Filtration Recruiter

Filtration Group of RSI

lisa@rsipeople.com (Lisa Sprowls) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 13:13:00 +0000

Lisa Sprowls is an Executive Recruiter specializing in serving the needs of the Filtration Industry. She works on a national basis on both contingency and retained searches. Positions range from General, Plant and Production Management, all areas of Manufacturing, Sales, Quality, Engineering, Human Resources, Financial and Technical, to the most Senior-Level Management positions in a company. RSI’s affiliation with BackTrack Inc. allows us to conduct full background checks on finalist candidates as a value-added service to our clients.

Lisa’s clients are primarily manufacturers, distributors and municipalities which range from the largest domestic and international companies, to small successful privately held organizations. Some areas include but are not limited to: Water, Oil, Gas, Air, Industrial, Cartridge, Chemical, Filtration & Separation, Membrane, Reverse Osmosis, Filtration Equipment, Filter Media, Fibers, Filtration Supplies, Wastewater, Storm Water Environmental, Dewatering Equipment, Woven, and Nonwovens.

Lisa, along with her team, appreciates the opportunity to introduce themselves to you and would look forward to working with you in the future. Please feel free to contact us at any time.
Lisa Sprowls
The Filtration Group of RSI
Phone – 800-992-3875 x313
E-mail lisa@rsipeople.com
Visit us at www.rsipeople.com/filtration

 Has achieved pacesetter status
 Member of The Water Environment Federation
 Corporate Sponsor of American Filtration & Separations Society
 Member of National Air Filtration Association
 Member of INDA
 Contributing Editor of Water and Wastewater.com Blog
 Member of The Fluid Power Society
 OAESP Member (Ohio Association of Executive Search Professionals)

Filtration Group of RSI, Filtration Group of Recruiter Solutions International, Lisa Sprowls, Filtration Recruiter

WHY RECRUITERS ARE WORTH WHAT THEY CHARGE

lisa@rsipeople.com (Lisa Sprowls) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 13:29:00 +0000

WHY RECRUITERS ARE WORTH WHAT THEY CHARGE

"When I need a heart by-pass, rest assured that I won't select my surgeon on the basis of what they charge." That's what an ailing executive recently opined when he was informed by his doctor about his arterial blockage problems.

Why then can corporate executives be so tightfisted when dealing with what is so commonly thought of as the "heartbeat" of their companies . . . top talent?

Companies think very little about paying the often exorbitant fees charged by their outside accounting and legal firms . . . or even to the gaggle of consultants who promise cost-cutting and streamlining miracles in other areas of operations.

Yet, when faced with brain drains, talent deficiencies or the need to replace an employee with a better one, their thoughts too often turn to parsimony. This Wal-mart mentality belies and contradicts their stated objectives to "hire the best," especially at pecking order levels below the "big picture" executive suite inhabitants.

Of course recruiting fees can vary from firm to firm but, when they do, you will almost always find that those on the low side are sure to exclude some very key portions of the process, all of which are vital to providing the indispensable services necessary to satisfy the needs of the employer.

So why are recruiters worth what they charge? Just a few of the often unspoken reasons are:

Expertise - Nobody knows the employment marketplace better than a professional recruiter . . . nobody! In-house human resources, no matter how effective, view the marketplace through an imperfect or misrepresentative prism and tunnel vision is their occupational hazard.

Just as physicians are cautioned against treating members of their own families, so too is it folly for an in-house H/R professional to believe that they have an undistorted and unbiased picture of the employment landscape. They are vulnerable to the pressures of internal politics and cultural dimensions which do not hinder the outsider.

Street-smart recruiters already know the neighbor-hood, including the unlisted addresses so often overlooked by the HR insiders.

Cast a wider net - A professional fisherman will always have more to show than a weekend angler. Recruiters are in the marketplace day in and day out. They know the un-fished coves, reefs and inlets that are unknown to others. The job-hunter bookshelves are filled with lore about the "hidden job market." The same holds true for professional recruiters who have a detailed roadmap to the hidden talent sources which will never be accessed by newspaper ads, alumni associations, applicant databases, the Internet or any of the other more familiar sources of people.

There are occasional pearls through these sources (and someone inevitably wins the Publisher's Clearinghouse Sweepstakes too) but you have to shuck an awful lot of smelly oysters to find them. Recruiters only give you oysters proven to contain pearls. Your only job is to determine which pearl is the best.

Want to catch what you're fishing for? Hire a guide!

Cost - There is a misconception among employers that the cost of a hire equals the cost of the ads run to attract the person hired. Nothing could be further from reality.

Try adding these to the true costs and you'll see just how cost effective an outside recruiter can be:
Salaries and benefits of the employment/recruiting staffs plus those of the line managers involved in the hiring activity (who are not productive in their normal job pursuits when they're out recruiting); travel, lodging and entertainment expenses of in-house recruiters; source development costs; overhead expenses including (but not limited to) telephone, office space, postage, PR literature, applicant database maintenance, Internet access, reference checking, clerical costs to correspond with the hundreds of unqualified respondents, etc.

Unbiased third party input - Contrary to what some believe, recruiters don't try to put square employees into round jobs. A recruiter's stock-in-trade is their integrity and their reputation for finding someone better than a company could have found for themselves.

For a mid-level to senior executive, the average recruiter may develop a "long list" of a hundred or more possibilities. Each must be called and evaluated against the position specifications as well as the personality "fit" with the company and the people with whom they will ultimately work. Once this is winnowed down to the "short list," an even more intensive interviewing process begins to narrow the search to a panel of finalists for review by the client.

This process is not, as some believe, simply romping through the file cabinets, job boards or putting the job opening out to others on the recruiter's network with crossed fingers that someone good will show up.

It is highly unlikely that a professional recruiter will be plowing brand new ground with your opening. They deal within spheres of influence far more familiar with your needs than any internal recruiter and, more often than not, view the finalists as people who are competent to solve client problems rather than just fill an open slot in the organizational chart.

Because they want to do business with you again and again, they are looking for (and challenging you to excellence by hiring) the "truly exceptional" rather than the "just satisfactory" so often settled for by in-house hirers.

Confidentiality - Advertising or otherwise publicly pro-claiming an opening, aside from its cost and demonstrated ineffectiveness for sensitive senior level openings, often creates anxiety and apprehension among the advertiser's current employees who wonder why they aren't being considered or worry about newcomer transition problems. Just as often it alerts competitors to a current weakness or void within the company.

Speed - The recruiting process is always faster through a search professional who is continually tapped into the talent marketplace than one having to start the process from scratch. For every day that a key opening remains unfilled, a company's other employees must grudgingly do double duty. And this doesn't factor in the profit opportunities or competitive advantages lost to a company because a position remains unfilled or done on a part-time basis by others less qualified.

Post-Hire Downtime - Not only is speed an essential part of the professional recruiter's process, the ability to locate a person who can immediately "hit the ground running" with a minimum of "ramp-up time" saves time after the hire. All too often, a hire selected through less effective sources, offering a smaller talent pool, requires several months of expensive training and orientation.

Reality - Professional recruiters often recognize and have a duty to inform clients that they may be mistaken as to the type of person sought, the salary required to attract them or the possibilities that the solution might just lie in areas outside the traditional target industries . . . something an internal recruiter is politically disinclined to do. Too many hirers fail to understand that a professional recruiter's pr i-mary function is not necessarily to fill a slot but to provide the right candidate to solve a problem.

Negotiation - Master negotiator Herb Cohen says that "negotiation is the analysis of information, time and power to affect behavior . . . the meeting of needs (yours and others) to make things happen the way you want them to." As a buffer and informed intermediary, the professional recruiter is better able to blend the needs and wants of both parties to arrive at a mutually beneficial arrangement with-out the polarizing roadblocks which too frequently materialize in face-to-face dealings.

Prioritizing company resources - It is often amazing to see how much of a company's revenues are squandered on non-productive perks for existing high-level employees while they penny-pinch on what is every company's life-blood . . . talent acquisition.

Club memberships and the like may be fine, but no one with an IQ higher than Forrest Gump's believes that these expenditures contribute to a company's profit margin. But one well-placed employee can be the cause of a company's profits skyrocketing. And the fee for having hired these people pales in insignificance when compared to the contributions they make to the bottom line.

The next time you think a recruiter's fees are too high, put them in the proper perspective before asking for that bargain Blue Light special or spinning your wheels thrash-in about trying to fill vital openings with less effective (but not necessarily less expensive) do-it-yourself methods. Savvy executives learned long ago that the fee paid to a recruiter is a shrewd strategic investment, not an extraneous expense.

Written by Paul Hawkinson, Publisher of The Fordyce Letter (www.fordyceletter.com)

Lisa Sprowls
Filtration Recruiter
Recruiter Solutions International
800-992-3875 ext. 313
lisa@rsipeople.com

Forward Thinking Drives the Filtration Industry

lisa@rsipeople.com (Lisa Sprowls) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 18:22:00 +0000

Innovation and technology are the lifelines this year for the filtration industry, according to a recent conversation with Knowlton Technologies Director of Technology and New Business Development, Jamie Lee. Knowlton Technologies is a world leading manufacturer of engineered Specialty and Technical Media, Performance Nonwovens and Filled Composites constructed from metal, glass, polymer, ceramic and natural fibers.

