This building products manufacturer is seeking a Facilities Maintenance Technician to work with the Maintenance Manager in the sound end of Puget Sound.

This position repairs and maintains machinery and mechanical equipment such as motors, pneumatic tools, conveyor systems, production machine and equipment.

Some of the duties will be:

• Repairs and reconditions hydraulic/pneumatic systems
• Maintain, repairs and modifies extruders, pullers, calibration tables, saws and refrigeration equipment
• Repairs and maintain plant water systems
• Repairs and maintains material systems
• Fabricates and weld parts for repairs, retrofits and modifications
• Installs plumbing, air and electrical utilities necessary for machine operation
• Repairs or replaces defective parts
• Lubricates and cleans parts
• Installs special functional and structural parts in devices
• Set up and operates lathe, drill press, grinder and other metal working tools to make repairs
• Initiates purchase order for parts and machines
• Repairs electrical equipment

The company is looking for:

• 5+ years experience
• Formal training or OJT with electrical theory and mechanical applications is required
• Electrical school and mechanical experience is preferred

If you meet these qualifications, please contact the fife office at 253) 922-6770 or fife@smarttalent.net.

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An educational organization is seeking a Senior Accountant.  This position will provide an advanced accounting assistance and direction for all areas of the business office and university, as needed.  This person will also actively participate in month-end closing, financial statement preparation and the annual audit.

The Essential Duties and Responsibilities include, but are not limited to the following:

• Verify accuracy of data for AR, AP and payroll.
• Perform complex accounting reconciliations as assigned and within prescribed deadlines.
• Prepare statements and reports as needed for AR, AP, Payroll and General Ledger.
• Review and approve invoices and expense reports, following up with the applicable departments to clarify discrepancies and ensure coding accuracy.

Minimum Qualifications are as follows:

1. Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and the majority of the coursework being completed with a US institution and a minimum of 2-3 years of related GL experience required.
2. Solid knowledge of US GAAP and financial reporting required; experience consolidating foreign operations is highly desirable.
3. 2-year supervisory or lead experience required.
4. Experience with ERP accounting software required; experience or working knowledge of PeopleSoft accounting software highly desirable.
5. Experience working in a higher education setting preferred.
6. Experience with preparation of excise, personal property tax returns and 1099s preferred.
7. Payroll tax reconciliation experience preferred.
8. Experience working with multiple corporate bank accounts, international and domestic wires and foreign currencies preferred.

If you are interested and meet these qualifications, please send your formation to becky@smartttalent.net or call Becky at 425) 827-5111.

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Most people at work are good employees.  They do what’s expected most of the time.  They work hard, come to work every day and play well with others.  Some employees go above and beyond the normal expectations.  They arrive early, stay late and are nice to have around.  But then there are those few employees and occasionally good employees, when they do it wrong or not at all.

We have all asked ourselves at some point, “What’s going on?  Why can’t they just do what I asked them to do?”

 Here in this series, we will highlight 13 reasons that can affect a person’s performance and provide some ideas on how to handle them when they arise.  Many managers feel that they are just not motivated, which leads to non-specific answers to the problem.  In contrast, knowing what the problems are changes the question from, “How do I motivate them?” to “How do I improve their performance?”  Understanding this concept leads to specific actions that can be taken.

They Are Rewarded For Not Doing It

But what manager in his right mind would reward people for poor performance?  Mostly, it is done unconsciously.

• Employees who do difficult tasks poorly are given only easy tasks to perform.
• When an employee makes a mistake, the manager corrects the mistake.
• Employees who perform poorly receive a lot of attention.  Like buying them coffee or lunch to discuss things.
• Employees who are difficult to control are given assignments where they have a lot of freedom.

Performance that is rewarded will increase in frequency.  When a manager is asked to send someone to a company activity, on company time, at company expense – who is sent?  The manager will usually send the only person he can afford to lose – the poor performer.

If you repeatedly reward your employees’ complaining behavior with your attention, complaining behavior will increase.  Your intentions are not important; it is your attention that is the rewarding consequence.

What Can You Do?

