Take a look at this headline from Twin Cities Business: MN June Unemployment Rate Drops, Sheds 3,700 Jobs Jobs are lost and the unemployment rate decreases…how can this be? It is a question that begs an answer, yet you won’t find it in this article. The closest it comes: Minnesota’s unemployment rate dropped 0.2 percent in June to a seasonally adjusted 6.8 percent even though employers cut 3,700 jobs during the month, the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) said on Thursday. Clearly workers had to leave the workforce or unemployment benefits expired for many Minnesotans. It is probably a combination of both factors. This is a critical… Read More
Continue ReadingJob Location-North Dakota
Ok, I know it isn’t an exotic port of call, but North Dakota does have one very interesting fact – 3.3% unemployment. From our local Pioneer Planet newspaper: Ziesch says the state had the lowest unemployment rate in the nation in June at 3.3 percent. He says North Dakota has about 10,700 unfilled jobs. Yes, it is a sparsely populated state, but they definitely have demand. This time of year is the right time to visit, too. 6 months from now and you will be crying through blizzards the like you have never seen. Nonetheless, count me as a fan of North Dakota.
Continue ReadingFundamental Attribution Error
Warning – psychology babble coming your way from Fast Company. I encounter this effect often with clients: That judgment is what’s called, in psychology, the Fundamental Attribution Error. Meaning that we tend to attribute people’s behavior to their core character rather than to their situation. So when somebody cuts you off in traffic, you think, “What a jerk!” You don’t think, “I wonder situation he’s in that’s causing him to drive so crazy.” Even though in those times when YOU have driven crazily, it was almost certainly because of the situation you were in—you were late for a job interview or a date. May I make a suggestion? The use… Read More
Continue ReadingEmployment Still Lagging
The latest employment numbers are out and it doesn’t look good (emphasis mine). US employers added 430,000 jobs to nonfarm payrolls in May, but 411,000 of those were temporary census workers. That number was also well short of the more than 500,000 economists had expected. The unemployment rate, however, fell to 9.7 percent from 9.9 percent in April. I still don’t expect to see significant hiring gains until Q4 of this year at the earliest. My highly non-scientific polling (talking to customers) shows that most are still in a tentative mode. Perhaps some more enlightened analysis will surface later today.
Continue ReadingNow Hiring – The Federal Government
Here is an interesting poll from Gallup – the Job Creation Index. I was not familiar with this one until seeing it on Drudge. I always have a tinge of skepticism for any poll, but this one has a staggering finding (emphasis mine): Gallup’s Job Creation Index clearly indicates that state and local governments are in the midst of significant downsizing, no doubt reflecting budgetary issues resulting from recessionary pressures on the tax (and other) revenue that funds these governments. Hiring at the federal level has apparently to date escaped these same fiscal pressures. Indeed, the federal government appears to be significantly outpacing the private sector in terms of the… Read More
Continue ReadingGood Sign, Bad Sign
As is so often the case in this economy, the market is sending mixed signals. From one article on abcnews.com: The economic strength, both in U.S. and international markets, plus cost cuts, higher rates and fuel surcharges led to a 33 percent increase in first-quarter profit. UPS boosted its full-year outlook when it pre-released its earnings two weeks ago. And one paragraph later: UPS Inc., also known as United Parcel Service, restructured its business over the last 18 months, cutting jobs in the process. The shipper doesn’t plan any significant hiring anytime soon, at least until the recovery is on more solid footing. Jobless recovery anyone? The difficulty is that… Read More
Continue ReadingA Good Employment Sign
From the indeed.com blog: For the first time in 2010, our Job Market Competition report shows all major metropolitan areas have fewer than 10 unemployed persons per job posting – a notable lessening of job competition since our last report. Washington D.C. has only one unemployed per job posting, maintaining its first place position as the city with the least competition for jobs. At the other end of the scale, Detroit moved up one place from the bottom position: it now has nine unemployed per job posting, an improvement from 13 earlier this year. The post contains the top 5 and bottom 5 metro markets based on number of unemployed… Read More
Continue ReadingSpam Sourcing
How is this for a spam approach to applicants? You have been accepted for a high paying work from home job. Click the link below to get all the information: Click Here Sincerely, Hiring Manager p.s. Please claim your position today or it will be given to the next applicant. The “p.s.” line is fantastic.
Continue ReadingBig Personalities In Selling
We’re an assessment company so you can imagine how adamant I am about assessing candidates (not just for sales positions either). However, in sales it is crucial to use assessments to cut through the sales candidates’ well-developed social skills. Unfortunately, many assessment tools focus on personality only which is not a reliable or repeatable predictor of sales success. My experience has been that most people focus on big personalities when it comes to selling. If the person is a good talker, tells funny stories, lights up the room, etc., then they must be a good salesperson. The bigger the personality, the more they will sell. Ok, I grant you that… Read More
Continue ReadingThrow Away Lines
I read a sales ad today that started with this line: Are you a career-minded salesperson… What does that mean? I bet if I asked 10 people I would get 10 different answers. I call sentences like this “throw away lines” because they do nothing for the ad. It is vitally important when writing ads to only include sentences that describe the position and the type of person who will excel within it. Anything else is wasted space.
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