Staffing FAQ's

Answers to your FAQs

For employers who choose to do their own staff sourcing and selection, we can operate as a selection partner. Using our more than 700 validated tests as well as other selection tools, allows us to consultatively tell you whether a candidate will be a "fit" in your company.

For employers who partner with us in staffing, we offer 3 ways to hire staff members:

SmartWork:our traditional "temp-to-hire" program in which our associate is on our payroll for 480 work hours before the employer may hire that person at no additional fee. We unconditionally guarantee these placments. What does that mean to you? It means you only pay a total of 480 hours of time before you hire. (Most employers don't know it - but our competitors are billing them FAR more than the anticipated "temp-to-hire" hours. Why? Because of turnover within their temporary staff! Every time one of their people leaves you, are you paying from the beginning, AGAIN? To see how much you are REALLY paying per temp hire, please go to our home page and click the Turnover button.)

Smart6: our unique 6 month guarantee on our placements! Only WE are so certain that we have made a good placement into your company that we are willing to guarantee that placement for 6 months from the start date! Our associate stays on our payroll for 640 hours and then the client may hire that person at no additional fee ! After our client has hired our associate we STILL guarantee that placement until the expiration of 6 months from start of job.

SmartHire:our unheard of "direct hire by the hour" program that lets an employer DIRECTLY HIRE our associate (drastically reducing turnover!) while only paying the "fee" portion of the hire! This placement is also guaranteed for 6 months from start of job!
For candidates who come to us looking for employment, we go through the same process of registration, testing, reference checking, interviewing, etc. Then we bring together the employer with the need and the candidate with the desire and the skills to fill that need. We are the bridge that connects these two elements of employment.
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Is there a fee?
Our fees are employer paid and are usually recouped quickly by the company due to the strength of the match and how swiftly our associates are able to become productive.
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How long does it take to register?
That depends upon the speed of the applicant and the degree of testing needed. The more skills a candidate possesses, the more skills we want to quantify for employers, through our testing. While this can take from 3+ hours, the results are worth it: enduring employment matches.
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How do you determine a match between candidate and employer?
On the candidate side of this question, we use a variety of methods, including behavioral-based interviewing techniques which "reveal" a candidate to us, anecdotal history obtained through our employment and reference checking, and test results yielded from our SmartTests.

On the employer side of the question, we spend time probing the client's needs to fully understand what aptitude and attitude needs drive the decision. Then, we look to see who most closely matches the employer's job profile. Of the candidates who match the profile, we then do a job-specific interview to determine who will be sent to interview with the employer. Our matches are so good that employers often only interview one applicant to find that perfect person!
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What does it mean to be on an "assignment"?
Our associates work FOR SmartHire but work AT the client site. This is the "assignment", which usually lasts for a predetermined length of time, during which both the company and the candidate "check each other out." At the end of the assignment if both parties are comfortable, the company brings the associate onto the company payroll as their employee, usually with benefits.
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What does "temp-to-hire" mean?
"Temp-to-hire" refers to the period of time when an associate is on an assignment in which the company has indicated that it is their intent to hire the associate at the end of that trial period if both parties are comfortable.
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What is a direct placement?
Unlike a "temp-to-hire" process, which has an initial period during which the associate is the employee of SmartHire, the "direct hire" process brings the candidate directly onto the payroll of the company. Many companies prefer to hire this way as it starts the relationship off with candidate loyalty to that company as the employer.
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What if my skills aren't up to par?
We offer free tutorials to our candidates to help them learn new skills in Windows, Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and a number of other high demand programs. And for our clients, we can provide this same offer to their current workers who would like to become more valuable to the company.
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What if the "match" doesn't work out?
Sometimes, even with a match of good integrity, it doesn't work out. Occasionally, the needs of a company change. Or an employee's personal situation changes. In these cases the employer has two options: to continue a "temp-to-hire" with another qualified candidate or to exercise the guarantee which covers all direct placements and allow us to locate another qualified candidate. For the candidate, we can locate an employer who will provide an equally challenging and rewarding environment. In either case our professional staff will strive to make the transition as seamless and easy as possible.
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What do SmartTests measure?
With more than 700 validated tests to choose from, we can measure aptitudes in business language, math, proofing, accounting, and other harder to quanity attitudes such as integrity. We also have testing which measure learned skills like typing, word processing, computer programming, etc. The test given depends upon the job we are qualifying the candidate to do. Attitudes about work are another important measure of SmartTests. The willingness of an employee to do the work required is an important factor in making a good job match!
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