Here at SPARC, it would be an understatement to say, "We LOVE our customers!" In all seriousness, they are awesome. We work with so many totally unique organizations that challenge us to create better, more innovative software, and we love them for it.
 
We had a chance to sit down with one of our favorite SPARCIN customers, Maga Design Group, and turn the tables on them. We asked them a few of the highest rated SPARCIN questions to see what they had to say.
 

What’s your passion?

“Visual communication strategy. We try to bring a different way of visual thinking and problem solving to companies who are facing a strategic shift in the way they do business. We help organizations explain their vision, strategy, technology solutions and projects in a visual way.”
 

How do you measure when a day at work has been “worth it”?

“When we have our clients come to a consensus as a group; it’s a huge part of what we do. We can walk into a room where everyone has a different idea of what the answer to a specific problem should be, and we help them hone their thoughts to develop a collaborative solution.”
 

What makes you weird?

“We’re just a naturally weird bunch. Our office is next to restaurants and hookah bars. We drive Vespas and have mohawks. We love weird.”
 
They are so cool. Way cooler than us. We don't have a Vespa.
 
Learn more about Maga Design Group and how they are using SPARCIN.

Hiring is a pain any way you look at it.
 
SPARCIN has teamed up with
Lee-Anne Scalley, HR-recruiting-and-all-round all star to bring you an eBook packed with quick and easy ways to improve your hiring process. Five Simple Steps to a Better Hire will offer suggestions from the initial application all they way through candidate feedback.
 
And my favorite part? It's fast, and it's funny.
 
Lee-Anne offers tips that YOU can actually implement today, without money, and just a little time. So grab a beverage, download your copy, and enjoy!

About the Author:

Lee-Anne Scalley is a northern transplant living the low-country dream in Charleston, SC. She has been recruiting top talent for several years and runs the highly competitive HR and Recruiting Department at SPARC, LLC, a SC Best Place to Work in 2011. How competitive you ask? In one year, the company grew from 20 employees to over 130 people, a whopping 500%, and Lee-Anne was a big part of that growth.

Last week, our team was in San Diego for the ERE Recruiting Conference and Expo. After two straight days of talking, a crazy red-eye flight, and a lot of Mexican food, I think our biggest take-away was: Recruiters are awesome. We had such a great time chatting with and learning from some of the best of the best.
 
And you know what? We think they had fun hanging out together too! It was clear that there was a general buzz of camaraderie in the air. When the outside world thinks of a bunch of recruiters coming together, we see something like this:
 

source: www.quickmeme.com
 
And if it was like that... we wouldn’t blame you! You’ve got a tough job and often have to stick your neck on the line to grab this best talent. That’s why we think recruiters have to stick together!
 

Our Top 10 Reasons Why Recruiters Need to Stick Together:

1. You can exchange war stories of candidates who look great on paper, but come in dressed like this:

source: www.tarleton.edu
 

2. You can warn each other of Stage 5 Clingers.

source: Tumblr
 

3. You are all in the top 1% of LinkedIn Profiles.

source: www.ere.net
 

4. Six degrees of separation, you never know when you’ll be required to hire Kevin Bacon.

source: www.imbd.com
 

5. You understand what it's like to be a professional stalker.

source: www.digitaltrends.com

6. Your trash might be their treasure.

source: www.imdb.com
 

7. You could get together and write a book about all the dumb things people have said to you.

source: www.memegenerator.net

8. Or all the dumb things you've seen people do.

source: htbthomas.tumblr.com
 

9. Recruiters always have the most fun. Why wouldn't you want to hang out together?

source: www.quickmeme.com

10. But most of all, you have someone to share that moment with, when you find the PERFECT person for the position, who actually understands how difficult that task really can be.

 
And the best news is, together or not, SPARCIN is here to help. SPARCIN helps optimize the face-to-face time spent with the candidates, so finding that perfect fit becomes a little bit easier for you.

Curious?

SPARCIN is gearing up this week to head west and share our interview wisdom with the world. Our team is going to perform an act of magic and be in two places at once! Ok.. Ok.. instead we’ve chosen to divide and conquer to tackle San Diego and Las Vegas.
 
The good news, with this awesome booth, it will be just like we took all of our friends with us!
 

 

Where we are going to be hanging out next week:

ERE Recruiting Conference & Expo - BOOTH #716

San Diego, CA
April 15-17, 2013
 

SHRM 2013 Talent Management Conference & Exposition - BOOTH #304

Las Vegas, NV
April 15-17, 2013
 
Also headed to one of these awesome conferences? Let us know! Tweet us @SPARCINapp or contact us.

We just can’t get enough of The Tim Sackett Project! The HR Blogger world is filled with great content, but we love Tim’s honesty, opinions, personal stories, and the way he tackles controversial situations. Many of his posts stretch beyond the world of HR and are applicable for anyone in the workplace.

