U.S. Military Publications and Regulations

U.S. Military Publications and RegulationsU.S. Military Publications and Regulations

Military Reserves Federal Call Up Authority

Military Reserves Federal Call Up AuthorityMilitary Reserves Federal Call Up AuthorityThe Department of Defenses total force policy recognizesthat active and reserve U.S. military forces should be readily available to support military operations. Reserve forces, onceconsidered to be forces of last resort, are now recognized as indispensable to the nations defense from the earliest days of a conflict. In addition, the reserves peacetime support to the active forces has taken on increased importance in areas such as peacekeeping missions, counter-drug operations, disaster aid, and exercise support. What Are the Military Reserves The seven reserve components are the Army Reserve, Army National Guard, Air Force Reserve, Air National Guard, Naval Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve and Coast Guard Reserve. The governor of each state can call the states Army and Air National Guard units to active duty to help respond to domestic emergencies and disasters, such as those caused by hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes. If additional help is needed, a governor can request federal assistance through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). With a presidential declaration of disaster, FEMAs federal assistance can include additional military support from the Department of Defense (DoD). This applies to both active duty and reserve forces. Type of Activation / Mobilizations The following are the types of authorized use of Reservist and National Guard forces INVOLUNTARY ACTIVATION - The President, Congress, and the Secretary of Defense can call up Reservists.The difference is the time they are allowed to be Actively Recalled.The President and Congress can call Reservists for extended periods of time. The SECDEF can call up reservists for no mora than 15 days.The Coast Guard can get recalled for longer periods of time by the SECDEF but still limited compared to the President or Congress. FULL MOBILIZATION - In times of war or national emergency AND it is actually decla red by Congress, all Reservist UNITS are eligible for involuntary activation.There is no time limit or up until six months after the war is over. PARTIAL MOBILIZATION - In times of war or national emergency, the President can call up to a million reservists for up to two years of active duty time. PRESIDENTIAL RESERVE CALL-UP AUTHORITY - The president can call up to 200,000 Reservists and even 30,000 members of the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR).This action can keep members on active duty for up to one year. ARMED FORCES IN DISASTER RESPONSE - A state governor can make a request for support in emergency or major disaster. The secretary of defense may also involuntarily call up any Reserve units (and individuals) to assist with a domestic emergency or disaster for up to 120 days. ASSURED ACCESS AUTHORITY - The Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine and Coast Guard secretaries may involuntarily call up 60,000 Reserve units (not individuals) for up to a year when NOT during times of war or nati onal emergency for special missions in support of an active duty combatant command. VOLUNTARY ACTIVATION - Of course, Reservists can volunteer for active duty. Many are augmented individually into active duty units this way when needed. Calling Up Military Reserves In time of war or national emergency declared by the Congress, the entire membership of all reserve components or any lesser number can be called to active duty for the duration of the war or national emergency, plus six months. Although this statute normally is viewed as the call-up authority for responding to a major threat to national security, DoD stated that it could be used to activate reservists for a domestic emergency. Military Reserves in National Emergencies In time of national emergency declared by the President, up to 1 million members of the Ready Reserve can be called to active duty for not more than 24 consecutive months. Similar to the previous authority, DoD stated that this statute could also prov ide access to reservists for a domestic emergency. When the President determines that it is necessary to augment the active forces for any operational mission, up to 200,000 members of the Selected Reserve can be called to active duty for not more than 270 days. This provision also states that no unit or member may be ordered to active duty under this authority to provide assistance to either the federal government or a state in time of a serious natural or manmade disaster, accident, or catastrophe. Thus, this authority cannot be used to access reservists for domestic emergencies. Putting Military Reservists on Active Duty Aservice secretary can order any reservist to active duty for up to 15 days each year. This authority traditionally has been viewed as the authority allowing the services to enforce the reservists 2-week annual training requirement. This authority could be used for operational missions as well as annual active duty for training In addition to the involuntary activation of reservists under the above conditions, 10 U.S.C. 12301(d) provides for a call-up of reservists who volunteer for active duty. The number of volunteer reservists called to active duty and the length of time they may be kept on active duty generally depends upon the availability of funds and the end-strength authorizations for the active force. Coast Guard and Active Duty There is separate statutory authority allowing involuntary call-up of Coast Guard reservists during domestic emergencies. Each Coast Guard ready reservist may be required to serve up to 30 days in any four-month period and up to 60 days in any two-year period. For more information on the rights of Reservists and National Guard see Employment Rights according to the Department of Justice.

