So, what is a staffing service or agency and how can it be beneficial to me? Is it just for day labor or can it help me find a career? What if I’m an employer and need someone to help for a day or two or I’m looking for long-term, career-minded employees?
You may wonder these things if you are either looking for work or need employees. These are great questions, and I’m certain there are many more.
Need a job? How fun is it to go looking through all the different jobs of all the various job sites, scraping, scanning and perusing all the separate positions, still not knowing which may be a good fit for your skills and experience? Do you need a resume, and if so, what are the best things to include in it? When you think you got it, you apply for one or two, hoping you hear back, not knowing the next steps; should you call, stop by, who knows? And if you do get the call, what do you wear? Should you research the company to see what their benefits are, see if they have any bad reviews? What if that job ad did not have a pay rate, then how much does it pay and when or whom do I ask?
Well, good news! You did get the call and the company representatives would love to meet you for an interview. Do you know what to wear, what questions to ask or the proper way to ask them? Will they have the health coverage you need? Is it bad to show up in cut-off jean shorts and flip flops? Your mom says you look great in that! But what if you start this new job and it is not all that you hoped for? Or, what if your childcare or some other situation comes up, forcing you to find something new? Now, you need to start all over, hoping to get that call at least once more.
What if you find yourself in need of employees? Well, you can start by looking through hundreds of applications, via online or even the now practically obsolete paper ones just to find your head spinning with all the names and you are still not even sure whom to call first. Do you perform a phone interview, or find time to sit down with someone hoping he or she shows for the time you set out of your busy schedule to meet?
Then, after all that effort, perhaps you discover the job candidate is not the right fit. Maybe he or she didn’t show for the interview or came in cut-off jean shorts and flip flops for your office or manufacturing position. Now you need to start that tedious process all over again, and again … until you find that proverbial diamond in the rough.
Once you do finally traverse the hiring waters and have that candidate that interviewed the best and seemed like a good fit for you and your company, you need to process them. This includes running his or her I-9 documentation, hoping the information is valid. Then, you’ll need to get your new hire set up for payrolling, which includes so much more than just the hourly rate. There are taxes, benefits, pre-employment drug screening, background checks and workman’s compensation insurance. And then there are unemployment claims if it doesn’t work out. Can you imagine having to pay someone who does not even work for you anymore? All of that can get expensive and time-consuming fast, especially if you end up doing it multiple times!
So, what is the answer to all these questions, you may wonder? Well, that’s where a staffing agency, like Elwood Staffing, can help on both sides. Applicants can get assistance with all areas of finding a new or different position and employers get support in finding the best associates faster and much easier, with a lot less hassle for both!
Whether for day-to-day help or long-term careers, at Elwood Staffing we are the better people people. QCBN
By Mark Rouse
Mark Rouse is the branch manager at Elwood Staffing, 6166 E. 2nd St. Suite B, in Prescott Valley. He can be reached at 928-910-4400.
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