The 9 Traits You Should Look For in a High Quality Candidate

When you're evaluating job applicants, there are a variety of ideal employee traits you should seek out. While some people stretch the truth in their resumes and put on a face in their interviews, a perceptive hiring manager can usually pick up on these things quickly. Many traits that are visible in how the applicant approaches the hiring process can tip you off to how they would actually perform on the job. Building a successful team means finding the candidates who embody the ideal employee skills, so here are 9 of the qualities you should look for in a job candidate.

1. A drive for self-improvement

A drive for self-improvement is one of the most important employee traits. Often, candidates who strive to always improve in their work also apply this trait to all aspects of their lives. Dedication to self-improvement may present itself as a tendency toward constant self-education, whether by keeping up on trends in their industry or by expanding their general knowledge about the topics that personally interest them. Someone who is committed to always growing and recognizes that this is an ongoing process is less likely to become complacent with their work and fall into mediocrity.

2. Organization

Organization is crucial in order to perform well in any job, so it’s always an asset. Being organized means the employee can manage their emails and appointments and will not forget to follow through even when things get busy. One of the first signs to look for is punctuality—is the candidate on time for their interview? Someone who is unable to keep organized throughout the job seeking process is unlikely to be organized when they need to multi-task on the job.

3. Adaptability

Adaptability is one of the job candidate traits that impress hiring managers because organizations and industries are always changing. The ideal employee is able to keep up with these changes and can also acclimate to a new job quickly. If they’ve been able to thrive in a variety of environments in their previous job experience, this is a sign that they’ll be able to adapt to your environment too.

4. Leadership abilities

Even for job positions that do not directly involve leadership, the ability to lead is an important quality to have. A good leader is always ready to emerge when the situation calls for it—for instance, when no one else is taking ownership of a project. Leaders are the people who will step up and take responsibility and make sure everyone on the team is performing.

5. Being a team player

Being a team player is not in contrast with leadership abilities. The best leaders are those that consider the best interests of their teams and the organization as a whole. If they only care about their own goals, they’ll be less likely to cooperate in order to find the right solution. Look for good interpersonal skills that show the candidate will get along well with others.

6. Dedication to hard work

Talent and skills count for a lot, but it’s also important that candidates are willing to work hard. Otherwise, your organization doesn’t get the full benefit of the employee’s skills. Is the candidate someone who will just get things done when the situation calls for it? Ask candidates about projects they’ve worked on before to see how dedicated they were in previous jobs.

7. Engagement

Someone who is engaged during hiring process is likely to be engaged on the job. Do they ask perceptive questions during the interview? This shows that they’re being attentive to what you’re saying and picking up on important points about your organization. It also may reveal that they were interested enough to research your organization in advance. Additionally, see if they’re engaged throughout the recruiting process, meaning they respond quickly to emails and really seem like they care about getting the job.

8. Attention to detail

Attention to detail is another trait that makes a difference in any position—and it’s something that’s easy to spot during the hiring process. Check that resumes are error-free. Even if spelling and grammar are not a candidate’s strong suit and not important to the job, a serious candidate will have made the effort to ensure their resume is polished. Of course, this is not the only way to ensure that a candidate pays attention to detail. You may also want to ask candidates to submit examples of their work or to perform a task they’d actually have to do on the job.

9. Fitting in with your company culture

Someone who fits in with your company culture is far more likely to adjust well to the job and be happy in your office. These are the employees who will stay with your company long-term. This is not to say you shouldn’t seek out candidates who can bring something different to the table—because you absolutely should—but it helps if their values and even their personality are in line with your organization. This shows that in addition to possessing the necessary skills, they’re the right candidate for your company specifically.

These are the 9 traits you should search for when performing your job candidate evaluation. Because finding the right employee is a tricky and complex business, some organizations choose to outsource their hiring process to save the time. Staffing firms are experienced in sorting through applicants and finding the ones that embody the ideal employee traits. However you approach the hiring process, your organization will benefit from having an employee who possesses a combination of these 9 traits.

If you're looking for candidates that possess these 9 traits, or have other staffing needs, contact J&J staffing today!