“For most of our peers or competitors, the year will be challenging. Anyone in the direct OE automotive line of filtration market for on-the-road has no business growth to look forward to, in my mind, for several years,” Lee said, while noting that the OE automotive supply chain is down 60 to 70 percent while other industries may be down 30 to 50 percent. He believes this is because cars aren’t selling and there is a tremendous backlog of filtration parts for the on-the-road industry.

The survival of the filtration industry rests with companies possessing the ability to produce higher value, longer life products, he said, because these companies can chew- out market shares with innovation and technology.

Additionally, off-road filtration systems such as those used in construction will rebound more quickly than on-road products in part with the help from the government’s stimulus and recovery plans to improve infrastructures. But even in this field, the catch phrases will be higher value, longer life products, he said. Products which eliminate the need for frequent changes will sell. Discounting a product by 5-15% percent or so will not get sellers to their long-term goals.

“Some people will go out and buy the cheapest filters but that’s not a deal if you ruin an $8,000 engine. The future lies not with companies offering the lowest price for their filters but rather with companies making the best filters.”

Lee said filtration manufacturers would do well to explore making filters for water purification systems, the medical market, earth sciences and energy. He believes these markets provide the best opportunity for future growth.

“Micro fiber filters used in the medical separation field are manufactured from the same high quality fibers as those used to make scotch,” he said.

He points to bio fuel as another example, saying the development of bio fuels will require the use of many new filters, other than those used in common petroleum -based fuel production.

About the Authors
Lisa Sprowls of the Filtration Group of RSI has successfully placed a wide range of positions in the Filtration, Water and Wastewater industries. She has developed a clientele ranging from successful, small, privately held companies to the corporate giants of the industry throughout North America. To learn more about their recruiting services visit them at www.rsipeople.com/filtration

Copyright © Lisa Sprowls 2009

General Manager position

lisa@rsipeople.com (Lisa Sprowls) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 20:06:00 +0000

Our client is a publicly traded manufacturer focusing in industrial air filtration. They have several operations both domestically and internationally. The division we are working with is a $20 million dollar division of a $200 million dollar organization. They deal in metals/ minerals processing, power generation and industrial markets. They manufacture air filtration products.

They have retained our services to help them fill a General Manager position. This position will be responsible for the direction and oversight of all staff including sales, manufacturing, finance and human resources. They are in need of someone to develop and execute their business strategy/ plans and achieve financial targets, which include growth, profitability and cash flow. This position will have full P&L responsibility, will need to meet annual sales objectives, maintain sales and develop and maintain the organization/staff as needed to achieve growth and profitability. This position will be required to be located in Illinois and relocation will be provided. The facility is in the western suburbs of the Chicago area.

What we are looking for is someone that has experience in the filtration industry, who has had experience in running both a sales and manufacturing organization with P&L responsibility. They are looking for someone with a good business background and a sound leader in working within a sales group. Someone who can come in, access the organization and the people particularly on the sales side and work closely with executive management to better grow in the industry. This is not a turnaround situation, they have good sound employees and processes. They are in a situation where they are stagnant and are in need of someone to come in and with their experience access the situation. There is tremendous growth potential not just for the organization but for this individual as well.

With regards,

Lisa K. Sprowls, VP

Recruiter Solutions International

8850 Tyler Blvd.

Mentor, OH 44060

800-992-3875 Ext. 313

www.rsipeople.com

lisa@rsipeople.com

Always available to help with your recruiting needs!

The information contained in this electronic mail transmission is intended by Recruiter Solutions International for the use of the named individual or entity to which it is directed and may contain information that is confidential or privileged. If you have received this electronic mail transmission in error, please delete it from your system without copying or forwarding it, and notify the sender of the error by reply email or call 800.992.3875 x313 so that the sender's address records can be corrected.

Competition for Open Jobs

lisa@rsipeople.com (Lisa Sprowls) — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 20:17:00 +0000

Competition for Open Jobs

The latest statistics from the United States Bureau of Labor shows that unemployment rose from 7.2% to 7.6% in the first months of 2009. Anyone who reads the paper or watches the news knows that the news is grim for job seekers. Job losses are large and widespread across nearly all major industry sectors, and every day brings news that someone else is laying off part of their workforce.

Companies who are thinking of hiring to fill vacant positions are probably going to be receiving more applications and resumes from job candidates than ever before. How can you be sure that the candidate you decide to hire is the right one for your company? If you have 100 people apply for one vacant position, your human resource department is going to have their work cut out for them!

In these trying times, many candidates will be tempted to “fluff” their resumes in order to get a job. Resume falsification is on the rise and expected to increase as the country continues to slog through economic doldrums. Now more than ever, the need for employment screening is clear. The average company will spend between $7,000 and $15,000 in the first year to hire and train someone for the position after they hire the job candidate. That is a lot of money, particularly if you have to do it more than once for a position. If the first candidate you hire doesn’t work out, or if he does not have the qualifications you thought he had, you have to go through the process again.

You can help to eliminate some of the guesswork out of this by doing background checks on candidates. You don’t have to do it on all 100 applications that come in for that one position, but after you narrow it down to a small pool of potential candidates that appear to meet the experience or education level you need, doing a background check on those candidates can save you time, money and hassle.

Depending on the services you are looking at for your background check, the average cost costs can vary – more if you want an extensive check, less if you want a general check. A good background check run through BackTrack costs under $100, significantly less than the cost of a negligent hiring lawsuit and the potential loss of your company’s good name and reputation. Between interviewing, background checking and possibly assessment testing, you are being as proactive as you can be to ensure that the FIRST person you bring on board with your company will be a good fit.

Companies need to be very diligent when they hire. While the current state of the economy is worrisome, if you are hiring someone to come work for your company you are in a “buyers market” at this point with your choice of talent. Do your research and make sure you are getting your money’s worth.

Lisa Sprowls
The Filtration Group of RSI
www.rsipeople.com/filtration

Filtration recruiter

The Filtration Group of RSI - Parent Company BackTrack In the News

lisa@rsipeople.com (Lisa Sprowls) — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 14:16:00 +0000

Mentor company says bad economy usually leads to dishonest applicants

As found in The News-Herald, Recruiter Solutions International's parent company Backtrack Inc., conducts pre-employment screening services for organizations in any industry.

"BackTrack co-owner Bob Gandee estimates that 40 percent of resumes carry some sort of lie in normal times. But now that unemployment has soared and job fairs attract thousands, the stakes are too high for some applicants not to stray from the truth. For that reason, Backtrack has billed now as the time to take preventive measures."

To read the full article
http://www.news-herald.com/articles/2009/03/13/news/nh607186.txt

Filtration Group RSI Recruiter Solutions International

Filtration Recruiter - Many environmental markets will grow despite the recession

lisa@rsipeople.com (Lisa Sprowls) — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 13:24:00 +0000

My name is Lisa Sprowls and I am a Filtration Recruiter. I work on many sales/ engineering/executive/ and management level positions serving the search and recruitment needs of both large and small manufacturers and distributors in the Filtration/Water & Wastewater/ Separations/and Environmental Industries.

With each and every finalist candidate that we present to our clients, we also provide a complete background check. Our background checks are provided by our parent company, BackTrack Inc., www.backtracker.com. All reports provided include employment verification, education verification, social security trace report, motor vehicle report, reference checking and criminal records searches.

Many environmental markets will grow despite the recession
Source: The McIlvaine Company Published Feb. 18, 2009

Air and water pollution control companies have been reporting record profits. While they won't be setting records in 2009 and 2010, they will be balancing lost sales in some markets with growth in others. This is the conclusion of the McIlvaine Company based on its continual forecasting of individual markets by product, industry and country. One of the biggest revenue generators will continue to be the power plant scrubber market. Worldwide orders will drop from US$11 billion in 2008 to US$8 billion in 2009 and US$7 billion in 2010. However, revenue for suppliers will reflect the large order level in 2008 through 2010. This is due to the fact that revenues are generally recorded over a three to four year period on each project. Orders throughout the next decade will remain far above the pre-2000 levels.
A similar trend exists for selective catalytic reduction systems for coal-fired power plants. Purchases in China, U.S., and Europe will be strong. Power plant particulate control sales are likely to accelerate due to new fine particle regulations.

Sales of air pollution control equipment for waste-to-energy and biomass power plants will be up. This will be offset by losses in steel, mining and cement. However, the stimulus package could offset some of the impact in the cement markets. Sales of fabric filter replacement bags will be relatively unaffected by the recession.

Sales of macro filtration equipment for municipal wastewater including belt presses, sand filters, and filter presses will exceed $700 million in 2009 offsetting some shrinkage in the mining industry. The U.S. stimulus effort will be a substantial boost to sales in the U.S. Infrastructure plans in most developing countries will continue as planned. Some countries such as China will expand their investment to provide stimulus.

Sales of sedimentation and centrifugation equipment including clarifiers, centrifuges, and hydro cyclones will be down slightly, but the wastewater segment will grow this year by $30 million to over $1 billion. Infrastructure stimulus benefits will also boost this market but will be offset by mining market shrinkage.

Cross-flow filtration sales will be up due to continued growth in wastewater and desalination. Total sales will exceed $9 billion in 2009 despite slumping sales in the residential reverse osmosis segment. Desalination expenditures in some smaller Middle Eastern countries may be slowed, but on balance this segment will continue to grow.

