Gustav & Other Disasters: What can Recruiters, HR professionals, or job seekers do to help?

First, please join me in sending your thoughts and prayers to the hundreds of thousands of people who are without power, and the two million who were displaced by Hurricane Gustav. As Americans, we can sometimes be a people that idolize extremes in the world, and I hope that the survivors of Gustav get as much assistance, empathy, and attention as is appropriate to such an event. Consider for a moment, wherever you are sitting right now, what your day would look like if you got the call to evacuate with 2 million of your closest neighbors- imagine what the roads were like, the stores, the sidewalks, the bus stations. And tomorrow, if you decide to come back, you'll find windows missing, or holes in the roof that allowed the downpour to flood your home, or your beautiful landscape you worked all summer on ripped from the earth. Of course, you may not have power either, so cleaning up would be a task straight from history.

There are more storms coming- in the form of hurricanes, or forest fires, or blizzards, or tornadoes, or floods... Despite our best efforts, we can never insulate or isolate ourselves from the enormity of earth's environment. Natural disasters, as these are called, and social disasters, including poverty, homelessness, disease, crime..., affect great swaths of our world, our nations, our communities, and our lives. The effects ripple through our families and values, our economy, and our social ego, and can be lasting for years to come.

OK, so I don't mean to bring everyone down first thing on Friday. So, what exactly can HR professionals, recruiters, and job seekers do to help out when disasters like this arise? How can we help our fellow Americans in a time of need? What special skills can we provide that will make a difference?

The company I work for hosts a Louisiana-specific internet job board, and ideas were floated yesterday to see what could be done. I thought I'd share what we are trying to do, along with some other thoughts on what we can do in times like these. Our first thought was that there would be a substantial need for volunteers and assistance in the clean up efforts. We are reaching out to the parishes and community centers that have phones and electricity and offering to post those needs at not cost on our sites. Of course a primary obstacle that we are facing is that many people in the region may not have access to the web, including the government centers. If you are in, or know of anyone in a position to take advantage of this offer, please have them contact the company. Our thoughts were that we could help find and mobilize those who were looking for work, but also cared about helping the community.

As HR professionals, recruiters, advertising resources, and job seekers we all have roles we can play to help out. Below are just a couple ideas that came to me, and I'd love to hear your comments on other ideas you may have.

• Advertising resources: Give freely of your inventory. Go out of your way to reach those who can be reached and find out what information or call for assistance needs to be broadcast. Offer special rates WHEREVER YOU ARE to companies and send a % to the relief or rebuilding efforts in the are. This is a great opportunity for you to join in what Bill Gates discussed in the July 31 issue of TIME- Creative Capitalism.
• Recruiters: Know people who are out of work right now? Blue collar, white collar, or no collar makes no difference- find out what efforts require volunteers, get the details, and pick up the phone to call your candidates. If they are not starting a job today or in the next few days, give them information on how they can put their time to good use. It's not only good for the people in need, but good for the emotional and psychological state of those out of work- and can be a strong resume builder. Use your vast networks to raise money for any relief efforts that you are comfortable with.
  
• HR Professionals: Make it your job to know what support those who are affected by the disaster need. Communicate it to your company, and give detailed instructions on how they can help. Consider suggesting a one-time donation be made today, or give workers transportation to Red Cross stations to donate blood, if money is not an option. Connect with local HR professionals in the area, and start a sister HR partnership to help support any local efforts.
• Job Seekers: Invest in your self and the country by volunteering to assist with any clean up or rebuilding needs. You don't need any special skills aside from the desire to help. Look for ways that you can help either in the area that is affected, or in your own home town. Give Blood. Help load food supplies at food banks. Help answer phones at crisis relief centers. Be involved in crises that affect or country. Doing good plants seeds for goodness to come back to you. Volunteerism is an amazing experience and can help refocus your career choices, and help you build your resume.

Those are just a couple of my thoughts. I hope you'll share your ideas via the comments links. Thanks for taking a moment to take a look at the scenes from the recruiting front lines in the gulf coast.

Hosting your own recruiting open house- YES YOU CAN!

As I spend more time focused on the processes and strategies that the best local businesses use to attract the best local talent, and how the best local talent finds the best local career opportunities, it's clear to me that a face time is one aspect of the recruitment process that is absolutely vital, and cannot be replaced with technology- no matter how fancy, shiny, user friendly, or cutting edge.

Please check out the questions at the bottom, and complete the poll above!

That being said, I also see more and more people relying more heavily on the internet and placing less emphasis on this valuable face time. Face Time does not include video conferences, as a two dimensional image cannot substitute for three dimensional body language. So, if we generally agree that the most valuable form of connecting with other people and identifying the right fit for ourselves and our companies, why this decreased engagement with on-site or in-person career events?

There are some very good reasons, actually. Many feel that job fairs only attract a certain demographic, and if the jobs you have aren't in that demographic, it's perceived to be a waste or time. On the job seeker side, many people see the "same old" companies represented time and again at career events and job fairs, which normally consist or larger national organizations with larger recruiting budgets. Rarely will you find a career fair filled with great, small to mid-sized, privately owned, profitable, growing organizations from a variety of industries. I certainly understand these objections and concerns, and am willing to acknowledge their validity on some level. So, how do you attract the right kind of candidates to fill your current needs, increase your pipeline of talent for future important placements, and identify the next wave of hires for any revolving positions you have?

How about hosting your own career fair or open house at your organization. This practice, once reserved for only the largest employers with a variety of current openings, can be the best way for any business (yes, you're business too!) to find great talent, and actually create the opportunity to share the company's vision. This type of event can be used to truly market what makes your company special in the labor market- your unique employment proposition, if you will. It also allows you to generate interest in your company's service or products to all the attendees that you don't hire.

Job Seekers, whether active or passive, can also reap great benefits from attending such events. This gives you the opportunity to more thoroughly assess the employer as your next destination, and a forum to ask questions and meet employees. Also, because you aren't broadcasting your resume, or attending a larger scale event, there is less likelihood that your co-workers will find out about your wandering eye.

