This story from abcnews.com carries some weight in terms of a real economic forecast.  It isn’t good:

More of America’s largest companies will shrink their staffs than will hire in the next six months, according to the latest survey of their CEOs.

Nineteen percent of the CEOs expect to expand their work forces, while 31 percent predict a decrease in the next six months, according to a quarterly survey from the Business Roundtable released Tuesday. That’s slightly better than the 13 percent who expected increased hiring three months earlier. At that time, 40 percent forecast cuts.

Granted, the trend is good, but the actualities are not.  2010 is shaping up to be a lackluster hiring climate.  We work with CEO’s in some of our customer organizations and we are hearing similar reports.  The general consensus is to sit tight until there is some discernable signs of a recovery.  A healthcare overhaul, cap and trade and tax increases are not helping stimulate the economy (emphasis mine):

A new question on the Roundtable survey asked CEOs to identify their greatest cost pressures. The largest group — about one-third — cited health care.

One other note is the 2010 revenue forecast.  I don’t know if I have ever seen a more difficult task for our customers.  The uncertainty is astonishingly high.  One thing it does point back to – you better have strong qualifying salespeople on your team in this climate.  If not, your forecast will be replete with deals welded to the 90-day close…that never close.

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From a sales ad I read this morning:

Blackberry device is needed, but optional.

Apparently coherent writing is needed, but optional.

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This is an advice column from the Selling Power archives:

E. Kinds of ads. Classified ads are found in the help wanted section of the newspaper, organized on the basis of occupation or industry and often alphabetized by the first word of the ad. Display ads have special borders with the company logo and sometimes artwork, drawings or photos. Open ads identify the name of the company. All inquiries from such ads must be answered, usually by mail or phone. Blind ads do not reveal the name of the company; the reader is asked to respond, by letter or resume, to a box number. In this case, you can respond to those applicants in whom you have an interest. Blind ads can be used in both classified and display ads.

Remember those days?  They weren’t that long ago.  Most hiring managers would cringe at reading this type of advice today.  However, I am fearless in sharing such antiquated material!

I wonder how long it will be before we start viewing the mega job boards as antiquated mediums?  The industry-specific boards are far more interesting for our company in terms of sourcing.  And even at that, the social media channel is truly becoming the rising star.  We just haven’t properly harnessed it’s full potential in our company yet.

I still browse through the printed newspaper sales employment section which is a bit of a misnomer in itself.  Our Sunday newspaper presented a whopping 10 sales ads recently.  The positions ranged from auto sales to debt collections to kiosk sales.  It was brutal…and foretelling.

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