When It Comes to Your Job Search, Do You Maximize or Satisfice

When It Comes to Your Job Search, Do You Maximize or SatisficeWhen It Comes to Your Job Search, Do You Maximize or SatisficeOn a job search, a big question that all candidates must determine for themselves is when is enough, enough? Do you try to research every possible company in your industry to work for, and apply to every job for which youre qualified? Or do you figure out what specific criteria you need to meet, and then stop looking as soon as youve found a job that matches those goals?If youre the type of person who wants to cover all of your bases, then youre what Gretchin Rubin, author of The Happiness Project and The Four Tendencies, calls a maximizer. Satisficers, on the other hand, feel satisfied as soon as theyve identified something that works for them, even if they havent thoroughly explored all of their vorkaufsrechts.Does it matter whether youre a maximizer or a satisficer when it comes to your job search? It might, if your happiness matters to you. Rubin points to B arry Schwartzs book, The Paradox of Choice, to support the argument that the habits of satisficers tend to make them happier than maximizers. In other words, if you feel the need to check out every possible job option before settling on a choice, you may be making yourself less happy than other candidates who know how to satisfice.To avoid these potential issues, consider substituting your maximizing tendencies for developing the ability to satisfice yourself in the job marketRecognize that the grass is always greener.Its easy to see why satisficers might feel better about their choice than maximizers. If you think about it, there are always more possibilities to explore when it comes to work.If youve convinced yourself that you cant take a job until youve thoroughly vetted every conceivable option, you may end up passing on a great opportunity while you continue searching for what you imagine is the perfect one. Its also easy to fall into the keep looking syndrome, imagining that w hatever is coming next might be better than whats already in front of you.Too many choices means more dilemmas.With every position that you explore, you expose yourself to new details that you must consider and weigh against other information youve found. You can easily become overwhelmed with pro/con comparisons, and once youve finally decided on a direction, could find yourself later regretting not taking something that you remember as meeting some of your criteria better than the job you took.By deciding in advance what your criteria are for a job that will work for you, you avoid going down this rabbit hole of constant comparison.Dont drown out your intuition searching for optimal.While its certainly always advisable to do your due diligence when making a major life decision that involves your employment, Schwartzs research suggests that there can indeed be too much of a good thing. Understanding your options is important, but it may affect how you feel about your final decision if you prioritize making the optimal career choice over simply selecting a job that meets all of your predetermined criteria.If youve found a job that fits with what you said you wanted, listen to your intuition. By falling into perfectionistic habits of needing to check out every job possible, you might make a decision that doesnt match with what youd already highlighted as most important to you.Regardless of which personality type you feel most drawn toward in your job search, maximizer or satisficer, you can take steps toward making a choice that youre more likely to feel good about. By being intentional about your job search decision-making strategy, its possible to be thrilled with your choice- even when you leave some stones unturned.Find Open Remote and Telecommuting Jobs

Job Search Sabotage Are You Taking the Process Too Personally

Job Search Sabotage Are You Taking the Process Too PersonallyJob Search Sabotage Are You Taking the Process Too PersonallyDont take anything personally, is the second agreement in The Four Agreements, a bestselling book by Don Miguel Ruiz. Searching for a job puts you in a place of vulnerability that can fill you with the poison, as Ruiz calls it, of others feelings, beliefs and opinions. Nothing other people do is because of you, he writes. It is because of themselves.Taking things personally in your job search can result in feelings of hurt and inadequacy when you get rejected, something goes wrong in the job interview process or you receive bad advice.By taking things personally you tischset yourself up to suffer for leidhing, writes Ruiz. When you make it a strong habit not to take anything personally, you avoid many upsets in your life.Why Rejection Is Not PersonalWhen you consider that many jobs receive 100 or more applications, being rejected puts you in the majority. Here are some cases in which you might take it personally as well as why you dont need to.You apply and get no response at all (even if you think you are the perfect fit for the advertised position). The recruiter may have been overwhelmed with qualified responses, or the hiring manager may have already had someone in mind internally, or they lost your application. The reasons are too many to know. But if you feel strongly about the position, you can take the situation in your own hands and follow up.Rejection after a phone screen or an initial interview. In addition to the reasons above, the company may have found what it thinks is the perfect candidate, or it may have put the position on hold. It may have identified a specific skill set or personality profile that would perform best in the position, and you didnt meet the criteria. Not meeting one hiring managers criteria doesnt mean that you cant meet anothers. As you can see, rejection can be more about them than you.Rejection in the fi nal stages of interviewing. If youve gone all the way to the final round of interviewing, rejection can feel very personal. You may have spent a lot of time and effort in preparing for and traveling to interviews. But its still not personal. Most employers will not indicate why you were rejected, and perhaps its better not to know. Whether it was skill, personality or some other factor, the employer thought someone else would be a better fit. Taking rejection personally will only sap your energy for the next interview. Congratulate yourself for how far you made it and move on.Interviewing Mishaps are not PersonalIf an interviewer seems disinterested in you, grills you on a specific topic or is unprepared, it may have nothing to do with you. Interviewers are people, too, with their own beliefs and opinions. Just like you, they can find the interview process draining. They might be stretched too thin because of the vacancy or having to take time away from normal tasks to conduct inter views. They might have been burned by a previous employee or be struggling with personal issues. If you take any odd behavior personally, you can end up feeling inadequate and uninspired. When this happens, it might be a time to check the conversations in your mind.Make Your Mind Your Friend, Not an EnemyEven the opinions you have about yourself are not necessarily true, Ruiz writes. Therefore, you dont need to take what you hear in your own mind personally. The mind has the ability to talk to itself.If your mind is giving you messages that you are worthless, or youll never find a good job, or everyone hates you, know that you can change those messages with positive ones.We have a choice whether or not to believe the voices we hear in our own minds, writes Ruiz.Seek out friends, books, audio or Internet resources that fill you with positive messages.Criticism versus AdviceIf you seek help with your resume and interviewing techniques or ask for general job search advice, you subject yourself to commentary that can feel more like criticism than helpful advice. A relative who tells you to get a job in a field youre not interested in is reflecting their own reality and not seeing yours.When we take something personally, we make the assumption that they know what is in our world, and we try to impose our world on their world, writes Ruiz.Trying to squish your world into someone elses box is a recipe for unhappiness. That person may not have as much knowledge as you or may be imposing their unrealized dreams onto you.Because of this tendency, business and career coach Wendy Nolin recommends working with trained career counselors early on in ones career.Friends and family may be unintentionally passing on potentially damaging suggestions, she said in our article Chose the Right Career at Any Age.Advice should make you feel expansive and opened up to new possibilities, while criticism can make you feel hurt or depressed. If you make the commitment to yourself to not t ake criticism personally- and act on advice that is genuinely helpful- youll be on your way to finding a good job.