Sales of air and water monitoring equipment will grow modestly. The measurement of ambient pollution in developing countries is a strong growth area. China will continue to improve its stack monitoring efforts.

Filtration Recruiter - Many environmental markets will grow despite the recession

Lisa Sprowls
Filtration Recruiter
Recruiter Solutions International
8850 Tyler Blvd.
Mentor, OH 44060
800-992-3875 ext. 313
lisa@rsipeople.com

Filtration Recruiter, Water Recruiter, Wastewater Recruiter, Environmental Recruiter, Fluid Power Recruiter. As an executive recruiter/headhunter dedicated to serving the search and recruitment needs in both large and small manufacturers and distributors. Dan specializes in the search and placement of sales, engineering, management and upper level management positions. Keywords: Filtration Recruiter, Water Recruiter, Wastewater Recruiter, Pumps, Filters, Microfiltration, Water, Oil, Gas, Air, Industrial, Cartridge, Filtration & Separation, Membrane, Reverse Osmosis, Filtration Equipment, Filter Media, Filtration Supplies, Wastewater, Fuel, Environmental, Storm Water, Dewatering Equipment, Woven, Non Woven, Ultrafiltration, Recruiter Solutions International, RSI, Lisa Sprowls, Dan Regovich, Headhunter Filtration, Filtration Headhunter, Filtration Industry Recruiter, Wastewater and Filtration, Water Treatment, Wastewater

Filtration Recruiter - Chemists Devise New Material For Efficient Hydrogen Purification

lisa@rsipeople.com (Lisa Sprowls) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 13:26:00 +0000

My name is Lisa Sprowls and I am a Filtration Recruiter. I work on many sales/ engineering/executive/ and management level positions serving the search and recruitment needs of both large and small manufacturers and distributors in the Filtration/Water & Wastewater/ Separations/and Environmental Industries.

With each and every finalist candidate that we present to our clients, we also provide a complete background check. Our background checks are provided by our parent company, BackTrack Inc., www.backtracker.com. All reports provided include employment verification, education verification, social security trace report, motor vehicle report, reference checking and criminal records searches.

From www.dailytech.com, February 17, 2009, Jason Mick:
"Chemists Devise New Material For Efficient Hydrogen Purification
New material should give a boost to the hydrogen economy

Many believe that hydrogen is the eventual replacement for gasoline and that future vehicles will be fuel cell-based plug-in hybrids. However, in order to transition to such a hydrogen-based economy, many key challenges remain. The biggest challenges are devising and implementing means to make, store, and ship hydrogen to distribution centers.

One of the key challenges in making hydrogen is the need for purification. Many chemical reactions that produce hydrogen also produce a mixture of hydrocarbon gases and water vapor. In the past separating these substances has been a tricky and inefficient process.

Now chemists at Northwestern University have developed a class of porous materials that may solve this problem by letting hydrogen gas through selectively, while impeding other gases. According to the researchers, the materials exhibit the best known selectivity towards hydrogen over methane and carbon dioxide of any known material.

Mercouri G. Kanatzidis, a professor of chemistry at the university and co-developer of the material, states, "A more selective process means fewer cycles to produce pure hydrogen, increasing efficiency. Our materials could be used very effectively as membranes for gas separation. We have demonstrated their superior performance."

While current separation techniques rely on separating molecules by size, the new porous membrane material separates them by polarizability. The new membrane, composed of germanium, lead and tellurium, lets hydrogen through faster, as it is a hard, small molecule which interacts little with the charged walls. The membrane is a hexagonal nanoporous structure, with parallel tubes about two to three nanometers wide. The gas molecules are at least half a nanometer wide. The membrane selects hydrogen at a rate approximately four times higher than the current best methods.

Professor Kanatzidis describes the material stating, "We are taking advantage of what we call 'soft' atoms, which form the membrane's walls. These soft-wall atoms like to interact with other soft molecules passing by, slowing them down as they pass through the membrane. Hydrogen, the smallest element, is a 'hard' molecule. It zips right through while softer molecules, like carbon dioxide and methane take more time."

The membrane operates within a "convenient temperature range" of zero degrees Celsius and room temperature.

Professor Kanatzidis worked closely with postdoctoral research associate Gerasimos S. Armatas on developing and testing the material. The pair has published a paper entitled "Mesoporous Germanium-Rich Chalcogenido Frameworks with Highly Polarizable Surfaces and Relevance to Gas Separation". It is published online at the journal Nature Materials."

Filtration Recruiter - Chemists Devise New Material For Efficient Hydrogen Purification

Lisa Sprowls
Filtration Recruiter
Recruiter Solutions International
8850 Tyler Blvd.
Mentor, OH 44060
800-992-3875 ext. 313
lisa@rsipeople.com

Filtration Recruiter, Water Recruiter, Wastewater Recruiter, Environmental Recruiter, Fluid Power Recruiter. As an executive recruiter/headhunter dedicated to serving the search and recruitment needs in both large and small manufacturers and distributors. Dan specializes in the search and placement of sales, engineering, management and upper level management positions. Keywords: Filtration Recruiter, Water Recruiter, Wastewater Recruiter, Pumps, Filters, Microfiltration, Water, Oil, Gas, Air, Industrial, Cartridge, Filtration & Separation, Membrane, Reverse Osmosis, Filtration Equipment, Filter Media, Filtration Supplies, Wastewater, Fuel, Environmental, Storm Water, Dewatering Equipment, Woven, Non Woven, Ultrafiltration, Recruiter Solutions International, RSI, Lisa Sprowls, Dan Regovich, Headhunter Filtration, Filtration Headhunter, Filtration Industry Recruiter, Wastewater and Filtration, Water Treatment, Wastewater

Filtration Recruiter - Diploma Mill in Washington State

lisa@rsipeople.com (Lisa Sprowls) — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 13:22:00 +0000

My name is Lisa Sprowls and I am a Filtration Recruiter. I work on many sales/ engineering/executive/ and management level positions serving the search and recruitment needs of both large and small manufacturers and distributors in the Filtration/Water & Wastewater/ Separations/and Environmental Industries.

With each and every finalist candidate that we present to our clients, we also provide a complete background check. Our background checks are provided by our parent company, BackTrack Inc., www.backtracker.com. All reports provided include employment verification, education verification, social security trace report, motor vehicle report, reference checking and criminal records searches.

Diploma Mill in Washington State
In early July, Dixie Ellen Randock was sentenced to 3 years in prison for Conspiracy to Commit Wire and Mail Fraud. Her husband, Steve Randock, is scheduled to be sentenced in about a week. Dixie is a high school drop out. What did they do? They have been found guilty of this crime for selling bogus college degrees and high school diplomas from a Spokane, WA diploma mill. The newspaper The Seattle Times (www.seattletimes.com) has since published a couple of lists. One list shows all the people who have purchased degrees and diplomas from this diploma mill – all 9,612 people. Some of these people have multiple degrees that were awarded from this mill.

The US Department of Justice had refused to release the list to the public, and the newspaper is not saying how they obtained the list. The newspaper has conducted a preliminary analysis that shows 135 of these individuals have military ties, 39 have links to the education system, and 17 are employed with government agencies. They got this information through the email addresses that are listed for the individuals (.mil, .gov, or .edu). Their listing does indicate that some of the people who have (*) by their names didn’t necessarily buy degrees, but that their names surfaced for various reasons during the investigation.

What these people were purchasing were bogus degrees from non-existent, online, high schools, colleges and universities. They were also buying counterfeit degrees from real colleges and universities and that documentation was forged. Some of the more than 100 fake schools that degrees were issued from have names that sound like an accredited college that we have all heard of.

Keep in mind that it is not illegal to possess a fake degree. If you wish to spend $1,000 to $10,000 for a piece of paper to hang on your wall you are entitled to it. It is illegal to use the degree fraudulently. You can not use it to obtain employment, increased benefits, promotion, or for any other purposes. Unfortunately, with the almost 10,000 people out there with “degrees” from this diploma mill, it is going to be up to the private employer to determine if their employees have degrees or diplomas from a fake institution. That burden is going to rest on the human resource staff.

Filtration Recruiter - Diploma Mill in Washington State

Lisa Sprowls
Filtration Recruiter
Recruiter Solutions International
8850 Tyler Blvd.
Mentor, OH 44060
800-992-3875 ext. 313
lisa@rsipeople.com

Filtration Recruiter, Water Recruiter, Wastewater Recruiter, Environmental Recruiter, Fluid Power Recruiter. As an executive recruiter/headhunter dedicated to serving the search and recruitment needs in both large and small manufacturers and distributors. Dan specializes in the search and placement of sales, engineering, management and upper level management positions. Keywords: Filtration Recruiter, Water Recruiter, Wastewater Recruiter, Pumps, Filters, Microfiltration, Water, Oil, Gas, Air, Industrial, Cartridge, Filtration & Separation, Membrane, Reverse Osmosis, Filtration Equipment, Filter Media, Filtration Supplies, Wastewater, Fuel, Environmental, Storm Water, Dewatering Equipment, Woven, Non Woven, Ultrafiltration, Recruiter Solutions International, RSI, Lisa Sprowls, Dan Regovich, Headhunter Filtration, Filtration Headhunter, Filtration Industry Recruiter, Wastewater and Filtration, Water Treatment, Wastewater

Filtration Recruiter - New York Bill For Employee Identification Protection

lisa@rsipeople.com (Lisa Sprowls) — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 13:34:00 +0000

My name is Lisa Sprowls and I am a Filtration Recruiter. I work on many sales/ engineering/executive/ and management level positions serving the search and recruitment needs of both large and small manufacturers and distributors in the Filtration/Water & Wastewater/ Separations/and Environmental Industries.

