Green Key Resources is one of the best staffing firms for which to temp. That’s what global research and advisory firm Staffing Industry Analysts declared when it named us one of three finalists for the coveted title.

Acknowledging the honor on behalf of Green Key, Tony Giarratana, executive director-temporary and contract division, credited our candidate selection and our commitment to our clients and our staff. “We pride ourselves on our strong, long-term relationships.”

And it’s not just us who said that. In an article in SI Review about the awards, Ray Innocenti, a Green Key contract worker, says, “I was impressed with the way Green Key handled my personal situation and how they pursued it.”

More than 140 staffing firms across the United States were nominated. Between November 2011 and early January 2012 the internal employees of each company were surveyed to select a Best Staffing Firm to Work For. In addition, the temporary employees placed by these staffing companies were surveyed by Staffing Industry Analysts, for the Best Staffing Firm To Temp For designation.

Three firms were named “Best” in each of three categories, according to the number of internal employees.

Green Key was one of three finalists in the Best to Temp For category, which, Staffing Industry Analysts said, “is the company temporary employees most preferred to work for and were most likely to refer to a friend or colleague.” The winner was IT staffing firm Signature Consultants.

“These firms truly represent not only a broad range of staffing companies and services, but based on the results, they exemplify great companies to work for. Given the importance of attracting and retaining top talent to success in staffing, this is an especially important honor for firms in the industry,” stated Barry Asin, president of Staffing Industry Analysts.

For Green Key, says Giarratana, the honor is recognition of the company’s philosophy on treating temporary workers well. “The company makes sure temporary workers are placed in the environment they are seeking. Green Key isn’t interested in just placing people anywhere; it seeks to place candidates where they are really looking to be.”

Green Key screens both clients and candidates to make sure there is as close to a perfect match for the job, and that both candidate and client are happy, Giarratana says, explaining that the dialog and follow-up continues for the duration of the job.

During a temp’s first and second weeks on the job, says Giarratana, “Our company will call them twice to check up on them. After the first two weeks, the company contacts the temps every three weeks.”

“The happier your temps are, the better they’re going to do on their assignments.”

This is the second major award won by Green Key since the beginning of the year. In January, the business publication Crain’s New York ranked us fourth among New York City’s largest executive recruiting firms.

What kind of worker are you? No, we don’t mean are you conscientious, prompt, hard working, and so on. Are you a W-2 worker or a 1099 contractor? Or maybe you’re both.

Now, let’s turn the tables on the employers out there. Are all the workers in your office or plant W-2 employees? Are some of your workers independent contractors who by now should have a 1099 from you detailing what they were paid last year? Do you know the difference? And are you sure you have it right?

We aren’t going to get into the technical differences and the complicated rules about classifying workers. At least, not today. Suffice it to say if you work for Green Key Resources or you hire staff from us we’ve taken care of the technical issues.

But as this is tax season, we thought we might offer some suggestions about maximizing federal deductions for both sides of the staffing paycheck. We’re not tax professionals. Though we have many first rate tax accountants ready to go to work for you, they’re not writing this. So for the best advice, consult an expert.

With that caveat, let’s start with employers. If you hire temporary workers through an agency like us, you have an almost easy time when it comes to filing out the 1040. You get to deduct all the fees you paid. 100%.

It’s just that simple, at least for the IRS. States have their own rules, though most generally follow the lead of the U.S. Treasury.

Before we move on to worker deductions, employers may also be able to deduct certain other expenses such as additional equipment or the cost of specialized training. If you had to make some physical changes to the work place to accommodate workers with disabilities, these may also be deductible. Generally, though, you deduct what you pay the agency and you’re finished.

It may also be that easy for most workers. If you get a W-2, or more than one (as will happen if you work for more than one employer during a year) you’re an employee. If you also get a 1099, you are both an employee and an independent contractor. In that case, your taxes are more complicated, but you have more potential deductions.

As an independent contractor you can deduct your supplies, equipment (which may have to be depreciated as a capital expense), travel, phone, certain types of insurance (not health, unfortunately), conference attendance, dues for professional organizations, professional journals and magazines, software, and more, including, if you need it for the work you do, Internet expenses.

Whether you’re a W-2 employee or a 1099 contractor, travel expenses can get complicated quickly. Here’s a good, basic review.

