A few months ago, I sent a blogger I respect tremendously a copy of my new book, which he had agreed to review. He passed it off to his summer intern, which was okay by me, because after all interns are often my target audience and I engage with this age group every day. Said intern promised to have the review posted by the middle of August. It's now mid September, and the intern has presumably gone back to school. Despite a few gentle nudges, the review was never completed.

I've been thinking about contacting the blogger and reminding him of the situation. I'm sure this blogger would agree to do the review himself at this point, but that would mean sending him another copy of the book and waiting another few months for him to read it. Like most of you, I'm a busy person, and I'm not sure it's worth it. I can't help being a little annoyed, though.

Delegating responsibility to subordinates is a terrific idea, and in fact you must do it if you are going to be productive and efficient at work. But delegating does not mean abdicating. As the supervisor, it's up to you to keep a close watch on the tasks you give subordinates. You can't just hand off an assignment and then forget about it completely. Rather, you must keep a running status of what your reports are working on, and check in with them regularly to ensure that progress is happening. Be available to provide guidance and answer questions. Remember that if your subordinate shirks a task or doesn't do it correctly, in the end you are the one who will be held accountable.

Article by Alexandra Levit and courtesy of Water Cooler Wisdom blog.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 23, 2008 at 10:00 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

You never have a second chance to create a good first impression.

Students are busy. They love the Internet. They will visit your website. So please, make sure you put your best foot forward and make your graduate site your most successful recruitment tool.

In many cases, the first time a potential employee is exposed to your company is through your web site. Your best candidates come though this channel, so its creation and maintenance deserve your utmost attention.

At the very least, your careers site needs to include an up-to-date listing of open positions and information about your company and its products. A fully developed site can include bells and whistles such as an online profiler, interactivity and streaming audio and video content.

Here are some things to think about when developing a top-rate careers site:

1. Understand your target group's expectations, preferences and priorities.
2. Design a simple layout and navigation scheme around this, and test it on graduates.
3. Provide a job site map.
4. Include an RSS feed so potential applicants can get updates automatically.
5. Use their language - graduate lingo.
6. Keep a consistent employer brand throughout the entire website.
7. Explain your company's recruitment process. Include a "How to Apply" section to lead a potential employee through the process, with a very prominent "Apply Here" button.
8. Include a list of compelling reasons to work for your company and don't ignore the basics - include in-depth information about the job, and clearly articulate the interview and hire process.
9. Add a system for managing and tracking applications. An online application form has the benefit of standardizing information from candidates.
10. Have a mechanism to receive feedback, and then use this valuable information.
11. Use the fact that the careers page is often the most visited page on your site (after the homepage) to get much deserved budget from senior management.
12. Include a mechanism to get back to applicants quickly, and whether they will advance in your process. This will create a positive impression, not the sense of a "black hole".
13. Above all, keep it easy to use and friendly.

A good example of a graduate recruitment site is www.hewittgraduate.co.uk. And check out Microsoft's "Hey Genius" graduate recruiting site for some innovative ideas to say the least!

What have your experiences been creating careers site? Any tips to add? What is your favourite site? Least favourite site? Leave a comment and let us know.

Article by, Susanna Cesar-Morton of Recruitment 2.0

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 seeking entry-level jobs and other career opportunities.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 23, 2008 at 7:45 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

"People need to be reminded more often than they need to be instructed."Dr. Samuel Johnson

This quote was emailed to me by Ashley Herrick from Sendouts and I feel it is very appropriate to the Recruiting Profession. Think for a moment of the many methods, techniques and candidates that have slipped through the cracks in just the past twelve months. When you first entered this profession your enthusiasm made up for what you didn't know. You made endless phone calls, were rejected constantly and eventually made your first placement. You didn't really know WHO to call, or HOW to make effective calls - you just knew you had to stay on the phone, interview and get candidates in front of your hiring authorities if you were going to be successful.

Now that you KNOW who and how to call, can you imagine the results you would achieve if you still made those calls every day with the same enthusiasm you once had? I don't believe in a set number of phone calls, but I do think it's important to commit to a minimum standard of daily results - based on your individual statistics and ratios.

Too often, we are guilty of talking to the same people over and over again, instead of getting your name in front of 20 new people every day. Ask yourself these questions - What do you KNOW, but have quit doing? What worked for you in the past that you are not doing as part of your routine today? What was successful when you first started to work with the various hiring authorities in your company? What candidates are sitting in your database that you could reactivate?

Going back to the original quote... "People need to be reminded..." I'd like to remind you of a few things:

1. You change people's lives every day
2. You need to do the BASICS each day, regardless of the level of your experience
3. Commit to training and always fine tune your interviewing, sales and closing skills
4. Remember, enthusiasm sells! If you are enthusiastic about your candidates and enthusiastic about the opportunities you are representing, this will result in more hires!

In our profession it is important to adapt quickly to change, anticipate trends and stay ahead of our competition. What I'm doing today is just REMINDING you of the skills, abilities and techniques you could "revive" that will make you more successful in 2008! If you keep doing things the SAME WAY, you will get the SAME RESULTS. If you were not thrilled with the number of hires you facilitated in the first six months of this year, you need to make changes today. Take a few minutes in the next 24 hours to do a self-assessment. The results will impact the level of success you enjoy in the remainder of this year.

We are more than half way through the year, and this is a great time to do three things:

1. Determine the 20% of what you do that provides you with 80% of your results - and do more of those things these next six months.
2. Determine what is a total WASTE of your time and stop doing those things immediately (delegate whenever possible!)
3. Identify new techniques or activate old effective techniques (one each month) for the next six months, to elevate your level of success.

Often remembering what you forgot is all it takes to enjoy an entirely new level of effectiveness and success!

Article by, Barbara Bruno and courtesy of Kenndy Information Recruiting Trends providing leading edge insights and strategies for the recruiting professional

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 23, 2008 at 7:30 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

When it comes to technology, I tend to yawn a bit. I've been around the block so long to see trends, fads, and "shortcuts" come onto the recruiting scene, only to vanish as quickly as they arrived.

This is not to say we should ignore technology. No. Instead what I'm saying is much of the ballyhooed technological short cuts, trends and fads rarely live up to the hype and sensationalism for long at least when it comes to recruiting.

Resume Scanning 1996 Style.
Back in 1996, my office had a desktop pc on every recruiting desk. I had been working with computers since 1987 (and prior during college) and I thought I was doing better than most being on a local area network and possessing the best technology offered at the time.

Yet, recruiting colleagues were surprised that I was not using "automated resume scanning". Every other week or so I'd get a call asking me how I "scanned my resumes".

I got the sense people felt I was "not up to date" when I admitted not using scanning technology. I received criticism for not being up to date.

When I was invited for a free demonstration of a then-popular resume scanning system which was supposed to be able to scan about 100 physical, U.S. mailed resumes on an hourly basis, decided to attend.

I believe it was Resumax or something similar at the time and was unable to confirm if the company is still even in business. The program had OCR (Optical Character Recognition) which was supposed to "understand" the image scanned and convert it to digital text (the kind you can edit). The system was supposed to streamline the conversion of hundreds of physical resumes received by U.S. mail into digital format.

I sat through the demonstration. The system featured a Fujitsu high volume scanner which cost thousands alone. The combined software, hardware was somewhere around $75,000.00 to install. I nearly gagged at the price.

I decided to pass. I had Laura back at the office entering resumes through a keyboard shortcut method I had created which was almost as fast and with more accuracy than the OCR demonstration had revealed.

Not buying into this scanning technology was the smartest single move I made.

Had I bought the system, I would have not only been out seventy-five thousand dollars, but the entire system was about to become obsolete within the next eighteen to twenty-four months as a result of the explosive popularity of emailed MS Word documents.

A system purchased to handle postal-mailed resumes would have been relegated to the attic.

So much for technology.

Internet Recruiting circa 1998
The next hype the recruiting industry stampeded toward was the mystique of easily-found "internet resumes" popularized by a certain author who made a debut within the recruiting industry around 1997-1998.

Interestingly enough, it did not seem to matter to anyone at the time that this self-proclaimed guru had no recruiting experience whatsoever and never ever made one single placement in their previous non-recruiting career. Not one placement ever.

The author promoted an "Internet Recruiting" kit. Sold thousands of them. And thousands flocked to related seminars lured by the prospect of candidates found just keystrokes away. I too got caught up in the hype thinking the world had changed on me and I best get in line.

I had two recruiters at the office attend these seminars and spend hours in the office (after hours and late at night) using the techniques. While we did find an occasional low hanging fruit in the orchard, most of it was hanging low for good reason. We never actually placed one individual in a fee-paid search using any of these methods.

I'm not saying such web-based resumes might be useful to recruiters in other industries, but for the industries we served this was not where we were going to find the gems we needed to place managers and key professionals.

We ditched the kit a year later and continued focusing on tried-and-true methods we were all trained during pre-internet days (which continue to work today I should add).

As for the author ... the individual came to me for job placement assistance around 2003 feeling "recruiting is dead".

So much for the next technological fad.

Monster, Hotjobs, Carerbuilder and web-based job sites
Along with the explosion of interest in easily found internet resumes came the popularity of web-based job sites. One of the early founders of a web based site was quoted at conferences as saying "This will put an end to the entire recruiting industry".

Some of us were indeed nervous for good reason.

But in actuality many of these job sites learned that instead of putting recruiters out of business they were going to have to cater to and develop rapport with the search industry itself if they were to thrive.

Today many jobsite staffers regularly attend staffing conferences and keep trade show booths at such events to cultivate the staffing industry its founders threatened to kill.

Jeff Taylor, founder of Monster.com is now working on an online obituary service.

How ironic.

Web 2.0, Social Network Sites
Today's fad, trend and buzz is all about "Social Networking" sites.

Someone emailed me a few weeks ago stating being "friends" with someone else we were discussing. A day or two later it dawned on me to get back to this person. I asked her "Have you actually met this friend?"

"Have you spent time with her?"

"Ever have coffee? Drinks? Or meet in a face to face setting?"

As I suspected the answer to all of the above was "No".

The "friendship" existed virtually. It was in cyber-space with no correlation to what I would define as a real friend in real life.

Déjà vu
Today there are several "Web 2.0 Guru's" now making their rounds around the world attending recruiting symposiums, conferences and conventions.

They draw large crowds whose interest is once again piqued by the prospect of the next electronic candidate shortcut.

Just as it was with the early internet gurus in 1997, some of these trainers (some, not all) have never made a single placement in their entire life. One or two are full time trainers. They train and only train as their vocation. They don't care about placements.

I'm reminded of the 2006 Pink Panther scene where Jacques Clouseau refers to "Yuri. The trainer who trains."

While this is not to say they are not worthy of speaking about social-network recruiting ... and at least comprehend the sourcing aspect of the recruiting cycle ... their remains a big difference between understanding recruiting (finding of a possible candidate) and full cycle client development and consistent placements. Where you actually receive a significant fee for the placement.

Plaxo defines friends
On the Plaxo network (www.plaxo.com) you are given a choice of bullet points to label your online relationship with others.

Under the word "Friends" it specifically states "people you know in real life outside of electronic social networks alone".

What good is having 10,000 names in an "online electronic network" as some networking gurus boast, when you don't even return a phone call?

I tried communicating (via email) to an "internet sourcing guru" not too long ago and found the experience highly frustrating.

When I realized he was not understanding one word I was saying he replied:

"Sorry Frank. I'm talking to you on my headset, reading a blog, receiving IM's, and checking my email at the same time."

I have two words for this type of behavior:

Rude.

And unprofessional.

There is something to be said for focusing on one topic at one time.

How dare you try to speak to me and not give me your full undivided attention?
Is this how you would like me to treat you in return?

Is this what today's guru's are teaching?

I can assure you if you behave like some of the social networking experts out there you will never get a stream of high value client contracts like we've had to produce all of 2008.

Such behavior also proves all the technical tools in the world are worthless unless you know how to interact with professionals once they return your contact and know how to communicate with people.

When I speak to my son I make sure he shuts off his cell phone as nothing but complete undivided attention is expected. I do the same for him if I'm reading the newspaper.

What's sexy, what's not
I was a bit shocked when someone told me just last week "Your seminar topics just aren't sexy, Frank. Since you are not talking about web 2.0 and online social networks ... which is the current trend. That's why you are not drawing the crowds these hip contemporary subjects are attracting".

In other words I was being told I was an anachronism.

I may not be spending time on the "hip topic du jour".

But then again, because I do not get lured into the hype of the day I plod along making my consistent placements with fees between $17,000 to $40,000 month in and out.

How boring it must be to produce semi-monthly with such "old fashioned" methods.

To me its about maintaining a steady rhythm that can be endured long term.

Unplug my computer. Take away my internet. And I will still make placements. I may not snag as many ... but I still will make them.

And many of the people I place are Generation X'ers with Facebook accounts but I never would have found them through those channels as their profiles had insufficient career information.

Lesson from the Ski Industry
In the ski industry there's this old saying among professional instructors:

"Many spend thousands on skis, equipment, and fashionable clothing.
But few ever spend twenty-five dollars on one single lesson to properly use it all."