With each and every finalist candidate that we present to our clients, we also provide a complete background check. Our background checks are provided by our parent company, BackTrack Inc., www.backtracker.com. All reports provided include employment verification, education verification, social security trace report, motor vehicle report, reference checking and criminal records searches.

New York Bill For Employee Identification Protection
On July 9, 2008 New York Governor David Paterson signed Bill Number A11751/S83761. The purpose of the bill is to protect consumers and employees against identity theft. This bill will become effective in January, 2009. This bill regulates the internal use of personal identifying information, including social security numbers.

Basically this provision restricts employers from communicating personal identifying information. Personal identifying information has a very broad definition in this bill to include a social security number, home address, telephone number, personal electronic mail address, internet user ID's and passwords, parent's surname prior to marriage, or a drivers license number. The information can not be publicly posted or displayed, visibly printed on an ID badge or card (or time card), placed in a file with unrestricted access, or communicated to the general public. In addition to this, social security numbers may not be used as identification numbers for purposes of occupational licensing.

The bill also lists punitive measures and penalties for any employer who knowingly violates these provisions. This new amendment presumes that an employer's failure to safeguard the personal identifying information of its workforce is equivalent of a knowing public disclosure, even if the information is inadvertently released or stolen.

What does this mean to an employer? Basically, it is reiterating safe practices that hopefully most of you are doing already. Do not print the above identification information on a name badge and do not use a social security number (either all or in part) as a payroll number, especially if it prints on a paycheck or check stub. Be very careful where personal information is stored and who has access to it. If it is stored in an applicant tracking system or in a file cabinet, be sure that there are security measures in place to protect the information. Having a laptop stolen with the information stored in the laptop without any type of password protection or encryption could land your company in a lot of hot water.

This does NOT mean that, if you work with a background screening company, you can not provide this information to that agency in order to conduct a background check on someone prior to making a job offer. The majority of the reputable companies out there have restricted access and strong security to protect the information. Their staff is trained in the sensative nature of these pieces of information. Also, this information is still required when calling in to companies, schools, or licensing boards in order to verify the information listed by your applicant.

New York joins many other states, most recently Connecticut, in trying to combat identity theft. Other states are sure to join, so it’s a good idea to review your company’s policies and procedures to make sure you are doing everything you can to protect your employees’ information.

Filtration Recruiter - New York Bill For Employee Identification Protection

Lisa Sprowls
Filtration Recruiter
Recruiter Solutions International
8850 Tyler Blvd.
Mentor, OH 44060
800-992-3875 ext. 313
lisa@rsipeople.com

Filtration Recruiter, Water Recruiter, Wastewater Recruiter, Environmental Recruiter, Fluid Power Recruiter. As an executive recruiter/headhunter dedicated to serving the search and recruitment needs in both large and small manufacturers and distributors. Dan specializes in the search and placement of sales, engineering, management and upper level management positions. Keywords: Filtration Recruiter, Water Recruiter, Wastewater Recruiter, Pumps, Filters, Microfiltration, Water, Oil, Gas, Air, Industrial, Cartridge, Filtration & Separation, Membrane, Reverse Osmosis, Filtration Equipment, Filter Media, Filtration Supplies, Wastewater, Fuel, Environmental, Storm Water, Dewatering Equipment, Woven, Non Woven, Ultrafiltration, Recruiter Solutions International, RSI, Lisa Sprowls, Dan Regovich, Headhunter Filtration, Filtration Headhunter, Filtration Industry Recruiter, Wastewater and Filtration, Water Treatment, Wastewater

Filtration Recruiter - Competition for Available Jobs

lisa@rsipeople.com (Lisa Sprowls) — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 13:31:00 +0000

My name is Lisa Sprowls and I am a Filtration Recruiter. I work on many sales/ engineering/executive/ and management level positions serving the search and recruitment needs of both large and small manufacturers and distributors in the Filtration/Water & Wastewater/ Separations/and Environmental Industries.

With each and every finalist candidate that we present to our clients, we also provide a complete background check. Our background checks are provided by our parent company, BackTrack Inc., www.backtracker.com. All reports provided include employment verification, education verification, social security trace report, motor vehicle report, reference checking and criminal records searches.

Competition for Available Jobs
The US Labor Department has announced that people signing up for jobless benefits has reached its highest point over the last 6 years because of company cutbacks and the faltering economy. The week ending July 26, 208 (the most recent period for which information is available) shows that 3.3 million people were collecting unemployment benefits. Almost every industry is cutting back or at the very least tightening their belts during these difficult times.

Companies who are thinking of hiring to fill vacant positions are probably going to be receiving more applications and resumes from job candidates than ever before. How can you be sure that the candidate you decide to hire is the right one for your company? If you have 100 people apply for 1 vacant position, your human resource department is going to have their work cut out for them!

The average company will spend between $7,000 and $15,000 in the first year to hire and train someone for the position after they hire the job candidate. That is a lot of money, particularly if you have to do it more than once for a position. If the first candidate you hire doesn’t work out, you have to go through the process again.

You can help to eliminate some of the guesswork out of this by doing background checks on candidates. You don’t have to do it on all 100 applications that come in for that 1 position, but after you narrow it down to a small pool of potential candidates that appear to meet the experience or education level you need, doing a background check on those candidates can save you time, money and hassle. Depending on the services you are looking at for your background check, the average cost is approximately $100 per candidate – more if you want extensive, less if you want general. Between interviewing, background checking and possibly assessment testing, you are being as proactive as you can be to ensure that the FIRST person you bring on board with your company is going to be a good fit.

Filtration Recruiter - Competition for Available Jobs

Lisa Sprowls
Filtration Recruiter
Recruiter Solutions International
8850 Tyler Blvd.
Mentor, OH 44060
800-992-3875 ext. 313
lisa@rsipeople.com

Filtration Recruiter, Water Recruiter, Wastewater Recruiter, Environmental Recruiter, Fluid Power Recruiter. As an executive recruiter/headhunter dedicated to serving the search and recruitment needs in both large and small manufacturers and distributors. Dan specializes in the search and placement of sales, engineering, management and upper level management positions. Keywords: Filtration Recruiter, Water Recruiter, Wastewater Recruiter, Pumps, Filters, Microfiltration, Water, Oil, Gas, Air, Industrial, Cartridge, Filtration & Separation, Membrane, Reverse Osmosis, Filtration Equipment, Filter Media, Filtration Supplies, Wastewater, Fuel, Environmental, Storm Water, Dewatering Equipment, Woven, Non Woven, Ultrafiltration, Recruiter Solutions International, RSI, Lisa Sprowls, Dan Regovich, Headhunter Filtration, Filtration Headhunter, Filtration Industry Recruiter, Wastewater and Filtration, Water Treatment, Wastewater

Filtration Recruiter - The Disappearing Client

lisa@rsipeople.com (Lisa Sprowls) — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 13:17:00 +0000

My name is Lisa Sprowls and I am a Filtration Recruiter. I work on many sales/ engineering/executive/ and management level positions serving the search and recruitment needs of both large and small manufacturers and distributors in the Filtration/Water & Wastewater/ Separations/and Environmental Industries.

With each and every finalist candidate that we present to our clients, we also provide a complete background check. Our background checks are provided by our parent company, BackTrack Inc., www.backtracker.com. All reports provided include employment verification, education verification, social security trace report, motor vehicle report, reference checking and criminal records searches.

The Disappearing Client
We hear it over and over again in our business, “I am looking for a new vendor because I am just unhappy with the (service, turn around time, customer service, etc) my current vendor provides. Chances are that that current vendor also has no idea that there is a problem with their client because they haven’t been notified.

While this type of call comes to us daily, and we certainly are more than happy to discuss with any potential client our services and how we differ, it makes me wonder how many of our clients are “disappearing” clients and potentially seeking another vendor. You know the ones I mean. These are the clients that, in 2007, did X amount of business, in 2008 they are less than half and you haven’t heard from them in 3 months. Every week these clients are probably fielding 2 or 3 calls from a company that offers the same type of product or service that they currently purchase from you. There is a lot of competition out there and many hungry companies willing to do what it takes to land that new account. The “grass is always greener” theory seems to follow along with those phone calls as well.

We have a program where we contact our current clients every 3-6 months to say hello and see how they are doing. This gives us a chance to communicate with our contacts to find out if they have any problems, concerns, or feel that their issues have not been addressed. So, do we still have clients looking for other vendors? They certainly are. However, they are going in with the bar set quite a bit higher because of the service they currently get. Many times, they either don’t change, or they come back to us after a short period of time because they realize that they don’t get the same service elsewhere.

