I just spent the morning reviewing several hundred emails from job seekers across the country, looking for common frustrations among people looking for work.

As you might imagine, many things are bugging many job seekers in this economy.

But I boiled them down to four prominent job-search frustrations.

Here they are, with suggested solutions.

Which ones apply to you?

Frustration #1: "I submit my resume for a posted job and never hear back from employers. Did they even read my resume?"

Solution: Here are three ways to make sure your resume is received and read.

1) Call the employer after applying.

Obviously, you can't do this if you're blasting resumes out by the dozens each week, so pick and choose carefully which employers you apply to. The smaller the employer, the more likely you are to connect with a hiring authority by phone.

2) Hand-deliver your resume.

This method really works, as I've written about before. People who get interviewed and hired after hand-delivering their resumes do the following:

• they dress professionally
• ask the receptionist if they can personally give their resume to the hiring manager
• if refused, they politely request a meeting at a later date
• leave a copy of their resume with the receptionist
• call or visit again until they get a meeting

When you visit a company to drop off your resume, be ready to interview on the spot, if you meet the hiring manager in the lobby -- it has happened!

3) Mail your resume.

Nowhere is it written that you cannot mail a resume after submitting it online. With a little sleuthing on the employer's web site and/or Google, you can find the name of your potential boss and their mailing address. Still unsure? Call the employer and ask!

Frustration #2: "I'm over-qualified for most positions I apply for."

Solution: First, know that employers may fear your getting bored in a role dealing with budgets in the thousands of dollars, if you've worked with millions of dollars before, for example.

And employers may fret that you'll leave as soon as a better job turns up.

To allay those fears, use your cover letter to highlight your record of long-term employment, if you have one. You can also offer to sign an agreement outlining a minimum stay in a new job.

Also, understand that "over-qualified" can mean "too expensive" for some employers, who fear being able to match your salary demands.

So, explain in your resume and cover letter that someone with your experience can save or earn significant amounts of money. Then, prove it with specific dollars and figures. Ideally, you will show employers that hiring you is like buying money at a discount -- you can earn or save multiples of every dollar you get paid in salary.

Frustration #3: "Recruiters and headhunters don't call me back."

Solution: Lower your expectations. Unless you already have a solid relationship with one, now is not the best time to expect callbacks from recruiters.

There reasons are many in this recession, according to Mark J. Haluska, Founder & Executive Director, Real Time NetWork (www.rtnetwork.net).

"Most recruiters have a glut of candidates and they're besieged with unsolicited resumes to fill a dwindling number of assignments. So, before a recruiter ever thinks of calling you, they comb through their database of candidates, looking for someone they know is a proven winner," says Haluska.

Should you follow up with a recruiter, to make sure they got your resume?

Perhaps.

"You could make a call every couple weeks, if only to leave a voicemail. That should eventually result in contact with the recruiter." But, be on your best behavior and avoid letting any frustration show; otherwise, "your resume will end up in the shredder," says Haluska.

Frustration #4: "I have no time for networking."

Solution: You have time for eating and sleeping. Why? Because they are necessary for survival. Without a job, you will have no food to eat or roof to sleep under. So make time to network. Even if you have to eat or sleep less for a few weeks ... or watch less TV or relax less on weekends. You can always catch up on that later.

Kevin Donlin is co-author of Guerrilla Resumes. Since 1996, he has provided job-search help to more than 20,000 people. Author of 3 books, Kevin has been interviewed by The New York Times, USA Today, Fox News, CBS Radio and others.

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, and posted on MN Headhunter.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 30, 2009 at 2:24 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

This past week I came across a great post titled, The Perks of Being a New Hire. The post is part of Lisa West's featured blog, Life as a New PT Grad, on ADVANCE.com. Current therapy students and recent graduates should definitely check out Lisa's blog. Weekly posts touch on her day-to-day encounters as a PT. Not only are they interesting to read, but they are enlightening as well. In previous weeks Lisa blogged about her feelings of being "the low man on the totem pole", but in this post she highlights the advantages of being a new therapist. Here are just a few:

"3. I have energy. I'm not burned out. Being a new grad, I am so excited to spend my time with patients all day instead of face-down in my notes, studying. I love working, and I love getting paid.

4. I am eager to learn and develop myself as a professional. This goes along with point #3. I have a drive to push myself. I want to learn how to treat in ICU settings, to learn different diagnoses. I am not stuck in a rut with my career."

If you are a new hire, what "perks" do you see?

Article courtesy of RehabCare Student blog. RehabCare provides college recruiting for Physical Therapists, Physical Therapy Assistants, Occupational Therapists, Occupational Therapy Assistants and Speech Language Pathologists.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 30, 2009 at 1:30 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Did you just flub your job interview? Were you awkward? Did you forget some critical piece of information that will make them want to hire you? Or did you make some other kind of job interview mistake? Whatever it was-it just didn't go well, and you know it. But you still want the job. What do you do?

You send a thank you note.

It's probably your only shot at damage control-your one last "Hail Mary" pass, but if it's your only chance to fix whatever the problem was, you should take it.

On a good day, thank you notes are very important to your job interview process. On a bad day, it may be your only hope. Thank you letters show your great attitude, highlight your communication skills, and give you a chance to provide more information about why you're a perfect fit for this job. In this case, a thank you note also highlights your ability to take in information (the interview) and provide feedback on whatever the problem was. You're responding to an issue in a timely fashion (e-mail it, please), which is only going to improve the hiring manager's perception of you. The ability to turn a negative situation around is one of those intangible skills you'll need in medical/healthcare sales, and a situation like this is your chance to demonstrate it.

Article by Peggy McKee, Medical Sales Recruiter

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, and posted on The Daily Recruiter.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 30, 2009 at 1:22 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Employee performance is an essential ingredient in any company's ability to achieve its goals. Therefore managing employee performance is integral to business success. A well managed performance appraisal assists managers to assess and provide feedback to increase the competency of their team members. Developing skills, knowledge, attitudes and increasing team member capability are key objective of performance appraisals. For many businesses performance appraisals results in spending 'time on the business' to build capability.

Performance appraisals promote business development in the following ways:

1. Drive business performance
Facilitating performance appraisals means managers making an effort to communicate with their employees. Managers who care about the performance of their people and business will recognise the importance of providing feedback and assisting their team members to grow and develop. The performance appraisal is a proactive HR solution in driving business performance.

2. Improve employee productivity
Assessing employee performance against job expectations provides the opportunity to improve capability and productivity This is achieved by communicating how the person has performed and identifying key result areas (KRA's) and behaviors s which with improvement will increase capability, productivity and profitability.

3. Identify specific areas for improvement
An effective performance review process will consist of a plan specifically aimed at improving KRA's and behaviors that have been identified as requiring improvement.

4. Address poor performance
Conducting performance appraisals enables you to talk about performance and behaviour that has been previously identified where improvement has been required.

5. Identify future development requirements
Performance appraisals help confirm employees' strengths and weaknesses and identify future competency requirements to perform their current or another role. Through targeted development, team members will increase their value to the business as they increase in capability.

6. Make informed employee decisions
Employee decisions regarding improvement, promotion, job changes, and termination can be achieved through the performance appraisal process. The process provides managers with the opportunity to empower and delegate responsibilities to team members.

7. Increase the organizations capability
Performed organization wide the performance appraisal process increases the organisations overall capability resulting in a competitive advantage - your people.

8. Recognize, retain and reward high performers
Having a strong link between effort performance and reward will motivate team members. Performance appraisals provide a HR solution which can be linked with intrinsic and extrinsic motivation methods, resulting in increased team member engagement and capability.

9. Improve profitability
Having a more capable, competent and motivated team will improve communication, productivity and ultimately profitability.

Businesses that see performance appraisals as a strategic method to develop employees benefit because the added competence further develops the organizations capability, competitiveness and sustainability.
Improve productivity & profitability

Article by David McGillivray of Successful Business Strategies

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, and posted on GadBall Blog.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 29, 2009 at 1:31 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Thank you letters are another important part of your Marketing Toolkit. The main purpose (besides the obvious thanks) is to ensure that the interviewer knows that, not only are you are a good match for the job, but that you heard everything that was discussed during the interview.

There is an expectation that everyone will send a Thank You letter, and those that don't may not get the opportunity to continue in the interview process. This is your chance to list those characteristics that match the job and company profile.

As with all writing related to your job search process, the Thank You letter should be well written and tailored to the interviewer. While you may have similar text in your Thank You letters, under no circumstances should your letters look similar to other letters for any one interview process (i.e. don't send the same letter to different interviewers at the same company).

There are as many examples of Thank You letters as there are examples of resumes and cover letters. The important thing to remember is that your Thank You letter should be personalized. I've added a page dedicated to the entire (small but growing) series at "Job Search Marketing Toolkit" - take a look.

Guidelines for Writing Thank You Letters - This article, from About.com, provides overall guidelines as well as specific links to situation specific formats - campus interviews, general thank you, addressing concerns, etc. Key in this article are each of the paragraphs at the beginning which state, more or less, the real purpose of the letters (similar to what I indicated earlier in this post). And, although I didn't mention it, Proofread as many times as possible concept is listed here as well.
How to Write a Thank You Letter - Also by About.com, this article lists the "Here's How" as well as additional tips. The time tested standards are here - letters to each interviewer, express your interest in the job and the company, mention specific topics discussed during the interview, etc.
Free Sample Job Interview and Career Thank-You Letters - Quintcareers.com provides this list of sample thank you letters. The list includes General letters, letters that stress fit, letters that focus on damage control (yes, there are letters for almost every occasion), job fair interviews and more. There is also a link to their FAQ on thank you letters which is certainly worth a read.
10 Sample Thank You Letters - Susan Ireland (www.susanireland.com) also offers samples / examples of Thank You letters on her website. Her samples are listed by strategy (interview, offer, rejection, informational and thank you to friends). Click on any of the links and a full sample will be displayed. I do feel obligated to say (as silly as this sounds, it happens all of the time) don't forget to remove any information from your thank you letter that are specific to the sample (like the fictious name of the individual).
Interview Follow-up / Thank You Letters - One more site with examples, this one from Virginia Tech. The site lists the purpose of the thank you letter, talks about snail mail versus email, what to do if you don't hear from an employer and provides examples as well. Finally, at the bottom of the page is a full listing of additional career links.

