BLOG

We know: everyone is trying to get you to follow them on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest… Twitrest, Pinbook… why bother???

We have a unique viewpoint of the job market at AimHire and, by sharing what we learn and see, we believe we can be a unique resource for you. At  AimHire we help people find jobs: help connect companies with candidates we admire. Once you interview at AimHire, we become your advocate as well as your cheerleader, in a sense. We want you to impress the companies we send you to. We want you to have a stellar resume, professional attire, and confidence and knowledge for your interview. It is to both our benefit that you interview and perform to your greatest potential once we send you to one of our clients.

One way we can do that is by connecting with you through our social media. At AimHire, our hiring managers have extensive experience in this industry. They have seemingly infinite knowledge on the hiring process and what it takes to show your potential employers what a great employee you will make. We use our social media outlets to share not only our current, open jobs, but also to share articles, tips, and advice to help you refine your self-presentation. We are constantly scouring LinkedIn and our favorite websites for articles that offer valuable advice so we can share great information on our social media sites. It’s quite a hobby of ours! Though we are always passing articles and ideas between us, Tracie, who has been our recruiter for the past two years, heads our Pinterest and Facebook account, while our other recruiter Lauren (with all her spunk and personality) finds fun and interesting things for our Twitter feed, and I (Margaret) manage our blog. We all love connecting with people (why else pursue a career in staffing?), so we would love your comments, suggestions, questions, and feedback!

 

Staffing and recruiting companies act as the “middle man” for companies looking to hire new employees. AimHire recruits for three types of positions: contract, contract to hire, and direct hire.

Contract positions, also called temporary positions, usually have a set start and end date, and the employee is paid hourly. In contract positions, you are legally employed by AimHire and are contracted out to a company we work with. These positions aren’t expected to turn into permanent positions; however, if an employee does an outstanding job while working a temporary position, they often will try to find a permanent position for them in their company. For example, our “Employee of the Month” this month is someone who went on a two week long temporary assignment and has now been at the company for nine months!

Contract to hire (or temporary to hire) positions are like a direct hire position, but the employee starts out paid hourly on AimHire’s payroll. This mimics a “90 day trial period” that is common among corporate companies. We estimate well over 90% of contract to hire positions turn into permanent positions as expected after the pre-set number of hours (usually around three months).

Direct hire positions are where the employee goes onto the employer’s payroll immediately once they start working. In a direct hire position, though it depends on each individual company, you usually begin employment on salary and eligible for benefits through the employer. If we place you in a direct hire position, you will never be an employee of AimHire directly; instead, AimHire acts as a liaison to help the employer find great employees.

Some staffing companies function by creating a database through an open registration process, where anyone can fill out an application and “register” with that agency. AimHire works a little bit differently: we classify ourselves more as a recruiting company than a staffing company. We recruit only for our “open positions”, as if we were recruiting for a position within our company. We don’t just “collect” applicants so we have lots of available people to choose from if a company calls with a need. We instead recruit for our available positions, so, if we call you to talk about your experience, we have a specific position in mind for you. If that position doesn’t seem like it is what you are looking for, then we will also consider you for and present you with any positions that come in in the future that might be a better fit.

AimHire works a little differently from other staffing companies. We don’t have an open registration process or walk-in appointments. Our process begins with your resume: if you submit your resume to our website, you will be considered for all of our available positions. If there is a position we are recruiting for and your resume meets the qualifications, we will give you a call and talk further about your experience and skill set to evaluate if the position is a good match. Even if that position is not the perfect fit, we will still keep your resume on file and consider you for future positions. One advantage to applying to a position through AimHire is we can consider you for many positions and many companies. When you submit your resume, we look at your experience and see if any of our available opportunities will be that perfect fit for you!

This week we had a company meeting to celebrate our progress and plan our company goals for 2013. We had a great dinner at Il Fornaio where Raissa, Sharon, and Joe created a fun presentation thanking each branch of our company and reviewing our successes. But most importantly, we all discussed what sets AimHire apart from our competition. How do we take staffing—an industry that has a mixed reputation—and create something positive? Essentially, we wanted to ask ourselves, “Who are we?” and “How are we different?”

The “who” question is pretty easy: We are a boutique, high-touch staffing firm specializing in office professional, HR, and accounting positions. But, really, it’s the “how” question that truly sets us apart. Everyone in the room had their own unique answer to this question, but there was a common theme: relationships. We are different from our competition because we build, maintain, and value the people we touch. Internally at AimHire, this means we are good to each other. We are an excellent team where each person is valued and knows it. AimHire is a wonderful place to work! For our applicants and contract employees, our emphasis on high quality relationships translates into excellent customer service. For each applicant who comes into our office, we always keep in mind we are here to help! Whether it is helping our applicants find jobs, or (since, unfortunately, we can’t place everyone) simply passing on some helpful information for their job search by providing software tutorials and tests, resume advice, interview tips, and direction in their search. For our clients—the companies we match our applicants with—the value we place on relationships starts with Mary Kimball, our business development extraordinaire! She is our leader and inspiration in relationship building, with her ability to grow and develop our client base with her charm and caring personality. When we develop relationships with Denver companies, we do more than just ask for business and send resumes. We nurture those relationships and build trust bit by bit with our attention to each company’s unique needs and careful consideration when placing applicants that will fit their distinct culture.

In our 2013 “Kickoff”, we resolved to continue building and fostering the relationships on every level of our business: with our internal staff, our applicants, and our clients. By placing the utmost importance on each of these groups, AimHire will continue to grow and expand its ability to help and serve, creating many, many more perfect employer-employee matches in the years to come!