Medical Standards for Military - Upper Extremities

Medical Standards for Military - Upper ExtremitiesMedical Standards for Military - Upper ExtremitiesThe military requires applicants to be a picture of health upon entry into the armed services. The first layer of screening comes in the recruiters office when the recruits fills out the medical disclosure form. Here the applicant states fills out the Pre-Screen Questionnaire (DoD Medical Forms 2807-1, 2807-2). Once through that hurdle, the medical officers at the Military Entrance Processing Station(MEPS) clinic will conduct the clincal evaluation on the DoD Form 2808. The Upper Body Issues Preventing Acceptance into the Service From shoulder to fingers, hyper-flexible joints, frozen joints, missing fingers, limbs, any paralysis are some of the more common reasons candidates for the military get disqualified at MEPS or the Department of Defense Medical Examination Review Board (DODMERB) for both enlisted recruits and officer candidates respectively. The military has strict standar ds of both mental and physical skills that vary in specifics depending upon the job or military occupational specialty being sought by recruits. There are some minimal standards that must be met and many of these are not waiverable.Some can be waived but each waiver for any disqualifying condition requires command level authorization and are decided upon on a case by case basis. A recruit will be rejected for entry into the military (officer or enlisted) unless a waiver is approved if the applicant has a history of Limitation Of Motion (Shoulder, Elbow, Wrist) Shoulder Joint modell range of motion of the shoulder must be able to elevate in front of the body to 90 degrees. The process of abduction where the arm can be lifted to the side of the body to 90 degrees is required. Elbow Joint Bending the elbow by flexing the biceps muscles to a range of motion of at least 100 degrees is required. (Flexing the arm at the elbow) Extension of the elbow by flexing the triceps muscl es to a range ofmotion of at least 15 degrees is required. (straightening the arm) Wrist A total range of motion of at least 60 degrees (extension plus flexion) or radial and ulnar deviation combined arc 30 degrees. Hand Pronation to a minimum standard of 45 degrees means having a range of motion that allows you to rotate your pfote so your palm is facing toward the ground when your forearm is in gleichem abstand nebeneinander to the floor. Supination to a minimum standard of 45 degrees means having a range of motion that allows you to rotate your hand so your palm is facing toward the sky when your forearm is parallel to the floor. Fingers and Thumb Not being able to clench your fist, pick on a pin, grab an object or touch the tips of your fingers with your thumb is disqualifying.You must be able to at least touch three fingers to your thumb to be eligible for military service. Hand and Fingers Absence of any finger, piece of finger, or thumb is disqualifying withou t a waiver. Any absence of the hand or any part of the hand is disqualifying. Any extra finger is also disqualifying. Any scars or deformities whether congenital or accidents that prevent formal function of the hand and would interfere with military duties are disqualifying. Any nerve damage that causes paralysis, weakness, numbness, or the hands, fingers, and arms is disqualifying.For instance, carpal tunnel syndrome, cubital syndromes, lesion of ulnar and radio nerves that cause muscle atrophy, weakness, numbness, or paralysis is disqualifying.Any disease, injury (bone or soft tissue), or birth defect that causes weakness or disqualifying symptoms that prevents the ability to perform military duty that includes but it not limited to chronic joint pain, arm, hand, and fingers. See also section on Miscellaneous Conditions of the Extremities. In conclusion, the section of the body from shoulder to fingers are highly mobile and subject to intense scrutiny during processing into the m ilitary. Muscles, tendons, ligaments, bones, and joints for this region of the body are easily injured and often require surgery to repair. If the retained hardware from surgery impairs any function, it is disqualifying. However, if corrected through surgical means, retained hardware such as plates, pins, rods, wires, or screws used to repair the injury and there is nopain, ligaments and bones are stable, and it is not subject to easy trauma, the metal is allowed with waiver approval.

Choosing Good Free Creative Resume Templates

Choosing Good Free Creative Resume Templates Seeing that, you need to be unique so as to stick out from the crowd All you need to do is discover one you like, click on it, and begin writing. All you need to do is simply edit the document to include your own personal info. Double check to ensure that everything on the last version of the resume is about you. Including an expert photo of yourself is a wonderful idea for creative resumes. Several sites exist specifically to aid you make an attractive visual resume. Just choose the element of your creative resume schablone youd love to modify, and run with this. There are lots of free resume templates readily available on the web but sometimes it can be very hard to pick the best one that is fruchtwein suited to you. You are going to be able to bring a blog as well to your site. You are able to import the simple information from social media such as Google, Facebook or Twitter. Microsoft Word resume templates are the most oft en used tool in the work hunting. Creative resumes arent confined to certain positions. Get exploring and perhaps you are spotting something you feel is going to earn an effect on your job seeking process. Whats more, its your clear chance to receive a brilliant and professional resume without appending a good deal of time or a mint of money. Avoid messing up the dates, especially when you have been unemployed for a lengthy moment. A perfect selection for candidates with lots of experience who want to have a really good one-page resume template. The second page may be used to discuss things about yourself, while the third one may be used for anything you want, like a preview project youd love to do over at the new business youre applying for employment for. A great way of getting going is by the close of the day you must get yourself re-evaluate all of the days work. When you find a posting for your fantasy job, its simple to get excited about the idea of applying and landing it. No matter if its your very first job resume or not, its important to know that any resume should have 5 crucial elements. How well you layout your resume is vital to increasing your odds of getting hired. Presentation is the secret to success and lets the strong stand from the crowd. When you have your resume finished, take a look at our great array of jobs at top employers. The initial one is about outlining your abilities and your availability in a special job position. It is possible to never underestimate the ability of a good resume format, especially if you are searching for employment. Our crew of recruiting professionals have produced an array of resume templates to provide you with a competitive edge in your search for a new job. The Advantages of Free Creative Resume Templates There are many free creative resume templates its possible to use, permitting you to focus your energy on everything else you have to do. Circles An amazing hloom template for individual s that are looking for work in the art and design fields. There are lots of beautiful resume templates out there, but nevertheless, it can be simple to feel as a lot of the greatest cost a ridiculous quantity of money, require special design programs in order to edit, or both. Sometimes all you will need is a timeless style template thats clean, clear and right to the point. Ideas, Formulas and Shortcuts for Free Creative Resume Templates You may also alter the font if you wish (and the exact same goes for each template in our list). If youre able to change a template easily, you simply may be able to make a great one yourself. The template can be found in PSD format. It is designed by A unique and modern resume template with experience timeline as well as education timeline. The upcoming free resume template is devised in the shape of a brochure. Once you have selected your perfect resume template from our selection, follow our absolutely free expert guidance about ways to cr aft the great modern resume. A traditional style resume template is also simple to customize. An absolutely free minimalistic resume template that include clean design, simple to use and customise.

