interests outside of the workplace.  Companies can accommodate the needs of employees at different career stages by demonstrating flexibility and understanding that what their employees want and need from a job changes as they progress through life.

The goal of talent management practices such as staffing and succession planning is to predict what employees will do in the future if placed in certain positions. When appropriately designed and applied, these assessments can assist in predicting the employees’ future performance.

Employees reach peak performance levels when they are placed in jobs that match what they can do and what they want to do. One element of effective talent management is helping employees understand what job opportunities exist in your organization and how these opportunities relate to their needs and interests. A company can use their career site to feature employees sharing what their jobs entail. They can provide cross-training and access to standardized assessments that help them define and clarify their job interests and goals.

There are few if any talent management methods that could not benefit from some level of automation and standardization. But consideration should be given to balancing the efficiency gained by performing things in a consistent, routine manner against the benefits gained by performing things in a less automated manner that requires more mental energy and effort so as to strategically engage your employees’ attention.

Some of the questions Taleo, a provider of on-demand talent management solutions, offers to HR professionals to assess their talent management strategies include:

Can you efficiently adapt to business changes and ensure organizational flexibility by leveraging an internal talent pool?

Can you quickly attract and onboard the best talent from outside the company?

Do you need to retrain your employees for new tasks and anticipated business changes?

Do you believe that providing essential training to your key employees will have a positive impact on their motivation and confidence in the future?

Are your learning and development programs integrated with performance and succession management?

Can you save money on training personnel, travel, and facilities by making use of e-learning and virtual classroom capabilities, especially in the case of a global workforce?

Do you know all key positions in your organization and what their bench strength looks like?

Do you have the required insight into the skills of your workforce?

If key employees leave the company, do you know with whom to close the gaps in your organization?

As your business objectives change, are your employees aligned with the new objectives?

Does each and every employee know how to contribute to your corporate goals individually?

If need be, do you know whom to keep and whom to lay-off?

Do you know how to allocate tight bonus budgets to the right people?

Do you know which employees are committed to the company by long-term incentives and who are not?

The challenges HR professionals face require innovative thinking to achieve business success. They need to align employees with corporate goals. They must evolve from policy creation, cost reduction, process efficiency, and risk management to driving a new talent mindset within the organization.

Instead of focusing on processes, forms, and compliance, HR becomes the strategic enabler of talent management processes that empower managers and employees, while creating business value.

An effective talent management program implements integrated strategies and systems designed to improve processes for recruiting, developing and retaining people with the required skills and aptitude to meet current and future organizational needs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Beth Deighan is the President of Casino Careers Online (www.casinocareers.com), which provides a Job Board & Resume Database to Employers in the Gaming-Hospitality/Technology industry, as well as to regulatory agencies and gaming industry vendors & suppliers.  Casino Careers also provides Job Seeker assistance, such as resume enhancement and career transition tools. Beth can be reached at info@casinocareers.com or 609-813-2333.

Recruiters can take advantage of four core staffing performance metrics:

• Actual Time vs. Contracted Time to Start
• Staffing Efficiency
• Hiring Manager Satisfaction
• New Hire Quality.

These metrics involve only a modest level of data collection and will not only provide A measure of the value that recruiting brings to its customers, but just the simple of act of measuring will help improve operations.  Here’s a breakdown of each metric, the data needed to calculate it, and what information they provide.

·Actual Time vs. Contracted Time to Start

In lieu of the traditional “Time to Fill,” metric, which can be easily manipulated and distorted, consider using the ratio of the actual start date to the targeted start date that gets negotiated with the hiring manager.  This ratio indicates how closely you met the expectations of the hiring manager.  In addition, negotiating a start date with the hiring manager helps set realistic expectations about when someone will be in their seat working, which is what the hiring manager really cares about.  In addition, using this metric will help reduce the likelihood of the “fill all open positions ASAP” fire drill that many recruiters must contend with.

Staffing Efficiency

While the traditional Cost-per-Hire metric is widely used and provides some meaningful indication of effectiveness, it does not account for variations in factors such as the level of the position being filled, labor market conditions, and availability of workers by region. Consider using the Staffing Efficiency ratio.  It is easily calculated as follows:

Determine your Total Costs:  the sum of your Internal Costs (salaries, office space, supplies, general overhead) and your External Costs (all external expenses which are incurred to specifically identify candidates – advertising, contingency and retainer fees, research costs, annual fees for posting jobs on the Internet).

Divide your Total Costs by Total Compensation Recruited (TCR) – the sum of the base STARTING salaries for each external hire during their first year.  External compensation recruited is the best measure of recruiting production, and the Staffing Efficiency metric will illustrate how efficiently you are bringing in this compensation.

Staffing Efficiency = Total Costs/TCR.  Staffing Efficiencies in the range of 5% – 9% are considered excellent, and those above 16% indicate some needed attention.  However, these ranges can vary by industry, organizational size, and region, and it is best to compare your own results to benchmark data.

·Hiring Manager Satisfaction

This is the hiring manager satisfaction rating with the hiring process.  Hiring manager satisfaction is often based on a general post hire questionnaire but there is an inherent problem with this approach—the hiring manager has no pre-established guidelines by which to judge the recruiter. A fairer and more useful questioner is one which is completed BEFORE and after the recruitment process for a new position. This type of questionnaire ensures that both the hiring manager and recruiter are clear about what they expect from the hiring process.

·New Hire Quality

This is the rating of the new hire by the hiring manager. It is recommended that this evaluation be conducted three to six months after hire. It takes at least three months before a new hire performance can be accurately assessed and after 6 months, work place influences become a dominant factor in new employee performance. To fairly judge the quality of a new hire, it’s important to define expectations prior to recruiting and then compare these expectations to actual performance. The following list provides a starting point for developing the criteria for new hire:

• Goals
• System compatibility
• Capacity
• Motivation
• Knowledge and skills
• Performance
• Experience
• Customer compatibility
• Work group compatibility
• Organization compatibility
• Change/learning posture

The hiring manager and recruiter should meet prior to recruiting to review all these areas and determine expectations for each.  By proactively taking accountability for their contributions and backing up their assertions with credible metrics, recruiters will actively demonstrate their value to their organization and customers.  By using the four core staffing performance metrics to assess their effectiveness, recruiters will be put themselves at the leading edge of the human resources profession that is under increasing pressure to demonstrate its value.  It is always far better to lead with metrics than to be asked to produce them.

Casino Careers Online extends its appreciation to author Dr. Lawrence J. Quartana, Ph.D, President of www.staffing.org, a web-based, non-profit organization dedicated to developing and implementing metrics that identify effective human resources practices and performance. He can be reached at: lquartana@staffing.org.