 News Sleuth | News Admin July 30 2010 07:00:00 AMFilling jobs with people of different ages 'improves the workplace' Workplaces could be improved if jobs were filled with people of different ages instead of creating a "team of identikit people", an expert has said. Rachel Krys, campaign director for the Employers Forum on Age (EFA), noted that the recruitment industry can choose which candidates should fill positions according to how old they are. This is because they attempt to guess what their clients may be looking for according to the existing team, she explained. If a company's staff members are mostly in their thirties, for example, a recruiter is likely to look for someone of a similar demographic, Ms Krys continued. However, employers may be seeking people with creativity or dynamism that could transcend age, she noted. "When you put lots of people who are the same together, it is actually really bad," Ms Krys stated, adding that mixing individuals of different ages can make a "much stronger and much more adaptable team." Her comments followed the release of government statistics which showed that ageism is still the most common form of discrimination in the workplace, with four per cent of people over 50 making complaints about the issue in the last 12 months. Read More at GoYocal Bloomberg July 29 2010 10:26:28 AMU.S. Stock-Index Futures Extend Gains on Drop in Jobless Claims U.S. stock-index futures extended gains after the government reported a bigger-than-estimated drop in jobless claims. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index expiring in September climbed 0.6 percent to 1,108.5 at 8:31 a.m. in New York. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 50 points, or 0.5 percent, to 10,498. Initial jobless claims dropped by 11,000 in the week ended July 24 from a revised 468,000, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington. The number of people receiving unemployment insurance rose, while those getting extended payments declined. The S&P 500 dropped 0.7 percent yesterday after orders for durable goods unexpectedly decreased and the Federal Reserve said economic growth slowed in some areas. The gauge has climbed 7.3 percent in July, headed for its best monthly advance in a year, as more than 80 percent of its companies that have reported so far posted second-quarter results that topped analysts’ estimates. To read more on Business Week, Click Here US News & World Report July 27 2010 03:17:52 PMYou're an expert at something? Hey, congratulations. Now, go become an expert at something else. Most Americans striving to find or keep a job know the sensation: It's getting harder to get ahead, and the demands keep intensifying. Everybody knows how the recession destroyed wealth and derailed careers, leaving millions in a hole they're trying to dig out of. Now we're beginning to see some of the longer-term changes in the way Americans live and work. Some are distressing, but there's also plenty of hope for people who are industrious and willing to do what's necessary to succeed. Unemployment is obviously far too high these days, and likely to stay that way for a couple of years at least. A prolonged "jobless recovery" is likely to depress incomes, spending, and living standards. But it's a mistake to assume that there are no good jobs or that Americans must consign themselves to inevitable decline. Despite a damaged economy, good jobs are emerging for people with the right qualifications. And it's an ineluctable fact of capitalism that wealth can be created by those who are shrewd, determined, or just plain lucky. Even now. The catch is that success these days requires new skills and a degree of toughness that a lot of Americans lack. A recent survey of big companies by consulting firm Accenture, for example, found that the majority plan to hire over the next two years. But not like before. Like many individuals, firms fear that they're failing to keep up with technology and falling behind in a ruthlessly competitive marketplace. Only 15 percent of firms in the survey, for instance, felt that their workers have cutting-edge skills. That means they're interested in hiring talented workers who are able to give them an edge. But few companies plan across-the-board hiring to reverse the mass layoffs of the last three years. Instead, most firms plan targeted hiring to fill their most vital needs--while maintaining a lean payroll in case the economy turns south again. Specific needs vary by company and industry, of course, but some key commonalities apply to many firms. Here are some of the attributes that workers will need to thrive in an austere economy: Agility. When the recession hit, a lot of companies discovered that their workforce was poorly configured for a sharp downturn. Many big firms didn't know enough about their workers' skills to move people where they were needed, for example, so they ended up cutting staff by arbitrary percentages or axing whole departments. Then they realized that they had fired people they needed, along with others they could do without. Now, as companies rebuild, they intend to fix that problem. That means there will be fewer full-time hires and more temporary workers, even among managers and professionals. Companies will hire people for particular projects, for example, and maybe even offer some of the same benefits that full-time staffers get. But they'll also retain the ability to quickly downsize without the trauma and expense of a mass layoff. And