As I have said before, I am a sucker for statistics so I was drawn in to this comparison of 2005 to 2006 recruiting challenges companies are facing in Workforce Management’s recent newsletter. It is a survey of 1,000 hiring managers conducted by Robert Half International/CareerBuilder.com. Here are the stats: Recruiting Challenges -Percentage of hiring managers reporting primary cause behind the challenge in finding qualified workers for their firm. 2005 2006 Shortage of qualified workers 47% 52% Low recruitment budget 6% 5% Inability to offer competitive compensation 20% 21% Inability to offer career advancement 10% 8% Ineffective recruitment tools 4% 4%
Continue ReadingA Different Pricing Model
We have kicked around a pricing model in jest but it conveys a point. One part of our business is assessing candidates for many different positions but sales is our specialty. We have clients that do their own sourcing and interviewing and then use our online assessments to measure the candidate’s sales skills, aptitudes, motivations and style. That being said, here is what the Rock Star and I were discussing: If a company locates a sales candidate they feel is strong, we assess them and confirm that they are strong, the fee is $500. If a company locates a sales candidate they feel is strong, we assess them and reveal… Read More
Continue ReadingFaith in the Workplace
CareerJournal offers another well written article covering a topic of interest to us – Managing by the (Good) Book Some Mix Business with Faith. As Christians, we have been in many discussions about faith in the workplace. We are strong supporters of it and do not believe that there needs to be this distinct difference between work life and spiritual life. In fact, it is impossible to separate faith from any aspect of life. I was not aware of this group: And C12 Group — a network of executives, like Mr. Dillon, who meet monthly to discuss management trends and the tricky intersections of religion and commerce — has grown… Read More
Continue ReadingMore Cover Emails
Ok, this is a different approach – asking yourself questions in the cover email: Why am I here you ask? I’m seeking a position where I can learn with room for advancement.What type of position am I looking for? I’m open to new experiences, but I would love to be in an office environment. I keep noticing these different approaches and laughing about them. But I do notice them and isn’t that the author’s intent?
Continue ReadingGet the Stress Out
From CareerJournal – The Top 14 Reasons We’re Stressed Out Here are the complete results to the survey’s question, “Have you experienced the following in the past month?” Respondents could point to any of the following 14 options. Rising prices, 74% Too many things to do, 56% Trouble sleeping, 53% Concerns about money for emergencies, 53% Concerns about health in general, 43% Illness of a family member, 36% Not enough money for basic necessities, 36% Too much information to process at one time, 33% Being lonely, 29% Problems with your work, boss or fellow workers, 24% Problems with aging parents, 21% Frequent or excessive noise, 20% Problems with my children,… Read More
Continue ReadingCandidate, Google Thyself
MarketingProfs.com puts out an always interesting enewsletter and this week’s edition is no exception. Have You Been Digitally Dissed? starts out as an article about googling yourself since hiring managers are googling you. …75% of recruiters google candidates, according to a survey by Execunet. We do. In fact, we posted about this topic back in June. The article states: The moral of the story: Google yourself. It’s called self-googling or ego-surfing and you should be doing it regularly. Here is the point I truly enjoyed – the author, William Arruda, employs this premise in the article: If you’re looking to advance in your career, you’ll want to proactively manage your… Read More
Continue ReadingBackground Checks
We’ve written about this topic before. It seems every year we encounter some issue involving background verifications with a candidate or employee. I was hopeful that 2006 was going to break this streak. This morning, I can sadly state, the streak is alive. We have a customer who has hired an employee for a position and ran the background check to find some misdemeanors in the employee’s background. The outcome of their employment is being determined right now, but it serves as a reminder – run background verifications before a candidate joins your company. If you are looking for referrals, may I suggest Verified Credentials? We have found them to… Read More
Continue ReadingMore Fun With Resume Covers
I have a general weakness for the general resume cover emails. This one is great: Help! I am not an idiot! Ok-I am employed full time-but they think I am incapable of anything but answering the phone, making copies, and filing! I am so much smarter than that.
Continue ReadingAnecdote – What Motivates You?
I was talking with one of our clients earlier today and we were reviewing a sales candidate’s assessment results. The candidate is presently working for a small temp staffing agency for a salary only (no commission) and puts in an average of 50-60 hours per week. The candidate had a strong social motivation which is a big red flag in our world. As we were discussing how these motivations would show up on the job, our client remembered that she had asked the candidate what gave her the greatest sense of satisfaction? The candidate’s response: When a person comes up to me and thanks me for finding them a job… Read More
Continue ReadingPay for Performance
At Select Metrix, we constantly preach that compensation plans should be, in part, tied to an individual’s performance. So when I was reading through my newsletters and RSS feeds, I was amazed to find stats from several different articles and feeds. First off, CEO turnover is up. The numbers show that CEO turnover for 2005 was 15% compared to 9% just 10 years earlier. Pay is also up, this could be due to the fact that more CEOs are moving around. In 2004 CEO pay increased 14.5% and in 2005 it increased 7.1% with the median salary and bonus coming in at $2,408,665. With this trend, The Corporate Library (paid… Read More
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