Mindy Thomas

Career Chat – Mindy Thomas Interviews Laura Kasper

 

Mindy Thomas:

Hi everybody. I’m Mindy Thomas and welcome to Career Chat. We are here every Monday at 11:30 AM and Tuesday at 8:00 PM. If anybody has their pulse on the local job market, my next guest really does everything from hiring trends to employer staffing, to recruiting, to job seeker advice. My next guest, and you want to stay tuned for her. She’s a powerhouse. Her name is Laura Kasper. She’s the CEO of Monarch Staffing. Laura, welcome to the show.

Laura Kasper:

Thank you. Excited to be here.

Mindy Thomas:

I’m excited to have you on the show and thank you for making time. I know it’s a very busy time for you, Laura. We go back many, many years when I was a director of placement at a technical college, I was floating the graduates to you. It was big time flush back then. Obviously we have a very different narrative today. I’d love to speak with you today about the impact of COVID-19 and what can job seekers expect, what can employers expect moving forward?

Laura Kasper:

Yep. So I think in today’s world, it’s a lot different than it was many years ago. You know, the unemployment right now is close to 15%. Job seekers are out there in abundance. Six months ago, I would tell you it was a candidates market. It’s going to be an employers market in the next three months. There’s going to be a lot of people that are going to want to get back into the workforce and with millions and millions coming back into the workforce there might be some pressure for a little bit lower wages and things might be changing. So if you are a job seeker, now’s a better time to jump into the market rather than waiting. Because the competition is going to be really stiff probably come at the end of August, the beginning of September,

Mindy Thomas:

And you’ve helped thousands of job seekers over a 25 year stint in this business, as well as hundreds of employers. So your company, not only staffs for employers they do HR consulting. What else do you do?

Laura Kasper:

Yep. And we do training. We do HR consulting. We’re helping employers with their handbooks and now because of the COVID-19 different protocols that employers need to use, when they’re bringing back into the people into the workforce, we were just notified by the governor of Pennsylvania that June 5th we’ll be in the yellow zone. So we’ll be allowed to gather in groups of 25 and more and more employers that I’m speaking with are starting to bring folks back into their workforce in different types of shifts. So things are changing, but we need to be prepared because everybody has to be ready with the PPE equipment. Your personal protective equipment, you know, coming to work with gloves, if you need it, definitely a mask. And you know, hand sanitizers are really important. You know, and gone are the days when people are going to be handshaking for an interview. Those days are gone. People are going to be doing zoom interviews. We’ve always been doing zoom interviews with snow storms. This is just a much bigger storm. So when you find the net, we’re talking to our candidates more and more with the zoom interview. So it’s been, it’s been really great.

Mindy Thomas:

Laura, when you mentioned protocols many of our viewers may not even understand that verbiage. Could you define that and talk about the safety protocols? Well, you just mentioned them, but are there other protocols that employers

Laura Kasper:

Extra layer of screening that now as a placement agency we’re required to do by law and asking certain questions for candidates before we actually place them on a physical job. You know, even if they’re getting trained, they might be getting trained at the location. One of our clients was creative enough to hire six customer service people. They brought them into the office, train them there with their trainer on video, and then they’re going to send them home after two weeks to work. Even in that case we had to ask questions about safety, you know, have they been you know, have they been come in contact with somebody that has Kobe 19 and do they have symptoms, whether it be a fever, a high fever or you know, the sore throat or the chills. So we have to ask that to protect them and to protect our employers.

Laura Kasper:

So there is an added layer of screening and employers are doing the same. Some employers are even bringing in equipment to test for temperature taking, whether it be a tablet on the wall, a thermometer that they’re giving people to, to come in. I mean, safety is the first and foremost concern on top of everybody’s mind, it’s both for the candidates and people that are returning to work and for the employers being safe in the workplace and even studying up like a six foot office space. One on top of the other. There’s a lot of reconfiguring with office spaces right now. And speaking to employers of how that’s gonna look, maybe the conference room once held 12 people at one time might have for the rest are going to be able to zoom for video.

Mindy Thomas:

The innovation that is going on is just short of incredible. I cannot believe what’s being invented right now to support the protocols, as you mentioned. I heard this morning from one of my clients that he has to sign a release. If he catches COVID on the job, because he’s like a sales person and asked to travel a bit they’re now requesting a release form. Have you ever heard of that?

Laura Kasper:

No, but there are some new rules are around a worker’s compensation. So that is in Congress and there’s new laws with you know, in the, that is out there that if you do catch Cove and Walt were the job of course might be able to collect workers’ compensation. So I think employers are coming to protect themselves. So the employment attorneys have been very, very busy we’re in the process of rewriting our handbooks, doing our new best work practices. So when we put people out to work, that they feel that they, you know, have a voice, they can come to us, they can ask us questions. We wanted to make sure that they’re cared for out in the work in the workforce. It’s important to them.