The same can be said about today's "technology du jour".

You might have the fanciest equipment.

You may have trained on AIRS, Google search strategies, or taken LinkedIn courses.

But can you get it to produce consistent fees in the form of mailed or electronically uploaded checks for you every single week or two?

Once you learn to use tools to source, you will want to know how to cultivate lasting, meaningful relationships.

Eventually the infatuation with Web 2.0 tools will fade. Myspace, Facebook, Tweeter, Blogs, LinkedIn, Digg, etc. etc will all become "so yesterday" just as the previous fads have gone.

Something else will take over just as the fax took over for snail mail and email took over the fax.

Those that consistently invest on long lasting recruiter traing, the types of techniques that actually deliver placement success and client development skills will succeed and rule the world.

Those that focus on fads may make a few bucks off the more gullible in our industry, only to disappear into the horizon.

I can count on one hand all the recruiters that were around in 1987 that are still around today. Only a fraction have come through the ups and downs decades later.

Those that remain successful did so due to their passion and never-ceasing pursuit of skills that transcend time.

Consider the Candidate
According to John A. Challenger of Challenger, Gray and Christmas the outplacement firm, candidates are already finding online recruiting "overwhelming". He states, " One could easily spend all day, every day surfing the Net for job vacancies ... waiting for the phone to ring."

I concur.
Well said Mr. Challenger.
(Full article on http://www.jobjournal.com/article_full_text.asp?artid=2434)

It's only when you exit the online world and enter the realm of the REAL world with at least a telephone call and sharp communication skills that things actually start to happen.

Article by, Frank Risalvato, CPC, CEO of IRES, Inc., a respected leader in the field of recruiting. In addition to providing first-rate executive search services, he is sought as an expert speaker and his cutting-edge articles, opinions, and insightful quotes frequently appear in some of the most respected names in the world of business, Internet, and career related media - all of which is found at his recruiter training site located at www.searchwizardry.com

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 22, 2008 at 4:13 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

"A joy to read... Sam Wyly is a wonderful American character: a natural entrepreneur and builder with an outsized personality and humor to match his success. From selling rings at Louisiana Tech to creating businesses from steakhouses to software, he has a Midas touch and a gleam in his eye. This book is both a how-to guide as well as an inspirational autobiography. It captures the magic of the American dream." Walter Isaacson, CEO, The Aspen Institute; author, Einstein: His Life and Universe

Sam Wyly may not be a household name. But Fortune magazine described him as "one of the most, if not the most, successful post-war entrepreneurs" in America. And that was before he built four more multi-billion-dollar companies! Now, for the first time, Wyly shares his remarkable story and the secrets to his success in his new memoir, 1,000 DOLLARS AND AN IDEA: Entrepreneur to Billionaire (Newmarket Press, September 2008).

From the struggles his parents faced trying to hold on to the family cotton farm during the Depression to the coaching he received on the high school football field, Wyly describes how he learned many lessons growing up on the banks of the Mississippi in northern Louisiana that would guide him through life and business on a path toward becoming a billionaire.

Listed as one of the 1,000 wealthiest people in the world by Forbes magazine, Wyly has blazed a brilliant entrepreneurial path that made him a million dollars at the age of 30. In 1963, after successful sales positions with IBM and Honeywell, he founded University Computing Co., which he took public in 1965. Though he was battling the behemoth of IBM, over the next four years he earned his investors a 100:1 return.

In 1,000 DOLLARS AND AN IDEA we learn how his bold entrepreneurial spirit, respect for the customer and understanding of markets also led him to successfully:

• Co-found Earth Resources Co., an oil-refining and silver-mining operation, and sell it 13 years later at the top of the market
• Purchase the Bonanza Steakhouse chain, and expand it from 20 locations to over 600
• Create Data Transmission Company (DATRAN) and take on the mammoth AT&T telephone monopoly
• Co-found Sterling Software and Sterling Commerce, and sell them to Computer Associates and AT&T for $8 billion
• Purchase the small arts-and-crafts chain Michaels, expand it to more than 900 stores and then sell it for $6 billion, yielding the 1984 Michaels IPO investor a 60:1 return
• Co-found hedge funds Maverick Capital & Ranger Capital
• Found Green Mountain Energy, today the largest provider of cleaner electricity in the U.S.

Wyly has proven to be a visionary in environmentally conscious green entrepreneuring, as well. In 1,000 DOLLARS AND AN IDEA he describes the need for recognition of the growing climate crisis. He spearheaded the green energy movement with Green Mountain Energy Company, a clean energy and carbon-offset provider. Wyly created Green Mountain back in 1997, long before widespread public awareness of global warming. Always one to spot business trends and seize market opportunities, he understood then as he does now that the true 21st-century entrepreneur will be the one who can take advantage of all the benefits of running an environmentally aware business.

1,000 DOLLARS AND AN IDEA is much more than a no-holds-barred memoir by one of America's greatest entrepreneurs. In addition, it is full of lessons in how to follow your dreams, overcome failure and realize your potential while creating companies that are good for customers, employees and shareholders. It is a collection of inspirational case studies that should be required reading in college business courses across the country. It is a call to action to companies on behalf of the environment - a rallying cry for policy change and increased environmental responsibility from corporations.

And in the end, it is the story of the American Dream, as told by a modern-day business pioneer who worked hard and hit it big.

Article courtesy of WorkBloom, an employment blog incorporating a comprehensive career resources section, including the largest database of professionally written resume and cover letter samples on the Web.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 22, 2008 at 7:19 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

The positive trend of job creation in health care continued through the month of August, according to industry website MedZilla.com, a specialist in health care, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical employment. And while August saw a little backsliding in the relative numbers of layoffs in pharmaceuticals, more than 25,000 new jobs were created in health care, with 14,000 being hospital-based positions. Biotech layoffs during the same month were not so fortunate. "Over the past 12 months, health care has added 367,000 new jobs," says MedZilla's director of marketing, Michele Hopps. Even though a few health care systems announced pending layoffs, only one, Cape Cod Healthcare, planned to eliminate more than 100 jobs, and their high-water mark for the month sits at 169 individuals. Job cuts in biotechnology are being attributed to clinical trials not producing expected results. For employers searching for qualified candidates, several states showed jumps in candidate searches, especially in California (9.8%+), Washington D.C. (6.4%+), New York, and Michigan (2% + respectively). Qualified candidates with medical, surgical, and technical were highly sought-after, and even pharmaceutical sales saw a small upward swing in searches by employers. The disparity in candidate searches, when compared to employer searches, could directly be linked to the fact that job seekers are not searching even though companies have new jobs available each month. Additionally, though layoffs do continue in pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, the trend noted last month by MedZilla.com continued into August; companies continued to search for new pharmaceutical sales representatives, indicating that the cycle of drug creation could be reaching the marketing and sales stage. Both Acadia and Eli Lilly are entering new phases of clinical trials, and they, like others, are likely planning for success. If the results are positive, new drugs will be available on the market for representatives to sell, and the pharmaceutical companies will need new sales representatives to market those drugs, especially after the waves of layoffs in that area in the past year or so. The best prospect for new jobs, however, remains in health care, where positions continue to be created by the tens of thousands on a monthly basis. The numbers for August suggest that companies are searching for candidates but not posting new openings until previously-posted ones are filled. Therefore, the prudent candidate coming out of college and looking to enter the health care workforce should begin searching as soon as possible. "Job searches should be ongoing," says Hopps, "and for those planning to graduate soon, start your job searches now. It's never too early."

Article courtesy of Kennedy Information Recruiting Trends providing leading edge insights and strategies for the recruiting professional

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 22, 2008 at 7:15 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Back around 1998 I began submitting my articles to The Fordyce Letter.

Back then the publication was read and subscribed to by predominantly staffing industry professionals.
Now much of that material is freely available. Is this respectful or a good idea for those "working recruiters" and authors who might not have wanted their material exposed to so many eyeballs?

While there were always some sideline subscribers, (such as Joyce Laine Kennedy the nationally syndicated career columnist who has included my subject matter in several of her columns), as well as others such as college professors and industrial psychologists, the newsletter remained well within the realm of recruiting industry professionals servicing the mid-level search and placement niche.

Had I known my articles would someday be posted online for the entire world to read, including being easily viewed by my candidates, prospective clients, current clients, and anyone else visiting the new Fordyce Letter site which has now become an interactive blog ... I would have given much greater thought to submitting those articles and most likely would have diluted much of the content.

Given I'm a "working recruiter" who trains and writes for the industry as a byproduct of my success in recruiting, and must continue to protect the confidentiality, methods, secrets, and techniques I employ, I'm not crazy about articles submitted to one newsletter years ago suddenly being made available for the world to see without any consideration to the originators of such content.

While there is indeed something to be said for the ease of disseminating information, I'm against revealing industry insider secrets, tips, methods to the global community who is uninitiated.

The folks at Fordyce Letter's online site have decided to open the vaults of columns beyond the three year threshold and make those old articles freely available online.

This might be great for buliding traffic to the ere.net community and for the new owners of The Fordyce Letter, but from my perspective it makes me uncomfortable.

Just like a magician who might reveal his secrets to a limited audience, would not want videotapes of those secrets aired to his possible ticket buyers ... who might then decide to not attend ... I feel at a minimum ERE should have held discussions with its authors and content originators on the subject.

Perhaps brief excerpts might have been more prudent.

Let me know your thoughts.

Article by, Frank Risalvato, CPC, CEO of IRES, Inc., a respected leader in the field of recruiting. In addition to providing first-rate executive search services, he is sought as an expert speaker and his cutting-edge articles, opinions, and insightful quotes frequently appear in some of the most respected names in the world of business, Internet, and career related media - all of which is found at his recruiter training site located at www.searchwizardry.com

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 22, 2008 at 7:05 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Have you ever had an open job requisition come across your desk, that you were positive you could fill quickly - only to find thirty days have passed, and there are STILL, no qualified candidates in your pipeline? As a hiring manager, or human resources professional, responsible for the recruitment function, you are painfully aware of the number of hours necessary to source for your next hire. With an ever shrinking "quality" talent pool, your job only continues to grow more demanding of your precious time. To add to the insanity, the director of the department you're actively hiring for, is calling and pressuring you constantly, to fill this position - YESTERDAY!

This may sound like just another day in the life of a recruitment manager, but it doesn't have to be this way. Sure, you may post the position on a job board or two, you may decide to regularly access resumes through your employer resume subscription service, and send the job order to your favorite contingency agency. All of your current strategies are initiated, without the time sensitive success required to get this req filled and out of your life.

Fortunately, there is a new concept that is available to employers and hiring managers, that is completely streamlining the entire recruiting process. This technology is available at no-cost, and literally enables employers to receive the resumes of high quality, pre-screened candidates, in as little as a few hours.

The recruiting marketplace concept works very different from traditional job boards. In a nutshell, employers post descriptions of the jobs they want to fill, along with the fee they are willing to pay upon successful hire. These "bounties" are viewed by registered, professional contingency recruiters, who specialize in the field or industry of your open position. Each headhunter who is a part of the marketplace, has regular access to thousands of qualified candidates. With more than 8000 contingency recruiters participating in the marketplace, you've just increased the odds of finding your next hire - EXPONENTIALLY!

An employer considering utilizing a recruiting marketplace, should consider the following:

• this technology saves both time and money, by enabling you to fill your jobs faster, and with higher quality candidates
• the concept works in conjunction with your current recruiting strategies, and you can have all pre-screened applicants apply directly to your applicant tracking system
• you name the "bounty" you are willing to pay for the perfect candidate
• helps put an end to headhunter calls at your office
• you exponentially increase the likelihood of finding your next hire
• there are no start up costs, no membership fees, or hidden costs to use this advanced recruiting tool

The responsibility of filling challenging positions in your organization can become more and more cumbersome, as the level of quality talent available, consistently continues to become smaller. We all have the same number of hours in every day. With so much of the recruiting function being associated to the number of quality candidates a hiring manager can connect with, it just makes sense to work smarter. The recruiting marketplace is one solution that provides a constant source of high quality resume flow, serves as an invaluable tool for every employer's recruiting arsenal, and ultimately saves time and money for HR associates and corporate recruitment professionals.

Article by, Christina Archer, a Recruiting Consultant, who actively connects with her clients using BountyJobs, the Recruiting Marketplace. http://www.BountyJobs.com provides a quality communications platform, that enables employers to save time, by filling their open positions faster than before. In less than ten minutes, Christina can show hiring managers how to drastically improve their company's recruiting strategy, and streamline their entire talent acquisition process. To schedule the phone call that can positively impact your company's fill rate, call Christina directly, at 888.225.1328, or send an email to christina at christinaarcher.info.

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 seeking entry-level jobs and other career opportunities.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 19, 2008 at 5:08 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

• Nothing will change.
• Your job is secure.
• You are a valuable asset.
• We will let you know everything that is going on.
• Trust us.

If you have recently been through a merger or acquisition, you may have been the recipient or sender of any one of the above messages.

Is this the Big Lie? A bold-faced deception? A conscious attempt to distort the truth? Or, was it that the sender just didn't have any real information and was only expressing what they hoped to be true.

