Oh, c’mon! Go ahead! Take a crack at it! It’s really not that intimidating. A couple tweets here, a couple tweets there; a 

few RT’s sprinkled in, several hundred #’s here, and……BAM!!! You’re a Tweetin’ machine! The first time I set up my first Twitter account, @MikeChuidian, I really didn’t know what to…

Recruiting the best candidates isn’t always easy. HR outsourcing firms and hiring managers know this. With recent college graduates entering the workforce, different factors are at stake when it comes to making a decision about where to work. Whether you…

Effective October 1, 2012, Ontario Ministry of Labour OHSA health and safety inspectors require Ontario employers to post the new workplace poster called “Health & Safety at Work - Prevention Starts Here”.

The poster has been…

You go on the interview and the person asking you questions about your job skills suddenly turns things up a notch. Or, you are at work and one of your co-workers, perhaps your boss, begins showing you unwanted attention. In either scenario, what do you do?

Unfortunately, countless…

Following the popularity of my original series of 20 interview questions and how not to answer them, I've once again revisited the job interview scenario and present for your delectation a bit of Friday afternoon fun:

Interviewer:  "How do you manage people?'.

Interviewee: "I don't so much manage as tolerate them to be honest" 

Interviewer: "Describe a complex problem you had to deal with"

Interviewee: "Chlamydia wasn't much fun, but…

Remember before all this online technology shenanigans when we just turned up to work - to work? Did we insist that we had access to Pac Man, Pong or Space Invaders, or any of the other trivial pursuits you care to name, during working hours? Of course not. Then, when the good old 'Messenger' came along - Yahoo, AOL etc. - and enabled us to chat with strangers at our will - did we insist that our new distraction of choice be installed on our PCs in the office? No. So why, pray tell, is there…

Bullying seems to be the new buzzword.  Be it in the schoolyard or on the job, there are increased outcries about one person trying to dominate another through intimidation.  Most of the time the intimidation employed is psychological.  But often enough it is physical as well.    It is nothing to minimize, but then by the reaction of some, it would appear bullying only recently appeared on the scene.   With the plethora of articles, seminars, workshops,  and panel discussions, bullying or…

Its a typical Monday morning.  The staff comes in to work in the usual fashion.  The beginning of the workweek yet again, however, something is different.  Over the past couple of years, sales have been "OK" but you have seen better years in the past.  You have shrugged it off and blamed it on the bad economy.  Yes, it must be the economy.  The worst financial times since the great depression.... Right??

You check your year over year…

Whether working for a small, mid-size or large business, you know like everyone else at the office that you need to stand out from the rest and not in a negative manner.



Each and every day you set foot in the office or telecommute from your residence, be it a small business start-up or a company that has been around for some time, how do you go about making sure that the boss notices you?



Having worked for several companies now over a 23-year span, I have always gone into a…

This week, I saw an interesting Pinterest quote that made me take pause. It said, "May the bridges I burn light the way."

In business, I've always been…

Once upon a time a dear friend told me about the issues he was having in his apparel manufacturing plant where certain employees were in business for themselves.  This meant their raking off inventory, dresses, blouses, and such, and selling the stolen merchandise to anyone who would pay cash.   Upon doing researcher, my friend found is otherwise unaccounted merchandise in the flea markets in downtown Los Angeles and with different off price venues.   The stealing or shrinkage, as it was…

In my attempt at humor (but with an underlying truth), I thought an article about men’s fashion was the right thing to do on Recruiting Blogs after the somewhat ridiculous response that took place after the…

Workplace violence can take place in different forms.  The more common variety of workplace violence is more or less the hazards of the job.   Healthcare workers and emergency medical workers often face abuse.  some of it is physical, but most of it is verbal abuse from ailing and often drugged out patients.    Taxi drivers, retail clerks, and others having to deal face to face with the public are subjected to robberies and battery, sometimes murder.  Law enforcement and…

As a woman in today’s workplace, do you feel like you are a little more scrutinized in what you wear than your male counterparts?

While women would like to think they are judged for their brains and skills and not their appearance, there is little doubt there are still some offices where what female employees wear to work is given greater scrutiny than men.

In a setting where standard company uniforms…

Image courtesy of mariettaga.gov



This post originally appeared on our blog at www.skillstorm.com/blog

When you think of the holidays, what comes to mind? How about holiday carols and jingle bells? Snow flakes and hot chocolate? Or… how about…

As a background checking service we see our fair share of physical and sexual violence that can be related to the home  or domestic environment.  But domestic violence is not necessarily contained within the home.   Domestic violence may originate in the home, but it can affect the workplace.

Studies claim that one in four women are victims of domestic violence.   Homicide  is the second leading cause of death among women in the workforce.  While women constitute the majority of…

There are certain news stories we one cannot help but muse on all the absurd potentialities.  One such story is one that came through a news letter to which I subscribe.   It  is an article in The Republic, in Columbus Indiana, where it reports that the Texas Legislature may allow employees to bring their guns to work with them.   That's right.  They can bring their guns, potentially, as long as they leave…

Did you know that, according to a study done by Basex, the average time spent being interrupted in a typical work day and getting back into a groove is 2.1 hours? This is almost 1/3 of a person’s time at work! The internet has been a blessing and a curse for the world of the employed. Employees forward fun emails between each other all the time and social networking is practiced consistently at any job with computers available. I know what you’re thinking. You are scared now. Distractions…

While in some sectors there is a call to ease up on background checks, the obvious question that comes to mind is who bears the brunt of it if an employee who snaps out and commits to violence in the workplace turns  out to have a history as a convicted felon? Why the employer, of course.  The employer will incur the damages, the litigation and liability issues the public embarrassment and the knowledge that employees were harmed in the working environment.

When violence is committed…