• Consider if what you do to reward the employee is a reward from the employee’s point of view.
• Do not reward people for nonperformance.  Stop buying coffee.
• When an employee makes a mistake, make them correct the mistake.
• Reward employees for the opposite of what you want them to do.  Give them your attention for doing what you want them to do.
• When an employee does a difficult task poorly, manage them closely, but keep assigning the difficult tasks until either performance improves or remove the employee from the job requiring the task.
• You should apply the necessary management controls for difficult employees while communicating the consequence of continued poor performance, but also be quick to verbally reward improvements.

Learn more about Handling Employee Problems.

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With most managers, it will not be the end of the world or your job if you disagree with the boss.  Most managers, who are confident in their ability, welcome a differing point of view, ideas and often encourage people to speak their mind.  Disagreements often end in new and better ideas, solutions to a problem and a solid relationship with your manager and your customers.

It does help if the organization fosters different opinions. In these types of organizations, they want to take advantage of their employee’s talents, experience and skills to enhance not only the organization, but the business relationship with their customers.

Believe it or not, managers are human, too.  It may be hard to believe at times, but you need to determine what their leadership style is to be able to understand how much disagreement will be tolerated and how much will be appreciated.

How you approach a disagreement with your boss will determine whether you are seen as an asset or a problem.  A situation that is approached with respect versus aggressiveness will always win out in the end.   If you are able to bring facts versus conjecture, you’ll be more likely to be successful in your argument.  You’ll need to do some work and research ahead of time to support your opinion.  Your boss is not often going to reverse themselves without facts and pertinent data that supports your plan.

There will come a time during your conversation when you’ll know it is time to give up your point of view and you can go no further.  At that time, it is best if you tell your boss that while you might disagree, you’ll implement whatever they have decided and do the best to make it a success.

Here are a few tips that employees have done to make a successful disagreement with their boss.

1. They had a great relationship first, thus when there was a disagreement, they started from a good place from the beginning.
2. The boss already had some faith in the employee because they had a track-record of delivering results, which makes the boss look good.
3. The employee was committed to the company and not just their personal agenda.  The history of suggestions tended to be for the betterment of everyone versus just their particular job or department.
4. The employee had a history of speaking out for the good of the company.  They didn’t disagree about everything, but only on the occasions they felt strongly about.
5. The employee doesn’t play games.  They are straight and to the point.
6. Name calling and sarcasm has no place when you are trying to speak-out in disagreement.  Making the boss look like an idiot is not a good idea for your long-term prospects of growth, learning and success.
7. No matter how often they might disagree with the boss, they seek this person out as a mentor so they can learn and spend time talking about issues and approaches to other business situations.
8. Their relationships with others and ethics in business were solid.  Would you get behind someone who you couldn’t trust or unsure of reprisals if things don’t go their way?
9. The employee was able to communicate clearly, concisely and rationally to make their case understood.  The employee was able to present the data and facts of the plan versus speaking in terms of “I think” or “I feel.”  They were able to demonstrate they did their homework on the subject.
10. Not a good idea to go around the boss to plead your case to their boss.  See the point above again about not making your manager look like an idiot.  They should never be blind-sided by your actions or learning about your point of view for the first time from their boss.

Most bosses want this type of relationship with their employees.  If you have prepared yourself using some of these tips and the day comes when you need to disagree with the boss, you’ll be ready and will build a strong effective relationship with your boss.

Do you have any tips to add?  Let me hear about them in the comment section.

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Most people at work are good employees.  They do what’s expected most of the time.  They work hard, come to work every day and play well with others.  Some employees go above and beyond the normal expectations.  They arrive early, stay late and are nice to have around.  But then there are those few employees and occasionally good employees, when they do it wrong or not at all.

We have all asked ourselves at some point, “What’s going on?  Why can’t they just do what I asked them to do?”

Here in this series, we will highlight 13 reasons that can affect a person’s performance and provide some ideas on how to handle them when they arise.  Many managers feel that they are just not motivated, which leads to non-specific answers to the problem.  In contrast, knowing what the problems are changes the question from, “How do I motivate them?” to “How do I improve their performance?”  Understanding this concept leads to specific actions that can be taken.

There Is No Negative Consequence To Them For Poor Performance

Do you have an employee that came from another department and was described as a trouble-maker, doesn’t follow the rules or is not a team player?  Do you have an employee who doesn’t like certain parts of their job so he/she just doesn’t do them?  Do you have an employee what when you administer disciplinary action you are told you are being too difficult and then back-off?  Then you have an employee that because there is no consequence for their behavior there is no need to perform.

