The Herman Trend Alert enewsletter (sorry, no link) takes a look at last week’s unemployment numbers. Some interesting items in there (emphasis mine): This increase in unemployment continues to mask the real situation. Looking at the BLS’ Household Survey, in the month of May, the national unemployment percentages among adult men and women were 4.9 and 4.8. At the same time, the rate for teenagers, ages 16 to 19 jumped from 15.4 in April to 18.7 in May, an increase of 21.4 percent. While part of this increase is due to high school and community college graduations, these new job seekers do not account for this huge increase. Rather, we… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Commute Question
We are sales recruiters so we have been fairly immune to this question, but it is even appearing in our world. For salespeople, the question is some variation of “How often will I be expected to be in the office?” This question doesn’t mean they are planning on playing hooky; the candidate simply wants to start the discussion about working from home, their car, coffee shops, etc. The Career News newsletter (sorry, no link) offers up a quick article on this topic: When it comes to making a living, how many miles would you travel? According to many hiring agencies and recruiters, people job hunting are taking climbing gas prices… Read More
Continue ReadingAs The Job Market Churns
Quick-hitter article here from HotJobs.com – Good-Paying Jobs Are Ample, But Training Is Critical. The article is a fast read and worth your time, but here is what caught my attention: The job market is always churning. About 7 million workers lose or leave jobs each quarter and, when the economy is growing, more than 7 million are added to payrolls. Companies hiring right now include makers of aircraft and medical equipment, shipbuilders and refiners of petroleum and sugar. At the same time, losses continue to sock the textile, apparel, auto and other industries. 7 million jobs churn each quarter. That is a staggering number and helps to define what… 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 ReadingTop 3 In-Demand Positions
From RecruitingTrends.com (my emphasis): Manpower Inc. releases the results of its third annual talent shortage survey, revealing that 31% of employers globally are finding it increasingly more difficult to fill jobs. The top three candidates most in-demand are skilled manual trades, sales representatives and technicians (technical workers in the areas of production/operations, engineering and maintenance). What would it be if they put a qualifier on finding the right salesperson? I keep saying this – a strong salesperson is always in demand no matter what the economy is doing.
Continue ReadingExecutive Hiring A Challenging Priority
From the Herman Trend Alert newsletter (sorry, no link): The economic slowdown here in the United States is not having the expected effect on the demand for qualified executive talent. ExecuNet’s “2008 Executive Job Market Intelligence Report” finds that increasing demand, along with a shortage of qualified talent and sustained economic growth overseas, are driving better than expected job growth at the executive level.(http://www.execunet.com/marketreport) The sectors with the highest demand are High Tech, Healthcare, Business Services, Pharmaceuticals/Biotech, and Energy/Utilities. The factors credited with the continuing demand for executive talent are an aging workforce and global economic growth, despite the looming threat of recession. The report also finds, in spite of… Read More
Continue ReadingYour Job In Jeopardy
Yahoo HotJobs offers up a fairly simple article titled 6 Signs Your Job May Be in Jeopardy. I don’t think there is any revelation within the article. I also find this revealing: More than 2 of 3 respondents to a recent Yahoo! poll believe their job is in jeopardy due to the current economic slowdown. You would think this country has never seen a slowdown before. Anyway, one of the 6 signs jumps off the page: Where Have All the Clients Gone? If the new business team seems to be spinning its wheels, as major clients jump ship and they are not replaced, your job could be on the hit… Read More
Continue ReadingComeback Careerists
That title is for John Sumser – one more colloquialism for the recruiting world. The Wall Street Journal offers up this article to discuss mothers re-entering the workforce after taking extended time off (years) to raise their family. I have a soft spot in my heart for this topic since my wife recently reentered the workforce after taking 8 years off. It took her some time, but she landed an ideal position at a medical clinic. That isn’t always the case: Though 74% do find work, only 40% say they are gainfully employed in full-time, mainstream jobs. “There is still a tremendous amount of stigma and suspension when employers see… Read More
Continue ReadingA Soft Hiring Trend
Manpower’s quarterly survey is often considered a bellwether of the upcoming labor market. The Wall Street Journal reports on this trend in Hiring Plans Soften Across Industries. The title sounds a dire alarm, but there is an interesting quote within the article: Jonas Prising, president of Manpower North America, characterized employers’ hiring plans for the upcoming quarter as “softening.” He noted the decline is less sharp than the steep drops seen at the beginning of the decade. In some quarters of 2000, up to 25% of employers planned to hire, but then employers’ hiring plans declined sharply, and the portion planning to hire hit about 5% by early 2002. “This… Read More
Continue ReadingA Recruiter’s Role
HR departments and third-party recruiters often go at it with hammers and tongs since each side thinks the other side is…problematic. You don’t need an organizational development specialist to tell you this is not a healthy business relationship. BusinessWeek.com approaches this topic in How Recruiters and HR Can Work Together. The article starts with a tactical point that we encounter during every negotiation: In my experience, the greatest service a third-party search partner provides to the organization, besides the strength of his or her candidate database and relationships, is the intermediary role a search pro performs during offer negotiation. I pride myself on good listening and negotiating skills, but if… Read More
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