I am a bit tardy in relaying this information, but there is an excellent recruiting conference coming up this Friday at Best Buy corporate headquarters in Richfield, MN.  This is the second event in what is going to be a fairly regular conference.  The first conference was excellent and this one looks to be no different.

The topics for this conference:

Talent Acquisition – “How NOT to put a Square Peg in a Round Hole” 

Top 10 SEO Tips For Company Job Boards

Antisocial Networking: Getting Beyond Denial to Deliver a “Wow!” Experience

I’ll be in attendance and I encourage any of you in the Twin Cities area to register and attend this Friday morning.  Space is limited to please follow the link to register if you can make it and learn more about the presenters.

I hope to see you there.

http://minnesotarecruitingunconference.eventbrite.com

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Honestly, you can source check me by clicking here.  This headline is running on the Pioneer Press website today – Black Friday – the biggest shopping day of the year:

Shoppers are shopping today, sources say

Apparently the headline writers have today off as well.

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Well here is an interesting rumor from TechCrunch:

An unconfirmed rumour has reached me via a reliable source that LinkedIn is in talks with media giant News Corporation over a possible buyout in January 2008. The reason I am running with this, is that the source is very well-placed. Furthermore, the rumour has the fundamental ring of truth about it.

We’ll have to keep an eye on this interesting development.

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If you are stuck working today, I have something that may make you laugh.  I found this site quite entertaining and have to give Stanley credit for a humorous advertising campaign:

http://www.stanleyfubar.com/

I chose the toilet first and the rabbit second, if that says anything about me.

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Today is the biggest shopping day of the year and Maritz Research has some of the stats to define the day:

A recent Maritz® Poll found that one-third of respondents (37 percent) plan to shop on the day after Thanksgiving. In last year’s poll, a similar number (34 percent) said they would shop on Black Friday.

In addition, those who plan to shop on Black Friday say they will spend more overall on their holiday purchases – $790 compared to $637 for all shoppers combined.

Black Friday also has generational implications with the majority of Gen Y respondents (59 percent), as well as a significant portion of Gen X (46 percent), planning to shop. Only a small percentage of Boomers (23 percent) and the Silent Generation (21 percent) will venture out on Black Friday.

(h/t JustSell.com)

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In case you are one of the few of us working today, here is a fun do and don’t list for salespeople.  Here are just a few from the Salesopedia article:

DO match and mirror the speed, tone and volume of the other person’s voice.
DON’T speak in a monotone.

DO call for a specific reason such as to provide some information of value.
DON’T call just to check in.

DO listen to and concentrate on what’s being said.
DON’T let your mind wander.

DO be polite yet respectfully persistent.
DON’T give up after one or two calls.

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From Recruiting.com:

7 Tips for Recruiting Gen-Y

1. Offer generous referral bonuses.
2. Consider different geographies.
3. Keep ‘em moving.
4. Tlk 2 them.
5. Get flexible.
6. Community service.
7. Think beyond the short term.

Shelley Solheim, CMP Channel

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Competent managers.  That’s according to a Kenexa Research Institute survey quoted in CareerJournal.com (emphasis mine).

Sixty-two percent of employees who said they have an effective manager also said they planned to stay with their job versus 17% of employees who said their manager is ineffective who plan to stay with their job, according to a survey of 10,000 U.S. workers, plus 1,000 workers each in India, China, Brazil, the U.K. and Germany.

No surprise, really.  When we first encounter a customer with a turnover problem, we start by looking at management.  Typically there is misalignment between the manager and the team or there is misalignment between the position and the current hiring process.

Either way, something is out of alignment.  When this misalignment occurs, turnover becomes the defining symptom.  Gen Y’s eagerness to grow in their roles through job change is only going to exasperate the retention problem.

The cure is strong managers aligned with a complementary sales team.  I know – no small feat.  Yet, through developing your current team and making the proper hiring adjustments, it can be done.

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It is a week to be thankful for many things – especially if you don’t have a “Dirty Job.”  No, not that type of dirty.  Dirty as in the Mike Rowe series on Discovery Channel.  MSN.com has a story today titled They’re Dirty Jobs, But They Gotta Get Done.

A sampling of the jobs and their average pay:

Butcher
Leaving work in blood-stained clothes would be a serious HR issue in many offices, but the practice is nothing unusual for a butcher, whose grisly work involves cutting and washing the innards of slaughtered animals to create sides of beef, steaks, sausage and ribs in slaughterhouses and meat-packing establishments. This job is not for the faint of heart. 

Average salary with benefits and bonuses: $25,961/year

Farrier
Farriers inspect horse hooves for defects, trim and shape them and remove worn or defective shoes.  Aside from the strain of shaping shoes with hammers and bending or squatting for long periods of time, farriers must also deal with unpleasant odors emanating from the horses and risk stepping in any number of “surprises” the horses leave behind.

Average salary with benefits and bonuses: $31,604/year

Proctologist
Proctologists diagnose and treat diseases and disorders related to the anus, rectum and colon, a labor of love that involves getting up close and personal in order to inspect these areas frequently and even performing hands-on work to repair or remove the affected body parts.

Average salary with benefits and bonuses: $388,734/year

Ok, I threw the last one in there for some counterbalance.  There’s more dirty jobs if  you follow the link to the article.

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We’ve been on the telecommuting trend for quite some time this year as it continues to grow.  I think it is safe to say it is more than a trend now.  As we source for sales positions, it is quite apparent that the younger candidates almost always address this issue early in the process.  They want to know what tools are in place and what the office expectations are.

We only work in the sales arena so our data may be slightly exaggerated to that end.  Nonetheless, telecommuting is a hot article topic as you can see from CareerJournal.com’s Good News for Professionals Who Want to Work at Home:

A growing number of employers, from UnitedHealth Group and Safeco to Capgemini, IBM, American Express and Sun Microsystems, are hiring skilled new employees to telecommute right from the start. These aren’t the piecework, independent-contractor gigs or commission-only sales jobs that have characterized at-home “employment” in the past. They are full-time corporate jobs with benefits, available without the prerequisite of working for the company for a few years first.

I’m always of the belief that once you see large companies incorporating a trend, that trend has truly grabbed hold.

Safeco has hired 91 new home-based employees so far this year, including claims examiners, adjustors and managers; about 1,500 of its 7,000 employees now work away from corporate offices, dramatically expanding Safeco’s talent pool. “With technology as good as it is,” Mr. Diana says, “there aren’t many jobs that can’t be done remotely.”

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