Mindy Thomas:

Everybody’s trying to CYA. Yes, exactly. Very, very interesting. Now you staff for everything from human resources to sales, could you run that down for our viewers so that they know? Sure. So we do put a bit of practice around administrative office support, customer service, sales marketing, getting accounting human resources, some entry level, it folks marketing. And we have been, you know, starting to see clients call us nor now there was a big pause early one. I think everybody was in survival mode. So we’re getting used to working at home. We know that work at home works. So now it’s a matter of how do we onboard new people. And the other thing that’s happening with the employers is somebody’s employees that they had might not be able to work just due to some personal circumstances. Maybe they have small children, maybe they have special needs children.

Laura Kasper:

Maybe they might not be able to come back the way the employer wants them to come back. And I do think there’s going to be a, quite a bit of uptake in new jobs being created. So they’re a bright shining star to this. There’s going to be new positions in human resources being created, whether it be extra nurses that are on, on the wellness side, whether it be people in the safety and OSHA that are more coordinators and helping with this COVID in fact, we just got an order from one of our clients on Friday, there is now a safety and HR coordinator. Cause the HR director is so busy. She needs an extra hand with all these new things and new rules and protocols. So I think the HR departments are going to be booming. So any of the new grads out there that are looking for an HR positions, we have a few that we’re building right now.

Mindy Thomas:

So definitely there’s a bright shining star with that. There is going to be more a wellness in the workplace. I think that’s very positive. Players are going to be more tuned in to employees and their wellness and offering things for the whole mind, body and soul and giving employees breaks during the day when they’re working. It’s okay to, you know, take a break in the middle of the day. It’s not so much managing the input. It’s managing the expectations and the output. I think that employers smart employers and good leaders are really looking at that as the CEO of Monarch staffing. I know that you have a team of recorders and I know that you also interview a lot of my clients that I send you. What are the things that you’re looking for when you do that zoom interview with a potential candidate, right.

Laura Kasper:

Right. I mean, so right now it is about, you know, they need the class of 2020, even kids graduating. I mean, these kids are, we’re looking for a resiliency. If we’re looking for adaptability, they have it, they’re thrown into this. They have to be creative. That’s what employers want. The other thing I think is really important now that we look for is when we do zoom interviews, is that people are showing up that they look the part, they are dressing as if they’re walking into an interview. So many times over the past couple months, we’ve had very casual people show up, maybe in a more casual atmosphere or just have their screen kind of wiggle on motion sickness. So I’m just gonna take on one of my [inaudible]. So, you know, tip for the job seeker, which are, you know, your, your phone in a tripod and keep it steady, you know, and they’re looking for either the communication skills and listening skills, same thing that they would be looking for.

Mindy Thomas:

I think if you walk into an interview, but I think now, because it is on zoom that has to come across and louder. Yes. I, you know, I have empathy for the introverts of the world. Right. It’s hard because really like now do you have any advice for them? Yes. So there’s a great book. It’s actually, Oh, I will send you the link Mindy, but it’s called a jobs job interviewing for the introvert, like job seeking for an introvert. I will definitely send you the link. It’s that by Jane Finkle. I already read it. Yeah. I’d like for introverts, it’s called quiet. And that is about leading as an introvert in today’s economy. Love it, great book. It will really help people. In fact, my daughter is an introvert and she said to me, mom, after this whole thing is done, I am, might become an extrovert.

Mindy Thomas:

You know, people had their tendencies. Oh my goodness. Well, do you have a little bit of empathy when you realize, cause I can pick it right out. Yes. And I mean, introverts, I mean, I remember asking my students back when I was a junked at Immaculata for 17 years. Well, what are you, who do you think makes the better salesperson, the introvert or the extrovert? And they always say the extrovert, but the introvert has tremendous skill, right? Laura, they listen, well, they don’t jump out of the gate. They’re discipline. They’re wa they’re disciplined. They take it, they take in all the detail and they take in all the information before they open their mouths. They’re process people very much.

Laura Kasper:

The process. I mean, I’ve, I’ve twin girls. So they’re one is very much an introvert and one is very much an extrovert, but you know, both can be leaders in their own unique way. And I think for an introvert, especially with this zoom interview, it can be a little intimidating just as if they were walking into an interview could be uncomfortable. But I think the more you practice and be prepared for the questions that you’ll be asked will really help because those folks need to be prepared. So, you know, doing your homework and they’re going to prepare, be prepared much more probably than the extrovert who thinks that they can come in and wing it. So, you know, I think that, you know, they could have a little bit of an advantage if they just take a little bit time in preparation. And now we have so much information that we can use today in our hand or at our fingertips. What are some of the questions

Mindy Thomas:

What about your recruiters ask that are just typical questions right out of the gate.

