Saturday, November 28, 2009

Some Suggestions

Last Thanksgiving, I never would have thought the economy would still be as flat as it is. President-elect Obama appeared to hold the keys to some level of turnaround but sadly they seem to be stuck in his pocket (at least for now). My fellow alum of Franklin and Marshall College, Mary Schapiro, also showed a lot of promise to turn things around but not much is happening.

With all this now off my chest, there are still things you could do to energize your job search. Check around your community for job seeker support groups or networking groups related to your profession. Find a local career coach to help you discover attributes you never realized you possessed! Get out and do some volunteer work, making sure you have your resume nearby as you never know who might be volunteering alongside you. Remember to let those around you such as members of the clergy, relatives, people in your bowling league, people you chat with at the bagel shop, etc. know you are on the market.

Keeping active, positive, and invigorated will make the difference during such difficult times. Good luck!

Friday, November 27, 2009

Why?

When my daughter was just a toddler, she loved to answer questions with "why?" No matter what we told her the answer immediately was responded to with another "why?."

Today, after reading through the replies to a posting I listed for an engineering manager, I must ask "why?" "Why" would someone with 29 years as the manager of a commercial real estate firm respond to this posting when it clearly requested only candidates with a BSEE plus hands-on electrical engineering and project management experience. As I keep preaching, read the entire job posting before submitting your resume!!!!!!!

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

December is NOT Hopeless for Job Hunting!

There are lots of people related to the placement and recruitment industry who have always blown off December as the worst job hunting month of the year. Definitely, one could anticipate that might be true of 2009 but do not throw in the towel just yet!

Numerous companies are stretched the thinnest I have ever seen. One or two resignations and they might not be able to function at all. As hard as it is to hire right now, a few clients have told me they are at this point. The dilemma is that fiscal years are about to turn over and adding head count to the roles at a time that brings back ugly memories of the Hoover administration (no, I was not there but have heard plenty of stories!) is not a great decision. In the past week or two, some of my customers have hired contract staff with the glimmer of hope that they might convert them to permanent staff shortly after we enter 2010.

My latest groan is aimed at the unemployed professionals who turn their noses up at these opportunities. While living on government checks seems good right now, the clock is ticking faster than ever and your resume is growing older every single second you remain out there. Take a shot at helping a company and getting your back into circulation. Not only will it replenish your bank account and rebuild your resume, it will add some adrenalin to your self esteem!!! Happy Thanksgiving to all !!

Monday, November 23, 2009

Breaking News?

News services seem to be spreading a report that the job market will experience major growth in the second quarter of 2010. If true, that is very positive news but I have not read much to substantiate this yet. Also, that leaves about 5 more months of hard times ahead of us. Could it be that Washington wants to give us reason to shop till we drop on Black Friday? Not me! If you are unemployed or under employed, take a walk back to the office areas of the major stores on Friday and see if you could fill out an online job application. Should things get perky this weekend, many of them will start looking for seasonal help which could keep you earning money into early January and perhaps lead to some sort of permanent position!! I keep reminding myself we must all remain positive no matter what!

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Social Networking??

A friend of mine asked me if my clients check out their candidates on Facebook before making a hire. Honestly, I do not have a solid answer to that. Most people do have Facebook set up so no one can enter without their permission but we all know there are tons of ways to break down electronic firewalls! My recommendation is do not mix business and pleasure. Use sites like Facebook and MySpace for fun only. Maintain profiles on LinkedIn, Plaxo, etc. for professional purposes. Getting back to Facebook for a moment, keep it clean and mature because you never know who might drop in for a visit!

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

How Far Can We Cut?

The Governor-Elect of NJ, Chris Christie, is talking about massive budget cuts as he begins his transition into office. Pennsylvania's Department of Higher Education is ready to increase class sizes and increase tuition bills by up to 10%. Many listener supported radio stations are on the verge of replacing live, local programs with satellite feeds from parts unknown. Medical practices are reducing office hours and referring patients to terribly overcrowded emergency rooms. Public schools are being forced to limit the number of students learning musical instruments. The list is endless. My question to all of you is when will we cut too far and permanently damage our nation?