Many new and exciting things are happening here at AimHire! With the new office, we are growing, connecting with more candidates, and busier than ever looking for excellent people! We wanted a way to thank everyone for continuing to spread the word about AimHire, so we recently implemented a Referral Bonus Program! We are lucky to have candidates that help us connect with great people looking for job opportunities, and this program rewards anyone that sends them our way. We are sending our thanks by sending you a gift card for every referral you send us that we place. Do you know a few people that are looking? The more the merrier – and you will have the potential to earn more gift cards!

When you interview at a company you are familiar with, you might have an idea of that company’s style and how formally the employees dress, but at a recruiting company, it’s a little bit trickier since you aren’t interviewing at a specific company; instead, it is as if you are having an initial interview at dozens of companies in one. Does this mean you should wear jeans because it’s not a “real” interview? NO! When you interview with AimHire, we then present you to companies where we think you would be a good fit. It is to your advantage to be a “versatile” candidate—someone we could imagine fitting in at a large number of our clients. How do candidates show us their versatility? For one, they show us just how professional a company they would be comfortable in. The best indicator of this is their professional business attire, so we know that they would be able to fit in seamlessly at even the most formal clients we work with. So what should you wear? We recommend dressing in your most professional apparel. Ideally, wear a nice jacket or even a suit. If you don’t own a professional jacket, a neat button down and a nice pair of slacks will give a professional appearance as well. Your interview at a corporate recruiting company is not necessarily the time to show your flair or style: save this until you are more familiar with the culture of the company you are working for. If you ONLY imagine yourself working for a trendy, more casual company, then feel free to make this known when you interview with us, and we will take that into consideration when submitting you to the companies we work with. However, if you are open to a business professional environment, avoid flashy accessories, worn or ratty clothing, and, of course, anything revealing in your initial AimHire interview.

And one more note: Avoid perfume or cologne! You never know who will be too sensitive or allergic to the scent, and an interview will put you and your interviewer in close quarters. If your interviewer is becoming dizzy from your perfume or cologne, they might not be able to remember anything else about you!

Want more advice and examples of great interview outfits? Check out our Pinterest boards! http://pinterest.com/aimhire/

Ask Margaret! Job hunting and interviewing can be a confusing and intimidating process, but we want to help! AimHire’s staffing professionals have extremely valuable experience, and I am here to share their wisdom—and help you become that top-notch, confident candidate employers are looking for! Send your questions directly to me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , and I will consult with the experts and deliver their answers in this blog. We can answer anything from the mysteries of how staffing works to tips and tricks of interviewing. Check back weekly to see if I have answered your question—or answered a question you didn’t even think to ask!

This New Year brought a new look to AimHire as we moved to a brand new office! We didn’t move far—just to thebuilding next door, but we are so happy with the change. We had a blast deciding how we wanted our new office to look, from deciding the “accent color” (purple!) to picking the perfect artwork. Not only does the new space do an even better job of representing our company’s personality, but it also has the space for our growing team! We are so excited to continue growing AimHire over the next year as we add a downtown branch to cater to customers and candidates in central and north Denver. We know the Tech Center is a hike for some of you! We will keep you posted on our progress as we open our downtown branch and continue to grow our business upward and onward!

The month flew by! So many wonderful things have been happening here at AimHire, the team has been expanding and we have placed some awesome candidates with great companies. As I settle into my role as a Recruiter, I have talked with many candidates that are feeling the stress of securing a job post college or after an unforeseen layoff – my professional advice is, treat your job search like a full time job! Passively applying to positions an hour a day through one job board is not going to land you that dream position. Do industry research, network, use your resources! Exploring every avenue to find a position will put you in a better place, and will open doors you didn't know existed. There are numerous websites and resources that will help coach you through putting together a killer resume, nailing an interview, and how to make your skills more marketable.

Denver is home to many fantastic companies and organizations that are highly desired among applicants, and we are fortunate to work with many of them! Building relationships with our clients is only one side of the coin, but establishing and maintaining relationships with candidates is the main reason we have continued success. So thank you Denver job seekers! We are excited to work with you on finding a great position that you will love, we can be a great resource to you during your job search, just do your due diligence and don't forget to explore all avenues!

 

AimHire celebrates in a big way!

Wow, what a night.  We had a huge turn out at our 2 year anniversary party held at Water2Wine.  We are humbled by the support of our friends, family and clients new and old.  For a Wednesday night in DTC, we had over 60 people join us for the celebration.

The venue was quaint, local and they provided great customer service to our guests.  Our hats go off to Marcus and his group for doing such a great job of taking care of us.  There was plenty of wine and great food, but what made it special were the people.  It was great to see so many wonderful people after a very long time.  The opportunity to introduce Tracie and Margaret to everyone was excellent!

High touch customer service was the theme of what we heard.  It was great to hear why we are different and have been successful at what we do.  Two years in the business is huge in a market where there are so many choices.  It is refreshing to hear that “we just get it”.  If I have learned anything over the past 2 years it is…”good things happen to those who wait”.  I did take that line from a card that a very special friend gave me that night.  Finally freedom at last!

Live, Laugh and Love what you do!             

Cheers to 2 years in business AimHire!

“Progress comes from the intelligent use of experience.” -Elbert Hubbard-

With the combined years of experience in this industry, our team continues to grow and mold together.  We look back at the past 15 months and are amazed at how much recruiting and staffing are DIFFERENT and yet the SAME.  It has been exciting to work with all the new growing companies in the market place.  I remember recruiting in the dot.com era and now find similar patterns with the mobile apps companies who are growing and needing help.  It is exciting to be on the cutting edge of the next wave of companies popping up in Denver.  There is movement and excitement in these companies!  It also has forced us to keep up with our children who aren’t the only ones with cool apps on their phones!  We are having a great time building our company and assisting new growing companies as well.  Stay tuned and remember…

 “Never, never, never, never give up.” -Winston Churchill-