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are attempts for companies to change their current path by combining strengths in the hopes of achieving what are often referred to as "synergistic benefits."

There are varied reasons behind a merger or acquisition. They are often driven by the need to:

• increase market share
• enter new markets
• develop new products through R&D
• achieve administrative benefits
• boost revenue

We make mergers sound so simple: just combine computer systems, merge departments or offices throughout the world, use sheer size to force down prices from vendors and surely find other ways benefit to from economies of scale.

Yet we all know that historical trends show roughly two-thirds of big mergers will disappoint on their own terms. An often cited KPMG study puts it even higher stating that, "83% of all mergers and acquisitions failed to produce any benefit for the shareholders and over half actually destroyed value". The allure (in theory) of 1+1 = 3 sounds great. And we are all smart people so we know we can make this work. However, in practice things can and do go awry.

Solid Financial Deal to Business Soap Opera

Up to the point in the transaction process where the papers are signed, the merger and acquisition business is predominantly financial: valuing the assets, due diligence and determining the price.

However, before the ink is dry on the final documents, this financially-driven deal becomes a human transaction filled with emotion, trauma, drama, and survival behavior - the non-linear, often irrational world of human beings in the midst of change.

Let the Lying Begin

All too frequently, one of the most irrational activities begin to happen at this juncture: otherwise honest and professional people begin to lie.

Statements like - "there are no plans to cut staff", "we are not consolidating product lines", "we are not relocating offices" come out of the mouths of some very rational, smart people. And we all know that the majority of times, the statements are false. Jobs are lost, facilities are closed, positions are terminated, and reporting relationships are shifted sometimes quite dramatically.

Because most executives and managers involved in the M&A are focused on the short term - doing the deal! - the question of fallout from the mistruths is often looked at in the same light - as a short term issue.

However, the breach of trust can live on for years, sometimes decades. The difficulties encountered are often amplified in cross-cultural situations, when the companies involved are from two or more different countries.

What Drives Executives to Tell the Big Lie?

The number one driver of the Big Lie is leaders are not expected to say, "I don't know."

In companies throughout the world, especially those that are primarily US-centric, management is supposed to have "The Answer." They are supposed to know all, offering advice, guidance and predictions of the future.

When leaders don't have all the answers they shy away from providing the information that customers, shareholders and employees need to calm their nerves and re-direct their action to behaviors that will add value to the deal. Rumor loves the vacuum of mystery and secrecy! The communication then takes on the tone of the "lies" above, lacking any real information and substance that might explain and support employees' and other stakeholders' interests.

Trust is then broken and the restoration of it may be years away. Also, we all know that the very acts that fractured the trust - speaking and communicating - are the same acts required to restore it. So we have a dilemma: with the source of the communication being doubted, how then do we restore trust?

Restoring Trust

At a time when leadership and active management is most called for, the stress, uncertainties and fear can cause an inward focus and a retreat to safe comments, and the avoidance of questions or challenges. This comes, sadly, when more leadership is needed not less.

One of the primary roles of a leader is to articulate a vision and inspire others to join in that vision. Proclaiming a new vision and handing out slick brochures, buttons and hats or laminated wallet-sized cards, does not create a new vision for the new enterprise.

Leaders communicate. They make themselves visible. They get involved and share the new vision which captures the critical success factors, economic and business drivers that brought the deal together. They talk, listen and act.

Despite this dire need for true leadership all too often the opposite happens. Instead of communicating the vision or the driving motivation of the deal we see people in leadership positions increasingly focus on mundane and irrelevant information.

This strange behavior is often due to the leaders having started their adaptation to the new reality far sooner than those who learned of the merger on announcement day. The leaders often jumped on the wave earlier, rode it into the shore, and are way in front of this tidal wave of change now crashing down on the others. They wonder why people don't seem to "get it" and often mistake shock and confusion for resistance to change.

In the case of international M&A's, the need for leadership is even more crucial due to the different cultural context. Being a good leader requires different skills and attributes in different countries. For example, charisma and a positive personal image are important attributes of leadership in the U.S., but not necessarily in other countries.

Conclusion

There is an old adage we have cited on previous occassions: "If wishes were horses, then beggars would ride." Despite the thoroughness of the due diligence, or the support of the Street, or the completeness of the documentation, any new entity cannot be "wished" into being. Irrelevant information, expressions of a hope for the future, won't make it happen.

The hard work of defining and negotiating how a newly merged organization will work simply cannot be avoided. The human and cultural issues that separate the 17% from the 83% are not about some abstract values or the "soft stuff" of fuzzy communications, but the concrete realities of jobs, productivity, economic value and sustained growth.

Please call us if you would like to discuss challenges you might be having with a recent or planned merger or acquisition. We have helped client corporations create great success in this area and would be glad to share our knowledge.

Article by, Paul Plotczyk, and courtesy of Work Systems Affiliates

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 19, 2008 at 2:49 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Survey Reveals Executives' Lunch Breaks Disappearing

Could the "lunch hour" be facing extinction? According to a recent survey, executives polled said their average lunch break is 35 minutes -- seven minutes less than what they reported five years ago. Managers also admitted they work through lunch more than half of the workweek.

The survey was developed by OfficeTeam. It was conducted by an independent research firm and is based on telephone interviews with 150 randomly selected senior executives at the 1,000 largest companies in the United States.

Executives were asked, "What is the average length of your typical lunch break?" The mean response was 35 minutes, compared to 42 minutes in 2003.

Survey respondents also were asked, "How many days each week, on average, do you work through lunch?" The mean response was three days. (The question was not asked in 2003.)

"In today's 24/7 workplace, a lunch break often takes a back seat to e-mails, phone calls, meetings and pressing deadlines," said Dave Willmer, executive director of OfficeTeam. "Many people are doing more work with fewer resources and, therefore, putting in more time at their desks. Some may also be working across time zones and forgoing lunch breaks to accommodate their colleagues' schedules."

But Willmer cautioned that professionals need time away from their desks to recharge and remain productive. He added, "Managers set an example for their staff. If they don't take a break for lunch, their employees may feel inclined to do the same."

OfficeTeam provides the following tips for taking back the shrinking lunch break:

• Plan your day. Schedule your break to fall between projects, if possible, and set morning deadlines for important tasks so you can relax over lunch.


• Schedule lunch with colleagues. During a busy period, change a team meeting to a working lunch outside the office. The time away will improve your energy while maintaining productivity.


• Book an appointment. Block off your online calendar so coworkers don't schedule calls or meetings during that time. Be flexible, though, if there are no other options.


• Step away from the desk. If you are unable to leave your building for lunch, take a walk around the office. If possible, eat in the lunch room or break area with colleagues.


• Put work aside. If you have to be near your computer or phone, face your chair away and do a nonwork activity, such as reading a newspaper or magazine.

Article courtesy of Office Team, which provides businesses with the highly skilled administrative talent they need to maximize productivity, achieve cost efficiency and support full-time staff. The staffing firm has more than 300 locations worldwide and offers online job search services.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 19, 2008 at 2:18 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Job interviews are as subjective as any beauty pageant. Employers are human, so they're fallible like everybody else. Lou Adler wrote an article about vetting presidential candidates as precisely as any other job applicant. He did so because he wanted to point out that "many important decisions, especially hiring decisions, are based on invalid assumptions, false impressions, personal beliefs, and lack of objective data."

Bearing that in mind, he lists ten ways that employers can make some really bad hiring decisions.

1. Make emotional decisions and justify them with facts
2. Do not seek out objective data if it contradicts your beliefs, or ignore it if you find some
3. Make sure no one knows the real job
4. Use skills-based job descriptions to find, screen, and assess candidates
5. Make sure your ads are hard to find
6. Write boring ads that start with a requisition number
7. Make sure interviewers are untrained and can ask any question they want
8. Add up the yes and no votes
9. Force candidates to formally apply before they can even chat with you
10. Focus on compensation and skills rather than career opportunities

It's a good idea for job seekers to remember that employers are human and sometimes they make mistakes. While job seekers are being careful to avoid making the most common job-seeker mistakes, they must also keep an eye out for common employer mistakes. It could be the difference between finding a great job with a great employer or ending up in a lousy job with an employer that has them job searching before the 90-day trial period is expired.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 19, 2008 at 7:04 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

The Internet has made the world much smaller than it used to be. Candidates from all over can apply for their dream jobs no matter where they live. The United States is an especially appealing place because of its freedom and its booming economy - despite indications of a recession.

Employers want to hire the best people for the jobs they offer. Period. If the best people happen to be from countries like India or Japan, so be it; however, recruiters have to take into consideration the cultural differences, like the appropriate way to address someone or understanding the importance of family, that can wreak havoc on negotiations.

In his article, "The Challenges of Cross Cultural Recruiting," Kevin Wheeler, gives some tips on how to effectively recruit foreign entry-level job applicants:

1. "Take a course in cultural competency
2. Expect to be surprised.
3. Let people have a preview.
4. Use a set of criteria that you use for all candidates.
5. Separate culture from skill."

Wheeler elaborates on each of these points in his article. Recognizing and adapting to the differences between cultures and races will go a long way toward making workplaces more harmonious. It may also decrease the rate of job hopping among employees. Diverse work places are attractive to Gen Y candidates and if a company is looking to entice the best recent college-graduates looking for entry-level jobs and college students looking for internships, then embracing diversity is a good place to start.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 19, 2008 at 6:41 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Yesterday, the House approved the ADA Amendments Act. It now moves on to the White House for President Bush's signature.

The President is expected to sign the bill. The White House issued the following statement: "The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 is instrumental in allowing individuals with disabilities to fully participate in our economy and society, and the administration supports efforts to enhance its protections. The administration believes that the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA) is a step in that direction, and is encouraged by the improvements made to the bill during the legislative process. The president looks forward to signing the ADAAA into law."

What is the ADAAA?

The ADAAA would overturn several U.S. Supreme Court decisions that the bill's proponents felt too narrowly interpreted the ADA. The Act was the result of a bipartisan effort that included various prominent business groups, including the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

What Would Change?

Here are the highlights:

• Mitigating measures. One of the biggest changes would be the rejection of Supreme Court cases requiring "mitigating measures" to be taken into account in determining whether an individual has a disability. Under the proposed law, assistance from medication, technology, equipment, devices and other similar aids would no longer be part of the equation. Notable exceptions: glasses and contact lenses could still be considered.
• Remission. A condition that is in remission or episodic qualifies as a disability if it would substantially limit a major life activity when active.
• "Substantially Limits" Loosened. The bill loosens the definition of "substantially limits" by rejecting a Supreme Court ruling that the phrase should be considered a "demanding standard" and EEOC guidance that it should be defined as "significantly restricted."
• "Major Life Activities" Expanded. The bill provides specific examples of "major life activities," including "major bodily functions" such as "immune system, normal cell growth, digestive, bowel, bladder, neurological, brain, respiratory, circulatory, endocrine, and reproductive functions."
• "Regarded As" Narrowed. The bill excludes from "regarded as" claims minor/transitory conditions lasting six months or less.

Article by Mark Toth, Chief Legal Officer of Manpower's North American operations, and courtesy of Manpower Employment Blawg. Mark also serve as Chief Compliance Officer and Vice President of Franchise Relations and serve on our Global Leadership Team, North American Lead Team, Executive Diversity Steering Committee and Sarbanes-Oxley Steering Committee.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 18, 2008 at 4:45 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Among the clients that employ their placements, brand awareness persists as a fundamental challenge for staffing firms, suggests new research. Only two national staffing firms have achieved brand awareness among more than 50% of potential clients, who largely do not recognize these brands (as they might others in unrelated industries). Similarly, staffing brand awareness is low among job candidates, finds the study by CareerBuilder.com and the Inavero Institute for Service Research; the average job candidate is only able to name one staffing or recruiting firm from memory. Additionally, 40% of job candidates can't name a single staffing or recruiting firm.

Industry-wide use of staffing firms' services is another area for improvement. Fewer than 25% of companies nationwide currently utilize a staffing or recruiting firm to help with their human resources needs, indicates the survey. This utilization gap exists among jobseekers, as well. Only one-in-five job candidates utilizes a staffing or recruiting firm as part of their job search, though candidates typically put their energy into multiple resources, with the average job search consisting of four different resources.

How can staffing firms improve their popularity among these two, key constituencies?

Job candidates indicate that there are several aspects that can be challenging when working with staffing or recruiting firms; more follow through and responsiveness to calls and emails ranked among the top ways for staffing firms to improve the user experience, according to respondents.

Additionally, while time savings and convenience rank high for "pros" in working with staffing firms, candidate fit and personalization create an improved and differentiated service can garner staffing firms more business, say clients among the more than 1,500 firms and 8,800 job candidates who participated in the three-year study to be released next week. Even though firms' overall experience with staffing firms continues to improve, 45% of clients have changed or seriously considered changing primary staffing firms in the past 12 months.

