Every quarter, FPC surveys professionals to gain insights on their perspective on workplace issues and trends. Today’s report is published as part of FPC’s 2011 Year in Review, which includes a special video interview with Marc Cenedella, founder & CEO of TheLadders.com, regarding the state of recruiting in the economic recovery.
Of the approximately 1,500 professionals who responded to the survey, a strong majority indicated that they were planning to look for a new job when the job market improves (79%). Half of the survey responders felt that they had gained marketable skills and lack advancement opportunities in their current position. Employers’ actions in tough economic times seem to be playing a role in employees’ plans for 2012, as 28% indicated they would move on at least in part due to how their employer treated its employees during the recession, while 8% stated that they were well treated and planned to stay put. Continuing insecurity caused 10% of respondents to indicate they were being cautious and waiting for even greater improvements in the job market before seeking out other opportunities.
Additionally, over two-thirds of the respondents who were unemployed at the time of the survey felt that their employment status did not impact the hiring decision of the employers with whom they interviewed. Within the 24% of respondents who indicated that they thought employers were reluctant to consider them due to their unemployment, 8% were specifically told that being unemployed put them at a disadvantage compared to other job candidates.
Finally, respondents proved relatively indifferent to work-life balance perks either as a selling point for a new position or as a “keeping” feature for their current employment. Half of respondents indicated that perks such as casual Fridays, free lunches, and company-sponsored events were important to them, but would not dissuade them from considering a new position that did not offer them. 41% of respondents replied that it did not matter to them whether their employer offered those perks.
Responders surveyed during the months of October, November, and December 2011, across all industries and job levels, answered the following questions:
“Are you planning to look for a new job when the job market improves?”
28% Yes; my company wasn’t very good to its employees during the recession and I want to move on
51% Yes; I’ve gained marketable skills and I don’t see room for advancement here
8% No; my company handled its workforce very well during the recession and I want to stay
10% No; the job market is still too tenuous and I want to be cautious
3% No response
“If you are currently unemployed, do you feel that potential employers may have been reluctant to hire you due to your unemployed status?”
8% Yes; I was told in an interview that being unemployed put me at a disadvantage against other candidates
16% Yes; no one mentioned this specifically, but the interviewer(s) seemed to continuously probe about my unemployment
44% No; my experience and skills seemed well received and my unemployed status wasn’t a topic of conversation
25% No; the interviewers all seemed very understanding about the impact of the recession on employers
7% No response
“In thinking about company culture, how important are work/life balance perks, such as talent shows, casual Fridays, company sponsored movie night, and free lunch etc?”
50% These things are important to me; but are not deal breakers when looking for a new employer
3% These are great selling features and I would not work for a company that did not offer them
6% These are great keeping features and are one of the reason why I like my employer
41% It does not matter to me whether my employer offer these perks
Ron Herzog, CEO & President of FPC, said, “As the economy and the job market continue to improve for college-educated management professionals, we’re seeing a level of pent-up demand for career change that candidates may have put off over the past couple of years due to economic uncertainty. Despite much of the negative commentary we all hear these days, employers are finding that they need to compete to attract and retain their top talent. Companies should be thinking about this in a proactive way.”
About FPC
FPC is a national executive search firm with close to 70 franchise offices. Since 1959, FPC recruiters have been committed to bringing together the right individual with the right opportunity. FPC conducts research to provide the most current advice and information to job candidates and client companies. FPC press releases share pertinent results with the public. For information about FPC, call 800-886-7839 or visit http://www.fpcnational.com.
Posted in Job Search Jobs by .
Jan 12
11
Unemployed Are More Optimistic
Image via CrunchBase
Latest from The Business Journals Top 25 ‘oddball’ job interview questions from 2011From quirky to crazy: ‘Oddball’ job interview questions 25 ‘oddball’ job interview questions for 2011 Follow this company ., and they have some reason to be. Glassdoor reported that 21 percent of unemployed job seekers in a survey said it was “unlikely” they’d find work in the next six months. That’s down 11 points from the previous quarter, when 32 percent reported that bleak outlook. It’s also the lowest level of pessimism since Glassdoor started this survey in 2008.
People may be more optimistic because of other good news about the job market. Chicago’s Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. Latest from The Business Journals Houston CEO turnover increased slightly in 2011Holiday retail hiring almost healthyU.S. unemployment nears 3-year low; 200,000 jobs added in December Follow this company reported that planned job cuts by U.S. employers fell in December to 41,785, the lowest level since June. The 606,082 job cuts in 2011, though higher still than 2010’s 529,973, were quite a bit lower than the recession high mark of 2009, when 1.3 million jobs were cut.