Do you have poorly performing people who have received a raise?  Files that are full of poor performance evaluations and write-up and yet they are still performing below acceptable standards?  If there is no consequence why should they do what you want them to do?

What Can You Do?

• You must make sure that there are negative actions taken for people who are not performing and are willfully choosing to do so.
• You need to check on people and let them know they are not performing up to the standards expected.  Sometime, they don’t even know.
• Assign work that an employee does not like to do if they are performing badly on things they like to do.
• Put the employee in a less desirable work location.
• Stop giving poor performers the same privileges as good performers.
• Demote the poor performers.
• Deny or delay a pay increase until performance is up to standards
• Increase your time around their work space when they are not performing.  You might be surprised at the increase of productivity.
• If all else fails and you have coached the person, terminate them.

Make sure that when their performance does improve, that you give positive reinforcement to maintain their progress.

Learn more about handling employee problems.

Learn more about SmartTalent.

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The relationship with your “boss” will be the cornerstone to your success and your career, not to mention the relationship you will have with your co-workers.  And when it comes to your boss, you are in-charge of that relationship.

Face it, no one else will care as much as you do about the relationship you have with your boss.  No one can help you reach your career goals or give you needed information as much as your boss.  At the same time, your boss needs your help to accomplish his or her goals as well.  You both share a real interdependence with each other.

Bosses come with a variety of levels of skills and effectiveness.  Some are just plain bad; unaware of your needs or uncaring for you as a person and your dreams and aspirations.  There are some that will view you as a one-way street for them; you give and they take.  Managing them can be quite the challenge, but worth your time if you expect to be successful, learn and move forward.

So, how do you develop an effective relationship with your boss?  Here are some tips that can help you, your boss and the organization.

1. Relationships are based on trust.  Do what you say you are going to do.  Keep your boss informed about projects and timelines.  You never want your boss surprised with problems that you knew about and could have been communicated.
2. Put the needs of your boss first.  There is more to your life at work than your success.  Learn how you can help.  What are the boss’s priorities?  What would success look like with the department and/or the company?  What can you do to help?
3. Tell your boss when an error has been made.  A cover-up didn’t work for Nixon and it won’t work for you either.
4. Try to get to know your boss as a person.  He or she shares the same human experience as you do.
5. Focus on the best parts of your boss.  Each boss has good and bad attributes.  If you focus on the bad parts all the time, it will cloud your happiness at work as well hinder as any success you might have with the organization.  Make your boss feel valued.  After all, you want that from him as well, right?
6. Your boss will most likely never change.  Who they are has helped them in the past.  It is what they have become and their past actions and success from their previous bosses reinforced what they do and will do.  Your boss might change, but instead of waiting that out, try to understand your boss’s work style.  The more you understand their preferences and style of work, the better you will be able to work with your boss.
7. Listen and learn from your boss.  There will be days where you doubt that there is anything you can learn from this person, but the company found many things about their work, business style, etc., and promoted the person to their current position.  Promotions are usually earned and a consequence of delivering results and successful contributions to the company.  Listen more than you speak to develop a successful relationship.  But sometimes, disagreements do occur.  Don’t hold a grudge.  Don’t make threats about leaving.  Disagreement is fine; discord is not.  You are unlikely to always get your way and after all, your boss will always have more authority than you do.
8. Learning to read the mood of your boss can be helpful to be able to communicate effectively.  There are good times and bad times to introduce new ideas.  If the boss is preoccupied with the budget your idea for long-term improvement of something may not be timely and given full consideration.  Also, if the boss reacts to your ideas the same way each time, find out if there is something fundamentally the boss likes or dislikes about your proposals. When presenting ideas, try to keep the bigger picture in mind.  There may be good reasons why an idea might not work into the organizations overall goals.
9. Your boss can be a very busy person.  Keep that in mind.  Schedule a weekly or at least a monthly meeting for a discussion.
10. Let the boss play the role of coach and mentor.  Ask the boss for feedback.  The boss can’t read your mind.  Make sure the boss knows of your contributions.

Do you have any tips?  Let me hear them in the comments section.