Good luck in your search.

Article by Career Alley

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, and posted on MN Headhunter.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 29, 2009 at 1:24 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

I need some help. Do you know of any articles, podcasts, blog posts, etc where a truly knowledgeable, experienced and practicing professional in any industry has said Twitter is the end all?

Here is why I ask. I am doing research for an article I am writing and a well known Recruiter/HR guy is poo pooing the use of Twitter and Social Networking sites in general. And he keeps talking about how people are talking about Twitter as the end all of recruiting much like people spoke about Monster.com and the job boards in the late 90's.

The thing is I cannot find who this person's sources are.

Sure a lot of folks are talking about this revolutionary new tool (memo, Twitter has been around a while) and how it can help companies, marketers and yes recruiters get their message out and find people to "sell" but I have not seen anyone say it is the end all.

Can you point me to any credible person in or outside of the Recruiter/HR world who says Twitter will change the axis of our planet?

Article by Paul DeBettignies and courtesy of MN Headhunter -- where they "play with their cards face up."

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 29, 2009 at 1:14 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

There's an interesting discussion going on in the comment section of a recent blog post by Alison Doyle between Alison and one of her readers. Alison wrote a post entitled "A Few Good Job Sites" in which she recommended that job seekers use job search engines such as LinkUp, Indeed, and Simplyhired. In a comment, 'Paul' criticized these and other aggregator sites as being very frustrating for job seekers due to the preponderance of old listings and duplicate jobs. Alison, in a reply comment, correctly points out that LinkUp's job search engine contains no duplicate or outdated job listings because LinkUp only indexes jobs from company websites. In reading the exchange, I thought I'd weigh in on how I would define and differentiate sites like LinkUp, Indeed, and Simplyhired.

A job board aggregator such as Indeed or Simplyhired, is a site that aggregates job listings from multiple websites, usually dozens or even hundreds of other sites. These job listing contain links to the original source of the job, where job seekers can then apply for that job. In the case of Indeed and Simplyhired, job listings are supplied by hundreds of job boards all over the country that deliver a data feed of the jobs listed on their sites to Indeed and Simplyhired. Those hundreds of data feeds are then amassed into a gigantic database of listings that will undoubtedly contain duplicate listings for the same job because many employers advertise their openings on multiple job boards. Equally as problematic, the job feeds that Indeed and Simplyhired accept also contain old, outdated jobs that have already been filled, and even worse, garbage jobs that include work-at-home scams, phishing jobs, scam jobs, and listings from headhunters, staffing and temp firms, and recruiters. So in that regard, comments from 'Paul' on Alison's blog are absolutely correct. Aggregators that rely on data feeds from job boards for all or most of their job listings are very, very frustrating for job seekers (and employers, too, for that matter).

But LinkUp should not be lumped into that same criticism, as Alison rightly points out. LinkUp only aggregates job listings from company websites. We index the jobs listed on career portals from over 22,000 company websites and update LinkUp every day. We do not list any jobs from other job boards. Period. As a result, LinkUp's job listings are always current, often unadvertised anywhere else on the web, and never fake. So while I might consider LinkUp a job aggregator given the fact that we list jobs from thousands of sites around the web, I'd more accurately classify LinkUp as a job search engine.

A job search engine is a site that actively scours the web for job listings that are only found on company websites and indexes those jobs into a giant search engine. Indexing is done with 'spiders' that crawl other websites rather than collecting a data feed supplied by someone else. And if the company doing the indexing is a considerate and responsible one (like LinkUp), that indexing is done in an open and transparent manner in the middle of the night when site traffic is low. While both Indeed and Simplyhired list jobs from larger company websites, the vast majority of their jobs are sourced from other job boards that pay for the traffic that Indeed and Simplyhired send to them.

It may seem like a minor or even trivial distinction, but the differences between aggregators like Indeed and Simplyhired and job search engines like LinkUp have a major impact on the quality of service delivered to both job seekers and employers alike.

Article by, Toby Dayton and courtesy of Diggings, a blog about recruitment advertising, media, publishing, HR, work, & technology, among other things.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 29, 2009 at 1:02 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

The idea of music being used as a healing influence has been around for over 2,000 years. Practice in the 20th century stemmed after WWI and WWII when community musicians went to the veterans hospitals playing their instruments for thousands of physically and emotionally traumatized soldiers. The patients' notable responses led doctors and nurses to permanently hiring the musicians at the hospitals.

Individuals who can benefit from such therapies are children, adolescents, adults and elderly with mental health issues, developmental and learning disabilities, Alzheimer's and other age-related conditions, brain injuries, physical disabilities and those dealing with acute chronic pain.

Some of the venues in which music therapists work include rehab facilities, hospitals, outpatient clinics, day care treatments centers, senior centers, nursing homes and hospice programs to name a few. In a hospital setting, music therapy is used to alleviate pain, elevate patients' mood while counteracting depression, promote movement for physical rehab, calm or sedate, minimize anxiety in addition to decreasing muscle tension. In regards to a rehabilitation standpoint, music therapy is used to neurologically manipulate inner brain functions such as motor, speech and cognitive processes.

Music therapy is utilized in skilled nursing environments to increase or maintain patients' physical, mental and social/emotional functioning, especially in the elderly population. In Alzheimer's patients, it is used specifically to cue memory recall and socialization.

Article courtesy of RehabCare Student blog. RehabCare provides college recruiting for Physical Therapists, Physical Therapy Assistants, Occupational Therapists, Occupational Therapy Assistants and Speech Language Pathologists.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 25, 2009 at 11:19 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

They graduated into one of the toughest job markets in years, so what types of jobs were graduates of the college Class of 2009 most likely to be offered?

Teaching positions topped the list, according to a new report published by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE).

NACE's Fall 2009 Salary Survey report lists teaching, management trainee, financial/treasury analysis, consulting, and sales positions as the top five jobs offered to 2009 graduates. (See Figure 1.)

"The types of positions offered to new grads has remained fairly stable over the past five years," says Marilyn Mackes, NACE executive director. "In general, employers value graduates who have these the skills required for these types of positions, regardless of the economy."

What has changed is the importance the private sector plays in providing job opportunities for new college graduates.

Although teaching has consistently been an important opportunity for new college grads, private sector opportunities held the top spot until 2008, when teaching moved up the list.

"From 2002 through 2007, the number one opportunity was management trainee or sales positions," says Mackes.

Besides underscoring the importance of the public sector as a "home&rdlquo; for new college graduates, the shift from private to public sector opportunities could have ramifications for salaries for new grads.

"In general, public sector jobs pay less than those in the private sector," Mackes says.

In fact, the average starting salary offer to new college graduates fell this year. The average salary offer to a 2009 bachelor's degree graduate stands at $48,633; that&'s 1.2 percent less than the $49,224 average offer for the same graduate from the Class of 2008.

Source: Fall 2009 Salary Survey, National Association of Colleges and Employers. Data represent job functions for which the most data were reported; all data are for bachelor’s degree candidates.

Press release courtesy of National Association of Colleges & Employers (NACE)

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 25, 2009 at 11:09 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

I've written before that you can learn more about finding a job by emulating marketing experts than by reading every employment book in the library.

And I still believe that's true.

To illustrate, here's a tactic from Bob Bly, publisher of The Direct Response Letter (www.bly.com) and author of more than 70 books on advertising, copywriting, and other topics.

Bly suggests the following for publishers of email newsletters (e-zines), but it applies to your job search, too, as I'll explain below:

"Whenever I am in a used bookstore or -- even better -- a library selling old books, I look for and buy old business books. At my local library, they are 50 cents each. If you are looking for content for your e-zine, I urge you to do the same with books related to your topic. Why?

"Thumb through any old business book and I can virtually guarantee that within 2 minutes, you'll find at least one gem -- a great quote, a neat idea, a list of how-to tips -- you can use as a short article in your e-zine, on your blog, or in other how-to writings."

As an example, Bly shares a marketing tip he found in an old book bought at the local library for 50 cents. "I flipped through it when I got home and found the item in about 90 seconds," says Bly.

Here's what he found, from the book, "Swim With the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive," by Harvey Mackay:

"It's common practice for business owners to paint the company name and logo on the side of trucks and vans.

"But if your business or its customers are located in a city, you should also paint your company name, logo, and web site URL on the tops of your trucks and vans. That way it will be seen by prospects located on the second floor and higher of office buildings."

Now. How can you adapt this tactic to your job search? Here are three ways to get hired faster using Bly's method of searching used bookstores and library book sales for ideas ...

1) Improve your cover letter

Most cover letters are written like birthday present wrapping paper, to be quickly torn through and thrown away.

Tip: Use Bly's idea to research your industry, then sprinkle your next cover letter with an ideas to make or save money for an employer. You will likely get more calls to interview.

2) Raise your profile

From accounting to zoology, you'll find a job faster if more people know who you are.