If you haven't executed this type of event, however, there are some very tricky steps and important pitfalls to take note of. When launching an employer hosted open house, the best practice is to include employees from every department in your company (or in the physical location, if you are part of a larger company), so that you can attract a strong group of candidates from all fields. You'll also want to make sure you're screening attendees in advance, so you can plan your time at the event. Communicating the open house is a puzzle as well, as you don't want to rely on any traditional broadcast media. Traditional Broadcast Media can be a good thing for some types of advertising, but it does have its limitations. One, of course is the cost. If your budget only allows for one TV station, or 2 radio stations, then you're limiting your reach to only the people who watch or listen to those stations. There are better ways to reach a wider array of employees.

I have a couple questions that I'd love comments on, and hope you'll also answer the new poll question above.

Have you ever hosted your own career event? If so, did you track your ROI?
What concerns do you have about hosting a career open house?

That's the way it looks to me from the Recruiting Front Lines. Good luck and happy hunting!

The Economy's Effect on the Labor Market

While delivering a presentation recently to a group of employers at the Androscoggin County Chamber of Commerce in Maine recently, it struck me how quickly the perception of labor market conditions have changed. Just two years ago, reports were regularly being cited that showed that by 2010 there would be a significant labor shortage in the US. In fact, according to one report, that shortage was to reach 10 million or more. That's 1o million more jobs than people to fill them.

Now look where we are. I was told by a manager from the RI Dept of Labor and Training that a recent small job fair they hosted at their NetworkRI office attracted more than 600 seekers! According to another source, posted in a report on the SHRM website, the total number of online job postings actually declined in the 1st quarter year over year. This is the FIRST TIME EVER that online postings have declined year over year since they began tracking it.

So, with such an abrupt change of direction, it seems hard to find the reality amidst the propaganda. Were things as good as we thought 2 years ago? Are they as bad as we think now? Or were the labor conditions of both times dramatized for effect? Regardless of those questions, where are we now? I've seen the market shrinking in some sectors, but still growing in others. While I like the idea that a friend suggest to me recently, that if everyone decides not to participate in a recession, it can't happen. So the best way to deal with an economic slowdown is simply not to participate. And this from someone with a Masters Degree in Economics.

So, does anyone have an answer to this question, or a good perspective to share? Is recruiting harder or easier right now. Are companies finding better candidates, or just more? Are passive job seekers less likely to leave the safety of their current situation, or are they feeling insecure and looking for a safety raft?

I won't pretend to be the authority on this matter, or have any specialized or insider information that I'm sitting on. I'm a manager of field operations with an online labor market service. I am lucky enough to see the job markets first hand in New England, and get reports daily from the field in the Gulf Coast. Here's what I'm seeing:

1. Most employers are not directly affected by the market, but expect to be soon. This is driving a slowdown in hiring because of the fear of the unknown. That is, "Business is still pretty good, but I'm not sure what it will be like in a few months, so I'm going to hold off on making and hiring decisions right now."
2. Some employers, particularly those in Non-Profit sectors or who receive funding from the city, state, or federal government are feeling the impact. With reduced spending from consumers, and increasing inflation, tax revenues are down or flat in many areas, leading to cutbacks which affect these companies. Sad to see that those who need the most help are the first to feel cutbacks.
3. Unemployment rates are up virtually everywhere (aside from Arkansas)- but not by similar margins. For instance in RI the rate has increased 2 full percentage points in the last year or so, while in other states the rate is up only a couple tenths of a point.
4. Passive job seeker traffic does NOT appear to be up by any considerable margin. I think this means people are clinging to the safety of their current jobs, rather than jump to an unknown. This means companies must work harder to reduce the risk to potential candidates, and provide greater information about themselves.
5. Retailers are still hiring as necessary, keeping the same level of staffing, and still getting the same level and quantity of candidates as they were 2 years ago.
   
6. Manufacturing is alive and well in the gulf coast!
   
7. Employers who are making the extra effort to promote their opportunities in this climate are seeing improved results in hiring. When people are watching the newscasts and reading the papers and all they hear are negative projections about the economy, a company that stands up and says thing like We're Growing! We're Stable! We're Not Laying Off or Downsizing! We're a GREAT Place to Work, is easily able to grab people's attention and build interest.

Overall, I feel that this should be a really tremendous time to be hiring. If you do it right, put in the extra effort to promote what makes you special, and take the time to be picky, you should be able to attract and hire some great A level talent. GOOD LUCK!

Looking for USEFUL Resume Advice

I was recently speaking with a friend and colleague who works for a professional coaching/career development firm. She was sharing a story about how after all the meetings and processes and advice shared with one client, this person went on to gain employment in a new field- the field of her passion. What struck me about this story was that the client came back to my friend after the successful job offer, and stated that the resume tips she shared and the questions she asked were worth the cost of the entire program. The reason I share this story is that I am constantly encountering job seekers who have been through "resume makeover" workshops, yet still have quite unsatisfactory resumes or results to show for it. As a hiring manager, what I'm looking for in a resume- in fact the keys that I use to identify quality resumes and applicants- are often ignored completely by these resume workshops, or even worse, the advice given is quite contrary. I know that my friend and colleague is sharing quality advice, having worked with her in the job seeker milieu before. But I am still left feeling that the advice being given to job seekers is often out of date, out of touch, or out of control. Tips from the 80's don't work. If you are offering similar advice on resumes (or as a job seeker, are getting the same advice) that was being offered a decade or more ago, you're out of date. If the advice is being given by someone who has never actually had a hiring manager position, and been in charge of sorting though dozens or more resumes, than the advice is truly out of touch. If the advice takes more than 15 or 20 minutes to explain thoroughly and clearly, and goes into minutia about too many details and speaks too much about philosophy or idealism when formulating a resume, the advice is likely out of control (if i keep coming up with new things to tell you about your resume, you'll have to keep paying me, right?). Whether your giving or receiving advice, be sure to ask yourself those questions: 1. has this advice been updated in the last few years? 2. is the advice coming from hiring managers who regularly review resumes? 3. does this advice seem pragmatic and functional? or is it more of tips regarding resume philosophy? Good luck and happy hunting!

Effective Brands: The Basics

Effective Brands

WHAT Does a Body Good?
You're in Good Hands with WHICH COMPANY?
Like a Good Neighbor WHICH COMPANY is There?
WHAT are Forever?

Each of the examples above speaks to a simple and effective consumer brand. They have a distinct message that can be conveyed in very short statements, and through marketing, they have impacted the way we feel about their products.

