6 Ways to Advance Your Career

Finding a good job is only one step in establishing a lucrative career. With inflation on the rise and more job availability than ever before, now is the perfect time to focus on advancing your career. As one of the top employment agencies in the GTA, we’ve seen what it takes to rise and earn more. Here are some things you can do to advance your career.

                                    

Take Training Courses

If you’re looking to advance your career, one easy way to show you’re serious and skilled is to take a training course. This might sound daunting while working full-time, but there are tons of training courses that are online, part-time, or only take a few hours! Some training courses require some financial investment, while others are entirely free. Training courses are a great option if you feel you’re lacking in certain skills that could make you more appealing for promotions or raises.

 

Return to School

If you’re interested in pivoting your career, or the position you want requires certain specialty degrees, it may be worth going back to school. This is much more of a time and financial investment, but one that could be well worth it. Some companies even offer support to workers that are interested in returning to school, so feel free to discuss options with your employer!

 

Learn a New Skill  

If you’re more of a self-learner, you can take on tackling a new skill! The great thing is many skills don’t require training courses or degrees to master. The Internet has tons of amazing free resources that can help you adopt new skills that will help advance your career. Interested in a position that requires Excel knowledge? Watch some YouTube videos! Have you always wanted to become a graphic designer? Photoshop has free lessons!

 

Look at Different Companies

Companies often have tighter budgets when it comes to raises and promotions, meaning it may be a smarter move to advance your career at a different company. While older generations were loyal to their employers above all else, younger generations realize that switching companies not only gives them more experience and insight but it’s also the best path to advancing and earning more.

 

Brush Up Your Resume

Sometimes all you need to do to earn a better position is fine-tune your resume. Your resume is your first impression, so maybe you’re just not making the best one that you can. Resumes should be tailored for specific positions, so make sure you’re not using a generic one that doesn’t really highlight how your skills and experience could help in this job opening. Also, have trusted friends and family members read it over to see how it sounds and catch any errors.

 

Network

Relationships play a big role in career advancement, whether people like to admit it or not. The higher you rise in the company, the tighter the communities get. Managers want to promote people they enjoy working with. If you’re looking to advance, make an effort to get to know people. Networking can be a powerful yet simple tool for growing your career.

 

If you need help finding a new position, contact Nova Staffing today! Our team of hiring professionals has over 200 years of combined industry experience, and we’d be happy to find you the perfect job.

 

5 Benefits of Hiring Student Summer Help

The snow is beginning to melt, and the weather is finally starting to hint at Spring. As the weather warms, students are preparing for the end of the school year. While younger kids may be looking forward to a few months of freedom, post-secondary students are keeping an eye out for internship opportunities. If your company hasn’t hired summer student interns in the past, here are a few reasons you should consider setting up an internship program.

 

New Perspective

A fresh perspective is something every company needs. Student interns come with fresh and eager energy and bring a youthful insight that your business could benefit from. Don’t just leave interns to deal with grunt work like fetching coffee and filing paper; engage with them and get their take. Not only will this broaden their knowledge and maybe spark a life-long passion for the industry, but it could also expand your company’s horizon.  

 

Work Experience

There are jokes and memes all over the Internet about how jobs require years of experience for an entry-level position. Providing Canada’s youth with work experience is invaluable and can really give them a leg up when they’re looking to apply for full-time positions after graduation. It also gives your company to educate and teach a new generation about the industry and help it grow.

 

Relieve Pressure

Interns are a great way to help lessen pressure on full-time employees. Summers can be hectic for employees, from increased workloads to co-workers taking time off for vacations. Having interns on hand can help relieve this pressure and keep things running smoothly even when things get busy or you experience staffing shortages.

 

Low Cost

One of the biggest benefits of hiring a student intern is that they’re a low-cost way to boost employment. You do have to pay interns in Canada, but the government and universities often offer subsidies to encourage and help companies to hire students. This means you can get student summer help for practically nothing!

 

Trial Period

Students won’t be in school forever, which is why they’re not only a great resource but an excellent opportunity as well! An internship is a great trial period to see if they have the potential to become a full-time employee after graduation, or even if they can become a permanent part-time employee that works for your business around their school schedule.