they'll move people around more frequently, to best match workers' abilities with the company's needs. Workers will have to get used to less predictable work, more turnover, and careers that could entail several different jobs and even different disciplines. Those who adjust to project-related work without a single, long-term employer could turn out to be appealing hires--and they might learn to enjoy the breaks between jobs. But those who complain about turbulence and insist on a stable, predictable career path could find that nobody's listening--or offering them a job. Skill combos. If you're good at one thing--but only one thing--companies might pass you by. In the Accenture survey, for example, companies said that sales, customer service, and finance were their most important functional areas. But lots of people have that kind of experience, and many of them are unemployed. The way to differentiate yourself--and land that job that 150 people applied for--is to develop and highlight two or three different skill sets, such as IT and strategic planning, or sales and logistics. That will make you more valuable to an employer, especially if they need to shuffle workers around. A 2009 study by consulting firm McKinsey found that the highest earners with the best overall prospects have a combination of valuable skills. That's especially true in global companies that need technical experts who are also good at managing the complexities of international supply chains or a dispersed staff. The more things you're good at, the more reasons you give a company to hire you. Tacit skills. Companies increasingly value intangible qualities that are hard to put on a resume, like informed intuition, judgment under pressure, ease with clients, and problem-solving abilities. These "tacit" or "cognitive" skills tend to come with experience, but they also accrue to people who seek additional responsibility, volunteer for tough assignments, and are willing to take risks. The McKinsey study, for instance, found "an increasing demand for tasks that require human skills complemented by technology." To build these kinds of skills, work with colleagues who seem to have them and volunteer for projects that will force you to learn new things. To highlight these intangibles for a potential employer, line up references from people who can attest to your tacit abilities and find concrete ways to emphasize how you've solved problems or achieved unconventional results.... To Read the rest of the 7 Skills, click here John Schmid of the Journal Sentinel July 21 2010 02:15:00 PMManpower earnings up sharply Manpower Inc., a globally active staffing services company, on Wednesday reported higher-than-expected quarterly earnings as employers around the world turn to temporary hires and contract workers rather than commit to permanent hires in an uncertain environment. "In almost all geographies we are taking market share," Jeff Joerres, chief executive of Milwaukee-based Manpower (MAN), said in a conference call with analysts. The company's net profit in the second quarter rose to $32.7 million, or 40 cents per share, from $16.3 million, or 21 cents a share, a year earlier. Analysts on average expected Manpower to earn 22 cents per share. Sales for the quarter rose 21% to $4.6 billion. "We are constantly monitoring the economic trends and their potential uncertainties," Joerres said. "We have not felt any slowdown as we enter the third quarter." Manpower generates most of its business outside the United States, with France as its single-biggest market. Joerres acknowledged that many forecasters talk of economic uncertainty and potential "bear traps." "Companies right now need to be more agile," Joerres said. Click Here to read more from JSOnline News Admin July 21 2010 11:25:30 AMJob openings are on the rise, while confidence among jobseekers has improved, according to the latest Totaljobs Barometer. The Barometer reveals that the number of jobs available has increased by 6.5% from Q1 2010 to Q2 2010, while each job vacancy received an average of 10 applications, peaking at 26 for secretarial and PA roles. John Salt, director at Totaljobs.com, says: “A slight rise in recruitment has encouraged those in employment to have confidence to seek their next position. This is increasing competition for those out of employment and increasingly pitching the desperate against the ambitious in a two-speed jobs market.” To read this more articles at Recruiter, click here PC World July 14 2010 07:15:00 AMWorking 9 to 5? What a way to make a living--especially because it's not uncommon for the typical workday to stretch to 6:00, 7:00, or even later. But what can you do? You have calls and e-mail to return, meetings to attend, and TPS reports to file. It's enough to drive you crazy, if you let it. PC World — Working 9 to 5? What a way to make a living--especially because it's not uncommon for the typical workday to stretch to 6:00, 7:00, or even later. But what can you do? You have calls and e-mail to return, meetings to attend, and TPS reports to file. It's enough to drive you crazy, if you let it. Don't let it. With the right tools and services at your disposal, you can stop staying late and start leaving the office on time--maybe even early. After all, most bosses don't care where or how you get your work done, so long as it gets done. By following our advice, you'll learn to work faster, not harder. Who knows? Maybe you'll even save enough time to sneak out to an afternoon ballgame.