Learn more about SmartTalent.

Follow SmartTalent on Twitter and Facebook today!  Be one of the first to receive new job openings that will interest you or someone you know, job hunting tips, announcements and news. http://twitter.com/SmartTalent Want more? Join us on our fan page on Facebook www.facebook.com/smarttalent.

Most people at work are good employees.  They do what’s expected most of the time.  They work hard, come to work every day and play well with others.  Some employees go above and beyond the normal expectations.  They arrive early, stay late and are nice to have around.  But then there are those few employees and occasionally good employees, when they do it wrong or not at all.

We have all asked ourselves at some point, “What’s going on?  Why can’t they just do what I asked them to do?”

Here in this series, we will highlight 13 reasons that can affect a person’s performance and provide some ideas on how to handle them when they arise.  Many managers feel that they are just not motivated, which leads to non-specific answers to the problem.  In contrast, knowing what the problems are changes the question from, “How do I motivate them?” to “How do I improve their performance?”  Understanding this concept leads to specific actions that can be taken.

They Anticipate a Negative Consequence for Doing It

Here the problem is that the employees think there will be a negative consequence for performing appropriately:

• I was afraid to ask you because I thought it might be a dumb question.
• I was afraid to tell you I don’t know how to do it because you might think I was stupid.
• I didn’t disagree with the rest of the executives because they might think I was not a team player.
• I didn’t try what I thought was better because if it didn’t work, I would really be in trouble.

Employees may not express their real fears to you.  Not only might they not speak to you, when they do, they may not tell you the truth or give you any ideas.  The problem of fear usually appears with new situations or doing new things.  It is reasonable for people to be concerned about their performance, but when people believe they will not be able to perform successfully, or they think the consequence of failure is important, they will perform badly or not at all.

What Can You Do?

Explain early in their employment that there are no consequences for the things you want your employees to do.

• It is okay to argue with the manager.
• No question is a dumb question.
• Rather than do the job wrong, it is okay to ask for input or directions several times.
• To improve things, employees should try to be innovative, as long as ideas are cleared with you ahead of time.
• The next step is to prove that you will respond in the fashion in which you have indicated by controlling how you will respond.

Learn more about handling employee problems.

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A custom contract engineering company is searching for a Mechanical Designer for a 3 month project.

Requirements:

• Minimum of 5 years of experience
• Minimum of 5 years of design experience
• Modeling skills in mechanical design, sheet metal and structured BOMS
• Ability to identify, quantify and resolve problems
• Experience with software applications
• Ability to establish technical standards, methods and priorities.
• Ability to communicate plans projects and capabilities to Senior Management.

Please submit résumé and minimum salary requirements.

Smart Talent offers benefits from the day that you start working and if you meet these qualifications, enjoy a fast paced environment and take pride in keeping things very organized, please contact us today – kirkland@smarttalent.net.

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This person will provide proactive services, support, and workshops for the development and use of digital media and instructional technologies. Accountable for creating a customer service environment that assesses client needs, answers questions, orients patrons to various technology solutions. Provides technical support for technologies, projects, and events. Plans, organizes, and manages complex technology projects and coordinates tasks among User Services and other I&TS teams. Reports to the Director for User Services/Instructional Technology.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Provide leadership for the Instructional Technology Team, services, and support.
• Assess university needs for instructional technologies, design and develop appropriate services, recommend priorities and timelines, and assess progress at achieving goals.
• Work closely with clients to conceptualize, design, and produce instructional objects.
• Provide user support for learning management system and other learning systems.
• Coordinate client relationship and project management for instructional technology projects and large events; communicate among stakeholders; meet deadlines and client needs.
• Provide creative and visual design support for instructional technology services.
• Coordinate, develop, and deliver technology learning opportunities on various topics.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES:

• Knowledge of the instructional process and ability to understand, analyze and diagnose faculty, staff, and student technology needs and to support these needs with solutions.
• Knowledge and skills in learning management systems and other instructional technologies.
• Knowledge and skills in graphic design and production with software such as Adobe CS Suite.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills in verbal, written and email contexts.
• Demonstrated ability to plan, manage and oversee complex projects with diverse technological and equipment needs; ability to prioritize multiple projects concurrently to meet deadlines.
• Understanding of instructional technologies and their application for teaching and learning.
• Strong customer service orientation with ability to analyze needs and solve problems quickly.
• Strong project management skills with ability to work independently and collaboratively.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:

