Category Archives: Employers Resource

Recruitment Challenges for Southwestern PA Employers

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Everyday the RIC sees new employers posting their internship opportunities on our website, and we are thrilled.  Many employers turn to us to help them address recruitment challenges and capacity building issues.

Employers seek the help of the RIC for various recruitment reasons.  I wanted to talk about the recruitment challenges of our region that led to the creation of the Regional Internship Center in 2003.

The majority of companies that the RIC helps are small-to-medium sized companies, that is, companies that employ 50 or fewer employees.  Actually, according to the US Census, the majority of companies in the southwestern PA region, and in our nation are small-to-medium sized companies.

Recruitment Process is Not Steady

The recruitment challenges and budgets of small-to-medium sized companies are different from those of larger companies.  Small-to-medium sized companies tend to hire at a slower rate than that of larger companies.  They also hire fewer people at any one time.  For smaller companies, hiring needs may not be as steady as their larger counterparts.  This makes hiring a qualified candidate at exactly the time the company needs someone often challenging.  The Pennsylvania Economy League report, “Jobs of the Future,” notes of smaller companies, “their hiring needs tend not to be as predictable as large employers and do not necessarily coincide with the recruiting season of local schools.”

RIC Solution

We help employers create effective internship programs within their companies that allow them to build a cohort of talent over the years.  Employers are able to see the quality of work interns are capable of outputting in a learning environment, to see their ability to fit into their work culture, and by building relationships with interns who the very employers have trained, employers are able to know which interns would want to stay on with their company when that company is in a position to hire.

Recruitment Budget

The recruitment budgets for small-to-medium sized companies tends to be much smaller than that of larger companies.  It is harder for small-to-medium sized companies to compete for top talent since larger companies dedicate more money to recruit all across the nation and the world.  The recruitment net is cast wider allowing larger companies to pick from the best talent, and since they hire in larger numbers they may be seen as more secure employment options to applicants even when salaries are comparable.

Moreover, a smaller recruitment budget often goes hand-in-hand with a smaller public relations and marketing budget–an important piece of the recruitment process.  That means for some companies the problem isn’t just recruitment challenges, the problem can also be that people have never heard of that particular company at all.

RIC Solution

The Regional Internship Center is a tool utilized by employers to help them cast their recruitment net wider in the region and to help spread the word about their companies throughout southwestern PA.  How?  The RIC travels throughout southwestern PA attending internship and job fairs.  Many of these fairs are far away for smaller companies to attend, and often cost upwards of $100, 200 or event $300.

The RIC builds relationships with our employers so we know who you are and we know what kind of talent you are looking for and when we attend these fairs all across southwestern PA on the behalf of our companies, we talk to the thousands of students that might not have heard of these companies, but would be interested in applying for their internship opportunities.

We help our employers tap into the talent that they may not have otherwise had the chance to meet–the over 200,000 students that flood our region each year to obtain their college education.

RIC Success

* We have made over 6,000 internship matches between internship seekers and employers–many of those internships have turned into full-time jobs.

* We have conducted dozens of workshops to work with employers to think through the long-term recruitment challenges and needs of their companies.

* Our yearly Summer Interns Program has highlighted our region to over 4,000 interns, many not from our region to help our employers recruit the top talent.

* The number of new and returning visitors to our website and our blog seeking interns, internships and other resources continue to increase daily.

* Our sponsors and partners see points of entry to their websites from traffic from our website.

The Effects of Workplace Bullying on Employee Productivity

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Image extracted from: Talent Management Blog

As previously discussed on the post “Workplace Bullying: Does it Happen?” we were able to learn about this issue and begin to understand the magnitude of the problem in today’s society.  The effects of workplace bullying on employee productivity is also a topic of interest when talking about a hostile work environment.

According to the site www.worktrauma.org, “Work Trauma has a devastating effect on the victims’ productivity, emotional and physical health. The victims waste, according to research, between 10 and 52 per cent of their time at work defending themselves and networking for support, thinking about the situation, being demotivated and stressed, let alone absences due to stress-related illnesses.”

This means the effects of workplace bullying go beyond the victim, affecting employee productivity and subsequently, the organization’s productivity. Mary Krakow, a shareholder and Chair of the Employment & Labor Law Group, states that “even without a federal or state statute prohibiting generic workplace bullying, employers cannot afford to ignore such behavior because of its negative effects on the work environment and employee productivity.” She recommends that employers implement a code of conduct to discourage such behaviors.  That would also demonstrate the organization’s commitment to creating a respectful work environment.

