1. Narrow your search. Stop applying to jobs that you're not qualified for or don't really want. It's a waste of time. Be honest with yourself when evaluating job postings. If you had to start the job tomorrow, do you have all the skills you'd need to succeed? Or are there areas of the job description that you don't have experience in? While it's always great to be willing to learn, most companies want to hire someone who can jump right in and get started without being trained from scratch. Focus your time on creating great applications for jobs you are well-qualified for instead.

2. Know exactly what you want. Narrowing down your job search may force you to ask yourself tough questions like: What kind of job am I really after? And what skills can I offer an employer? If you're unsure of the answer, make one list of the job skills you excel at and one of the skills you like to use most. Use these skills as search terms in your job search.

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Shatkin answers these essential questions in his book "2011 Career Plan: The Best Moves Now for a Solid Future." In it, he explains that the recovery is a steady upswing, not a hiring boom, and that people will need to be strategic about how and where they pursue employment.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE

Kristin, born in Ohio and raised in Connecticut, graduated from Pennsylvania State University with a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology. After graduation, she worked at Prudential Home Mortgage in Maryland where she quickly went from an entry level Human Resource Assistant to a Recruiter to a Human Resource Generalist, all within four years. Kristin then moved onto Chevy Chase Bank in Maryland to sharpen her skills in Human Resources and Employee Relations as the HR Manager. Relocating back to Connecticut, Kristin decided to switch gears and combine her recruitment and employee relations experience with sales and became the Branch Manager of a national temporary service for four years before starting Lauren Staffing in April 2000 with her partner, Joe Burke. Kristin is a member of SHRM and the American Staffing Association, as well as the Glastonbury Chamber of Commerce. Overall, Kristin has 15 years of experience in Human Resources and the Staffing Industry. Kristin enjoys running and hiking, as well as growing the business with her exceptional staff.

kristin.cameron@laurenstaffing.com

Jennifer Barrett

Jennifer, a New York native, has been in the staffing industry for more than 10 years and has experience in sales, recruiting and management. As Director of Recruitment, Jennifer is responsible for planning and strategy development in addition to her primary role, recruiting. In her recruiting, she uses a consultative approach and strives to make the perfect matches for her candidates and clients by understanding their individual needs and aligning them to benefit both. Jennifer has experience in both temporary staffing and direct hire search, has undergone industry specific training including obtaining the designation, Certified Staffing Professional and has been recognized as a Top Producer, Employee of the Month and Employee of the Year. Prior to joining Lauren Staffing, Jennifer lived and worked in California in the creative staffing industry servicing companies like The Gap and Wells Fargo Bank. She has a Bachelor's Degree in Spanish from Dickinson College and a Master's Degree in Management from the University of Alabama. Jennifer enjoys spending time with her black labs and running during her free time. Click here for more information.

jennifer.barrett@laurenstaffing.com

Jennifer Bruening

Jennifer, a native of Connecticut, joined Lauren Staffing Services in 2004. As Recruitment Specialist, she assists both clients and associates in the process of building strong working relationships, and she especially enjoys the aspect of enabling associates to attain their employment goals. In addition to recruiting, she is also deeply involved in account management and payroll administration. Prior to joining Lauren Staffing, Jenny performed administrative functions for several music education facilities and taught private music instruction in addition to maintaining a performance career. Jenny holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the New England Conservatory of Music and a Master of Music degree from The Hartt School. She is currently a freelance bassoonist as well as a member of several Hartford area symphony orchestras, including Connecticut Virtuosi, the New Britain Symphony Orchestra and the Nutmeg Symphony.

jennifer.bruening@laurenstaffing.com

Carol Doyle

Carol, born in Upstate, NY, has joined Lauren Staffing as New Business Development Manager. Prior to Lauren Staffing, she was Inside Sales Manager for an Israeli wire manufacturing company which was started in the basement of her home. Carol was instrumental in growing sales of this business to over 15 million dollars since its inception in 1991. Carol is well-travelled having visited not only Israel but India, Germany, Cyprus, Italy and France as well. When not on the phone drumming up business at Lauren Staffing, she enjoys gardening, walking and an occasional round of golf. Carol has an Associate’s Degree in Business Retail Management from Cayuga College in Auburn, New York.