Many independent contractors work from home. The IRS allows you a deduction for that portion of your home that you use regularly and exclusively for business. Occasionally playing a videogame or making out a grocery list isn’t going to squelch the deduction. But trying to deduct the value of your family room, when your “office” is only the desk over in the corner doesn’t mean the exclusive part of the test.

About has a helpful and easy to understand explanation of how to take a deduction for the business use of your home.

The home office deduction is most useful to independent contractors who will most commonly report it and other business expenses on Schedule C. There, it becomes an adjustment to gross income, reducing your taxable income before you even get to the itemized deductions.

However, even W-2 workers can take a deduction for a home office, if the requirements are met. And with more companies every year allowing employees to telecommute, more workers may qualify. The drawback for W-2 workers is that only the portion of all your business — and miscellaneous — expenses that exceed 2% of your adjusted gross income is deductible.

This is a tricky deduction, because “miscellaneous” includes not only expenses related to your employment, but also such things as some investment costs, continuing education fees, fees charged to prepare your taxes, and similar expenses related to the production of taxable income. If you paid to have your resume rewritten, it’s probably deductible, as is whatever you paid personally in travel expenses for a new job (as long it’s in your field).

There’s lots of places to look for help with this category. SmartMoney has a quick overview that cuts to the chase: Unless all those miscellaneous expenses exceed that 2%, don’t waste your time.

If this brief discussion of the tax implications of W-2 and 1099 workers makes you yearn for that independent contractor status consider this: When those 1099 folk get through with those Schedule Cs and those other forms, their IRS taxes may be smaller than yours, but then they have to add in Self-Employment tax. To you and me, that’s Social Security and Medicare and this year, for the 1099 workers, it comes to 13.3% of their self-employment income.

As a W-2 employee, you only pay half that.

Have you considered becoming a recruiter? Hardly anyone does when they begin their working life. But as so many who enter the profession from other careers have discovered, recruiting can be enormously rewarding.

Take Tricia Trimble. She graduated with a degree in accounting and went to work for one of the leading accounting and management consulting firms in the world. She earned her CPAthere before moving on to Sony.

Her career was on the way up, but Tricia found that being a corporate auditor just wasn’t what she wanted. Meeting with a recruiter, she found herself drawn to the profession.

“I thought the job sounded exciting and much more in line with my personality, so I took a chance and tried it out. It was the best career move I ever made!”

As anyone working in the field will tell you, they didn’t set out to be a recruiter. Some came to recruiting the way Tricia Trimble did. Others recruited as part of their other duties only to discover they had a knack for matching people to jobs. Still others simply fell into the job and never left.

All, however, share the same love of working with people. Not only do recruiters take satisfaction from helping employers find great people and helping great people find great jobs, but committed recruiters can easily earn into the six-figures. The most recent survey– now three years old – found half of all recruiters earn more than $55,000.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics says that the need for recruiters will grow overall by 28% in the next few years. Some industries — computers, healthcare, and technical and engineering, for example — will grow by 50% and more.

Because recruiting is not a skill taught in most schools, businesses with strong recruiting department, and especially search and staffing  firms like us here at Green Key, all offer training programs. FPC Personnel Consultants, an executive search firm, has an enlightening video look at what it takes to be a successful recruiter. As the video explains, regardless of what they did before, the people who become successful share four traits:

• They work hard;
• Spend much of their day talking with candidates and employers;
• They enjoy working independtly;
• They are willing to learn from others.

With so many graduating seniors facing the prospect of not finding a job in their academic field, recruiting should be on their radar, says John Kreiss, owner of a recruiting firm specializing in human resources, marketing, and business development, professionals.

“One profession,” he blogged recently, “that I would absolutely encourage new college graduates to consider, is the recruiting profession for a number of reasons.”

On his list is the sense of accomplishment from placing candidates in a new job, the earnings potential, and the new, highly marketable skills recruiters master. “One of the best skills, that recruiters obtain, is networking.  Learn how to build, and manager relationships, and position yourself to be successful over the long haul,” says Kreiss.

And, he says, recruiting offers a comfotable work / life balance, that is once new recruiters learn their craft and build their client base. “It is possible to make a very good living, and not have to be a slave to the job,” he says.

If you want to learn more about the profession and how to become a recruiter, you’ll find a number of useful sources here.