5 Key Questions to Ask When Writing Your Resume

Are you in the middle of writing your resume but are having a difficult time finding the right information to include? Well, some of it is self-explanatory (education, job history, etc.), but sometimes it’s hard to decide which skills to include as well as which accomplishments within your work history to note.

If you’re feeling stuck, it’s good to ask yourself some questions in order to get yourself moving. Here are five to consider while writing your resume:

#1: Why Am I Applying for This Job?

One thing you should explore is why you’re applying for the job. By looking at what you want from the company aside from money (e.g., more skills, opportunity to grow in your field), you can reference these ideas as you write.

#2: Which of Your Past Accomplishments Match the Company’s Expectations?

It’s also a good idea to look at which of your past accomplishments and skills match what the company is looking for in the position. Don’t just list the skills they say they want; really take a look at the job description and how they hope the position can help the company as a whole. Then think about what you’ve accomplished and how you can meet the company’s expectations.

#3: How Will Taking This Step Further My Career?

Also, take time to think about whether this job is a building block on your career path. If you’re just making lateral moves—hopping from job to job—rather than building a career, you may want to rethink applying for this particular position and look for one that falls more in line with your interests.

#4: What Do I Want to Contribute to the Company and Position?

In addition to exploring whether your accomplishments match the company’s expectations, it’s good to think about what you can contribute outside of their expectations. This may take a little bit of research to find out how the company wants to excel in the field—and how your position can help it get there.

#5: Am I the Best Fit for This Position?

Finally, it’s important to know whether you honestly believe you’re the best fit for the position. If you write your resume with an attitude that you’re not a winner, it could be hard for you to include in your resume all of the great reasons why you should be hired. It’s always a good idea to really explore the reasons you’re applying for a job as you write your resume. This way, it’s easier to answer the questions that employers are likely asking while they are reading it.

 

Article contributed by global resume authority Jessica Hernandez of http://www.greatresumesfast.com. She is a former HR Manager who partners with professional- and executive-level candidates to create authentic, branded resumes and cover letters.

Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.

5 Reasons to Look for a New Job

“If at first you don’t succeed, do it like your mother told you.” ~Author Unknown

When I started my career (sometime after the Ice Age but before the Internet Bubble Burst), there was an expectation that you would get a job and stay with that company for your entire career. Sure people moved, but not that often. If you had more than 2 jobs you were viewed as “unstable”. If any job was held for less than 5 years, even worse. How times have changed. Now, if you are in one place more than three years it is unusual. If you’ve only had one job (and you’ve been working more than 4 years) your chances of landing another are cut quite a bit. I’m not sure I believe all of it, but some of it is definitely true. Companies are looking for people with diverse backgrounds (not those that are at one company for 20 years). Of course there is an exception to every rule and I’m not suggesting that you get a new job every two years, but if you feel like you are in a rut, maybe now is the time.

1. You are not Paid Enough – Well I guess we all feel that we could get paid more, but if you think you are seriously underpaid or could get more money if you made a move then now is the time to look. You can also get a feel for what you are worth at some of the salary guide sites (see below). Also, if no one will hire you for more money then you have your answer.

• Salary Wizard from Salary.com – Type in your title and the location and click search. Once you get to the jobs page you can click for salary info. Or, go to the Browse Salaries section mid page.
• Glassdoor.com’s Salary Index – Same deal, type in you title and location and click search salaries. You can also use the various salary links and combinations later on the page.

2. Too Long on the Job – As mentioned above, who knows what “too long” really is, but if you’ve been in one place for a long time with no longer term prospects in the near future, maybe you should be looking to see what else is out there.

• How long is too long in one job? – This links to a chart that may help you decide.
• Don’t work for the same company for too long – One more view, with a little story.

3. Your Company (or You) May Not be Around for Long – Maybe your company is not doing well (if it is a publicly traded company, this is easy to check), they’ve just been acquired, they are about to be acquired, they are starting to fire people – you get the picture. In some cases, it may make sense to stay until the end if there is a good severance package or a bonus to stay until the end. If not, it doesn’t hurt to start looking.

• My Company’s Being Acquired: What Will Happen To Me?
• Warning Signs Of A Company In Trouble

4. It Takes Way too Long to Get to and From Work – If you leave for work before the rooster gets up and get home after curfew, maybe your commute is too long. Sometimes companies move and your commute gets longer, sometimes you move house or sometimes you really needed the job and did not care about the commute. Chances are, there is a job closer to home (and there is only one way to find out).