Laura Kasper:

Sure. you know, some of the things might, you know, share with me an example about how you’ve been able to be adaptable in this environment. You know, what, where, you know, we’re asking more behavioral type questions. So adaptability is really important. Give me an example of maybe a time where you may have failed. And what did you learn from it that could be you know, learning about how resourceful people are, employers, what candidates with critical thinking skills. So can they see the bigger picture is really important? Not so much yes. Doing the task is important, but they also have to be able, you know, it’s not in today’s world, it’s not about just keeping things the way they are. I mean, we are living in what we talked about before, maybe a VUCA environment with volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity. So how are people reacting during those times and what are they doing? It’s not about keeping things the same. It’s about breaking them and fixing them and being able to do it better and more efficient. So we ask candidates and these more seasoned candidates too, about some of their things that they were able to be. Some of the successes that they’ve had and even some of their failures and what they’ve learned through that,

Mindy Thomas:

From an employer’s perspective, how do you see the challenges snowballing for them? I mean, what are their biggest barriers and concerns moving forward?

Laura Kasper:

Yeah. Number one is safety. That’s the biggest pool. And number two, I mean, I know so many employers that have people that are just not ready to come back yet, but employers need to have workers come back because they have work to do so. They are it’s really hard for them right now because they do have their PPP loan, right? So a lot of small businesses under 500 employees got their loan money. So that loan money came a week or so ago. They only had eight weeks to use that money and be able to spend 75% of that on wages and healthcare costs. So, you know, for them to get a reimbursement or to be loan forgiveness, they have to have people come back on payroll. It’s really important. So there are job seekers out there help your employer and come back because it’s going to be a lot easier to come back now, then it will be three months from now.

Laura Kasper:

So, you know, if you want your employer to stay in business and to employ you, you want to come back now because three months from now, there’s going to be a bigger talent pool and employers might upgrade skills. We’ve already had companies call us to say, you know what, I’m going to bring that person back. I think I want to look for somebody else now because at a 3% unemployment, I was kind of hanging on to people, but at close to a 15% unemployment now in Goldman Sachs predicts by the end of the year, we might even be closer or peak at 20, 25%. That’s more than the great depression. There’s millions of people that are going to be out of work competition for those jobs is going to be really, really high. So if you’re a job seeker, you want to get back into the market. Now you’re going to be valued more. You’re going to get a higher wage and it’s, it’s your best opportunity.

Mindy Thomas:

So there are a lot of steps for the job Hunter to look at right now. We have to take a short break and we’ll come right back and let’s talk about what’s needed besides resume and LinkedIn. And of course, they’ve got to update the resume. They have to update LinkedIn. And there’s other things that we’re going to look at. As soon as we come right back, stay tuned.

Mindy Thomas:

Welcome back to Career Chat. I’m Mindy Thomas. I am with the CEO of Monarch Staff, Laura Kasper. We were talking about the millions of people on unemployment. Some of them are making more money on unemployment than they did at their jobs. Now there’s an upside clearly, but there’s also a downside. Can we address that for our viewers today?

Laura Kasper:

Yeah. So, you know, what’s going to happen in a few months from now is that millions of people are going to want to come back into the workforce. So the competition to find a job is only going to increase as more and more people are unemployed. So if you are a job seeker in today’s market, you want to work your networks now because you’re going to be able to command a higher salary. There’s not as many people looking for jobs right this minute. And you’re going to be able to kind of move forward in that company and you’re going to be respected along the way for it. And you don’t have as much competition. It’s all about supply and demand. So it is right now, it’s, you know, it’s still, you know, Kennedy it’s can still kind of get what they want, but in a few months when unemployment, all those people, millions of people want to come back into the workforce.

Laura Kasper:

It’s going to look different and it will be an employers market, again, not a candidates market. So smart candidates and smart job-seekers today. What to, you said, maximize your LinkedIn profile, you know, do your resume writing prep and make sure that’s great and see Mindy Thomas for that, you know, you know, prep one, your video interviews and your zoom interviews. But the other thing that you can do personally, is get out there and volunteer and help. The more you expand your networks with volunteering and connecting with people, the more job opportunities are gonna open up for you. So it’s not so much sometimes where you land, it’s the people along the way that make a difference in your life. And you can really create some of those networks now for yourself, your friends on Facebook and different things like that, that are out there.

Laura Kasper:

You know, don’t let being unemployed, get you down. And the other thing is really hone in on your professional development for goodness sakes. You can take Harvard classes for free now, personally, taking a coaching class that I never thought I’d be taking. I’m taking a coaching class with somebody from Germany, which is unbelievable. So there’s so much professional development that you can really work on now as a, as a job seeker that you would never have that opportunity to do in regular times. And I think you have to look at what you can do, not what you can do to really make a difference for yourself. And for those around you.