carol.doyle@laurenstaffing.com

Amanda Kuhn

Amanda, a Connecticut native, is our Recruitment Coordinator and she helps identify top talent through resume selection, screening, interviewing and testing to make the best matches for our clients. In addition, Amanda assists in general office support and the payroll process. Prior to joining Lauren Staffing, she attended Eastern Connecticut State University where she obtained her Bachelor's degree in Psychology; a perfect match for a career in staffing. In her free time she enjoys spin class and running, as well as spending time with her family and friends. 

amanda.kuhn@laurenstaffing.com

Polamalu the Pug

Pola, born in St. Louis, Missouri and raised in Connecticut, has been the official mascot of Lauren Staffing since February 2006. She is named after Troy Polamalu, a strong safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Pola takes great pride in greeting candidates and clients every day, as well as checking all trash cans for food. In her spare time, she thoroughly enjoys eating, sleeping and taking long walks.

1.  A tab titled "You Tube."  Here you will find great videos posted by our own "Rookie Recruiter," who provides great tips for those of us looking for that added edge to help us succeed in our job-hunting.  Don't be alarmed with the reference to Linium Staffing.  That is our sister company located in New York.  You can check out Linium Staffing if need be here, and on Facebook as well here.

2.  A tab titled "News."  Here you will find any new information posted from this web site.  So, all news that we post on this site will instantly appear on our Facebook page.

3.  A tab titled "Job Openings."  Here you will find our various job openings.  Again, all our jobs will be posted on our corporate web site but if you are more inclined to search our job listings while on Facebook, we have provided you that option.

Click on the big Facebook logo here to find us…and do the "Like" thing….

We look forward to serving both our Clients and Associates in anyway that we can.

Note:  Adobe Flash needs to be installed to view online videos.  To get the Flash Player click the following image

Take the guess work out of hiring skilled print, web and interactive professionals …

Call a Lauren Staffing recruiter today.

"We switched to Lauren Staffing last year when we were unhappy with the quality of candidates that another temp agency, one of the big national firms, began presenting for our temp assignments. We are very happy with the switch. Lauren Staffing has only presented the most highly qualified associates, often exceeding our expectations. Our contacts at Lauren are friendly and accommodating, and have been able to fill every position, temporary as well as temp to hire, quickly and smoothly. They know us by name and know our business needs. We now use Lauren for all of our temporary staffing needs, and often refer others to them as well."
Director of HR – A Farmington construction company

"I have had the privilege of working with Lauren Staffing for the past three years on both temporary and permanent placements. They provide excellent customer service and partner with me to find the best fit for my open positions. They understand not only the position I need to fill, but also how our business operates and what type of individual will be a success in our corporate culture. Lauren Staffing is very responsive in providing me with a complete picture of the candidate from personality to testing scores on various applications. I know when Lauren Staffing presents a candidate; they will most likely become an employee. It has been a pleasure to work with Lauren Staffing."
Human Resources Partner – A Windsor manufacturing company

"Our company has enjoyed a long-standing business relationship with Lauren Staffing. I would like to take this opportunity to express our appreciation of their extremely competent staff. Lauren Staffing personnel always demonstrate professionalism in dealing with their clients. We have been able to count on Lauren Staffing to provide us with qualified professionals to assist us with our staffing needs. Lauren is truly a premier staffing agency."
Human Resources Officer – A Rocky Hill housing finance leader

"I would like to take this opportunity to share with you how much I value my relationship with Lauren Staffing. Having been in Human Resources for over 20 years, I have worked with several temporary agencies throughout the course of my career. That being said, it is hard to find one agency that you can rely on over and over again to fill the job orders with a qualified person. However that is what I have found with Lauren Staffing. I have built a professional relationship with Jennifer Barrett and trust that she will find me qualified candidates for my open position(s) and I can also trust that she will not just send me someone to fill the job. This is very important to me because ultimately the temporary employees that I bring into our company, is a reflection on me and my department. Since we very rarely hear the ?good? I wanted to take the time to express my appreciation to Lauren Staffing for going the extra mile. Keep up the good work!"
Office Manager – A Middletown company