Article courtesy of Kennedy Information Recruiting Trends providing leading edge insights and strategies for the recruiting professional

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 18, 2008 at 4:30 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Although statistics vary widely, there is widespread agreement that a substantial number of resumes belong in the "fiction" section of the bookstore. The rate of fraud can be as high as 40% and higher according to different sources. Applicants certainly have the right to put their best foot forward, and puffing their qualifications is an American tradition. But when puffing crosses the line into fabrication, an employer needs to be concerned. When you hire an applicant who uses lies and fabrication to get hired, the issue is that the same type of dishonesty will continue once they have the job.

What are the six most common fabrications from job applicants?

Claiming a degree not earned: Yes, believe it or not, applicants will make up a degree. Sometimes, they actually went to the school but never graduated. Some applicants may have had just a few credits to go, and decided to award themselves the degree anyway. On some occasions, an applicant will claim a degree from a school they did not even attend. The best practice for an employer is to state clearly on the application form that the applicant should list any school they want the employer to consider. In that way, if an applicant lies, the employer can act on the lack of truthfulness regardless of whether the educational requirement is part of the job requirements.

Diploma Mills or Fake Degree: A related issue is diploma mills or fake degrees that can be purchased online. For those that actually attended classes, read books, wrote papers and took tests to earn a diploma, you apparently did it the old fashioned way. Now, getting a "degree" is as easy as going online and using your credit card. There are websites that will print out very convincing, fake degrees from nearly any school in America. In fact, the author obtained a degree for his dog in Business Administration from the University of Arizona--and the dog had been dead for ten years. A transcript was even obtained and the dog got a "B" in English! Some sites will even provide a phone number so an employer can call and verify the fake degree. Some of the degree mills even have fake accreditation agencies with names similar to real accreditation bodies, in order to give a fake accreditation for a fake school.

Job Title: Another area of faking is the job description or job title. Applicants can easily give their career an artificial boost by "promoting" themselves to a supervisor position, even if they never managed anyone.

Dates of Employment: Another concern for employers is applicants that cover up dates of employment in order to hide "employment gaps." For some applicants, it may be a seemingly innocent attempt to hide the fact that it has taken awhile to get a new job. In other cases, the date fabrication can be more sinister, such as a person that spent time in custody for a crime who may be trying to hide that fact.

Compensation: A related issue is pay - applicants have been known to exaggerate compensation in order to have a better negotiating position in the new job.

Lack of Criminal Record: Nearly every application will have a question about past criminal conduct. Although employers may not "automatically" eliminate a job applicant without a showing of a "business necessity," if the person lies, then the employer would have grounds to deny employment based upon dishonesty.

The common denominator in all of these: they can be all be discovered by a program of pre-employment screening. To quote a phrase popular in the 1980s. "Trust, but verify."

Article by, Lester Rosen and courtesy of Kenndy Information Recruiting Trends providing leading edge insights and strategies for the recruiting professional

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 18, 2008 at 4:25 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Hi All,

The sinking of Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch has recruiters vying for top talent from each firm. With the upheaval at both financial giants in full swing, the future of employees at each company is basically unknown, so financial firms are currently bombarding recruiters to grab top employee talent from each company and a Wall Street feeding frenzy has begun.

According to a recent article on Workforce.com, the upheaval at both Lehman and Merrill has got recruiters working overtime. The article quotes:

"It is historic and it is a feeding frenzy," said Darin Manis, CEO of financial services recruiter RJ & Makay in Colorado Springs, Colorado. "Whether there will be a massive exodus I don't know. Nobody knows; that has yet to be determined."

Gustavo Dolfino, president of recruiting firm WhiteRock Group, said that in the first two days of this week he received 10 requests from employers looking to hire Merrill financial advisors.

To read this entire article, CLICK HERE!

This is certainly a crazy (and historic) time on Wall Street. Never a dull moment, that's for sure.

Article by Lisa Orrell, Millennial & Generation Relations Expert and courtesy of Lisa's Generation Relations Blog

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 18, 2008 at 4:04 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

We have been pretty vocal about our opposition to the use of Social Networking Sites for employment screening purposes and have not heard many counter arguments from respected voices. Until now.

Employment attorney, Molly DiBianca has called me out in a very public way. (Okay, maybe she hasn't called me out exactly, but isn't sensationalism everything these days?) I've read a few of her posts concerning her support of this practice, and while I respect her opinion, I'm still not swayed. Nor are many FCRA experts that I have spoken with on the topic including top labor law firm Jackson Lewis who just released a survey on employers' use of this practice. Included in this study was a comment from attorney Paul Siegel which supports our position.

" . . . taking adverse employment action against employees on the basis of their protected recreational activities outside of the workplace is unlawful."

Last evening, I had dinner with two prominent employment attorneys who have considerable FCRA experience and both agree that using social networking sites, such as MySpace and Facebook, for screening purposes is a bad idea whether the FCRA applies or not.

While I disagree with Molly, I think it would be short sighted and small minded not to show you her opposing view. Check it out.

Conclusive Proof that Employers Should Screen Applicants with Social Networking Sites

What do you think?

Article by, Nick Fishman and courtesy of EmployeescreenIQ

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 18, 2008 at 3:55 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette launched a 9-month investigation into the backgrounds of registered Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletics Association (PIAA) referees and can you guess what they found? They discovered "dozens of officials had convictions involving child pornography, molestation charges, drug offenses and assaults, among other offenses." Surprising? No. Why you ask? Because there are still so many organizations out there that haven't jumped on the background check band wagon as evidenced by the stories you read on our blog every day. But I'll tell you what is surprising. The fact that PIAA representatives are quoted as saying they are generally satisfied with the process they have in place - that process being relying on those applying to officiate the sporting events to disclose their past criminal history. Our own Kevin Bachman wrote about background checks in Youth Sports and wasn't happy with what he saw.

To be honest, I really hope that process works out for them in the end. But the odds of that occurring are slim. Because all it will take will be one incident, one allegation and that process they are so satisfied with will be blown completely out of the water. And what will they have to show for it? A quote on the record stating they were "satisfied" with their current process even though this newspaper proved their so-called process was flawed and a sore backside from kicking themselves for their foolishness. Click here to read "Report Finds Dozens of PIAA Officials With Criminal Backgrounds"

Article by, Natalie Beck and courtesy of EmployeescreenIQ

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 17, 2008 at 4:15 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

College students across the country are looking for internships that will be challenging, interesting and fun. Employers want to provide these kinds of internships to prime candidates who will work hard and be enthusiastic about the company and the work their doing. What better way for employers to know what succeeds and what fails than to hear it from the students themselves?

Intern Bridge's 2008 Best Practices Data Report is a culmination of data gathered from over 12,000 students spanning more than 70 universities. The students interned for Fortune 100 companies as well as other for-profit and not-for-profit organizations and government agencies.
The report gives employers insight into the importance of "why many students pursue internships and other do not, conducting proper onboarding and offboarding activities, selecting a supportive supervisor, marketing the internship program to universities and their students, among other things.

Having a quality internship program can greatly reduce the stress and uncertainty of finding candidates who are a good fit. Both the interns and the employers have a chance to "try each other out" and decide if a long-term working relationship could work to their mutual benefit. For companies that have internship programs established and for companies looking to start internship programs, the Intern Bridge 2008 Best Practices Data Report is worth reading. You may use the discount code "collegerecruiter" for 15% off.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 17, 2008 at 11:06 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Not long ago, I wrote a review of Peggy Klaus' book, "BRAG! The Art of Tooting Your Own Horn Without Blowing It." In it, Klaus talks about taking advantage of every opportunity to network, even on an airplane. Well, Ronald Katz, in his article, Never Stop Recruiting, would obviously agree. Recruiting and networking go hand-in-hand. You never know who you might end up sitting next to on an airplane, so if someone asks you what you do, don't just tell him your job title, engage him with your bragalogue or elevator pitch and see where it leads.

Katz was inspired by a recruiter of another nature - a man recruiting to save people's souls. Katz was impressed by the man's fervor and commitment to his cause. The memory of Ted - the man who tried to save his soul - prompted Katz to strike up a conversation on a different flight with a man named Bob who was trying to find a job. Again, Katz was impressed. The man was willing to relocate for the sake of finding a good job even if it meant taking his daughter away from a school and friends she loved.
Katz connected Bob with Mike, an employer with an available job and Katz's friend. Although Bob wasn't a good fit for the position Mike was trying to fill, he was a good fit for a colleague of Mike's who was recruiting for another company. Bob got the job.

This tale is more one of networking at its best than it is a tale about recruiting. Still, if Katz hadn't remembered the zealous recruiting efforts of Ted, he probably would have never started a conversation with Bob and Mike's colleague would have missed out on a quality candidate. I guess the moral of the story is, as a recruiter, great candidates can turn up anywhere - even in the seat next to you on an airplane.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 17, 2008 at 9:28 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Kevin Wheeler, in his article, Four Required Recruiting Tools, is an advocate for making full use of the Internet when recruiting recent college graduates looking for entry-level jobs and college students looking for internships.

Using the Internet saves tremendous amounts of time and extends a recruiters reach to Europe, Asia, and the South Pacific. Most, if not all, of today's candidates are computer savvy and are as comfortable with surfing the Internet as they are with walking. So Wheeler says, use it. His four recruiting tools are:

1. Use MySpace and Facebook - Create a page for your company. MySpace and Facebook are the biggest, but there are also sites like Friendster, Quarterlife, and many others that can be utilized. "College students and most other young professionals turn to these networks for information about you, to ask their friends about you, or to join a community of practice that you have created."

2. Use LinkedIn - This isn't a social networking site. It's strictly business. Building a network on LinkedIn can greatly enhance your recruiting "tool box."

3. Blog - Wheeler recommends having a personal blog to increase exposure for your brand and your company's brand, too. Candidates like to get the inside scoop on the companies where they want to work. Creating a blog that is regularly updated, has videos, and pictures is a great way to get them engaged.

4. Twitter - "Use Twitter to push out job announcements to potential candidates, stay connected to a special group of people, or keep those top candidates in the loop. It's free and easy to use. And, because so few are actually using it, you will have a real advantage for a while over everyone who isn't using it."

Welcome to the new world of recruiting. Although text messaging and targeted email campaigns are also great ways to reach recent college graduates looking for entry-level jobs and college students looking for internships, clearly networking sites and blogs are the quickest, most efficient ways to go.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 17, 2008 at 8:22 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

The first day on a new job can be nerve-wracking as it is, so just imagine what new hires go through when the company that hired them has an antiquated or inadequate new employee orientation program. David Lee found out the hard way that his company needed to make some changes in their own "onboarding" program. He advises employers on making improvements in his article, "Do You Know What Your New Hires Think About Your Orientation Program?"

Lee points out that by not upgrading their methods of welcoming new hires, employers run the risk of decreasing their retention and engagement numbers because:

1. "They don't realize the negative perceptions they inadvertently create through mindlessness -- perceptions that can lead to employee retention problems or diminished engagement.
2. They forget how confusing, complex, and daunting things look to someone without institutional knowledge of "how things are done around here." Because of this, processes that might seem obvious and easy to navigate if you're an "old pro," are anything but to the newcomer. Thus, they inadvertently dampen the new employee's enthusiasm by adding unnecessary frustration and anxiety."

The key, Lee says, is to make sure that new hires feel welcome, that you send the right message about your company and its culture, that you show that you care about all your employees, and that you're open to new employees' questions and comments. Just because something has always been done a certain way that doesn't mean it can't be done more efficiently another way.

Employers lament that finding quality candidates for the jobs they offer is tough. Well, it's equally tough for candidates to find jobs and employers that make them feel good about going to work every day. One way employers can improve employee retention and engagement is by implementing orientation and onboarding programs that are high quality rather than "second rate."

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 17, 2008 at 7:47 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

I once temped as a receptionist and one of my responsibilities was to mail letters to candidates, informing them that the company - which is very small - was not hiring and that their resumes would be put on file for six months. At the very least, they knew that their resumes were received. Too often candidates send out resumes and never know whether the intended person received them or not.

Leslie Stevens addresses this issue in her article, "Too Many Candidates," for the ERE Network newsletter. Stevens focuses on the Wachovia Corporation and the steps they've taken to ensure that candidates who apply for one of the 600-800 jobs they post each week are immediately notified when they aren't chosen for interviews. And in cases where the candidates weren't a good fit, Wachovia sends the resumes on to AllianceQ, a Web site that "pools candidates and shares them among member employers."

Feedback Wachovia has received from surveys of the candidates indicates that this was a good idea. The candidates have a good feeling about Wachovia's recruiters and about Wachovia Corporation itself. More importantly, unqualified candidates will recommend their qualified colleagues, which is a surprise bonus. As a result of this method of fielding job applicants, "Wachovia recruiters spend less time fielding calls from candidates requesting a status update, and have a better handle on the inventory of viable candidates."

In addition to referring candidates to AllianceQ, which has companies like Starbucks and Microsoft as members, recruiters will also refer them to other departments in Wachovia where their skill sets are more appropriate. Finally, some recruiters even keep in touch with "'surplus candidates' via email, phone calls and touch campaigns" because they have potential. Candidates who send their resumes to Wachovia can rest assured that their resumes are being read and sorted into categories. If Wachovia sends a letter saying "we don't have anything for you at this time," but keeps emailing you and calling you on the telephone, then, if nothing else, you know have the right stuff to be a Wachovia employee.