• Snagajob.com – Enter your zip code, hit Go. The rest is easy
• Job.com – Same deal – type of job, Zip Code and hit continue

5. You Hate Your Job – As long as you are not the owner (if you are, that’s another story), then what are you waiting for? You know the old saying “The grass is always greener on the other side” (see my post on this), so make sure you are not leaving for a problem that will exist in your new job as well. That being said, make a list of what you don’t like so that you are clear so that you can compare any new opportunities.

• I Hate My Job – What To Do When You Hate Your Job
• I Hate My Job! 55% of Americans Agree. Try These 5 Steps to Fix it

Good luck in your search.

 

Guest Post from CareerAlley

Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.

Job Search “On-The-Fly”

You’ve just been chewed out by an overbearing boss for the last time. Perhaps you were just passed over for a promotion, or you were just required to work 80 hours last week without any over-time pay. When your job goes sour, you often suffer silently—waiting patiently for your next career move.

Stop standing in the shadows, waiting for something to come along, and become a “rain-maker.” With the partnership of technology and a good recruiting specialist, you will quickly find yourself new opportunities that align with your skills, experience and personality.

Here are three tips to help you job search “on-the-fly.”

1. Set up a search agent in Indeed.com. Indeed is a job aggregator, so it takes all of the jobs found on the web and aggregates them on their site. Go to Indeed, enter the keywords that fit your ideal position (that coincides with your background) and see the results. Near the top of the page, enter your email address, and have those same search results emailed to you once daily.

2. Locate professional recruiters who specialize in your field. LinkedIn is an excellent place to search for agency recruiters who will get your resume in the hands of hiring managers. You can sign up for your free account on their website. Executive level job boards are known to be helpful, too.

3. Commit to making the job change, and be available for all scheduled interviews. If you’re working with a recruiter, and they schedule you to meet with a potential employer – you need to be there. Don’t be wishy-washy in the job search process, or it will ultimately bite you. The recruiter will stop being responsive to your calls, and will stop representing you. They only get paid when you are hired in your new position; so why would they invest in you if you’re not serious?

Good luck in your job search!

Christina Diane Archer is a recruiter, expert resume writer, social media consultant and published author.

Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.

How to Prepare for an Employment Background Check

It’s a well-known fact that at some point in our job application process, we will probably have to face a background check. For most, the check is probably not so intimidating. We know we haven’t done anything significantly wrong — at least nothing that could compromise eligibility.

What many don’t know is that employers take a lot more into consideration than criminal history. This is why it’s good to know how to prepare for an employment background check.

Get a Copy of Your Credit Report

Nowadays, employers look closely at candidates’ credit reports to determine eligibility. Why? They use the credit report to see whether you may have financial issues that are encouraging you to apply for the job. Also, they view a report filled with missed payments as an indicator of your lack of reliability.

So before you start seriously applying for jobs, it’s a good idea to obtain a copy of your credit report from the three main credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) and clear up any mistakes that could affect your score. You will need to allow between 30 and 45 days for an investigation to clear, so give yourself this much time in advance of applying for jobs if possible.

Check on Your Motor Vehicle Record

Yes, it’s true. Employers look at your driving record, just as they do your credit report, to determine reliability. If you have suspensions, DUIs, or other negative information on your record, you could lose your opportunity for employment. So order a copy of your driving record to ensure all information is accurate and up to date before a background check begins.

Make Sure Online Profiles Are Professional or Hidden

Employers also love to explore candidates’ social networking profiles to determine eligibility. If you had a drunk night out with friends, be sure to avoid posting any photos of your exploits on your page. And if you must post them, then set them to private so that people who are not on your friends list can’t see them. Also, you could change the name of your social profiles so that you remain anonymous, thereby avoiding having a company count you out based solely upon your night life.

Avoid White Lies on Your Resume

Because a company will likely conduct a background check, it’s important to make sure all of the information you place on your resume is accurate. Don’t say you worked at a company for five years when it was really three. And don’t state that you received a bachelor’s degree when you really have an associate’s. These little details could make a difference to employers who feel that little white lies could turn into major trust and reliability issues on the job.

The more you do to prepare for a background check, the less likely you are to be turned down for a job. So keep this in mind as you push for the job you want.

 

Resume authority Jessica Hernandez and her team of credentialed writers partner with professional- and executive-level candidates to open doors to jobs at prestigious corporations, achieving more than a 99 percent interview-winning success rate.

Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.

Business Owners Guide To Learning How to Utilize Interns When Creating An Internship Program

When it comes to creating an internship program, there are so many misconceptions out there about what an intern actually does. If you think that an intern is supposed to be making coffee, picking up your dry cleaning, or making photo copies, then you are completely missing the boat. When it comes down to it, interns are some of the best and brightest young minds out there on the job market. Interns are known for injecting new ideas, passion, and energy into businesses that may be stuck in their ways. This is because they are still new and haven’t been sucked into the status quo way of doing things in the business world.

If you are using your interns to do menial tasks like making photo copies or filing, then you are leaving a major resource untapped. Think about it, interns can do almost anything that you can imagine. They are highly intelligent and used to adapting and learning new things on a continuous basis. Can you say college? All they require is a little guidance and training and you can put them to work on projects that you have never been able to finish. They can also help you develop and expand on your ideas from a fresh new point of view.

You have probably heard it a million times before, but the current generation of college students are internet experts! Today’s interns are so much more tech savvy than the older generations because they grew up with the internet. You will be absolutely amazed by the awesome ideas and new techniques that your interns can come up with using the internet.

So please, when you are creating your internship program, don’t make your interns do grunt work and menial tasks. Instead, give them projects of real value to work on that can directly benefit your business. All it takes is a little guidance and you will get something back phenomenal in return.

How to Find a Job If You’ve Been Unemployed for a Long Time

After months of slow, almost imperceptible job growth, private-sector payrolls are finally beginning to grow at a more significant and accelerated rate.  However, one group continues to struggle with finding employment: the millions of Americans suffering from long-term joblessness.  Their plight poses the biggest obstacle to continued job growth and could threaten to stall the recovery, according to one employment authority who offered some strategies to re-ignite one’s job search.

“Unfortunately, the longer one is out of work, the more difficult it becomes to achieve success.  You have to overcome a lot of employers’ preconceptions about candidates with significant gaps on the resume.  You also have to overcome the many negative emotions that naturally accompany a long, frustrating job search,” said John A. Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc., the global outplacement firm, which provides employment transition counseling to individuals following job loss.

There is some hope for long-term job seekers in the latest employment figures, which show the strongest job growth since the recession ended in 2009.  Private-sector payrolls experienced a net increase of 760,000 new jobs between February 1 and the end of April, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  That is the largest three-month employment gain since 2006, when the private sector grew by 861,000 jobs from January through March. 

However, the hiring surge that saw more new jobs created in the last three months than in previous six months has yet to have a significant dent in the number of long-term unemployed.  Over the three-month period ending in April, the number of Americans out of work for 27 weeks or more fell by 371,000 to 5.84 million or 43.4 percent of all unemployed. 

The 5.84-million figure represents an improvement over the record 6.7 million long-term unemployed in May 2010, but it is has a long descent before reaching the pre-recession level of 1.3 million.

“It is also important to understand that this figure does not include the many Americans who have quit looking for work and, therefore, are not counted among the unemployed.  In April, there were 6.5 million people not in the labor force, but who wanted jobs.  There are no statistics on how long these individuals have been out of work, but it is probably safe to assume that a majority have struggled with prolonged joblessness,” said Challenger.

“The problem of long-term joblessness is one of the biggest threats to a sustainable recovery.  If we cannot find a way to get these people back on payrolls, the costs to the economy will be significant, not only in terms of decreased consumer spending, but in increased government spending on social safety net programs, retraining programs and other programs to assist those left behind following the nation’s economic upheaval,” said Challenger.

For the long-term unemployed, the task of securing a job presents unique hurdles.  One of the biggest obstacles can be time-pressed hiring managers who are under pressure to quickly narrow the field the candidates.  As a result, they are often compelled to focus on those with the freshest skills. 

“In companies that rely on software technology to sort through incoming resumes, it is even easier to isolate the candidates that are currently employed or have the most recent experience.  That may seem unfair, but when an employer receives thousands of applicants for a posted job opportunity, they have no choice but to establish wide parameters for weeding out the largest number of applicants,” Challenger explained.

“For long-term job seekers who make it beyond the initial screening process, there is the challenge of addressing the significant gap in experience with the person conducting the interview.  The interviewer is going to wonder why you have not been hired and whether your skills and/or work ethic have deteriorated.  As the interviewee, you have to overcome these preconceptions,” said Challenger.

