South Korea. At least according to some survey mentioned in this Forbes.com article. This may make your job look better: If you thought you worked long hours, consider 39-year-old Lee from South Korea. A civil servant at the ministry of agriculture and fisheries, Lee gets up at 5:30 a.m. every day, gets dressed and makes a two-hour commute into Seoul to start work at 8:30 a.m. After sitting at a computer for most of the day, Lee typically gets out the door at 9 p.m., or even later. By the time he gets home, it’s just a matter of jumping in the shower and collapsing into bed, before starting the… Read More
Continue ReadingWhat’s Your Bar Personality?
The Memorial Day weekend is here so why not kick off the unofficial start of summer with an “assessment.” You can take the short assessment at SalesHQ. Here is my result: Friendly Regular You’re at home in the bar…but dancing is not so much your thing. Casual conversation, light flirting, or live music is your ideal night. You enjoy a nice beer and a good glass of wine, occasionally a cocktail. This is a great lifestyle for a hard worker like you! Yeah, we won’t be using this assessment in our hiring process.
Continue ReadingRecruiting Buzzwords Exposed
Well, this is only fair – ERE offers up an article with the real definition of common recruiting buzzwords/phrases. Some of the buzzwords from the rather extensive list: Ad-hoc (adj.) Usage: “There will also be some ad-hoc projects required.” Definition: A catch-all phrase used by corporations to describe the countless hours of manpower invested in activities unrelated to one’s job function, generally evoked at the whim of departmental heads. DOE (acr.) see also depending on experience.Usage: “I am unable to provide a salary range for the position as it is DOE.” Definition: Whereby a company unable to pay market rate for a position compensates by placing the blame on candidate… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Need For Speed In Hiring
ERE’s daily article hits a chord with me today – Understanding Why Fast Hiring Is Critical to Recruiting Success. We have been beaten down of late due to some slow-moving hiring processes. The author, Dr. John Sullivan, provides many suggestions for putting metrics to your hiring process. However, I found these stats to be the compelling reasons why you should worry about the speed of your hiring process: One large accounting firm recently found that if they didn’t act within 22 days, their chances of landing “high-demand” candidates decreased by nearly 90%. A large electronics firm researched the issue and found that the very best in their field (the top… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Best-Paying Job
Anesthesiologists. From Forbes.com’s America’s Best- And Worst-Paying Jobs: …the mean annual salary for America’s 31,030 anesthesiologists is $192,780, up 4.6% from a year earlier. Not surprisingly, the top 9 jobs are all in the medical field (surgeon, orthodontists, etc.). Oh yes, and the bottom end of the scale: The lowest paid of all? People who cook, prepare and serve in fast-food joints, followed by dishwashers, busboys and the folks who shampoo your hair. I am proud to say that I was a dishwasher in high school. Technically, we called it a “dishlicker” and we were at the lowest end of the totem pole. That is the type of job that… Read More
Continue ReadingGen Y Is Empowered
Not my words, but rather a quote from this Selling Power article: “If I had to use one word to describe Generation Y, it’s empowered,” says Ann Fishman, president of Generation Targeted Marketing Corporation, a specialized marketing firm providing insight into consumer preferences, trends, and buying habits affecting the six generations of Americans. “This is a generation who has a tremendous amount of self-confidence. They are civic minded, optimistic, and want to be involved in their futures. They are going to come on very strong. And now for some tips: Fishman notes a few things to keep in mind when going through the hiring process with this group. First, Generation… Read More
Continue ReadingSpell Check Ain’t So Common
The title of a resume I found online: Experience Hard Warker
Continue Reading14 “Top” Interview Questions
CareerBuilder.com has put out another link-bait article titled Top Interview Questions. I wonder if they send this version out to their employer customers and a modified version out to the jobseekers in a separate email? Anyway, here is the list: What circumstance brings you here today? This is one of the best opening questions ever. This open ended question surprises many candidates. If they do not respond quickly, just sit quietly and wait for the response. Some candidates reveal problems with their current employer, potential insubordination, and both positive or negative character traits. How would your best friend describe you? What would you say are your 2 greatest weaknesses? How… Read More
Continue ReadingA Common Sales Ad Spec
Here is a bullet point from a sales employment ad: Home based office experience a major plus! Can you imagine reading that point just 5 years ago?
Continue ReadingGenerations 101
The Wall Street Journal provides an article that does a nice job of laying out the upcoming shortage of workers. The focus is upon the different generations and the general drive behind each. The article is rather rudimentary, but it provides a clean view of the problem. First: Americans of childbearing age simply are not producing enough kids to meet the economy’s future need for workers, notably in fast-growing fields such as medicine and engineering. The shortfall is coming largely because the fabled baby boom generation was so huge—75 million Americans born in the 18 years from 1946 to 1964—that no other generation can be expected to match it any… Read More
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