Job Seekers: It’s Time to Conduct a Google Self-Check

Jessica Holbrook Hernandez of Great Resumes Fast

It’s no secret that most job seekers don’t fully understand how involved a job search really is. It’s far more in-depth than simply looking for a job, sending in an application and resume and waiting for an interview callback.

For instance, did you know that, according to an ExecuNet survey, 77 percent of recruiters use search engines to learn about candidates? This means, it’s up to you to ensure recruiters and employers who look up your name in search engines are happy with what they see. The only way to get this done is by conducting your own Google self-check! Continue Reading

Insight for Employers on Selling the Candidate Experience

Joe Murphy of Shaker Consulting Group

Balazs Paroczay and Jillyan French-Vitet of KellyOCG wrote a thoughtful and thought-provoking follow-on to one of my articles on the Candidate Experience. You can find their article here.

First, I am honored by how my thinking and writing inspired a great article that triggered some thoughtful dialogue. The comment thread was interesting.

Thank you Balazs and Jillyan.

Candidate Experience Award 2012

Second, metrics are for those who want to understand the impact of an experience, and, make adaptations based upon learning from experience.  Do not think of it as a  SHOULD we measaure, but more of a  WHAT should we measure? And WHY? Continue Reading

Study Says Scent Increases Confidence

On a personal level, smelling good makes people feel good about themselves.  Did you know it affects people professionally as well?

Any career guru will tell you that confidence is key when embarking on the job interview process. In order to get your foot in the door and make a good first impression, you must be confident in yourself and your abilities.

Did you know that smelling “scent-sational” helps to avoid those self-doubting moments when entering the job market? In fact, a recent study conducted by Wakefield Research on behalf of Gain found that: Continue Reading

Hot Careers in Linguistics for Social Media

“Social media is spreading knowledge globally at the speed of a “Tweet”…      Jeff Bullas

LOCALIZATION

Sharon Jones of Career Thought Leaders

What’s a geo-lingual visitor to do when the language of a website is indecipherable?   Leave.

U.S. marketers using monolingual tweets are at a potential disadvantage, according to Common Sense Advisory, which found that 72.4% of consumers prefer to learn about products and services in their primary language.

Language Lines Services CEO Louis F. Provenzano, Jr. reports that 60 million (20%) of U.S. legal residents speak a language other than English at home.

The fastest growing language on Twitter is Arabic. Kindle’s vision is ambitious: “Every book ever printed in every language all available in 60 seconds.” Notable global trends in social media are:

• Especially high online user engagement in Israel, China, Russia, Brazil, and India
• Exploding Internet use in emerging markets (India, China, and South America)
• Increasing number of languages  supported on major platforms, such as Facebook (70+) and Google (64). Continue Reading

Unemployment Rate for 35+ Year Olds Half of Rate for 20-24 Year Olds

New Study Finds Recruiters Give Resumes Only 6 Seconds

Jessica Holbrook Hernandez of Great Resumes Fast

A recent eye-tracking study of recruiter behavior when reviewing resumes revealed some rather surprising information. While we’ve known for some time that resumes aren’t given much initial consideration time, most experts thought that roughly 30 seconds were given to examination; some thought even less—maybe 10-15 seconds. In actuality, the study found an initial scan of the resume by recruiters was only 6 SECONDS. That’s it. Six seconds is all your resume gets to make an initial impression.

The implications of the study, of course, are far reaching and suggest that it’s even more critical to have an eye-catching resume and to make the most of the six seconds you are afforded. So where do you start and what do you focus on when you have only six seconds to make the right impression? Here are the six areas that recruiters spent more than 80% of their time focusing on: Continue Reading

STEM Degrees Financially Rewarding for Minority Students

For minority students pursuing STEM degrees, the payoff could be huge.

Minority college students who major in the STEM fields – science, technology, engineering and math – earn at least 25 percent more than their peers who study humanities or education, according to the results of a new study.