 

Do you have summer internship opportunities available to students? Contact Nova Staffing today! Our team of hiring experts can find the best student candidates to fulfill these positions.

 

8 Tips for Weeding Out Bad Candidates During the Hiring Process

Recruiting new hires for your company can be time-consuming and frustrating, especially when you’re looking for experienced, quality candidates. Hiring the wrong candidate not only means you’ll have to go through the hiring process again, but it can also cost your company money. That’s why employers need to learn how to identify and weed out the bad candidates during the hiring process. According to our recruitment experts at Nova Staffing, here are a few tips on how to do this.

 

Use Job Application as a Test

The job application is the first step in the hiring process, and it can tell you a lot about the candidates if you know what to look for. One of the fastest ways you can screen potential hires is to see if they actually filled out the job application in full. Candidates who do the bare minimum, don’t fill out the entire application, or don’t follow the simple instructions are people you can weed out early on.

 

Look at Their Attention to Detail

When looking at a candidate’s CV or resume, don’t just look at things such as past experience or skills. Take the time to look at smaller things to see their attention to detail. Did they fill out the job application correctly? Is their resume filled with grammar mistakes and spelling errors? A few small things are fine, but if an employee doesn’t make an effort to properly follow steps or edit their CV, they’re probably not someone you want working for your company.

 

Is Their Resume Curated?

One good way to weed out candidates interested in any job and those interested in this job is to see who actually took the time to curate their resume. Potential hires that make an effort to tailor their resume to the job they’re hiring for are more likely to be interested and stick around than those that just send over a generic one.

 

Examine Work Experience

Past work experience is one of the best ways to tell whether a candidate is qualified for the open position or not. But don’t just look at their previous companies and titles. Pay attention to what their actual duties were. It’s also a good idea to look at how long they held these previous positions. Candidates that have held multiple jobs in a year without mitigating reasons are a red flag. Either they’re not pleasant to work with, or they aren’t planning on staying at your company long.

 

Look for Accomplishments Instead of Duties

When you’re looking at a candidate’s previous experience, pay attention to what they say. Do they simply list their duties, or do they explain what they learned or accomplished? Being good at a job is about more than ticking boxes. You want candidates that generate results! Toss aside any resumes that read like a list of tasks.

 

Check Their Social Media

Looking at a candidate’s social media profiles during the hiring process might be controversial, but this person will be representing your company, so you should see how they present themselves online. Don’t make the mistake of hiring someone only to find out after that they post things on social media that don’t match with your company’s value. It could be a PR disaster. You should especially check out their LinkedIn to see whether their resume matches up or not.

 

Ask Unexpected Questions

Most people prepare for an interview, but you want to dig beyond the polish. Candidates are usually prepared for the basic interview questions like “what are your greatest strengths and weaknesses?”. Try asking questions that are outside of the box that will give you a real insight into who they are and whether they’ll thrive in your company culture. Some good ones are “what is your biggest pet peeve?”, “what makes a good co-worker to you?” and “what drives you to wake up in the morning?”

 

Hire a Professional Agency

Companies can do tons of things to try to weed out poor candidates when hiring, but not all employers have the time or resources to do it. A professional recruitment agency is trained and experienced to find quality candidates. At Nova Staffing, our team has over 200 years of combined industry experience. We know how to find quality hires that will elevate your company.

 

If you’re looking for hiring help, contact us today! Our team of employment experts at Nova Staffing is here to help with all of your staffing needs.

 

How an Employment Agency Can Help Your Business Grow

There are many factors that make a business successful, from revenue to marketing, but one of the most essential elements is the people who work there. The human factor is often overshadowed, but the people who work for the company make it what it is. Employees are a business’s greatest asset, and hiring the right workers is essential to growth.

 

People is what employment agencies like Nova Staffing specialize in. Here are a few ways a hiring agency can support your company’s expansion.

 

Finding & Hiring the Right People

A company is only as good as the people that work for it. That’s why it’s critical to invest in the recruiting and hiring process. A good employment agency knows how to find quality candidates that will thrive in the role and bring value to your business. Nova Staffing has over 20 years as a hiring agency finding the best people for our client’s staffing needs. From experience to personality, we know what to look for in potential employees to help your company grow.