Another study suggests that the effects of workplace bullying can be more devastating to its victims than the effects of sexual harassment. Radha Chitale presents the findings of this study on ABC News article “When Workplace Bullying Goes Too Far.“  To learn more about this study and the effects of workplace bullying, you can read the article or watch the video bellow.

 

 

How To: Use the Intern Search Function

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Did you know that one of the benefits of being an Employer who has registered on the Regional Internship Center website is having the ability to search our database of internship-seekers? If you have already posted an internship position on the site and would like to take a more proactive approach to finding fresh talent, or if you are still crafting your position description, and would like to sample the students that are using our site, here is a step-by-step guide to using our Intern Search function.

 

Step 1:

Click Login (Top Right Corner)

Step 2:

In the Menu Bar at the top of the page, go to Employers > Intern Search

Step 3:

From the Student Search page, there are several options:

3a. Enter Keywords (student name, college, major, etc.)
This is the fastest method, but not very specific.

  • Type in your terms, click Search

If the results are not what you were looking for, click Refine Search or the Back Button in your browser.

Under Search Options, you can click on the radio buttons to set the search engine to use your terms several ways:

3b. Search Type

  • With any of the words
  • With all of the words

3c. Match Type

  • Exact Match
  • Match any part
  • Match the end
  • Match the start
  • Match less than or equal to
  • Match greater than or equal to

3d. Under Search Filters, you can click the check boxes and choose options from the drop-down menus to focus on more specific parameters, including:

  • Location (City/State/County/Zip Code)
  • By Higher Education Institution (Includes all schools listed in our database)
  • By Major
  • By Minor
  • By GPA
  • By Position Type
  • By Sector Student would like to work in
  • By Highest Grade of School Completed
  • By Name of Student

(Click image to enlarge)

Step 4:

4a. Once your search has produced results, you can click on any name, and you be taken to the Public Student Profile. There are several actions that may be taken:

4b. Download Resume
If you click on the student’s resume, a pop-up window will prompt you to view or download the actual file.

4c. Send Message
To send a message through the site:

  • Enter the Subject.
  • Edit your Message in Basic Text or Rich Text.
  • Check the box next to Save Copy to send a copy to your message inbox.

4d. If you choose to Save this Student to my Favorite List you can quickly find their information later.

(Click image to enlarge)

Are you a Bad Boss?

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Would you describe yourself as a nurturing leader? An inspirational figure to your subordinates? A boss that would certainly get invited for happy-hour? Well, you better better think twice before you answer these questions.

Image extracted from: cartoonstock.com

Diana Middleton of the Wall Street Journal wrote an interesting article “Five Signs You’re a Bad Boss.” Aside from the unacceptable concept of workplace bullying there are small attitudes that can make a bad boss. Writing one-worded emails and not taking the time to interact with team members face-to-face  are good examples of how you can damage your image amongst the people that work under you. Read more and become aware of these “bad boss” signs – your interns will appreciate it as well!

In addition to this article we found a great video that also talks about being a bad boss. It’s an interview with Stanford University Professor Robert Sutton promoting his book “Good Boss, Bad Boss.” This video can also be found as a favorite on the RIC Youtube Channel as a Favorite.

Great Internship Opportunities Require Good HR Practices

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Employers, you’ve created the best Pittsburgh internships!

You’ve worked with the RIC Team to establish internship opportunities that benefit your organization long-term and benefit the interns you host.

But we’ve heard from many people seeking Pittsburgh internship that they never hear from you about their candidacy.

Follow-up on our applications is vital to many small-to-medium sized companies to maintain positive public relations in the community. The RIC website has tools to help you ensure the best human resources practices for your business. A positive reputation has many trickle-down effects on your business: better applicants, stronger candidates, and free positive outreach from internship seekers. If internship seekers are voicing their frustrations to the RIC Team about the lack of follow-up, imagine what they say to fellow internship seekers. Bad pr can be just detrimental to your chances for receiving the best applications for your business.

We’ve all applied to internship opportunities before, and many of us know the sense of wonder, what-if and ultimate frustration at never hearing back from a great company.

The RIC website offers many tools to ensure your positive reputation among internship seekers. A positive and strong reputation in the community enables your business to receive better qualified applicants.

Did you know the RIC has templates that allow you to communicate with everyone that has applied to your internship opportunities through the RIC site?

These customizable templates let you communicate: a) your interviewing/hiring time frame; b) let applicants know their information has been received and c) professional letters stating you’ve moved on with your interviewing process.

We’ve heard from internship seekers and they just want to close the chapter on internships for which they have not been selected. Let someone from the RIC team know if you have questions.