Government sector job cuts — there were 183,064 of them — accounted for most of the increase in 2011. The financial sector came second, with 63,624 cuts in 2011.
John Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, said looming U.S. Postal Service U.S. Postal Service Latest from The Business Journals American to lay off 150, cancel 2 routesAquilent extends USPS workAquilent extends Postal Service work Follow this company cuts mean the public sector will likely keep struggling to recover, though. “Involuntary layoffs at the Post Office could total as much as 120,000, according to one plan, with another 120,000 lost through attrition,” he said.
Read more here: BizJournals.com
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Jan 12
6
The Black Unemployment Rate
Image by Sean MacEntee via Flickr
For the country as a whole, the unemployment rate fell in 2011. That’s good news, right?
Not so much for African Americans.
As the economy slowly improved last year, the unemployment rate fell for both whites and Latinos.
But at the end of the year the black unemployment rate was 15.8 percent, exactly where it started out 2011, according to the government’s December jobs report released Friday. That’s a sharp contrast to the white unemployment rate, which fell to 7.5 percent last month.
Read more here… Local 10 News
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Industry leading online marketing and local SEOservice provider, 29 Prime, announced the creation of over 200 positions to support its recent expansion. The positions are located in its sales, customer service, technology and recruiting departments. Anyone interested in these positions can apply onl
Image by kevindean via Flickr
ine by going to 29 Prime Jobs to apply.
The new staffing will support 29 Prime’s continued growth in providing online marketing and advertising services to small businesses nationwide. 29 Prime helps a wide spectrum of businesses from local attorneys and accountants to plumbers and electricians.
“We are really excited about our growth prospects,” said Tony Redman, 29 Prime COO. “Our success enables us to provide jobs to the City of Irvine and the greater Orange County area to help lower its unemployment rate from where it is at over 8%.”
29 Prime provides extensive training and a comprehensive benefits package to all its positions. The jobs at 29 Prime are a great opportunity for people to learn new skills in the fast growing social media, mobile marketing and local search business segments. 29 Prime has a full suite of services that address all 3 areas known in the industry as Social, Mobile and Local advertising and marketing.
“While we are hiring from the community at large, we are making some targeted efforts to recruit returning veterans from Afghanistan and Iraq,“ said Redman, “We want to do what we can to help Veterans transition back into the workforce. It is our way of saying thanks for supporting America.”
ABOUT 29 PRIME – 29 Prime ( http://www.29prime.com ) specializes in increasing small and medium-sized local businesses visibility on the Internet. The company guarantees front page placement on Google search or the service can be free after 60 days and also offers placement on Yahoo & Bing, as well as other value-added services, such as Video SEO, Coupons, Facebook, and Twitter. 29 Prime uses proprietary technology that makes it a leader in ensuring that clients remain on the front page week after week. Headquartered in Orange County, CA, the company has numerous sales offices located throughout the United States and abroad.
Posted in Job Search Jobs by .
Dec 11
30
Stealth Job Search
With more than 66% of employers monitoring employee email use (according to an American Management Association study), great care needs to be taken to prevent job loss while job hunting.
Top 10 Stealth Job Search Tips
1. Don’t openly job search. That’s a good way to get fired.
It’s called a “stealth job search” for a very good reason. It needs to be very low profile. Don’t share job search plans and progress with colleagues or co-workers. “Loose lips sink careers.”
2. Job search at home. Not at work – not even during “personal time.”
Employees have no guarantee of privacy – even during their “personal time” at work, during breaks or at lunch time. Many employers monitor use of e-mail, Web surfing habits, voicemail messages, and even use of services like personal Gmail accounts.
3. Use a personal or other non-work e-mail address to for job search.
Using a current employer’s name, address, and phone numbers as contact information is a very good way to blow a job seeker’s “cover,” and makes it impossible to stay in touch if the job seeker leaves or loses their job.
4. Follow employer “social media use” and “Internet use” policies.
Employer policies should define what is acceptable and what is not. If the employer has them, smart employees pay attention. It is not safe to assume that a lack of policy means an employer doesn’t care or isn’t paying attention.
5. Keep a low electronic profile of the job search.
Don’t announce the job search in Twitter, a blog, Facebook, LinkedIn, or an elist. Don’t post on every job board or send to every network contact – widely distributed resumes can so easily end up in the wrong hands.
6. Carefully raise personal visibility, online and off.
Look for boss and co-workers profiles on LinkedIn via a company search to see if they it is “safe” to use. Slowly create a 100%complete LinkedIn Profile and Google+ Profile. Join local professional and business organizations, and be an active member.