Master Your To-Do List A good to-do list is the cornerstone of office efficiency. Such a tool can save you from the 4:30 p.m., forehead-smacking realization that you forgot to submit your expense report. (Good luck trying to leave early when that happens.) The trick is finding a to-do system that's more capable than a yellow sticky note affixed to your monitor or a legal pad stuffed into your briefcase. Both are easily overlooked or forgotten; neither can send you a text message when it's time to do something. Enter Producteev, a free Web-based task manager with a few handy perks not found elsewhere. Foremost among them is how it lets you add tasks to your list: You can use the Web, e-mail, instant messaging, or your iPhone--whichever is most convenient at any given time. It can sync your tasks with Google Calendar and add a widget to your iGoogle homepage, too. Since Producteev is available wherever you are, it's easier not only to add tasks but also to review them and receive reminders. The tool isn't perfect--currently it offers no Outlook integration, and you won't find apps for Android or BlackBerry--but it does have some slick social-media features. For example, you can get your coworkers involved and compete in "Who can get the most done?" contests. Check out some of the Web's other task-management heavyweights, as well. Remember The Milk, for instance, has long been a favorite of the Getting Things Done crowd, and it offers companion apps for all smartphone platforms--though you need a Pro account ($25 a year) to use them. Another popular service, Toodledo Pro, offers similar capabilities for $15 a year.
Make Sure Phone Calls Find You Suppose a client calls during lunch. He leaves a message on your office voicemail, which you forget to check until later that afternoon. Turns out there's a crisis that only you can solve, and it's going to take hours. Sure, the client could have called your cell phone, but let's face it: The onus is on you to be available and accessible at all times. That's where a service like Google Voice comes into play. Originally available by invitation only but now open to everyone, Google Voice offers a killer feature for on-the-go business users: a single phone number that can ring all your other numbers (work, home office, cell, and so on), or just the ones you choose. It can also transcribe voicemail into text and deliver those items via e-mail--another great way to make sure you get all your important messages. Another option is Phonebooth, a similar service designed expressly for business users. In addition to automated call routing and voicemail transcription, Phonebooth lets you set up a more businesslike auto-attendant option so that callers can reach specific departments, and it provides a click-to-call widget that you can put on your Website. Both services are free, though Phonebooth OnDemand ($20 a month) adds a bunch of other features that you might find useful, such as unlimited local and long-distance calls.
Automate Repetitive E-Mail Tasks A minute saved is a minute lopped off the end of your workday. Outlook 2010 offers a way to save many minutes throughout your day: Quick Steps. This new feature automates frequently performed e-mail tasks, such as simultaneously replying to and deleting an e-mail message, creating a new message that goes to your entire team, or moving messages from specified senders into a particular folder. Even better, Quick Steps lets you create your own custom "e-mail macros" and then trigger them with just one click.
