200,000 Jobs Lost to Katrina

News reports indicate that about 200,000 jobs have been lost to Hurricane Katrina, yet some insist that the construction and other recovery-related work will actually help the economy. Although the money being pumped into the economy from the relief work will help, that money would have helped far more had it been spent to create wealth rather than to repair damage.
Think of it this way. You own a business and your facility suffered $50,000 in storm-related damage. You spend the $50,000 to hire the contractors. But when they’re finished you’re just back where you started. Your facility is no better. You’re producing the same products at the same price with the same level of staffing. If you had invested the $50,000 in new equipment or training for your staff, you would be able to produce your products for less money, which would allow you to sell them to your customers for less, make a greater profit, or both. That investment, therefore, would produce real economic gains for your customers, your company, or both.
No question that we need to spend the money to repair the damage just as we need to spend money to maintain a military strong enough to defend our nation, but spending money to repair damage or to buy tanks is an economic dead end. Once the money is spend, the outputs don’t create new wealth. The replacement windows and the tanks are needed, but unlike new production line equipment or worker training, replacement windows and tanks don’t create new wealth.
Steven Rothberg, President and Founder
CollegeRecruiter.com

Have dice, will travel…

Workers who used to shuffle the cards and count the cash at casinos in Louisiana and the Mississippi Gulf Coast before Hurricane Katrina are turning by the thousands to a Web-based gaming industry recruiter to find work.

H-R-Logix of Edmond, Oklahoma, markets recruiting management technology to some of the nation’s largest casino companies.

The company has teamed with more than 140 casinos to create an online listing where job applicants can view a collective pool of thousands of available gaming positions nationwide.”

READ: Web-based company helps displaced gaming workers find jobs after Katrina

Jobless Claims Related to Katrina Surge

The number of Americans thrown out of work by Hurricane Katrina shot up by 103,000 last week, bringing the total seeking jobless benefits because of the storm to 214,000, the government reported Thursday.

The latest weekly jobless claims figure showed that the adverse economic impact from the country’s most expensive natural disaster continues to rise as more evacuees are able to make it to state unemployment offices to file claims.

The 214,000 total number of applications for unemployment benefits related to the hurricane included 91,000 claims for two weeks ago, a figure that had originally been put at 68,000, and 20,000 claims for the week ending Sept. 3.

The 103,000 new hurricane-related jobless claims were out of a total of 432,000 claims last week, which was the highest level for total jobless claims since July 5, 2003.

Last week’s total increase was up from 424,000 claims filed the previous week.

Some private economists are predicting that a half million people or more will have lost jobs when Katrina’s final economic toll is calculated.

READ: Jobless Claims Related to Katrina Surge

Technology for HR Professionals

I’m in Atlanta attending the IQPC Recruiting & Staffing Summit. Yesterday evening, I attended a workshop yesterday evening on the best practices for maximizing the technology initiatives in the staffing process. The presenter, Shally Steckerl, is a lead researcher at Microsoft.
Very interesting discussion. Along with some human resource professionals, we discussed the technology available to HR, how it is being used, how it should be used, and what is missing. It was that last component that I found to be the most interesting. Incredible as it may be, there is no technology that would allow HR to determine the source of hire for its stars. Human resource information systems (HRIS) exist and allow HR to determine which of its employees are its stars. Applicant tracking systems (ATS) exist and allow HR to determine the source for its hires. But HRIS and ATS systems can’t speak with each other.
Think of the powerful impact such a system would have. A hiring manager could instruct HR to hire a new marketing assistant. With such a tool, HR would be able to use technology to determine which of the existing marketing assistants are the real stars and then determine the source for those employees. Did they apply through employee referrals? Corporate web site? Job board? Once HR has those two pieces of information, they can efficiently and effectively source the new candidate. Hopefully that future will come sooner rather than later.
Steven Rothberg, President and Founder
CollegeRecruiter.com

How do I look?

I changed the look of my blog yesterday and would love some feedback. If you would, leave me a comment with your thoughts? Thanks! -Jim

And you thought you were sick of spam…

Do telemarketers get on your nerves? If so, this is the cure that ails you. The National DO NOT CALL list. It will only take a minute of your time. It blocks your number for five (5) years.

