 Hello, welcome to Out of the Comfort Zone. I'm your host, Arby Kelly, and you're watching OC16 Television with Think Tech Hawaii. Now, usually I open up with a body language tip and a book of the week, but today I'm really, really excited for our guests, so I'm just going to skip that because you're going to get a lot of tips during this interview, so please help me welcome Sean Knox. Hey, hello. Thank you, Sean. Thank you so much for coming. Hey, my pleasure. Thanks for having me. My pleasure. What exactly do you do? Sure, Hawaii Employment is an employment agency, and so we are out there really working with a wide range of businesses and helping them fulfill their labor needs. That can be anything from individuals sorting through recycling out in Nanakuli through to executives looking for six-figure job opportunities. We do educational staffing. We do staffing at the convention center, and we're throughout the state. We have offices over in the Hui, Kahalui, Kona, and we're actually expanding into Hilo now, so we're really excited about that. Wow. Wow, you are expanding. That's impressive. Thanks. So it seems like this is a really unique thing to do. How did you get into this line of work? Great question. My wife and I were living in England from 96 to 99, and we were looking for an opportunity to move back to Hawaii. I'm originally from the Big Island, born and raised there in Hawaii, started off in the Hama Kua Sai, and ended up moving to Maui, and graduated from high school there, and moved away to the mainland to college, and then lived in England, and always wanted the opportunity to move home, and in 99 was really kind of the beginning of not too far into the internet age, and did a job search online, found an opportunity in sales and marketing, which involved recruiting and staffing, and really thought there was an opportunity there for me that was more rewarding than my current job. You know, the idea of helping people find work and getting matched to employers, it sounded really enticing, and was fortunate enough to land the opportunity, and have had a blast ever since. Good. Yeah. What an adventure. It was, yeah. So in your opinion, what is it that kind of holds people back? When they're staying in a job, they don't like it, they don't want to be there. What holds them back and keeps them from branching out and searching for another job? Well, I was in that space in 99. I was very comfortable in the career that I had, wasn't completely satisfied with the opportunity, and was worried that my skills didn't transfer into another industry. You know, I'd been doing that job for five years, and was worried that I didn't have a marketable skill set out there in the business community. And so, and I think that translates to a lot of people that, you know, there may be an opportunity right now, and they're just concerned that, am I going to have to take a large pay cut to move into a different industry? Do I have the skills necessary that another employer might be interested in? And my advice to someone that's in that position right now is, this is a perfect time to be evaluating that type of career, how those career contemplations, because the unemployment rate in Hawaii is so low and employers are looking for individuals that have the fundamental background and work skills that are challenging in the low unemployment market, people who will show up on time, people who are professional, people who are articulate, hardworking. And so if you have those, that core work ethic, then you're going to be marketable. That makes sense. Yeah. I'm curious. Do you usually start when a company contacts you saying, hey, we're looking for someone to fill this position? Or does it usually start when a person comes to you saying, hey, I don't like where I am. This is my dream opportunity. Can you find me something like that? What does the process look like? Chicken and the egg. What comes first? So it really is, it has to be a simultaneous effort. Really every day we are placing classified ads out for the current job opportunities that we are staffing for. But there's also a lot of positions that we know may be coming up. So we want to be in front of that conversation. We want to have the talent in place so when the client does call and they need an administrative professional to work out a school field that we have the individual in place that can get through the gate. Yeah, exactly. When people call an employment agency, usually it's a fairly 911 situation. They need someone that can start now, as quickly as possible. So if you don't have that pool of candidate base, then you're going to be missing out of some opportunities. That makes sense. It's very interesting. So I'm curious, do you prep your people for their interviews that they're going to have to do in order to land the job? Yeah. There's certain positions where interviews aren't required by the employer. In the low-skilled labor types of positions where they just need a certain amount of people to come for the day to help move equipment, work at the landfill. Those are positions where they trust the screening process that we've gone through. On a more professional level, when we're dealing with those executives that are looking at engineering opportunities or CFO, a controller