“The long-term unemployed also face personal barriers.  Many have lost self-confidence due to the length of time out of the workforce.  Others have had a series of rejections, which may leave them feeling defeated even before they walk through the doors of an interview. 

“Financial stress may play another role.  Many long-term unemployed have lost or are close to losing their unemployment benefits.  Some estimates put the number of unemployed workers who have exhausted their benefits from 3 million up to 6 million people,” said Challenger. 

These obstacles are significant, but not impossible to overcome.  Challenger offered the following advice to the long-term unemployed looking to take advantage of the recent surge in job creation:

Re-ignite and re-connect with your network

There may be a large portion of your network with whom you have not spoken to in several months.  Now is the time to re-connect with and expand your network.  If you have not joined online networking communities like LinkedIn, do so now and start connecting with former colleagues, classmates and other acquaintances.  If you are on LinkedIn, revisit your list of contacts, because chances are good that their professional or personal situations have changed in recent months.  So, not only do you have a reason to check in with them (to congratulate or otherwise acknowledge their changed circumstances), but that change could put them in a better position to help your job search.  From each existing contact in your network that you reconnect with, make a goal to get the names of two to five new contacts they know who might be able to help with your employment search.

Move away from resume-centric job-search strategy

Most Americans take the traditional approach to job search: scour the help wanted ads and send out resumes by the hundreds.  The only difference is that the help wanted ads have moved from the print newspaper to the Internet.  The biggest problem with this approach is that the resume is really just a way to weed out candidates.  A long employment gap on the resume is going to stand out and not in a good way.  Even without the red flag of prolonged joblessness, relying on a resume to get your foot in the door is a numbers game that favors the employer.  You might as well be playing the lottery.  In today’s market, employers posting a job opening will receive hundreds if not thousands of resumes.  They will maybe find 10 to bring in for face-to-face interviews.  Do you think they will go through every resume to find those 10?  No.  The initial key-word screening might narrow the field to 100 that a hiring manager will go through.  He or she will only go through enough to get the 10 for interviews.  Maybe that’s 50.  If you are number 51 in that stack, you are out of luck. 

Uncover the hidden job market

The other problem with relying too heavily on help wanted ads — whether online or in print — is that these represent a small fraction of the available jobs.  We estimate that as few as 20 percent of the available jobs are ever advertised.  The other 80 percent will be filled through employee referrals, personal connections and other backdoor channels.  This is why expanding and staying connected to one’s professional and personal network is critical.  It increases the chances of being in the right place, at the right time, when one of these hidden opportunities arise.  The other way to uncover these opportunities is to simply start contacting companies where your skills would be a good fit.  Your goal is to make contact with key managers in the department(s) where you would work.  Avoid going through the human resources department (unless that is your profession), as their goal is to screen you out.

Reset expectations

You may need to consider working for less money than you imagined, working in a different industry or accepting a job title that differs from your aspirations.  However, your primary objective at this point needs to be getting back on the payroll so you can start filling in the experience gap.

Remain positive

Don’t be defensive or take on the role of the victim when it comes to your prolonged unemployment.  Avoid phrases like, “no one is hiring” and “nobody wanted me.”  Focus only on the positive attributes you possess, what you have done to keep your skills fresh.  If the topic of your prolonged unemployment comes up, don’t dwell on it.  Move past it quickly with a statement like, “There have been many opportunities, but a mutual fit has been difficult to achieve.  During this time, however, I have had the opportunity to round out my experience through (education, professional development, volunteer work, etc.)”

Step outside of your comfort zone

An aggressive job-search strategy often requires you to do something that makes you uncomfortable.  You will have to tell people you have not seen in ten years that you lost your job.  You will have to cold-call employers about job opportunities.  An aggressive strategy also includes asking a friend or former business associate for the names of five people who might be able to help with your job search, and then calling those people to request a meeting.  You will have to engage in conversation with complete strangers at a networking event.  These are difficult activities for the most confident among us, but you must abandon any misgivings you might have in order to find a position.

Our CPA Firm Named Best Accounting Firm for Women

CollegeRecruiter.com has been a client of the large, regional accounting firm, Lurie Besikof Lapidus & Company, LLP for six years. During that time we’ve had the opportunity to work with a number of their junior and senior, male and female certified public accountants and other staff. So it was nice to see that they were recently named as one of the nation’s Best Accounting Firms for Women by the American Society of Women Accountants (ASWA) and the American Woman’s Society of Certified Public Accountants (AWSCPA).