Level Up Your Recruiting Like a No. 1 Best Place to Work

Level Up Yur Recruiting Like a No. 1 Best Place to WorkJen Paxton, Director of Talent at LevelUp, drops in on The Growth Recruiting Podcast and dishes on how zu sich kollektiv built the 1 place to work according to the Boston Business Jurnal. Youll learn Jens candidate experience strategy, goals, and the pillars to her hiring process. She also offers advice on how to get out of yur comfort zone with HR technology. Get ready to level up your recruitingThe Growth Recruiting Podcast is available in iTunesShow notes115 Jens path to LevelUp429 Transitioning from agency to corporate HR601 About LevelUp758 How LevelUps recruiting works920 Jens recruiting goals1030 Jens pillars to hiring1250 Getting out of your HR tech comfort zone1436 Deciding how to investigate HR tools1550 Creating an award-winning employer brand1934 Jens candidate experience strategy2209 Initiatives to improve company culture2751 Fostering career growth3037 How to make HR programs stick3329 Jens favorites3644 Jens contac t infoResources mentioned on the episodeLeverStack OverflowLevelUp Careers pageContact info Jens LinkedIn, Married_2_IT jenthelevelup.comTranscriptJosh Today I am joined by Jen Paxton, the Director of Talent at LevelUp, which is building next generation digital experiences for over 200 brands nationwide empowering businesses to engage customers, grow sales, and build a longterm scalable digital strategy. LevelUp welches ranked the number one Best Place to Work by the Boston Business Journal and named one of the top 10 Boston Globe Best Places to Work in 2017. Jen joins the podcast with an amazing track record in HR and talent acquisition at some of the fastest growing companies in the Boston area and Im excited to chat with her today about the strategies and initiatives that shes been a big part of. So Jen, welcome to the show. Hows it going today?Jen Good. Good. Thanks so much for having me.Josh For sure. Im excited to chat with you, so probably best place to start, give us a litt le bit of an introduction to yourself, your current role, company, anything you want to share.Jen Great. Yeah. So its probably worth noting that I did not start off in a recruiting background. Um, I actually graduated from the Boston Conservatory within masters in vocal performance back in 2008. And then I welches actually going on a lot of auditions and welches not finding a ton of auditions being very lucrative and kind of financially lucrative, really. So I actually started working at a recruiting agency called Job Spring Partners, and thats kind of how I kind of cut my teeth was on the agency side. I was working with various tech companies here in Boston, mostly placing system administrators and network engineers. I did that for a little while and then hopped over to another agency to place people on contract and temporary roles as well. I had so much repeatable business, and I really liked that kind of opportunity to foster relationships and really focus on one company. So that s when I made the switch to an in-house corporate recruiting role. Started working over at Fiksu, which was this mobile absatzwirtschaft company. I actually joined them when theyre about 150 people and grew them to over 300 in that first two years That was amazing and crazy all at the saatkorn time. That first year I was doing most of the recruiting on my own and then on that rapid growth kind of warranted us to bring on another member of the recruiting gruppe. I recruited basically everything on the company side from sales to finance to engineering, and also learned how to really work on a really lean recruiting budget over at Fixsu. Then I did a small session at this company called Logentries before they got acquired by Rapid Seven. And then after Rapid Seven, joined a very small startup called TrueMotion they were actually a gruppe of 20. And they wanted to really start rapidly growing. So in that first year I grew them from 20 to 40 people and we moved out of the Harvard Launch Lab into an actual space in Chinatown. So that was my first kind of real, kind of grassroots startup and now Im over at LevelUp, being able to grow their team. I actually started with them at about 150 and now were about 216. Its really been a great experience. Helping the company scale, improve efficiencies in their interview process, and just try and scale faster and smarter.Josh Thats awesome. Yeah, thats really cool. I love a lot of the things youre saying. I love the idea of running a lean recruiting operation because you really have to maximize every tool and every strategy and really every channel to produce good recruiting results. I think its awesome that youve recruited for so many fast growing startup companies. I mean, like you said, growing from 150 to 300 people, like not many people get that experience to work at a company and handle talent for a company where youre literally doubling the company size in a short period of time. So Im sure youve taken away a lot of lea rnings from there, but Im interested. So you started on the agency side, Jobspring, Robert Half, and then you moved into the corporate side. So what was that transition like? What were some of the learnings from your staffing experience that you took with you to the corporate side?Jen Yeah, well I think starting off on the agency side is really valuable, especially if youre going to go to a company that is scaling or growing quickly, which I feel like so many startups in Boston are now in that kind of rapid scaling, kind of rapid growth phase. Really at an agency, I learned how to get comfortable working with high volume reques and managing multiple hiring managers with various competing partiealities no, some competing priorities, not personalities, sorryJosh Maybe a little of both.Jen True. Kind of getting exposure to working in kind of that fast paced environment where, things change a lot. I think I developed kind of this hustle mentality that I just kind of kept as I went in-h ouse because you think that things might slow down when you go in-house, but nope, they move just as quickly. Especially if youre at a high growth startup kind of like LevelUp is. I think kind of getting that foundation at the agency also helps, if that agency has high recruiting standards and also if they have a solid training program, which Im both Jobspring partners and Robert Half, the agencies I was at, had a really solid technical training program and just kind of solid recruiting training program.Josh Thats awesome. Nice. So lets talk about current company Levelup. So if I were a candidate, because Im assuming thats most of the people that youre talking to on a daily basis, if I were a candidate, how would you explain to me what you guys do?Jen So Id probably just start off first by saying I joined Levelup because it was disrupting the market and in high-growth mode. So what Levelup does is we empower restaurants to capture and engage both existing and new customers everywher e. So thats where they live, they work, they play. We provide a seamless digital ordering/payment and loyalty experience for these consumers. Level up is extremely employee-focused and Im really proud actually to work with such an inclusive and collaborative group of people.Josh Thats what it seems like. I was checking out your guys careers page, and a lot of the content youre putting out. It seemed like a really good, diverse, fun group to be a part of. So thats really cool that youre a part of building that. So you said about 216 