Here are a few of the lessons-learned from The Tim Sackett Project this week and why we’ve crowned him the HR Madness Champion!
 
1. Make the most out of what your momma gave you. (Ugly People Hate Recruiting's Newest Silver Bullet)
 
2. Public shaming is never the answer. (My Dongle is Bigger Than Your Dongle)
 
3. Recognize others for their accomplishments. (Direct Deposit has Killed Compensation Motivation)
 
4. Take chances. (Recruiting, Reenvisioned)
 

That’s some pretty solid advice.

Thanks, Tim Sackett, for our weekly dose of inspiration paired with a solid kick-in-the-pants from reality.

An even bigger THANKS goes out to ALL of our participants. Make sure to add everyone from Week One to your daily reads!

Now I know how a referee feels when they truly don’t know which way to make the call. Alas, a decision must be made!

Congratulations to Suzanne Lucas and Tim Sackett for reaching the final round!

With 5+ posts each this week, their blogs were packed full of HR goodness that you need to check out, if you haven’t already.

Evil HR Lady

http://evilhrlady.org – Suzanne Lucas
The Evil HR Lady pushed her way into the championship match late in the week with 4 awesome posts last Friday. She tackled employee turnover, training your boss, and reporting bullies, and much, much more.
 

The Tim Sackett Project

http://www.timsackett.com - Tim Sackett
First of all, I’m pretty sure Mr. Sackett is excited about the way real March Madness has turned out with Michigan State headed to the Sweet 16! He must have channeled all of his positive energy from the games into his blog this week. My personal favorite was his post on offering unique employment experiences. Check it out for inspiration on how to challenge your employees!
 

Are you 4 weeks into this challenge and just a little bit curious about what exactly SPARCIN is or what’s behind this blog?

Even though the real March Madness is just getting started this week, HR Madness is burning strong as we are excited to announce our Final Four! Congratulations to the Suzanne Lucas, Ben Eubanks, Steve Boese, and Tim Sackett whose blogs made it through to another round!

Of course, there’s not a fancy algorithm behind the winners each week, but here’s a little info on why we felt these bloggers stood out above the rest this week:

 
http://evilhrlady.org – Suzanne Lucas
This week featured several Q&A posts based on questions fielded from readers – and there were a few stinky situations, to say the least! From dealing with body odor to knowing when to call it quits, Lucas’s advice hits the mark. There was also a must read if you are planning on hiring contractors in the future!
 
http://upstarthr.com - Ben Eubanks
Upstart HR knocked their blog out of the park this week with an ebook: Employee Performance Management: How to align goals, leverage talent, and avoid and organization train wreck. This quick read is a collection of articles, many written by other HRmadness bloggers, focused around performance.
 
http://steveboese.squarespace.com - Steve Boese
Steve’s posts hit the mark for the SPARCIN team this week touching on interviewing, hiring, tech, and sports – that was pretty much right in our wheelhouse! We do have one small rebuttal, if you are using SPARCIN, you’ll never have the problem of running out of interview questions!
 
http://www.timsackett.com - Tim Sackett
Social Comparison Theory and The Propinquity Effect - this blog was jam packed with valuable lessons, including vocabulary, and real-life examples to complete the big picture ideas. We seriously, couldn’t get enough. Just please don’t call our parents when our team to watches too much basketball this week!

Audrey Butkus!

Occupation: Urban Planner in local government
Location: Dallas, Texas

 
Congratulations Audrey on winning an iPad mini for your participation in the SPARCIN Question Quest! She submitted 20 questions to the SPARCIN Knowledge pool in the categories of Urban Planning, Nonprofits, and Local Government. Check out her community profile and how she answered a few of our favorite questions in SPARCIN:
 

How do you measure when your work day has been "worth it"?

When I win an i-pad mini. That, and when I feel like I've helped a citizen gain the tools they will need to accomplish a new project that will improve the urban fabric of the city.
 

What makes you weird?

I know who Blowy the Whale is, and have heard of his adventures . . . and I don't work for SPARCIN.
 

What's your passion?

Working to improve the quality of life for the people living in my city. And decorating cakes to look like everyday objects. Seriously.
 

What do you like best about SPARCIN?

The i-pad mini giveaways. I also enjoy being able to contribute interview questions for my field of work. Nothing is more annoying than going into an interview and being asked the same, generic questions over and over.

Before we get down to business, we want to thank each and every one of our bloggers for being so awesome about the little competition we created! We have loved the playful trash talk and banter happening on Twitter all week - you have some serious respect for the others in the biz and it shows! The HR world is lucky to have such awesome thought leaders sharing diverse opinions within their profession.

