Archive for August, 2010

Due to factors like a struggling economy and advancing technology, more and more workers have been going back to school to advance or brush up on their skills and make themselves more marketable. With this in mind, we were curious as to what skills employers expect candidates to have in this economic climate, and what they’re willing to teach on the job. So, for The Hiring Site’s August contest, we asked all of you to answer the following question: “In an interview situation, what skills do you expect candidates to have already, and what are you willing to teach on the job?”

By responding, not only did five lucky winners get a free class of their choosing from CareerBuilder Institute (a $50 value each), but they provided some interesting answers as to which skills employers expect candidates to possess (or that they think can’t be taught), and which skills they’re more willing to work with employees to develop after the candidate’s already been hired. Let’s take a look.

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• Posted by: Amy Chulik on August 30, 2010
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• Categories: Contest, Events, Interviewing, Selection, Talent Acquisition

If reading Amy Chulik’s recent post about how one third of employers use social media to promote their organizations – and one quarter use it to recruit and research potential employees – has you thinking that you should be doing the same, you might want to check out the recent interview between CareerBuilder’s Vice President of Corporate Marketing, Jason Ferrara, and Melissa Murray and Christina Bottis of  Personified.

As Emerging Media Consultants for CareerBuilder’s consulting arm, Murray and Bottis help companies build and manage their brand presence online to recruit employees and build customer loyalty.  The three recently sat down to discuss in more detail the various ways in which companies are leveraging social media to enhance their employment brands and recruit talent. Read excerpts from the interview below, or listen to the complete audio version of the podcast “How Companies Use Social Media to Recruit” here. Continue Reading…

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• Posted by: Mary Lorenz on August 30, 2010
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• Categories: Events, Podcasts, Social Media

While you were remembering to pack your stuffed tiger for that upcoming trip (we’re looking at you, mister),  throwing in a live tiger while you were at it, or breaking your nine-month silence on someone named Tiger, here’s what was happening in the world of workforce management this week…

• Most American workers are satisfied with their pay, a suspicious-sounding survey shows.
• Clearly, Germany is on a quest to ruin everybody’s fun.
• It’s official: Shirley Sherrod and USDA awkwardly amicably end their relationship.
• Doing favors at the office isn’t doing you any favors, says science.
• Happy workers make for more productive workers, an obvious-sounding study reveals.
• “Fantastic” news from the boss could be anything but…
• If you’ve ever been exposed to an awful cover letter, you’ll appreciate this. And finally… Continue Reading…

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• Posted by: Mary Lorenz on August 27, 2010
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• Categories: Week in Review

What have companies been doing in response to tough economic times? Eating their feelings with lots of ice cream. Well, believe it or not, many companies have been busy digging into social media — and some are finding hidden treasure. According to a new CareerBuilder survey of more than 2,500 employers and 4,400 workers, 35 percent of companies have been using social media to promote their company in some way. Continue reading

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• Posted by: Amy Chulik on August 21, 2010
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• Categories: Social Media, Survey Results, Talent Acquisition

While you were busy taking your bank-robbing business elsewhere, thankyouverymuch, doing your part to help more Americans develop heart disease, or taking some of the heat off of Dr. Laura, here’s what was happening in the world of workforce management this week…

• Is news that women aren’t moving up in the workforce like men really news?
• This might be the cuuuuutest workplace story EVAH!
• Unlimited vacation time with no catch? (Suspicious!)
• It was only a matter of time before America’s favorite unruly employee got his own reality show.
• A Massachusetts teacher gets, ahem, schooled on the dangers of Facebook.
• Guess what won’t be on Oprah’s list of favorite things this year…
• First it was God. Then it was the Web. Now, apparently, creativity is dead, too.
• The upside to high unemployment?
• CBS wants all of America to watch you get passed over for a promotion.  And finally… Continue Reading…

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• Posted by: Mary Lorenz on August 20, 2010
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• Categories: Week in Review

A recent article in the Chicago Sun-Times about Chicago Police Sgt. Jeffrey Allen’s lawsuit against the city of Chicago piqued my interest — not because he was suing the city of Chicago, but because he was suing due to the fact that he hadn’t gotten compensated for the off-duty time he spent working on his Blackberry. Continue reading

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• Posted by: Amy Chulik on August 19, 2010
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• Categories: Employee Engagement, Insights & Trends, Technology

The recent media overkill coverage of Steven Slater – the Jetblue employee and future reality TV star who became mad as hell on the job last week and wasn’t going to take it anymore - is just the latest in several high-profile incidents of employees behaving badly. We took some time to reflect on this and four other recent stories of employees whose antics caused some very public embarrassment for their (now former) employers – and how those employers were able to maintain their employment brand image in the aftermath. Take a look…

1. Jetblue Flight Attendant Leaves Passengers in Shock

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• Posted by: Mary Lorenz on August 18, 2010
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• Categories: Employment Branding, Talent Acquisition

With multiple reports lately discussing how employers are having difficulty filling open positions – despite the high unemployment rate – now is the perfect time to invest in an employee referral program (ERP) – whether that entails creating one from scratch or enhancing your current one.

Referrals make up 26.7 percent of all external hires, making referrals the number one resource for them, according to the 2010 CareerXRoads Sources of Hire study.

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• Posted by: Mary Lorenz on August 16, 2010
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• Categories: Employee Engagement, Referral Programs, Retention, Talent Acquisition

While you were busy losing ground in your bid for “employee of the month”, providing too-good-to-be-true water cooler gossip, or hoping the other two stories would detract from your little workplace mishap, here’s what else was happening in the world of workforce management this week…
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• Posted by: Mary Lorenz on August 13, 2010
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• Categories: Week in Review

That internship application from the guy with 15 years of management experience? Don’t send it to the shredder just yet – it might not be a fluke. It may simply just be part of a growing workforce trend in which older workers are competing with their college-aged counterparts for open positions.

According to a new survey released today by CareerBuilder, 23 percent of employers are seeing experienced workers (those with more than 10 years of professional experience) and mature workers (workers aged 50 or older) apply for internship positions at their organizations. (The results are consistent with a 2009 survey that indicated that more mature workers were considering internships as a way to break into a new industry.)

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• Posted by: Mary Lorenz on August 11, 2010
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• Categories: Generational Hiring, Survey Results, Talent Acquisition