type of positions, yeah. We want to provide them feedback in order for them to succeed and walk through what will be a difficult conversation, and it's not natural for a lot of people to go in and ace an interview, especially if they haven't had an interview in a while. They may have been working at their last employer for eight to ten years. Now they find themselves out in the job market, or they're wanting to be in the job market. The resumes far out of date, they haven't interviewed. Yeah, exactly. So yeah, we want to make sure that they're in a position to succeed. That makes sense. So what kind of process do you walk them through? How do you train them on the interviews? It really comes down to the employee that comes through the door. Some of them are polished, ready, ready to go. They know the fundamentals of an interview being on time, dressing professionally, making sure that you've researched the company in advance. So those are tips that we want to give them, reminders that we want to give them. But there are some individuals that show up to our interview, maybe a little bit late. They may have a tongue piercing and they're going, they're applying for very professional positions. And so tongue piercings are fine in certain elements, but- But it's not the thing you want to convey. Yeah, it may not be the right first image that you want to portray when you're going for administrative assistant position at a bank, or an insurance company, where they're a little bit more strict on the dress code and visible tattoos. So that's when we would coach them on, okay, you probably want to wear a long sleeve shirt if you have visible tattoos. Take out your tongue stud, make sure that you lie yourself at least a 15 minute cushion before you go to the interview. Do a thorough research on the company and prep yourself. Think about what common questions are going to be asked during that interview that you already know the answers to, and it can just make that conversation a little bit more fluid. That makes sense. Now, I know when we talked earlier, we also talked about the body language of interviews. What do you focus on when you're training your people for these interviews? Eye contact is always important. Smiling, you can never smile too much in an interview. People want to be comfortable with someone that they're bringing into their office environment. And if you're sitting there, arms crossed, avoiding eye contact, just slouching, not being engaged in the conversation, that's a big tail for an employer. And you have to think about it in their eyes. Is this someone that is really engaged in this opportunity, excited about the position that we have, excited about the company, who we are? And if they're not portraying that in the interview, then let's see who else is available. That makes sense. Yeah. I think that I've noticed that has sometimes tripped people up is western culture, like mainlanders, they have a different idea of eye contact than islanders or the locals do. And so when it comes to eye contact, like, this is something I learned the hard way growing up, I didn't know any of this. But when it comes to eye contact, if you make too much eye contact, your scene is like creepy or aggressive. And this is something I tried in high school because I was trying to get a boyfriend. And so I'd look at these boys and they'd look at me and they'd look away and I'd keep looking at them, waiting for them to see what great eye contact we had. That doesn't actually work. But if you're not giving enough eye contact, people think you're ignoring them, you're avoiding them, you're being disrespectful. And so when you have the mainlanders who are used to making more eye contact and the islanders who are used to making less eye contact, each group thinks the other person is either being creepy or ignoring them based on their eye contact. So that's something that in job interviews and sales, that's something that a lot of people run into that kind of hurts their senses. It stumbles along. Yeah, and that's where it just comes down to situational awareness. You have to go into a room and feed off the cues that are given to you by the person you have the conversation with. Because they may not be as professional or polished as you are. It doesn't mean you have to, I guess, bring your levels of communication down a notch. It's just finding a rhythm that flows well with the conversation, as well as posturing that flows well with the conversation. That makes sense. I really like that. Can you tell us any stories about people who have come into this agency and then gotten a job? Who talks about that success? It happens every day. We're glad to report that we have a really high match ratio. Right now, if you're willing to work and you're ready to work, come to Hawaii Employment, and we're going to get you a job. It really comes down to that. What I'm excited about now is we're moving in. We've brought on this professional recruiter that has a strong background in staffing in the military sector and IT positions. And so Vanessa Perez came to us with a strong background in online recruiting and staffing. And we're really going hard into that sector. And we're hoping to provide more opportunities for the military families that come to Hawaii, whether