Can you think of a better way for a company to promote its brand than to take the time to let candidates know whether their resume was accepted or rejected and why? I've worked with form letters before, so I know it only takes a minute to pop in a brief sentence of explanation. As Wachovia's experience proves, a little consideration can go a long way.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 17, 2008 at 6:47 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Imagine my surprise as I got off the train from New York at my local New Jersey train station on a hot summer day, and there was a corporate recruiter offering me an ice cream cone in exchange for my business card. That's exactly how a pharmaceutical firm in my area was thinking out of box recently when trying to identify potential new sales and R&D hires. According to the young HR generalist I spoke with on the train platform, the tactic was working well: he'd collected more than 50 cards in an hour, and he thought his three colleagues had done about the same.

Of course, the verdict is still out on whether the impromptu ice cream social will deliver a new hire or two (or more), but you've got to give the company credit for reaching beyond traditional thinking. While there's no doubt that job posting and resume searching remain very effective ways of attracting active candidates, and networking (both in person and online) can uncover passive candidates, reaching out into the community for potential recruits has its merits. That's especially true when your efforts are well-targeted. The company on the train platform was seeking finance, IT, marketing, audit and legal professionals, which was a wide enough mix that many who passed by were eligible candidates.

Sadly, most U.S. cities don't have train stations, and it's pretty tough to pass out ice cream cones on freeway exit ramps. So let's think of other great locations where recruiters can find qualified passive candidates who may be in the mood to exchange their business cards for a tasty treat, a small gift or a similar enticement:

• I remember visiting a Home Depot in central New Jersey a few years ago, where a local construction company had parked its truck near an exit and was asking departing shoppers whether they'd be interested in construction as a profession. When I visited a second time a week later and saw the construction recruiters still there, I asked how their efforts were going. A recruiter said they'd landed a large project and needed more than 100 new hires, and that they were averaging 4 to 5 qualified applicants each day, making it their most effective recruiting method.
• Airports seem a logical place to recruit middle- to senior-level managers, especially when the weather is bad and delays are long. Executive recruiters often use airport clubs to conduct interviews, so why not expand that concept and rent a kiosk for a month. Try targeting gates that host flights to your competitors' primary cities.
• Consider upscale malls. As a parent of teenagers, I often sit in the mall's community area with a newspaper as my kids wing it from one specialty retailer to another (usually with friends in tow), and I've seen retailers asking parents whether they'd be interested in completing an application. A more sophisticated approach may appeal to parents who are open to a job change.
• Youth travel soccer, softball, baseball and lacrosse fields throughout the spring, summer and fall are prime hunting grounds. Tournaments are best, as parents struggle to stay awake through weekends spent mostly waiting for games to start in unfamiliar towns. Of course, networking runs rampant at these events, as parents swap info on restaurants, vacation spots, colleges and more. If you're a recruiter whose child plays a sport, why not try mining the potential interest of fellow parents? After all, if you believe in your company's future, you're doing them a favor.
• From personal experience, I have one very non-traditional suggested spot: roller coasters at amusement parks. There really isn't anywhere else in the world where sane adults will snake through a slow-moving queue for more than an hour in exchange for 93 seconds of sheer terror. So anything you can do to relieve the tedium of waiting would be welcome. Of course, recruiting at this location is not recommended if you're seeking to hire accountants, funeral directors and other non-risk taking professions (my apologies to accountants and funeral directors who love roller coasters).

Article by Tony Lee and courtesy of Kenndy Information Recruiting Trends providing leading edge insights and strategies for the recruiting professional

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 16, 2008 at 2:40 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

A recent study released by O2 and TNS MRBI reports that while almost half of small business managers use SMS messaging for business communications, increasing from 29% four years ago to almost half (49%) today. That's no surprise given the penetration of mobile phones in Ireland

The survey reported that there is mixed attitudes to blogging with almost half of SME owner managers are unaware of what a blog is - and that just over one in 16 (6%) SME respondents has started a business blog while 5% have a personal blog.

Perhaps O2 and TNS MRBI should take a listen to our PodCamp Ireland podcasts for some case studies from entrepreneurs who can outline the benefits they have found from business blogging or the recent Sunday Times article about women and blogging in Ireland to add perspective to their report?

These figures don't surprise me - in fact from the workshops I've facilitated on the subject of marketing on a shoe string budget where we've presented to over 2000 owners of small businesses in the last 9 months, far less than half of the audience would know what a blog is. And where businesses have effectively implemented a blog as part of their online marketing strategy, many people would not know they are reading a blog versus a page on a website.

The study goes on to state that 57percent of the 300 SME's surveyed don't have a website (that reinforces my research where I surveyed independent consultancy practices and 60 percent of the companies who had been in business more than 10 years had no website.

Rather than reading this as discouraging information on the state of the blogosphere in Ireland, I think these results are encouraging and should not dissuade us from implementing a blogging strategy as part of your overall communications or marketing programme.

In fact here is what the the European Commission Representation and the European Parliament Office in Ireland have to say about blogging:

The Irish blogging scene is still in its infancy. It is however gaining more and more prominence as a forum for exchanging views and helps feed mainstream media with ideas. Blogging gives ordinary citizens a platform to speak their mind to a wide audience. It gives people the ability to bypass the traditional media, and engage with others irrespective of geography, income or status. It is truly the most democratic of all media.

Blogging has the opportunity to influence direction and debate of EU policy. Many MEPs and Commissioners maintain regular blogs, which allow them to discuss policy directly with people around the world in a manner that would otherwise be impossible.

They are hosting a "Blogging and Social Media Conference" on October 4th 2008 at European Union House, 18 Dawson Street, Dublin 2.

The theme of the conference is: Organise, Activate and Influence: Social Activism Online in Ireland and the plan is that they will discuss ways in which "civil society can harness the power of the blog and increase debate on a topic as well as enhance activism".

The keynote address is to be delivered by Zack Exley who is said to have worked closely in the Barack Obama presidential election team who will be talking about trends in blogging online in the US and how the current presidential race has changed online political dialogue.

You can find the conference programme for Organise, Activate,Influence Social Activism Online in Ireland HERE - be sure to register soon if you are interested in attending - the event is free.

Article by Krishna De and courtesy of Biz Growth News blog

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 16, 2008 at 2:30 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

In this week's story of the absurd, the city of Tallahassee, Florida has proposed dropping their practice of performing background checks on internal hires, a measure that will save them, wait for it . . . $5,000.00. No, your eyes are not deceiving you. That is five thousand dollars.

Are you kidding? Government officials probably spend that entertaining donors to their re-election campaign for lunch.

See City of Tallahassee Proposes Ending Criminal Checks for Employees for Promotion

They site the fact that of the 714 checks that they've performed on those seeking promotions, only one check has caused them to deny a promotion. In that case, the city denied promotion to a garbage truck driver who had a history of arrests for dealing drugs. Okay, 1 in 714 isn't bad. But think about it, what if they didn't conduct the check on this person and decided to move forward with the promotion. Do you think the harm this person may have caused could have exceeding $5,000? Could it have exceeded $50,000? $500,000? I'm guessing it could have. What if the person decided to sell drugs on paid time? Many drug dealers carry weapons. What if trouble occurred at work? What happens if the individual used some of his/her product on the job as most drug dealer do? I'm thinking that the costs of investigating, terminating and finding a replacement might exceed $5,000. That's not to mention potential litigation. And that's just one person.

Continuous employment screening is on the rise as noted in our 2009 Top Background Screening Trends to Follow. Remember, a background check, while a good indicator of past behavior and predictive tool of future behavior, is only good the day it was conducted. If an individual is convicted of a crime any time after that search is conducted, you'll never know unless someone tells you about it.

It seems to me that such a large city should be wise enough to find other ways to reduce their spend.

Article by, Nick Fishman and courtesy of EmployeescreenIQ

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 16, 2008 at 2:21 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

The City of San Francisco has learned a very hard lesson over the last few months - that not running a background check can equal catastrophe in more ways than one! First, they hire a criminal to work in their IT department without conducting a background check (strike one!). Then, they fail to properly supervise him (strike 2!). Lastly, due to these swings and misses, this person was able to appoint himself ultimate ruler of the entire city's network by creating a super password - which only he has. And he's not sharing! (strike 3 - you're out!)

If the city had done its due diligence and ran a proper background check on this guy, they may have opted not to hire him and would not find themselves in the situation they now face. It may take them months, even years to discover all of the little devices and roadblocks this ex-employee built to make their lives as difficult as possible.

Score:

City of San Francisco: 0

Sneaky Techie: TBD

Continue reading ...

Article by, Natalie Beck and courtesy of EmployeescreenIQ

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 15, 2008 at 9:52 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

We are all building our brand. I have enjoyed studying the process & finding ways to maximize my efforts. There are people that are masters at it. My personal branding mentor and THE expert, Dan Schawbel checked in with me last week. If you have mentors (and you should!) then you appreciate their feedback & time. This post is dedicated to him. Happy Birthday, Dan! At 25 he is celebrating the publishing of his first book Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success. It's available for pre-order! I'm 42 & Dan's insight & guidance has been invaluable in the process of building my career online.

This is advanced brand building but I'll put some links at the end if you're just getting started. Personal branding requires planning & consistency. David Armano has the perfect graphic that shows the step I want to talk about today:

1. Social networks - Establish your brand on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc
2. Internal properties - Establish your voice on your blog
3. External properties - Sites established by others

I'm going to focus on the external properties & that's why I said this is 'advanced'. You need to have established your brand & voice on your blog & social networks. The trick with the external properties is that it's permission based. You could buy advertising, but that isn't practical for personal branding.

This is about syndication. The example that you're familiar with is the RSS feed. Wikipedia has a nice explanation of the motivation for syndication:

"Syndication benefits both the websites providing information and the websites displaying it. For the receiving site, content syndication is an effective way of adding greater depth and immediacy of information to its pages, making it more attractive to users. For the transmitting site, syndication drives exposure across numerous online platforms. This generates new traffic for the transmitting site -- making syndication a free and easy form of advertisement."

The goal is to give your blog legs.

1. Syndicate your material: I have been slowly syndicating my blog to various sites as I find opportunities. It uses my RSS feed & is completely automatic once the initial set up is done. Google alerts tells me when an article is posted at a certain site & it makes me smile. Here are places where I'm syndicating my blog to:

SocialMediaToday.com is a great example.
We feed in our blogs via RSS
An editor chooses about 40% to post
I get 100-500 views depending on topic (Title & first few sentences are important)
When my post is viewed there, I am drawn back & read
It's a great place to meet knew people of like mind
Their newsletter is excellent with nice reminders
MyVenturePad.com is owned by same as SocialMediaToday
focus on small business
lots of great resources
Techrigy Community
my blog is on bottom left
Techrigy has SM2 a free listening tool
CollegeRecruiter.com
who would've thought? but works for me!
Candice Arnold is doing a great job there!

Find sites in your subject area that are a mix of many authors. Chances are high that they're aggregating content from many sites & it's via RSS feeds. It's easy once you start thinking about it this way & you'll see opportunities around the web as you interact in your niche. And don't be shy! If there is a question then ask the admin. Be bold & suggest your content if you feel it will help that site.

2. Blog on a group blog. This requires more time but you can make note on your blog: "I have a post on at the other blog". This builds awareness that you're blogging on that group blog & increases readership there. I'm blogging at Marketing 2.0. Three are some great conversations going on behind it including a growing community. There are also mashups & I believe that LockerGnome is like that. It appears that Chris Pirillo has created some type of compensation format.

3. Guest blogging. Guest blogging is fun because it gives you the opportunity to write for someone else's readers. For me it's a challenge to do my best writing. If you WANT to guest post for someone let them know & tell them why. My experience with this is that one of Chris Brogan's posts caused me to ask if I could write a guest post. (His posts frequently motivate me to respond here, but one inspired me to want to share my ideas with his readers). My guest post on Building Brand through Building Community listed ways that I've found effective for building my brand. It caught Darren Rowse's eye & he asked me to guest post on ProBlogger. I asked what topic he wanted & he chose Taking Your Blog to a Community. That was the most intimidating post I've ever written, but it brought me a new readership of those interested in networking, building community & brand. (This post is a sub topic of that larger post - thanks Darren for the inspiraton!). I'm excited to be attending BlogWorld next weekend & meeting Chris & Darren in person!

Branding is not flipping a switch. It's a process over time. I have been blogging since January of 2007 & that's when I started building my brand. But I've only been blogging for a year on Community related topics. Some will say that attending events is important, but I am an example of doing it online. I am proud to say that I've established a very strong personal brand without attending many events. Building brand is the most important thing you can do for yourself. It does take patience & determination.

As promised, here are a list of links if you're just getting started. These people have amazing personal brands & regularly share their ideas:

• My writing & tips on Personal Branding.
• Dan Schawbel's Personal Branding Magazine - I started with this & found it to be invaluable for ideas. (Disclaimer: I am the editor of it, so I may be biased but I learn many things from each issue).
• Chris Brogan - his Best Advice on Personal Branding - make sure that you read his list of 100 ideas
• Chris Brogan's e-book on Personal Branding & in audio format
• Jeremiah Owyang - How to get Noticed A Must Read! including the comments

What have you found effective in building your brand? What points did I miss?

