Archive for April, 2009

Candidate information — you can never get enough of it, can you? Resumes are a great source for a candidate’s work-related stats, but how do you get a more complete picture of that person you’re thinking of hiring onto your staff?   I recently wrote about CareerBuilder’s newly launched Applicant Explorer tool. If you haven’t been paying attention, this candidate snapshot tool is available to you for FREE if you have current Resume Database access.

Applicant Explorer enables you to immediately see the most useful and valuable information out there about that candidate, such as his or her Facebook or Brightfuse profile, dedication to an online engineering forum, food photography blog, or published article about business etiquette. Get access to the details a resume may not give you the opportunity to see — and get a more clear picture of candidates before you say “You’re hired.”

Continue Reading…

• Posted by: Amy Chulik on April 29, 2009
• There is 1 Comment. Join the discussion.
• Categories: Branding, Employee Attraction, Free Tools You Can Use, Products, Social Media, Survey Results, Technology

Well, it’s not exactly proof that my earlier prediction that twinternships will take the business world by storm has come true (…yet), but today in the AdAge 3-Minute Video below, BBDO Worldwide CEO Andrew Robertson discusses a very similar trend happening at the worldwide ad agency: reverse apprenticeships.

Continue Reading…

• Posted by: Mary Lorenz on April 24, 2009
• There are 5 Comments. Join the discussion.
• Categories: Employee Attraction, Employee Engagement

Tomorrow is Earth Day.  In honor of it, today, Ben & Jerry’s is having Free Cone Day.  (Okay, it’s more than likely just a coincidence, but the company is very environmentally conscious, and I’d be remiss not to show my support for that by eating some free Chunky Monkey.)

In actual honor of Earth Day, however, CareerBuilder released the results of its latest survey, which found that one in ten employers say they’ve added environmentally focused positions to their companies in the last 12 months.  

Continue Reading…

• Posted by: Mary Lorenz on April 21, 2009
• There is 1 Comment. Join the discussion.
• Categories: Branding, Employee Attraction, Employee Engagement, Going Green, Survey Results

Do you know someone graduating this spring (and no, watching the “Donna Martin Graduates” episode of old-school 90210 doesn’t count)? Chances are if you do, you’ve sensed or outright listened to them rant about heard their trepidation about entering the “real world” and throwing their hat into the current job market ring. Because, well, the environment right now is not exactly what it used to be for soon-to-be or recent grads. Things are a little tough out there.

The class of 2009 will face the most competitive job market in years, as companies continue to proceed with caution amid economic uncertainty, according to CareerBuilder’s newly released annual college job forecast.The percentage of employers planning to hire recent college grads is roughly half of what it was just two years ago. Only 43 percent of employers plan to hire recent college graduates in 2009, down from 56 percent in 2008 and 79 percent in 2007.

2009 Salaries

Along with the economy, entry-level salaries have taken a bit of a dive. Among those employers planning to hire recent college graduates, more than one in five (21 percent) said they will decrease starting salaries for recent college graduates in 2009 as compared to 2008. But there’s hope! A whopping 68 percent of employers plan to keep initial salary offers the same as last year, and 11 percent will increase them.

• Thirty-three percent of employers plan to offer recent college graduates starting salaries ranging between $30,000 and $40,000.
• An additional 17 percent will offer between $40,000 and $50,000
• Fourteen percent will offer more than $50,000
• Thirty-six percent will offer less than $30,000

“While recent college graduates are facing a highly competitive job market right now, there are still opportunities out there,” said Brent Rasmussen, President of CareerBuilder North America.

“The biggest challenge is showing relevant experience, which employers say is one of the most important factors they look for in applications from recent college graduates. This isn’t limited to professional work experience, so don’t get discouraged. Class work, school activities and volunteering also qualify as relevant experience and can be included in your resume as well.”

So how can new graduates differentiate themselves in the current job market, and what are the absolute faux pas that today’s candidates need to be aware of — and steer clear of? Employers who participated in the survey weighed in below.

• Posted by: Amy Chulik on April 21, 2009
• There are 6 Comments. Join the discussion.
• Categories: Economy, Generational Hiring, Social Media, Survey Results

Anyone want to tell Michael Setzer and Kristy Hammonds that Pizza Hut is hiring? No? Just a thought…

On Friday, Pizza Hut announced its opening for a ”twintern”…That is, an intern who uses Twitter and other online networking tools to “be our social media journalist, chronicling in 140 characters or less what’s going on at Pizza Hut,” the company’s VP for marketing communications told The New York Times.

Continue Reading…

• Posted by: Mary Lorenz on April 20, 2009
• There are 2 Comments. Join the discussion.
• Categories: Branding, Employee Attraction, Employee Engagement, Social Media

Top Chef versus Julia Child. Real Housewives of Orange County versus The Golden Girls. The Jonas Brothers versus… The Beatles??? Okay, scratch that last one. The point is, generations may differ on what’s great in TV shows or music or clothing, but in the workplace, generational differences add up to more than just entertainment preferences — and the consequences can be dire. Until Gen Y came onto the scene, generations mixing in the workplace wasn’t as big of an issue. Or rather, the issues were simply different. Fifty or sixty years ago, we were still dealing with extreme female inequality in the workplace.

Fast-forward to today’s technology-filled world, and we are seeing the effects of “Sally,” tech-savvy, new-on-the-scene Gen Y worker, sitting down to a project with “Bob,” baby boomer who’s been with the company for 20 years and still writes people actual letters (non-electronic!). We are seeing these workers clash. They complete tasks differently. They demand different things. Their communication methods are vastly dissimilar. And Bob is afraid he’ll be pushed out of his job any day now due to “not fitting in with the company culture.” After all, companies are cutting back — and layoffs abound.

Although the recent economy has brought about tough times for many of us, older workers have been hit particularly hard in their attempts to rebound from the recession. Between 401 (k) troubles and rising health care costs, these workers have had a slew of problems to deal with. On average, workers over the age of 45 are experiencing longer periods of unemployment; many have been out of work for six months or longer. According to the New York Times article above, even when older workers do finally find employment, many suffer a much steeper drop in earnings than their younger counterparts.

In addition, over the last two years, the number of Americans age 55 and older who are still working has climbed by nearly 1.5 million to over 26 million in March, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Even worse, the number of people 55 and older who want a job but can’t find one has more than doubled over the same period to nearly 1.8 million. Joblessness is lower among older workers than the general labor force, but it’s growing much faster.

• Posted by: Amy Chulik on April 16, 2009
• There are 5 Comments. Join the discussion.
• Categories: Economy, Employee Attraction, Employee Engagement, Employee Retention, Generational Hiring, Social Media