Travel Distance

Not too long ago, I spent almost 3 years commuting from the middle of NJ into Philadelphia each and every day. At first it was not that bad as it was summer time with flowering trees, sun shimmering on the Delaware (not far from where General Washington crossed it), and I was driving with the sun behind me for both ends of the round trip. Winter crept up and made life challenging but I endured 3 winters without missing a single day due to weather. Eventually it wore me down and I was exhausted and took a transfer closer to home.

Recently, candidates have expressed the willingness to travel up to two hours each way to get a decent job. Each time, I relate my past experiences to them and listen for signs that they trully understand the impact it will make on their lifestyles. While I admire and respect those who are literally willing to go the extra mile in their job search, I hesitate to send people unrealistic distances from home. Before saying yes, weigh out all the positives and negatives of your decision.

Tons of Candidates

Hiring managers love to quip that there are tons of candidates out there and they expect staffing firms to find a pile of perfectly matched resumes. Were that truly the case, I honestly doubt hiring managers would be asking us for assistance! There is a huge reason why good recruiters are keeping busy today. Employers want exact fits for their job openings and are unwilling to be the least bit flexible in many cases. The vast majority of unemployed folks have been that way for 18 to 36 months so they undoubtedly will not know all the latest software, methodologies, etc. but are capable of catching up with minimal ramp-up time. A tiny bit of patience will go a very long way toward plugging holes in corporate infrastructures while stimulating (there is that word again!) the economy by putting money into very grateful pockets!

Please note: I would love to hear the viewpoints of hiring managers about this topic and not everyone needs to agree with me. Debates are certainly entertaining!!!

Stimulus??

Almost two years ago we heard grand plans for stimulating the economy with thousands of new jobs. Money was supposed to flow to employers and projects were to be funded to get people back to work. It seems to me that little or nothing has changed for the better. President Obama has not kept his word as far as I can tell. I would love to hear from anyone who believes their lives were improved by stimulus money. Start sending in those life changing stories today!

P.S. If you live in a state where the governor has improved the job market, send me proof of that too!

Solitary Man

Movie reviewing (or viewing for that matter) will never become my vocation as I tend to lose interest and nod off rather fast both at home and in a theater. Last night, I saw a new movie starring Michael Douglass called 'Solitary Man.' Thought provoking and disturbing would be the best terms to describe it. Apart from the fact that seeing the star plus Danny DeVito and Susan Sarandon as 60-somethings made me feel very old, I was intrigued by the writers ability to demonstrate how burning bridges could destroy one's life as well as career. Skeletons were popping up everywhere the character went and would not go away.

While this might be taking it a bit too far, I think the message was driven home fairly well. Watch your step every place you go and with whomever you deal with professionally and socially as your past definitely will get numerous opportunities to catch up with you.

Happy Father's Day!

Candidates Needed!

It is great to be busy and I need your assistance finding some excellent candidates!! Please let me know if you or an acquaintance fit any of the following:

CNC Machinist for the Trenton NJ area with 5-10 years of setup and programming with close tolerances experience and preferably hands-on background with Mazak (or similar) machines. Full time, perm position with excellent benefits & a bonus plan!

Site Remediation Engineers for the Summit,NJ area - mid-level and senior positions. Must know all NJDEP regulations. EIT or P.E. desired. Both are also perm!

Data Support Analyst for the Wayne / Totowa NJ region with excellent SAP and Excel and working knowledge of Supply Chain reporting. Temp-to-perm opportunity.

Please send resumes to harold@smartstaff.jobs, via this blog, or call me at 908-508-0300, ext. 205. When submitting, PLEASE mention this article!!!

Umbrella Needed!

Yesterday, a resume passed through the office (and to the shredder) that was one of the worst I have come across in the last 25 years! It started out by stating the candidate was a 'Rainmaker' who had 'increased by 27000000.' The front page never gave any indication of what the person actually is trained to do or when and where they did whatever it was they were talking about. I never made it to page two!

Truthfully, I doubt the candidate came up with this awful format on their own. I have seen similar (though not quite this dreadful) disaster in recent weeks and suspect someone is charging huge dollars to produce these resumes. Should you decide you need outside help, please read carefully the finished product before accepting ti and paying for it. Resumes in this style will negatively impact your job search and keep you from recharging your career.

Are We There Yet?

Reality has slowly settled in for me and I am ready to admit our economy might never return to what we knew as normal although I believe we find find a new standard and work from there to gradually rehabilitate. Exactly when we will settle down is still a bit hard to predict. Whenever we seem to find ourselves we take another body check from unexpected sources. Theoretically, we are supposed to see light at the end of the tunnel sometime this year. Keep in mind we are almost at the midway point and I just do not see anything that indicates our free fall has ended.

A Legitimate Ranting Session

Today, I realized that I must have buried my head in the sand (interesting, as I do not live near the beach)and thought that when I popped back out the entire populous would be aware of the fact we are in an extremely huge recession. The joke was on me! I chatted with a candidate who has not secured employment in any field for almost a year and has no income coming in. Understandably, she is unhappy not to be able to find a job that matches the $45-50 an hour she used to earn. However, ............... she now wants no less than $75 hourly to make up for her lost income. No way, no how should she even dream of such a thing right now!! We all wish we were earning more than we are but it just will not happen until the economy gets its act together! Realistic goals are essential to get back onto the playing field.

Poor Decision

Last week, I searched for candidates and made several calls, a few of which actually were returned the same day! One individual was extremely upbeat and very interested in the assignment I described. Within 48 hours, the client asked me to schedule an interview with this person. Upon calling the candidate, I started jumping over hurdle after hurdle. First there was the course I was not told about, then a vacation, etc. After convincing the client to accommodate for this meeting, the candidate disappeared for over 4 days then made excuses as to why they needed to back out. Opportunity does not knock often and shutting the door is a huge error!

My Opinion

Every so often, one's brain needs to be cleaned out and today is my turn! Much of what follows only indirectly relates to employment, staff, etc.

The price of certain grocery categories such as pasta, peanut butter, most dairy products, and soda keep rising by leaps and bounds yet I cannot figure out who is profitting from this.

President Obama's response and results regarding the current oil spill in Louisianna are about as ineffective as President Bush was in his attempts to rescue the same general region after Hurricane Katrina. Does this mean the two major parties are equally clueless when a disaster hits our nation?

At a time when our nation is allegedly getting greener and greener most regions are being forced to cut budgets for mass transportation leading to more vehicles polluting the roadways. On a related note, there are not nearly enough hybrid cars being produced and you have to wonder why.

Now I feel better! That's enough rambling and ranting for now!!!!