it's a spouse or people transitioning out. We want to be that go-to resource that they're looking for. Because we have a lot of job opportunities that really require individuals to have base access. And so when we get those military spouses and they come to us, and they're getting frustrated with maybe some rejection in the local market, we can help be that bridge and provide them the links, the guidance to opportunities here in Hawaii that they may not know enough. That makes sense. Because I'm a military wife myself. And I know when I came here, it was like, I don't know anyone. I don't have any of the resources. I have no network. So if I'd known about you back then, I might not be sitting here on the show today. I might be working. But that is fascinating. That is so cool that you're branching out and trying to find more people to serve, more people to match up with these different opportunities. Yeah. You know, a perfect example of that. There's schools on the base for daycare. And they're having a very hard time filling those positions, which is a domino effect if the families can't find coverage for the kids. And they can't go to work. And so we're working with them to try and provide that solution that we have teachers in place. We have, any given day, 60, 70 substitute teachers working for us throughout the island of Oahu. We would love to be that resource to those daycares on the base so that the families can go out and get the jobs that they want in order to be a little more balanced here in Hawaii. Because it is tough. You moved to Hawaii. Like you said, you don't have friends. You don't have your network. And all the resources that you can give to those families to make that transition better, it just makes for a much more pleasant experience. I love that. I love that so much. So viewers, we are going to be back in just a second with more questions about job interviews and how you can succeed. But stay tuned for a brief message from our sponsors. This guy looks familiar. He calls himself the ultra fan. But that doesn't explain all this. Why? Why? He planned this party, planned the snacks, even planned to coordinate colored shirts. But he didn't plan to have a good time. Now you wouldn't do this in your own house, so don't do it in your team's house. Know your limits and plan ahead so that everyone can have a good time. Welcome back. You're in the right place. I'm your host, RB Kelly. And this is Out of the Comfort Zone with special guest, Sean Knox. Now when we left, Sean was telling us about his company and how it helps people and how if you are just coming to the island, whether you've been here all your life or you're just moving in as a military family, there are so many opportunities that his company can connect you with. Now Sean, I'm wondering, how has your company grown? I'm sure you didn't start out fully staffed, ready to go. What has the growth process been for you? That's a great question. In 2005, I left my employer at the time to start an agency called Poi Employment. It was literally a mom and pop operation. My wife decided to leave her job as an occupational therapist and she was our bookkeeper, payroll person. And it was the two of us we did well and then the recession hit and it was a little more challenging in 2008, 2009. And we found a very strong strategic partner with the Hawaii Group. They had accounting services in-house. They had payroll services in-house. And that allowed my wife to leave her role as a bookkeeper and go back into her chosen career as occupational therapist. And so we were very fortunate at that point to partner with the Hawaii Group and at that point it was myself and a part-time administrative assistant. And the reason why we're at, now we have 29 staff throughout the state. So that's, yeah, so since 2010 we have really enjoyed some nice growth. And the key to that has really been the people that we've brought on board. We started off with Barbara Gus who has a really strong background in executive staffing and placement that we brought in another individual that had a background in industrial staffing, agriculture, hospitality. So we then found ourselves placing field workers on Oahu, Adenkonea and over on Kauai. And then we're working with the Convention Center providing them janitorial services, staffing, supplemental security and now we're working with them to provide the dishwashers and stewards for their events. And we just kept growing. And we knew we wanted to get into educational staffing. We didn't have the right person that we felt had that knowledge of the education system. There was a teacher that wanted to move into staffing and for years we were struggling with that and we were very fortunate to find Mary and Lomado. She has a background, 15 years as a teacher, two years as a vice principal. She started this educational staffing program for Hawaii Employment which has just been phenomenal. The teachers enjoy, the services we provide, we're getting great feedback from the schools. And that's just how it's grown. It just starts with the employees that we're able to bring on board. They have that commitment to serving both of our clients. So when the businesses call us, they have a need. They have to have that labor component in order to make sure their