Keeping the lines of communication open between your company and your clients is extremely important. I don’t mean that you deal with just their problems when they call in with an issue – this means picking up the phone and calling them a couple of times a year and finding out what their issues are, or if they have any. Not only does this make for excellent customer service, but it also will benefit your company in the long run. They may be in networking groups and will recommend you to their peers, or they may be willing to act as business references for your company should you need it. Give them something positive to talk about and your customers and clients will keep coming back.

Filtration Recruiter - The Disappearing Client

Lisa Sprowls
Filtration Recruiter
Recruiter Solutions International
8850 Tyler Blvd.
Mentor, OH 44060
800-992-3875 ext. 313
lisa@rsipeople.com

Filtration Recruiter, Water Recruiter, Wastewater Recruiter, Environmental Recruiter, Fluid Power Recruiter. As an executive recruiter/headhunter dedicated to serving the search and recruitment needs in both large and small manufacturers and distributors. Dan specializes in the search and placement of sales, engineering, management and upper level management positions. Keywords: Filtration Recruiter, Water Recruiter, Wastewater Recruiter, Pumps, Filters, Microfiltration, Water, Oil, Gas, Air, Industrial, Cartridge, Filtration & Separation, Membrane, Reverse Osmosis, Filtration Equipment, Filter Media, Filtration Supplies, Wastewater, Fuel, Environmental, Storm Water, Dewatering Equipment, Woven, Non Woven, Ultrafiltration, Recruiter Solutions International, RSI, Lisa Sprowls, Dan Regovich, Headhunter Filtration, Filtration Headhunter, Filtration Industry Recruiter, Wastewater and Filtration, Water Treatment, Wastewater

Filtration Recruiter - International Applicant's and International Degrees

lisa@rsipeople.com (Lisa Sprowls) — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 13:17:00 +0000

My name is Lisa Sprowls and I am a Filtration Recruiter. I work on many sales/ engineering/executive/ and management level positions serving the search and recruitment needs of both large and small manufacturers and distributors in the Filtration/Water & Wastewater/ Separations/and Environmental Industries.

With each and every finalist candidate that we present to our clients, we also provide a complete background check. Our background checks are provided by our parent company, BackTrack Inc., www.backtracker.com. All reports provided include employment verification, education verification, social security trace report, motor vehicle report, reference checking and criminal records searches.

International Applicant's and International Degrees
More and more companies are beginning to screen and hire international job applicant's to work for their organization. Many times, these applicants will have degrees that were awarded by colleges outside of the United States. If the degree was issued from an accredited institution, it is every bit as valid as a degree that was issued by an accredited institution in the United States. The difficulty, however, lies in verifying the degree with that institution.

Due to cultural differences, language differences, and even time zones, getting that degree verified from an overseas college can become very difficult. As one example, if you are going to try and verify a degree from a college in China you have to deal with a 12 hour time difference to start. Then, the majority of colleges in China require the full name of the job candidate at the time they graduated spelled out in Chinese language characters. If you utilize a background screening company, they should be able to give you some information on what you are going to need in order to verify an international college degree.

Another step you may wish to take is to have the job applicant get their degree translated. There are reputable agencies that will contact the international school, become familiar with their requirements for graduation and degrees, and be able to show you on paper how that degree will be equivalent to a degree offered in the United States. This can become a time consuming option as they generally do take some time to get the degree information translated. Again, your background screening agency should be able to tell you where these organizations are and how to reach them.

Regardless of which route you choose to take to get an international degree verified, please be aware that it takes time and sometimes can be expensive. To try and plan ahead, be sure to have your job candidate prepare a copy of all documentation they have from the school (copies of the degree or certificate, grade reports or transcripts, or even a letter that the school issued indicating graduation). Frequently an international school will authenticate documentation supplied to them quicker than they will look up a job candidate to verify a degree.

Filtration Recruiter - International Applicant's and International Degrees

Lisa Sprowls
Filtration Recruiter
Recruiter Solutions International
8850 Tyler Blvd.
Mentor, OH 44060
800-992-3875 ext. 313
lisa@rsipeople.com

Filtration Recruiter, Water Recruiter, Wastewater Recruiter, Environmental Recruiter, Fluid Power Recruiter. As an executive recruiter/headhunter dedicated to serving the search and recruitment needs in both large and small manufacturers and distributors. Dan specializes in the search and placement of sales, engineering, management and upper level management positions. Keywords: Filtration Recruiter, Water Recruiter, Wastewater Recruiter, Pumps, Filters, Microfiltration, Water, Oil, Gas, Air, Industrial, Cartridge, Filtration & Separation, Membrane, Reverse Osmosis, Filtration Equipment, Filter Media, Filtration Supplies, Wastewater, Fuel, Environmental, Storm Water, Dewatering Equipment, Woven, Non Woven, Ultrafiltration, Recruiter Solutions International, RSI, Lisa Sprowls, Dan Regovich, Headhunter Filtration, Filtration Headhunter, Filtration Industry Recruiter, Wastewater and Filtration, Water Treatment, Wastewater

Filtration Recruiter - Words of Advise for Job Seekers

lisa@rsipeople.com (Lisa Sprowls) — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 13:25:00 +0000

My name is Lisa Sprowls and I am a Filtration Recruiter. I work on many sales/ engineering/executive/ and management level positions serving the search and recruitment needs of both large and small manufacturers and distributors in the Filtration/Water & Wastewater/ Separations/and Environmental Industries.

With each and every finalist candidate that we present to our clients, we also provide a complete background check. Our background checks are provided by our parent company, BackTrack Inc., www.backtracker.com. All reports provided include employment verification, education verification, social security trace report, motor vehicle report, reference checking and criminal records searches.

Words of Advise for Job Seekers
A very interesting article has been published by Dear Abby. In it, a business owner who does the company hiring offered some words of wisdom for job seekers. For those of us who have been in the work force for some time, a lot of these seem like common sense. However, for people who are just getting in to the work force, you may want to take these words of wisdom to heart.

Every contact with a prospective employer is a mini-interview. Present yourself appropriately. An example of inappropriate behavior would be sending an email to the interviewer/human resource contact/recruiter, etc that says “Hey, when would this gig start?”. Correct writing styles are very important. Letters and emails should use a salutation and communicate politely and clearly.

Many companies post a great deal of information about job openings on their web sites. Read that site carefully before calling. A human resource contact can find it very frustrating answering questions hat the job applicant could have answered themselves with a little time and research.

When you email the company, remember that you are not sending a text message. While we have all learned wonderful shortcuts in text messaging, sending an email to a potential employer that says “Thnks 4 ur help. Talk 2 u later” just isn’t appropriate, and certainly not professional.

If you are submitting a resume, be sure to proof read it before submitting it. This may be your first “appearance” before a hiring authority. If your resume is full of typographical errors and misspellings, it does not present a great first impression.

One of my favorite “pet peeves” is the email address for an applicant. There are a lot of internet sites out there that offer free email service. Do you really want an employer at a school to have to email you at “hotchick99” when they want to arrange a meeting with you to be a teacher?

If you are going to have a phone interview with a prospective employer – and a lot of companies do start with the initial interview by phone – be sure to take the call in a quite place where you don’t have distractions. Do you really want to be talking to a prospective employer while your child/roommate/etc is cursing over a video game?

And while this is last on the list, I am sure there are hundreds of other tips out there to keep in mind, never tell a prospective employer that you are waiting to hear about another job you applied for that “pays more, offers more free time, and that you want more than this one”. If you just say that you are “exploring further options” that is sufficient. Don’t turn this prospective employer off, especially if you don’t have another job lined up.

There are some great tips here. Again, I am sure this is just scratching the surface, but these are things to keep in mind while you are looking to enter the work for as either a new employee or looking at changing careers.

Filtration Recruiter - Words of Advise for Job Seekers

Lisa Sprowls
Filtration Recruiter
Recruiter Solutions International
8850 Tyler Blvd.
Mentor, OH 44060
800-992-3875 ext. 313
lisa@rsipeople.com

Filtration Recruiter, Water Recruiter, Wastewater Recruiter, Environmental Recruiter, Fluid Power Recruiter. As an executive recruiter/headhunter dedicated to serving the search and recruitment needs in both large and small manufacturers and distributors. Dan specializes in the search and placement of sales, engineering, management and upper level management positions. Keywords: Filtration Recruiter, Water Recruiter, Wastewater Recruiter, Pumps, Filters, Microfiltration, Water, Oil, Gas, Air, Industrial, Cartridge, Filtration & Separation, Membrane, Reverse Osmosis, Filtration Equipment, Filter Media, Filtration Supplies, Wastewater, Fuel, Environmental, Storm Water, Dewatering Equipment, Woven, Non Woven, Ultrafiltration, Recruiter Solutions International, RSI, Lisa Sprowls, Dan Regovich, Headhunter Filtration, Filtration Headhunter, Filtration Industry Recruiter, Wastewater and Filtration, Water Treatment, Wastewater

Filtration Recruiter - Passwords and Security

lisa@rsipeople.com (Lisa Sprowls) — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 13:20:00 +0000

My name is Lisa Sprowls and I am a Filtration Recruiter. I work on many sales/ engineering/executive/ and management level positions serving the search and recruitment needs of both large and small manufacturers and distributors in the Filtration/Water & Wastewater/ Separations/and Environmental Industries.

With each and every finalist candidate that we present to our clients, we also provide a complete background check. Our background checks are provided by our parent company, BackTrack Inc., www.backtracker.com. All reports provided include employment verification, education verification, social security trace report, motor vehicle report, reference checking and criminal records searches.