The Best Accounting Firms for Women award winners were selected from the 25 firms that participated in the 2011 Accounting MOVE Project, sponsored by the ASWA and AWSCPA, and made possible with the support of Rothstein Kass & Co. and Moss Adams, LLP.

Managing partner Beth Kieffer Leonard sets the tone at Lurie Besikof Lapidus: Helping women succeed in business is good business. The firm keeps a high profile in local entrepreneurship organizations for women, earning acclaim and fresh marketing contacts for its support for new business owners. Internally, the firm emphasizes training for managers to ensure that pay equity is not just a catchphrase. Flexwork is no barrier to advancement — Leonard was part-time eighteen years ago. With 25 percent of its partners women, the firm is leading the industry.

What makes Lurie Besikof Lapidus and the other winners best for women? Top-notch programs and proof that those programs actually retain and advance women to partnership. Firms were ranked on the range, depth and success of programs and workplace culture proven to remove barriers to women’s success, especially at midlevel and above.

Lurie Besikof Lapidus was amongst the 25 that participated in the 2011 Accounting MOVE Project. The MOVE methodology pivots on four factors: money, opportunity, vital supports for work/life and entrepreneurship– known to advance women in the workplace. “The Best Accounting Firms for Women show that innovation and excellence are found at firms of all sizes,” said Joanne Cleaver, president of research partner Wilson-Taylor Associates.

Through the project and its sponsoring associations, the American Society of Women Accountants and the American Woman’s Society of Certified Public Accountants, the profession can consistently measure the status of women and collaborate on proven and promising practices that advance and retain women. The key findings of the Project were:

• Millennials expect women to be business leaders, and see view flexwork and fair pay as family economic issues.
• Women are pulling in new clients, even as they accelerate in the partnership pipeline, through innovative business development programs.
• Pay equity must be validated by audits and reviews to validate women’s trust in firm leadership.
• Firms that publicly communicate the results of their diversity programs — not just their activities — rapidly gain authority with clients, employees and potential recruits.

Congratulations to Lurie Besikof Lapidus and the other winners!

15 Steps to Overcoming Anxiety in Your Job Search

Graduation is just a few weeks away and the class of 2011 along with their parents is feeling the anxiety, big time. What’s the anxiety about? The job market. It’s been four years of hard work, new friends, and fun. Now it’s time to leave all that behind and go out and find a job and begin to build a career. When this class entered college, the job market was better and although it has been reported that this job market will be better than last year for 2011 grads, this job market will be more competitive than ever. Fear and anxiety can keep you stuck. Some describe it as if their feet are stuck in cement and they cannot move. Usually this happens when one focuses on the end result and the task is so large that they just can’t take any step forward. They are so fearful of failing that they cannot move. So how do you move forward and compete? There is a method and a strategy and it’s all in the preparation.

 

Here are the steps.

1. Start researching the job boards for job descriptions you are interested in
2. Take note of the knowledge, skills, and abilities they are looking for
3. Print all of those job descriptions and put them all out on the table.
4. Make a list of what they are looking for and separate that list into 2 columns: technical skills/knowledge and characteristics
5. Review your work experience, internships, and project work and identify where the synergies are.
6. Review your resume to make sure it depicts what the companies are looking for. You may need to modify your resume accordingly.
7. Always tell the truth on your resume. If you’ve got what they want, then say so. If not then don’t.
8. Start sending out your resume and cover letter; email, snail mail, or however it’s requested.
9. Gather your evidence that reveals how you have the technical skills/knowledge and the characteristics that the companies are looking for. Evidence is stories of your experiences, etc., that show how you meet the requirements.

10.  Prepare your 30 second commercial so you can answer “Tell me about yourself”

11.   Practice your stories.

12.  Target 20 companies of choice.

13.  Make a list of everyone you and your parents know. This is your network.

Let them know what you are looking for and why you think you would be of value (why you meet the qualifications) to a company and ask to be referred to anyone they know. Ask for referrals into your 20 companies of choice. Networking is how most grads are getting their jobs.

14.  Reach out to your college alumni who are working in your career of choice  and your 20 target companies, for advice.

15.  Remember, looking for a job is your job right now. Do not give up. Think of it like a funnel. The more you put in the more comes out the other end. However, its got to be quality or the funnel will get clogged.

