First, the headline from the Pioneer Press article: State Jobless Rate Falls to 5-Year Low Now read it and you will see the business-challenged reporting we are treated to here in Minnesota. The unemployment rate is typically lower than the national average even during recessions. Our current unemployment rate is 3.7%! Yet this 13 paragraph article spends the first 8 paragraphs trying to paint this stat in a negative light. Unbelievable. But this statistic does bring me back to sourcing. With low unemployment in Minnesota, we are constantly looking for new sourcing channels for our local customers. We are consistent monster.com and careerbuilder.com users, but we have been branching out… Read More
Continue ReadingStyle Needed for the Job
I’m of 2 minds regarding this article from CareerJournal.com – Is Your Style the Right Fit For the Job You Are After? We always encourage companies to assess candidates even if it is only for communication style. Although hiring based on communication style is the least predictive approach of assessment-based hiring, it is still far superior to gut-level hiring. When looking for or accepting a new assignment, matching or adapting your personal style to the needs of the position can mean the difference between success and failure. Well, that is an easy concept for which to write, but a difficult action to implement. Rarely is there a position that requires… Read More
Continue ReadingJob Market Continues to Grow
The latest report on corporate hiring – 31% of U.S. Firms Plan to Add Staff – is good news for the economy. However, the labor market is tightening up fast. This market is different from the tech bubble of the late 1990’s as the author points out: On the whole, employers are still actively looking for workers in a variety of sectors, Joerres said. “They haven’t bloated themselves with excess people, so they’re consistently in the market. That’s very different from what we were seeing in 1999 and 2000,” he said. If you are planning to hire, expect a slightly longer process to source strong candidates. We are seeing this… Read More
Continue ReadingResume Enhancements
Nothing new in the fact that resumes are enhanced, but many companies continue to use them as the de facto first-pass filter for candidates. Three points from the article: A recent study by ResumeDoctor.com, a resume advisory service based in South Burlington, Vt., found that nearly 43 percent of more than 1,100 resumes it checked for dates of employment, job titles and education contained at least one significant inaccuracy. Nearly 13 percent of the resumes contained two or more inaccuracies. If 43% of the resumes a company reviews in response to an employment ad contain “one significant inaccuracy,” how reliable is that process for selecting the best candidate? “I think… Read More
Continue ReadingName vs. No-name
In one of my previous sales lives, I worked for 2 different companies in a highly specialized, technical field. The companies were competitors – I worked for the larger company first that had a highly recognized name in the market. The company was approximately 200 employees strong with worldwide sales. I worked for the smaller company about 2 years after resigning from the first company. The smaller company was family owned and had . . . how do I say it? . . . no name recognition. The company had 7 employees and 3 of them were related. I describe these 2 settings for you to make a point about… Read More
Continue ReadingOn Your Best Behavior
I had lunch yesterday with an old friend of mine whom I used to work with at a previous job in the technology market. He now owns his own handyman business and we were discussing past employment mistakes on our parts. I mentioned how we observe candidate behaviors during the hiring process with the understanding that this is the best they have to offer. What I mean is that they are displaying their best behavior, compliance, formality, etc. If a candidate appears to be somewhat inappropriate at this stage, they will not magically become better once they are on your payroll. My friend’s point was that candidates are observing employers… Read More
Continue ReadingAnecdote – You still like me, don’t you?
It’s Friday so let’s lighten up with another anecdote. Here is an incident that I ran into during a panel interview. I would like to add this was the first time we met the candidate. The candidate repeatedly asked for permission to start up his computer and run us through a PowerPoint presentation. We denied his requests, but he kept asking. Finally, we relented and allowed him to do it. The problem he had, unbeknownst to him, was that this interview occurred in the middle of winter and his laptop was extremely cold from being in his car. After several embarrassing attempts to start his computer, he finally gave up.… Read More
Continue ReadingQuick Ad Tip – Part 2
Monster’s June Newsletter provides the latest trends for candidate traffic to their site. Monday and Tuesday’s are their busiest days. The traffic now starts to pick up on Sunday and starts to taper off on Wednesday with the lowest amount of traffic hitting the site on Saturdays. We have had much success with Tuesday postings and but I think we will test some Sunday and Monday postings to see what happens. I would continue to post your ads the beginning of the week to take advantage of this specific monster.com traffic pattern and we’ll post later on our results.
Continue ReadingThe Tightening Market-Part 2
In a recent article on the Tightening Labor Market from the SHRM website (membership required) 2 recent surveys go beyond the unemployment rates and the number of new jobs created to show the demand for talented workers is increasing. Both of the surveys were conducted by global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. The first one surveyed 3,000 job seekers and found that among those landing jobs in the first quarter, the median job search lasted just 2.7 months, more than a month shorter than the peak of 4.0 months reached in the third quarter of 2004. It was the lowest job-search time recorded since the second quarter of… Read More
Continue ReadingWriting about Fuzz
A couple of weeks ago we posted about a monster.com random interview question generator. One of the strange questions posed to candidates was “Why is there fuzz on a tennis ball?” I kid you not, we are getting hit on that topic. So, being the broad-ranging resource that we are, I had some fun with the search engines and found a simple answer: The fuzz increases the wind resistance, which slows down the ball and helps the players to volley (hit the ball back and forth without stopping) longer. Without it, the ball would fly off the court after every serve! The fuzz also helps players control the ball, by… Read More
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