Video: What Motivates Us to Work? Constant Progress and Sense of Purpose, Not Money or Joy.

What motivates us to work? Contrary to conventional wisdom, it isn’t just money. But it’s not exactly joy either. It seems that most of us thrive by making constant progress and feeling a sense of purpose. Behavioral economist Dan Ariely presents two eye-opening experiments that reveal our unexpected and nuanced attitudes toward meaning in our work.

It’s become increasingly obvious that the dismal science of economics is not as firmly grounded in actual behavior as was once supposed. In “Predictably Irrational,” Dan Ariely tells us why. Continue Reading

The Hype Over Job Board Matching Technology Is Just That: Hype

Garbage in, garbage out photo courtesy of Shutterstock

Perhaps prompted by a recent article by Bloomberg about on-line job search software getting smarter, it seems that a lot of attention this week is being devoted to matching technology being used by job boards. In theory, matching technology makes a lot of sense as it would allow employers and job seekers to save time finding each other and reduce the noise by reducing and perhaps eliminating contact between employers and job seekers whose needs are different. But is theory the same as reality?

A number of people in the job board industry for whom I have tremendous respect are writing that candidates should be able to just submit their resume and have it turned into a search query. Some even advocate taking the search entirely out of the hands of the candidate by using computerized algorithms to “read” jobs posted by employers and resumes posted by candidates and then returning to the employer a list of what the software considers to be highly qualified candidates. The problem with either approach and especially the latter is that they assume that both are forward looking, the job posting is well written, and the resume is well written. The problem is that for the software to work properly all must be true yet generally none are true. Continue Reading

23% of Employers Plan to Hire Additional Workers in Q2

Matt Ferguson, CEO of Careerbuilder

Stable hiring is expected for the second quarter as U.S. employers continue to size up a market that is producing moderate economic growth, according to CareerBuilder’s latest job forecast. Twenty-six percent of employers plan to increase full-time, permanent headcount in the next three months, similar to projections for the previous two quarters, but trending below Q2 estimates last year.

The national survey, which was conducted online by Harris Interactive^© from February 11 to March 6, 2013, included more than 2,000 hiring managers and human resource professionals across industries and company sizes.

“The U.S. job market is in a better place today, but concerns over spending cuts, wavering global economies and other factors are weighing on employers’ minds,” said Matt Ferguson, CEO of CareerBuilder. “We expect continued stability and improvement as the year goes on. When we look at listings on CareerBuilder.com, job growth isn’t confined to technology and healthcare and other areas that have fared well post-recession. The rebound in the housing sector is having a positive influence on job creation for related industries that have been struggling.” Continue Reading

4 Reasons Why Employers Must Encourage Telecommuting

Why should employers allow employees to work from home?  The following post has four good reasons.

2.5% of the U.S. employee workforce (3.1 million people, not including the self-employed or unpaid volunteers) considers home their primary place of work. it is also estimated that 20 to 30 million Americans work from home at least one day a week.-According to an analysis byTeleworkResearchNetwork.com Attract and Retain Employees

Originally posted here:

4 Reasons Why Employers Must Encourage Telecommuting

Increased Layoffs in Q1 Led by Retail, Government Woes

John Challenger of Challenger, Gray & Christmas

The nation’s employers reported job cuts totaling 49,255 in March, a decline of 11 percent from the 55,356 cuts announced in February, according to the latest report on downsizing activity released Thursday by global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.  Despite the decline, quarterly job cuts reached their highest level since 2011.

March job cuts were 30 percent higher than a year ago, when employers announced plans to shed 37,880 workers from their payrolls.  This marks the second consecutive month and the fourth time in the last six months that the job-cut total was higher than the year-ago figure.

Employers have now announced 145,041 job cuts through the first three months of 2013.  That 5.6 percent higher than the previous quarter’s 137,361 job cuts and 1.4 percent higher than the 143,094 job cuts announced in the first quarter of 2012.  The first-quarter total is, in fact, the highest quarterly tally since 233,258 job cuts were tracked in the third quarter of 2011. Continue Reading

Do Job Boards Still Matter?

Yes, job boards still matter.  They are a convenient method of searching the latest job postings or different categories such as job title or location.  While new recruiting strategies such as social media and mobile may come into play, job boards can incorporate them to help people find jobs.  As a result, you would expect job boards to have more success by expanding their audiences to those who use social media and mobile devices. Continue Reading

80% of Job Openings Are Unadvertised

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock

I was recently quoted by the Wall Street Journal as saying that 80 percent of job openings are unadvertised. Several people have contacted me to ask where I got that number. Some believe that only 70 percent of job openings are unadvertised. So where did I get 80 percent from?

As well stated on the Jobfully blog, the number bounces around a bit year-to-year and even month-to-month depending upon the state of the labor market and is indirectly reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in their monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS). The survey reports these numbers: Continue Reading

32% of Employers Hiring College Grads for Jobs Once Reserved for High School Grads

Brent Rasmussen of Careerbuilder

Need another reason to stay in school after high school and get a degree from a one-, two-, or four-year college or university?

A recent survey illustrates just how important higher education has become to employers in virtually every industry. Employers have historically looked for educated labor to fill high skill positions but now more and more report that they’re also demanding post-secondary degrees from candidates who wish to fill lower skill jobs as well. Thirty-two percent of hiring managers and human resource professionals said they are hiring more employees with college degrees for positions that were historically held by high school graduates. While this trend is most prevalent among financial services organizations, it spans across various industries: Continue Reading

1.8 Million 2013 Four-Year College Grads Entering Improving Job Market

John Challenger of Challenger, Gray & Christmas

With college seniors around the nation returning to their respective campuses following spring break recess, many will undoubtedly turn their attention to their impending graduation and the search for their first post-collegiate job.  A new analysis of the entry-level job market estimates that while the job market continues to strengthen for college graduates, the environment remains highly competitive, which may force some to pursue unexpected career paths.

In its annual college graduate job-market outlook, global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. says this year’s crop of 1.8 million bachelor’s degree recipients will be able to take advantage of the 36 consecutive months of private-sector employment growth that has occurred since the jobs recovery began in earnest in March 2010.

“Job creation has been slow, but it has been steady.  Over the past 14 months, private payrolls have grown by an average of 190,000 new workers per month.  There are a growing number of opportunities for job seekers, but the search definitely requires an aggressive approach.  This is especially true for new graduates, who are likely to have less real-world experience to point to in job interviews,” said John A. Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Continue Reading

U.S. Department of State Launches Mobile Career App

Students who want to work for a large, stable employer often choose to work for one of the hundreds of departments agencies within the U.S. federal government. The lead foreign affairs agency responsible for formulating and implementing U.S. foreign policy overseas is the U.S. Department of State.

Most of the Department’s civil service employees work in the Washington, D.C., or other cities throughout the United States on everything from improving trade opportunities for U.S. businesses, to helping American couples adopt children from overseas, to monitoring human rights issues. Others work overseas in embassies, consulates, and other locations. These Foreign Service employees are hard to recruit because the hiring standards are high, the hurdles many, and the competition fierce. Continue Reading