Monday, November 16, 2009

Passionate Every Day!

Paul Grzella is an editor with Gannett Newspapers. He is from exactly the same age group that I am and wrote a piece today about feeling as passionate about the newspaper industry today as he was 26 years ago when he began his career. Paul spoke about this to a local group of college students and realized that the key to success is loving what you do every day regardless of outside factors, changes, and influences. Being in the print media world must be extremely challenging today as so many folks grab their news online, via twitter, from their cell phones, etc. My fear is that lots of us work in fields that are going through unfathomable evolutions and that we all walk around expecting a pink slip at any moment. I am a firm believer in the school of thought that those who give 150% to something they love doing will be provided for somehow no matter what. So, what the heck? Give your best performance each and every day!

Thursday, November 12, 2009

ETC.

  • The number of candidates in Southeastern PA (Northampton, Lehigh, Berks counties) applying for jobs in North Jersey is on the rise. At the same time, less from CT and NY are filtering in to me. Could this mean the job market is starting another shift where it gets healthier up north then moves across the country? Let's hope this is true!
  • Has anyone picked up rumblings from their HR people about the potential impact of the impending national health insurance reform on their insurance coverage and costs?
  • I wonder how the projection of 100K additional troops to Afghanistan over the next three years will effect the economy.
  • News services are reporting that retailers are hiring less seasonal help and looking into paying overtime to existing staff. From personal experience, this may be a huge mistake as the stress of holiday crowds and challenging customers will wear down folks working 50-60 hours a week and reduce quality of customer service at the worst possible time.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Before I Forget Again!

It has been my intention to bring up an old pet peeve about resumes and I am striking while my memory is working! Check your contact information carefully and also keep it up to date. Roughly five times a week, I find email addresses that bounce and phone numbers that are no longer in service. This is absolutely not acceptable and will cause you to miss out on the precious few opportunities that exist today. Please check your resume over right now!!

Memo to Temps

More and more people are returning to the workforce as temporary contractors. This is an excellent way to get yourself back into circulation, earn some decent money, and hopefully audition for a permanent job down the road. The key is to remember that a temp job is just that and that you must put on the best audition possible each and every day. There is a tendency to begin to feel at home too soon and I find that many temps receive rave reviews the first several months but become complacent and run-of-the-mill around the time the client begins considering them for permanent (whatever that term means) opportunities. Simply put: your audition is never over so keep up the same level of excellence each and every day!

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Positions I Need to Fill!

Two contract jobs with Northern NJ Clients:
  • Paralegal with background in royalties and/or leasing, preferably in a corporate setting.
  • Engineering Manager who has progresses from an Electrical Engineer to a Project Engineering Manager. knowledge of equipment manufacturing industry is a plus.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Catching up!

My apologies for a silent stretch. Between the World Series and aggravating an old back injury, the days flew by! By the way, chiropractic medicine looks to be a very busy field for anyone looking for a new career direction.

The economy seems to be roughing up the job market again. Job openings are allegedly out there but employers are really struggling to replenish the empty workstations and cubicles that have developed over the past 18 months. My honest reaction is there is this imaginary cloud sitting over hiring authorities just waiting to lash out with thunder and lightning and gusty winds if they do not select the most perfect candidate out there. Guess what? Bring on the storms because that perfect individual most likely is not available!!! The downturn we are enduring has reshaped the candidate pool for better or for worse.

Earlier today, a consultant I dealt with a while back phoned me. He had been doing some web design but the company changed directions and eliminated his contract. For well over 20 years, he was a mainframe guru who shifted with the times a few years back. All of a sudden, MF COBOL jobs are starting to pop up but he gets turned away everywhere he goes because he hasn't used COBOL in the last 6 months!! I hate to break this to hiring managers, COBOL programmers have mostly been doing other stuff the last 3-4 years so they could put food on the table and pay their bills. That doesn't mean they forgot what to do.

Someone needs to tell the executives of corporations large and small that they need to start ramping up NOW!! Whether it is President Obama, VP Biden, SEC Chair Mary Schapiro, or Bill Parcells (what the heck!!), somebody needs to make the clouds fade away!!