• Ability to lift and move equipment weighing up to 50 pounds.
• Ability to accurately discern colors and the pitch, tone, and volume of sound.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s degree.
• Two years experience as an instructional technologist with experience teaching and supporting users in integrating instructional technologies into their projects.
• Two years experience providing learning management system administration and support.
• Finalist candidates must provide a Digital Portfolio of relevant projects and satisfactorily complete the pre-employment background check.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Master’s degree; preference for degree in Instructional Design or Instructional Technology.
• Visual design coursework with experience in digital media applications and projects.
• Experience in providing instructional technology support at a university level.
• Experience in supporting collaboration tools, videoconferencing, and lecture capture tools.
• Experience working with audio, video, web, and streaming technologies; installing, supporting, and troubleshooting desktop and studio hardware and software.
• Knowledge of HTML, HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript.

This is an Exempt position paying $45,000-$52,000 per year, DOE + excellent benefits.

If you meet these qualifications, enjoy a fast paced environment please contact us today – fife@smarttalent.net.

 Learn more about SmartTalent or visit our website.

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A large education organization is looking for a Senior Systems Administrator to join their team.  The primary responsibilities are implementation, backup and maintenance of company-wide servers.  This position collaborates with other members of the IT group to provide an information technology environment.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

Other duties may be assigned

1. Develop schedules for, perform, and monitor daily server backup and weekly off-site tape rotation.
2. Design, implement and perform system administration of organization-wide Windows servers.  This includes testing new releases of OS, creating maintenance procedures, and installing and maintaining system and application software and keeping patches up-to-date.
3. Assist network engineers in:

• Managing the operation, activities and services of the organizations computing network.
• Monitoring and supporting critical network services (e.g. DNS, DHCP, and email).
• Maintaining and monitoring the connectivity to networks, including the internet.
• Maintaining accounts for organization
• Maintaining and coordinating the security of the computer network.
• Performing service calls for network related problems at organization.
• Writing applications using various scripts, macros, and programming languages.
• Providing documentation and training of network services.
• Researching and recommending equipment and software solutions for stated needs.

1. Serve as a primary contact for identifying and solving computer related hardware and software problems.
2. Serve as a Help Desk consultant.
3. Perform general administrative duties as needed.

Minimum Qualifications:

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily.  The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skills, and/or abilities required.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• 5-7 years of experience in systems analysis and/or equivalent combination of related education and experience.
• 2 years of exchange administration experience.
• Ability to operate personal computers and demonstrate proficiency with internet resources and networked environments.
• Ability to learn new technologies and assimilate new information quickly.
• Demonstrated knowledge of Windows system administration and programming using Perl or equivalent scripting language.
• Experience in user services preferred.  Experience with DNS and DHCP and relevant experience beyond the minimum required preferred.
• Experience working in information technology in education environment preferred.
• Must demonstrate a high level of customer service, discretion and confidentiality, and organizational and problem-solving ability.
• Vision for and dedication to the role of a computer network in a disparate environment.
• A proven ability to make technical issues understandable and an ability to match technical opportunities to college goals.
• Ability to perform job duties with minimal supervision, effectively prioritizes work, and adjusts to changing workloads and deadlines.
• Ability to read, analyze and interpret general business periodicals, professional journals, or technical procedures.  Ability to write reports, business correspondence, and procedure manuals.  Ability to present information and respond to questions from diverse groups of people
• Proficiency with MS Office products.

 Working Conditions:

The working conditions described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Work is generally performed indoors in a typical office setting.
• Must be able to work on-call, evenings and/or weekends as needed.  Connectivity and ability to work on the organization’s core systems from remote locations may be required.
• Travel, including overnight travel, may be required.

The salary range DOE for this position is: $59,509 (min) – $74,388 (mid) – $89,264 (max)

Smart Talent offers benefits from the day that you start working, if you feel that this could be a position for you please send your resume in.

If you meet these qualifications, enjoy a fast paced environment and take pride in keeping things very organized, please contact us today – michelle@smarttalent.net.

Learn more about SmartTalent or at www.smarttalent.net.

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