Posts by Amy Simpson
Why Passive Candidates Are Like Bananas
When referring to the candidate market, the term market is often used in relation to candidates as a commodity, but the more traditional definition of the word as it pertains to a store is also applicable. To run with this analogy, we have to think about candidates as products, but we also have to be…
Read MoreRetained-Like Services on a Contingency Basis
The James Allen Companies has established a reputation of quality and integrity within the insurance industry and has done so by presenting companies with highly qualified professionals quickly and effectively. In our constant efforts to provide exceptional service, we explored the search solutions of several competitors and were surprised to discover that while we also…
Read MoreHow Moneyball Helps Us Find the Right Talent
“Adapt or die.” That’s the response Billy Beane offers his head scout when the latter challenges Beane’s (at the time) unorthodox method of recruiting the best baseball talent in the film Moneyball, the 2011 sports drama that chronicles the true story of the Oakland A’s 2002 baseball season and how they found success by ignoring…
Read MoreAn Optimist’s Guide to Staffing in Today’s Market
As predictions of the insurance talent shortage continue to actualize, it’s easy to become pessimistic about the prospects of meeting the increasingly complex demands of staffing in such an unpredictable landscape. This becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy of negativity, because that very pessimism often plays into the hiring process, creating obstacles where we should be finding…
Read MoreThe Eleventh Hour Part 3: The Experience Gap
We have discussed how the three primary generations that comprise the pool of insurance industry talent (baby boomers, generation x and millennials) each present a unique problem in terms of the workforce. In part two we continued to explore how betting on technology to compensate for dwindling manpower could be nothing more than wishful thinking.…
Read MoreThe Eleventh Hour Part 1: The Crises at Hand
As suggested by the title, this post is only one piece of a larger series entitled The Eleventh Hour. In this four-part series we outline the major crises facing the job market of the insurance industry. We find the title of this series apt in that it accurately portrays just how close the industry is…
Read MoreUnderstanding the Millennial Workforce
To understand the motivations of the Millennial generation is to crack one of the great codes of modern staffing. Companies across a wide variety of industries are anxious to better understand what a Millennial workforce means to their business, and the insurance industry is no exception. While there is some disagreement on the exact years…
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