Survey: M.B.A.s Are The Biggest Cheaters. Grad students are quite the cheaters according to this CareerJournal.com article. More than half (56%) of M.B.A. candidates say they cheated in the past year. For the study, cheating was defined as plagiarizing, copying other students’ work and bringing prohibited materials into exams. This borders on the absurd: However, what’s holding many professors back from taking action on cheaters is the fear of litigation. How pathetic is that? If these students are willing to risk their academic career by cheating, what will they be willing to state on their resume once they join the work world?
Continue ReadingCover Letter Help
After all of my cover letter enjoyment, CareerJournal.com offers up a short article to assist candidates – Six Tips for Writing A Winning Cover Letter. Thank goodness for CareerJournal. Their last suggestion (my emphasis): Proofreading. Double-check the letter before you send it. When you’re applying for multiple jobs, it’s easy to send the wrong cover letter, or not change the company name. Make sure you have addressed the letter to the correct person and have included the correct company name and job position. Check also, of course, for spelling and grammar problems. And if you’re sending your resume via an attachment, don’t forget to attach it before you send it.… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Working Interview
I came across this article in Monster’s resource for candidates – Work the Working Interview. The article has three main points: How the working interview helps employers evaluate you, Show your stuff and Ace the working interview. Basically, the article provides tips for candidates on how to perform well in a working interview. Stephen Morel, President & CEO of Pro Staff, is quoted: It helps employers evaluate soft skills, like commitment, loyalty and work ethic, plus it shows attitude and abilities in real time,” he explains. Employers can also evaluate whether a candidate’s personality will be a good fit with the staff. Monster provides a link for candidates to evaluate… Read More
Continue ReadingHire Great People: 10 Simple Rules
Monster has some great resources for candidates in preparing, practicing and improving not only their interviewing techniques, but their chances of receiving job offers. Unfortunately, their employer resources are somewhat limited. I did find a good article on hiring – it is a list of 10 simple rules to follow. Rule no. 1 is by far the best and one we preach here at The Hire Sense: Rule number one is clear, but very counterintuitive: Don’t ever, ever hire somebody just like yourself. Why not? Because from the beginning of time, executives have been unconsciously cloning themselves, stocking the shelves with vanilla young men from impressive schools. And what has… Read More
Continue ReadingMost Desirable Employers
From a survey conducted by WetFeet of new graduates – here are the lists of most desirable employers by industry. Technology 1. Google 2. Microsoft 3. Apple 4. IBM 5. Yahoo Consumer products/pharmaceuticals 1. Johnson & Johnson 2. Procter & Gamble 3. Nike 4. Medtronic 5. Genentech Financial services 1. Goldman Sachs 2. Morgan Stanley 3. Citigroup 4. Lehman Brothers 5. JP Morgan Chase
Continue ReadingSales Traits Series – Persistence
Hopefully you can see a pattern to the Aptitudes we are defining. We have progressed from Self-Starting Ability to Personal Drive to today’s installment – Persistence. Successful selling requires persistence whether it be calling through a list of names for a transactional sale to tracking a prospect over many months for a complex sale. We can measure this aptitude in salespeople. Persistence This is a person’s capacity to stay the course in times of difficulty. It is the ability to remain motivated to accomplish goals in the face of adversity or obstacles. A salesperson with a strong aptitude in this capacity will be able to remain motivated to achieve success… Read More
Continue ReadingEmail Covers Potpourri
Base on this subject line, I don’t think this person is lacking confidence: The god of office administration soon to be in Twin Cities! And here is an objective to avoid: My expirience and work ethic make me a great canidate for any opening you may have. I am looking for an opportunity that is full time with benefits. And a subject line to avoid: John Doe looking for work This one almost hurts: Help change my life. I’ve been stuck in a rut for a few years . . . I need to get a jolt so I can start to live again. Looking for any opportunity to get… Read More
Continue ReadingWalking With Dinosaurs
Desperately Seeking Sales Stars is a long article from Sales & Marketing Management’s online edition. There is much in this article to dissect, but I will focus on some key points. First, don’t do this: “There are various [hiring and assessment] tools out there, but I still tend to be a seat-of-my-pants guy,” says Maher, now a speaker and sales consultant based in Helendale, Calif. “I’ve been hiring salespeople for over thirty-five years…and if they can sell me on their skills, that’s perhaps the most impressive thing.” And that is perhaps the only thing they can sell. These dinosaurs are still amongst us and still believe their intuition is more… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Mobile Coffee Shop
I’m a coffee addict and I’m ok with that. I hand craft my own latte every morning to exacting standards. I consider myself a coffee snob. Until now. If you visit this page and look halfway down you will find a picture and description of a mobile espresso maker. For your car. I’m not kidding – part of the description: The heavy-duty plastic coffeemaker plugs into a car’s cigarette lighter and requires no additional cups or spoons. Add water and espresso-grind coffee to the pre-set markings inside the stainless steel inner core, screw on the top cap and plug it in. Six minutes later, two servings of espresso flow into… Read More
Continue ReadingWhen Google Hires, People Interview
Google Adjusts Hiring Process As Need for New Talent Grows provides a glimpse of the extended hiring process of a suddenly large company. When I write suddenly, I mean this: During the quarter, the company brought in an average of 16 new employees daily, up from 13 the quarter before. Its breakneck hiring has boosted staff from 1,628 at the end of 2003 to 3,021 a year later and 5,680 at the end of 2005. The article illustrates the hiring challenges that occur when a company experiences explosive growth. The large company effects can be seen in that they have brought in a new, young VP of HR with new… Read More
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