7. Disguise the current employer’s name on the resume.
A job search can be “outed” when someone at work (boss, co-worker) discovers an employee’s resume on Monster or CareerBuilder, etc. So, disguise the current employer’s name (e.g. “IBM” morphs into “Multinational Information Technology Company,” etc.) on posted resumes.
8. Let Google and Indeed send opportunities to the personal email account.
Develop a list of potential employers, and set up free alerts through Google Alerts and Indeed Alerts to have new opportunities sent to the personal email account.
9. Use the “confidential” setting when posting a resume at a job site.
When using job sites, be sure the resume is designated as “private” or “confidential.” See Job-Hunt’s Cyber-Safe Resume article for tips on converting your resume to one that will protect your privacy and your job.
10. Add a personal/non-work email address to the LinkedIn Profile.
LinkedIn allows more than one email address to be associated with a Profile, and having both a work and a personal email address will protect against loss of the Profile if the job is lost.
Find more information about safe and effective online job searching at Job-Hunt.org, a favorite site of Dick Bolles, author of “What Color is Your Parachute?”.
For more on Stealth Job Search, visit Job-Hunt.org.
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Wrong. In fact, this is a misconception of epic proportion, says Ford R. Myers, president of Career Potential and author of “Get the Job You Want, Even When No One’s Hiring.”
“People have this mistaken belief that everyone is on mental vacation during the holidays, and that nobody is focused or thinking about hiring,” Myers says. “The perception is that everyone turns their brain off after Thanksgiving, and that’s a myth.
“[In addition, job seekers] get very busy with additional activities, parties, and gifts to buy. They feel like they just can’t handle it, so they put their job searches on hold, because ‘nobody’s hiring anyway, so why bother.’ It’s a circular thing … one leads back to the other,” he says.
The holiday season is actually the time to amp up your job search, because companies have the money to hire and your competitor job seekers aren’t on their game. Not only that, but “it’s the holidays” is a built-in excuse for getting back in touch with people who could potentially help you land that dream position.
Here are some of Myers’ career tips for the holiday season, including a couple for happily employed people:
Take contract work, retail work and temporary work. Myers has many executive-level clients doing temporary work or retail jobs during the holidays to tide them over. He advises that these seasonal jobs are a good way to get a foot in the door with a company, even if the actual job is below your level. “I have an executive client delivering packages at UPS, and now he’s a known commodity. Maybe he’ll wind up getting a professional position,” Myers says.
Network. Whether it’s with a phone call or a holiday card, make contact with everyone in your network to catch up and let them know you’re looking. And attend every social event you’re invited to, even your alumni association Christmas party.
Volunteer. Soup kitchens, clothing drives and other non-profits are always looking for extra hands during the holidays. “Volunteering makes you feel good and allows you to give back, but on a more selfish note, you’ll make contacts with other volunteers,” Myers says. “It’s a whole new network of people.”
Do a “career inventory” on yourself. If you’re happily employed, the holidays are still no time to lay down on the job. Make a list of tangible accomplishments from the year, think about your plans moving forward and consider what new challenges you’ll take on in the year ahead. And make sure you get that year-end review with your boss.
Interview. “At this time of year, even if you’re comfortable in your job, interview for other jobs anyway to gauge your value in the marketplace,” Myers says. “You don’t want to get rusty and complacent in your job, and it improves your interviewing skills.
“And what if they make you an offer that’s $40,000 more than you’re making now?” he adds. “Even if you don’t take the job, that tells you something.”
Source: Chicago Tribune
Posted in Career Advice by .
Image via Wikipedia
Updated: December 13, 2011, 6:28 AM
WASHINGTON — Joblessness has declined far less than firings since the recession ended in 2009, creating a record divergence that shows companies lack the confidence to hire.
At 8.6 percent in November, unemployment has fallen 1.5 points from a 26-year high of 10.1 percent in October 2009. By contrast, claims for jobless benefits, which track staff cuts, have decreased 40 percent since peaking at an average 652,500 in the four weeks ended March 27, 2009, to 393,300 in the period ended Dec. 3.
Scarce jobs represent a threat to household incomes that risks pushing the world’s largest economy into a self-reinforcing cycle of meager gains in spending and employment. That is one reason President Obama is pushing to extend a payroll tax cut that he says will spur purchases and push employers to look for more help.
“The pace of hiring is just so much below prior norms,” said Julia Coronado, chief economist for North America at BNP Paribas in New York. “There’s just a lack of demand in the economy. That explains the wedge between the jobless claims and the unemployment rate.”
To read more (Source): <a href=”http://www.buffalonews.com/business/article670762.ece”>Buffalo News</a>
Posted in Jobs by .
Nov 11
19
Job Search Sites
Posted in Career Advice by .
Other Interests: Family, coaching youth sports, golf, fishing and hiking.
