Funny article here from BusinessWeek.com titled Office Wear: A Tale of Two Generations. There is a definite clash of generations when it comes to business attire, especially among women. This article provides a discussion from both the Baby Boomer perspective and the Millennial perspective. Some pull quotes: It’s no wonder then that she is unnerved by women who drift into work wearing bright tops or fitted dress pants. Or that she is downright shocked when they wear even less, baring bellies, toes, or tattoos. “We banned flip-flops here two years ago,” says Gaines. “I still can’t believe we had to tell people not to wear them.” Apparently I am dating… Read More
Continue ReadingTightening The Ad
I’ve been reading through many sales employment ads recently and am seeing a trend – the ads are written tighter. A couple of examples: -Minimum of 5 years of related public accounting and/or corporate sales -A minimum of two years’ business development experience in a pharmaceutical and/or CRO biotechnology, or drug development company. Nothing wrong with this approach since the candidate pool is still relatively large due to the slow economy. One thing to be sure of – the labor pool will tighten up again soon. At that point, it is wiser to move these requirements into preferences and look outside of your industry for transferable skills. One interesting point… Read More
Continue ReadingQuality Of Questions
I had a sales candidate ask an excellent, subtle question yesterday – “What other positions is this company currently hiring?” Again, the subtlety of this question provides a view into a company’s needs, growth and possible turnover. It is an excellent question to ask in any interview. The second part of this equation is for the hiring manager to appreciate the question. What I mean is this – listen carefully to the questions being asked by the candidate. We often watch hiring managers trip over themselves to answer a good question without appreciating the question itself. Some times the hiring manager cannot even recall the questions asked in the interview. … Read More
Continue Reading“Staycations”
The Herman Trend Alert (sorry, no link) today highlights areas of the economy that are growing, even thriving, during the slowdown. Some you may not have considered: Logistics alternatives to diesel-consuming trucks that are more efficient at moving goods, like railroads, are also doing well. Plus, fed up with increasing delays and cancellations of flights, passengers are choosing rail travel over air. Expect this trend to increase; the US rail lines will borrow experts from Canadian Pacific and Virgin to learn how to deliver extraordinary passenger experiences. Domestic food producers, especially domestic cheese producers are reaping the benefits of the falling dollar. Rapidly rising prices for imported products are prompting… Read More
Continue ReadingA Needed Trait – Resourcefulness
I’ve been dealing with many different sales candidates of late and one thing that is starting to stand out – a candidate’s resourcefulness. This trait comes shining through on some candidates and is little more than a dull luster on others. The less resourceful a salesperson, the more wary you should be in considering their candidacy. This trait has always been important in sales. Resourcefulness feeds networking, prospecting, qualifying and competitive knowledge. Recently I have encountered a couple of candidates who just plain lack this ability. The lack of resourcefulness shows up in not finding email addresses or cell phone numbers. One salesperson wasn’t able to recall the position for… Read More
Continue ReadingAmerica’s Top Growing Job
Roustabout, according to Forbes.com. I didn’t know what a roustabout was/did either. Roustabouts are the workers who assemble and repair oil and gas field equipment. They do other unskilled work around rigs like cleaning up spilled oil, moving pipes to and from trucks and guiding cranes that move loads around decks. It’s hard and dirty work, and in the labor hierarchy of oil rigs, roustabouts are a notch below roughnecks. Don’t you just love the American economy? Never ceases to amaze me. Of course, there is always the other side of the coin. The disappearing jobs: The disappearing jobs list also reflects the continuing long-term decline of no- and low-skilled… Read More
Continue ReadingCountercyclical Market Segments Are Hiring
The Career News (sorry, no link) references an article regarding job market growth in 3 specific sectors (my bold): While hiring in the financial and consumer discretionary sectors has clearly been impacted by the continued fall-out from the mortgage market collapse, the technology, healthcare and defense sectors are all adding to their executive-level ranks nationwide. There were 12,000 more $100,000+ jobs posted on TheLadders in the first quarter of 2008 than there were in the first quarter of 2007. The recession is grabbing the headlines, but there are always countercyclical segments of the market that thrive in a down economy. The reports are showing a lot of reliance in this… Read More
Continue Reading7 Sales De-Motivators
This list comes from Brian Tracy via the SellingPower.com Incentives newsletter. If you have ever managed salespeople, you know how important proper motivation is. Some days salespeople just don’t have it so you have to step in as their manager and give them that push they need. The problems start when you find yourself stepping in daily. At this point, you clearly have a de-motivated salesperson. If you are at this point, here are some topics to consider: 1. Where am I going? Salespeople lose their sense of direction when they are unclear on precisely what is expected of them on a daily basis, what their goals and quotas are,… Read More
Continue ReadingOutside Managers Running HR
Here is a trend I have not heard of – managers without human resources backgrounds being moved into HR Manager roles. From the Wall Street Journal online: Of the 15 large-company chief HR officer changes that consultant Brian Wilkerson has tracked in the past five years, about one-third have been filled by non-HR executives, he says. That compares with maybe 10% of such appointments before… The driver behind this increasing approach is fairly simple: The shift reflects the increased importance that chief executives and boards place on recruiting, retaining and grooming employees. It also reflects a perception that some traditional HR professionals lack the deep understanding of business and financial… Read More
Continue ReadingOnline Ads Down Again
I’m not sure the implications of this information, but Inc.com reported that the sheer number of online ads has decreased from last month and last year. The number of new jobs posted online in June was unchanged from May, marking the fourth straight month of year-over-year declines, the Conference Board reported this week. Some 3.8 million job openings were advertised online last month, or about 2.5 vacancies for every 100 persons in the labor force, according to data compiled from 1,200 Web-based job boards. That’s down from 2.9 vacancies per 100 persons in May, and 11.2 percent below a year ago, the report said. I’m not certain what data is… Read More
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