3 Staffing Strategies for Growing Companies

Planning for the financial or physical growth of your business can be a tricky thing to navigate. While most businesses have the confidence they will continue to succeed and grow, external factors that are beyond your control such as the state of the overall economy can make forecasting the future a difficult proposition. Businesses should, therefore, take the time to establish solid staffing strategies and be prepared ahead of time. Suddenly finding yourself in the position to grow and add more staff without having a solid staffing strategy in place for doing so can ultimately lead to setbacks. Not being prepared for the growth of your business invites poor staffing decisions and negative business growth and expansion. Let's take a look at some of the ways your business might plan ahead.

1. Create a pipeline of qualified candidates

Any company experiencing business growth and expansion sometimes has to make quick staffing decisions. Say, for instance, you suddenly land that huge account you’ve been pushing for: that’s great news for your business, but do you have the staffing resources in place to get the work done? Building a pipeline of qualified candidates ahead of time can help you avoid making the snap hiring decisions that you may later come to regret. Creating a pipeline of candidates also enables you to gather some sense of the financial costs associated with those hires. This financial data is important to incorporate into your future budget plan.

Sustained business growth and expansion takes time and you shouldn't expect to hire the perfect candidate in every instance. It's natural to expect some level of turnover. Formulating candidate pipelines can ensure your business growth stays on track and can be sustained over time.

2. Analyze your current staff: will you be able to promote from within?

Business growth and expansion does not necessarily have to be an effort concentrated outside of the organization. The alternative of looking toward your own staff requires a realistic analysis of their skillsets. Are there certain current employees who, if they were promoted or given additional responsibilities, would thrive and help the business achieve the growth it’s looking for? Finding the right people to take your business further can be a challenge, but sometimes they are already working at your company.

Staffing strategies should include a comprehensive plan to enrich and educate your current staff members. Do you have a plan in place to educate them and turn them into more valuable assets for your company? Perhaps there are certifications specific to your industry they could obtain that would likewise increase their value to you.

3. Utilize the services of a staffing agency

If making concrete plans for staffing strategies is still a little firm for your business, employing the services of a staffing agency can offer more flexibility. Making use of temporary or temp-to-hire employees can give a business a more fluid staffing situation. Perhaps you want to ensure candidates can significantly contribute before making them a permanent part of your team. Using a staffing agency enables your business to adjust its staffing strategy easily.

A staffing agency also takes away a lot of the headaches and time that go into bringing in additional labor. Since they handle the screening, interviewing, and salary negotiation with temporary or temp-to-hire employees, you’re able to get your staffing need addressed quickly and get on with growing your business.

In all aspects, businesses need to plan ahead and formulating staffing strategies is no different. By gaining a strong understanding of the financial state of your business, what you’re currently capable of, and your realistic business goals based on the long-term prospects for your industry, you will get a sense of which strategy will serve you best moving forward.

Experiencing business growth, whether sudden or over a long period of time, can be exciting. Taking the time to strategically plan your business growth and expansion ahead of time protects your business from making rushed decisions that could potentially backfire. When incorporating additional labor into a business, there may be some turnover. This is to be expected, however, but with strong staffing strategies in place, your business can make sure it remains on course for sustained growth.

Allow J & J Staffing Resources to be a part of your business growth staffing strategy today!

3 Common Misconceptions about Temporary Employees

The stereotypical view of temporary workers sees them as low-skilled, unqualified, and unreliable. Employers are subsequently unsure about hiring them fearing that the decision will somehow come back to haunt them. Even as an increasingly vital part of a changing economy, temporary workers are seen as somehow lesser or insufficient compared to permanent staff. The typical picture of a temporary worker is an inexperienced, unmotivated person who’s maybe fresh out of college and just looking for whatever work they can get. Understandably, this view can frighten hiring managers and business from hiring workers through a temporary employment agency. These misconceptions are inaccurate, however, and can ultimately lead to a business missing out on a great way to find staff. Let’s examine some of the most common misconceptions and how they represent an inaccurate view of the temporary workforce.

1. Temporary workers are unqualified for the work they do

The onus for ensuring the right employee is matched to the right position is on the temporary employment agency. A comprehensive screening process with a candidate for a temporary position involves finding out their exact skillset and then working to match that skillset with a particular role. By ensuring that an employee is being correctly utilized, businesses can be confident their workforce is as efficient as it can possibly be. Effective temporary employment agencies make this skill-matching process a key part of their process in filling a post and finding the perfect match between the skills of the temporary worker and a business’s specific needs.