Keep Interruptions to a Minimum How can you be expected to polish off your projects if colleagues are constantly stopping by to ask questions or chitchat? PCWorld's Dave Johnson has a couple of tips for keeping such interruptions to a minimum, starting with Outlook's autoresponder: "It's not just for when you're sick or on vacation," he says. "Use it to let people know that you're heads-down in a project and won't respond to e-mail or phone calls today." Johnson also recommends buying a pair of headphones. You don't necessarily have to listen to music, but the simple act of wearing headphones creates "some sort of perception that visitors are violating 'private time,' and so they come back later." Continue Reading, Click Here Beth Braccio Hering, CareerBuilder.com July 12 2010 08:00:00 AMDespite many years of experience in the medical field, Betty Robinson had difficulty finding a job when she moved to northern New York. During her unemployment, she decided to boost her skills and sought an online degree from Rasmussen College. Armed with her associate degree in health information technology, she secured a position as a coding clerk six months after graduation. While happy to return to the work force, Robinson notes that she had to regain her confidence. Her biggest concern was trying to quickly learn the system used by her new employer. Challenges face every new employee, but workers like Robinson who are returning to the workplace after prolonged unemployment may have special concerns or expectations. Here are a few ways to get off on the right foot and keep on progressing in the right direction. Getting to know the place While you might be eager to show your knowledge and make an impression on your new colleagues, experts often recommend patience. "Take some time to scan the environment before charging ahead with recommendations for new ways of doing things. Get to know the culture," says Roberta Chinsky Matuson, president of Human Resource Solutions in Northampton, Mass. Observations to make that will help you fit in and maximize your chances for success include: * Noting how people dress. * Studying the structure of meetings, such as who leads and how people contribute. * Getting to know who holds the key to the resources you need to get your job done. * Remembering people's names. * Seeing when people arrive in the morning and how late they stay at night. * Learning how goals and objectives are defined and measured. MORE -- > Click here to read the rest of this article at Careerbuilder.com News Admin July 8 2010 08:00:00 AMEveryone has an opinion on what information an IT resume should include and how it should be formatted. Please share yours. Last week I interviewed Shana Westerman, a recruiting manager with IT staffing firm Sapphire Technologies, for an article on IT resumes. She has a fresh perspective on how to write an IT resume based on her experience matching IT professionals for contract and permanent positions with her IT line manager and IT executive clients. Westerman's thoughts on how to write an IT resume are informed by her need to know as much about a candidate as possible before presenting the candidate to a client. They're also informed by her clients' needs for detailed documentation on prospective employees. I found Westerman's underlying message (be careful who you take resume advice from; make sure it's tailored to IT jobs because not all resume writing advice is) refreshing, thought-provoking and sensible. But I knew some readers would consider her recommendation to write long, detailed resumes heresy, and indeed it stirred controversy (see the comments readers left.) Who knew IT resumes could inspire as much debate and vitriol as President Barack Obama's citizenship or Sarah Palin's viability as a presidential candidate? Everyone, it seems, has an opinion on what an IT resume should look like, and often those opinions contradict each other. For example, some professional resume writers and recruiters say the resume shouldn't be more than two pages while others (including Westerman) say a three or four page resume is fine, especially for a high-level IT executive with several decades of experience. Some job search experts and career counselors recommend including fancy graphics, images or charts to make one's resume stand out. Others say fancy formatting is unimpressive and irrelevant. Hoping to settle this debate over the ideal IT resume once and for all (and to vet Westerman's advice with actual IT hiring managers), I asked the members of the CIO Forum on LinkedIn what they like to see in a resume from a candidate who's applying for a job in their IT department. How long should a resume be? What specific information about the candidate do they want to see? Should the resume include an "executive summary" and/or a list of key technical skills at the top? Do graphics, images, charts or other fancy formatting make a candidate's resume pop? Of the six CIO Forum members who responded to my query, three said a resume should not be more than two pages; one said the number of pages is irrelevant unless it exceeds four; and two said they weren't impressed by fancy formatting or graphics. Now, Career Connection readers, I'd like you to weigh in. What do you want to see on an IT resume? (I realize your answers may vary depending on the position--a CIO resume vs. a software developer resume vs. a business analyst resume.) Is it a crime if a resume is four pages long? What can a candidate do to make his or her resume stand out? To read the comments and leave your own at CIO.com, click here News Admin July 7 2010 12:28:50 PM Ideally, everyone would view the job search as an exciting and invigorating opportunity. In reality, the process can be stressful, exhausting and emotionally draining, particularly when coping with rejection, financial hardships or uncertainty about the future. It’s important to realise that job searching doesn’t have to be a negative experience. Richard Deems and Terri Deems, co-authors of “Make Job Loss Work for You,” say people can take several small steps toward a faster, more rewarding job search.“Candidates who are out on the streets talking and meeting with people are those who maintain their energy and confidence,” they explain. “On the other hand, those who sit back at home and merely mail out their résumés are often those who get discouraged. The feedback they get during the job search comes from receiving either no response or some form of a rejection letter. With each rejection letter, the body cringes and shrivels a little bit more.” Here are their tips on how to maintain good focus in job search. Find office: Make this a place where you can take calls, handle correspondence and keep track of your research and other information. A separate room works best, but even a corner in the basement can help. You will need a desk, chair, phone, computer, Internet access, space to file materials and information, and space to work. It doesn’t have to be fancy, but it does need to comfortable and provide you with the privacy needed to direct your plan for action. When you are in this space, you are “at work.” Normal schedule: Don’t sleep late. Get dressed each morning just as if you were going to be out talking to people, because you probably will. One successful person with whom we worked sat down at his “office” every morning at 7:30 am, coffee in hand, and read the local and national newspapers, just as he had for 10 years prior. Physical fitness: Some people jog, walk, play golf, lift weights, dance or do other forms of exercise. The important thing is that you’re doing something. Remember, exercise helps relieve stress and anxiety and enables you to think more clearly. Exercise also releases body chemicals that help keep depression away. If you’re a bit overweight, the extra exercise can help reduce the pounds and simply help you feel better about yourself. Eat right: Eat balanced, reasonably sized meals. Excessive coffee can increase tension and appetite. Excessive alcohol can dull your thinking ability, plus add weight. Excessive sweets and sugars can increase tension and irritability.
