You Are Who You Are!!

So many people try to change the way they look (hair, botox, nose jobs, dress code, etc.), the way they talk, and sometimes, their entire persona including their professional profile. I am here to tell you just present yourself as you are but in the best way possible. Highlight the great skills you possess, the jobs you have worked at and the education you have acquired. Any attempts to significantly alter anything will be apparent to recruiters and hiring managers so fast that they may not even call you to discuss your resume! If you are unsure how to present yourself, get several opinions from friends, family members, career coaches, colleagues, etc. then sit down and condense the information into the perfect picture of who you are!

ETC.

~ Why are governors across the U.S. beating up on education? Pennsylvania is actually thinking about reducing funding to it's 18 public universities by 50%. I believe it is time for the Supreme Court to get involved and do some investigative work.

~ Japan is certainly in a very difficult situation at the moment but they have some of the best engineers in the world living in their nation so I expect a thorough and efficient recovery.

~ On a related note, P.E.'s in our country should see an upturn in consulting work as every inch of our infrastructure will likely be closely inspected in the immediate future.

~ The economy is still a gigantic roller coaster and I think employment statistics will reflect this ride for at least a few more months.

~ Proprietary education is getting some negative treatment by the media once again. Please investigate your options with an open mind but do not believe every news article you read.

~ I am making alternate plans for Sunday afternoons this fall even if the NFL's players and owners reach an agreement as I am furious at their willingness to ignore our awful economy.

Job Site for South Jersey / Philly

Should you happen to be job hunting in places like Vineland, Somers Point, Elmer, Toms River or even Philadelphia, check out www.newjerseyhelpwanted.com. They have been advertising heavily to bring attention to themselves. From what I saw, they have activity, especially south of the line running from Asbury Park to Trenton, an area usually ignored by most major job search engines. I am always looking for new resources to share!

PLEASE!! WAKE UP!!

As the recession staggers along, candidates continue to amaze me at how unwilling they are to be flexible. Of late, I have been told that, even though out of work for two years, the option of a 3-6 month assignment will not be considered. Also, since this one candidate is the best in their profession, recruiters should be willing to drop everything and do a customized search! Finally, having never commuted more than 10 miles each way, a 15 mile commute is out of the question (imagine the response if I had suggested a 25 mile drive).

These are a few samples of why unemployment numbers are still too high. Yes, jobs are very, very hard to find but candidates absolutely need to realizes they have to meet the hiring company a bit more than half way right now. I dislike this reality as much as anyone (in fact, it gets under my skin daily) but I go back to a term I learned as a management trainee in the very demanding retail field over 30 years ago: WIT - Whatever It Takes! Hopefully, the day will return when the pool of available, high quality candidates is thin again and employers will hustle to hire the best regardless of price but that is not even close to reality in the relatively near future.

Business Coordinator Opportunity!

Things are a little busy this week and I need to find a Business Coordinator with strong SAP Documentation skills who has worked with customer service, purchase orders, procurement issues, reporting, etc. perferrably in an ISO 9000 environment. The job is located in Union County, NJ, is full-time with benefits and decent salary. Send your resume or referrals to harold@smartstaff.jobs and please refer to this blog posting!

Quality Technician Needed

An extremely good client of mine, located in Morris County, NJ, has a need for a full-time Quality Technician to join them on the first shift. Ideally, the candidate should have 2-3 years of in-process testing with knowledge of kinetics, densitometers, and all measurement tools. ISO amd GMP knowledge are pluses. Send resumes (mentioning this blog) to harold@smartstaff.jobs and I will get back to you quickly.

College Degrees

Many people ask me if a college degree will help them get hired faster and for better jobs. My stock answer is that it certainly will not hurt. There are many schools that will assess course work that you have taken in the past and your work history and tell you what is needed to pull it together into a degree. One such school that I know of is Thomas Edison State College (www.tesc.edu) in NJ but there are others. Just make sure the school is accredited before agreeing to work through them to obtain your degree.

Marching Right Along?????

February showed a little positive energy until the last week or so and splat, we are back into doldrums again. Could it simply be that our economy is still struggling to recover even though certain politicians and media types are calling this period post-recession? Perhaps the unrest in the oil producing countries which has created absurd fuel prices here is at fault (President Obama, time to start pumping some of our huge reserves into the system). Do you think the rather unorthodox governors in states like Wisconsin and NJ are actually stunting the economy? Maybe the impending lockout of players by NFL ownership is at fault. The whole Madoff mess obviously has not been forgotten either.

Whatever the cause is, I would really like to see some level of stability in our employment market and the economy overall. Feel free to share your thoughts at any time!