Tip: Write 5-10 blog postings on topics relevant to your industry, by tracking down evergreen ideas from old books. You would raise your visibility and increase the likelihood of getting called by employers/recruiters. Also, Google would be more likely to find your blog postings, giving you even more visibility.

3) Give a presentation

LinkedIn lets you upload PowerPoint presentations to your profile. Are you taking advantage of this and letting employers see how smart you are?

Tip: Create a 10-slide presentation that showcases your skills and expertise, based on research you do using Bly's idea. Then, upload it to your LinkedIn profile. Passively, your presentation can be found by recruiters and employers. Actively, you can ask hiring managers to view your PowerPoint during a phone interview. Imagine the effect of saying, "Ms. Boss Lady, if you're online, would you have a minute to view a presentation I created for our phone interview? It's called, '7 Ways ACE Corp. Can Save on Procurement Costs in the Next 90 Days.'"

Think you don't have time for this?

Think again. If you're unemployed and have been looking for work 8-10 hours a day, why not take 5 hours a week from activities that aren't producing results -- like applying for advertised jobs online, for example -- and try this research method for 14 days?

If perusing old books for evergreen ideas to share with employers doesn't work for you, I'd like to know. And if it does produce interviews, I'd like to know that, too. Now, go out and make your own luck!

Kevin Donlin is co-author of Guerrilla Resumes. Since 1996, he has provided job-search help to more than 20,000 people. Author of 3 books, Kevin has been interviewed by The New York Times, USA Today, Fox News, CBS Radio and others.

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, and posted on MN Headhunter.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 24, 2009 at 12:17 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

For some recruiters, the recession isn't their only obstacle to filling the entry level jobs their clients offer. A resistance to changing with the times is another, according to Jennifer McClure, in her article Are Recruiters Like Dodo Birds? ... Soon to be Extinct?

Although McClure advocates the use of social media and other Internet tools, she isn't suggesting that "being a successful recruiter/business owner is all about having a strong Internet presence and using social media," but they do help. Recruiters who refuse to adapt to the changing environment of recruiting do run the risk of following the Dodo into extinction, McClure believes.

Gen Y candidates love the convenience of being able to communicate through their cell phones or Blackberries via text messages and email, as well as telephone calls. Recruiters who want to stay in the game for the long term, are embracing the changes and adapting their recruiting styles to accomodate their target audience.

"Recruiting has evolved across the centuries from in-person to phone to newspapers to email to Internet job boards to social media - and now it includes all of those tools (and more)," says McClure.

As much as recruiters who started out 20 years ago may hate to admit it, to stay competitive and fill the entry level jobs their clients have available, they may have to get used to the idea of using social media, Webinars, SMS messages and other modern recruiting tools - at least in addition to older methods like meeting candidates in person - to remain successful.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 24, 2009 at 7:52 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Can't get an interview?

Can't get past the first interview?

Are you demonstrating the levels of commitment, drive, tenacity, skills and organization employers want?

Here are 6 tried and true ways to separate you from other candidates and be the candidate everyone wants to hire:

1. Preparation = SWOT Analysis:

SWOT is a strategic planning tool. It stands for Strengths (attributes helpful to achieving the objective), Weaknesses (attributes harmful to achieving the objective), Opportunities (external conditions that will be helpful to achieving the objective), and Threats (external obstacles or conditions that will harm the process). Look at the picture-it helps. Doing a SWOT analysis on the company demonstrates your drive, commitment, and skills, along with helping you create a better 30/60/90-day plan. Click here for advice on how to do one and avoid mistakes.

2. 30/60/90-Day Plan :

A 30-60-90-day plan is a short, 1-3 page outline for what you will do when you start the job. Essentially, you spell out for your future employer, in as little or as much detail as necessary, how you will spend your time-in training, learning company systems, introducing yourself to customers, and your initial plan to build sales. It demonstrates exactly how you'll be an asset. A 30/60/90-day plan is an almost-guaranteed way to impress any hiring manager or hiring team.

If you absolutely can't get an interview, you could try e-mailing your 30/60/90-day plan to the sales manager. It's an attention-getter, and it could be the key to get you in the door.

3. Video or Audio Communication :

Send the interviewer an audio of video clip of yourself. Keep it short and sweet, and make sure you've checked lighting, background, and sound quality. One idea: Structure it like an elevator pitch-what can you do for the company and why can you do it?

4. Brag Book :

A brag book is a folder/ binder that you can use during your interview process to clarify your skill sets. It can include letters of recommendation, "attaboy" notes (or any notes commenting on what a good job you've done), staff ranking, annual reviews (if you include some, include them all), rewards letters, your resume, types of equipment you've used or marketed, certifications or other educational courses, any financial or PowerPoint presentations, copies of articles you've written, brochures you've helped develop, and a college transcript (though ONLY if you're just getting out). Here's a link to a video that explains more.

5. References :

It's critical that you have winning references. Some people believe that references never get called, but they do. You should know how to choose a good reference, and know with stake-your-job-on-it certainty what they will say about you. You can (and should) even coach them beforehand, to help them tailor their answers to the job.

6. Follow-up/Thank You Notes :

Don't underestimate how important thank you letters are in the job interview process. Everybody "knows" they're critical, but unbelievably, not everyone writes them. Thank you letters accomplish several things:

• They get your name in front of the hiring manager one more time.
• They are your last chance to package yourself as the best, most qualified person for the job.
• They are polite, and manners count.
• They can be an example of your ability to take in information (the interview) and process and provide feedback or new ideas about whatever the problem was. For example: "I thought about your concerns about how to handle xyz delivery issues, when I was a product manager at ABC corporation, we used........."
• (See what I mean?)
• Handwritten thank-yous are nice, but e-mail thank yous are fast. Sometimes, hiring decisions are made quickly, so a timely note can be critical.

I know these things will help you become an outstanding candidate!

Article by Peggy McKee, Medical Sales Recruiter

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, and posted on MN Headhunter.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 23, 2009 at 12:08 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Survey: Economic Recovery Spending Could Flow to Information Technology

As the economy improves, chief financial officers (CFOs) will look to bolster their information technology (IT) systems, a new survey suggests. When asked where they are most likely to place their investment dollars when a recovery occurs, 40 percent of CFOs interviewed cited IT.

The survey was developed by Robert Half Management Resources and conducted by an independent research firm and includes responses from 1,400 CFOs from a stratified random sample of U.S. companies with 20 or more employees.

CFOs were asked, "In which one of the following areas are you most likely to invest once the once the economy improves?" Their responses:

"As companies emerge from the recession and become more profitable, they will begin to focus on shoring up critical business applications and technology infrastructure," said Paul McDonald, executive director of Robert Half Management Resources. "While finance executives may remain cautious about making bold new expenditures, they understand that updating their IT systems can help improve risk management, increase operational efficiency and ensure regulatory compliance."

McDonald noted the survey showed that the largest companies (1,000 or more employees) are most likely to invest in new or upgraded IT systems (48 percent) because of the economies of scale that come from making systemwide improvements.

He added, "IT investments encompass not only hardware and software but also reflect the human resources necessary to manage these initiatives."

Robert Half Management Resources is the premier provider of senior-level accounting and finance professionals to supplement companies' project and interim staffing needs. The company has more than 145 locations worldwide and offers online job search services at www.roberthalfmr.com.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 22, 2009 at 5:33 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

When was the last time your headhunter called you? If they had a job opportunity that matched your skill set, they probably called you immediately. If they haven't called, don't take it personally. With National unemployment at 9.4%, recruiters are faced with the most candidates they've had in recent memory and the fewest job opportunities. So how do you get your resume noticed by headhunters? There are a few ways to do this (most of which will be covered in the Marketing Toolkit series), but the best way to get noticed is to respond to specific ads (only those that are a good match for your skills) on the recruiters website. While they are always searching for good resumes on the job boards, they look first at those sent directly to their sites.

A-List Associates - This recruiting firm specializes in Executive Assistants and Administrative Support and are a New York City based firm. Their main page has tabs at the top for About Us, Why A-List?, Services, Positions and Contact Us. Click on the Positions link to view the open positions. Each position has a brief overview and you can apply fr the job directly from this page. If you don't see a position that suits you, go to the Contact Us link and click. The Contact Us page has several contact options: phone, fax, snail mail and an online contact file (where you can attach your resume for upload).

Harris Rand - This is a retained executive search firm that specializes in public service organizations across the US. The main page has a comprehensive overview of the company with links on the left hand side of the page for Biographies, Client List (a good source of leads), Current Searches, Search Process and Associated Resources. Click on Current Searches to see current job opportunities. Click on any job to see the details. You can apply directly online. Contact info for the firm is located at the bottom of the Current Searches page.
Sinon Group - This search firm has two locations, one in NY and one in Connecticut. Their main page has a high level over view with office contact information. The left hand side of the page has links for About Us, Partners, Contact Us and Current Jobs. Click Current Jobs for a list of all open positions. You can click "detail" to see additional information on any job and you can apply from within the job description or from the summary jobs page. Click on Partners to contact the partners directly (bios and contact information is provided on this page).
Top Tier Financial - Specializing in Finance and Construction (according the their website), the main page has a company overview with tabs at the top for Candidates, Our People and Contact. The right hand side of the page has a link for the Construction part of the firm (which has similar links). No jobs are listed on the site, but click Contact for snail mail, phone, fax and email address.
Roberts & Ryan - A simple home page, this firm recruits for a number of industries. There is a brief overview, followed by a few tabs - Who We are, Our Experience, Candidates and Contact Us. Click Candidates and then Learn More and Submit to email your resume. Click Contact Us for telephone, fax and snail mail information.

Good luck in your search.