For more info: National Do Not Call Registry

What do you do when recruiters call you at work?

Oh, to be among the wanted. That’s what many workers out there say when they hear friends or colleagues moaning that they don’t know what to do when a recruiter — or headhunter — calls them at work to tell them about an exciting new job.

But to be among the wanted: It can be a tricky balance of checking out an opportunity and remaining loyal to an employer. And it’s particularly difficult when one is sitting at that employer’s desk, talking to a recruiter on the telephone. So sneaky. So underhanded.

So common and so necessary.

Recruiters often happen upon workers in one of three ways:

The workers are well known or other people refer them, and they are very good at what they do. These people are in very senior positions or have specialized skills.

Others are found because they are incredibly active in their job searches, whether they are searching or not. They are on job boards and databases, and because of that, they end up in recruiters’ files or simply on a recruiter’s radar screen. Often.

And others are found because they are very public. They are association officers or on boards, or can be found easily via a Web search. These are people who hold positions in the community. Therefore, recruiters or organizations know about them.

These people might get calls rather often from recruiters who are paid by companies to find good hires for open positions. The recruiters are essentially trying to make a sale. That’s great for a lot of people. But the question lingers: How do these people handle the sticky situation of being recruited while at work?

READ: Shhh — Recruiter on the Line

Poorly Trained Hotel Workers

I’m in Atlanta to speak at the IQPC Recruiting & Staffing Summit annual conference. I arrived last night at a nice but moderately priced all suites hotel. I selected it, in part, because it offered free wireless Internet access. After checking in, I turned on my computer and could see through WinXP that there were half a dozen wireless networks and most of them had strong signals. I tried to connect to several of them but could not establish a connection. I called the front desk. The only help they provided was to give me two toll free numbers to the wireless Internet service provider. I called those numbers. They both rang to the same place and after holding for several minutes I was only offered the opportunity to leave a message. I did so and then went to get dinner.

Continue Reading

Candidate Scares Recruiters

Question from Candidate:
I have recently graduated and moved to the UK from the Netherlands. I’m actively looking for a job. I have no trouble getting invited for interviews, and I am often invited for second interviews as well. Not so long ago I have been rejected for one of the jobs I applied for on the account of that the interviewers found me “to confident of herself”. This is a reoccurring thing. My confidence and assertivity overwhelms people. I’ve heard this since nursery school. It’s not that I talk very loudly, or throw demands in people faces, I don’t jumps queues, I do not look down on people or offend people in any other way. I am just reasonably aware of things I can handle, things I need to learn, how long it will take me to learn them, what needs to be done when people start panicking etc. This means I’m mostly fairly at ease in every situation.
After hearing this from the recruitment agent that introduced me to the company I decided to tone down a bit for my next interview with a different company. I brought up my dominant personality as one of my weak points and explained that I’m aware of it and try to manage it. I thought the interview went really well, and upon leaving the HR manager confirmed this and let me know they wanted to invite me back for the second interview. After this I got a phone call from the recruitment agent, who had some feedback on the interview. She told me the HR manager, in the beginning of the interview, was actually scared of me…
I was kind of in shock to hear this. I deliberately wore a pastel cardigan, spoke in a soft voice, said thank you and please a lot, etc. I asked questions in an interested manner and tried to not sound bragging when my skills and expertise came up, but gave examples. Apparently after 15 minutes she warmed to me, and wants to see me back for second interview.
I am Dutch and therefore naturally taller then most English women and a bit heavyset as well, which will naturally contribute to me being scary. However, it apparently is mostly my personality and my way of speaking that is most frightening, as I have heard this from Dutch people as well. I hope you can give me some advice on how to overcome this problem. It didn’t bother me much during university, but now it is costing me my career.

IQPC Recruiting & Staffing Summit

I’ll be in Atlanta from Tue 9/20/05 through Thu 9/22/05 to attend and speak at the IQPC Recruiting & Staffing Summit. It is a great gathering of human resource leaders from 150+ top employers. These types of industry events are always a good use of time as they lend themselves well to meeting existing and potential customers, vendors, and business partners.
Steven Rothberg, President and Founder
CollegeRecruiter.com