"I have worked closely with Lauren Staffing for the past year with respect to temporary and permanent placement of employees. It is a pleasure working with Lauren Staffing – the staff listen and quantify my staffing needs very well. The staff are proactive, concerned and handle my requests in a timely fashion."
Office Manager – A Hartford law firm

"I have utilized Lauren Staffing in Glastonbury to fill our Receptionist position when needed, at (Our Company) located in Rocky Hill, CT. I have consistently been sent high quality temporary employees. I have had three Lauren Staffing employees in total at various times in the past two years. Each temporary employee provided to me by Lauren Staffing was dependable, intelligent and possessed a high level of technical skills. In addition, each Lauren Staffing temporary employee has been resourceful, quick learners and has fit quite nicely in our office environment; getting along with all our permanent employees. I currently have a temporary employee as I write this from Lauren Staffing whom I am again very pleased and satisfied with. If it had been a possibility, I would have been more than happy to permanently employ any of the three employees I have been sent from Lauren Staffing. In fact, if there is an upcoming need to fill our Receptionist position again, I am going to utilize Lauren Staffing this time to fill the position as a temp to perm instead of recruiting elsewhere."
Executive Assistant – A Rocky Hill underwriting agency

"Lauren Staffing is always very courteous and accommodating. They were able to meet our temporary needs on short notice with qualified candidates!"
Office Manager – A Hartford law firm

"I have worked with Lauren Staffing for the past several years. The firm is always professional and they always find a good fit for our staffing needs. I currently work with Jennifer Barrett and Kristin Cameron and they both excel at what they do."
Human Resources Manager – An environment-friendly waste disposal organization

"I have found the staff to be professional, accommodating and very tuned to our specific business needs. They have a keen sense of the type of employee we are looking for and only send us candidates that meet our qualifications. I enjoy working with Lauren Staffing and use them exclusively for all our administrative placement needs."
Office Manager – A Glastonbury insurance company

"…But of course if the need arises, yours is the only temp agency we ever use and the only one we ever would use."
Director – A community resource agency

For years, researchers have argued in favor of staffing firms and their ability to gauge economic vitality. Some go further to suggest that increases in staffing jobs are key indicators of an end to a recession. These times being some of the most difficult in recent memory, a favorable increase in staffing jobs can be seen as a light at the end of the tunnel. “A sustained upturn in temporary help employment would signal the end of the current recession,” note researchers on behalf of the American Staffing Association. ASA’s report further indicates that the economy would start to rebound within three months of a sustained upturn, based on statistical trends from the last three recessions.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released welcome news earlier this month, reporting that for the period between December 2009 and January 2010, temporary employment increased by some 250,000 jobs. This increase in staffing employment makes last month the best January in over twenty years, according the BLS. Further, temporary employment has been on a steady increase since September 2009. This means companies are becoming more confident in the strength of the economy, have increased workloads, and are looking for temporary solutions to improve workflow.

Staffing firms to the rescue! Recent activity in quite a few economic sectors indicate that companies are seeking temporary workers to fulfill vital functions, notes John Henka, sales manager for Midwest Staffing. “Some of our largest clients really ramped up in January,” he said. “These companies are starting to see that we act as a buffer, allowing them to hire employees on a temporary basis with the option of becoming permanent.” John said that he has seen an increase in staffing requests in manufacturing and government sectors; the medical and food industries are also gaining considerable speed.

Whether all this spells an end to the deepest recession since the Great Depression is yet to be determined. “My hope is that the national upturn in staffing employment will have a ripple effect and a lasting impact,” said Jeff Merwin, business development specialist for Midwest Staffing. “Right now, I am planting seeds by telling clients how we can help them when things turn around.” If current trends in staffing employment continue to remain stable—and, hopefully, increase—the American economy may be well on its way to a full recovery.