people now. Whats the breakdown of engineering, support, and sales? What does that look like?Jen Yeah, I would say we have a really strong focus on engineering and support. If I had to give you complete, formal numbers, on the engineering side, we have about 89 people. This includes software engineers, mole? developers and product managers. On the support side we have around 56 support professionals, which includes both our bilingual and our English-speak ing support professionals that are working daytime overnight and weekend shifts. And then we have about 27 people that makeup our design and marketing team and some sales people are in there too. And then GA is about 21 people and then our account managers and strategic partnerships make up about 23 people. So I did my math right. I think that is around 216 people.Josh Sounds good to me. Well call it that. So, recruiting for lages and they all span, you know, a variety of skillsets. I think you even said something about bilingual support team. So how many people are on the talent team?Jen I have a three person recruiting team. Pretty lean here at Levelup. We have a technical recruiter, Pat. Hes amazing. He has a great growth story. He actually started off at Levelup as a sales co-op from Northeastern. He did really well in his co-op and my predecessor, Aneek, saw a spark within him that he might be a great member of the recruiting team. So when Pat graduated, they reconnected and Pa t joined our team as a coordinator. Pat has actually grown, with the team to take on full cycle recruiting and now he actually is handling most of our technical recruiting. We also have a very bright co-op Lauren on the team. Shes handling some of the coordination now and a few other projects. I see that kind of same spark in her and Im excited to have her continue her growth at Levelup and join full time when she graduates in May. Even though I said were a team of three here at level up, it really is kind of an all in this together mentality. So really everyone at level up is a member of the recruiting team. A good portion of our hires actually come from referrals I think are actually around 30% at this time.Josh Nice. So what are the goals this year? Do you guys have like aggressive targets? Youre trying to hit a certain number of people, youre trying to hire, double staff. What does that look like?Jen Yeah, so I came on board right after we received $50,000,000 in funding from JP Morgan Chase last May. So this really kind of paved the road for us to hire about 50 new employees before the end of 2017. So 2017 was really our breakout year. We pretty much doubled the entire company in size, we rolled out a new product called broadcast and that support team that I talked about tripled in size that year. So the 2018 hiring for us right now is more going to be about strategic hiring. So in the month of January, we actually hired 17 new employees, mostly mobile developers and members of our support team. So looking forward at the growth for this year, things can definitely change from our new partners and eignung new product developments, but were not going to probably have as rapid growth this year. I think itll be a little knock on wood slower at this point.Josh Well it sounds like either way, if it was fast youd be ready for it.Jen Yeah, definitely.Josh Cool. So I was doing a lot of research, I was a scanning of your linkedin profile in heavy detail and it lo oks like I found several consistent themes across all the companies that youve worked at, talent acquisition strategies that youve been involved with. So, correct me if Im wrong, but these seem to be big things to you using modern software and tools, and I see it looks like youre using lever right now at levelup as, as your ATS, employee branding, candidate experience, company culture, career growth. These all seem to be the big focus points for you. Is that fair to say?Jen Yeah, totally fair to say. I mean, I think that, building a successful recruiting function, you need a gemisch of kind of operational and strategic strategies. So having a software that actually elevates the recruiting and interview process is definitely key. I mean it comes down to like if hiring managers are not enjoying the recruiting software, then its going to be a lot harder for them to put in their feedback, which then that slows down the entire process. You dont know if youre going to move the candidate o nto next steps or youre constantly emailleing back and forth as a hiring manager, which might actually slow down your process completely and you might even lose a candidate that way. And then on the candidate side, you need to build out this employer brand that excites candidates, entices them to answer your email or your linkedin message. And this also starts, initially with just having a positive company culture. And I really believe this positive company culture is really shaped by the employeesJosh For sure. Thats awesome. So I guess lets go through some of these points, rapid fire here a little bit. Well dive into each one and hit on them because I think its, I think its unique. I think definitely when I was looking at your experience like its very unique that youve been able to bring all these things together and just come up with like a really cohesive recruitment strategy. I think theres a lot of companies that do one of these things or some of these things or they do all of them, but they dont really do it that well. It seemed like you guys really have your ducks in a row. So it was pretty cool to see. So I want to touch on each thing very quickly. As were talking about modern tools, I know we talked about Lever as your ATS. And you mentioned that its obviously really important if your recruiters and your hiring managers dont like the software youre using, theyre probably not going to use it very much or use it very effectively. So obviously that has a big impact on the results that youre seeing. So for the people that are listening for people that are in talent acquisition and theyre thinking about trying new tools or new solutions, like what can you say to them that will help them get out of their comfort zone? Because a lot of times people are just satisfied with the status quo and they dont want to try something new. So what would you say to people to get them to take that next step?Jen Yeah, I would probably, you know, even take a step back. So i t doesnt have to be the newest or the hottest tool out there. I mean, I have some tools that Ive used, you know, linkedin, is a tool that is been around for a long time. Its tried and true. Ive also used Stackoverflow that Ive also been using for years. So it doesnt have to be kind of the hottest, or newest tool out there, but it needs to work for your team. So you really have to look internally, ask yourself the question, What is this tool going to do for my team and is that actually going to impact my teams productivity?Thats a big thing to talk about first. And some of the newer tools out there, they may be great, but also some of them are just repackaging of kind of the same ineffective tools from before that I used, but just maybe have a better UI potentially. Or a better, you know, X. You really do have to think about, Is this going to make my team more effective? And if it isnt then move on to something else or explore something else further. I also think getting sandboxes fr om vendors is important as well so that you can kind of use the tool and see if its gonna work for you. There have been tools that Ive