Article by Career Alley

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, and posted on The Daily Recruiter.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 22, 2009 at 12:03 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Employees continue to find new and creative ways to get themselves in trouble (and to cause headaches for HR professionals).

The latest example? According to the Miami Herald, a waitress is suing Hooters based on allegations that her manager harassed her by "sexting" explicit messages and photos.

What is "sexting"? Here's how the always-reliable Wikipedia defines it: "the act of sending sexually explicit messages or photos electronically, primarily between cell phones."

Sexting is just the latest form of harassment to pop up on the legal landscape as technology continues to morph and pervade the workplace. It has the potential to create significant legal risk as some employees appear to believe that (1) texting is far more casual than e-mail or other forms of communication, (2) employers can't/don't monitor it and, thus, (3) the normal rules don't apply -- anything goes.

What should employers do?

"Sexting" should be treated like any other form of potential harassment. Get proactive.

• Review and update your policies to ensure they are broad enough to prohibit inappropriate texting, instant messaging, tweeting, etc.
• Educate employees that all of these new forms of communicating create a permanent record that can be retrieved and used as evidence in a harassment case (even if sent from a personal cell phone or computer).
• Use our time-honored "Mom Test." Train employees to ask themselves this question before they hit "send": Would I be comfortable if my mother read this message? If not, don't send it.

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 21, 2009 at 11:53 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

In October, 2008 California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed Assembly Bill 2918, a law aimed to ban the employers from using employment credit reports when conducting background checks. At the time, he said, "This bill would significantly increase businesses' exposure to civil actions over the use of credit checks. Further, the bill would increase administrative costs to those employers who must legitimately use credit reports as a screening tool by requiring that the employer first abide by its onerous requirements. California employers and businesses have inherent needs to obtain information about applicants for employment. The bill would become a new employer obstacle to the use of available information needed to make hiring decisions."

Well, here's hoping that the Governor hasn't changed his mind. It looks like the House Assembly is at it again with AB943, a bill which is the mirror image of its predecessor.

According to the Consumer Federation of California, "This bill would prohibit an employer, with the exception of certain financial institutions, from obtaining a consumer credit report for employment purposes unless the information is (1) substantially job-related, meaning that the position of the person for whom the report is sought has access to money, other assets, or confidential information, and (2) the position of the person for which the person is sought is a managerial position, a position in a city, county, or both city and county, that of a sworn peace officer or other law enforcement position, or a position for which the information contained in the report is required to be disclosed by law or to be obtained by the employer. "

The National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS) has drafted the following letter and asked its members to send it to the Governator. Check out the letter and feel free to send one of your own. Feel free to take whatever language you'd like. We'll continue to keep you posted.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger State Capitol Building Sacramento, CA 95814

Dear Governor:

We strongly oppose California AB 943, and we urge a veto.

We are a member of the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS) which represents over 600 member companies and seeks to foster awareness of issues related to consumer protection within the background screening industry. The background screening industry is governed by the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act ("FCRA") under the scrutiny of the Federal Trade Commission ("FTC"). Background screeners are classified as Consumer Reporting Agencies ("CRAs") by the FCRA and differ from private investigators who may conduct investigations covertly.

Background screening companies receive personal data provided by the applicant with that person's written consent to utilize it and CRAs follow the FCRA regulated process for verifying and reporting results. This includes the right of the applicant to review and dispute adverse information reported in the background check. In addition, applicants applying for jobs in California have additional protections granted under California state law.

NAPBS has numerous member companies in California that provide employment and tenant background screening services to both California employers and property management companies; these services may include providing a consumer credit report. Additionally, NAPBS membership spans each state in the nation and members based outside of the state of California also provide such services to California employers and property management companies.

AB 943 would enact an unreasonable prohibition against the use of information that is critical in many business situations. In fact, this bill may have the unintended consequences of increasing identity theft and embezzlement. This is due to the fact that AB 943 eliminates a business's ability to reasonably access critical information that may indicate the prospective employee's level of responsibility with respect to financial management over time.

NAPBS and its members are aware that in these trying times, many Californians may be experiencing financial hardship, which might result in negative information in a credit report; however, credit reports generally cover information for a 7 year period and, as such, problems that are not endemic to this current situation but represent a longstanding pattern of behavior on the part of the applicant should be apparent to an employer. Moreover, in the employment context, prior to taking an adverse action based on information in a consumer report, an employer must under federal law provide the applicant an opportunity to explain or dispute information.

Conclusion: The continued use of credit reports is important to our business and those of our clients. We obtain a consumer credit report only after the consumer has provided written authorization. We believe that many of the concerns raised with respect to the current financial crisis are misplaced given the process provided to applicants to dispute and explain as well as the length of time for reported information. We strongly urge a veto on California AB 943.

Article by, Nick Fishman and courtesy of EmployeescreenIQ

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 21, 2009 at 10:33 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Security at Yale Questioned After Employee Named 'Person of Interest' in Murder Case

After the release early Wednesday of Yale University employee Raymond Clark III -- who was identified as a person of interest in the killing of Yale graduate student Annie Le -- police now have DNA from his saliva, hair and fingernails. But what information did Yale have when it hired him in the first place?

Clark, who was taken into custody Tuesday but had no charges filed against him, has been described as anything from "a normal guy" to a controlling boyfriend with anger issues. And whether or not DNA tests lead to further investigation, the case raises the question of how a university that employs thousands can ensure the safety of its student employees from non-student workers. Most officials agree that the killer had access to the building and that the act was not random.

Yale employs a screening process and likely performed a background check on Clark, as the university's Web site says it performs screenings on potential employees for positions ranging from "management & professional positions, clerical & technical positions and service & maintenance positions." Questions to Yale's Human Resources and Administration about its background policy were referred the Office of Public Affairs, which referred to the Web site. The Office of Public Affairs also said it was not discussing the case.

More

Article by, Jason Morris and courtesy of EmployeescreenIQ

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 18, 2009 at 4:27 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Most of us are still managing a jittery and worried workforce. Even if your company is doing well or is on the rebound your team may be shouldering a tremendous amount stress due to outside factors.

Here are four things you can do to lower stress levels and create a more positive workplace. You won't have to get budget approval for any of them so why not give it a try?

1. Stretching IS the Norm - Try Goal Setting for Results

Stretch goals have historically been a mechanism to get people to expand their skills and abilities and build competencies. However, with all of the cutbacks most companies have had to initiate, stretching - doing more with less, working in unfamiliar areas, doing a job that you have not necessarily been trained for - may now be the new norm.

In today's environment, a set of realistic, achievable goals may be more welcome and productive. The fear/worry/anxiety many people feel over their jobs and the future of their company does not need to be compounded by a set of goals that may have been tough to reach even in the best of times.

Success, a feeling of accomplishment and contribution to the business, may help off-set the feelings generated by a crappy economy and an uncertain future - while still achieving effective performance.

2. Straight Talk - The Brutal Truth or Humane Practice?

With all of the changes, layoffs and restructuring occurring across most industries, everyone needs to know where they stand. Finding out that the business is closing or that the workforce has to be reduced by another 12% early on may not be welcome news but can certainly aid in people's planning.

Leaving the difficult conversations to the last minute is, at a minimum, unfair and in some cases downright cruel. The last thing you want to hear is, "I wish you had told me this before. I just applied for refinancing through a new program so I could keep my home...".

You may discover that you are avoiding the difficult conversations because you don't have a heck of a lot of information - and certainly you have no guarantees about the tenure of their job - or yours! But sometimes having a discussion about the future you want to create and what you envision their role in it to be, can help give people some sense of optimism.

Something to consider: for each of us, our actions today - our performance - is in line with how we perceive the future. That is, if the future looks futile, and maybe even threatening or impossible, we will act accordingly today. If the future looks possible, interesting, fun, profitable ... performance will follow.

We recently heard a story of a commercial real estate employee who was worried about his job security. He emailed another colleague - who would be in the know! - asking him if there were any impending job cuts. Within a couple of hours of sending the email, he received a phone call from this colleague. This was not a usual occurrence so his heart sank as he felt sure the colleague was calling to confirm his worst fear. But in fact, the colleague was actually calling to let him know he had just gotten a hole in one! The lesson here is that people want to be in the know and should be in the loop early on.

So if our actions today are based on how we perceive the future, it might be beneficial for all concerned if we can let people know that they are important to the future of the enterprise, and that you want them to stick it out. (See a good example of this in the Question of the Month, "Organizational Groundhog Day" in this issue.)

3. And You Thought They Had No Place to Go - Keeping Your Stars

We continue to hear of companies cherry-picking from their rivals - even in the tough world of retail. Although that may not come as much of a surprise to many - after all, some companies plan to come out of this recession ahead of the game! - the companies which are loosing their best talent are often quite surprised. They didn't think that their stars had to be told they were "keepers." See above for tips on how to clue them in and provide some hope for the future.

Speak up and let your high, middle and your up-and-coming developing performers know they are valued and that you enjoy having them as part of the team. Check for engagement. Ask, "Are you happy working here? "Are you getting what you need?" "Are you working on the things you want?" "What new role/task/project/team/skill would you like to try to get involved in?"

Also, other than the weather here in our home territory of New England, the number one conversation among workers seems to be the crappy economy. A conversation about the future can also be a good time to identify some cues and clues that could offer glimmers of hope for an uptick in business. At least it will provide some things for people to look for and talk about that show some movement out of the current economic mire!