 

Eliminating Employee Turnover

Employee turnover can eat into a business’ time and money. Replacing an individual employee can cost your company one-half to two times the employee’s annual salary, not to mention the time it takes to recruit and train a replacement. That’s why retaining talent is so important to expanding your company. The right employment agency will find employees that will fulfill open positions and stay there!

 

Planning for Growth

By actively anticipating future growth, an employment agency can help you create a strategy to recruit top talent in a timely manner. When companies expand too quickly or without a hiring plan in place, they can be left with open positions resulting in loss of money or productivity. An employment agency can help your business craft a hiring plan so that your company doesn’t suffer from under-employment.

 

Improve Hiring Process

Many companies make the mistake of not thinking about their hiring process. How you recruit employees will make a significant impact on the type of employees you attract. A frustrating or confusing hiring process can result in quality candidates dropping out or seeking employment elsewhere. At Nova Staffing, we have refined our hiring process in our 20 years of operation to make it as smooth and pleasant as possible for both employers and employees, making it easy for us to find the best workers to fulfill staffing needs.

 

Invite Feedback

Feedback is always an essential part of growth, and employees are a great source of ideas. Employees don’t always feel comfortable providing assessments directly to a company, though. An employment agency is a third party that can solicit feedback from potential, current, and previous employees that your business can use to improve and grow.

 

Are you looking for staffing solutions to help your business successfully expand? Contact Nova Staffing today! Our team of HR experts has over 200 years of combined industry experience and is ready to help your company grow.

 

4 Creative Ways to Improve Working from Home

As COVID-19 continues to keep workers at home, many employees and employers are now looking for creative solutions to help make remote working more enjoyable. While both workers and businesses have enjoyed the benefits of working from home, there are still some challenges. Having clear work and personal boundaries can help reduce burnout and stress. Here are a few creative ways our HR experts recommend trying to improve your remote working experience.

 

Fake Commutes

One of the biggest benefits of remote working is not having to commute to the office anymore. While not having to trek into the workspace is great, many employees have found they miss certain parts of their commute. One of the newest creative trends remote workers have adopted is adding a fake commute to their daily routine. Whether it’s taking a walk around the block or grabbing a cup from their favorite coffee house, adding a faux commute is a great way to get ready for the workday mentally.

 

Dedicated Space

It’s been proven many times that our environment impacts our productivity. That’s why having a dedicated workspace in your home is a great way to improve your remote working experience. This looks different for everyone, so try to spend some time tweaking your home to see what works best for you. If you have to be on video chat, make sure the area around you is professional looking.

 

Multiple Communication Platforms

One of the biggest changes working from home has resulted in is how workplaces communicate with each other. People used to have many options- phone calls, in-person visits, emails, etc. Many employers have made the mistake of sticking to one communication method when remote working. Not only is this monotonous, but not all employees communicate the same way. Employers should try implementing multiple communication methods such as emails, internal chats, phone calls, and video calls, which should help keep everyone engaged.

 

Company Culture

Working from home has many benefits, but one of the biggest struggles our HR experts at Nova Staffing have heard is that it’s harder to establish and foster company culture. This is one of the biggest hurdles of remote working, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t possible! There are still many ways employers can build relationships between employees and have fun. From virtual happy hour to trivia tournaments, there are tons of ways to keep your company culture alive and ensure employees still have positive experiences with their coworkers.

 

If you’re looking for staffing solutions or need help finding quality candidates for your company, contact Nova Staffing today! We’re one of the best employment agencies in the GTA and have a team of staffing experts ready to help you. Our team has over 200 years of combined industry experience and speaks English, French, Hindi, Punjabi, Mandarin, Arabic, and Urdu!

 

Ontario Employment Outlook: October 2020 Report

Employment in Ontario continues to increase after a significant hit due to COVID-19. However, this month saw a decrease in growth, with unemployment rising for the first time in months. The total number of hours working in Ontario in the month of October was also down in all sectors, likely due to the second wave of the pandemic hitting the province.

 

Here is a quick report outlining Ontario’s employment outlook summary for October 2020, compiled by our staffing experts at Nova Staffing. All data is from the Ontario Government October 2020 Labour market report.