signed up for on contract before and Ive gotten into using them and for some reason or another, my brain just does not work the way the tool wants it to work. So being able to actually try out the tool first and make sure that my brain is going to understand whats going on with the tool and its going to work. Thats really important as well.Josh Nice. And so as you guys were thinking about the tools that youre using in your recruitment strategy, are you like meeting as a team and coming up with goals or things or metrics that you want to improve on and then trying to identify certain tools that youll want to look into in the future? Like are you planning ahead, you know, lets say 90 days from now, you know, were hoping to have looked into, tools x, Y and Z or what does that planning process look like for you guys?Jen Yeah, were definitely thinking abo ut the tools that we want to use and actually trying to think as strategically as possible on whats going to help us. Trying out anything thats going to maybe streamline our interview process or potentially even in our sourcing process. I talked to a good amount of vendors, at least at least one vendor a week now, where they will do a demo with me on their product and I have a running list of all of these softwares and Im kind of seeing if that solution is actually going to solve a problem that I have right now or, as you kind of alluded to it, is it going to solve a problem in the future? Um, that I feel like that regularly occurs at this point.Josh Right on. Lets jump into employer branding. Obviously this is a big focus for you guys and definitely a strong point. I mean, number onebest place to work. Its not a bad honor to receive but that definitely doesnt come without strategic efforts being put towards, achieving that type of goal. Right? I mean, its not just something that ha ppens. You guys definitely have a big focus on it. So what are you guys doing right now to showcase your employer brand to tell the story of your employees? Like what do you guys doing?Jen Yeah, I mean, I honestly think it is a team effort. Like I dont think one person creates the employer brand. Were using our entire team to really help us define our brand. Its the people that are working on the product really shape it, getting an understanding of what they do and why they joined Levelup is important to help us actually create a story. What makes them stay at Levelup and the things that theyve learned while working here. I feel like that ignites these talking points from me when Im talking with candidates on my phone screens or when we talk with people on site. I can talk about these individual employee stories and that helps the candidate to personally engage with members of our team. Even if it is not a candidate that is interviewing for a specific role that this other person has been on, but showing and talking about the growth path, that employees have had here. That just alludes to the the employee-first nature, that Levelup has.Josh Sure, sure. And you guys do a really good job though of not just building that but showcasing it. So just in my communication with you, I saw in your email signature youve got a link to your glassdoor profile, youve got a link to an article about you guys being a best place to work. So its something that youre strategically inserting into these touchpoints with your candidates. Im on your careers page, I see quotes from employee testimonials from people that work there. It seems like you guys have a really well thought-out approach to making sure that not only do you have a good employer brand, but youre showcasing it and youre telling that story and youre getting that content in front of candidates.Jen Yeah. We can help the information to the candidate marketplace pretty much trying to leverage any publication we can. We wo rk with VentureFizz, we work with Belts in Boston. We post things on our Levelup blog. Another thing that we implemented recently, about two months ago at this point, and we did an schreibstube tour video and so we have put that into our phone screen. So anybody who gets a phone screen invite will also get a link that says, To familiarize yourself with Levelup, take a look at our office tour and it goes through our entire office, it talks about all of our employee perks, you get to meet some of the people in the office and hear from them why they joined the company. So its just another way for us to highlight our kind of culture to potential employees.Josh We just did something super similar. We have some sales candidates that were introducing that arent local, so we wanted to give them like a tour of the office. So we had a sales manager do like a selfie style. Probably didnt seem as professional as the one it sounds like you guys have, but we did like a selfie-style tour just show ing the different floors of the office and the different spaces and I think it goes a long way. I mean it really gives candidates because theyve never stepped foot in your office so it kind of gives them an idea of like the type of people that work there, what are people dress like, what are they doing and whats the energy like, what does the office look like. So its a good behind the scenes differentiator I guess, right? Your candidates are talking to other companies too, so those are the types of things that definitely sets you guys apart. So thats awesome. You guys are so ahead of the curve there. So lets talk about candidate experience. Is there anything you guys are doing strategically to focus on the candidate experience? Like making the whole hiring process better for the people that are trying to work at Levelup?Jen So I think candidate experience is really important. Each time somebody interacts with our company, its important. So I think going in with that mentality that how we treat every candidate impacts the overall experience of Levelup. So having the mentality of even if theyre not the right fit for this position that theyre interviewing for right now, they may be a fit for the future or they might know somebody that knows, somebody that might be a good fit. So I feel like making sure every candidate has a great experience at Levelup has been really important. So we try and train our managers on that. Were going to be rolling out later next quarter at this point, a candidate survey so we can actually just improve our process. But we also have started to build in this baseline for interviewers. So not just asking the candidates what theyve done, in each of their roles, but focusing on specific traits that the hiring manager thinks would be a good attribute for the person coming into this role. Having those focused interviews to be specific to one or two traits I would say thats also improved our candidate experience and I feel like it makes it more enjoyable for the interviewer and for the candidate because theyre not asked the same question, during five interviews, you know?Josh Yeah, for sure. And I think, subtly, having a good candidate experience is also a recruiting advantage. So not only are they having a good experience that are going through a hiring process, but it just says a lot about your organization that you put thought in these types of things. And thats the type of company that I think any candidate would want to work at. So while yes, in the moment its creating a great experience and the candidate will tell their friends about it, how amazing the hiring process was and how seamless it was now organized it was, subtly its making them really want to