When an employer can establish, communicate, and reinforce an effective employment brand, they will realize an increased stream of applicants better suited to their work environment, which in turn leads to an increase in employee retention. Later on, we'll address some of the key factors that influence an employee's decision to stay with an employer.

A brand can generally be defined as the sum of all characteristics and distinguishable features associated with a good or service – its unique personality. Brands are comprised of logos, images, slogans, and features of the good or service, along with all the supporting communication and promotion of these items. Simply put, a consumer brand should be built around the customer experience; therefore, an employment brand needs to be built around your employee's experience.

Identifying Your Unique Employment Brand

Establishing an effective brand in the consumer market requires a company to understand what drives consumer behavior. Likewise, in order to establish an effective employment brand, a company must understand what drives employee behavior.

One essential and oft-ignored necessity of branding is identifying the current reality of your situation, not what you wish your situation was. If the branding is not absolutely true and consistent with your business today, it will not be effective and will not last. In fact, a false brand will have negative effects, and cause resentment among your current employees. For example, you can't promote excellent opportunities for advancement if you don't make a regular practice of promoting from within.

There are many ways to identify your current reality, so you'll want to find out what works best for your company. Check out our future posts for more info on how to assess what makes your organization unique within your market.

Finding GREAT 1099 Contractors

It has been my distinct privilege for the past 3 years to manage a program
that relies heavily on outside contractors. I came to realize early on
that finding great 1099 contractors was a significantly different matter
from recruiting employees. There are many challenges facing this task
that may not come up in daily employee searches.

Here's just a few that I encounter:

-How do you find trustworthy and reliable contractors with the specific
skill sets you need?

-When you're working within a budget for your program, how do you
negotiate a fair contract, which attracts good candidates, but also keeps
you in your budget?

-How do you balance the equation in the previous question (what is the
weight of the budget vs. the quality of the contractor).

-What can you offer aside from the contract fee, i.e. why would they want
to choose to work with you with their limited time?

-How do you ensure quality control?

All these were issues I was first faced with more than 3 years ago, as I
started a program using outsourced marketing and training professionals to
support our company's growth. What I've found is that with a little
creative ingenuity, and real human understanding, these issues aren't
nearly as scary or difficult to solve as you'd think.

Here's some very simple suggestions for anyone looking for 1099 contractors:

1. FIRST contact your friends and business associates (internal and
external), and let them know the skill set and requirements you're looking
for. This is a great way to make a first pass at finding good, reliable
contractors.

2. Identify the skill sets you need, write them down, and think about what
kind of work that person is doing now. (could that skill set include a
high school teacher, an architect, a electrical engineer, an admissions
counselor?) Many great 1099 contractors aren't working as 1099's
currently. Market your needs to part timers or semi-retired professionals
in the fields you've identified. You'll be AMAZED at the gems you can
find that have been looking for an opportunity to work independently, but
were afraid to take that first step.

3. Promote what makes your business or job special. Contractors are
people, after all, and people like to feel good about what they do.
Remember, while you can't provide "traditional" benefits to contractors,
your business may provide a wealth of other non-traditional benefits that
will draw the right people to your business. Are you an industry leader?
Do you do good for the community? Are you in a cutting edge field? Are
there perks that are available? Don't get down about not being able to
offer benes. 1099 contractors understand it, so don't dwell. Instead,
take the unique approach of selling those non-traditional benefits.

4. Maintain quality control by maintaining communication with your
contractors. Stay in touch, and remember that you are the client. If you
aren't satisfied with the quality of the work presented, don't be shy. Be
confident and professional. Communicate your expectations, and give
contractors the opportunity to upgrade their work.

Have Career Fairs Lost their Value?

At JobsInTheUS, we are taking our web-based employment advertising resource from the net to the neighborhood. We've launched an initiative to host 4 career fairs in September- one each in Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Alabama. In the spring, we'll be hosting 7, including those 4 states, plus Mississippi, Louisiana, and Vermont. These fairs are growing, and we're seeing participation from businesses from all sectors.

It's been our belief, since our site started in 1998, that effective internet resources of any kind, must have strong and consistent local presence and support. This belief has led us to provide in-person educational seminars to local employers across New England and NY; sponsor and attend local trade association events, HR Conferences, and business expos; provide outreach training to job seekers at career centers and colleges; and execute one-on-one training with recruiters to help them better understand how to maximize their presence on the web.

I can honestly admit that as a job seeker more than 4 1/2 years ago, I relied exclusively on the internet to find my next career opportunity. Clearly, that's how I found my way to JobsInTheUS. That being said, I still feel VERY strongly that in-person events such as career fairs are vitally important and beneficial to both employers and job seekers...

AM I CRAZY? AM I STUCK IN THE 90'S? AM I ON AN ISLAND?

Do employers really feel that meeting job seekers face to face is no longer important? As a hiring manager myself, I am always grateful to have a job fair to attend that coincides with hiring needs. Being able to shake a hand, make eye contact, and interact at that level for just 5 minutes is often more valuable than a 20 to 30 minute phone screen interview. And more often than not, interviews from career fair candidates reveal fewer surprises.

What are your thoughts? Are job fairs dead? If so... why?

Recruiters vs. HR professionals

Someone recently commented that this blog seemed to be aimed more at HR folks than staffing professionals, and as such, should have a different name. It was suggested that I use "HR Recruiting Front Lines" or something similar. This really got me thinking...

I'd love your input on this matter: should recruiting be separated from HR? I was at first shocked, then disappointed, then confused at why "staffing professionals" feel they have the right to monopolize the recruiting sector. In my opinion, the people with the BEST working knowledge surrounding hiring and recruiting are the HR Professionals within an organization. Not only are they intimately familiar with the current workforce and culture, but also they understand what EXACTLY is needed in potential hires. It is also up to them to onboard, train, retain, and appreciate the employees once they are hired.

Sorry to all the staffing professionals out there for this comment: Why do companies put the most critical piece of their company in the hands of third party vendors, and pay a high price to do so? Have I missed the boat? Has the identification and acquisition of talented employees somehow lost importance to companies and HR departments? What is it that has replaced it in the priority list?

These are just a few thoughts that were racing through my head. If you can help me understand the current employer/3rd party recruiter relationship better, PLEASE comment on this issue. I would very much appreciate your feedback.