4. Address and Stop Destructive and Disruptive Behaviors

We all know who the offenders are our organizations. They are the employees and managers who make it difficult for others to get their jobs done. It is easy to identify the bad actors in our organizations who exhibit bad behaviors, but most people who could intervene fail to do so because they are uncertain about how to deal with the problem. That's because most leaders charged with addressing behavior-based issues have little or no experience or training in dealing with this challenge. Consequently, we often see patterns of disruptive behavior emerge when they could have been prevented through the right kind of early intervention.

We recently had a conversation with a nurse and asked her to share a story of unprofessional behavior that she had observed. Her story: "We had this guy who was promoted to clinical coordinator for the surgical facility; a job that oversees the scheduling of patients and staff for patient surgery. As nurses we knew which anesthesiologists, physicians and nurse teams worked best together and we would request changes to the schedule to insure a high quality patient care experience. The new clinical coordinator would always respond with the same comment, "Bite me". He was a complete jerk -- and to add insult to injury-- his behavior was well known. But it still took two long years before he was demoted from the position and replaced by someone who was both competent and professional."

It can be a challenge when our most technically competent employees (even those of senior rank) exhibit behaviors that are disruptive. These are the employees who have all of the skills and talent you want, but whose attitudes and issues drain your energy, contribute to creating a toxic environment and suck the life out of your high and mid-level performers. Our work days are filled with enough stress, uncertainty and tension. Make the work environment as collaborative, supportive, collegial and pleasant as possible by addressing and stopping bad behavior in its tracks.

Article by, Jamie Resker and Paul Ploczyk and courtesy of Work Systems Affiliates

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 18, 2009 at 1:03 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

High-impact findings on the practices of successful professionals

There's plenty of talk around the state of the economy, the hiring squeeze and the new job-seeker burden. Despite the ominous signs, people are getting hired into high-paying positions that are strategically designed to serve as a launching point for their next-next opportunity--an even higher-paying position.

UpMo conducted research to uncover the practices of people that get hired vs. those that stay searching in today's economy--the Hunters vs. the Farmers. Hunters are 87% more likely to find a job in this economy with key differences being in how they use their professional network and their qualitative approach to pursuing new opportunities. Other core differences between Hunters and Farmers: how they leverage their online profiles, reliance on job boards, maintenance of contact lists and customization within their job search.

Learn the key attributes of Hunters vs. Farmers and what practices substantially increase your chances of being hired in today's economy here.

Want to be a Hunter? Take UpMo's FREE Job-Hunt Readiness Evaluator, a quick, powerful assessment that uncovers how prepared you are to search for and secure the right job in the next 90 days.

Developed in collaboration with Robert Half International, the world's first and largest specialized staffing firm, the Job-Hunt Readiness Evaluator is tuned for today's economy and provides a job-hunt readiness score, comparisons to other professionals (your competition) and a personalized report that details precisely what you can do to become a Hunter and stand out as a job candidate. Take the Job-Hunt Readiness Evaluator

Professional Networking and its Impact on Career Advancement: Study of Practices, Systems & Opinions of High-Earning Professionals

Do high-earning professionals in top positions know something the rest of us don't? Do they behave differently, invest in themselves differently and work with a different set of tools? According to our research done in collaboration with Pepperdine University's Graziadio School of Business Management, the answer is "yes." Elite networkers, defined as individuals earning more than $200,000 annually and holding positions of VP, CxO or higher, do something differently--and that something is what we call The Networking Habit.

Key findings:

• Networking drives professional success
• Effective networking can lead to dramatic increases in income

UpMo's research is valuable for:

Journalists and bloggers: Bust myths, break long-held opinions and get phenomenal data and insights to share with your audiences.

Job-seekers and networkers: Learn from an elite class of professionals who land jobs faster and leverage their networks to create the momentum that drives their careers. Find out which practices, beliefs and habits map directly to career wins.

Executive recruiters: Up the value you bring to your corporate clients by delivering valuable career intelligence.

Professional coaches: Gain valuable insight on the job-hunt, networking and career habits of successful professionals that you can share with your clients to help drive their success.

Article courtesy of UpMo

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 18, 2009 at 11:53 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Here's this week's question . . .

Is it unlawful to discriminate against an employee on the basis of his or her weight?

Great question.

A recent Yale University study concluded that weight discrimination is more common than discrimination based on disability, religion, national origin and sexual orientation and only slightly less common than race, gender and age discrimination.

The study also found that women are twice as likely as men to face weight discrimination. Researchers found that women typically start experiencing discrimination when their body mass index (BMI) reaches 27 or higher, while men typically don't unless their BMI is 35 or higher.

So, obesity discrimination appears to be common. But is it unlawful?

As of now, federal law doesn't include obesity as a proteced class. But Michigan and a few municipalities (e.g., San Francisco and Washington, D.C.) do.

Courts have ruled that workplace weight standards could constitute disparate treatment discrimination if they have an adverse impact on a protected class (e.g., women). Moreover, obesity could potentially constitute a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), if it renders an employee unable to perform certain "major life activities." On the workers' compensation front, one court recently required an employer to pay for weight-reduction surgery for a 340-pound employee to increase the chances that surgery related to a work injury would be successful. Click here for more on that case.

The Bottom Line?

The best approach is to stick to purely job-related factors. Anything else can result in bad decisions, hurt employee morale and possibly land you in court.

(Special thanks to Kevin Kopp of Roberts & Stevens for the tip on the worker's comp case discussed above.)

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, 2009 at 11:45 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Want to avoid being a defendant in a lawsuit?

One of the best ways to stay out of court is to (1) keep tabs on what employers are actually getting sued for and then (2) do the opposite.

Here's this week's update . . .

If It Ain't Job-related It Ain't Job-related

In a somewhat ironic case, a hospital agreed to pay $70,000 and furnish other relief based on allegations of disability discrimination.

A nurse alleged that she was fired by the hospital for absences caused by diabetic seizures. She also claimed that she and other employees were required to complete an annual health assessment form that asked several unlawful non-job-related questions.

In a press release, the EEOC said: "It is unfortunate that many employers still deny the opportunity to work to people who are ready and able simply because of a disability. The EEOC will continue to fight for the rights of people victimized by such prejudices."

As for the hospital's form, the EEOC called it a "bad idea," adding: "Requiring all employees to report every detail of their personal health history amounts to an unreasonable invasion of privacy, whether an employee is disabled or not."

For more, click here.

Avoid Ageist Comments

A national hotel chain paid more than $420,000 to a 67-year-old sales director who was terminated and replaced by a younger employee.

At the heart of the case was an alleged comment from a company vice president to the employee's supervisor to "fire the old lady in sales." Based on that comment and other evidence (including the fact that she was replaced by a 46-year-old employee with limited experience), the jury jury ruled that the hotel chain fired the employee based on her age.

Click here for more.

Protect Employees From Sexual Harassment

A national restaurant chain will pay $350,000 to settle an EEOC suit alleging that two teenage employees were sexually assaulted at work.

A 16-year-old employee alleged that she was assaulted on her first day of work by a manager who then attempted to follow her home. During its investigation into the matter, the EEOC says it uncovered evidence that the manager had "forcibly raped" another 16-year-old employee just a few months earlier. The manager eventually pled guilty to raping both women and is now in prison.

"Sexual harassment is always unconscionable, but this situation was especially so, given the extreme nature of the assaults and the youth and vulnerability of the victims," said EEOC Acting Chair Stuart Ishimaru.

Click here for more.

DON'T Send ANGRY E-mails!!!!!!!

An employee who apparently didn't like the way people were filling out forms was fired for sending "confrontational emails."

The employee sent instructions about the forms that included text in bold, red letters and all caps. According to the employee, she was abruptly terminated without warning for causing "disharmony in the workplace."

The employee sued and eventually recovered $11,500 for wrongful termination. Click here for more.

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, 2009 at 11:34 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

As leaders advance, they tend to ask fewer questions and provide more answers. But according to entrepreneur and executive coach Gary Cohen, this is precisely the wrong approach. Based on interviews with nearly 100 leaders, including Fortune 500 CEOs, small business owners, military commanders, and heads of nonprofits- as well as his own business experience, having grown ACI Telecentrics from two employees to 2,200- Cohen discovered that one of the keys to leadership success lies in asking questions. In his new book, JUST ASK LEADERSHIP: Why Great Managers Always Ask the Right Questions (McGraw Hill/September 2009), he explains how CEOs, managers, and supervisors alike can learn to ask the right questions in the right contexts- enabling individuals and organizations to thrive.

"Leadership is about allowing others the chance to flourish," writes Cohen. "And you do that by asking questions." This empowers coworkers to find solutions, embrace responsibility, and become accountable. Moreover, it opens the door to greater productivity and creativity. Indeed, more than ever before, leaders can't know everything. By seeking others' input, they can inspire powerful and positive change.

JUST ASK LEADERSHIP details specific questions to pose in particular situations while also explaining how to create a culture of question-based leadership. Cohen addresses five critical areas:

Improve Vision - Gaining Insight from All Levels of the Organization Vision starts with an awareness of values. Questions can illuminate the values of both the leader and the organization. This, in turn, will enable good choices with regard to interacting with customers, hiring new employees, setting goals, and succession planning. Vision is also the bridge to the future. "Climb to the top of the mast and scan the sea for opportunities and threats," writes Cohen. "Then ask forward-leaning questions that others may be reluctant to voice."

Ensure Accountability - Increasing Team and Organization-Wide Performance Having coworkers solve their own problems is critical to building their accountability, says Cohen. Leaders must encourage people to act and, provided good-faith action is taken, failure must be used as an opportunity for learning, not an excuse for punishment. JUST ASK LEADERSHIP reveals how to give employees maximum latitude, thereby encouraging them to take initiative and be increasingly capable of taking on more challenging work.

