CareerBuilder and PayScale

The 2 companies in the title of this post have released a new website – cbsalary.com. The site is a competitor of the long established salary.com website of which I am a fan. The CareerBuilder site has some interesting hooks to it including a direct link to current job listings on their board. If I am not mistaken, salary.com offers a comprehensive service that searches the big 3 job boards. There is a section towards the end of the free report that offers a comparison to similar profiles which was interesting. The similar jobs were close, but not quite exact. I searched on a Technical Recruiter position but the comparisons… Read More

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The Joys of Management

From Bob Rosner’s Working Wounded blog: Worst Employee “I once asked one of my people to stop reading a People Magazine at her desk and to get back to work. She began to cry and went on disability for two days.”

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Do You Deserve a Raise?

I just received an interesting email from Salary.com: Do you deserve more than a 3.7% raise? Your increasing skills are worth more than the standard 3.7% cost of living increase.Be prepared for your next salary review by purchasing a Personal Salary Subscription today. I received a 13.25% raise because of Salary.com information – Satisfied Salary.com Customer I have never encountered this approach, but I am intrigued by an employee showing up to a salary review with a detailed report. I don’t know how I would take that as a manager. Another part of the email mentioned: “Thanks for all your help. This is an amazing tool. It has helped me… Read More

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“Bet On Yourself”

CareerJournal.com has a long article entitled Get the Most Pay Out of Your Job. The article follows a typical format of 10 tips for employees and there are some solid suggestions. In the list, point #2 hit on a topic dear to my own belief: 2. Bet on yourself Having a bonus tied to performance goals and hitting them can get you more money annually…The key to receiving more bonus money is superior performance. If you meet your goals, you should receive your target bonus amount. But at some companies, if you exceed the targets set for you, you may receive an award that exceeds your target bonus. At Biogen… Read More

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Resume Fodder

I read somewhere recently a suggestion to simply punt the “Objective” section on your resume. I initially scoffed at the idea, but now I am starting to think that is sage advice. This morning I was looking through resumes and came across this objective: To find a position where I can contribute as part of a team that strives to emphasize the importance of effective communication through design. Dump the objective section of your resume. More than likely, it is filled with broad, superfluous statements that may be more detrimental than helpful.

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Bad Jobs with Good Money

This story from BusinessWeek – Worst Jobs with the Best Pay – may only interest me. The title made it worth the read. Let’s start with a stat from the article: A recent Salary.com survey found that 65% of workers plan to look for a new job within the next three months. The most common reason for leaving? Not enough pay. None of that is surprising to me. In fact, that reason sounds like the easiest to provide in a survey. I would question how many are leaving due to their direct boss or the company culture. The reason I speculate on this topic is found later in the article:… Read More

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Debunking the High D Myth

Many companies believe that the High D (Dominance) selling style is ideal for successful sales. First, some descriptors of this style: Direct Daring Innovative Blunt Competitive Bold Risk Taker Problem Solver Challenge-Oriented Self-Starter Inquisitive Power These traits are all admirable in a salesperson but this style, if unchecked, if a ticking time bomb. Yes, sales requires a drive, even an aggressiveness to be successful. In a previous post, I briefly discussed this style in regards to a current news story. The salesperson I mentioned could be a case study in High D sales behavior. Another experience from this salesperson. He used to visit prospects and put an intense sales push… Read More

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Decreased Employee Loyalty

Inc.com has an article from earlier this week discussing worker loyalty in regards to age. I don’t think there are any surprises here in that older workers are more loyal than younger workers. First off, I think this analogy is one of the best I have seen to describe Gen X and Y’s approach to employment: Kevin Marasco, vice president of marketing at Jacksonville, Fla.-based Vurv Technology, a provider of Web-based workforce-management systems, explained that younger employees manage their careers as they would an investment. Just as they want to buy and sell a stock at the right time, younger workers want to build career equity by joining and leaving… Read More

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The “So What?” Factor

I thought I would tie in to the Rock Star’s post about Attracting the Passive Candidate. Let’s look at it from the other side – what do candidates have to do to “be attractive” to the hiring company. I was catching up to an older post from Guy Kawaski’s blog and something jumped out at me. Guy playfully submitted his email cover and resume for a Yahoo position and allowed these 2 items to be critiqued by a recruiting manager from Yahoo. I thought her analysis was excellent. This part caught my attention: The resume calls out the positions held and a brief description of the responsibilities. What it lacks… Read More

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The Multitasking Myth

This CareerJournal.com article probably falls under the “interesting item that only interests me” category. The article basically debunks the theory that multitasking is effective and efficient. It isn’t, which is something I have often contended. Great paragraph at the beginning: Multitasking, a term cribbed from computers, is an information age creed that, while almost universally sworn by, is more rooted in blind faith than fact. It’s the wellspring of office gaffes, as well as the stock answer to how we do more with less when in fact we’re usually doing less with more. What now passes for multitasking was once called not paying attention. We assess candidates and employees every… Read More

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