Thanks for checking in, I'll be posting again soon...

13th Annual Maine State HR Convention

From May 6 through May 9, the 13th Annual Maine State HR Convention swept through the Samoset Resort in Rockport, Maine, leaving motivated, energized, and focused HR professionals in it's wake.

This year's theme was HR 20/20 Vision, with workshops and seminars focused on long range, strategic vision along with the day to day HR skills necessary to facilitate those long term plans. Six keynote speakers came from across the country, bringing expertise in various fields of Human Resource Management, including an inspiring presentation by Gov. Angus King on leadership. (To learn more about this year's speakers, follow this link)

This is my 4th year attending this event, and each year I leave feeling refreshed and invigorated to return to work and begin to develop new processes that will benefit our company. However, this year was unique for me as I had the priveledge of presenting at one of the more than 30 professional workshops. The subject I spoke on was "Employment Branding", which seems to be a term popping up all over the place right now. The basis for the popularity of employment branding truly stems in the power of the internet. Companies now have the ability to create, develop, and launch powerful and successful employment brands, focused on attracting the top talent, with low costs and little or no reliance on advertising agencies. And as staffing and personnel managers know, attracting the right candidates is one key to a business's long term success.

I still had time to attend other seminars, though, and really enjoyed the presentation by LL Bean representatives on creating a specialized compensation structure, unique to their workforce, to increase productivity while keeping costs down. The trio that presented provided excellent context and detail on how the process came about, what issues they faced, how they came to their solution, and then how the process was implemented. A great learning experience for everyone in attendance, I'd think.

This year's event wasn't all business, though, with great opportunities to network with other HR professionals and unwind. With ove 550 attendees, this event is a great example of the best that a professional convention can be. Kudos to Bud Bernstein of Law Publishers and Peter Myer of Green Tree Events on another successful year!

Recruiting Front Lines: Employment Branding: Increase your employee retention by attracting better candidates.

Recruiting Front Lines: Employment Branding: Increase your employee retention by attracting better candidates.

Employment Branding: Increase your employee retention by attracting better candidates.

Earlier this month, I presented a workshop at the 13th Annual Maine HR Convention. The topic was creating an employment brand to attract better candidates. Here are a couple excerpts of that presentation. If you'd like the 6 page summary of this information, please send me a request to jblais@jobsintheus.com, or if YOU are "Linked In", you can shoot me a request through that site.

Today, we'll focus on just one area affecting employee retention: Attracting the RIGHT Candidates for Your Organization. Simply stated, if you recruit and hire the right people, it will be easier to keep them satisfied within your organization, and thus retain their services long term.

Employment Brand Defined
In this session, we'll talk about creating and leveraging a "brand" to increase your recruiting success. We'll identify the strategies that are used in marketing and advertising to attract customers, and apply them to the goals of attracting the best possible candidates. So, instead of building a consumer brand focused on selling your products to customers, your goal is to develop an effective employment brand focused on promoting your business to attract the best possible candidates for your culture.

...

When an employer can establish, communicate, and reinforce an effective employment brand, they will realize an increased stream of applicants better suited to their work environment, which in turn leads to an increase in employee retention. Later on, we'll address some of the key factors that influence an employee's decision to stay with an employer.

A brand can generally be defined as the sum of all characteristics and distinguishable features associated with a good or service – its unique personality. Brands are comprised of logos, images, slogans, and features of the good or service, along with all the supporting communication and promotion of these items. Simply put, a consumer brand should be built around the customer experience; therefore, an employment brand needs to be built around your employee's experience.

Identifying Your Unique Employment Brand

Establishing an effective brand in the consumer market requires a company to understand what drives consumer behavior. Likewise, in order to establish an effective employment brand, a company must understand what drives employee behavior.

...

Review your surveys and identify the top 10 traits. From this list, work with peers to remove traits that your competition for employees would also have. For instance, if you had 'flexible' as a top 10 trait and you know that your competitor offers far greater flexibility in the workplace, remove that from the list. Once you have identified the most unique three to five strengths of your employer "personality", or Unique Employment Proposition (UEP), you've got your foundation.

The next step is to identify the types of employees that you want to attract with your brand- your "target market".

Do you have experience with building or implementing an employment brand? I'd love to hear how it worked, or any feedback you have on the process...

I see everyday that the companies that put more time, energy, and creativity into attracting the best candidates are always the most successful in their recruiting efforts. Branding your company as the employer of choice, and promoting all the unique qualities that you offer as an employer will help you attract people that will fit into your culture, and therefore be happier and more productive employees... Give it a try, I think you'll agree.

Blogging from the ME State HR Convention

Okay, okay, it's true.... I should know better by now and these little things shouldn't bother me any more, but I have to just vent for one moment. Today, I'm spending my second day at the 13th Annual ME HR Convention in Rockport, ME. I rec'd a call from the manager of the gulf coast territory, and needed to send a file to him via email... Unfortunately, I had to VPN in to my office to get the file, then send it remotely from here. GREAT technology... when it works well. I had no problem getting in and finding the file, composing the email and hitting send... then I hit the wall. I had hit send/receive, and the first function that Outlook performs is to receive. I had 175 emails to receive totaling 10MB. It took 45 MINUTES to receive the files through the VPN connection!!! Ouch... As a result, I missed my morning session of the conference, which is why I have the time right now to write a quick note to the recruiting front lines.

If you are not familiar with the ME HR Convention, this is an annual professional development conference for human resources professionals, and it's done impeccably well. The event begins at noon on Tuesday, and runs into the afternoon on Friday, which may seem like a long professional conference. The reality, though, is that the content is so in-depth and dynamic that it provides hr professionals with a terrific opportunity to meet and network with others, learn great new practices and initiative to improve their workforce, stay up to date on legal issues, and bring great intellectual capital back to their place of employment. Sessions are given by professionals in all aspects of HR and cover all areas- from dealing with complainers in the workforce, to FMLA regulations, to new compensation strategies to increase productivity. I'll give a better recap shortly about this event, with some more detail about what I learned, as well as a summary of the presentation I gave. For now though, let me just say that this is one of the best weeks of my professional year. I usually participate in 3 days of the conference each year, and return to my work place with a greater perspective of our business, and energized, motivated, and prepared to bring positive change to our environment in some manner.