Do you have a story about how you built your brand? Please share it here or on your blog & link to this post. Our stories are the best way for others to learn & transfer to their own situation.

Article by Connie Bensen, Community Strategist, and courtesy of ConnieBensen.com

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 15, 2008 at 9:33 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

News from the Wall Street Journal Health Blog: Abbott Laboratories recently announced plans to close a manufacturing plant in California and cut 1000 jobs. Many major companies (Merck, Wyeth, Bristol-Meyers Squibb, Johnson & Johnson, and Amgen) have also announced job cuts in recent months. Siemens, in fact, announced in June plans to lay off 17,000 workers worldwide, which could be a sign of the times, according to Cliff Mintz at BioJob Blog.

Pharmaceutical sales positions tend to be the most unstable and tied to the economy (and have gone through their own round of job losses lately), but many of these job cuts are related to diagnostics. How secure does it feel at your company?

If you are experiencing this type of instability, check out niche companies within a market. There are many, many areas of medical and healthcare sales, management, and marketing to specialize in: biotech, DNA, molecular, cellular, medical device, surgical supplies, surgical equipment, hospital equipment, histology, pathology, and imaging, to name a few.

Article by, Medical Sales Recruiter

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 seeking entry-level jobs and other career opportunities.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 15, 2008 at 9:09 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

The most common mistake that Employers make when posting a job ad online is forgetting the medium. A big advantage of online job boards is that they allow unlimited ad text in most cases. In other words, you'll pay the same $475 on Monster.com for a 200 word ad as you would for a 2000 word ad. That is not to say that you need to go hog wild on content because it's free (after all you want the job seeker to actually read what you have posted). It is to say, however, that there are some key points to include to make the ad work...and work well.

1. Grab the job seekers attention.
If you have a headline / slogan you can use, put it at the top of the listing...especially if it is relevant to the position.

2. Give a little history.
Summarize what it is your company does and what make is unique.

3. Give enough details about the position to make it clear what the candidate will be doing.

4. Keep 'requirements' brief...only listing the most important qualifications.
Also, remember your audience...if you are hiring a Sales Manager with 12+ years' industry experience, it's safe to assume that they have computer skills....no need to list that in the ad.

5. Outline what makes this position / company special.
What are you going to offer the employee in terms of compensation or benefits? What is the culture / environment of this company? What's in it for them?

6. Make sure that your ad is 'keyword rich'.
Most job board search engines will search content, as well as titles / job categories. The more relevant keywords that your ad contains means better positioning in candidate search results.

7. Make it easy to apply.
If you want the candidate to apply directly into your applicant tracking system, have a direct link into your ATS system (As opposed to having them go to you site to find the career page).

In order for an ad to be effective, you need to do more than copy and paste a posting from your internal site. It does take a little effort to do it properly, but the results are well worth it.

Article by, Thomas Toresson

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 seeking entry-level jobs and other career opportunities.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 15, 2008 at 8:48 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Despite an overall decrease within specific sector hiring plans, most Fortune 500 member firms plan on modest increases to current Tax, General Accounting & Reporting headcount. Executive Search Firm, Coalesce predicts no current downturn within these disciplines and sees growth within the Tax and General Accounting to be moderately strong near term. While headcount decreases on overall "business driving" positions, the need has remained steady for the operational aspects of core business values. Overall budget restraints are also leading many Fortune 500 firms to consider adding more "in house" Tax and General Accounting headcount, therefore decreasing exposure to non essential consulting fees or outsourcing of general accounting services. The relative growth seems at odds considering current labor market trends. "Demand for CPA candidates is still routinely the top request from our clients", says Coalesce President and CEO, Frank Cappella. Cappella maintains that he expects that while overall company headcount may shrink, he adds, "I don't see many mid to large cap firms ceasing the need to build a more streamlined and qualified in-house Accounting team, which is essential when working with your external audit teams". Overall growth within the Accounting discipline remains one of the most resilient, even as overall hiring may diminish through current hiring trends.

Article courtesy of Kennedy Information Recruiting Trends providing leading edge insights and strategies for the recruiting professional

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 15, 2008 at 8:27 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Research conducted by Kenexa Research Institute (KRI), a provider of talent acquisition and retention solutions, offers valuable insight into the current state of employee engagement globally as well as recommending ways to raise employee engagement levels. In its annual WorkTrends™ Report, KRI finds the average Employee Engagement Index (EEI) score is 57% across all surveyed countries. The EEI score for India, the top-ranked country, is almost twice that of Japan's, the lowest ranked country. In general, EEI scores for North American employees are higher than EEI scores for European workers - with the Netherlands as the exception. Outside of India, other Asian and Middle Eastern countries score lower on the EEI. "Through analysis of the WorkTrends data, we've identified four primary and universal drivers of employee engagement. Employees are engaged by leaders who inspire confidence in the future; managers who respect and appreciate their employees; exciting work that employees know how to do; and employers who display a genuine responsibility to employees and communities," says KRI executive director, Jack Wiley. The WorkTrends data also notes that confidence levels correlate with fast-growing economies - in particular, India, Mexico and Australia, all of which have experienced recent economic growth and their employee engagement index scores are among the highest, according to the WorkTrends data. The WorkTrends data on managers' effectiveness also is enlightening: the EEI score of those employees who rate their manager as effective is 68% vs. 12% of those who rate their manager as ineffective. Clearly, the "manager as a conduit" notion plays an important role in building employee engagement. In addition, corporate responsibility also plays a key role in employee engagement. Today's workers are evaluating their organization's mission and want to know that they are working for an organization that is committed to serving others. In particular, employees between 18 and 29 years old and those over 63 are the most likely to report that their employers' corporate responsibility efforts increase their overall satisfaction.

Article courtesy of Kennedy Information Recruiting Trends providing leading edge insights and strategies for the recruiting professional

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 15, 2008 at 8:24 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Much has been made about generational tensions in the workplace and the resulting potential for employment disputes and lawsuits.

There's a ton of research out there about how to work with Generation Y employees. Unfortunately, there's virtually nothing about what it will take to make the next generation - Generation Z -- happy.

We want you to be prepared for the future. So, we did some investigating and unearthed the following video. It's short, but provides some intriguing (and potentially disturbing) insights into the mindset of the world's future workforce.

Just imagine discussing rewards and recognition with this little guy in about 20 years . . .

Future Employee?

Article by Mark Toth, Chief Legal Officer of Manpower's North American operations, and courtesy of Manpower Employment Blawg. Mark also serve as Chief Compliance Officer and Vice President of Franchise Relations and serve on our Global Leadership Team, North American Lead Team, Executive Diversity Steering Committee and Sarbanes-Oxley Steering Committee.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 12, 2008 at 12:31 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Despite negative trends in many parts of the economy and the general economic gloom reported in the national media, the college Class of 2008 ended the year on a positive note, according to results of a new survey conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE).

Survey responses revealed that 94 percent of all disciplines had increases to their average starting salary offers. In fact, the average starting salary offer to all college graduates in the Fall 2008 Salary Survey is up 7.6 percent to $49,224.

"One force driving the overall increase in the average salary offer toall college graduates is the strong demand for and low supply of technical graduates," says Marilyn Mackes, NACE executive director.

For example, the average salary offer made to this year's group of computer and information sciences graduates is up from $51,992 to $58,677--a healthy 12.9 percent increase. In addition to demand for these graduates, the offers made by computer and electronics products manufacturers may have contributed to the large increase; these employers made a fair number of salary offers that exceeded $70,000.

Falling in line with computer and information sciences graduates are engineering graduates, another collection of highly sought-after candidates. The average salary offer to these graduates rose 6.6 percent, from $53,710 to $57,250. The average salary offer to chemical engineering graduates grew by 7.7 percent to $63,773. The news was also good for computer engineering graduates, whose average salary offer topped out at $60,280, a 7.8 percent increase.

But graduates in the technical disciplines weren't alone in commanding higher starting salaries.

As a group, business disciplines posted increases across the board, and the overall average salary offer to these majors was up 5.7 percent over last year's average of $44,287, to $46,800. Business administration/management majors saw a solid increase of 6.7 percent to their average salary offer, raising it from $43,256 to $46,171, and economics majors saw a 6.9 percent increase to their average salary offer, which now stands at $51,062. Meanwhile, the average salary offer to accounting majors increased 3.7 percent to $48,020.

Similarly, graduates in the liberal arts disciplines fared well. As a group, liberal arts grads realized a 12.2 percent increase in their average offer, raising it from $32,717 to $36,715. Within specific disciplines, English majors posted an 11.1 percent increase, raising their average offer to $35,453. Visual and performing arts graduates also saw a double-digit increase to their average salary offer, which rose 16.2 percent to $35,073.

NACE will release hiring projections for the college of Class of 2009 in the in mid-September and the first report on starting salary offers to the Class of 2009 in January 2009.

Since 1956, theNational Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) has been the leading source of information about the employment of college graduates. NACE maintains a virtual press room for the media at www.naceweb.org/press/.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 12, 2008 at 12:21 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Hi All!

I came across this interesting article on The Business of Management Blog on Workforce.com about how Gen Y-Millennials compare to other generations in terms of their employee engagement around the world.

In my "Global Millennials Seminar" I discuss some of this, so I found this study to be interesting. John Hollon wrote about this study conducted by global consulting firm BlessingWhite.

Here is a basic overview of the results but to see the actual top line chart which shows the breakdown of stats for each country surveyed, CLICK HERE.

The research suggests that the more senior the employees, the more engaged they are, BlessingWhite CEO Christopher Rice said in a press release on the results. "Around the globe, senior executives are generally more engaged than frontline managers or individual contributors. Gen Y [Millennial] disengagement levels may reflect, to some extent, their low seniority since more baby boomers would predictably hold leadership roles. Increased engagement is an expected outcome from power and position."

We could look at this global engagement survey as a wake-up call to all managers. We need to do more to get the best out of Millennials. And while we're at it, we can extend that thinking to everyone else in the workplace.

I totally agree with John on this and hope more companies jump on board with this thinking!

Article by Lisa Orrell, Millennial & Generation Relations Expert and courtesy of Lisa's Generation Relations Blog

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 12, 2008 at 12:16 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Careerbuilder just released an eye opening study that reveals one in five employers use Social Networking sites to help screen prospective employees. We've certainly identified this practice in our 2009 Background Screening Trends to Follow study. Followers of this blog don't need to hear another diatribe about our opinions on this practice with respect to employment background checks. Here are some other interesting stats gleaned from the 34% of employers who said that they had denied employment based on their findings from sites such as Facebook and MySpace.

41% denied employment because of content posted about alcohol or drug use
40% denied employment based on "inappropriate of provocative" pictures being posted
29% denied employment because the candidate appeared to have poor communications skills
Please click here to view the complete study.

Here's a question that no one has asked, but probably should. Why would a company whose job it is to reveal information about job candidates be so strongly opposed to finding more information which can be helpful in making an informed hiring decision?

Here's the answer. Consumer Reporting Agency's that are concerned about best practices don't offer their services to trample on consumers' rights or to expose their clients to unnecessary risk. There is no way to verify the accuracy of the information that is posted on these sites, nor is there a way to confirm that the applicant actually posted such information. Just look at the stats above. Pictures can be modified by anyone these days. If an employer found an objectionable picture, how can they make sure it wasn't photoshopped? I agree that admitted drug use should be of concern to employers, but how do they know who posted such information and if it's true? A Substance Abuse Test might be a more legally compliant and effective way to determine employment eligibility. As far as communication skills are concerned, social networking sites are intended for just that: Social Networking. How one communicates with friends and how they might do so at work are two entirely separate matters. None of this addresses the inherent risk of all types of discrimination claims that can arise or how such information can be evaluated consistently across the boards.

This all leads to one point. While untested to date, we are going to see significant negligent hiring and discriminatory hiring practices claims arise from the use of these sites when making employment decisions. It is our job as a CRA to reduce our clients' exposure to risk, not increase it.

Article by, Nick Fishman and courtesy of EmployeescreenIQ

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 12, 2008 at 12:00 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Tattoos in the workplace took a beating in the press last week. SHRM released a study revealing that even people who have tattoos themselves prefer not to work with a coworker who has visible body art if the job requires face-to-face contact with customers1. Yet, more than one-quarter of Americans have tattoos2, and 1 in 3 Millennials sport inked epidermis3. So what should your policy be, particularly if you employ the most heavily tattooed group of all -- young people between 20 and 29?

Growing Tolerance

At some point, a blanket no-tattoos policy will almost certainly compromise your ability to hire the talent you need, and it would appear to move against a general trend to be more tolerant of tattoos. Educational level and social status no longer predict who has body art. The young financial officer who handles your business banking may have a Celtic symbol on her ankle. The lawyer who works your case may simply take out his nose ring when he goes to court.

As a result, many major employers have revised their tattoo policies, making them more lenient. Disney is good example. After polling the people who visit their theme parks and finding little objection, the company lifted tattoo restrictions. Faced with talent shortages, many hospitals have moved from a no tattoo policy, to a "no highly visible tattoos" stance.