 

Staying in action will help the anxiety lift. Remember some anxiety is good because it can be motivating. When the anxiety gets debilitating and you feel like you can’t move, take one step at time.

 

 

Ellyn Enisman has been a career coach, recruiter, and staffing expert for more than 27 years.  She has written Job Interview Skills 101 to provide tools and a step by step strategy to help college students and recent college grads compete in any job market. For more information on how to order Job Interview Skills 101 go to www.jobinterviewskills101.com or www.collegetocareercoaching.com

Summer Hiring Up With Highest Percentage Since 2007 Planning Summer Vacations

As the summer travel season kicks off with Memorial Day weekend, the nation’s workers are undoubtedly feeling more confident about taking paid leave.  However, increased travel costs could keep many vacationing workers close to home and diminish the positive impact on the economy, warns one workplace authority.

“Job security is the strongest it has been in several years, as corporate job cutting shrinks to pre-recession lows,” according to John Challenger, chief executive officer of global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.  “But stagnant wages and soaring gasoline prices are likely to limit the amount of money people are willing to spend on vacations.”

Challenger statistics on corporate downsizing reveal that planned layoffs are at their lowest level since the late 1990s.  Through the first four months of 2011, employers announced a total of 167,239 job cuts or an average of about 41,800 per month.  That is down 24 percent from a year ago, when job cuts averaged nearly 55,000 per month.  In 2009, employers announced an average of 177,775 job cuts per month between January and April.

The decline in layoffs is boosting workers’ confidence about their job stability.  A quarterly survey of workers by Harris Interactive on behalf of Glassdoor.com found that in the first quarter only 17 percent of employees were concerned about being laid off in the next six months.  That was down from 26 percent in the first quarter of 2009.

“Workers are starting to regain enough confidence in their employment situation to ask for and actually use vacation time.  And, companies, realizing that they are asking existing employees to work harder for the same or less money, will likely be more than willing to grant their workers’ requests,” noted Challenger.

Improving job stability is already leading to increased travel plans.  A survey from AAA shows that 34.9 million Americans will take trips away from home over the upcoming holiday weekend, the highest number since 2007.  The survey found that 30.9 million of these travelers plan to travel by car. “However, with gas prices hovering near $4 nationwide and airfares up 22 percent from a year ago and expected to go higher as airlines tack on increased fuel surcharges and baggage fees, many travelers this weekend and throughout the summer may opt to remain close to home.  Destinations with a half-day drive will probably become the preferred vacation spot for cost-conscious Americans,” noted Challenger.

Even if many travelers decide to stay close to home this summer, local economies will still benefit greatly from vacation spending.  Anticipation for a stronger travel season has led to an early hiring surge in the leisure and entertainment sector.  Employers in this category added 742,000 new workers between February and April, according to non-seasonally adjusted data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  That is largest February-to-April employment gain ever recorded in this industry.

“Hiring in this sector began early this year.  Typically, the biggest employment gains come in May and June.  This year, employers in leisure and entertainment added nearly 400,000 new workers in February and April.  Hopefully, summer travel lives up to expectations or we could see a surge in job losses in July and August,” said Challenger.

As for vacationing workers, Challenger said that while job security is improving, it is still recommended that they keep the lines of communication open with their employers. “You don’t have to spend a part of every vacation day working, but you want to take your cell phone and laptop and make an effort to occasionally check in with the office.  If you are a team manager, stay in touch with your team members.  Make sure supervisors know your e-mail and cell phone number just in case you are needed,” said Challenger.

“As employers continue the shift toward retention mode, many will be eager to let workers enjoy vacations without interruptions from work, but make no mistake, your efforts to remain connected, even if unnecessary, will be appreciated and remembered. Technology has become so portable and so affordable that there really is no excuse anymore for not staying in touch.  Smartphones and tablet computers make it easy to stay connected anywhere with internet access,” he concluded.

Five Ways to Improve Learning with Performance Management

The convergence of learning and performance management creates an opportunity to diagnose and prescribe ways to better develop critical talent. By integrating learning and performance, organizations can more easily identify workforce trends in a more predictive manner, target organizational capability gaps, and enhance connections to build alignment with the business needs.

Whether the integration of learning and performance is driven by the organization’s learning group or HR, both groups need to know how to take advantage of this convergence. This whitepaper describes five ways that performance management can improve training initiatives:

• Producing development plans that work
• Improving leadership development programs
• Making learning opportunities more visible
• Aligning the training department to organizational needs
• Making learning and human resources more strategic