And those who took jobs related to their STEM degrees earned at least 50 percent more than their classmates who majored in humanities or education fields.

Published in the June issue of Research in Higher Education, the study followed more than 1,000 Asian and Pacific Islander, Latino and black students over nine years. The students were scholarship applicants for the Gates Millennium Scholars Program funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which awards grants to highly motivated, low-income minority students. Continue Reading

Opportunity to Start Franchise is Improving

Have you ever thought about starting your own business?  If you’re holding back because of the economy, you may want to reconsider.

The first few months of 2012 have brought some encouraging news for potential franchise owners hamstrung during the recession by a clenched-fist credit market.

Since the collapse of the housing market and near-collapse of the world economy in the fall of 2008, banks facing increased regulation and oversight of their lending practices have been loath to lend money, especially in the form of unsecured loans — the kind that most newly minted franchise owners need to cover their initial investment costs.

Lately, though, franchisors that work with FranNet, the international network of franchise consultants, have reported that their franchisee candidates are finding it easier to borrow money, even in the form of unsecured loans. It’s a sign that the economy is on the road to recovery and that banks are recognizing the benefits of lending money to worthy business ventures. Continue Reading

Couch Potatoes Wanted

What is your favorite part of your job? The fact that you have an awesome coffee machine? What about the fact that you only have to work three days a week? There can be many benefits of your job depending on where you work. As we struggle to bring down our national unemployment rates, those with jobs often find themselves feeling lucky that they just have a job. Still, there can be pains in having a job. Do you have to commute over an hour both ways each day? Wouldn’t it be nice if some jobs would allow you the option of working from home? Well couch potatoes unite; there are now more options for you to work in the comfort of your fuzzy pajamas. Continue Reading

Only 65% of Full-time Workers Plan to Vacation in 2012, Was 80% in 2007

The recession caused many American workers to rule out their annual vacations, but according to a new survey, bosses are finding more time for getaways than their workers. Eighty-one percent of managers have taken or plan to take vacation this year, compared to 65 percent of full-time employees.

While the number of American workers who have already taken or plan to take a vacation is up from 61 percent in 2011, the number of vacationers falls well below pre-financial crisis levels. In 2007, 80 percent of full-time workers went on vacation or expected to take a vacation that year.

The nationwide survey – conducted February 9 to March 2, 2012, among more than 5,000 full-time workers and more than 2,000 managers – found that vacations are still financially out of reach for many Americans. One in five workers (19 percent) said they can’t afford to go on vacation, which is down from 24 percent in 2011. An additional 12 percent of workers say they can afford vacations, but have no plans to take one, consistent with past years.

“Managers may be more likely to afford vacations, but they should still be encouraging their employees to use paid time off, even if they are staying close to home,” said Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources at CareerBuilder. “Workers who maximize vacation time are less likely to burn out and more likely to maintain productivity levels. Heavy workloads and financial constraints can make it difficult to get away from work, but even if you’re not traveling far from home, a few days away can have have a very postive impact on your health and happiness.”

The survey reveals several other vacation trends and topics of note:

• Duration of vacations shrinking post-recession – This year, 17 percent of workers took or planned to take a vacation for ten days or more. That’s down from 24 percent in 2007.
• Many workers contact work while on vacation – Three in ten workers contact work during their vacation, on par with last year. More than a third of managers (37 percent) say they expect their employees to check with work while on vacation, although most say only if the employee is involved in a big project or major issue going on with the company.
• Letting paid time off go to waste – 15 percent of workers reported they gave up vacation days last year because they didn’t have time to use them, down slightly from 16 percent who gave up days in 2010.
• “Stay-cations” are a popular option – Nearly two in five workers (38 percent) stayed home or are planning to stay home this year.
• Working while the family vacations – Twenty-three percent of workers say they once had to work while the family went on vacation without them, consistent with last year (24 percent).