It’s that time of year again — hot! What could be more uncomfortable than pantyhose or a necktie in this sweltering South Louisiana heat? Many companies are willing to relax their dress codes to something more casual for these hot summer months.

"You don't want the emphasis placed on the word 'casual' instead of the word 'business,'" says Sherry Maysonave, author of Casual Power. Remember, casual means different things to people. It "could be jeans, sneakers, T-shirts and shorts, whereas business-casual is a relaxed version of business dress. It's how you might dress to go out to a nice dinner on the weekend, not how you would go to the grocery store."

While every workplace has its own rules, Maysonave suggests there are a few fashion statements men and women should avoid in any workplace:

• Shorts or Capri pants
• Tank tops or sleeveless shirts
• Halter tops
• Flip-flops
• Overly revealing attire
• Jogging suits
• T-shirts, especially with logos or offensive print

It’s often more difficult for women to decide what is appropriate for the workplace because “it's still a male business world. Fashion bombards women with more social attire than business attire. What a man would wear to a social event or a party, he could also probably wear to the office. That's not true for a woman.“

Be observant and take notice of what your co-workers are wearing. Remember that appropriate business attire can also be impacted by where you work in the company. Are you interacting with the public or behind the scenes? Do you meet with clients regularly? The best thing to do is to check with your supervisor or your company’s Human Resources Dept. – they are best equipped to give you guidelines on “summer workplace attire.” A good rule of thumb to remember is, “when in doubt, don’t wear it!”

Summer Office Attire
by Beverly West
Monster Contributing Writer

While some area Call Centers have been downsizing and laying off during the past 90 days, Frazee is seeing an increase in the requests for Call Center employees. These staffing needs have been focused in the banking and insurance areas. Training classes are ranging in size from 8-25, with classes starting approximately 30-60 days apart.

What does Frazee look for when searching for qualified Call Center candidates? According to Frazee’s Senior Call Center Recruiter Erica Jarreau, “We need people who are flexible, career-oriented, reliable and motivated. Most call centers search for individuals with upbeat, positive attitudes and a clear, professional vocal image. The willingness to learn is also needed, because these positions are likely stepping stones for career growth and advancement.”

Frazee’s Call Center candidates come from a variety of resources – internet job boards such as Monster.com and Career Builder, classified advertising, business publications, and client referrals. “We’ve just added 225 Online Magazine to the mix,” says President Marianne Frazee, "and we are still in the process of gauging its effectiveness.”

Lately, Frazee has spent time participating in local career fairs such as last month’s Road Home Program. This event attracted a variety of Baton Rouge employers and staffing companies. Up to 200 Road Home employees will be included in the program’s work force reduction with the majority of the displaced workers coming from the Call Center area. Career Fairs at local technical schools and colleges (BRCC) have also contributed to helping Frazee attract new candidates. “One of our best recruiting methods is our employee referral system, “says President Marianne Frazee.

Much of the Call Center staffing that Frazee is doing is “temporary to hire” staffing. This method of staffing gives the Call Center Hiring Managers and Supervisors an opportunity to see if the temporary employee is going to be a “good fit” for their operation. Some don’t make it through the conversion period, but, most do.

To find out more about Frazee’s Call Center opportunities, check the Job Listings section on Frazee's web site, or call Erica Jarreau at Frazee.

It used to be that making a video was strictly the turf of the “Hollywood Set.” Now, its commonplace for tweens to college kids to make their own videos and post them on YouTube. With all this technology available, why not apply it to video resumes? That’s exactly what some jobseekers are doing to help differentiate themselves from other candidates.

According to Staffing Industry Analysts, video resumes “enable employers to gauge a variety of important things about a job candidate that can’t be seen on paper, including the individual’s personality, enthusiasm for the job, professionalism, confidence, and verbal and non verbal communication.” However, if the video resume isn’t made correctly, it could ruin a job seekers chance of landing that highly sought position. It’s important to have it done professionally and correctly and that’s where the video resume producer comes in. Tim Meehan, president of myOVR.com (My Online Video Resume), says his company enables the job seeker to get “ in front of them (hiring managers) faster..it’s just another tool that can give you an edge up on your competition and your interview.”

How is video technology being used in the staffing industry? Some companies are seeing jobseekers use hyperlinks – they copy and paste a hyperlink to their video resume as part of their email. They’re also using “green screen technology” which can make it look as if they are in an office setting. Another new technology is the video tags – this is different from the video resume in that the candidate speaks about themselves as opposed to what is on their resume. Richard Mast, a recruiter for a LA based title search agency, says video tags have worked well for them and “streamlines the efficiencies of hiring.”

It’s not just job seekers who are using videos - many staffing companies are making their own videos to use as a recruitment and marketing tool. The videos show job seekers what it would be like to work for them and it helps the staffing firm to differentiate themselves from their competition.

There are concerns that the use of video resumes and video tags could result in discrimination in the hiring process. There’s the chance that a hiring manager could discriminate based on things revealed in the video such as race, ethnicity, and physical appearance. Some in the staffing industry are reluctant to use video resumes because they feel it creates an “uneven playing field” for their candidates.

While Frazee’s staff hasn’t seen much in the way of video resumes, the Senior Recruiters are in agreement that they could be useful in certain circumstances. It’s a way to cut costs for their clients when the candidate is out of state or even out of the country. Having the client view the video resume first can save time and money – they don’t necessarily have to fly the candidate in, and this saves on airfare and hotel costs.

An idea “ahead of it’s time?” Maybe...
But then again, maybe not!

For tips on Making an Effective Video Resume, check out our Helpful Links on Frazee's web site.

Source: Gordon, Julie. “Lights, Camera, Action?”
SIReview, May 2008: 10-22.