careers

Secret Weapon in the Job Hunt Today: Personality

Tom Musbach — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:26:04 -0500

Your interpersonal skills can make or break your chances of getting a job offer -- even in such a technical field as finance.

The point was made very clear recently in a survey by finance staffing firm Accountemps. More than 1,400 CFOs were asked: "If two candidates for an accounting or finance position had similar skills, which one the following additional qualifications would you find most valuable?" Topping the list was "personality or people skills" with 31% of the votes.

Avoiding the Resume 'Black Hole'

Tom Musbach — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:46:55 -0400

I've heard some recruiters say they usually scan a resume in seconds. That boast could challenge job seekers to stand out as much as possible, but it also feeds the impression among candidates that their resumes end up in a black hole.

But that dominant view -- "you have to capture a recruiter's attention within seconds or else" -- ignores others who might assess your resume.

Job Fair and Training Expo

Saj Anwar — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 21:35:47 -0400

When: Wednesday, November 18, 2009 Job Fair & Training Expo

Location: Living Arts Centre, Mississauga, ON

Great Opportunities in a Shrinking Industry Sector

Laurence Shatkin — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:03:24 -0400

Yesterday it was announced that Fisker Automotive, a company based in Irvine, California, will buy and retool a former GM assembly plant in Wilmington, Delaware, with the goal of manufacturing plug-in hybrid cars. The purchase of the Delaware site will cost about $18 million, and retooling the facility will cost an additional $175 million.

Talent Management Summit: Retention Has Replaced Recruitment

Fast Company Calendar — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:01:24 -0400

Leaders, There Really Are Some Stupid Questions!

Cy Wakeman — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:12:51 -0400

Over this past year of presenting the concepts of Reality Based Leadership at conferences nationwide, I have often heard leaders unconsciously, routinely spouting off cliches that not only remain untested but that are absolutely false. Worse yet, they are encouraging a huge waste of scarce team resources.

A favorite cliché of mine to bust right in front of their eyes is, “There are no stupid questions.”

How to Get Noticed in a Web 2.0 World

Wendy Marx — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:28:32 -0400

I have to chuckle about how many people today talk about making millions on the Internet as if money just falls off the screen. If that were the case, of course, smart companies like the New York Times and other publishers would have figured out a way to monetize the Web. And the people talking about making the fortunes would be lolling on the proverbial beach.

The Age of Empathy

Ray Williams — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:19:48 -0400

Greed is out. Empathy is in. That's how Frans de Waal begins his book, The Age of Empathy: Nature's Lessons For A Kinder Society. De Waal is a biologist, professor of psychology and director of the Living Link Center at Emory University. In 2007, Time magazine selected him as one of the world's most influential people.

Want To Stay Healthy After Retirement? Keep Working

Ray Williams — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 17:51:31 -0400

Since the Great Depression, a commonly held perspective on the good life is that we can all look forward to retirement, when we didn't have to work any more. We would be more relaxed and healthier away from the stresses of work.

“Contractor” Employee Misclassification is Costing Companies – Again

Nick Reddin — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:53:31 -0400

As a cable-television installer in Massachusetts, Fritz Elienberg drove a van and wore a shirt emblazoned with “Comcast.” He installed equipment from Comcast Corp., and customers paid the cable provider for his work.

Mr. Elienberg wasn’t a Comcast employee, but a so-called independent contractor working for a separate company. This month, Mr. Elienberg sued both companies, for allegedly depriving him and other contractors of overtime pay and benefits by not considering them employees.

Is Management Efficiency A Myth?

Ray Williams — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 00:55:56 -0400

The current recession has produced a flood of management "experts" and many leaders of organizations whose only strategy for dealing with the downturn in the economy is cutting costs, layoffs and more efficiency based strategies. The mantra for business for much of the last century has been operational efficiency. So leaders look for ways to cut costs and make the operations lean and mean. Yet much of the rationale for and evidence supporting efficiency as a key management strategy is questionable.

We're Hiring a Web Developer

Paul Maiorana — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 23:01:53 -0400

Mansueto Ventures, publishers of Fast Company and Inc. magazines, is looking for a Web Developer to join their Digital Services department.

We're looking for a highly skilled person to help us develop and support our Web technology platforms. The ideal candidate will have experience working with the Drupal content management system in the online publishing space.

The Status of the Stimulus Plan (2)

Laurence Shatkin — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:24:17 -0400

In mid-June, I posted a blog entry about the status of the stimulus plan, which I have been following closely ever since writing a book about it (Great Jobs in the President’s Stimulus Plan). I rushed out this book before the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 had actually been passed by Congress and signed by the president.

