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!!