That said, the professionals who responded to the SHRM survey made it clear that body art still leads to stereotyping. Furthermore, in a 2007 survey 85% of respondents said that tattoos and body piercings impede a person's chances of finding a job.4

At first blush, you might view these studies as supporting a strict no-tattoo policy. In fact, that is unlikely to prove realistic or bottom-line smart in the long run. Here's why.

Balancing Business Needs

Look at your business imperative. Is finding top talent part of your mission? Do you need to create a workplace environment where people do their best work? If so, love tattoos or hate them, it's good management and good business to respect and value the input of everyone. Your employees contribute best when they know the workplace welcomes them fully. Besides, discrimination is against the law, so be clear about the difference between measuring job performance and trying to change someone's values or beliefs.

Younger employees, those most likely to have tattoos, are also more likely than older workers to job jump. If you want to attract and retain Gen Y, look carefully at the policy you set and the language you use regarding tattoos.

Beware a company-wide policy. Instead, consider each job title separately. I recently talked with a VP from a manufacturing company who had gone to bat for a 20-something with visible tattoos. "She doesn't interact with customers, but there was skepticism at first from other employees. I talked to people about how the body art didn't matter in her particular job. Her work is terrific. She has brought new life to our art department," he said. A strict company-wide policy would have cost the company the contribution of this valuable employee.

The Bottom Line is Performance

On the other hand, a medical technician with copious tattoos on his or her hands could be so off-putting to a patient that the he or she might resist appropriate care. A barista can wear tattoos that a financial planner would probably avoid because her clients tend to entrust their financial futures to planners who look conservative. The bottom line is whether or not an employee's tattoos conflict with his ability to perform effectively in his position or in the specific work environment.

Factors you may want to consider when you determine whether tattoos pose a problem for a specific position are safety, performance of tasks, customer complaints and perceived offense on the basis of race, sex, religion, etc. Your best bet is to survey your customers to see if they have a problem with various types of tattoos or body art. We never really know until we ask. It's also interesting that in a recent online survey by Vault.com the employees who responded said that body art policy at work is seldom strictly enforced in their workplaces. That, too, indicates ambivalence about body art so long as job performance is satisfactory.

Meanwhile, body art seems to be everywhere. One of my daughters called recently to ask what I thought about her getting another tattoo. "Well, you might want to think hard about that," I began.

"Oh, you'll love it," she said. "It's going to say Mother."

As we used to sing when I was young, Oh, the times they are a-changing.

Article by Amy Lynch and courtesy of Bottom Line Conversations. For more than a decade, author and public speaker, Amy Lynch, has studied Generation Y and the era that shaped them. Today, as these 20-somethings enter the workplace, she helps organizations attract, engage and retain young professionals.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 12, 2008 at 10:20 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Gen Ys sometimes quit quickly. Aggravating as that may be, it's less costly if you're prepared.

The phone rang yesterday. It was Lynda, a friend from an insurance agency, and she was angry. "Another one quit! But here's the thing. I knew he was quitting already because he told everybody in the company except me. I was the last person he told, and he's my direct report. What are these kids thinking!"

Lynda's agency hires a lot of 20-somethings. They work for a summer or a year. If she's lucky, they stay a few months longer.

"He didn't even ask for a reference!" she fumed. "What kind of reference would you have given him?" I asked.

She laughed, but the problem is serious enough. Not simply that another assistant quit, but that he told her after he had told everyone else. What happened to showing a little respect to the person on the next rung up?

Information Rules
What happened is that "the next rung up" has less meaning for Generation Y (kidployees under 27) than it does for earlier generations. Baby Boomers and Veterans (everybody over 45) tend to look to experience, and those more experienced than they, to solve problems. We think, 'Something like this has probably happened before.' Well, maybe not.

Juan Enriquez lays it all out eloquently in As the Future Catches You. Change keeps gaining speed. About the time your first PC appeared on your desk, change, fueled by technology, gunned its motors and began a long, steep climb that shows no sign of slowing.

So if you're born after 1980, you're a Y; and you don't remember a time when change wasn't constant and swift. In your experience, solutions have a short shelf life. Experience and those with experience don't t provide many answers. Information rules instead.

Yes, tell your boss last when you leave could be a sign of immaturity or disrespect, but it might be born out of years of surfing information for answers rather than looking to sources of authority. Think of it this way, if you are driving behind a car and the bumper sticker says "He who dies with the most toys wins," that's a Veteran or a Boomer in front of you. She knows who has the corner office, and she behaves accordingly. But if the sticker says, "He who dies with the best information . . .," it's the dawn of a whole new day. A day when quitting doesn't mean what it used to mean, and when it's done much more casually.

Given that reality, putting these plans in place may help.

When hiring Generation Y, create an exit plan. Ask the Ys already in the company to brainstorm a standard exit process. Most of them are planning to leave in a year or two anyway, so why not acknowledge that and make it as painless as possible? Set everything down in writing--how one quits, whom he tells when, whom he tells first and how, what documents have to be completed, how the relationship is defined after he leaves. Lots of this is already in the handbook, but who reads the handbook? Certainly not Generation Y.

That tech-savvy 20-something who quits without notice today might return in a year or two as a first-rate employee. I've talked with plenty of Ys who wish they had a graceful way back into an organization they quit earlier in thier career. So keeping a database of these Ys and contacting them frequently with news and invitations can bring them back to you with more experience and appreciation for what you have to offer. At least that's what I'm hoping, for Lynda's sake.

Article by Amy Lynch and courtesy of Bottom Line Conversations. For more than a decade, author and public speaker, Amy Lynch, has studied Generation Y and the era that shaped them. Today, as these 20-somethings enter the workplace, she helps organizations attract, engage and retain young professionals.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 12, 2008 at 10:13 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Survey Shows That In Hiring Process, There's No Substitute For Being There

When it comes to making hiring decisions, most employers are from the Show-Me State at heart, a recent survey confirms. Thirty-eight percent of finance and human resources managers polled said that bringing in a candidate on a temporary basis provides the most insight into that person's future job performance. The in-person interview was equally popular, with 38 percent of respondents describing it as their most valuable hiring tool.

The survey was developed by Accountemps as part of its Global Financial Employment Monitor. The survey was conducted by an independent research firm and includes responses from more than 600 finance and human resources managers in the United States.

Executives were asked, "Which one of the following provides the most insight into whether or not a financial professional is qualified for a job?" Their responses:

• Performance on a temporary basis: 38%


• Interview: 38%


• Reference check: 17%


• Resume and cover letter: 6%


• Something else: 1%


• Total: 100%

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 12, 2008 at 10:01 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Ok. The most obnoxious business person in the world, is the best marketer in the world. Bar none numero uno.

And that is? The Trumpster. Oh sure, millions think he is crass and loud and garish and egotistical. And the same millions, and millions more, hang on his every word, buy his books, watch his TV show, buy his real estate, license his brand, humiliate themselves on national TV to work for him.....it goes on and on.

Trump may be a real estate genius but he definitely, absolutely, without a doubt is a marketing wizard. No one else comes close. Well, maybe Oprah, but DT wins hands down.

And why? For the same reasons so many millions SAY they detest him: he is crass and loud, garish and egotistical. But you know what? It works! A lot better than being demure and polite and politically correct.

Trump's marketing is ingenious because it makes certain he never let's you forget he is out there. And in your face. And setting trends. And if you think that sucks, ask DT to tutor you. You need it.

Article by, Mark Stevens, the bestselling author of "Your Marketing Sucks," "Your Management Sucks" and"God Is A Salesman." Stevens is CEO of MSCO, a global marketing firm, who has advised many clients over the years such as Estee Lauder, Virgin Atlantic, Guardian Insurance, MONY, Giorgio Armani, Starwood, Intrawest, etc. Stevens delivers more than 40 speeches annually and is a regularly featured media commentator, lending his insights and opinions on Fox Business Network, to the Associated Press, on CNN International, BBC Radio and Bloomberg TV.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 12, 2008 at 9:35 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Okay, this is pretty funny, and if you're a developer, then it's really, really funny.

OCI, a provider of Java and OOD services, and well-known in St Louis for training classes, has started a YouTube Channel to help in instruction. It's silly, but it's also informative, and it works for the developers looking to learn.

More companies in St Louis need to start looking at ways to connect with candidates, and this is a good start. Something to keep in mind - if as a company, you are not involved online, someone is going to come along and fill that niche, and then you'll be paying them for access to the candidate pool.

Good job Kristen.

Article by Jim Durbin and courtesy of StlRecruiting.com

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 11, 2008 at 11:58 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Thought I'd try to keep things simple today . . .

Far too often, people get mired in nitty factual details or the technical aspects of the law and forget the big picture. To avoid that happening to you, we recommend asking one little question that can help you stay out of legal hot water:

What's the right thing to do?

That's the essence of all employment laws: helping employers do what's right. Force yourself to keep asking that question every step of the way.

If you ignore all my other babblings here on the Blawg and remember nothing more than this, you should be just fine.

Article by Mark Toth, Chief Legal Officer of Manpower's North American operations, and courtesy of Manpower Employment Blawg. Mark also serve as Chief Compliance Officer and Vice President of Franchise Relations and serve on our Global Leadership Team, North American Lead Team, Executive Diversity Steering Committee and Sarbanes-Oxley Steering Committee.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 11, 2008 at 11:55 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

With the recent Labor Day observation still fresh in our minds, IBISWorld, an independent publisher of business intelligence research, analyzes the latest U.S. employment trends, including the top performers, wealthiest regions and highest wage growth. Statistics suggest that employment is declining on average 66,000 jobs per month and unemployment is expected to rise to 6% by year's end. So who is surviving the slump? According to IBISWorld, while construction and manufacturing industries are shedding jobs, Health Care and Mining continue to remain unscathed this year when it comes to performance and employment. Indeed, Health Care, with a growing trend in home health care and an increasing demand from an aging population, this sector added 368,000 jobs in the past year alone; and mining, adding 222,000 jobs in the past five years - this sector is largely on the back boom in demand from developing nations such as China, India, Russia and Brazil.

Further findings by the research firm suggest that if fatter pay checks are the top priority on an employee's list, the top ranking cities identified as having the highest average annual wage, include:

District of Columbia - $64,150
Massachusetts - $49,070
Connecticut - $47,680
New York - $47,610
New Jersey - $47,100

The industry to outpace all others in terms of average annualized growth in wages is Voice Over Internet Protocol Providers (VoIP); set to hit 21.8% by 2012. Although VoIP is 16% ahead of its nearest competitors, other industries are likely to see an impressive wage growth as well: In particular, Technical and Trade Schools; Test Development and Educational Support Services; and Live Music, Events and Sports Entertainment Promotions - all tying at 5.7%. Other industries worth noting include: Fashion Design Services at 5.6%, Social Advocacy Organizations at 5.1% and Laboratory Testing Services at 5%. Strong job growth is also forecasted for physical therapy, interior design, retirement communities, ambulance services, IT support, customer relationship management and business process services.

Article courtesy of Kennedy Information Recruiting Trends providing leading edge insights and strategies for the recruiting professional

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 11, 2008 at 11:29 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

A recent study by the Institute for Coporate Productivity (i4cp) reveals that while 42% of companies surveyed feel that the need for teams will continue to grow over the next three years - more than two-thirds (67%) foresee their reliance on virtual teams mushrooming in importance. In companies with more than 10,000 employees, the virtual team concept jumps to more than 80%. As the practice continues to charge forward, companies also have clear views regarding the benefits of using teams. More than 75% of respondents say teams facilitate information-sharing to a high or very high extent, while 70% claim teams encourage diverse thinking and 62% feel they result in higher productivity and facilitate cross-training. The activities most supported by the use of teams is topped by special one-time projects, with 77% rating high or very high, followed by ongoing project management (67%) and day-to-day business (53%). "With highly distributed workforces and the rising cost of travel, it's not surprising that organizations would anticipate a greater reliance on virtual teams," says Mary Key, i4cp's leadership pillar director. "What it foreshadows, however, is the greater need for the development of virtual leadership skills. I expect more and more corporations will put more effort into developing this skill set internally." Indeed, the major challenges posed by the use of teams are led by the idea that virtual teams are too difficult to manage, with 35% of respondents overall ranking it first on a high/very high scale. Followed by 31% of respondents feeling that coordinating schedules is problematic and a similar percentage note that they feel their company's technology tools are inadequate for team meetings. The element considered most critical for team performance, says i4cp, cited by 96% of companies as being critical to a high or very high extent - was listening skills. Trust ranked as high or very high by 92% of respondents, followed by the ability to establish actionable items at 87% and group facilitation skills at 78%. Consensus-seeking skills, cultural awareness and a sense of humor all have more than two-thirds of respondents saying they are critical to a high or very high extent.

Article courtesy of Kennedy Information Recruiting Trends providing leading edge insights and strategies for the recruiting professional

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 11, 2008 at 11:25 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

by guest blogger Regis Hadiaris

Throughout his life, my Dad taught me that I truly could be whatever I decided to be. His confidence in me gave me the strength to believe in my ideas, challenge conventional thinking, and take risks.