There was much talk from vendors about the slowdown, and a great deal of discussion about the generational workforce challenges. Overall, ME is less impacted by national economic factors than others (our highs aren't as high, and as a result our lows aren't as low), so business is still moving forward. In fact, I just checked on JobsInME.com, and there are now more than 10,000 current job openings posted, with more than 9,000 being regular and just over 1,000 being temp. These may be record highs for our business, and it's important to recognize that the permanent jobs postings are still strong.

Well.. almost time to go staff our booth, promote our service, meet incredible HR heroes, and reinforce relationships with the great people and businesses we serve.

So today, I'm sitting back just behind the recruiting front lines... today's report is coming from the war-room, and the view is of the strategies, competencies, and challenges facing HR professionals in Maine.

Unemployment Rate Rising, Job Growth Slowing, and other Ponderings

First, for those of you who had sent me some inquiries over the last month, thanks for noticing that the blog had not been updated... at least that means that some people were checking in! As it turned out, I did not put up a single post in April, which is a shame, I think, considering the frequency and quality of events that happened last month. Ah well... no sense in looking back...

As it turns out, the report from the recruiting front lines is good and bad right about now. What was shaping up to be an economic slowdown, has now become an official recession in Rhode Island, the first state to feel the pain. Also, the national unemployment rate stayed level from March at 5%, still a half a point higher than last year during the same month. However, in the regions I look at, the picture is different: check out these Year Over Year unemployment rates for March 07 v 08:

             State              |  March    |  March    | rate change(p)
                           |   2007    |  2008(p)  |          
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alabama ........................|     3.4   |    4.1    |       0.7   
Connecticut ....................|     4.4   |    5.3    |        .9          
Maine ..........................|     4.6   |    5.0    |        .4
Mississippi.....................|     6.4   |    6.0    |       -.4
Rhode Island ...................|     4.9   |    6.1    |       1.2
Vermont ........................|     4.0   |    4.6    |        .6     

Notice that on MS had a decline in unemployment, though it's still at 6%.

LA and NH don't appear on this chart because YOY they had less significant change. However, check out this rise in unemployment for LA from Feb 08 to Mar 08 - just one month:

            State              |  February |  March    | rate change(p)
                           |    2008   |  2008(p)  |          
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Louisiana ......................|     3.7   |     4.5   |        .8     

And of course, NH is maintaining a very different story from the rest. In March, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in NH was 3.9% up from 3.8% in Mar 07. While that number is still phenomenally low, it does match the highest jobless rate since June 2004.

Well, there's my data for the day. Not the brightest climate, but we all have to deal with things as they currently are, not as we wish them to be. And to that point, the changing labor market is having an impact on the world of job hunting and recruiting. Here's what I've been witnessing and/or hearing along the recruiting front lines in the northeast and along the gulf coast:

• Less jobs are being advertised
• More and more employers are holding off hiring or advertising based on uneasiness about the economy.
• Social service organizations are feeling the pressure of state budget tightening (see any days news in RI over the past two months for great supporting evidence), which may mean reduced state funding.
• With the slowdown, the A talent pool is less likely to change jobs, opting to take a conservative approach- a bird in hand, as it were.
• It's harder for the unemployed to find work, based on the increased number of unemployed competing for the same jobs coupled with the slowing of growth for new jobs.
• Supply of qualified candidates is not moving (maybe increasing, but just a little), while demand is also not moving (most likely decreasing just a bit).
• The key to a business's vitality is making sure they have the very best people on the bus, particularly when the number of seats may be shrinking, therefore the importance of attracting the right people is growing exponentially.
• In just a few more months, we'll be electing a new president, and regardless of people's politcal leanings, EVERYONE seems to be hopeful that the changing of the nameplate on the oval office door will lead to a stronger economy with new growth opportunities.

What do you think about those bullets? Agree? Disagree? Am I missing any major points regarding how the economy is impacting the acts of find jobs or finding candidates? I'd love to hear your feedback!

That's the report from the Recruiting Front Lines for this week. This week, our company will be at two business expos, two job fairs, one trade conference, and two annual state hr conferences across the northeast and gulf coast. We'll have plenty to report next week!

NH's Best Attended Job Fair of 2008

Just another tireless week on the Recruiting Front Lines...

This week, we hosted a job fair for the first time ever in New Hampshire. After partnering with a radio group for additional exposure, and capturing 10 second TV spots, we felt confident that we could attract a significant number of job seekers for this event. As it turned out, we hit our goal of 1,000 attendees (this is an actual number, within 10 or 15 plus or minus based on sign ins), during the 5 hour event. Since 2004, the job board I work for has been the number one resource in the state for employment advertising, and our local focus and connection with the labor market really supported a tremendous event.

You can see a brief article on the event here: Greatest Job Fair Attendance in NH this year!

I was very proud to be part of this event, and am happy to report that many exhibitors considered this event to be among the best job fair they've ever attended. We prepared job seekers by asking them to register in advance, and then providing reminder emails and updates with articles and tips for making a good job fair impression. We believe this truly impacted the quality of the attendees, and provided the employers with good potential candidates.

It was great to see a room absolutely stuffed full of eager job seekers and well-prepared recruiters. On the other hand, I do have to question the motivating factor behind the turnout. While I'd like to believe that this was simply the power of the state's leading employment resource focusing all it's energy on bringing some of the best employers in NH together in one place for one day, even my hubris doesn't extend that far.

Is the market really causing an increase in the unemployed? OR, has the pervasive reporting of a potential recession stirred the fears of those who are working, inciting them to prepare for potential job change? I'd love to hear your opinion on the market in NH, if you have one. Please send in a comment!

MEMORABLE JOB SEEKER STORY OF THE DAY: Acting as the host for this event, I spent the greatest amount of time and energy ensuring the comfort and success of our employers. This gave me little time to talk with job seekers. I did have one conversation, though, with a job seeker who had been laid off from high tech software sales (project management) and was now looking to start over. Unlike many other stories, this was a highly technical, qualified, experienced hi-tec professional, who, due to losing a major account to a competitor, was laid off. It was interesting to hear about the process and obstacles that he now faces. In his previous career, he was selling 6 and 7 figure solutions to hi-tech companies, so a single account was worth a great deal of money. As you can imagine, there aren't too many jobs like that in New Hampshire. So, here he was, unemployed, but not in an urgent enough situation to take a big step backwards, walking through our job fair. I spoke with him briefly about transferring his skills and professionalism to a career in Volvo sales, thinking he would relate well to that market. I hope he had a successful day, and wish him all the best for a smooth transition into his next phase.


