Michael J. Zwick, president of Assets International, LLC, is our latest "Hired!" profile.  Assets International, based in Southfield, is a licensed private investigation agency that specializes in locating missing heirs and others who do not know that they are the...

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Filed under: Information Technology | Southfield, MI

Michael J. Zwick, president of Assets International, LLC, is our latest "Hired!" profile.  Assets International, based in Southfield, is a licensed private investigation agency that specializes in locating missing heirs and others who do not know that they are the beneficiaries of assets that we locate.

Q. What types of positions have you filled within last year?

A. We created and filled four new positions, an associate in-house attorney, a vice-president of business development and two research analysts. We also hired two new secretaries, one to replace an employee whom we terminated and another assume the role of someone whom we promoted within our company to office manager. We also hired a new research analyst to replace someone whom we terminated.

Q. What types of skills required of these positions?

A. The attorney position required both a legal background and some management experience. The business development position required great organization and people skills. The research analyst
positions required prior experience in database searches and genealogy research. The secretary positions required basic knowledge of Microsoft Office software and people skills.

Q. What's the top thing you look for in a new hire?

A. In most cases, more than practical experience, we look for people who can work well with others and who have dealt with similar people or situations as they will when working for us. For example, we
have two people whose work is almost exclusively obtaining information from government bodies and large corporations and other for-profit entities. One of those people came to us from being a legal secretary at Chrysler while the other worked an office job in the United States Air Force. We hired them for their current positions because they had proven their ability to succeed in the mazes of bureaucracy.

Q. What's one thing that HR managers look for in a new hire that job seekers should
focus on in interviews, resumes, etc.?

A. Most HR managers and hiring officers get hundreds if not thousands of resumes for each position they are filling. Since the skills and experience that the better applicants have may not be so distinguishable, we look for those who will get our attention without being over the line about it.
 

PriveCo Inc. president Tom Nardone tells us what it takes to be Hired by his company.

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Filed under: Retail | Troy, MI

Tom Nardone is president of PriveCo Inc., a Troy, Michigan-based company.  Nardone has expanded his team in the past year and offers Michigan Innovators an insider’s look at what it takes to be hired by the “world’s most private company.” 

Our Q & A with Nardone:

Q. Tell us about PriveCo.

A. PriveCo, The World's Most Private Company, offers embarrassing products in professional shopping environments, online. It specializes in answering questions that are embarrassing to ask and delivery products that are embarrassing to buy.  Every order is processed by our team here in metro Detroit.

Q. What types of positions have you filled within last year?

A. We've hired a copywriter (paid intern), a marketing coordinator (paid intern) and two full time people for our warehouse.

Q. What types of skills are required of these positions?
A. Writing, analytical / marketing skills, manual skills, and reading comprehension

Q. What's the top thing you look for in a new hire?
A. Loyalty / Durability. We look for hires that have worked at another company for a long time, especially if that other company doesn’t seem that great to work for.  We know that this type of person will be happy working here.

Q. What's one thing that HR managers look for in a new hire that job seekers should focus on in interviews, resumes, etc.?
A. I feel that the cover letter is important, but nothing is as important as a stable work history.

Jordan Komoto, HR lead with Ann Arbor-based fuel cell manufacturer Adaptive Materials, kicks off our new "Hired" series.

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Filed under: Adaptive Materials, Inc. (AMI) | Ann Arbor, MI

Jordan Komoto, HR lead with Ann Arbor-based fuel cell manufacturer Adaptive Materials, kicks off our new "Hired" series.  In his role at Adaptive Materials, Komoto is charged with interviewing candidates for open positions and has some pretty good insider's knowledge on the do's and don'ts of the process. 

Our Q&A with Komoto:

Q. Tell us a little bit about Adaptive Materials

A. Adaptive Materials is the leader in portable fuel cell power. Our systems power a variety of military and commercial applications and run off readily available propane. Our core values of attitude, empowerment, innovation, and growth signify a commitment to cool thinking, organizational and personal advancement, and creative freedom.

Q. What types of positions has your company filled within last year?

A. Mechanical Engineer, Test Engineer, Manufacturing Engineer, Controls Engineer

Q. What are the types of skills required of these positions?
A. Demonstrated experience as a successful product design, process improvement, or test and validation engineer. We look for individuals who have had proven success as an individual contributor in a collaborative environment. We don’t look for followers; we want people who have demonstrated the ability to provide leadership in their field of expertise, without necessarily having served as a manager. As a small organization, we look for individuals who will fit into the small company culture—people who are always willing to lend a hand outside of their job description and break down or simply go around barriers to get the project done.

Q. What's the top thing you look for in a new hire?
A. Confidence, competence, and a willingness to learn. A person may not be the best interviewer, but as long as they can demonstrate they are competent, willing to learn, and confident they can be successful, it will show through in an interview.

Q. What's one thing that HR managers look for in a new hire that job seekers should focus on in interviews, resumes, etc.?
A. Concise results from your previous employment. Don’t just tell us what was in
your job description; we want to know what you were able to accomplish in your
previous position(s).

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LectureTools allows instructors and students to interact in new ways in and out of classrooms. Developer Perry Samson talks about its potential for learning and for the future of textbooks.

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Filed under: Ann Arbor, MI | Perry Samson | Teaching | University of Michigan | Web 2.0

College instructors are increasingly using "student response systems" to encourage interactive learning in their classrooms. Most existing systems use "clickers," relatively limited standalone devices which students must purchase. Perry Samson, a professor of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Michigan, has developed a web-based technology, LectureTools, which allows students to use devices they already have: laptops, tablet PCs, even smartphones. LectureTools lets them interact in and out of a classroom in a wide variety of ways. For example, students can

• take notes and associate them with the instructors' slideware presentation,
• draw on the instructors' slides,
• ask questions of the instructor during the class,
• indicate their level of confidence with the material, and
• respond to a variety of questions. For example, students can answer questions using images; they can establish associations between concepts and ideas, and they can reorder texts, statements and arguments.
• Students can also review their notes and a lecture podcast or video after class.

In this video, Perry Samson talks about the present and the future of LectureTools and how it may save textbook publishing -- by providing an affordable and smart electronic textbook.