Mindy Thomas:

I agree, Laura, and that’s such great advice. Recruiters are going to ask, what did you do during COVID-19? And if you have a laundry list, you’re in good shape, it looks really good. You present, well, you let them know I did this. I did that. I got this certificate courses on Khan Academy or at Harvard, they’ll be very impressed with your initiative. And I think initiative is extremely important right now because there’s a lot of employers out there. They get a free out, if you have not really worked very hard and you were like a low performer and you didn’t really care, guess what? They’re not going to ask you back. Why? Because there’s a whole pool of people out there that are hungry and they have to support themselves and their families.

Laura Kasper:

Right? And I think it can go both ways, too. Mindy, I think as an educated job seeker, you should ask employers, what did they do? How are they reacting to COVID-19 with their employees? What did they do to get a really feel what employers are doing and how they treat their people that they have currently working for them that speaks volumes for an employer. And you can see some of those reviews on Glassdoor or things like that that are out there. So smart job seekers, you know, should really ask those kinds of questions. It’s all about, you know, I think that’s going to speak volumes going forward on the good things that employers are doing and how they’re helping and how they’re volunteering and giving back to their community. I’ve seen many, many over the past few months do things that are out of the box and extraordinary. And even people that are doing some really great things for this world. So I think it goes both ways, the job seekers and for the employers. So I know ourselves, we gave some free resume writing advice.

Mindy Thomas:

Yes, Laura to keep up with the trends what are you reading right now? Because I’m like a webinar junkie, you know, I, I just like the content is so so much. we’re flushed with content right now. I’m wondering what papers are you reading to get your sources and your information and, and who are you trusting now with facts and figures and the narratives with regards to the job market?

Laura Kasper:

Well, I, look, I look at often the PA unemployment website because that’s where we are. So I look at that I also am a big proponent of Flipboard. If you don’t know what Flipboard is, it is a great app I have on my phone and on my computer that I use to send me things that are crucial to the job market. So I get magazines from entrepreneur and fortune and money magazine, and it’s great if he’d be my daily feed every day. So I’m addicted to the I also, I do read a lot of like Dan some content on LinkedIn, some of my employer groups that are legal attorneys they’re coming out with some great things and I belong to the MEA, the mid Atlantic employers association. I’m reading a law firm there and the American staffing association as well to keep up on the career advice and what’s happening in our market. So that’s usually where I’m getting my feed from. And there’s a great book. I’m reading from Mark Devine, it’s called the way of the seal. And it’s about working in this Phuket environment and really how you’re able to, with your vision and clarity and insight, be able to get through a lot of these changes and help your team and being a leader for your team.Oh, okay. Very good. Very good. So other trends that are happening that the job hunters should be aware of, of anything else that we can add to this laundry list.

Laura Kasper:

Definitely the free professional development would be the top of my to do list. If I was a job secret during this time, the other part would be connecting with people, more people on LinkedIn, following companies on LinkedIn, that they like, that they admire on anything commenting on things. So maybe there’s a recruiter that has a comment or even an employer that has a comment about something showing interest in where they want to work and doing a little more research on that I think is really, really helpful. And connecting with staffing agencies. A lot of times, staffing agencies can get you seen where you might not be able to get seen. You might throw out all through the black hole of the applicant tracking system, but we have relationships and rapport with many, many employers. So they trust us and it’s easy for a one stop shopping.

Mindy Thomas:

So that brings me to this point and we have to close in about 60 seconds. If anyone is out there and they are interested in being rehired or working through Monarch staffing, how do they get in touch with you?

Laura Kasper:

Very easy. They can send their resume to resumes@monarchstaffing.com. They can give us a call. We’re answering our phones. So either way, you know, we’re available and we’re looking for candidates, we’re busy. We have jobs now. So I’m really happy within the past couple of weeks, we started to pick up and we have job opportunities that are available at various levels.

Mindy Thomas:

Well, Laura, this has been such a great time with you. I’ve enjoyed seeing you again, thank you for making the time to be on the show today, Laura.

Laura Kasper:

Thanks, Mindy. I really appreciate it.

Laura Kasper:

You bet. To our viewing audience, thank you for joining me here on Career Chat. We will be here next week. If you have any questions about the show or you need to direct a question to me, you can find me on LinkedIn or just strictly go to Thomas Career Consulting.com to our healthcare professionals. I want to thank you for your sacrifice and service. Thank you so much for helping the American public. We are in debt indebted to you. Have a safe and loving week with your family and be safe. Be brave, be strong. We’ll see you here next week.