MEMORABLE EMPLOYER STORY OF THE DAY: Every event presents me with an opportunity to meet a great new business that is enjoying great success and growth in an industry that I'm not familiar with. This time around it was CNC manufacturer of Plastics, who was attending a job fair for the first time. Normally the rely on internet and word of mouth, but were hoping to reach a new audience through the face to face event. They were unsure what to expect, and I believe ended up with a decent number of good candidates. I was glad that they made the time to attend, and hope that they fill a few positions with us. I also spoke with a representative of another manufacturer who also never attended a job fair before. Prior to the start of the event, I was showing him where the lunch room was and walking him back to the exhibit hall when he mentioned that he wasn't even sure he should be there, because of all the work he had waiting for him. As is true of so many recruiters and personnel directors in mid size companies, he likely wears many hats, and finding 5 hours in work week isn't easy. I stopped by during the middle of the event, and he was very happy he made the decision to come. In fact, he said he found some candidates with potential for a few positions he hadn't even thought to hire for yet. Thanks for coming, if you are reading this, and I hope those resumes work out for you!

Well, that's all from the recruiting front lines in Bedford, NH. Happy Hiring, and Joyous Job Hunting everyone!

Jason

On the recruiting frtont lines in Augusta, ME

Wow. Some days really make you wonder about the future, and about the real employment adversity faced by many Americans.

I spent the better part of the day on Monday, March 10th, at the August Civic Center exhibiting at the Augusta Job Expo. The company I work for was there promoting our service to job seekers, and providing tips and advice to job seekers. These bits of wisdom (okay, so humility may not be my strongest personality trait) range from how to use our internet job board effectively to find the type of job they are looking for, to how to write a more effective cover letter, to how to approach an employer when you aren't sure what you're really looking for, to how to format a resume to be more searchable in a database.

During the event, I spoke with around 70 of the 200 or so job seekers that came through, and was a little saddened by some of the stories. I really felt for some people, like the former telephone line repairman who was out of work and looking to get in with Fairpoint Communications (they weren't actively hiring for those jobs, and now-a-days they want a 4 year degree for that position; so, I guess you go to the other telephone companies to find work right?... oh, yeah, how many phone companies are there?), while for others, I had little compassion. I can't tell you how many job seekers came in wearing tee-shirts or sweats, with no resumes, hair not brushed, and no real plan for finding a job.

I guess I've become a little jaded over the past few years. Back when I started working these events, I would have felt bad for those that don't prepare, assuming that they don't have the means to get a tie, or print out a resume, or look presentable. Now, after working at so many under utilized career centers and with so many social service and non-profit organizations that provide free assistance, I see just a lack of effort or desire. Am I the only one that feels this way? I'd love your thoughts on this matter, please add a comment if you'd be willing.

At any rate, there were also a goodly number of people who were well prepared, eager, and focused on finding a good job, and I tried to offer the support that I have available. For these folks, the obstacles may be technology shifts that render their skills useless, a geographical dilemma, confusion about how to DO a job search after dozens of year with a job, and fear or anxiety about starting over. Some of the tips I provide to these more experienced folks include approaching employers by stating the highlights of their experience first, and then mentioning that they are looking for a change or a new way to apply their skills, instead of walking up and saying "I don't know what I'm looking for, what kind of jobs do you have?". I also provided hands on training on how to find jobs using the internet, and how to use keywords. One of the most important pieces, though, is reviewing their resume and helping them to see the positives that they may have overlooked, and showing them how they often have more transferable skills than they realize. I do have to say, many of these conversations are VERY rewarding, and people feel that our company has provided them with assistance that they can use. I like those conversations.

Well, on the recruiting front lines of Maine, I can tell you that the present is uneasy for many out of work Mainers, and the future is foggy. I believe in economic development and good business growth, but in truth, it's my opinion that growth MUST be slow and natural to be good. One of the reasons that Maine is such a desirable place to retire or raise a family is that we aren't too business friendly and Maine residents are well taken care of. Yes, the median income is low, but amount of real true poverty is also very low. I've seen over the last few years on the road that the areas with very high wealth are always neighbored by areas of extreme poverty.

ONE JOB SEEKER STORY THAT STOOD OUT TODAY: I met a gentleman who had been working for a print shop doing pre press and bindery room work for years. With the new technology his skills are no longer of any value and he had been laid off. Now he is faced with having years of experience in an extremely specialized capacity in an extinct field, and he lives in a sparcely populated region with little business opportunities. I don't know what he'll do, but I believe he was motivated to work, and hope that he is adaptable so that he can seize the opportunity in this change.

ONE RECRUITER STORY THAT STOOD OUT TODAY: I had a great conversation with a member of the Diversity Hiring Coalition for the ME state HR council. She was discussing all of the great businesses that work to help promote and exemplify good diversity hiring practices, and she was clearly enthusiastic about this work. She is also a recruiter or Northern New England for a cell phone company, and exhibits at many career fairs. I'm always happy to see younger professionals so engaged in their work, and looking to take on additional activities to help do good. Nice work!

Ideas, thoughts, or questions? Click on the Comments tab below and share!

Community College of RI Job Fair

On March 5th, the Community College of RI hosted a career fair for their students. I attended to speak with students about career opportunities in the state, and promote our website. The event was well run and organized, held in the cafeteria during mid-day. This allowed for good traffic, maybe 125 to 175 students came through, along with a small number of non-student job seekers. CCRI did a good job of preparing their students, and promoting the event, so the job fair was fairly beneficial to the companies involved.

Unfortunately, several employers came for the sole purpose of finding soon to be nursing grads, and none were seen at the fair. There was a rumor that the nursing students were testing that day. However, a number of CNA students were available to speak with. The community college fairs are always interesting for me because of the diverse body of students you meet.

My favorite story of the day: I met a lady in her late 30's or early 40's who recently graduated and was looking for work. She had gone back to school to get an Associates in Computer Science, and was now embarking on her new future. In my experience, people who complete their schooling later in life tend to be much more enthusiastic and focused on applying their education to their career. This woman was very excited to seek out internships, as she could afford to work for little or no pay for a little while. In speaking with her, I urged her to stay focused on internship opportunities.