Passwords and Security
Employee data breaches are becoming more and more common for companies. Lately there are more and more news stories about data breaches, averaging up to 4 or 5 per week in the media. Sometimes it is the missing laptop that was stolen from someone’s car/home/apartment ; sometimes it is the data tape that was being transported for storage and was “misplaced” ; and sometimes it was a disgruntled former employer who still had access to company information. How does this happen? Actually, it can be very simple.

You have an employee within your organization that, for what ever reason, you have chosen to release from your company. That employee had access to records, background reports, financial information, or other sensitive information about your company. Maybe you did your background report retrieval via the internet, or maybe the majority of your banking was through the internet. If that former employee still has access to active passwords, and had not been deactivated from the system, you could have a real problem.

As soon as your company has made the decision to release someone from their employment, you need to know how involved their access was to this information. Contact the bank and have their user name removed from the account or change the information if you have to. Be sure to contact your background screening company and update them to the change in personnel status so passwords can be locked out of the system, change the passwords on any sensitive information that can be accessed off site. And, while the majority of you will be able to say that you never share your password with anyone else, there are those that do. If the former employee has access to someone else’s password for what ever reason, be sure and get that changed as well. This is where you have to stamp out the brush fire before the whole forest burns.

Filtration Recruiter - Passwords and Security

Lisa Sprowls
Filtration Recruiter
Recruiter Solutions International
8850 Tyler Blvd.
Mentor, OH 44060
800-992-3875 ext. 313
lisa@rsipeople.com

Filtration Recruiter, Water Recruiter, Wastewater Recruiter, Environmental Recruiter, Fluid Power Recruiter. As an executive recruiter/headhunter dedicated to serving the search and recruitment needs in both large and small manufacturers and distributors. Dan specializes in the search and placement of sales, engineering, management and upper level management positions. Keywords: Filtration Recruiter, Water Recruiter, Wastewater Recruiter, Pumps, Filters, Microfiltration, Water, Oil, Gas, Air, Industrial, Cartridge, Filtration & Separation, Membrane, Reverse Osmosis, Filtration Equipment, Filter Media, Filtration Supplies, Wastewater, Fuel, Environmental, Storm Water, Dewatering Equipment, Woven, Non Woven, Ultrafiltration, Recruiter Solutions International, RSI, Lisa Sprowls, Dan Regovich, Headhunter Filtration, Filtration Headhunter, Filtration Industry Recruiter, Wastewater and Filtration, Water Treatment, Wastewater

Filtration Recruiter - Another Reason to do Background Checks

lisa@rsipeople.com (Lisa Sprowls) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 13:18:00 +0000

My name is Lisa Sprowls and I am a Filtration Recruiter. I work on many sales/ engineering/executive/ and management level positions serving the search and recruitment needs of both large and small manufacturers and distributors in the Filtration/Water & Wastewater/ Separations/and Environmental Industries.

With each and every finalist candidate that we present to our clients, we also provide a complete background check. Our background checks are provided by our parent company, BackTrack Inc., www.backtracker.com. All reports provided include employment verification, education verification, social security trace report, motor vehicle report, reference checking and criminal records searches.

Another Reason to do Background Checks
Recently, an article was published in Smart Business Magazine that makes a lot of sense. The interviewer quoted Ted Moss (the founder and CEO of a pre-employment screening agency) on his views on doing background checks. Basically, Mr. Moss stated that there are 2 types of screening – the instant checks and the comprehensive checks – as far as criminal searches. Instant checks are checks available online that come back instantly, and the comprehensive checks take 24-48 hours, which indicate that someone is taking a little more time to do a little more work.

Statistically, if your company does pre-employment background checks you will have fewer turnovers. Doing the background check will allow you to see if the employee will fit in to your work environment or if that potential employee has some serious issues that will cause serious issues within your organization.

You also have to decide if you are going to do the screening yourself, or if you are going to hire a company to do it. He provides the analogy of the plumber. If you need a pipe fixed, you can do it yourself or hire a professional. If you do it yourself, you will need to educate yourself on what to do or not do and will need some expertise to do the job right. Hiring a company is also hiring their expertise.

You have to justify for yourself the cost of pre-employment screening. If you hire a company and their expertise, you may spend $100 depending on how in depth you want to go. However, if you look at your costs, it can cost you between $7,000 and $15,000 to hire and train a new employee. Your $100 investment may well be worth it to get the right employee.

And last, but certainly not least, are the reasons to do the background checks. You do pre-employment screening to be proactive in protecting your self, your company, your employees and your customers. The US Chamber of Commerce says that, according to their statistics, 33 percent of US business bankruptcies are due to employee theft and embezzlement. The Society for Human Resource Management states that 45 percent of all resumes obtained contain at least one major fabrication. The numbers speak for themselves.

Filtration Recruiter - Another Reason to do Background Checks

Lisa Sprowls
Filtration Recruiter
Recruiter Solutions International
8850 Tyler Blvd.
Mentor, OH 44060
800-992-3875 ext. 313
lisa@rsipeople.com

Filtration Recruiter, Water Recruiter, Wastewater Recruiter, Environmental Recruiter, Fluid Power Recruiter. As an executive recruiter/headhunter dedicated to serving the search and recruitment needs in both large and small manufacturers and distributors. Dan specializes in the search and placement of sales, engineering, management and upper level management positions. Keywords: Filtration Recruiter, Water Recruiter, Wastewater Recruiter, Pumps, Filters, Microfiltration, Water, Oil, Gas, Air, Industrial, Cartridge, Filtration & Separation, Membrane, Reverse Osmosis, Filtration Equipment, Filter Media, Filtration Supplies, Wastewater, Fuel, Environmental, Storm Water, Dewatering Equipment, Woven, Non Woven, Ultrafiltration, Recruiter Solutions International, RSI, Lisa Sprowls, Dan Regovich, Headhunter Filtration, Filtration Headhunter, Filtration Industry Recruiter, Wastewater and Filtration, Water Treatment, Wastewater

Filtration Recruiter - Online Free Database Searches

lisa@rsipeople.com (Lisa Sprowls) — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 13:27:00 +0000

My name is Lisa Sprowls and I am a Filtration Recruiter. I work on many sales/ engineering/executive/ and management level positions serving the search and recruitment needs of both large and small manufacturers and distributors in the Filtration/Water & Wastewater/ Separations/and Environmental Industries.

With each and every finalist candidate that we present to our clients, we also provide a complete background check. Our background checks are provided by our parent company, BackTrack Inc., www.backtracker.com. All reports provided include employment verification, education verification, social security trace report, motor vehicle report, reference checking and criminal records searches.

Online Free Database Searches
Lately, it seems like there are a plethora of television commercials, news paper adds, and spam email talking about “Do you know who (your neighbors, your coworkers, your friends, etc) really are”. Generally, at this point they give you information on how to do a free criminal background check on someone. I have even gone to them from my home computer, just out of curiosity.

You enter as much information as you have on someone in to an online database. You will get a listing of names and sometimes you get dates of birth and addresses along with a listing of crimes that person committed. There are other databases that you can program in your address and find out where all the felons and/or sex offenders live in your neighborhood. Fascinating, isn’t it? I have always believed that you need to be very aware of your surroundings and be proactive in your own self protection. These types of database searches should be perfect so that I can figure out who has the potential of coming in to contact with children while in our yard, walking to school, or even playing in the school yard. So, I decided to plug in some information on this one particular website (our local grade schools address) to see what issues are going on in our neighborhood.

In my particular neighborhood, there is an ethic male with a history of sex crimes against children and, by the date of birth provided, he was in his mid-thirties. He is reported to be a registered sex offender. Probably the most startling part of the search is that they showed him living at my address. My home is a single family home, not an apartment. I do not have an apartment complex near my home. My family is also not an ethnic family and we are not in our mid-thirties. At first, it was a little amusing, until I wondered how many of my neighbors have also accessed this website and seen the same information. Would they suspect my 50 something year old non-ethnic husband is the same person? I tried to contact the website and let them know that they have something terribly wrong here. What I was told was that this was a public database and the information was drawn from sources all over. I could write a letter to the people that run the website but I would need to know who the source of the information was and then contest the information with that website as the original source. Chances are it would take quite a long time to get this cleared up since it was a public access database. By a long time, they are talking months if not a year or more. At this time, I can only hope that my neighbors have some common sense here and take the discrepancies to heart.

Online databases and free database searches can be dangerous! They do not meet FCRA Compliances. The records found on these sites may be outdated or have incorrect information. Any record that you find through one of these “free searches” should always, always be verified through a court. The crimes also listed on these website may not be specific and you can get more information if you give them a credit card number and get the details. Again, these database searches are not Fair Credit Reporting Act Complaint and you need to be extremely careful if you choose to use this information in a hiring decision.

