The “Glow”
This term can be applied to women who are pregnant, in love or have greasy skin. It can also refer to anyone enjoying the extra hours of sleep and and new found relaxation that comes from not having to endure a painfully soul numbing job.
Jobless 10
The inevitable 10 pounds one gains from amassing copius amounts of beer, Cheetos and Haagen Dazs while watching Talk Soup episodes. For the lucky few, this can work in reverse with the person in question losing 10 pounds.
In that case, they are probably doing something very, very right (like exercising more) or very, very wrong (plunging into job depression).
Staffing Agency
These are unfortunate, but necessary evils in the job market. Such companies recruit and “hire” staffers to perform temporary, temporary-to-hire work as well as fill direct-hire vacancies at companies (see terms below).
Please note: you will always be pimped by a staffing agency. If you are hired to work for $13/hour – the staffing agency is charging the client at least twice that.
Granted, these companies do have to make money, but you are better off cutting out the (greedy) middle men and directly getting hired to do the work yourself.
Temp
Temp work can last anywhere from one day to several months. It’s full of variety and highly flexible. Yet, it sucks because you don’t get real paid vacation unless you’ve worked a billion hours for your staffing agency. Oh, there are no paid holidays either.
Temp-to-perm
This is sort of like job auditioning. If the company likes you enough, they’ll hire you, but not without paying the staffing agency a hefty fee for releasing you from your “contract.”
Direct Hire
For entry level jobs, direct hire positions are few and far between. The real money (for recruiters) is mid to upper level management positions.
On the other end, if a recruiter is trying to fill a direct-hire position for a lower rung job, it’s usually within the administrative/clerical realm.
In that case, the company in question is probably suffering a high turnover within the position (or they’re not hiring seasoned, career administrative workers).
Fired vs. Laid Off
There are many nuances and ideas surrounding these terms. Usually, it’s just semantics. Generally, being laid off implies that your employer can (and will) hire you again if they see fit to do so in the future.
Fired is as fired does – you’ve been canned and your boss doesn’t want to see your sorry mug ever again. A lot of job seekers are using these terms interchangeably to avoid being seen as someone who has been fired (whether deserved or not) preferring to use the phrase of “having been laid off.”
Unfortunately, the stigma of firing has left many of the unemployed with the odd notion they are ineligible to work ever again if someone finds out they’ve been fired.
Opinions vary on whether you should really tell people you’ve been fired.
Employers, however, are loosening up their attitudes towards firing and job hopping. If you are fearful that your potential (or new) employer will hold it against you that you got fired from your last job (or any of your jobs) – maybe you should revisit the idea if it is the best place to work after all.
References vs. Recommendations
References: title and dates worked for an organization in question
Recommendations: a basic endorsement someone gives in reference to hiring (or not hiring) a job candidate
There’s a catch-22 with recommendations, because – technically- they aren’t very safe to give. There’s always the threat of getting sued into the poorhouse if you give out a mediocre recommendation.
If, however, you give a great one, it’s probably not a good idea either. Job seekers should understand the difference so that when a recruiter or HR manager asks about recs vs. refs - they can casually say,
“My past employer’s HR policies stipulates that they cannot provide personal recommendations for former employees, but they will gladly provide references.”
Of course, any seasoned manager will be able to read between the lines. If they want to push, use your already handpicked list of recommendation contacts (from former coworkers and colleagues). They’ll be great at any rate, so it doesn’t really matter.
It’s a win-win… for you. The HR manager gets to run around and accumulate positive recs for a candidate (because they feel they must) and you still have people vouching for you.