Students offer undervalue the resource that an internship provides. For many, it's a way to get a foot in the door and then have access to a wide variety of projects and work duties. In many companies, everyone wants some help from "the intern" so that student ends up with more multi-departmental and cross-functional experience than the full time employees! What a great start to a career, and a great way to explore what direction is best.

Well, that's all for now. See you soon on the recruiting front lines!!!!

Recruiting and Managing an evolving workforce

Sitting idly on the recruiting front lines today, I was thinking back today to a state HR conference that I attended last year. One of the key note speakers was brought in from half way across the country to share her perspective on the human resource profession, and working with a diverse workforce in particular. This person was a humorist, whose dynamic and comically irreverent presentation style provided a great release to the HR professionals in attendance. During her speech, she covered all of the non-traditional diversity issues- the happy person, the curmudgeon, the martyr, the pleaser, the introverts, the extroverts, and everyone in between. I think it is very true to say that we are all diverse in our own ways.

At another HR meeting, I recently heard a speaker espousing the virtues of including people with disabilities into the diversity conversation, and the potential benefits of hiring said people. During her talk, she made a quip about how we are all disabled in some way, but for most of us, you just can't see the disability. Of course she was referring to all of our personal disabilities such as perpetual tardiness, short attention spans, closed-mindedness, fear of confrontation, hubris, need for acceptance, and all the other personality disabilities that impede our ability to act with grace and tact in all situations. I have to also agree with this speaker- everyone has their own special disabilities.

Having said that, I also feel that too many people seem too ready to put people into boxes based on their age, work experience, or any other personal trait. It's my feeling that all people are unique, but so rarely do we, as recruiters, employers, managers, co-workers, employees, friends, or relatives, take the time to get to know and work with those unique characteristics of our acquaintances.

I recall a workshop that discussed working in a multi-generational milieu. The presenter spoke about the work-related differences for people in different age groups - check out this article on age diversity in the workforce for a glimpse of what I'm talking about- and how we all fall into broad categories. Now, as an idealist, non-conformist, and believer in self-direction, my first reaction is to react negatively, with thoughts about why these categories are too general, and make too great of an assumption. However, as I listened to the speaker (and as I read further down the article attached), I find myself agreeing with the opinions put forth.

What I end up with is a great inner debate on how to deal with people, and particularly with first impressions and screening of candidates when I am hiring. There are only so many hours in a day, after all, so how can I be open to the potential greatness and uniqueness of seemingly unfit applicants, while using my experience and intuition to ferret out the best candidates quickly and efficiently? I have seen enough anomalies to know that you can't judge an employee's fit or performance by a resume. So... how do you weed through 75 resumes to find the right candidate?

Well, I hope you're not expecting an answer. That's not a hypothetical question. Can anyone tell me how you best narrow down all applicants, keeping into account all peoples uniqueness, casting aside personal preferences, to find the best candidate?

In the world that I live, work, and play (not necessarily in that order), I do see a workforce evolving dramatically from the one I entered 15 or so years ago. Different motivators, different rules, different expectations. HR professionals and managers at all levels, in my mind, have a more difficult job than they have ever had before.

MY (SECOND) QUESTION OF THE DAY: What is the best interview question that you use to uncover potential personality fit?

College Student focused job fair in NH

Another busy day on the recruiting front lines! My first stop this morning was to an event facility in New Hampshire, to meet with a potential partner and explore the capacity of the venue. As it looks now, we'll have 70 NH employers exhibiting their employment brand to potentially 1,000 job seekers looking for work in the state. While the new partnership isn't formalized in writing yet, it does look good, and should position this job fair to be the recruiting event of the year.

For our career fair, we're asking job seekers to pre-register. This makes them eligible for door prizes, and provides us with great information about the demography of people attending the event. While it's still more than 4 weeks away, we already have more than 100 job seekers pre-registered, and the profile is unique in the job fair world. The majority of the registrants so far, about 2/3, are currently employed, with just over half having 4 year degree or further education, and the average age of registrants right now is approximately 40 years old.

When I proposed this event a while back, I felt that the job fair market in this area really underserved this population- experienced passive job seekers. Many job fairs catered to the fully unemployed, and most in NH are focused on college students, as its the colleges who are hosting them. Through our data collection, we knew the make up of job seekers passively looking tended to be very different than that of the people we see at the career events we have exhibited at. So, thus far, the diversity of the job seekers we're attracting to our job fair in March looks to be dynamic and unique. I'm very glad to see things filling in nicely. Another thing that we do differently is sending up job fair tips to both the exhibitors and job seekers. We've seen that dispersing a few key tips to both groups really does help to better prepare both sides. Should be fun...
(If you're an experienced job fair exhibitor, do you agree with this assessment of the demography of job fairs? I'd appreciate your input by clicking here.)

Any way, that was just the start of the day...

The bulk of my day was spent at the NHCUC job fair in Manchester NH. I have attended this event for 4 years now, and find it to be a great resource for us to not only promote our service to job seekers and students, but also to engage and provide resume and interview tips to them. I was very impressed by the number of students who were prepared with updated resumes and confidence in their approach. Many however, were still very unsure exactly what type of work they wanted. I often suggest to them to post a resume online, and see who finds them, and I provide advice to the extent that I can. I can't help but leave any college student focused job fair feeling that all college seniors should be required to take a full semester course in career exploration/development in order to graduate. But I guess that's just my opinion, and I have to acknowledge that a course such as that would still only be as valuable as the effort put in by both the professors and the students. If they don't want to consider what job to get, they won't.

Students were from many area schools including Franklin Pierce, Plymouth State, Colby-Sawyer, Rivier College, Saint Anselm, Southern NH University and more. At this point, I do want to give praise to all the career development professionals and other college staff that helped to promote this event and prepare their students to find job opportunities. The vast majority had professional attire, copies of their resumes, and exhibited a strong approach with eye contact, handshakes, and introductions. While these may seem like obvious things to do at a job fair, I am sure that many recruiters will agree that it's not always the norm.

I fielded many questions about how to find work with an art degree, how to find internships, and how to get a career in marketing. I tried to review resumes, make suggestions regarding companies that I knew of personally, and provided tips on how to explore career options further. Most students were very engaged in the conversation, and seemed eager to really dig in to carving out their career path.