Congratulations to the HR Madness Elite 8!

 
http://hrbartender.com - Sharlyn Lauby
Her late week post pushed her ahead. We love how you handled the “Calling In Sick But Going Out With Friends” situation. We can not agree more that communication is key! Have that potentially uncomfortable conversation before jumping to conclusions.
 
http://evilhrlady.org - Suzanne Lucas
Napping on the job, telecommuting, and getting rid of jerks - this week was an all-around slam dunk! We love your open-minded approach to HR issues!
 
http://upstarthr.com - Ben Eubanks
One word - ROWE. Results Only Work Environment. Yahoo and Best Buy are crushing it, but we like Ben’s perspective.
 
http://www.knowhr.com - Frank Roche
This week alone, Frank managed to work in Ricky Gervais references, bash a few credentials, make shadow puppets, and keep it real. Some seriously tough competition.
 
http://steveboese.squarespace.com - Steve Boese
We had two favorite posts this week from Steve. Listen to your CEO on Twitter and If you need something ask for it. For that very thing. Check it out!
 

http://www.blogging4jobs.com - Jessica Miller-Merrell and Rayanne Thorn
The $404 Million Mistake: Why Startups Need HR. That’s a number that will surely catch your eye. As a start up, this one hit home for us!
 
http://hrschoolhouse.com - Robin Schooling
Change is scary, but not with this awesome advice - Leading when change is on the menu.
 

http://www.timsackett.com/blog - Tim Sackett
Tim might have had a leg up on this competition has a self-declared point guard for his over 40 men’s team, but he definitely earned his way to the Elite 8. He had a killer week of posts sprinkled with sport analogies to boot. And a picture of Tom Brady. Who doesn’t like looking at Tom Brady?
 
It was a tough week of competition, so be sure to give a shout out to everyone we included in tournament #HRmadness. Thanks for being such great sports! Cheers to another week of blogging!

It’s that time of year - March is here! With the tournament quickly approaching, many managers expect productivity to dip slightly as the hits to ESPN increase, but why fight it? We say that if you have a basketball-loving office, embrace the opportunity to build camaraderie and get your team involved! Show games in the breakroom or let people show their school spirit and wear team apparel on game days.
 
In addition, we have decided to take our own little spin on March madness - HR Blogger Style! We have matched up 16 of our favorite blogs for a month-long showdown!
 
Each week we’ll take a look at the content and our team will pick a favorite based on their posts. Don’t worry, this is a purely friendly competition! We think the world of everyone we’ve chosen and value their opinions and insights into the HR world. No prizes will be awarded, no tears will be shed, just a fun way to showcase some of the best HR blogs in the biz!
 
 

THE 2013 HR BLOGGER SWEET SIXTEEN

http://hrminion.com — Shauna Moerke
Quirky, Fresh, Real - we love her opinions and her sense of humor!
 
http://hrbartender.com - Sharlyn Lauby
HR Bartender serves up workplace issues ready for debate.
 
http://www.askamanager.org - Alison Green
Alison is like Dear Abby for the workplace without all the BS and fluff.
 
http://evilhrlady.org - Suzanne Lucas
Her blog name is brilliant, and so is her content.
 
http://upstarthr.com - Ben Eubanks
Its dedicated to the newbies in the field and training the next wave of HR leaders.
 
http://thecynicalgirl.com - Laurie Ruettimann
Her “About” section talks about HR, the apocalypse, and cats - we were sold instantly.
 
http://www.hrcapitalist.com - Kris Dunn
HR, economics, and strategy rolled into one delicious blog of goodness.
 
http://www.knowhr.com - Frank Roche
It’s all in the name. If you follow HR bloggers, you should “know” this guy.
 
http://steveboese.squarespace.com - Steve Boese
For obvious reasons, we geek out over HR tech, but never fear non-techies, Steve’s posts are relevant for everyone.
 
http://hrgalfriday.com - Dominique Rodgers
As a student & HR Assistant, Dominique puts a fresh perspective and twist on everything she delivers. So impressed!
 
http://www.blogging4jobs.com - Jessica Miller-Merrell and Rayanne Thorn
This dynamic duo packed their site full of tools and resources for just about any topic imaginable.
 
http://lisarosendahl.com/blog - Lisa Rosendahl
Simple answers for tough situations - awesome clarity in each post!
 
http://hrschoolhouse.com - Robin Schooling
All of the HR lessons you didn’t learn in your textbooks!
 
http://chinagorman.com - China Gorman
She’s one smart cookie, and better yet, she gives us a reason to look forward to Tuesdays!
 
http://www.timsackett.com/blog - The Tim Sackett Project
Sports analogies and HR - Tim might appreciate our bracket system the most out of any blogger on this list.
 
http://www.noexcuseshr.com - Jay Kuhns
His motto and attitude are unbeatable; he keeps the posts and challenges coming each week!
 
Matches will happen weekly, so keep writing awesome content this month! And stay tuned each week until the championship match! If you have opinions on who you think deserves to win, share in the comments or on Twitter with the hashtag #HRmadness!
 
**Also, if any of the bloggers wish to be removed from the competition, we will gladly do so. This is just meant to be for fun! Please contact us if there are any requests.