2. Temporary employees are unable to find permanent jobs

Another common misconception about temporary employees is that they are unable to find a permanent job and subsequently represent a lesser hire. The truth is that the circumstances surrounding a person’s decision to become a temporary worker can vary greatly and reflect little on their ability to secure or hold a permanent job. Temporary employees have a variety of motivations in looking for the work they do—which have no impact on them doing great work in a temporary role. For instance, some use temporary positions as an opportunity to network so they have strong contacts within their industry to rely on later in their careers. Alternately, temporary employees are sometimes in the midst of transitioning careers from one industry to another, and temporary work can be a great way of learning about a new industry and deciding whether it’s right for you. Or they may even be looking for additional income while finishing school. Whatever the reason, a person seeking temporary employment is not a reflection of their skillset, but instead likely a conscious decision based on their individual circumstances.

Hiring a temporary worker can also be a great way to find a permanent hire. Think of it almost like an extended job interview. What better way to really make sure you’ve found the right person for the position than to actually see them working in the role? In a typical permanent hire process for a full-time hire, there’s an inherent leap of faith a business takes by hiring someone before truly seeing them in action. With temp to hire, you get to see exactly how the employee fits in with your company and how they perform in the role before committing to them on a permanent basis.

3. Temporary employees are unreliable

Perhaps the most damaging misconception about temporary workers is the idea that they’re unreliable. People assume that since they won’t be around very long, temporary employees are uncommitted to the company that hires them and their work will be of a poor quality. Instead, temporary employees should be viewed as being exactly where they want to be. Through temporary employment services, both the employer and the temporary employee are in a mutually advantageous situation. The company is getting someone to fulfil a role, while the employee is gaining valuable, resume-building experience that will serve them well in their career.


There are huge benefits to hiring a temporary employee to fill a specific need within a business. The misconceptions discussed here unfortunately hold some businesses back from utilizing temporary employment services. As a result, they miss out on this dynamic and useful part of the modern workforce.

Still unsure as to whether hiring a temporary employee is right for your business? Consult with your J & J representative to decide the best solution to meet your next staffing challenge.

J & J Staffing Resources OPEN HOUSE for the TRI-STATE AREA 6/16

J & J Staffing Resources is holding a company-wide open house on Tuesday, June 16^th from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.! Demand for qualified candidates is skyrocketing and great local companies are hiring!

Do you know someone who is currently looking for a position in the Tri-State area? Pass along J & J’s information and let them know about our open house! Who knows? Maybe you'll be the one who connects them to the rewarding position they've been looking for.

The job market can be a difficult place to navigate at the best of times. Sometimes, it's tough to know exactly what positions would be a good fit for you. Trawling through pages of job ads wondering which one might be right for you and tweaking your resume in the hopes of getting an interview is a daunting task. J & J's experts will guide you through this process so you can be confident that you’re getting a position that is exactly what you're looking for.

J & J is a functional staffing firm specializing in filling office, industrial, technical, and professional staffing needs and is looking for great people to fill multiple positions! J & J has opportunities available for temporary, temp to hire, and direct hire positions. J & J's trained professionals will sit down with you and take the time to understand your skill set and help you find an opportunity that fits your needs and strengths.

We work with hundreds of successful businesses throughout the Tri-State Area, placing over 7,500 people to work last year! Take advantage of our Tri-State Area open house on June 16^th and get matched with an opportunity that's right for you.

Call your local J & J office for more details!

Cherry Hill, NJ (856) 751-5050
Princeton, NJ (609) 452-2030
Ewing/Trenton, NJ (609) 530-1100
Woodbury, NJ (856) 464-0020
Bridgeport, NJ (856) 467-9099
Langhorne, PA (215) 752-0500
Horsham, PA (215) 773-9773
Newark DE (302) 738-7800

Giving Thanks and Giving Back!

All of us at J & J take pride in supporting our local communities. This year, in the spirit of Thanksgiving season, we wanted to craft an event to show our employees how much we appreciate their daily efforts while also raising money for a good cause! Therefore, we invented the “Crazy for Charity” event which will be held until December 13th. These series of events will allow employees to dress down, associating the crazy accessory of the week into their wardrobe on the given Friday. In order to participate, employees will need to donate $1, all proceeds being given to CHOP to provide for the children they help each day.