This is what I suggested he do:
The “Other Interests” portion of a resume is not necessary. In fact, it is the only aspect of your resume that I think someone might find something to nit-pick about. Why? Some people might worry that since you listed “Family” that you might be more focused on your family than your job. I admire that and I agree that you have your priorities straight if that’s the case, however, some employers expect you to put the job first. You can put your family first without having to “warn” the employer that you are doing so. If a need arises that you have to make a choice between your family and your job, then you should get to make that choice, but don’t let the prospective employer make it for you before you ever get a chance to interview for the job.
Does that make sense?
The other items don’t need to be there either simply because they are possible reasons to exclude you more than they are possible reasons to include you. How can that be? What if the person screening your resume tried to play youth sports and failed miserably – or their father wasn’t around for them? What if the resume screener went on a fishing trip once and fell out of the boat into deep water and it scared him/her so bad that fishing is now considered a hated hobby?
Don’t give the prospective employer any reason to eliminate you. These things DO happen. It’s crazy, but it’s true.
So, now you know the answers, too. Don’t give the employer a reason to exclude you. If you have this section on your resume, consider removing it. There is no sense in getting yourself taken out of contention for a job simply because someone else has a bias.
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You are so much better off writing your resume BEFORE you need it.
Use a proven guideline to lead you through the process so that you don’t waste time wondering what you should list on your resume. One of the best guidelines you can use is shown below. It will show you, step by step, how to create a professional resume.
The information is based on a chronologically formatted resume, but it can be tailored to any format you choose.
The resume guideline:
The Resume Heading. It tells the employer who you are and where to contact you. List your name, address, phone number(s) and email address if you want to be contacted that way. Proofread this carefully to ensure all of the information is completely accurate.
Job Objective. While some experts say this section isn’t necessary, you stand a much better chance of getting the job you are seeking if you tell the employer exactly what position interests you. Sure the cover letter will mention what you are looking for, but what if the cover letter gets separated from the resume? Focus your job objective on the company’s goals and the job position, not your needs and wants.
Education. If you list your education next (you can list your work experience if you think it makes a better impact), be sure to include the name and location of the institution, your course of study, graduation dates (or dates of attendance) and your GPA if it’s good.
Work Experience. This is fairly easy with one exception: the dates of employment. That is what usually drives people the craziest. In this section, write out the name of the employer, your title, the dates you were employed and your work-related responsibilities and accomplishments. Consider that anything which relates to your new job should be at the top of your list so the employer reads that first. If you write that you opened the mail when you also supervised 6 people, you have it backwards.
Activities/Honors. These goodies should have a section of their own and should be listed toward the bottom of the page. Again, if it fits with your job objective, list it. If it doesn’t, but it looks good, use it if you have space.
Other. There are other possible sections you might want to add to your resume. They could include foreign languages, computer experience, volunteer work and professional affiliations. If they apply, use them.
References don’t even need to be mentioned. Everyone knows that if you are asked for references, you can provide them.
So, now you have everything you need to write your resume. Ok, so you have a great guideline for writing your resume. The rest is up to you, your memory and whatever time it takes to get it all in print.
Yes, it’s a bother to have to write a resume, but you have to do it, right? Just get it done. You can do it!
Posted in Resumes by .
Oct 11
18
There are jobs available
“Going forward, labor experts say one of the most troubling trends in the jobs market is the number of long-term unemployed—workers who have been out of work for at least six months and have looked for a job within the last 30 days. Currently, that group includes six million Americans—or 43 percent of the total number of unemployed workers. The average duration of unemployment now stands at about 40 weeks, meaning many job seekers have been unemployed for almost a full year. Experts worry that the long-term unemployed are losing the skills that once made them valuable before they lost their jobs. “[There is] a mismatch between the demands of the job and the qualifications of the applicants,” O’Keefe says. “That mismatch is the reason why willing individuals go unemployed and important jobs go unfilled.” Source: http://money.usnews.com/money/careers/articles/2011/10/05/despite-high-unemployment-millions-of-job-openings
There are jobs available. It’s just that the positions are in fields that folks don’t want to work in or are not trained for. So, how can this be addressed?
Check out the U.S. Department of Labor’s website and see what trends are popping up in various industries and get the training needed to get those jobs. In some cases, it will require education and in other cases it could simply require additional work experience as an apprentice or as an intern – or – even as a volunteer.
There are jobs available.
Posted in Career Advice by .
One of the “kids” was “how far can they creep”? – as though a prospective employer is a monster of some kind.
I see things posted online all the time that I cringe at reading. So much of what we do is open to public scrutiny now. In a way, it IS creepy. At the same time, it is in our control to be vigilant with what we post. Thus, we learn self-control.
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