Should You Change Your Looks to Get a Job?

Tom Musbach — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 19:41:20 -0400

A majority of job seekers this year have changed something about their physical appearance in order to impress employers, according to an online poll.

The respondents in the Yahoo! HotJobs poll made changes in several areas:

Clothing style: 11%
Lost weight: 13%
Hair style and/or color: 12%
Face (Makeup, teeth whitening, Botox): 4%
Two or more of the above: 19%
Nothing: 41%

How much experience do you have?

David Gardner — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 19:27:05 -0400

I was traveling with the CEO and several other vice presidents from our company. We were discussing how the expertise and culture at our company had not evolved over the past decade and what a terrible challenge that represented for our leadership team.

Our CEO offered, “Someone who repeats the same year of their life fifteen times doesn’t have 15 years of experience; they have one year of experience repeated fifteen times.” That thought really stuck with me. We had a lot of people that fit that bill. What are leaders facing?

Public Relations: The Secret to Launching a Successful Product or Service

Wendy Marx — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 16:13:34 -0400

The blogosphere recently has been having a collective laugh riot over a Microsoft video about holding a launch party for Windows 7.

In case you haven’t seen it, the video features a group of politically correct people talking about having a launch party for Windows 7 in a way that’s totally unbelievable and horribly acted. Apparently, it’s not a parody, but meant to be for real.

The Infrastructure-Manufacturing Connection

Laurence Shatkin — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 14:59:04 -0400

In my recent book 200 Best Jobs for Renewing America, I describe six large fields whose growth will be essential for the United States to remain competitive in the world economy. These fields are education, infrastructure, health care, information and telecommunication technologies, green technologies, and advanced manufacturing.

Resume Format: 3 in 4 Hiring Managers Recommend...

Tom Musbach — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 18:31:49 -0400

If you're aiming to please a hiring manager in your job search (and who isn't?), then format your resume chronologically.

In a recent Accountemps survey, 75% of hiring managers prefer a chronological resume that lists the most recent work experience first. The respondents preferred this type of resume to one that is organized by job function and skills, according to the financial staffing firm.

The firm also reported that the managers' responses were little changed from 10 years ago when the question was asked.

Leadership Cliché Challenged and Busted – There is no “I” in TEAM replaced with There is definitely an “I” in WIN.

Cy Wakeman — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 15:36:46 -0400

Have you ever noticed that many of the leadership clichés we live by are not living up to their reputation? Leaders flippantly throw around sound bites of so-called “wisdom,” picked up at conferences or from leadership books and use them without truly questioning whether or not they are true or even useful. Bit by bit, these clichés have reached the status of “conventional wisdom” – widespread beliefs that are not only untested but untrue – also causing havoc in the workplace.

Leadership Mindset May Determine Long Term Success

Ray Williams — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 18:58:01 -0400

A leader's "mindset" may determine success. Mindsets that are characterized by a commitment to growth, flexibility and adaptability continue to develop the leader's brain and develop reservoirs of untapped potential.

The notion of mindset and how it can affect performance is outlined by Stanford University psychology professor Carol Dweck, in her book, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.

How Can Positive Affirmations Work?

Ray Williams — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 14:18:35 -0400

Positive affirmations can be a benefit to personal growth, if done in the right context, thus avoiding the damaging consequences of the wrong approach, as shown in recent research.

Common Interview Surprise: Illegal Questions

Tom Musbach — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 13:38:06 -0400

More than half of job seekers report being asked an illegal question during a job interview.

That eye-opener comes from a Yahoo! HotJobs online poll, in which 62% of respondents reported being on the receiving end of a question about a verboten topic, such as one's religion or marital status. Almost a third (32%) had not been asked such a question, and 7% said they didn't know.

The numbers surprised me and several of my colleagues, so it's worth reviewing what's permissible and not. Interviewers are not allowed to ask about:

What's Wrong with GDP

Laurence Shatkin — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:31:34 -0400

One of the most remarkable speeches that Robert F. Kennedy made was about what’s wrong with using traditional economic measures as gauges of our success as a society:

Ability to Change by Ted Eleftheriou

Ted Eleftheriou — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 01:56:00 -0400

For Lasting Salary Damage, Get Hired in a Recession

Tom Musbach — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 15:03:23 -0400

New grads entering the job market have come to expect that during touch economic times -- like the present -- they may have to settle for a lower salary to get a job. But that flexibility may result in income damage that could take nearly 20 years to overcome, according to new research.

A Depressing Discovery

By equating salaries for new hires to the unemployment rate, a Yale professor calculates that students who graduate during a downturn earn 6-8% less in their first year for each percentage-point increase in the unemployment rate.