Keep an eye out for the first in the series: Crazy Hat Day! Take a look at what’s to come within the next month, and check back frequently for event photos!

Creative charity events aren’t all we’re good at! Our experts love coming up with customized solutions for our clients staffing needs, finding new additions to great companies looking for great employees! Contact us today for more information on J & J Staffing services.

*We encourage other businesses in the surrounding area to develop fun charity events for the upcoming holidays to help families in need! It’s a great way to build company moral by doing something that will make everyone feel special, touching the hearts of many!

Great Employees Result from Great Management

Every manager has experienced firsthand the woes that come from dealing with bad employees. Maybe they’re unmotivated in their efforts, disruptive to your team, or highly combative when you speak to them. Sure, you’ve tried time and time again to correct their behaviors but ultimately have to say “goodbye” and let them go. No matter how many times this happens it always stings. 

So what’s a manager to do? You don’t want to have to micromanage your team members and you certainly don’t want to be “the bad guy” who has to constantly tell them they need to improve their attitude or work efforts. While assembling an exemplary staff of dedicated workers isn’t the simplest job in the world, it is one that is far easier to accomplish than most managers realize. The following are just a few practices managers can use to help them create and maintain the workplace dream team they’ve always wanted.

#1: Hire Only the Best (You Deserve It!)

Many companies tend to look at their first pool of potential hires as though they are the only people they might employ. Although most businesses post job openings with intentions of filling a position quickly, rarely does a hasty hire lead to a model employee. Instead of rushing through your hiring process and selecting the best candidate out of a handful of mediocre ones, take the time to conduct the sort of interviews and tests performed by staffing agencies.

Involve candidates in as many interviews as you deem necessary, and then have them evaluated by your colleagues or team leaders. If you feel that a candidate isn’t the best possible hire you could make, then say “thanks but no thanks” and move on to other possibilities. There are plenty of candidates to go around! Never be afraid to let a position remain open for application if you are unsatisfied with all the applicants. Your company deserves quality employees, not convenient ones.

  

#2: Regular Feedback + Support = Consistent Motivation

 

Do you remember when you did an amazing job in school as a kid and your mom put your report card on the refrigerator for everyone to see? Weren’t you swelling with pride? Didn’t you want to work hard to earn that attention again? Take a moment to think about that: The acknowledgement of a job well-done makes a person want to continue to do high quality work.

While a note on your break room fridge isn’t going to get someone to put in extra hours, occasional feedback and response to hard work will always encourage employees to apply themselves further. Even if what you have to say isn’t exactly “congratulations” or a pat on the back, you should always let your employees know how well they are doing. Even criticism (when given correctly and politely) is better to give than a cold shoulder.

#3: ALWAYS Be Available!

This brings us to you as a manager. You should always be visible to your team members and interacting with them regularly. Too many managers make the common mistake of sitting in their offices for eight hours a day with their doors closed. This conveys many things and they’re all negative: you’re too busy to be bothered; you’re different from everyone else and deserve preferential treatment; you’re not a part of the team unless a problem arises. Obviously, all these beliefs are going to be counterproductive to having an efficient and well-run team.

Instead of locking yourself away from your team and making employees feel shut off from you, try these approaches:

• Leave your door open so you’re seen as being available.
• Talk to your team members in person when problems come up. This makes you approachable when they have issues on their end.  
• Learn about each of your employees. If you can strike up a short conversation over topics such as their fantasy football league they’ll feel more able to talk to you. 
• Hold important meetings in rooms other than your own office. This keeps you active and visible throughout the building.

Finally, you should take the time to have regular one-on-ones with your team members. Aside from giving you an opportunity to check up on their assignments and important projects, these brief meetings allow you to give the feedback they need to do a better job and feel motivated.

Even though your team may be composed of many, many people, you must always realize that you are essential to keeping the group moving efficiently and enthusiastically.  A great team is the result of a group effort, but you are its foundation. Be picky with hires, be open with your feedback, and be an active part of your team. With these behaviors in place, you’ll find your dream team is being formed, one step week at a time.