Filtration Recruiter - Online Free Database Searches

Lisa Sprowls
Filtration Recruiter
Recruiter Solutions International
8850 Tyler Blvd.
Mentor, OH 44060
800-992-3875 ext. 313
lisa@rsipeople.com

Filtration Recruiter, Water Recruiter, Wastewater Recruiter, Environmental Recruiter, Fluid Power Recruiter. As an executive recruiter/headhunter dedicated to serving the search and recruitment needs in both large and small manufacturers and distributors. Dan specializes in the search and placement of sales, engineering, management and upper level management positions. Keywords: Filtration Recruiter, Water Recruiter, Wastewater Recruiter, Pumps, Filters, Microfiltration, Water, Oil, Gas, Air, Industrial, Cartridge, Filtration & Separation, Membrane, Reverse Osmosis, Filtration Equipment, Filter Media, Filtration Supplies, Wastewater, Fuel, Environmental, Storm Water, Dewatering Equipment, Woven, Non Woven, Ultrafiltration, Recruiter Solutions International, RSI, Lisa Sprowls, Dan Regovich, Headhunter Filtration, Filtration Headhunter, Filtration Industry Recruiter, Wastewater and Filtration, Water Treatment, Wastewater

Filtration Recruiter - Civil Searches - What's the Point?

lisa@rsipeople.com (Lisa Sprowls) — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 13:26:00 +0000

Filtration Recruiter - Background Checks and Company Security

lisa@rsipeople.com (Lisa Sprowls) — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 13:16:00 +0000

My name is Lisa Sprowls and I am a Filtration Recruiter. I work on many sales/ engineering/executive/ and management level positions serving the search and recruitment needs of both large and small manufacturers and distributors in the Filtration/Water & Wastewater/ Separations/and Environmental Industries.

With each and every finalist candidate that we present to our clients, we also provide a complete background check. Our background checks are provided by our parent company, BackTrack Inc., www.backtracker.com. All reports provided include employment verification, education verification, social security trace report, motor vehicle report, reference checking and criminal records searches.

Background Checks and Company Security
More and more companies and organizations are doing background checks on their job candidates, and even current employees. One of the primary reasons for doing background checks is internal security and protection from negligent hiring lawsuits. Some companies choose to outsource the screening and some choose to do the screening in house with their own staff. Which ever option your company chooses, there are some basic tips that can help you.

Verify information on resumes. Some job candidates appear to try and make their resume their “great American novel”, complete with literary license to pad, inflate or even lie on their resume. After all, they are not signing the document like they would an application; therefore they do not feel like they are practicing any type of deception. One way to mitigate any deception on the resume is to have a disclaimer on the application where the applicant signs, attesting that the information on their resume is accurate and true to the best of their knowledge.

Follow up on employment and reference verifications. If an applicant asked you not to call a particular employer or reference because it could affect the current employment, make sure to follow through after an offer has been made. Contact those people to be sure that there weren’t any discrepancies that the applicant reported on his application or resume.

Keep your background checks consistent. If you are going to screen a sales person, make sure that the screening procedure you use and the information you verify is uniform with any other sales person you have done a background check on. Many companies that perform background checks will allow you to select various “packages” that you can pick depending on the position that you are screening a candidate for.

The most important piece of advice is to screen the applicant. Don’t go by word of mouth alone, or the fact that someone who knows someone else recommend the applicant. Do the criminal check, the reference check and the rest of the history. The best defense you have against any type of negligent hiring lawsuit is the ability to show you as an organization are proactive.

Filtration Recruiter - Background Checks and Company Security

Lisa Sprowls
Filtration Recruiter
Recruiter Solutions International
8850 Tyler Blvd.
Mentor, OH 44060
800-992-3875 ext. 313
lisa@rsipeople.com

Filtration Recruiter, Water Recruiter, Wastewater Recruiter, Environmental Recruiter, Fluid Power Recruiter. As an executive recruiter/headhunter dedicated to serving the search and recruitment needs in both large and small manufacturers and distributors. Dan specializes in the search and placement of sales, engineering, management and upper level management positions. Keywords: Filtration Recruiter, Water Recruiter, Wastewater Recruiter, Pumps, Filters, Microfiltration, Water, Oil, Gas, Air, Industrial, Cartridge, Filtration & Separation, Membrane, Reverse Osmosis, Filtration Equipment, Filter Media, Filtration Supplies, Wastewater, Fuel, Environmental, Storm Water, Dewatering Equipment, Woven, Non Woven, Ultrafiltration, Recruiter Solutions International, RSI, Lisa Sprowls, Dan Regovich, Headhunter Filtration, Filtration Headhunter, Filtration Industry Recruiter, Wastewater and Filtration, Water Treatment, Wastewater

Filtration Recruiter - Do I Need To Worry About Being FCRA Complaint?

lisa@rsipeople.com (Lisa Sprowls) — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 13:37:00 +0000

My name is Lisa Sprowls and I am a Filtration Recruiter. I work on many sales/ engineering/executive/ and management level positions serving the search and recruitment needs of both large and small manufacturers and distributors in the Filtration/Water & Wastewater/ Separations/and Environmental Industries.

With each and every finalist candidate that we present to our clients, we also provide a complete background check. Our background checks are provided by our parent company, BackTrack Inc., www.backtracker.com. All reports provided include employment verification, education verification, social security trace report, motor vehicle report, reference checking and criminal records searches.

Do I Need To Worry About Being FCRA Complaint?
As an employer researching doing background checks, you are presented with hundreds of possibilities and an equal number of organizations out there willing to sell you the services you need. Some mention FCRA Compliance, some do not. Some will allow you, for a fee, to plug information in to a website and do a search and then, for a fee, provide you with records that are found. But what about this FCRA Compliance thing. Do you really need to worry about it?

In brief, the Federal Trade Commission (or FTC) under the authority of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (or FCRA), regulates background screening companies and the background screening industry. Background screens are not just for employment. Insurance companies may run them to find out if someone is “insurance worthy” and credit issuers run them to find out of someone is “credit worthy”. The FCRA sets the standards for privacy and for consumer protection.

So, you decide that you are just going to do the employment screening inhouse. You may use one of those online services that let you plug information in and then pay with a credit card. Great. Quick, but not so cheap. Probably also not FCRA compliant. Did you get a release from the applicant? If you did an internet search were there criminal records? Did you go in to the courts to verify those records (because you could be getting outdated or old information). What about that marijuana charge in California in 2000. Can you use it? These are all things that are established by the FCRA and by individual state regulations. Know what? If you go online and do this and decide not to hire someone because of what you found, you really need to hope that you are FCRA compliant. If not, there are going to be more government agencies and lawyers coming to visit that you can even imagine. But not complying with the Fair Credit Reporting Act in your background checking, basically your candidate can claim discrimination and all that wonderful stuff that give attornies a reason to dream.

So, why chance it? Are you FCRA compliant in your hiring? Can you afford not to be?
(http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/031224fcra.pdf - you can use this link to view the FCRA).

Filtration Recruiter - Do I Need To Worry About Being FCRA Complaint?

Lisa Sprowls
Filtration Recruiter
Recruiter Solutions International
8850 Tyler Blvd.
Mentor, OH 44060
800-992-3875 ext. 313
lisa@rsipeople.com

Filtration Recruiter, Water Recruiter, Wastewater Recruiter, Environmental Recruiter, Fluid Power Recruiter. As an executive recruiter/headhunter dedicated to serving the search and recruitment needs in both large and small manufacturers and distributors. Dan specializes in the search and placement of sales, engineering, management and upper level management positions. Keywords: Filtration Recruiter, Water Recruiter, Wastewater Recruiter, Pumps, Filters, Microfiltration, Water, Oil, Gas, Air, Industrial, Cartridge, Filtration & Separation, Membrane, Reverse Osmosis, Filtration Equipment, Filter Media, Filtration Supplies, Wastewater, Fuel, Environmental, Storm Water, Dewatering Equipment, Woven, Non Woven, Ultrafiltration, Recruiter Solutions International, RSI, Lisa Sprowls, Dan Regovich, Headhunter Filtration, Filtration Headhunter, Filtration Industry Recruiter, Wastewater and Filtration, Water Treatment, Wastewater

Filtration Recruiter - BackTrack Partners with myStaffingPro Applicant Tracking System

lisa@rsipeople.com (Lisa Sprowls) — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 13:27:00 +0000

Filtration Recruiter - Your Candidate has a Criminal Record, Now What?

lisa@rsipeople.com (Lisa Sprowls) — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 13:33:00 +0000

My name is Lisa Sprowls and I am a Filtration Recruiter. I work on many sales/ engineering/executive/ and management level positions serving the search and recruitment needs of both large and small manufacturers and distributors in the Filtration/Water & Wastewater/ Separations/and Environmental Industries.

With each and every finalist candidate that we present to our clients, we also provide a complete background check. Our background checks are provided by our parent company, BackTrack Inc., www.backtracker.com. All reports provided include employment verification, education verification, social security trace report, motor vehicle report, reference checking and criminal records searches.

Your Candidate has a Criminal Record, Now What?
There is a very good posting on the SRHM (Society for Human Resources Management) website in their library about reference checking and deciding to hire ex-offenders (Focus on Compliance, Consistency When Deciding Whether to Hire Ex-Offenders). Some of the key points the article does point out deal with the steps that should be taken to analyze criminal records on a candidate.

The first thing a company needs to be aware of are the guidelines and restrictions that may be mandated by the government on hiring offenders – particularly if your candidate is going to be working in the health care, education, security or finance industries. There may also be mandates on how criminal records are retrieved in these sectors, or where it is acceptable to pull records from (such as state records, FBI, or government databases). Some industries may even require continuous periodic post-hire checks to be conducted as well.

