No surprises here from the ManageSmarter.com article – Roundin’ Up Reps. Our clients often ask us what the employment market is like right now. For most of this year we have been telling them it is a candidate’s market right now. Some seem surprised while others seem to be familiar with this fact. In case there were any doubts, this short article lays out the findings from a CareerBuilder.com survey (my emphasis): The 2007 CareerBuilder.com Midyear Employment Forecast indicates that “46 percent of sales employers currently have open positions for which they cannot find qualified candidates, an increase from 39 percent heading into the first half,” reads a release on… Read More
Continue ReadingHow Did We Get This Resume?
Have you ever been flummoxed by some bizarre resumes you have received in response to a clearly written ad? We receive them frequently. And often we explain these scenarios to our customers. In case you ever wondered, I received a promotional email today that revealed much: You can use <product> to instantly search all major job sites (at the same time) for jobs you like. Next, review the jobs it found and put a check mark next to your favorites. Then, press a single button to send your resume & cover letter to ALL the jobs you checked. It’s that easy! You can apply to 1 or 1000 jobs all… Read More
Continue ReadingA Smaller Monster
It appears that Monster.com’s legal woes are impacting their bottom line. They are laying off 800 employees. From the Pioneer Press’ Monster to cut 800 jobs: Monster, which has been grappling with an investigation into its stock-option granting practices, said second-quarter operating expenses swelled by 34 percent, largely because of higher legal fees and severance payments. Profit fell 28 percent in the quarter, even as sales rose. Good lesson here – businesses grow on profit, not revenue. That should be obvious, but we still talk to salespeople who seem unaware of this truth.
Continue ReadingWhat Makes A Strong Sales Candidate?
I have been sourcing sales candidates the last couple of weeks for several of our clients and received a phone call from a recruiter. Normally, I don’t get a lot of calls from recruiters. It was an interesting call so thought I would share the exchange with you. To set the stage, the recruiter did not ask if I had time to talk or if it was a convenient time for me. In fact, his call came just a few minutes prior to a scheduled screening call with a candidate. Recruiter: Hi, this is John Doe from XYZ Recruiting. I’m not sure you know me but XYZ has filled numerous… Read More
Continue ReadingApostrophes Are Overrated
From a resume cover letter I found online: I have been sending emails to job postings to customer service/sales positions on <job board> now for awhile and I cant figure out why it is that I dont get any replies back. Im colleges educated from a 4 year liberal arts institution… As a fellow liberal arts-educated person, I do have sympathy for this person’s plight. I think a good first step would be punctuation and proof-reading.
Continue Reading3 Years And A Cloud Of Dust
If you have been sourcing salespeople recently, you have probably noticed some short tenures among the Gen Y candidates. We are sourcing for an intermediate-level sales position that has garnered a noticeable response from Gen Y (or young Gen X) candidates. The remarkable trend is that many of the candidates have 2-4 years in each position before they move on to the next opportunity. Many of our Baby Boomer managers are questioning that “job-hopping” history. This concern is valid but it is also systemic in the younger generations. They are looking to move up in their career and loyalty to one employer is far less frequent than just 20 years… Read More
Continue ReadingMore Americans Are Working From Home
Foxnews.com offers a story regarding the booming trend of working from home. I hope no one is surprised by this trend since it has been prevalent for many years now. Obviously, $3 a gallon gas is driving even more people towards this model. Yet, I think the gas prices are exacerbating the increasing commute times around the country. To my point, think of how much time is wasted each work day when commuting: According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2005 an estimated 3 million Americans commuted more than 90 minutes to work each way €” almost twice as many as in 1990. Fifteen out of every 100 Americans traveled… Read More
Continue ReadingCustomers Don’t Walk
Here is an urban legend we encounter frequently in our sales hiring activities – customers don’t walk with the salesperson. What I mean is customers rarely follow a salesperson to a new company. If the salesperson quits one company and goes to a competitor, it is a rare occurrence in which the customers move their business with the salesperson. Yes, everyone can provide an example of when it happened, but we deal with many salespeople in many industries and it just is not common. Sales candidates, on the other hand, will go out of their way claiming that they can bring the business with them. Unfortunately, many companies who do… Read More
Continue ReadingAdvertised Vacancies Up 29% In Past Year
As I was searching the web this morning came across an interesting site for The Conference Board. The company is “the world’s preeminent business membership and research organization.” They have been around for 90 years and are best known for the Consumer Confidence Index and the Leading Economic Indicators that you see referenced so often. They provide an economic analysis based on a monthly basis is the total number of online job ads. The report and analysis they provide is amazing – a total of 17 pages of information for the month of May alone! Although the total online job ads were 4,374,400 in May, a 0.2 percent increase from… Read More
Continue ReadingPlace Your Job Ads Online
I’ve mentioned before that I have talked to prospective customers who are adamant that newspaper ads are the best media to place job ads. I couldn’t disagree more with them. Along comes this quick-hitting article from Inc.com: The number of jobs posted online rose by 9,000 in May to 4,374,400, an increase of 0.2 percent from April, the Conference Board reported Wednesday. Online job vacancies were up 29 percent from the same period last year, the New York-based private research group said. I cannot understand why any company would choose to advertise in a printed newspaper.
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