 

 

Employment Outlook

Employment in Ontario increased in the month of October, with 7.3 million residents employed (59%). This is up 30,600 jobs from September, which is only a 0.4% increase. This is a slower growth compared to September, which saw a 2.4% increase.

 

Unemployment unfortunately also increased in October. There were 768,000 residents in Ontario unemployed, which is a 1.4% increase compared to last month. This increase is likely due to the second wave of the pandemic hitting the province.

 

Employment by Age

Youth employment, those aged 15-24, was hit the hardest during the pandemic and this age demographic continues to be the slowest to recover to their pre-COVID numbers. In October, 22.1% of this demographic was unemployed; however, employment is gaining slowly, with 13,100 new jobs in the month.

 

Adult employment has been faring better, with 22,900 new jobs in October. However, unemployment in this demographic was 7.5% in October, up from 7.3% in September. Senior employment took a hit in October, losing 5,300 jobs with unemployment increasing to 7.3%, up from 7.1%.

 

Employment by Sector

Restrictions during the pandemic meant certain industries were hit harder than others. Over half of the job losses between February and May were concentrated in four sectors, and these have accounted for 62.2% of the jobs gained since May.

 

Certain sectors have struggled to return to their pre-COVID-19 levels. Transportation and Warehousing (−16.2%), Accommodation and Food Services (−15.7%), Business, Building and Other support services (−13.7%), Agriculture (-11.3%), and Construction (-8.7%) have all had the most loss and continue to be the furthest from their pre-pandemic numbers.

 

Meanwhile, other sectors have bounced back more quickly. Employment was above pre-COVID February levels in Forestry, Fishing, Mining, Quarrying, Oil, and Gas (12.5%), Professional, Scientific and Technical services (3.6%), Manufacturing (1.5%) and Finance, Insurance, Real estate, Rental and Leasing (1.1%).

 

Employment by Region

Employment gains continue to differ based on the region in October. Urban areas were hit hard, and many are still struggling with high case numbers and unemployment. These areas are seeing the highest employment growth, however. St. Catharine’s and Niagara saw the highest employment gains in October with a 3.1% increase. Toronto followed with a 2.8% increase, then Oshawa (+2.5%), Thunder Bay (+2.1%), Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo (+1.8%), and Kingston (+1.2%).

 

Are you a job seeker or business looking for hiring solutions? Contact Nova Staffing today! We’re one of the best staffing agencies in the GTA and have a team of HR experts ready to help you with all of your employment needs.

 

Post-Pandemic Hiring Trends to Pay Attention To

Post-Pandemic Hiring Trends to Pay Attention To- NOVA STAFFING

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted almost every aspect of daily life across the world. Restrictions have begun to loosen up, but the pandemic is going to have a lasting impact on how everything is done, including hiring. Below are a few hiring trends that companies should pay attention to in a post-pandemic landscape.

 

Focus on Flexibility

Flexibility will be at the forefront of hiring for the next few years. The pandemic has shown that companies and employees who are adaptable are the most likely to survive. Increased flexibility in things such as remote working, work schedules, and contract types are growing in popularity already and benefit both parties. Businesses are able to find qualified candidates to meet their needs quicker, and candidates can find positions that are a good fit.

 

Digital Recruitment and Onboarding

The pandemic highlighted just how vital technology is to business these days. Even as businesses begin to move back into physical workspaces, technology is going to play a crucial role in how companies operate. With social distancing still being required, businesses are going to have to rely on digital recruitment and onboarding for the foreseeable future. This is a great reason to utilize the services of a recruitment agency such as Nova Staffing. We will take care of virtually finding qualified candidates, sending only the best your way so that you can simply focus on onboarding and running your company.

 

Industry Specific

The pandemic hit almost every industry, but not all of them felt the same impact. While some sectors are struggling and have all but stopped hiring, others are expanding rapidly. Industries such as healthcare, grocery stores, telecommunications, customer service, and delivery services are looking to hire qualified employees right now. These industries were essential during the pandemic and their importance is not going to diminish any time soon.

 

If you’re looking for HR solutions from experts, Nova Staffing is ready to meet your needs. Our employment agency is one of the best in Toronto and we are committed to helping employers find qualified staff during these tough times by staying ahead of all hiring trends. Contact us today to get started!