Honestly, I thought this was a joke – Is that your phone or your imagination? From the article: Many mobile phone addicts and BlackBerry junkies report feeling vibrations when there are none, or feeling as if they’re wearing a cell phone when they’re not. … Research in the area is scant, but theories abound about the phenomenon, which has been termed “ringxiety” or “fauxcellarm.” The article is obviously a bit tongue-in-cheek and there are some good lines in it including this one: He also claims to “pre-feel” a new message or call. “I’ll feel it, look at it. It’s not vibrating. Then it starts vibrating,” he said. “I am one… Read More
Continue ReadingWhat Not To Do At Work
Ok, I have a weakness for these types of surveys. From CareerBuilder: “Workplace Taboos” is a new CareerBuilder.com survey, conducted by Harris Interactive of more than 5,700 workers. The most common workplace taboos that workers admitted to taking part in include: Falling asleep at work (45 percent) Kissing a co-worker (39 percent) Stealing from the office (22 percent) Spreading a rumor about a co-worker (22 percent) Consuming alcoholic beverages while on the job (21 percent) Snooping after hours (18 percent) Lying about an academic background (4 percent) Taking credit for someone else’s work (2 percent) I laughed at number 1 since I used to work at a company where the… Read More
Continue Reading5th Annual National Work And Family Month
The US Senate designated October as National Work and Family Month back in 2003 in hopes that it would engage employers into sponsoring work/life programs for their employees. We’ve posted about this topic before, but as more and more Gen X & Y’ers fill the roles of the retiring Baby Boomers, this subject will require attention by everyone who plans on hiring. Gen X & Y’ers consider work/life balance a very important topic, often reporting it as important as money. As we posted earlier this year, a survey of recruiters showed that 85% of them have seen candidates reject a job offer because it was misaligned with their work-life balance.… Read More
Continue ReadingThe B.S. Lie
Lee and I had lunch with a customer of ours who is the VP of Sales for a medium-sized business. We were discussing why candidates lie about their education, primarily stating they have earned a degree when they have not. This information is easily confirmed so lying about it seems foolish. We had one candidate who has been in the workforce for 30 years yet lied on his resume about earning a B.S. degree from a local university. A degree was not a requirement for this position. Besides, 30 years of sales experience easily trumps a degree in our world. My only thought on this topic is that candidates must… Read More
Continue ReadingTelecommuting Toolbox
It is difficult to classify telecommuting as a trend – it is more than that today. We encounter telecommuting in almost every position we source, even some where you wouldn’t expect to find it. Managers must have the skills to be effective with their team even though they may not seem them face-to-face on a daily basis. ManageSmarter.com offers up Talking Telecommuting which provides some excellent tool suggestions for a manager faced with a geographically-dispersed sales force. The example company is Cisco which obviously has some powerful tools for keeping remote workers informed. Check out this proprietary tool: Cisco ensures it’s easy for mobile workers to find and use internal… Read More
Continue ReadingNow THIS Fact Will "Surprise" Economists
From CNNMoney.com’s Jobs gains back on track: U.S. payrolls posted a net gain of 110,000 workers in the month, according to the Labor Department report. That’s roughly in line with the forecast of a 100,000 gain by economists surveyed by Briefing.com. The Labor Department also now estimates that August had a gain of 89,000 jobs, a big upward revision from the originally reported 4,000 job loss in August. … The July payroll reading was also revised higher by 25,000 jobs more than the earlier report. That means that there are 228,000 more Americans with jobs in this latest estimate, based on the September gain and the revisions, compared to the… Read More
Continue ReadingAnd The Economy Rolls On
The latest Q4 hiring survey is out, this time from CareerBuilder and USAToday. From the press release with my emphasis: The survey, titled “Q4 2007 Job Forecast,” was conducted from August 10 through September 4, 2007 of more than 2,700 hiring managers and human resource professionals in private sector companies. “Given the housing slump and tight credit market, caution is to be expected when it comes to hiring in the fourth quarter,” said Matt Ferguson, CEO of CareerBuilder.com. “While employers are keeping a watchful eye on economic indicators, they are still planning to expand staffs at a steady pace and are actively competing for qualified labor. Forty-four percent of employers… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Hand That Rocks The Cradle
I may be alone here, but I found this information remarkable: Looking at statistics from hotels and resorts worldwide, about “43 percent of business travelers were recorded to have been women”. Moreover, according to American Airlines’ director of women’s sales and marketing, women are responsible for 70 percent of travel decisions. … Interestingly, two key characteristics distinguish women travelers from men. First, according to Marybeth Bond, a consultant who has advised hotels on marketing to women, “Women will take more time for themselves than men if they are traveling for business. Men will rush home, but women will stay an extra day.” The second is that women appreciate the details,… Read More
Continue ReadingOnline Job Postings Continue To Rise
From the Career News newsletter (sorry, no link): In September 2007 there were 4,270,000 online advertised vacancies, an increase of 165,200 or 4 percent from the August 2007 level, according to The Conference Board Help-Wanted OnLine Data Series released October 1, 2007. In September, 2,934,100 of the 4,270,000 unduplicated online advertised vacancies were new ads that did not appear in August, while the remainder are reposted ads from the previous month. Online advertised vacancies were up (17.5%) over the year (September’06 – September’07). There were 2.78 advertised vacancies online for every 100 persons in the labor force in September. I suspect this information is illustrative of the migration from newspaper… Read More
Continue ReadingMore Surprises In The Economy
From CNNMoney.com’s headline: Jobless claims post surprise fall New applications filed for unemployment benefits fell by a sharp 15,000 to 298,000 last week; economists expected claims to rise to 320,000. We continue to see great activity in our own business. At some point you have to wonder if the media is attempting to “talk down” the economy. I give you this sentence from another CNNMoney.com article titled Economy shows growth, but misses forecasts (emphasis mine): A deepening housing slump and a painful credit crunch since the spring has darkened the mood of individuals and businesses alike. Stephen King would be proud of that writing especially in light of a 3.8%… Read More
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