I’m back from a needed break in this sour economy. Everywhere I go I ask people about their business. It is fairly consistent – something from “could be better” to “really down.” That economic context allows some freedom for hiring companies to incorporate what I call contextual hiring techniques. These are typically techniques that take longer to measure and allow the hiring company to see the salesperson in action. Some examples: Job Shadowing – just as it sounds, the candidate spends time with an existing sales rep to get an understanding of the position. Peggy McKee at Medical Sales Recruiter has a post on this topic. A friend of mine… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Age Of Ageism
I was at a networking group last week where I was able to talk to some jobseekers in a general format. One of the things that consistently surfaced was the perception from older workers that they were being discriminated against due to their age. I don’t know if these accusations were true, but they seem more than plausible. Some of the stories were downright sad – one candidate arrived for an interview and was sent out to the lobby to fill in the dates of his previous employment going back to the beginning…in the 1970’s. He didn’t get the job. The massive erosion of wealth over the past year has… Read More
Continue ReadingHard Numbers On Telecommuting
The Herman Trend Alert newsletter (sorry, no link) provides some interesting statistics from a Cisco survey: Now the international technology giant Cisco Systems has just released a study of its own organization demonstrating these benefits and more. Using telecommuting, Cisco estimates annual savings of USD $277 Million. In its in-depth “Teleworker Survey” of almost 2,000 company employees, the company evaluated the social, economic, and environmental impacts associated with telecommuting. The study found that telecommuting significantly increased employee productivity, work-life flexibility, and job satisfaction. In addition, the report cited that “a majority of respondents experienced a significant increase in work-life flexibility, productivity, and overall satisfaction as a result of their ability… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Pain Of A Lagging Indicator
Hiring, that is, and it appears that it is going to be an even rougher road over the back half of 2009. If you are in the recruiting, hiring, assessing business you are aware of this fact. 9.4% unemployment is remarkable. From abcnews.com: The percentage of people without jobs in this country is now at the highest point in nearly 26 years. Every month since January 2008 we have seen jobs disappear. So far the economy has shed 6 million jobs since the recession started push (sic) employers to start handing out pink slips. I’m still looking for the report that lists the number of jobs “saved” by the stimulus… Read More
Continue ReadingA Port In The Storm
If ever there was a time to make a move into the healthcare sales market, now is it. According to RecruitingTrends.com: “Healthcare continued to add jobs in February, with a gain of 27,000. Job growth occurred in ambulatory healthcare (16,000) and in hospitals (7,000). Employment gains in the industry averaged 30,000 a month in 2008,” the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported this and last month alongside news that the nation’s overall number of unemployed individuals increased by 5 million over the last year. Select Metrix is located in the Twin Cities which is home to United Health Group, Medtronic and most of the other medical device players. This market… Read More
Continue ReadingThere Are Still Open Positions
You never quite know what you are going to receive from the Herman Trend Alert which makes it one of the more highly-anticipated newsletters in my inbox. This week the topic is how many job postings there are presently – over 1.8 million. Granted, there is far more to hiring than just the quantitative aspect, but the number surprised me. Here is their intro (sorry, no link): While job postings between January 2008 and January 2009 have declined in all industries, there are still almost 1.88 million jobs that require skilled workers. According to a release by Indeed.com last week, the industries that experienced the least contraction were Education and… Read More
Continue Reading2009 Prediction Time-Talent Management
The Herman Trend Alert offers up some expected predictions, some insightful ones and some surprising ones for 2009. Here is one that falls in the expected/not surprising category: 1. Certain Skill Sets Continue to be in Short Supply. In spite of the global economic slowdown and massive layoffs, certain skill sets are in short supply. All but the most short-sighted employers will continue to respect talented workers in all fields for their contributions. I don’t think that is surprising at all, but not all companies subscribe to that approach. Here is an insightful prediction: 3. Fear and Apprehension Reduce Productivity. As we have written about some months ago, there is… Read More
Continue ReadingJob Churn
The Career News newsletter has a short article about “job churn” that provides some good news for our present economic situation. The immediate reaction of companies, in a slumping U.S. economy, is to pull back on hiring activity, declare hiring freezes and even make layoff announcements. But these are only short-lived strategies as employers soon realize that they are deficient on talent in a competitive job market. After a period of reactionary cutting and freezing, hiring activity will return to a level of normalcy. Hiring is largely a function of ‘job churn’ and there is no evidence that churn will do anything but accelerate in the coming quarters. Churn is… Read More
Continue ReadingHiring Obstacles
According to the most recent Workforce Recruiting newsletter (sorry no link available), 1,100 employers were asked what the main reason was for them not being able to hire their top candidates over the past two years. Their responses were as follows: 35.9% – Said they went elsewhere for higher perceived pay. 15.5% – Said they went elsewhere for better perceived career development opportunities. 8.0% – Said they went elsewhere for better perceived work/life advantages. 7.1% – Said they went elsewhere for higher perceived long-term incentive/equity compensation. 1.5% – Said they went elsewhere for better perceived benefits. 31.9% – Said they were able to hire the majority of their top candidates.… Read More
Continue ReadingQ4 Hiring Stats
I think it is safe to say that predictions in this economy are difficult AT BEST to make accurately. However, CareerBuilder has come out with their Q4 hiring forecast that contains some interesting information: HIRING IN Q4 2008 Going forward, 23 percent of employers plan to add full-time, permanent employees in the next three months, a slight decline from the previous quarter. Ten percent plan to decrease headcount while 63 percent anticipate no change and 4 percent are undecided. I always find the “no change” group as being rather esoteric – I assume that means no expansion or contraction. But what of replacement? If their company has normal attrition, will… Read More
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