Build Unity and Cooperation - Creating a Culture of Trust To unify an organization made up of vastly different individuals, leaders must invite coworkers to share their opinions and listen well to their input. This requires asking good questions- those that house the potential for growth and collaboration- not "gotcha" questions. Cohen shows how to move coworkers forward when they are "stuck," helping them to reach their own solutions, and also addresses such issues as using the right tone, how to be more present in conversations and improve listening, and why it is critical to show respect for the input one receives.

Create Better Decisions - Getting the Right Answers by Asking the Right Questions Most leaders make too many decisions, says Cohen. "If you don't routinely ask, 'whose decision is it?' you'll fall into the trap of doing others' work," he writes. The best decisions are often made by those down the chain of command, not up. JUST ASK LEADERSHIP details how to direct decision making to the appropriate party, seek clarification, and provide solutions when appropriate.

Motivate to Action - Asking for Success "Because I said so," is not a phrase that will inspire coworkers. JUST ASK LEADERSHIP offers insights into how to motivate people by building rapport, customizing incentives, and instilling respect. Cohen's tactics include creating a sense of urgency, appealing to people's desire to be remembered, finding new points of leverage, and energizing coworkers by using shared responses- such as asking a group to say, "Agree," after consensus is reached.

Throughout the book, Cohen illustrates his insights with stories from some of the country's best leaders. For example, he describes how Mike Harper, former CEO of ConAgra, asked the quality control inspectors on his bacon packaging line what would happen if they didn't do their jobs well. The inspectors played out scenarios including customers becoming ill, potential lawsuits, and bad word of mouth. So when Harper then asked, "You know you have the most important job in the plant, right?" these inspectors knew he meant it. Harper's questions ensured that his coworkers knew the significance of their work.

"If we tell coworkers how to do their jobs, we are essentially limiting their options and stifling their initiative," writes Cohen. "We're not leading. Questions aren't just about not knowing the answers -- they lead to fresh ideas, committed action, and the creation of a new rank of leaders." JUST ASK LEADERSHIP gives leaders at all levels the tools they need to empower and motivate coworkers by asking the right questions, the right way.

GARY B. COHEN, as president and cofounder of ACI Telecentrics, Inc., grew that company from two people to 2,200 employees and reached $32 million in sales at the company's peak. ACI was recognized as one of Venture Magazine's Top 10 Best Performing Businesses and Business Journal's 25 Fastest Growing Small Public Companies. Currently, Cohen is partner and cofounder of CO2Partners, LLC, operating as an executive coach and consultant. His clients run a wide range of organizations- from small entrepreneurial companies to multi- billion dollar enterprises.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 18, 2009 at 10:29 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

With more than 25 years experience helping organizations keep projects on scope, on time and on budget we have arrived at some universal truths about project management that can make or break a project.

Read more to find out how you can apply those truths to your next project whether it is a $10K marketing project or a $10 billion dollar engineering project.

Project Savvy

Over 25 years ago, WSA began providing project consulting services for organizations which designed and executed some of the largest and most complex engineering and construction projects - Engineering Marvel-type projects - around the globe. Our mission was to keep those projects on scope, on time and on budget.

We then worked to apply the knowledge and best practices we learned on these massive engineering projects to help organizations "project-ize" their work. These organizations looked at most of the necessary tasks - creating a market strategy; designing a shift coverage plan; outlining a fulfillment process, etc. - as a project.

The reason we were able to transfer this knowledge and experience so successfully is that at the end of the day - A Project is a Project is a Project.

A Project is a Project is a Project

While at first glance executing a new product launch may seem very different from building an oil refinery in Algeria they share both the basic ingredients of a project:

Resource Requirements

• Budget/Financial Plan
• Schedule
• Start Date
• Completion Date

And the basic problems of a project:

• Scope Creep
• Lack of Alignment
• Budget Overruns
• Missed Deadlines
• Poor Teamwork

What Makes a Project Successful?

Over the years, we have been frequently called into projects that have gone off the rails. This usually means some combination of an out-of-control budget, a schedule in shambles, very unhappy client(s) or a collection of people who have more in common with a warring street gang than a functioning team.

We became very curious about what makes any given project successful. We discovered that there are 6 key issues that every successful project must resolve. And that these issues are most effectively handled through some type of structured team conversation designed to address the performance challenges and relationship issues required to build a successful project team. We call this type of activity Team Chartering.

Project Team Chartering

Chartering helps the project team put the foundation for success in place. Sounds simple, but too often this important foundational step gets missed. The process helps the team:

• Define its Purpose
• Set Goals and Measures
• Identify Critical Success Factors
• Assign Roles and Responsibilities
• Design a Conflict and Risk Mitigation Process
• Develop all of the Operating Guidelines Essential for Success

6 Keys to Project Success

The primary goal of a Chartering session is to establish the guidelines that govern team and individual behavior and set the stage for success. Project Teams can reach this level of alignment by answering 6 Critical Questions:

1. Why should we work together? (What is our "performance challenge?")

The number one reason projects fail is that there is no alignment on project success. Addressing this question early lays good footing for the foundation, produces alignment on the definition of project success, and typically includes:

• Guiding Principles (values)
• Technical Objectives

2. How will we know we are successful? (What must be accomplished for us to determine the project is successful? How will we know we are headed in the right direction?)

Addressing this question produces Critical Success Factors, or measures and milestones that a team can use to assess progress, and to stay on track.

3. What are the limits of our authority? (What are we accountable for?)

The scope of authority is an important factor for internal and external teams to be clear about. What decisions can they make and what has to be pushed up?

4. What are our roles? (What is expected of each individual on the project? What do we expect from one another? What will each person stand for?)

Not having answered this question is the number two reason a project will fail. Clarity about roles and expectations is critical to successful project execution.

5. How will we execute our work and function as a team? (How will we respond to barriers and conflict outside of the project team? Inside the team?)

This addresses the "technology" of team work and insures that the work the team was formed to produce gets done. Operating guidelines, codes of conduct, decision making strategy, risk mitigation and conflict resolution processes, as well as work processes and practices all get addressed here.

6. What will our relationships with one another be like? How will we develop trust? Commitment? (What level of trust is expected? How will we develop and maintain it?)

It is important for the project team to have a method to assess the progress of the work, as well as a way for team members to give one another feedback on how they are working together. This step becomes even more important when a project team is comprised of people from competing firms. Also, if internal teams are positioning for more budget, avoiding additional layoffs, etc., competition can create problems when trying to develop trust and an aligned project team.

Conclusion

In these brutal economic times more and more of our clients see projectizing their work as a way of optimizing productivity and profitability.

Projectizing work provides more control for the person responsible for the task or project, enables budgets and schedules to be created easily, and facilitates the allocation and tracking of people, bringing them in only when needed.

Realizing the potential benefits of projectizing work really does start by answering these 6 key questions in a team chartering session. Chartering is one of the best examples of "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." Regardless of the size, scope and budget of your project, don't skip this step.

Article by, Paul Ploczyk and courtesy of Work Systems Affiliates

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 17, 2009 at 12:58 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

True to promises made by the Obama Administration, employers can expect to see much more aggressive enforcement of federal anti-discrimination laws in the very near future.

Here's the latest . . .

New Wage and Hour Compliance Officers

Labor Secretary Hilda Solis has publicly emphasized increased enforcement as a priority, focusing primarily on the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Wage and Hour Division. The Wage and Hour Division alone plans to hire more than 200 new compliance officers to enforce the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and other statutes.

Agency Budget Increases

Budgets for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and Department of Labor (DOL) are on the rise for the first time in years, with significant increases planned for 2010. The EEOC will undoubtedly use those resources to pursue its renewed emphasis on systemic (i.e., class-wide) discrimination.

Department of Justice

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced a few days ago that the Department of Justice (DOJ) will increase the budget for the Civil Rights Division by $22 million and hire more than 50 civil rights attorneys to enforce various federal laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA). The Division has already started filing far more "friend of the court" briefs in private discrimination matters.

Other Enforcement Activities

Other agencies are upping the enforcement ante as well. Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) recently announced that it is issuing notices of investigation (NOIs) to 652 employers nationwide. OFCCP announced that it will audit recipients of federal stimulus money. OSHA announced a new National Emphasis Program (NEP), targeting companies whose reported injury history is significantly less than the norm.

What Does All This Mean for Employers?

It's pretty simple: follow the law. Employers that don't are likely to face tougher audits and enforcement than has been seen in decades.

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 17, 2009 at 11:31 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

You might want to check those job references a bit more closely these days . . .

ABC News reports on two companies that help job searchers get work by providing fake references for a price.

CareerExcuse.com and AlibiHQ.com both offer to (1) provide the name of a fictitious company and then (2) answer calls from prospective employers by saying nice (and 100% untruthful) things about the candidate's tenure with the company.

CareerExcuse was founded by William Schmidt, a former HR manager who was laid off in February. Schmidt apparently sees no problem with helping people get work under false pretenses. He told ABC: "There is a great feeling when I get people who call me back and send me an e-mail, saying hey, they got hired, they got the job."

According to CareerExcuse's site, it "eliminates annoying blots on your resume" by proudly offering the following:

• You Choose Your Career History!
• You Pick Your Start and End Date!
• You Choose Your Salary!
• We Provide a Real Company Just for You!
• We Provide a Real Address for That Company!
• We Provide a Real "800″ Phone Number!
• We Will Have Our Operators Standing By!

In what has to be the most ironic branding of all time, Alibi HQ calls itself "The Trusted Alibi Service of North America." Among other things, it offers: "the best of the net, when it comes to Fake Dr. Notes. From the traditional, less than stellar notes that are in the standard black and white font to modern, highly graphic and colorful professional productions that are common in most hospitals and clinics today."