One job seeker story that stood out today: I met a young lady who had graduated college in 2005, and was recently laid off from a company that was closing it's doors. She received a 2 week severance package, was suddenly finding herself unemployed. She had worked with a local sports organization for a couple years in customer service, and was hoping to find another admin asst job or customer service job in the Manchester Area. Her question to me was this: When an employer writes NO PHONE INQUIRIES on their job postings, and does not provide a direct email address, how do I follow up when I haven't heard back about a resume I submitted.

Ouch. I didn't have a good answer to this one. This young lady had submitted her resume, which was well done, and seemed to have the transferable skills necessary for clerical work, for 80 job openings in the last month, and had only had a couple call backs, with only ONE interview scheduled. I spoke with her at length about this issue, and shared her frustration. It seems as though ATS systems and other HRIS services have really taken the humans out of human resources. If you are hiring people to work for you, but give them no way to follow up with you after they've submitted your resume, what is left for them to do. I know that there are times when it is difficult for me to reply to every resume I get, but at least on our website, we have a telephone number and generic email address that will get to me if someone is assertively trying to follow up to interview with our company.
Here's a quick poll question, and I'm open to feedback (you can share your thoughts by clicking on the Comments link and adding your ideas): If a company accepts resumes online, should they have any obligation to either reply to all applicants, or at least to provide some contact info, so that applicants can follow up?

One Recruiter story that stood out today: I spoke with a recruiter from a health care facility, who I see at many events in the area. I asked about attendance at other events this year, and how this event was panning out. Her reply was that attending career events has almost become simply an obligation and routine, rather than an active recruitment activity. Most of the events don't yield too many qualified candidates, but the fear of missing one, and the added benefit of exposure for the company, keeps people coming back. This recruiter also said that she felt that so many people are going online today, that fewer and fewer realize the value of these in-person events. Interesting... Anyway, it reminded me about our job fair coming up, and I am more resolved than ever to not only provide valuable tips for registered job seekers, but to also reinforce and underscore the impact of meeting with a recruiter face to face, and making a personal connection.

Well, that's the news from the recruiting front lines, this time in Manchester, New Hampshire. I'll be posting again soon with issues an updates from the recruiting front lines in Alabama and Louisiana.

Stay tuned!

We have been crazy preparing for a very busy period on the recruiting front lines. Between today, February 19th and the end of the month, my organization will be exhibiting at nearly a dozen events across the gulf coast and the northeast, meeting with job seekers and employers, and coming face to face with the fears, hopes, concerns, and issues surrounding finding a new job, and finding the perfect candidate.

I'll be updating this blog almost daily starting on Thursday, February 21st, after attending the New Hampshire College and University Council career fair in Manchester. One of the largest college student job focused career events in the northeast, this event will give us a great chance to speak with volumes of college students and soon-to-be grads.

Check back soon, or click on the subscribe button at left to set up email notifications, so updates will be emailed to you.

That's all for now from the recruiting front lines. Stay tuned for new updates coming soon.

When I meet a passive job seeker...

Over the past 4+ years, I have exhibited at more than 100 career events across new england. As a representative of an organization's whose purpose is to connect local job seekers with local jobs, I make great effort to provide insight, tips, or value to any job seeker I speak with. I have found that taking some time to speak with a job seeker outside of the context of the recruiter/job seeker dynamic, really gives me a unique opportunity to listen to the fears and concerns that they have. It also gives me a chance to hear and dispel myths or false preconceptions that they may have about finding a job.

For example, I often hear job seekers tell me that they needed to do whatever was necessary to get their resume to one page, because recruiters and HR personnel are too busy to read more than that, and won't bother with their resume. I hope this doesn't offend any career counselors out there, but in my experience as a hiring manager and working with HR professionals, NO ONE IS GOING TO THROW AWAY A QUALIFIED CANDIDATE'S RESUME BECAUSE ITS TWO PAGES. In fact, quite the opposite is true. This is a very generalized example of how the process often works:

A recruiter, hiring manager, staffing rep, HR generalist, etc, posts a job opening on the web. They then receive 30 resumes via email. As a ballpark number, out of those 30, only about 10 will actually get a call back. Then, out of the 10, maybe 4-6 will get an interview. Now, when I begin screening resumes to decide who to call, I start by looking for the people that I am SURE have the experience and/or relevant skill set that will transfer to my job opening. To that end, if a candidate has chopped their resume to fit a four, eight, or fifteen year work history into one page, it is very likely that they have not included ALL of the skills and experiences that they have accumulated over time. Thus, if the skill that I need is on the cutting room floor, then I may not choose to call this person. I would much rather get ALL the information at the beginning of the process, so that I can be sure that I'm using my time effectively to call the most likely qualified people. Maybe I'm lazy, but I do not want to spend time calling people to find out that they don't have the qualifications that I need. It is a fact that I would rather skim through twenty 4-page resumes to find 10 good people to call, then skim through forty 1-page resumes, and not knowing if any of them are truly qualified for the job that I have open.

Okay, okay.... so the title of this post is "When I meet a passive job seeker..." At many job fairs, I will meet the passive job seeker, whether that person is an early retiree looking for a part time job for ice-cream money, or someone fully employed looking for a career change or greener pastures. Often times, when they come up to me, I'll ask what kind of work they are looking for, and the answer is usually that they don't know, and that they're not seriously looking, just seeing what kind of options they have. Well, with that attitude, I will guess that they find that their options are extremely limited. As a hiring manager, I wouldn't get too engaged with a candidate who didn't really know what they wanted to do, as it may turn out that I hire them only to have them find out that my work is not what they want to do.

I have begun to suggest to the passive job seekers to change their approach. Instead of stating that they don't know what they want, they should open with a different position. I suggest starting by sharing a 2 sentence summary of your experience, and then stating that they are looking for new opportunities. This gives the recruiter an idea of your experience, and changes the dynamic so that THEY will tell YOU what opportunities they have that may work for you. This changes the conversation, and puts the recruiter in the position of "selling" their jobs to you, rather than the other way around.

If you're a passive job seeker, try this, and let me know how it works. If you're a recruiter, please let me know what you think about these pieces of advice.

See you all soon at the recruiting front lines!