So now you have familiarized yourself with the industry standard and you run a candidate through the process and there are criminal records. What is the next step? The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act has set guidelines about using the information for pre-employment, and many states have their own statutes that will allow access or restrict access to these records. For instance, some states will not allow you to consider first time offender records or misdemeanor records, or the use of criminal records convictions when they do not relate to the job being applied for. Hawaii does not allow criminal records to even be considered until post-offer and does not allow the criminal questions to even be asked. Does your candidate fall in to one of these categories?

Another consideration is how relevant is the criminal record to the position being applied for? When you are looking at criminal records, think of the crime and how it compares to the position applied for and the duties that position has to assume. Can the criminal conviction be detrimental to that position? Is a misdemeanor charge of underage drinking 3 years ago relevant to the position? Is the Driving Under the Influence (DUI) conviction 6 months ago relevant (if you are going to provide a company car and insure the car and driver?).

Last, but certainly not least, remember there are 2 sides to every story. Was the candidate open and honest with you about a conviction?

Companies need to have a policy and guidelines established that outlines criminal records and job candidates – or even criminal records and employees. Having consistent policies that are enforced consistently in relation to criminal records will help fight against discrimination claims. And remember, if you decide not to hire a candidate based on a background check, follow the Pre-Adverse and Adverse Action disclosures to keep compliant under the FCRA.

Filtration Recruiter - Your Candidate has a Criminal Record, Now What?

Lisa Sprowls
Filtration Recruiter
Recruiter Solutions International
8850 Tyler Blvd.
Mentor, OH 44060
800-992-3875 ext. 313
lisa@rsipeople.com

Filtration Recruiter, Water Recruiter, Wastewater Recruiter, Environmental Recruiter, Fluid Power Recruiter. As an executive recruiter/headhunter dedicated to serving the search and recruitment needs in both large and small manufacturers and distributors. Dan specializes in the search and placement of sales, engineering, management and upper level management positions. Keywords: Filtration Recruiter, Water Recruiter, Wastewater Recruiter, Pumps, Filters, Microfiltration, Water, Oil, Gas, Air, Industrial, Cartridge, Filtration & Separation, Membrane, Reverse Osmosis, Filtration Equipment, Filter Media, Filtration Supplies, Wastewater, Fuel, Environmental, Storm Water, Dewatering Equipment, Woven, Non Woven, Ultrafiltration, Recruiter Solutions International, RSI, Lisa Sprowls, Dan Regovich, Headhunter Filtration, Filtration Headhunter, Filtration Industry Recruiter, Wastewater and Filtration, Water Treatment, Wastewater

Filtration Recruiter - Background Checks and the Temporary Employee

lisa@rsipeople.com (Lisa Sprowls) — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 13:21:00 +0000

My name is Lisa Sprowls and I am a Filtration Recruiter. I work on many sales/ engineering/executive/ and management level positions serving the search and recruitment needs of both large and small manufacturers and distributors in the Filtration/Water & Wastewater/ Separations/and Environmental Industries.

With each and every finalist candidate that we present to our clients, we also provide a complete background check. Our background checks are provided by our parent company, BackTrack Inc., www.backtracker.com. All reports provided include employment verification, education verification, social security trace report, motor vehicle report, reference checking and criminal records searches.

Background Screening and the Temporary Employee
In an article posted on the SHRM website, they discuss screening temporary employees and share the advice that screening should not be ignored when you bring a temporary employee in to your organization. The article goes on to mention that, with the tightening labor market, temporary and contract employees are making up 10-30 percent of the average work force in US Companies.

Some employers choose not to screen their temporary or contract employees, assuming that the agency that places them are doing the screening. Some agencies do screen those employees. However, if you don’t have guidelines set up with the agency on what you will accept for screening, the agency may only be doing minimal checking – such as criminal checks in the county of residence only.

The article does continue by stating “Ultimately, it’s the responsibility of HR to ensure that those workers don’t inflict damage on the organization and its people, buildings and reputation…These people have the keys to the kingdom. Once they’re inside your building, they have access to your files and have the potential to do great harm.”

A Benchmarking survey that was conducted by a screening company found that fewer than half of companies screen their temporary labor. Industry statistics show that temporary workers are more than 50 percent more likely than full-time workers to have a felony or drug related record.

Basically you have two options. You can screen those contracted and temporary employees through your screening system, or you can communicate with the agencies and have them follow your screening protocol. If you supply them with guidelines on the level of screening you expect to be performed, they will need to comply in order to keep your business. If a staffing vendor tells you they already do background checks, this may not be much of a defense for an employer if the check is considered inadequate or ineffective. For this reason, you need to have adequate due diligence in order to head off any potential problem down the road.

Filtration Recruiter - Background Checks and the Temporary Employee

Lisa Sprowls
Filtration Recruiter
Recruiter Solutions International
8850 Tyler Blvd.
Mentor, OH 44060
800-992-3875 ext. 313
lisa@rsipeople.com

Filtration Recruiter, Water Recruiter, Wastewater Recruiter, Environmental Recruiter, Fluid Power Recruiter. As an executive recruiter/headhunter dedicated to serving the search and recruitment needs in both large and small manufacturers and distributors. Dan specializes in the search and placement of sales, engineering, management and upper level management positions. Keywords: Filtration Recruiter, Water Recruiter, Wastewater Recruiter, Pumps, Filters, Microfiltration, Water, Oil, Gas, Air, Industrial, Cartridge, Filtration & Separation, Membrane, Reverse Osmosis, Filtration Equipment, Filter Media, Filtration Supplies, Wastewater, Fuel, Environmental, Storm Water, Dewatering Equipment, Woven, Non Woven, Ultrafiltration, Recruiter Solutions International, RSI, Lisa Sprowls, Dan Regovich, Headhunter Filtration, Filtration Headhunter, Filtration Industry Recruiter, Wastewater and Filtration, Water Treatment, Wastewater

Filtration Recruiter - I-9 Compliance and What It Means

lisa@rsipeople.com (Lisa Sprowls) — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 13:19:00 +0000

My name is Lisa Sprowls and I am a Filtration Recruiter. I work on many sales/ engineering/executive/ and management level positions serving the search and recruitment needs of both large and small manufacturers and distributors in the Filtration/Water & Wastewater/ Separations/and Environmental Industries.

With each and every finalist candidate that we present to our clients, we also provide a complete background check. Our background checks are provided by our parent company, BackTrack Inc., www.backtracker.com. All reports provided include employment verification, education verification, social security trace report, motor vehicle report, reference checking and criminal records searches.

I-9 Compliance and What It Means
I once had an employer call in and ask about the services offered. When I mentioned the I-9 Compliance, his response was “I know the majority of my work force isn’t legal, why do I need to prove it”. While the answer was unexpected, it wasn’t unusual. Many employers either knowingly hire illegal aliens, or go with the policy of “don’t ask, don’t tell”. However, with the government reforms that are going on, that is going to be a choice that an employer no longer has.

The Form I-9 is a form all employers are required to use to verify employment eligibility of all employees they hire – both US workers as well as aliens. It is required by the INS (Immigration and Naturalization Services) to verify the identity and eligibility to work for all employees. At the time the form is completed, the employee must also provide valid, original identification. There are different forms of identity that the employee can provide.

There are a lot of different ways to do I-9 compliance, either through the Department of Homeland Security or through a background screening agency that may give you a little more guidance in getting through the system. The point is that there is no longer a choice on whether you comply with the I-9 verification. If you don’t there are going to be some very hefty fines and penalties coming your way. Effective 03/27/2008, the Federal government raised the fines approximately 25% on violations. Those penalties can include fines from $375 to $3,200 for each unauthorized alien on a first time violation, to up to $16,000 penalty for each unauthorized alien with multiple violations. These penalties are assessed on a per-alien basis. Therefore, if an employer knowingly employed, or continued to employ, five unauthorized aliens, that could result in five fines.

Filtration Recruiter - I-9 Compliance and What It Means

Lisa Sprowls
Filtration Recruiter
Recruiter Solutions International
8850 Tyler Blvd.
Mentor, OH 44060
800-992-3875 ext. 313
lisa@rsipeople.com

Filtration Recruiter, Water Recruiter, Wastewater Recruiter, Environmental Recruiter, Fluid Power Recruiter. As an executive recruiter/headhunter dedicated to serving the search and recruitment needs in both large and small manufacturers and distributors. Dan specializes in the search and placement of sales, engineering, management and upper level management positions. Keywords: Filtration Recruiter, Water Recruiter, Wastewater Recruiter, Pumps, Filters, Microfiltration, Water, Oil, Gas, Air, Industrial, Cartridge, Filtration & Separation, Membrane, Reverse Osmosis, Filtration Equipment, Filter Media, Filtration Supplies, Wastewater, Fuel, Environmental, Storm Water, Dewatering Equipment, Woven, Non Woven, Ultrafiltration, Recruiter Solutions International, RSI, Lisa Sprowls, Dan Regovich, Headhunter Filtration, Filtration Headhunter, Filtration Industry Recruiter, Wastewater and Filtration, Water Treatment, Wastewater

Filtration Recruiter - What's In A Name?

lisa@rsipeople.com (Lisa Sprowls) — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 13:34:00 +0000