Set goals: Keep a record of your activity. People who devote four to eight hours to their job search per day get new jobs faster than those who devote only a few hours each week. Take time on Mondays to set up these goals, and time on Friday to review your progress.
Look good: First impressions are important, and you will want to look good. For some, this may mean buying a new interviewing wardrobe. An investment in an interviewing wardrobe can often have a tremendous payback in terms of higher salary in the next position. Click HERE to link to original article as it appeared in the Daily Monitor News Admin July 6 2010 10:30:00 AMA recruiting manager with an IT staffing firm warns IT professionals to use the resume advice they get from the local employment office, outplacement firms and professional resume writers at their own risk. Recruiters, professional resume writers and other career experts give out tons of advice on how best to write a resume that will stand out from the competition. Their intentions are noble—they want to help people land jobs—but the problem with their advice is that it doesn't always apply to IT professionals and the nature of the work they do, says Shana Westerman, a recruiting manager with IT staffing firm Sapphire Technologies. "People go to the unemployment office or they go to outplacement resume writers who don't give advice that is applicable to the IT field," she says. Westerman notes that IT resumes are different from resumes for professionals in other fields because IT workers have to capture a range of skills—both technical and functional—on their resumes. Because technology changes so rapidly and because so much IT work is project-based and involves "so many moving parts," generic resume writing advice can do a great disservice to IT professionals, says Westerman. Westerman sees first-hand how generic resume writing tips play out on IT professionals' resumes. She screens, on average, 300 resumes per day searching for IT workers to place with her clients, who are IT line managers and executives at large and midsize companies looking for contract and permanent employees. Westerman says many of the IT resumes she gets from job seekers are too short on specifics for her and her clients' needs. When she finds a candidate whom she thinks would be a good match for a client, she says she often has to ask the candidate to beef up his resume with more information about his skills and experience. "You're not going to meet with a [hiring] manager if your resume doesn't get you the meeting. Your resume is the one and only tool that gets you an interview," says Westerman. She adds that even when she advocates for a particular candidate, the client still wants to see on the candidate's resume all of the capabilities she's mentioned. "If they don't see what I say on the candidate's resume, their interest will wane," Westerman notes. Here, she shares the generic resume advice IT professionals should run from: 1. Your resume should not exceed two pages. Westerman's views on IT resumes are as much influenced by the complex nature of IT jobs as they are by the competitive labor market. She believes that the recession and the multitudes vying for tech jobs has changed the nature of IT resumes. The IT hiring managers Westerman serves aren't interested in short summary documents, she says. They want details, details, details, and often that means a three- or more page resume. With so many people applying for IT jobs, Westerman says her clients want to be able to make informed decisions about which candidates are worth interviewing based on a resume that communicates the technologies with which an IT professional has worked, the depth of experience they have with each technology, the size and scope of the projects on which they've worked, and how they achieved various accomplishments, she says. "They look for details so they don't have to make assumptions about what people did," Westerman says of her clients. "They want to see in black and white that certain skill sets are definitely held by this person. They want to be crystal clear on what this person is capable of doing and what they've done in the past." Click to continue reading at CIO.com |
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