Are you ready for the fall hiring season? Here are 3 things to help get you there.

  • 5/3/2017
  • Kevin Rosenquist
Are you ready for the fall hiring season? Here are 3 things to help get you there. image

I’m a big sports fan. Anyone who reads my blogs regularly knows that. Do I have regular readers? (That’s a rhetorical question.) But as my favorite team, the Chicago Blackhawks, was unceremoniously ousted from the playoffs in four straight games despite being a number one seed I was forced to utter the words I didn’t want to utter this early in the playoffs: when is football season?

The answer to this question is four months. This also means that fall is only four months away, which is insane! And we all know how fast summer goes. So that leads me back to the question from my headline that got you here in the first place: are you ready for the fall hiring season? If you're a planner like me you'll want to make sure you are well prepared. Here are a few things to consider that can help you be a model of preparedness, at least, as far as your hiring practices go.

1. Have you banned the box from your employment applications?

Not all states have adopted ban the box practices but many have and more could be on the way. If you don’t know what I am referring to then you are either new to HR or you work out of some sort of cave type dwelling. It also means you are not one of my aforementioned “regular readers”. The ban the box movement is about removing the question “have you ever been convicted of a crime” from job applications. Has your state voted it in? Does your city or county have specific laws pertaining to how and when you can ask an applicant about any criminal history? Talk to your counsel, check on your favorite internet search engine, or ask an expert…like me!

2. When was the last time you thought about your pre-employment screening package?

It sounds obvious but I am amazed by how many companies are screening for things they don’t need. I’ve heard things like “that’s the way we’ve always done it” or “that’s just what our provider set up for us”. Other times there are companies that are not doing enough to satisfy requirements by a company they are doing business with or even the government when working on federal or state contracts. Look at your screening package, consider what you are doing or maybe not doing, and make sure you are set up with exactly what you want and need. Look for customized options to ensure you are getting the most bang for your buck.

3. Paperwork!!!

When you look at your applicant authorization and disclosure do they conjure up memories of a time when televisions still had tubes and weighed 285 pounds? When you picture yourself were your jeans tight-rolled? Then it might be time for an update. Talk with your background screening vendor or your counsel and make sure what you’re giving your applicants is fully FCRA compliant and up to date.

I know it seems early to think about fall, but if you have everything in place before it blindsides you then your life will be easier. Next month I’ll give my holiday shopping tips. No, I’m kidding. Or am I…