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Hiring

30 great interview questions to identify candidates’ soft skills

05/30/2012
One of the best ways to tell if applicants have the skills to perform specific tasks is to directly ask how they’ve used those skills in the past. These sample questions can help hiring managers spot 10 important “soft” skills:

Be prepared to explain why hiring criteria favor experience more than education

05/30/2012
Some jobs demand relevant, real-world work experience. If a failed applicant sues, claiming a college degree should have trumped on-the-job experience, you’ll probably win—if you can justify your experience requirements.

Hiring managers aren’t doctors! Don’t let them turn away disabled applicants

05/30/2012
Remind managers who take job applications that they can’t automatically turn away applicants with disabilities. That can cause a lawsuit that could result in huge punitive damages.

Do attractive people earn a leg up in hiring?

05/30/2012
A study by economists in Buenos Aires found that when a photo accompanies a job application (as is common in Argentina), attractive applicants of both genders get called in for interviews more often.

Employ veterans? Download free new hiring toolkit

05/28/2012
A free report from the Society for Human Resource Management details the steps employers should take to effectively source, recruit and retain military veterans in civilian workplaces.

Hiring preferences OK, not evidence of discrimination

05/24/2012
Not every hiring preference is evidence of discrimination. You can limit the number of applicants by setting parameters—such as considering current employees first.

The innocent question that could land you in court: When did you graduate?

05/16/2012

Do you ask applicants when they graduated from high school or college or otherwise finished their education? That seemingly innocuous question could trigger an age discrimination lawsuit if an applicant’s graduation year makes it clear he’s 40 or older and you wound up hiring someone younger.

Recruiting edge: Video games firm ignores resumes

05/14/2012

Recruiters for video games company IGN Entertainment don’t care if would-be employees went to college or have experience with another firm. They’re looking for raw talent. The media company has kicked off a “no résumés allowed” recruitment program—the Code-Foo Challenge.

New guidance: Are you ready for an I-9 audit

05/12/2012
Are your I-9s in order? More and more employers are finding themselves under scrutiny from inspectors from the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Employers now have a new tool to help them stay on the right side of the law.

Contractor for short-term job: Good idea?

05/10/2012

Q. We want to bring on a worker to help finish up a contract that we have with a customer. The contract and work will end in a few months. To ease in setting this up and to avoid any long-term commitment, I’d like to hire the individual as a contractor and not an employee. Can I do this?