Below are 6 techniques I've used to successfully challenge conventional thinking in my life.Unconventional Thinking:

1. Identify and ignore "noise" in your life.
Noise is the unnecessary stuff that distracts your attention and limits your effectiveness: naysayers, gossip, opinions of news media, fear, etc. If you are determined to challenge conventional thinking, you have to train yourself to ignore noise.

I work for Quicken Loans, one of the nation's largest direct mortgage lenders, in arguably the most challenging time for the financial industry in 20 years. If I listened to all the noise about how bad the mortgage crisis is, I would become paralyzed by negativity and fear. Instead of focusing on the constraints around me, I consciously look for opportunities. Don't let yourself become a product of your environment; let your environment become a product of you!

2. Don't recreate the wheel.
I've seen companies launch huge new initiatives without ever stopping to ask themselves: "has someone done this already?" Be curious! Instead of blindly jumping into a project, take a step back and think "someone must have run into this situation before, what did they do?"

We recently decided to focus on a particular marketing strategy at Quicken Loans. Instead of starting from scratch, we flew several key people to another, non-competitive company to discuss our plan. Because that company had already executed this strategy really well, the day we spent with them saved us months of trial-and-error.

"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds."- Albert Einstein

3. Take a stand.
A couple of years ago, I was leading a project that a senior executive didn't agree with. He didn't think the project could make an impact on the business. I believed that it would. We compromised, and he gave me 90 days to prove it. I did, and the executive was proud of the accomplishment.

It can be hard to challenge consensus. But if you truly believe in what you are doing, you can't be afraid to voice an opinion or do things that others don't understand. Remember: the thinking that got you where you are will seldom get you where you want to go.Continue reading ...

Article courtesy of Mark Stevens, the bestselling author of "Your Marketing Sucks," "Your Management Sucks" and"God Is A Salesman." Stevens is CEO of MSCO, a global marketing firm, who has advised many clients over the years such as Estee Lauder, Virgin Atlantic, Guardian Insurance, MONY, Giorgio Armani, Starwood, Intrawest, etc. Stevens delivers more than 40 speeches annually and is a regularly featured media commentator, lending his insights and opinions on Fox Business Network, to the Associated Press, on CNN International, BBC Radio and Bloomberg TV.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 11, 2008 at 9:13 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

All of life is an ebb and a flow.

Success, beauty, joy, failure, disappointment washes in and just when you think any or all of these facets of life are permanent, they wash back out to the sea.

Gone. A thing of the past.

Why does this 180 occur? Only God knows. The seas ebb and flow, as does all of life.
The most interesting thing, however, is that the wise and the tough - and they must be both - understand this rhythm and work with it, in fact celebrate it, for its own majesty.

What do I mean by this? So you take on a client, a customer, or even more importantly a friend, and you are delighted by the union. There is something deliciously new in your life and you want, you are compelled, you are thrilled to make it greater than the sum of its parts.

For a moment, all is easy in the honeymoon. What a magical word "honey moon." And then issues emerge:

• Are you serving the customer well?
• Is one plus one proving to be three?
• Is the client truly something special, a partner, or simply a party to a transaction?

If the latter proves to be true, the more you and your business give to it, the more disappointing that realization is. You are vesting in a ghost.

This must be where the term "paper thin" originated.

Back to the celebration. To the understanding of the ebb and flow.

The realization that we gave everything we had to a shadow but just because the customer proved to be an illusion, a wisp, doesn't mean we lost a thing.

In fact, we gained. We learned more about the real and the artificial. About those who respond to a service culture, friendship, and those who live in a wax museum. Those who are not only no longer part of our extended family, but never really were. They are transactions lists. They are born for the ebb and the flow, especially the flow. All of our service methodologies fail to impact them because they are automatons.

Does this mean we stop behaving as friends? As family members? To the wooden soldiers, yes, but to everyone else who walks into our universe, our stores, our offices, our websites, of course not.

We celebrate the loss of the plastic. The customers who, once you seem to build a true relationship with them, turn quickly in search of a sale. Those who tell you in dozens of ways before you are prepared to hear it, that they see the kind of service you are seeking to deliver as a threat that pales in comparison to a cheap promotion.

And then, if you embrace the ebb and the flow, you wave goodbye. Why?

Because you understand. Because you never abandon your determination to give, to sustain your company's service culture, your human human joy in moving beyond the transactional.

You just learn which doors to enter and which to close.

Article by, Mark Stevens, the bestselling author of "Your Marketing Sucks," "Your Management Sucks" and"God Is A Salesman." Stevens is CEO of MSCO, a global marketing firm, who has advised many clients over the years such as Estee Lauder, Virgin Atlantic, Guardian Insurance, MONY, Giorgio Armani, Starwood, Intrawest, etc. Stevens delivers more than 40 speeches annually and is a regularly featured media commentator, lending his insights and opinions on Fox Business Network, to the Associated Press, on CNN International, BBC Radio and Bloomberg TV.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 11, 2008 at 9:05 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Seventy percent of recent college graduates leave their jobs within two years of being hired, according to a survey exploring the working and job searching habits of so-called Generation Y. The findings reveal a number of interesting trends:

• 43% of Gen Y are not in the career they expected to be in after college, either because they couldn't find a job, or another opportunity presented itself
• 60% are currently looking for another job or career, despite the fact that 57% indicated that they are also happy at their current job
• 74% of recent graduates are in a career that aligns with their college major

"Constant job hopping can create frustration for employers, who would prefer three years of service out of each new hire," says Jenny Floren, founder and CEO of Experience, Inc., in a press statement. Her firm's report, the 2008 Life After College Survey, draws on an online poll of 334 college graduates of the Class of 2002. "However, HR managers can increase retention by making slight shifts in their organizational practices to accommodate entry-level employees."

Research from elsewhere suggests that companies are ill-prepared to deal with Gen Y's peculiarities. A third of the companies say generational issues are not important or only somewhat important in their organizations, according to data from of 398 companies by the Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp). Sixty-nice percent of these same firms admit that they don't have specific programs in place to address generational differences.

Additionally, a full eight out of 10 devote less than 5% of their learning and development budget to the issue, i4cp's report, Taking the Pulse: Generations in the Workforce. To gauge the effectiveness of generational initiatives, 33% of organizations track the impact on retention, according to the research from i4cp, 28% measure impact on engagement, and 26% look at individual performance/productivity; 43%, however, admit that their organizations do not measure the effectiveness of these initiatives.

Article courtesy of Kennedy Information Recruiting Trends providing leading edge insights and strategies for the recruiting professional

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 11, 2008 at 8:04 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

East South Central, New England States to See Greatest Hiring Increases

Hiring in accounting and finance is expected to increase in the final months of 2008, according to executives interviewed for the most recent Robert Half International Financial Hiring Index. Ten percent of chief financial officers (CFOs) surveyed said they plan to expand the size of their teams in the fourth quarter, while 5 percent anticipate personnel reductions. The net 5 percent increase is up five points from the third-quarter projection.

The Robert Half International Financial Hiring Index is based on telephone interviews with more than 1,400 CFOs across the United States. It was conducted by an independent research firm and developed by Robert Half International.

"Businesses need a strong financial function to see them through all economic cycles," said Max Messmer, chairman and CEO of Robert Half International. "This has created ongoing demand for accounting and finance staff with specialized abilities and expertise. In particular, firms seek staff and senior accountants, financial analysts, and internal auditors."

Forty-four percent of CFOs who expect to hire in the fourth quarter cited business growth as the reason for the increased need for additional staff. Forty-one percent reported rising workloads as the primary driver.

Twenty-eight percent of executives interviewed cited accounting positions as the most challenging to fill. Twenty-two percent of respondents pointed to operational-support roles, such as those in accounts payable and collections, as the most difficult to staff.

The most active hiring is expected to take place among firms with 20 to 49 employees, where a net 6 percent of CFOs project adding staff. Eleven percent of executives plan to hire full-time financial professionals and 5 percent anticipate decreasing personnel levels.

Accounting and Financial Hiring -- By Region

The East South Central[1] and New England[2] states should see the greatest gains in hiring during the fourth quarter. A net 7 percent of CFOs in each region anticipate adding full-time accounting and finance professionals.

"Growth in the manufacturing sector in the East South Central states is among the trends driving the need for additional financial staff, particularly midlevel accounting professionals," Messmer said. "In the New England region, financial analysts are needed to help firms identify further operating efficiencies."

Robert Half commissioned additional interviews with CFOs in more than 40 major metropolitan areas to provide snapshots of financial hiring trends in these markets. The local results are available at www.roberthalf.com/PressRoom.

Accounting and Financial Hiring -- By Industry

Among industries, executives in wholesale are most optimistic about hiring. Thirteen percent of CFOs anticipate adding accounting and finance employees in the fourth quarter, while 1 percent foresee a reduction in personnel, a net 12 percent increase.

The manufacturing sector also is forecast to see hiring gains exceeding the national average, with a net 11 percent of executives expecting to expand their staff levels during the final three months of the year. In both the transportation and finance, insurance and real estate industries, a net 8 percent of CFOs plan to add personnel in the quarter.

About the Robert Half International Financial Hiring Index
First published in 1992, the Robert Half International Financial Hiring Index was conducted by an independent research firm and is based on more than 1,400 telephone interviews with CFOs from a random sample of U.S. companies with 20 or more employees. For the study to be statistically representative and ensure that businesses from all segments were represented, the sample was stratified by geographic region and employee size. The results were then weighted to reflect the proper proportions of employee size within each region.

Article courtesy of, Robert Half International, founded in 1948 and traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Its financial staffing divisions include Accountemps, Robert Half Finance & Accounting and Robert Half Management Resources, for temporary, full-time and senior-level project professionals, respectively. The company has more than 360 staffing locations worldwide and offers online job search services on its divisional websites, all of which can be accessed at www.rhi.com.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 10, 2008 at 4:18 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

My lecture on the impact of social media stresses the two sides of social media. The first is the technical aspect, which covers the tools and how they can be used to advance traditional corporate purposes.

But the second piece of social media is the impact is has on companies as a phenomenon. The public has access to the same tools as the corporations, and what they are doing as a group is dwarfing what companies are or even can do.

What does that mean? It means that the tools can be tracked with your typical technology charts, where early adopters, and fast seconds, and finally, mass use and monetization are the order of the day, but it would be a mistake to group social media in with other technological revolutions.

The difference is human need. Social media covers six basic human needs in a way no other technology does. In the mass movements I'm talking about, technology is already adopted, and the change now is the way in which the user base is altered by the technology.

Don't take my word for it. Listen to Tony Robbins describe his version of the six basic human needs, and think about how the fit into social media.

1. Certainty
2. Variety
3. Significance
4. Connection
5. Growth
6. Contribution.

Whether or not you're a Robbins fan, you can see that social media gives people more than just technical tools. It enables wide-spread relationships that fulfill needs that aren't filled in the workplace or home. I was an account manager for a staffing firm, whose company saw me as just someone to fill a role. I wanted more, and social media gave me all six needs in a way my job didn't.

This is true for Mom blogs, business and marketing blogs, PR and recruiting networks, Twitter friends, politically minded citizens, knitting bloggers, and kids in communities Club Penguin and Webkinz and World of Warcraft.

It's a mistake to see social media as just talking. Yes, lots of businesses are misusing or failing to understand social media, but the real cutting edge is in the user base, and that's altering the way we communicate to our customers, vendors, and employees a lot faster than our internal social media programs.

Article by Jim Durbin and courtesy of StlRecruiting.com

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 10, 2008 at 2:47 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

I must see thousands of videos that come via my RSS feed, I watch very few due to the amount of rubbish and irrelevant material that is fed to me under the title of recruitment. Still today I happened to spot one from a recruitment company called Benedix, who specialise in training and recruitment for the Banking and Finance sectors, whose video made me want to look further.

I wanted to give them a mention because of how well they have put together their site, as it is quite unique and is almost a cross between a job board and a recruitment company. I do not know too much about this company, but I hope to get an update with a response from them to this post.

As recruitment sites go they have made a huge effort in making themselves stand out from the crowd, there are vacancies, support for their candidates in the form of downloads and training courses. For the clients they do research, train candidates and even do recruitment. On top of this they offer support to the Universities there by getting the candidates early, which is probably why recruiters are using them. What did surprise me after doing a quick search on Linkedin to see who is employed at the company I came up with a complete zero, which doesn't make sense, surly if you are experts in the field you would want to show this off to your clients and candidates!

I have to admit I was disappointed in not finding them on Linkedin, I can only assume they are a smallish company trying to look bigger, if so they have done a good job so far. My only criticism is their blog, which needs to be updated regularly and after a few good posts they have lost their momentum, mind you yours truly isn't as prolific as I used to be

So although they seem a little unusual as recruitment companies go in having corporate and recruitment companies as clients, my gut feeling is they are doing the right thing to beat this difficult trading period. I am sure by giving added value to their clients and candidates it will differentiate them from the rest.

Time will tell of course but it wouldn't surprise me if they take a few scalps, in this difficult sector.

Article by Stephen Fowler and courtesy of Recruitment Views blog.