work for your organization because they had such a good experience and a good impression of your company because you guys are the front lines. Youre essentially in the face of the company. Its really important. So a company culture, obviously thats something tha t youre putting in your employer branding, youre showcasing on the website. I think its really easy obviously for everybody to say we have a great company culture, in their job ads and everything and talk about how awesome it is to work there. But its another thing, to see that happen in real life. So what are you guys doing? What are some of the initiatives, maybe the outings or what are you guys doing as a team to really foster that family-type of environment?Jen Yeah. So we have an organization within Levelup called the Fun Rangers.Josh Thats awesome. I love it.Jen Our head of HR wanted to call them the Power Rangers and this is before I joined but they eventually came to the name of Fun Rangers. So they meet actually about once a month and they talk about different events that they want to put on for the organization. So we have some consistent events that happen each month. So we have a birthday celebration that happens each month where well have various birthday cakes that w ill be brought in. We also have what we call nosh and knowledge where different members of our organization will actually get up and present on a specific topic. So one of them thats coming up will be on public speaking. Another one thatll come up later on in the year will be on a cooking class. And then actually we have a cookie decorating as well, our Director of Workplace Experience will do one on cookie decorating. It kind of gets us in the mood for the holidays. So its usually in either December or November and shell do that one. Every year we have a summer outing where well go to either a destination, last year we went to The Lawn on D and just did outside games. Before that weve actually gone on a boat cruise, and then during December or January well have a holiday party where everybody and their significant others are invited to attend and just eat some delicious food and maybe take some crazy pictures, uh, and, and just get to hang out with each other and close out, close o ut or even open up the year. So we have different events that are placed throughout the year to keep employees excited, but also it gives them the opportunity to kind of engage with people that maybe they dont get to interact with on a daily basis. We also have trivia nights that are scattered throughout the year as well where employees can be on different teams. Youre not, placed on a team, its really organic and you get to actually know, more of the people that you work with by just talking with them and working together to solve these trivia problems.Josh Thats awesome. It sounds like a lot of fun. So would you say as far as like building a really good company culture, do you think like the outings and the team events are really what pulls everything together? Because obviously theres a lot of stuff on the day-to-day, the different perks and what the actual work environment is like. But do you feel like the strongest contributor to a good company culture is just bringing everybod y together for these non-work related outings or events?Jen I think they all play a part. I think that the events definitely become a catalyst for people to get to know each other in maybe more of a comfortable setting and actually get to know each other as humans instead of, This is my coworker that I need x from. You actually get to know, you know, oh, this is my coworker and they own like five corgis. Its fun to get to know people as people instead of people as that project manager or you know, the software engineer. Were not defined just by, the job that we do. That also leads to, talking a little bit more about our diverse background of people here. As I mentioned, I have a degree in vocal performance and opera. We actually have people that come from being circus performers. We have people that are part of the fire throwing community here in Boston. We have people that are involved in various other organizations as well throughout the company. So its cool to actually get to kno w other people and what they do, like their side hustle pretty much.Josh Yeah. No, I think everything youre saying makes total sense. Like its really important to get to know people like outside of actually what they do. But along those same lines, I think its really easy, for a company, where youve got all these different teams, youve got engineering, youve got sales, youve got support, everybodys kind of siloed, right? Because theyre all doing their work, they collaborate with each other throughout the day, but they dont really know exactly what this developer does, versus other developers, what the salesperson does, verse this account manager. So I think some of those events are outside of work, but even stuff that you can do in the office to like bring everybody together and have these different teams mingle with each other is really important because thats where like people really get to see what others are actually doing within the organization and how their role on a specific team might be different from another persons role. So I think thats definitely a big aspect of company culture is getting to know those things as well.Jen Definitely. And another thing that we do to have transparency is every single month we actually have a department or a company-wide lunch where we actually talk. Each department actually gets up and talks about the projects that theyre working on right now. Its a quick one to two minute hit the highlights of what your department is doing, but its also just interesting to get to know what every department is doing and their successes and share and celebrate in their successes of what they accomplished over that last month.Josh For sure. For sure. All right, well this brings me to career growth. I know I said I was going to circle back to it. So one of the things I wanted to get back to you, because I know its obviously really important to you. That was one of the stories you brought up earlier in the conversation and it pops up a ton on your linkedin profile. Just how youre trying to foster growth for employees that all these different companies that youve worked at. So is this something that, obviously you have a strong focus on it within the organization, but is it something thats a key part of your recruiting strategy, like as youre talking to candidates, youre talking about how they can grow and where you guys can see them moving up within the organization?Jen Yeah, I definitely think it is a key focus of mine. So I kind of take a matchmaker approach to recruiting. I know that candidates are interviewing me justice and members of our team just as much as were interviewing them. Especially with this market, candidates can be pretty pleky with the roles that they want. So you really want to ensure that, theyre going to find the right role for them that is truly fulfilling. I actually ask a speic question to most candidates and I say, when youre vetting out companies, what is the most important thing to you when youre vetting out either a new company or a new position? And I like this question because you really get to know the candidate and understand what motivates them and whats going to drive them to take a new role. You might learn a little bit more about their career path or career progression that they want to have or you might learn