As the father of 17-year-old twins, I found this little tidbit on the AlibiHQ site particularly interesting: "Many teens, though of age, find themselves under lock and key while residing at their parents [sic] house. Many a young person has used the Telephone Alibi Service to create the impression that they are somewhere that they are not. This is a popular service amongst professional sales people."

What Should Employers Do?

Be diligent. If a company name sounds unfamiliar or even slightly made up, check out the company's web site, do a Google search or use a reverse phone number service to verify its true identity.

If you discover that an employee has provided a false reference using one of these services, consider firing him/her and suing the reference provider for any out-of-pocket costs and/or damages caused by the employee's actions.

(Special Thanks to the Ohio Employer's Law Blog)

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 17, 2009 at 11:21 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Sometimes, hiring medical sales reps feels like a roll of the dice. You hope you get a winner, but you're never sure you will.

In "Stop Hiring Poor-Performing Salespeople," Brian Jeffrey wrote about 3 specific pitfalls of hiring sales reps you should look out for, and that one way to avoid them and improve your odds of hiring a winner is to use a sales assessment tool. I think assessment tools are a great idea. I usually recommend to my clients that they perform personality assessments on their top-performing sales reps to use as a benchmark for potential hires. Combining that with similarities in background, education, training, and so on gives you a better shot at finding someone who will fit in and do well on your team.

I'd like to explore the pitfalls he mentions, and add to the discussion:

#1 - Can't Sell

Essentially, some people talk a good game, but they can't provide results. Everybody likes them-you were excited about hiring them, and you like them so much you sometimes can't bring yourself to let them go, even though they cost your company time and money. (See The Sales Manager's Dilemma.) Benchmark comparisons with your current team, like I described above, make a much better guide to hiring than how well the candidate aced the interview.

#2 - Wrong Sales Environment

Just because someone was good at selling in one environment, doesn't mean he can sell successfully in a new one. Background is important. It is true that not everybody can sell everything, and it's true in medical sales,too, where there's such a difference in products and services. Pharmaceutical sales reps often can't switch to, say, clinical diagnostics sales, or medical device sales reps might have a hard time switching to biotechnology sales. Not always, but often enough. However, if the sales process is the same-maybe they both involve a long sales cycle where you have to build a relationship with your customers, or maybe it's mostly a cold-calling situation-well then, your chances are good.

#3 - Won't sell

These are the people who should never be in sales, but get hired by a manager desperate to fill a position. No matter how much potential you think they have, or how much time they take for training, or how many sales meetings you call, they'll never be good. Brian says, "Any hiring tool that will help you identify these people before you hire them is worth exploring." That's where I come in.

A medical sales recruiter with 10 years of experience placing top sales force talent into the most prominent healthcare companies in the country is the way to (legally) load your dice. Why use a recruiter? A good recruiter will save you and your company time and money by sending you quality candidates hand-picked to improve your sales-force effectivness and benefit your bottom line. All of a sudden, hiring new sales reps for any area of healthcare sales becomes less of a gamble and more of a sure thing.

Article by Peggy McKee, The Medical Sales Recruiter

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, and posted on Recruiting Tools for Hiring Managers.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 16, 2009 at 3:21 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Recruitment advertising has become such a specific and exclusive field that it has its own mechanics of operations, its own experts to seek advice from and its own distinct significance not just in the arena of marketing available internship and entry level job openings, but also in branding the company as a great place to work.

Therefore, companies are investing a great deal in advertising, fully aware of the many benefits and returns it brings back to their organizations and the role it plays in entrenching "brand" recognition among college students and recent grads. Because of this, many successful organizations are now seeking the experience of advertising agencies to deal with the advertising aspect of their hiring or more precisely, the promotional aspect of their hiring.

Some of the benefits of hiring an advertising agency are:

-An advertising agency provides exclusive and objective advice about the advertising aspect of the problem; they have an advantage over the organization because the organization is preoccupied with other dimensions of the hiring process, hence, their attention is divided.
-Experienced staff skilled in the field of advertising. Since their focus is narrow, they are able to generate more effective suggestions of hiring tools, such as targeted emails or sms, and understand where, how and why to use these tools effectively.
-Experienced staff skilled in designing the creative components that are intregal to successful electronic advertising. If you want to connect with Gen Y, you must, and I repeat, must get into the 21st century and communicate with them electronically. This means job postings and banner advertising on job boards, targeted emails, sms, and keyword texting. Most organizations are behind the eight ball when it comes to the creativity needed for these types of advertising. Advertising agencies hire people who look for the latest and most successful tools, and they hire people who can use those tools effectively once the organization commits to investing in them. The last thing you want is a poorly created email that goes unanswered because it sounds spammy, the links don't work, or there is no way to respond. A great subject line is also critical and agencies know which words automatically scream "spam box" in a subject line.
- An advertiser might fail to meet a deadline but an ad agency will never dissatisfy the client.
- Advertising agencies are professional and make sure that they have a well defined target audience to make the message reach the right people at the right time.
- An ad agency can also provide the tailored management of the organization's total promotional context regarding recruiting, which releases a huge burden off the shoulders of the company.

Recruitment advertising has become highly specialized in recent years and companies that want to reach out to the best and brightest internship and entry level job candidates are seeking the help of advertising agencies.

Article by Caddy Rowland, director of sales, employment advertising

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 16, 2009 at 7:30 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Survey: Managers and Employees Differ on Frequency and Quality of Workplace Communication

Managers say they are communicating better and more often with their employees now versus one year ago, a new survey shows. Unfortunately, their teams may not be getting the memo. Sixty-nine percent of executives interviewed said messages to employees have become more frequent, and 56 percent believed communication is of higher quality. Yet, only 37 percent of workers polled agreed there's been a boost in the rate of corporate updates, and only 38 percent felt information has improved.

The surveys were developed by OfficeTeam, a leading staffing service specializing in the placement of highly skilled administrative professionals. They were conducted by an independent research firm and are based on telephone interviews with 150 senior executives at the nation's 1,000 largest companies, and 493 workers 18 years of age or older and employed in office environments.

Executives and workers were asked, "How would you say the quantity of communication from management to employees at your company has changed in the past 12 months?" Their responses:

OfficeTeam provides businesses with the temporary administrative professionals they need to maximize productivity, achieve cost efficiency and support existing staff. The company has more than 325 locations worldwide and offers online job search services at www.officeteam.com.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 16, 2009 at 6:52 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

There's an old marketing maxim I live by when advising job seekers.

It comes from Robert Collier, one of the best writers of sales letters and advertising who ever lived.

And it goes like this: To create successful advertising, the writer must enter the conversation already going on in mind of the reader.

Because, everybody is always thinking about something. If you can tap into a person's thoughts with your message, they will pay attention to you.

Applied to your job search, it means that your cover letters should address concerns that are already in the mind of the reader, in this case, your future boss.

Would you like to know two ways to do that, stand out, and get hired faster?

Here they are ...

1) Use the News

Every day, the news headlines offer you a ready-made source of ideas to capitalize on when writing cover letters to employers. Let me illustrate with two examples.

Example #1:

Local news item If you're in the Twin Cities, you can start a cover letter with this headline, based on a sports story in today's Minneapolis Star Tribune:

"The Twins Have Won 11 of Their Last 14. Would You Like a Winning Percentage Like That?" ... then begin your letter like this:

Dear Ms. Abercrombie, I don't know if you follow the Twins, but they're hot. And my recent experience as a project manager is even hotter: I've managed 8 of 8 projects to on-time, on-budget completion this year, for a "winning" percentage of 100. Could your team use a performer like that? I hope so! Let me explain ...

The rest of that cover letter is up to you.

But you WILL have the reader's complete attention by this point, so the battle is half won.

Example #2:

National news item If you live in the U.S.A, here's a cover letter headline based on a story in the news this summer:

"Cash for Clunkers -- Now Coming to ABC, Inc.?" Begin your letter to the president of ABC like this:

Dear Mr. Peterson, While there's no government program -- yet -- offering cash to ABC, Inc., I've produced annual savings of more than three times my salary for my last two employers.

Could your business use "cash" like that in today's "clunker" of an economy? Etc. etc.

Bonus: Besides a cover letter, you can use the news for a follow-up letter that you send to any employer you've applied to in the last 90 days. Because a relevant news story is a valid reason to get back in touch and jump-start your candidacy.

2) Use the Competition

Every business, including your next employer, is in competition with at least one other business for customers and revenue.

In many cases, the competition is not only on an employer's mind all day, it's keeping them awake at night.

Use this to your advantage when writing a cover letter.

Example: Let's say you want to work for XYZ Company, whose #1 competitor is Acme Widgets.

Do you think the president of XYZ might be impressed if you told her/him that you worked for Acme's biggest client? Or that Acme's new VP of Marketing worked at UPS for 13 years (and that as a former UPS employee, you're familiar with their culture)? Etc., etc.

Competitive intelligence like this can improve any cover letter by letting you join the conversation going on in the mind of an employer.

How do you find actionable intelligence about the competition? Here are 3 web sites that can help ...

1. Google Alerts (www.google.com/alerts). Track the name of any company, person (or anything else) whenever Google finds it online. Search for names of competitors to your ideal employers. What announcements are they making? What do they see as hot markets? Is their president being quoted in the news?
2. Linkedin (www.linkedin.com). Who works at the competition? Where did they work before? Who are they hiring? What departments are growing? It's all there, if you look.
3. Change Detection (www.changedetection.com). Track changes to a competitor's web site and be notified by email. This lets you ferret out web pages announcing new products, clients, and other information.