operation is successful. And we have employees that reach out to us and are looking for those job opportunities. And it's a pretty heavy responsibility when you're dealing with an individual that may be living paycheck to paycheck or is looking for this opportunity to support their family. And it's not something we take lightly. So the staff that we have on board really go the extra mile to learn about the individuals that come in. They're not temp employees or employees of Hawaii Employment. What's going to work for Joe, Susie, Bob, whoever comes through the door. We can't just assume that they're going to want to work at a certain location. We have to talk to them. Draw out what part of the island works well for them. What compensation range are they willing to take? What can they do? What can't they do? What do they want to do? What don't they want to do? And so getting to know them as individuals allows us to make that match just that much better. And how much does it cost for someone coming in? They're looking for a job. They're coming to you. What is that? How much does that cost for them? There's no cost to an employee. Well. Yeah, so the employees that come in, we don't feel it's right to charge them for our services. They're needed a job for a reason. And it's just not the way we operate it. They come in board. Our fees are contingent to the client. And they know that going into it. So they're looking for us to provide them that labor. And they know that we have to cover our costs. And that's always included in the discussion with the client. I love that. So viewers, if you are watching this and you are thinking, I do not like my job. And you're thinking, but I don't have the money to coast while I search for another job. You should be paying attention. How can people contact you if they want to learn more? Sure. Hawaii Employment, we're pretty easy to find. We're at hiemployment, sorry, hi-finnemployment.com. We have all of our jobs listed there. You can also reach us at 808-695-3974. If you go to our website, we do have the contact information for our local offices on the outer islands. Again, we have a location in Lihue, Kahalui, Kona. And we're now staffing positions in Hilo. Now, what makes your company different from some of the other employment agencies here? Sure. We would be what you'd consider a generalized employment agency. So whether a client needs someone to drive a forklift in a warehouse or do paperwork in the office for that same operation, we can staff both those positions. So there's a lot of agencies that aren't so comfortable doing industrial and light labor staffing. That's sort of been an area of comfort for us. It's a big portion of our business, but we do agricultural staffing. We also place teachers, we place professional executives, engineers. So we work with the spectrum of individuals. And so it can be a one-stop shop if you wanna talk about what makes us different is, there's not a lot of generalized employment agencies that can cover the wide range of positions that we staff for, but really it's a team that we have. We have an excellent group of recruiters that really take a lot of pride in their work and they enjoy what they do. That makes all the difference. It does, it does. So where do you see this company going in the next five years? What's the plan for you? Sure. As I mentioned, we're moving into the Hilo market. We're really excited about that. We already have some clients that are at that location. And when you have an office in Kona, Hilo, even though now it's, I think only about an hour and 20 minutes away, it still is the other side of the island. So in order for us to have a presence there, we need to have an office. And it means a lot to me, because I grew up in Hilo. And so it'll be very fulfilling when we're able to launch that location, have a brick and mortar location in Hilo. As I also talked about, we are moving into more contracting and hopefully staffing at the military locations and pulling in federal contracts. So in the final stages of getting their government service agreement or GSA, so we're a little more competitive in that market. That'll be nice. Yeah, it will be. We're excited about that. All right. And then I know we've got about maybe seven, eight minutes left. So just for the sake of our viewers, can you give us any more interview tips? Sure. You know, when you're interviewing for a job, you've already got your foot in the door through your resume, right? And so what a business or what a hiring manager wants to know is, are you able to do the job? Are you interested in the job? And are you going to be a fit for their team? And so the resume gives a snapshot of your skills, but they're going to be throwing some technical questions at you, so you're going to want to make sure you're prepared for that. The match do you want the job is also really important. And we talked about the body language there as a key component to that conversation because if you're not engaged in the conversation, you're not really showing much interest. If you haven't done your homework ahead of time to learn more about the company and the job, you're not going to ask the inquisitive questions and make sure that it's a match for you because ultimately it's got to be a win on both