Contract Recruiter

A major client of mine in Northern NJ is in need of an experienced Recruiter to fill in for 3-4 months who will be responsible for the sourcing of high profile professionals for a variety of positions. Areas to be covered include Finance and Accounting, I.T., Publishing, Sales, etc. Please contact me if you, or someone you know, is interested.

Mixed Reviews

2010 is proving a bit hard to read on the job front thus far. This past week, I reached out to clients in a variety of industries and found things have a very long way to go yet. Medical device manufacturing seems strong as usual; finance and accounting are very weak; publishing is a bit healthier; machine and equipment manufacturing are a bit better than a year ago; while I.T. looks like it has a long and slow trip to recovery. Too many people I chatted with sounded exceptionally concerned about thier futures and were not positive about what they are hearing from the White House or, in the local sector, from Governors Christie or Patterson.

News reports came out yesterday that unemployment rates are climbing because many folks who had stopped looking for work are now trying again. Does this mean that because you take a break from searching for a few months our federal government does not count you as unemployed. Something is terribly wrong with that concept. I was a supporter of change in Washington in 2008 but not very impressed with the results so far. We need to see the real numbers, not manipulated information.

Personally, I was fortunate to start three consultants on new assignments this week so I do see a tiny ray of light shining through! I cannot wait for the day that we are all talking about the great strides beingmade toward recovery! Let's hope that is very soon.

I Am Not Your Buddy!

Never call a recruiter or hiring manager and start the conversation with, "hey Buddy, I saw your ad online for a Database Analyst (insert whatever job title actually fits) and wanted to find out how to apply for it Dude!" I guarantee that you will never get a chance at any job I might be recruiting for if that is your standard method of operation. The line I quoted above is not a dramatization, it is an actual call I received this past Thursday!

While not entirely fair, I may have been a bit more lenient if the caller was fresh out of trade school looking for their first job. Most likely, I would have taken a few moments to explain why this behavior was not a good choice. Unfortunately, this candidate apparently had about 15 years of I.T. experience and had to know better. To think this is the norm would be absurd but I must share that the quality of phone calls I receive are nowhere near what they were even two years ago.

Please think before you talk and definitely plan out your call in advance. Professionalism is not dead and is essential to a great job search!.

The Over Qualified Dilemna

For months, employers have told me they do not want entry level candidates but they also do not want people with more than 15 years experience. of late, tyhe desired range has closed even more and they are looking for on average, 3-7 years experience. This is bugging me 24/7 since most of the unemployed are either those recently out of college or those who have worked anywhere from 15-30 years. The question I keep asking myself is why would a company not take advantage of such a seasoned work force at affordable prices and/or hungry recent grads?

The second part is easy. With all the cutbacks, trainers are now readily available to train the new kids on the block right now. The second part is tougher to swallow and I got some help from three trusted clients. One is the president of his business, another is a very seasoned HR Recruiter, and the third is the on site staffing manager for a search firm inside a huge company.

All three painted the same picture. Thanks to the massive downturn we have experienced, companies are becoming very creative in combining multiple tasks under one umbrella job. For example, a purchasing manager needs to also serve as an inventory analyst, a materials planner, production planner, buyer, procurement specialist, raw materials coordinator, etc. An I.T. project manager needs to be able to look at competitive analysis models, web architecture, software purchasing, product development, programming, hardware analysis, etc. An equipment designer must understanding pre-sales engineering, analysis of competition's product design, limitations of suppliers to deliver raw materials, production requirements, etc.

My experts all told me that folks in the industry more than 15 years tend to be reluctant to adapt to these situations and reject the need to cross from one platform to another. The challenge to those who need to return to the workforce is to study all the latest trends in their field of expertise and show up at interviews with a game plan of how they will break this mold!