CAREERLINKS - PGA CareerLinks helps golf management companies find employees - Brief Article

Parks & Recreation, June, 2000 by Marty Kavanaugh

Offers a New Way to Hire

If you are about to begin the uncertain process of searching for qualified staff for your facility, the PGA of America has developed a new employment referral service that promises to make your search fast, effective, and more certain. PGA CareerLinks, the golf industry's new search and referral service, is a one-stop hiring solution to resolve all your staffing needs. One of CareerLinks' nicest surprises is that the PGA provides this service to the golf industry on a complimentary basis!

Why no charge, you ask? As a benefit to you as an owner and to PGA members as potential employees, the PGA offers this proactive employment service that helps foster lasting employee/employer relationships, creating greater satisfaction and increased job tenure for both parties.

The PGA created CareerLinks to help employers avoid the usual challenges normally associated with searching for qualified staff, such as searching through hundreds of resumes or trying to extract the skills that qualify for your job from those that do not.

The CareerLinks service specializes in locating PGA members, based on your specific criteria, with the "perfect skills" to match your facility's needs. Due to the new Golf Professional Training Program and the PGA's expanded career path initiatives, PGA members have ventured outside the roles traditionally assumed by golf professionals and are filling expanded roles in the golf industry.

Used by major golf management companies, CareerLinks is fast becoming one of the most popular recruiting solutions in the golf industry. In just the past year, CareerLinks assisted more than 350 industry employers in recruiting the right people, and new hires have enjoyed a 99 percent retention rate during the past two years. CareerLinks has proven to be a welcome alternative to the more traditional channels of job searching, such as using headhunters, search firms, committee networking, or friend referrals.

CareerLinks' success is based on three key elements. First, the service creates a win-win solution for all customers. By helping employers identify qualified personnel, both parties experience the reward of a long-term and successful employment relationship. Second, its state-of-the-art resume database contains personal profiles of more than 16,000 PGA members. CareerLinks can instantaneously search the database and identify candidates, either in your local area or across the nation, that possess the skills and experience that you request based on your search parameters. Third, its team of regional consultants, whose main objective is to guide you through the CareerLinks search and the hiring process, ensures that a fast, professional, and effective search for qualified candidates takes place.

CareerLinks' consultants are experienced recruiters and counselors who can help you develop a hiring plan, provide ideas on structuring a search committee, counsel you on developing interview and screening techniques, and provide information for the development of a compensation package. After the hire, your consultant will follow up with both you and the successful candidate.

As an employer, your role in the CareerLinks process is simple. Call the phone number listed at the end of this article, or log on to the PGA.com Web site and look for PGA Career Services to contact the CareerLinks consultant nearest you. Once you identify specific search parameters, the database is searched for qualified candidates. You will receive a CareerLinks packet of the candidates who match your skill requirements and who are interested in pursuing your position. Resumes will follow in approximately 14 days. Then, all you have to do is interview the candidates and hire the person that best fits your needs.

As a 30-year employee of the Hamilton County Park District in Cincinnati, Ohio, and a retired manager of their seven golf operations, I wish PGA CareerLinks was available to me when I was searching for just the right candidate to manage one of our golf facilities. Take advantage of this valuable resource.

For more information about the PGA CareerLinks service or your local CareerLinks consultants, call 800/314-2713 or visit the PGA Web site at www.PGA.com.

Marty Kavanaugh is the senior director of member support for the Professional Golfers' Association.