sides of the equation. And so you really want to take that time to get to know the business, really research the job and make sure it's the right opportunity for you. And that's going to make that interview process go that much smoother. So can you do the job? Are you interested in the job? So don't play hard to get. You don't have an agent out there looking out for you, trying to get the best deal. If you're excited about the job, let the employer know and try and close the deal. Let them know. I had a great time meeting with you. What's the next step in this process? And always, always follow up with a thank you note. Hand written is always preferred, but at least by email is really important. You want to make sure again that the employer knows that you're engaged and excited about the opportunity. I love this. Now in your, when you were growing up, did you ever make mistakes in not using any of these tips that you've just given us? Oh, all the time, yeah. So it's one of those things that you kind of learned along the way. I didn't have an interview coach coming out of college. Yes, they did some kind of career coaching for lack of a better term. But no, there are times that even internal positions when I was at the previous company, there's jobs that I thought I was the most qualified for, but I stepped out of the interview realizing, you know, I wasn't as prepared as I should have been and I didn't get the job. So yeah, there's hard lessons along the way and the key to that is just preparing yourself, just making sure that you do everything you can to make sure that you're better than the other guy that they're interviewing for that job. I love that. And it sounds like you have learned from your early mistakes. The ones that we all make when we're interviewing, we all do this. And so you're trying to make it so the people who come to your business, to your foundation, they don't have to make those mistakes. They have the best chance of getting the job full stop. Absolutely. I love that. Thanks. Now, we've got just a couple of minutes left. Can I share with you a cool study that talks about body language in job interviews. So this is a cool study. It was done by science of people, but the study took a bunch of college kids and had them apply for mock job interviews. And the job interviews were only about 20 minutes long, but they filmed the interviews. And then they gave them to a group of evaluators and they were rated for warmth, competence, and higher ability. And then they went back to the videos and they cut them down to they were just 20 seconds long. So all these candidates had time to do was open the door, walk in, shake hands and sit down, and then we ended the tape. So now they hadn't even had a chance to say a word. And we gave these 20 second films to another group of trained evaluators and they were rated for warmth, competence, and higher ability. And so now we have a 20 minute and a 20 second video for each candidate and two sets of ratings. And then we compared the ratings. And it would make sense. A lot of people, especially our viewers, will probably think that, oh, if you have a high 20 second rating, like you walk in really confident, but then you bomb the interview, you'll have a low 20 minute rating. And a lot of them would think that, oh, if you walk in really shy, really nervous, you'll have a low 20 second rating, but then if you blossom and know all the answers, you'll have a high 20 minute rating. Scientists people found that wasn't the case at all. It was actually the way you walked in, if you walked in and you had a high 20 second rating, you had a high 20 minute rating. If you had a low 20 second rating, you had a low 20 minute rating, which suggests that, yes, you absolutely have to be on time. You have to be dressed sharp and you have to look excited to be there and you have to look like you know what you're talking about. Because that first impression is one of the most important parts of the interview. And that's one of the ways that people judge you the most. No, that's fantastic, great, that's an excellent example. I bet that doesn't surprise you at all. No, no, it doesn't, but yeah. I haven't heard about it in that context, but it makes absolute sense and you're right. You never get a second chance to make that first impression as an old saying, but it really rings true, especially when you're applying for a job. I love it. Thank you so much for coming, Sean. Oh, you're welcome. I'm really pleased to have you here. Thank you. And I hope we get a chance to talk again. I'd love to have you back. Great, thank you. All right, so viewers, you've heard it from us. The expert and me about job interviews. So if you are hating your job, if you know someone who needs a new job, if you are struggling to pay the bills, looking for a second job, whatever it is, you don't have to be unhappy where you are. There are steps you can take to branch out and get closer to fulfilling your dreams. So if you are needing help, if you are wanting to find another job, please reach out, look up the Hawaii Employment Foundation and get in there today to start making your dreams come true. And yes, it'll force you to get out of the comfort zone, but it will be worth it. Thank you, everyone, and I'll see you next week.