This week I have been reading a lot of different posts and articles that try to answer the question how many jobs is too much on an applicant’s resume? I run into this topic all the time with our clients. Some clients will even try to disqualify a candidate if they feel they have held too many jobs based on their resume. Let me be clear, I am not saying that you should ignore their work history, but don’t use it as the sole means for disqualifying. That statement usually leads me to answering this question from our clients — How many jobs is too many? I never really had… Read More
Continue ReadingMonster And The NYT
NY Times to Sell Ads With Monster from abcnews.com is worth noting if you source and hire in the northeast. The deal will put the Monster brand on 19 of the publisher’s newspaper Web sites, including The New York Times and The Boston Globe. The co-branded sites will appear in March. The declining circulation of the “paper of record” makes this announcement seem like a yawner. But hey, if it improves responses in those areas, I’m all for it.
Continue ReadingWhat Candidates Look For By Generation
Last week I put up a second post, What Candidates Look For In A Job on a webinar conducted by Monster and DDI. In that post I highlighted the disconnect between what the candidate is looking for and what the employer believes they are looking for. Age is a factor in the responses and I promised to share that information with you. So here you go, the top 4 reasons by age group in order of importance: Less than 20 Years Old A creative/fun workplace culture. A compatible work group/team. A good manager/boss. Opportunities to learn and grow. 21 to 30 Years Old Opportunities to learn and grow. Opportunity to… Read More
Continue ReadingCrackBerry Thumb
I am speechless: Graceful Services recently started offering a BlackBerry Finger Massage that promises to help eliminate neck, back and finger-cramping caused by excessive typing on tiny BlackBerry keyboards. A repetitive-stress injury informally known as “BlackBerry Thumb” may also affect people who spend too much time with a video game controller, television remote control or any number of handheld devices. Graceful’s hour-long BlackBerry massage costs $60. It’s a full-body massage with emphasis on the back, neck and fingers.
Continue Reading2007 Salary Trends
Salary.com put this article out earlier this month. It is a lengthy article written to employees in regards to 2007 areas of compensation, but there are some points to keep in mind not only as you are hiring staff this year but in retaining your current team. These points are complementary to one of our earlier posts on the top reasons why candidates take a job. If you haven’t read this post, let me highlight the top 4 things candidates are looking for in jobs: A good manager/boss, opportunity to advance, opportunities to learn/grow and balance between work and personal life. Salary.com’s article aligns with 3 of the 4 points… Read More
Continue ReadingSales Management Primer
Selling Power is covering topics near to our hearts this Valentine’s Day. A Primer for New Pharmaceutical Sales Managers discusses some of the challenges facing new sales managers and provides 5 key tips. Obviously the context is the pharmaceutical industry, but these challenges are consistent throughout industries. I couldn’t agree more with this statement from the article: “The biggest mistake new pharmaceutical managers make,” Williams says, “is failing to properly evaluate the sales team’s strengths and weaknesses prior to developing and implementing a firm plan of action for the team’s sales improvement and increased goal attainment.” Amen to that statement. In fact, we see this error play out amongst existing… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Team Selling Approach
This article – Sell Your Team on Team Selling – from Selling Power’s Pharmaceuticals Newsletter approaches a trend we are seeing in spades these days. “The greatest benefits from a team selling approach are what I call just-in-time factors,” he says. “That includes just-in-time technical expertise to address complex and/or outside the box inquiries, decision making to solidify the deal without self-imposed company decision making delays, and the confidence gained by being a team, especially from internal support from the potential purchaser or user.” The “team” typically is composed of a single sales rep along with members from other departments (i.e. engineering, financial, operations, production, etc.). In today’s world, this… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Fog Of Job Ads
I attended a monster.com webinar today regarding sourcing from, interestingly enough, the job seeker’s perspective. I wanted to share an important finding from their survey. The number 1 job seeker complaint about finding new jobs (in sourcing terms) was vague job descriptions. I shudder as I write this because I envision companies writing even longer sales ads. The key word was vague, not short. The 3 negative outcomes job seekers perceive from a vague ad: Bait and switch – once into the process, the candidate learns that he or she is really being considered for a lesser position Misrepresentation – the ad doesn’t truly describe what the actual job entails… Read More
Continue ReadingVideo Resumes
I found this site – RecruiTV – from the ERE.net newsletter. The company that runs this site is called Wetjello (I have no idea why, but it is memorable). From their website: Wetjello provides powerful online video recruitment solutions including recruitment campaign video development, video production and integrated web video solutions. Were helping create a new online recruitment medium with powerful, edgy and impactful video campaigns for companies around the world. Their claim to fame is that they feature video resumes. I have been drawn in to watching a few of the sales resumes (is that the proper word for these). I have to admit, some parts of the videos… Read More
Continue ReadingHow To Manage Gen X and Gen Y
CareerBuilder.com’s latest newsletter features Managing Outside Your Generation which discusses the differences in managing Gen X employees vs. Gen Y employees. The article is a good, hands-on read for any manager. To cut to the summary statement of the article: Generation X requires more training, whether on-the-job or through continued education, and feedback on a regular basis. Generation Y also requires a higher amount of feedback than what you may be used to, but they also desire greater flexibility and the freedom to run with a project once it is assigned to them. Good advice and insight. Then there is this specific suggestion: If you are not doing so already,… Read More
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