February 2022

Recruiters for the Copier Channel® for more than 30 years, Copier Careers® has been the only recruiting firm exclusively dedicated to connecting Copier Channel employers with experienced service technicians, copier sales representatives, sales managers, service & operations managers, controllers, support staff, and MPS/MNS experts. Start your month off right with Newsletter February 2022: Copier Channel news and career advice. Search copier jobs now.

IN THIS MONTH’S NEWSLETTER

Interviewing Office Support Staff
News from Ricoh
Sound Off: What’s your #1 2022 goal?
Monthly Poll: What’s the most important support staff quality?

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Interviewing Office Support Staff

The #1 takeaway from our 2021 Year End Update was the highly competitive job market. Hiring in this industry has never been busier, more competitive or more challenging that it is right now. That makes streamlining the hiring process more important than ever!

Welcome to our Interviewing Prep series, where we share the most important questions employers and candidates need to have answered before the first interview. This month, we’re covering Office Support Staff:

Questions for Employers Before Interviewing Office Support Staff

• Why are you looking to hire (for growth, replacement, restructuring, etc.)?
• What is the base salary range or hourly rate for this position? If hourly, what is your overtime policy?
• Is there a bonus program in place?
• Do you offer benefits?
• Is this an in-office, remote or hybrid position?
• Who will the new support staffer report to directly?
• Will they have any direct reports themselves? If so, do you require previous management experience?
• Does this role require prior industry experience or are you open to other industries?
• Will this be a customer-facing position or purely internal?
• Is this a specialized position or will your new hire have broad administrative duties?
• What traits/skills are you prioritizing for this position? People-skills, organization, flexibility, independence, speed, time management, communication, experience, willingness to learn, etc.?
• What operating system(s) do you currently work with? Are you planning to migrate to a new system?
• Do you require previous experience with your operating system? Are you open to experience with other systems?
• What are the greatest strengths of the support/admin department, what are the areas that need the most growth?
• How has your company expanded your portfolio to keep up with advancing technology? Has that evolution accelerated during the pandemic?
• Are you open to relocating candidates? Would you offer any assistance?
• What is the typical interview process for this role? What is your hiring timeline?
• Does your company do a formal background check and drug screening?
• What is your company culture like? What are you seeking in a candidate to fit with the rest of your team?

Questions for Office Support Staff Before Their Interview

• What would it take for you to consider a new opportunity?
• What are you looking for in your next position?
• Do you want an in-office, remote or hybrid position?
• Do you prefer a specialized position or broader/more flexible administrative duties?
• Are you open to a customer-facing role or do you prefer to provide purely internal support?
• How many years of office support experience do you have?
• Do you have any management experience?
• What operating systems have you worked with?
• If you are meeting your company’s benchmarks, what skills help you achieve this success? If you are not meeting those benchmarks, why not?
• What sets you apart from other candidates?
• Do you have any honors or achievement awards from your past roles?
• What was the most noteworthy problem you solved in your last role?
• What are your most successful customer service strategies?
• How would you improve your current company/department?
• Do you have a non-compete? If so, how will it affect your ability to move to a new company?
• How quickly would you be able to switch to a new position?
• Are you open to relocation? If so, is your household on the same page?

In the market for a new job? Our job board features hundreds of copier jobs with top employers, updated daily. Search jobs now.

News From Ricoh

Ricoh announced their acquisition of Swiss company, Axon Ivy, on the first of February. This acquisition is intended to expand Ricoh’s digital process automation capabilities as part of the company’s “Ricoh Lift Off” five-year plan. 

Ricoh states that Axon Ivy will continue to use its existing name as a Ricoh group company and retain its existing employees.

“This acquisition is part of Ricoh’s strategic investment for the growth of our Digital Services business,” states presdient of Ricoh Digital Services Business Unit, Akira Oyama. “It enhances Ricoh’s capabilities to further support customers around the world with their digital transformation needs as well as Ricoh’s market position as a digital services company. Axon Ivy has a trusted reputation as a true digital enabler, complete with recognition from customers, peers, and industry analysts alike. Ricoh is delighted to welcome them to our family.”

CEO of Axon Ivy, Rolf Gebhard Stephan, says: “I see tremendous value in becoming part of the Ricoh global family. We have built one of the most reliable and easy to use digital process automation platform and have a very successful track record in Central Europe. While we will retain our core strengths of technology and agility, we will benefit from Ricoh’s access to all major markets around the world. My team and I look forward to the prospect of Axon Ivy becoming a global leader in the digital automation space.”

Copier Careers Recruiting Excellence® Award 2021

We are proud to announce the recipients of the Copier Careers Recruiting Excellence® Award 2021: Jessica Crowley and Jenna Humbert!

This award honors Jessica and Jenna’s tremendous work and dedication in 2021, going above and beyond to match the best candidates with top industry employers. Their efforts change the lives of industry professionals and help their new companies to grow and evolve.

Sound Off

Last month we looked back on 2021, so this month we wanted to look forward. We were curious to hear about your top 2022 goals. We had a solid turnout of 19,265 votes this month!

Your top two responses are not at all surprising – 34% said they were employed but looking to find a new job and 28% were looking to hire a new employee. That’s 62% of the votes showing how volatile the job market is right now. Employers should take this to heart – your employees are not guaranteed to stick around so you need to make sure your company stands up to the competition! Likewise, these results confirm what we’re seeing – employees are looking at their options because there are so many employers desperate to attract them.

It’s also important to note that the vast majority of candidates job hunting are currently employed. Only 10% of our results were from people currently unemployed and looking for work. These candidates came in 4th place, after folks hoping to get a promotion or change roles within their organization. Next were those planning to earn a new certification or job skill (9%), retire (6%) and take up basket weaving (2%).

We have comments on this poll below. Many of them voice the same frustration we’ve been hearing and reporting on for years. What we’re trying to hammer home is that employers need to be making changes to their salaries, benefits, bonuses, promotion paths and perks yesterday or risk losing their most talented people. If employees are leaving and you can’t attract new folks to replace them, you can’t afford to just shrug it off – something has to change.

POLL QUESTION: