Buyer Needed in Northern NJ

Please mention this blog site when you reply!
Our client has a long term contract opportunity for a Buyer with 6-10 years experience in procurement, supplier management and strategic sourcing in a medical device or implant industry or a similarly regulated environment; Bachelor's Degree in Finance, Business or similar field of study; MBA is a plus but not required. CPM certification is needed. ISM, NAPM, and/or APICS certs are helpful to have. Experience in application of internet/reverse auctions preferred. 4+ years sourcing experience needed, global strategic sourcing highly desired. PLEASE NOTE: Candidates must live within about a one hour commuting range of Bergen County NJ to be reviewed for this opportunity! Qualified candidates should submit resumes and at least one reachable reference from each of their last 3 employers to Harold Levin via email at harold@smartstaff.jobs.SmartStaff Personnel, 908-508-0300, ext.205.

Missing In Action

Are you out of work?... Have your unemployment benefits run out?... Do you have a ton of unpaid bills?... Were you forced to take a low paying job just to stay somewhat afloat?... Without any doubt, is this the worst time you have experienced in your professional life?...

Let me guess, many of you answered yes to most of these questions? If that is true for so many people, why on earth are folks not showing up for interviews? I know of at least four cases in the last month where people with great backgrounds and skill sets simply never appeared for scheduled meetings. Life happens and emergencies develop but that is why cell phones and email were invented (well at least one of the reasons they came along)!

Keep in mind that the person you bl0w off today might hold the key to opportunity somewhere down the road. I remember being blow off years ago and putting the key in my back pocket a few years later!!

Simple Logic

Simple logic says that if someone is unemployed, and has been for an extended time, that the prospects of a contract opportunity, no matter what the pay rate, would be worth considering. This past week has given me the chance to have this conversation repeatedly and the results have underwhelmed me. Of course, a few realistic folks have jumped at the chance to be considered but more than half have declined because they are insisting on making the same salary they were laid off at perhaps 3 years ago. Wouldn't we all wish the world had not changed? Sadly, that is not reality and it is time to get real about prospects for the near future.

A potential candidate called me yesterday about a posting I had placed which gave a range of $25-37 hour for a supply chain professional from the manufacturing sector. She was a displaced CPA from the financial world who had some related experience going back over 10 years ago. The first thing she told me was she expected to earn over $100 an hour for the posted job and my rate must have been incorrect! After explaining the current facts of life and ascertaining she had been out of work for well over a year, it became apparent she was inflexible and the conversation stopped.

There is not a professional recruiter out there who likes paying people less than market value but the truth is that there is no market value right now. Whatever the employer feels they could afford has become today's market value.

Engineering Manager Needed!

I have a client in Northern NJ in need of a very hands-on Electrical Engineering Manager (PLCs, BSEE helpful). Please contact me either via this blog or via harold@smartstaff.jobs (refer back to this blog please!) and I will be in touch to discuss the details.