Many Warm Coats

Our coat drive was a huge success thanks to the support of our internal staff, our field employees and our customers. We were able to collect a significant amount of warm clothing to donate to The Caring Place in Allentown. From all of us at Allied, please accept our sincere thanks. We are looking forward to making this coat drive an annual event!

Coming up in February, we’ll be participating in the American Cancer Society’s Daffodil Days. We’ll be offering bouquets (always a hit with the Allied staff), vases and teddy bears to benefit local cancer patients. For more information about this event, please visit the American Cancer Society.

One Warm Coat

2010 is certainly off to a chilly start, which actually is perfect for our first community involvement event of the year.

Allied is collecting clean, gently used coats and jackets as part of the One Warm Coat community service project. Coats of all shapes sizes are welcome. One Warm Coat is dedicated to distributing reusable coats, free of charge, directly to local children and adults. The program is an easy way for you and your family to pass along coats and jackets that you no longer need and to help make sure that nobody goes without such a basic necessity as a coat this winter.

Clean outerwear of every size is appreciated – our goal is to provide as much warmth to those in need as possible. Please consider cleaning out your closets and donating items like coats, sweaters, jackets and sweatshirts. Hats, gloves and scarves are also appreciated. Donations may be dropped off in our Allentown office (752 Union Boulevard) now through January 15th between 8am and 5pm.

Your donated items will be delivered to The Caring Place in Allentown. The Caring Place provides programs and activities for disadvantaged young people throughout the Lehigh Valley.

For more information about clothing drives, please visit One Warm Coat today.

We appreciate your support and your donations.

'Twas the Night Before...

‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through Allied,
The phones had stopped ringing – the circuits were fried!
It was finally quiet at the end of the day,
With the staff looking forward to a long holiday.

As we walked to the parking lot, covered in snow,
We heard a faint jingle and a HO HO HO.
High above in the sky was a sight plain and clear.
It was Santa, his sleigh and his team of reindeer!

He hovered above us, suspended in air,
While we all stood below in an open-mouthed stare.
Each one of the reindeer seemed perfectly tame,
And they jumped into action when he called out their names.

“Now Dasher! Now Dancer! Now Prancer and Vixen!
On Comet! On Cupid! On Donner and Blitzen!
It’s just hit me now, what I haven’t tried –
I’ve got to get down there and into Allied!”

It was then Old St. Nick arrived at our door,
An unplanned stop during his grand tour.
He winked at Amy, Barb and Lena
And pulled up a chair by Julie and Gina.

Santa let out a sigh and a little half sob,
He said, “I’m here because I need a job!”
“There’s not tons of cash in driving a sleigh,
I’m hoping for work after the holiday.”

Julie and Gina went straight back to Kelly,
While Santa sat waiting with his hands on his belly.
Where to send Santa when the economy’s dipping?
Christy and Connie can place him in shipping!

Now that the Allied team had a plan,
John and Susan sat down with the man.
As St. Nick heard the news his mood started to perk;
He was leaving tonight with a new line of work!

Laura and Jenna told him when to get started,
Amita gave directions before he departed.
We knew that night he had miles to go,
To deliver his packages tied with a bow.

And where were Valynn, Janell and Fred?
They were out sneaking treats to the team with the sled.
Evan and Erica were peeking at presents,
While Jen played with Rudolph (who was really quite pleasant).


Inside Santa leapt up with a laugh and a wink,
“That I almost flew by is too much to think!”
He left us wrapped gifts as he dashed out the door,
“This is just my first stop! There’s much more in store!”

He jumped in his sleigh while we watched in awe,
And the reindeer started to prance and to paw.
With one mighty push they sailed off the ground,
As Santa said “Allied has the best jobs in town!”

Too Much of a Good Thing

Recently a client asked me about trends within the applicant pool. As we talked, our conversation gravitated toward one particular trend – candidates who are too coached and how that negatively affects an interview.

You may think that “practice makes perfect” applies to interview preparation and the more you rehearse the better you’ll do. Let me explain why this doesn’t necessarily apply to interviewing.

The purpose of an interview is for a company to discover detailed information about your work experience and your job history, including the reasons for leaving jobs and the specific skills you possess. Equally important, sometimes even more important, a company needs to assess your fit for their environment. This is where too much practice can be a problem.

The pattern I’ve heard in the past two weeks has been in applicants who talk about the importance of “networking” in the job search and how they are especially “effective at building relationships”. Both are important concepts but virtually all of these candidates use the exact same phrasing over and over. It appears as if a particularly compelling article circulated online, everyone took its advice, memorized the suggested “good” answers, and are now interviewing at the same time. Here is the thing though-- the answers are only good if they are YOUR answers.

A good interviewer doesn’t want to hear the buzz words and the packaged answers available to everyone. An interviewer wants and needs to hear from YOU -- the person who will show up every day and work hard (without a coach or source material). An interviewer needs to know what interacting with YOU will be like. An interviewer needs to know if YOU are going to get along with the rest of the staff. An interviewer needs to know what YOU are really good at – not what the articles say are important skills.

There’s nothing wrong with preparing ahead of time so you can intelligently talk about your experiences, the job opportunity and the company at which you applying but keep it down to earth. It’s fine to practice how you might answer certain questions and to make sure that your answers will include some key things that are important for the position, but don’t be generic about it. Be genuine. Be yourself and you will land the right job for YOU.

Allied Food Drive

Allied is collecting food and toiletries for Second Harvest Food Bank. Your donations are appreciated and will benefit local families in need.

Possible donations include dry goods such as cereal, pasta, canned vegetables, or beans, as well as personal care items like shampoo, deodorant, and toothpaste. Baby items, including diapers, wipes and baby food are also needed.

All donations can be dropped off at either Allied office by Monday, November 23rd.

Thank you for your support and generosity.

Drug Free Work Week

Preventing alcohol and drug abuse is essential to keeping workplaces safe and to maintaining healthy communities. Together, with the US Department of Labor, Allied is honoring Drug Free Work Week. Drug-Free Work Week is a public awareness campaign that highlights the importance of being drug free and encourages workers with alcohol and drug problems to seek help.

Did you know that 75% of the nation’s current illegal drug users are employed? Did you also know that 79% of the nation’s heavy alcohol users are employed?

Based on these research statistics, it is clear that working drug free is a topic employees need to hear about. Working drug free has positive results. Some of the key benefits are:

1) Prevents accidents and makes the workplace safer
2) Improves productivity and reduces costs
3) Encourages people with alcohol and drug problems to seek help

Drug-free workplace programs also help protect employers and employees from the potentially devastating consequences of alcohol or drug abuse. Establishing policies, educating everyone about the dangers of alcohol and drug use, deterring and detecting use, and urging people to seek help for alcohol and drug problems are smart safety strategies but they are also smart business strategies.

If you are interested in learning more about Allied’s drug screening policies or procedures, feel free to give us a call. For more ideas on how to implement Drug Free Work Week into your company visit the DOL's official website for the program.

5th Reader's Choice Win for Allied

The 2009 Morning Call Reader’s Choice Award winners were recently revealed and for the 5th time Allied has won for Best Employment Agency.

We take special pride in this award because it is comes from the votes of our clients and from the votes of our dedicated field employees. It is especially rewarding to receive this recognition as we are celebrating our 25th year of business.

We will continue to work hard to provide exceptional service to our clients and to provide our employees with the best employment opportunities.

Thanks to everyone that voted!