To sum up, every employer is always thinking about something -- our minds go non-stop for most of our waking lives.

All you need do is find one thing you know an employer is thinking about, then write a cover letter tied to that thing. When you do, you can make an instant connection with hiring managers -- and get called for more interviews.

Kevin Donlin is co-author of Guerrilla Resumes. Since 1996, he has provided job-search help to more than 20,000 people. Author of 3 books, Kevin has been interviewed by The New York Times, USA Today, Fox News, CBS Radio and others.

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, and posted on MN Headhunter.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 15, 2009 at 3:14 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Many people list their full name at the top of a resume, for example: John Paul Smith. While not required, there is certainly no problem with this. It looks professional. It makes your Mom proud. (My mom loves seeing my full name written out on important documents.)

But, what if you go by your middle name? If Mr. Smith actually goes by the name of Paul, presenting his name this way gives the impression you are a John. This is how you will be addressed on the telephone, in an email, and how you will be introduced in an interview. Why create the hassle? Consider John (Paul) Smith. Or my favorite, J. Paul Smith.

Similarly, what if Mr. Smith actually goes by Jack? Some think a nickname has no place on a résumé, but again, why create confusion? It's not uncommon for someone in this situation to have reference letters or even awards or certificates in both names - sometimes John, sometimes Jack. Modifying a title to John Paul (Jack) Smith, or John (Jack) Smith can clear this up nicely.

Lastly, what about those tricky gender neutral name like Ashley, Alex or Ryan? Including the Mr. or Ms. prefix can avoid that awkward moment when an employer calls for Mr. Smith only to discover he's a she.

By Natalie Joan

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, and posted on The Daily Recruiter.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 15, 2009 at 2:21 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Last week Kraft made a US$16.8 billion bid for Cadbury which would create US$50 billion business that would command about 14.8% of the global confectionery market, according to Euromonitor and it would be the leader in the chocolate stakes with a 15.2% of that category, ahead of Mars' 14.6%.

Adage covered the story and then went on to share four PR lessons when launching a take over bid:

1. MAKE THE DEAL SEEM LIKE A LOGICAL NEXT STEP. While companies obviously can't tell reporters and analysts they are plotting a bid, they can lay out the rationale for such a deal in the months leading up to it. On conference calls with analysts, Kraft, for instance, has talked about why international confectionary acquisitions made sense for it for more than a year.

2. USE DIGITAL. Microsites dedicated to a takeover bid are an effective way of getting an unfiltered message out via online video and fact sheets. While social media hasn't yet factored heavily into the equation, investor-relations pros say it's just a matter of time until Twitter becomes a vital channel as well.

3. CAFFEINATE YOUR PR. As takeover plays quickly devolve into wars of words, winning them requires boosting response time when reporters and analysts come calling, making top executives available whenever possible. Everyone in your C-suite ought to be armed with talking points on every conceivable angle.

4. DON'T NEGLECT INSIDERS. Internal panic -- and the leaking it inevitably spawns -- will inevitably find its way out of your headquarters and into press coverage. Develop webcasts and memos specifically for your employees, not only to keep them informed but also to shoot down false rumors.

I would add three further points relating specifically to your online PR communications as part of your overall plan (this is based on being involved in many a take over or merger - though before we had all the wonderful widgets and tools we have today):

1. ESTABLISH YOUR ONLINE LISTENING CHANNEL - tune in to the sentiment about the brand as news of it spreads across online news and social media

2. CONSIDER HOW TO USE SOCIAL MEDIA AS PART OF YOUR COMMUNICATIONS PLAN - rumours will be rife and you need to be able to respond quickly e.g. have your YouTube channel ready for content so that you can get your message out and not be at the mercy of others spinning stories about what is going on

3. TRAIN YOUR LEGAL TEAM IN THE VALUE OF ONLINE COMMUNICATIONS - in the case of a merger or takeover, there will, for good reason, be a degree of caution on what you can and can not say and your legal team are going to be central in signing off those communications. Make sure that you have also brought them up to speed with online communications so you have their support for integrating it into your communications plan.

What else would you add to this action list for PR and communications in the case of a take over or merger?

If you are looking for specific guidance with online PR, here are two workshops I am teaching that might be of interest:

IIA Workshop on 22 September 2009 - a half day workshop on using new media to attract new audiences

PRII Certificate in Social Media starting the 3 October 2009 - an indepth four day programme (running over 2 months) covering how to integrate social media into your communications plan for PR professionals.

Article by Krishna De and courtesy of Biz Growth News blog

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 15, 2009 at 12:51 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

I had an interesting conversation with someone following ERE about the lack of innovation in our industry in terms of Candidate Experience. He suggested that if a vendor really cared - they would have someone on staff solely focused on making the technology easier for candidates. After just 1 solid rebuttel's, he stopped the conversation. Cold. Seriously people - you should know by know that I enjoy a good Debate - I learn, you learn, we all win. Anyway...It got me thinking about the conference and the space and asking the question if we really do care about candidate experience.

If you look at the agenda for the ERE Expo and any other conference that I am scheduled to attend this fall - the answer is no. There are no sessions on candidate experience or applicant retention strategies or quite honestly even on talent pooling (yes, super old term - but I still believe in it!). Candidate Experience was brought up in a few sessions - but other than Adidas & Walmart - no one really seemed to have a company strategy built around it. It is nice to talk about. It is nice to think about. It makes us feel warm and fuzzy inside - but we don't really seem to care if we are doing it or not. Well, not really. You see, it is one of those hidden things in our industry that is championed and talked about by large companies (that may or may not actually do it) and agreed upon and validated by smaller companies (that rarely actually do it). Another way I know we don't really care - no one really tweeted about it beyond Fogarty's custom built interview rooms with the ugly table.

So, since there weren't a lot of session - I will give you the Sarah White break down on Candidate Experience that will work for any size company. How do I know it will work for any size company? My mind is always thinking in terms of scalability

1. Don't have bad job postings. A job description and a job posting are not the same thing. One is HR. One is Marketing. That means one is boring and one is fun. (Ok, maybe that was too far...) I think it was Shally who said to explain what it is like you were talking to his Nana. Give your value add - what makes you better than everyone else.

2. Make it easy to apply. The higher level the candidate the easier the application process should be. If you have people that have resume's applying for your positions use a solution like HRM (yes, I am partial) that allows for a direct email submission - nothing to fill out, no log in to create - just send in the resume and make the software work. If you use another solution - make it easy for them to submit - less than 3 mins MAX. (Pharma companies please listen - your apps are WAAAYYY to long - good people won't do it.)

3. Make it easy to get information. Connect with them on twitter, facebook, blogs (if you can do it right), linkedin, etc. Do a newsletter for candidates you haven't hired that sit in your database. Create a website that has RELEVANT information on it - things they really care about - not a bullet point list about your company benefits. Let them feel comfortable with you.

4. Follow up. This is really simple if you have a good ATS. Pretty simple if you have an OK ATS. Regardless, it needs to be done. Especially if you are in a consumer sales organization where every candidate is a potential buyer. Believe it or not, a candidate would much rather hear a "sorry, you aren't a fit" than nothing at all. For many people, the fear of the unknown is far worse than their fear of reality. So - send an email (automatic message) that keeps them updated on where they are or are not at in the process.

Ok, so it isn't rocket science. But if it is so simple - why isn't it our industry norm? Other than we don't really care.

Article courtesy of HRTechnologyBlog.com, the always unfiltered, frequently random, often interesting, sometimes goofy, occasionally genius, and never apologetic, random thoughts of my brain today on HR Technology, Recruitment and Social Media topics.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 15, 2009 at 12:38 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Unless you have been on a desert island all weekend you might have heard about the recent Van Jones story coming out of Washington. Van Jones was recently appointed as the "Green Job's Czar" by President Obama. The controversy sets in because there is no legal requirement for the administration to properly vet a Czar. Unlike a cabinet level position, Czar's are not subject to thorough FBI background checks or Senate approval.

However, many of the stories are misleading. It is correct to assume that Van Jones did not go through the same process as other "non-czar's" but don't be fooled, a full criminal background check is always conducted. The United States Secret Service would not allow anyone access to the President on that level without being fully checked for criminal records. You need a background check just to step foot in the West Wing of the White House. What does not occur is the type of vetting that goes on with other appointees. As we can see from this story, that happens in the court of public opinion. The Czar rule gives the administration a lot of flexibility to avoid certain process and get things done quickly, but we see now that can have adverse consequences.

Lets be clear, this is NOT a process invented by the Obama Administration. Czar's have been appointed going back many Presidential terms. This is not a shot at one particular decision. A thorough background screening process just makes sense. While trying to make this posting as politically benign as possible, I will say this; being in the screening business, I would not recommend appointing a presidential dog walker that is not properly checked out. In the future, it would be my hope that future appointees are researched a bit more thoroughly.

Pence requests background checks of all Obama 'czars'

As controversial White House 'czar' Van Jones resigns, leading House Republican Mike Pence requests background checks on all Obama-appointed 'czars.'

Key GOP Congressman Mike Pence is uncomfortable with President Obama's "czars," and he would like to have background checks conducted on all of them and is suggesting suspension on future czar appointments. The House Republican was a leading voice on the Van Jones resignation - after Van Jones was associated with the 9/11 "truther" movement.

"I'm suggesting that the administration should suspend immediately any future czar appointments while both the constitutionality of this practice is examined and while the background and qualifications of individuals who've been appointed as czars is carefully examined," Pence said.

More

Article by, Jason Morris and courtesy of EmployeescreenIQ

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 11, 2009 at 10:54 AM | Leave a Comment (0)