that maybe they dont know what it is yet and that leads into the consulting side of recruiting where you might help them find their way. I want to make sure that candidates, if they choose to come work at LevelUp, they have a successful time and always feel fulfilled working here. But then in addition, if there isnt a role right now for them here, were a startup, we grow and lots of new positions come available. So, I want to keep them in mind for future opportunities as well. So I definitely like to talk about career growth internally and how weve seen it fostered internally. But I also want to know what the candidate wants for career growth becau se I feel like each person I talk to has a different key point in mind about what they are, or how they view career growth.Josh Alright. So I hope everybody wrote down what is the most important thing to you as an interview question to ask because Im definitely stealing that and asking that and all future interviews. Cuz I love it. Thats awesome.Jen Its one of my favorite questions. I really, really like it.Josh Cool. Well thanks so much. Thats awesome. So I guess, as far as for the people listening, right, theyre listening for a reason. They want to learn something. I know theres a ton of stuff that theyve been able to take away, but is there anything like the thing that I hear as Im listening to you talk is like youve just done a really good job at putting programs and strategies in place and making sure they stick. It sounds like you guys just have a really well-balanced recruitment strategy. Its really well structured. You know what your goals are moving forward. You know, the things that you want to try out and then you know to make sure, you know how to make sure that people stay accountable for keeping these programs and these different initiatives in place. So for people that are trying and are very ambitious to build out a recruitment strategy like the one you guys have at LevelUp, what advice can you give them? Like how can they emulate some of the things that you guys have been doing at their own organization and making sure that it sticks.Jen Yeah. I think that the first thing that you have to do is build trust. So one thing that I actually came in with and was very, very, very fortunate with is everyone within the organization has this level of trust and also this level of involvement in recruiting. So recruiting for LevelUp is really a team sport. Everybody here is a recruiter and I think that comes down to building that first baseline of trust. So understanding what each hiring manager is actually looking for and being able to communicate with them, keep them updated, making sure they never feel like theyre in the dark. Thats really important. And then as far as an overall recruiting strategy, I definitely think that we do use data a good bit to kind of inform our decisions. So, we dont set hard numbers as far as I have to hit this many per week, but we are cognizant of how many calls will translate to onsites and how many onsites will translate to offers and offers to hires. You definitely want to be aware of those kinds of metrics, but you also want to make sure that youre communicating those metrics to hiring managers as well.Josh Thats awesome. Yeah. And if you know those metrics, your recruiting process becomes somewhat predictable, right? Like, you know with certain inputs youre going to get certain outputs and then if theres new strategies that you implement and you can increase and improve and optimize some of those results, your strategys still repeatable and predictable, but now its just yielding better results. So you just got to change some those inputs and you have more of the output. Thats awesome. So lets run through. Ive got five questions to ask you about some of your favorite things that you ready?Jen Okay.Josh Okay. So favorite place to find candidates.Jen Oh, that is a tough one, actually.Josh Theres a lot of sources out there, but you gotta pick one.Jen See, its funny you say that because I would probably say favorite place to get candidates from is our employeesJosh Ah, I love itJen Our referrals are great. Right now were about 30 percent on referrals and we might bump it up a little bit this year. When I was at Fiksu, we actually got it up to like 65 percent. It was kind of crazy. I think that that is a phenomenal resource. You know your employees networks are really huge. If I had to pick a software that would be really or like a tool where Im having to leverage it, that would be difficult because I mentioned stack overflow and I mentioned LinkedIn a little earlier and those are great resources, but if I was being completely honest, I think my employees are my biggest resource and biggest champions.Josh Yeah, thats a great answer and probably leads to like your best long term hires, right? Like Im sure youre getting obviously great people from those other sources too, but theres nothing like an employee referral, so thats awesome. Great answer. What about favorite part of your job?Jen Oh, everyday is so different. I feel like I talked to a lot of candidates with different backgrounds and different personalities and I never have the same call. So I like that kind of unpredictability I guess.Josh Cool. Favorite sports team?Jen Oooh. Um, Boston Red Sox.Josh Okay, nice. I was gonna guess Patriots and then I was going to say Im sorry that they just lost the Super Bowl.Jen I appreciate the Patriots, but Im not a major football fan.Josh Okay, cool. Favorite hobby?Jen Uh, favorite hobby. So favorite hobby is sewing. For the past few years, I have made my Hallo ween costume for myself, my husband, and our now three year old.Josh Wow. Thats pretty impressive. Thats awesome. All right, now this, this is the tough question because theres so many options. What is your favorite TV show to binge on Netflix?Jen Oh, okay. This is so tough because I have two ways I would go about this. So I love New Girl. It is just great comic television to watch it over again. But I have a place in my heart for Greys Anatomy. I fall asleep to watching Greys Anatomy at this point and I know exactly where I left off in the episode. Ive watched way too many times. Its my guilty pleasure.Josh Nice. Right on. Awesome. Well, those are some great answers. This was an awesome podcast and conversation. I think everybody that listens to it, is going to learn a ton. I think you should look into doing some speaking at some conferences. I feel like there are a lot of events out there that could get a lot of value from what you have to say. So thats a good takeaway for you to look into, for sure. So if people want to connect with you, where can they find you? Whats the best place for them to reach out?Jen Yeah. So they can, um, they can look me up on Linkedin and they can actually find me on Twitter. My Twitter handle is married to it. And they can also just email me as well. Im at Jen at the level up.Josh Great. And if people are interested in a career at LevelUp where should they go?Jen Right. So they should go to the LevelUp careers page.Josh Perfect. Anything else youd like to add before we sign off?Jen For anybody who is interested in getting into recruiting, I think, if you have a fascination or a passion for people and customer service that this is a great line of work. It is extremely fulfilling when you actually find somebody their job and it makes me happy.Josh Great. Jen, this was amazing. Thank you so much for coming on the podcast. Hope everyone enjoyed it and thanks. Have a great day.