Is Good Jobs News Finally on the Horizon?

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Chief executive officers in the U.S. are feeling more confident about the economy, with more of them planning to add rather than cut jobs over the next six months, a Business Roundtable survey released on Wednesday found.

The change in mood (CEOs had been inclined toward cutting jobs for about two years) marked an important shift for an economy struggling to regain its footing after its worst downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

The retail sector is leading the charge toward hiring as consumer spending begins to pick up, according to the quarterly survey which was reported by ABCNews.

Twenty-nine percent of U.S. CEOs told the Roundtable they plan to add jobs in the United States over the next six months, more than the 21 percent who planned to cut. That marked the first time since the first quarter of 2008 that more planned to add jobs than cut them.

Click this link for more details: http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wirestory?id=10308575&page=1
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Bad Credit History Can Crash Your Job Search

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A growing number of job hunters are finding that their financial past may harm their professional future.

According to Kristen McNamara of The Wall Street Journal, concerned about rising rates of employee theft and fiduciary issues, more employers are checking applicants' credit. Companies say the financial information can offer insight into a candidate's level of responsibility.

But people whose previously solid credit has been damaged by the economic downturn say they're victims of circumstances beyond their control.

Some 47% of employers say they check the credit history of applicants for certain positions, according to a late 2009 survey of more than 430 organizations conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management.

That's up from 42% of employers in 2006. Just 25% of employers in 1998 said they regularly or sometimes checked applicants' credit histories.

For the complete story, click here: http://online.wsj.com/home-page
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Where Does Your Resume Really Go When Applying On-Line?

We'd all like to believe that when we send our resume via a job board or a company Web site that there is someone eagerly waiting on the other side ready to read every word of it. But these days, job applicants are lucky if an actual person is reading any of it, at least on the initial screening.

According to Barbara Safani, owner of Career Solvers, as companies continue to be inundated with resumes, more and more employers are turning to applicant tracking systems (ATS) to manage the sheer volume and weed through all the applicants. What does that mean for job seekers? I spoke to HR professionals, recruiters, and hiring managers to find out.

Why do companies use applicant tracking systems?
In today's market, there can be thousands of applicants for one position. According to recruiter Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, "ATS allows me as a recruiter to manage far greater amounts of information and track every communication I have with a job applicant so nothing is 'forgotten.' " Unisys HR Consultant Sharon Sizgorich notes that ATS offers a "consolidated view of all applicants against a job and the ability to build and track pipelines of talent. In addition, applicant tracking systems can help recruiters better manage the various stages of the interview process and comply with legal requirements for tracking applicants."

How do applicant tracking systems work?
"When searching my database for candidates to fit a particular job posting, I'll select an important keyword or phrase directly from the job description, and enter it into the ATS," says recruiter Roxanne Williams. "The ATS will then search the database and return the resulting resumes to me, and this process can be repeated numerous times with different keywords or phrases."

What document formats can applicant tracking systems scan?
According to our experts, most systems can scan text and Word formats; some cannot scan Word 2007, PowerPoints, or PDFs.

What should job seekers do in order to get their resumes noticed by the ATS?

- Customize the resume for each position. Megan Pittsley, a career counselor and recruiter, advises job seekers to "extensively tweak their resume for every job and make sure you weave common keywords throughout the resume as often as possible."

- Keep job titles fairly generic. Kathleen Steffey, founder and CEO of Naviga Business Services, a sales and marketing based recruitment firm, suggests avoiding using job titles that are too specific. "If you are a sales professional who is conducting new business and prospecting 99 percent of the time, just keep your title to 'Sales Professional' or 'Business Development Representative.' Stay away from titles that are too specific like National Accounts or Client Relations.

- Keep resume formatting to a minimum. Dan Kilgore, principal of Riviera Advisors Inc., notes that "certain design features such as italics, bolding, and underlining can substantially increase the error rate as the system converts the data." Radical resume designs similarly are also off-limits because anything the ATS wasn't programmed to look for will not be recognized. One suggestion might be to electronically submit your resume in Word and in a standard format, and save the "pretty" one you formatted for the live interview, since most of these characteristics were made to make the human reading experience more pleasant and exciting.

- Avoid functional resumes. Ashley Gouge, VP of Client Development and Implementation for Pinstripe Healthcare states that "functional resumes are very difficult for parsing technology to read" and recommends using the more traditional chronological format for optimal results.

- Include full keywords and their abbreviated formats. Recruiter and BestJobHuntGuide.com owner Roxanne Williams adds, "some of the words or phrases listed on the job description can also be abbreviated; for example, Sarbanes Oxley can be abbreviated as SOX and accounts payable is often referred to as AP. Play it safe and include both versions in your resume."

While those using applicant tracking systems can point to many benefits of using these systems, some also acknowledge the drawbacks. Amber Jolley, a staffing consultant with Whitaker Technical Services, notes: "The main drawback is that often your resume isn't seen by a 'live' person if it doesn't make it past the ATS screening process. While there are many advantages, the real downfall with ATS is that they are not able to quantify the 'intangibles' that candidates bring to the table or skills that may be equivalent or transferable enough to make their resume worth reviewing."

Google Searches Show Job Trends

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It’s tough out there. No doubt about it. But after months of unrelenting gloom, there are glimmers of hope for job seekers.

Google Chief Economist Hal Varian is pretty confident the national economy is recovering, and he's not just basing that on government data.

According to the Washington Post, Varian says he can tell from Americans' search habits.

In March, the number of Google users searching for information about unemployment benefits or employment centers began to drop, Varian said. Overall unemployment has continued to climb, of course, but new jobless claims have declined since peaking earlier this year.

The temporary employment index, however, is ticking higher.

A former economist and professor at the University of California at Berkeley, Varian says that increases in temporary employment, a leading indicator for labor markets, typically precede a rebound in full-time hiring. That index has ticked up in each of the past four months.

What this means is that the temporary assignment has, in effect, become a “working interview”’ where candidates can prove their worth before the organization commits to increasing permanent headcount.

Additionally, organizations who are in the process of downsizing are now proactively working to find new employment options for their talented staff with stellar track records. This is resulting in very good candidates being immediately available at short notice, which is great news for other companies who are looking to recruit new talent for their own businesses.

Temp-to-perm placements are projected to be a continuing trend as job seekers recognize the opportunity to be able to make their mark—and employers take advantage of being able to evaluate their needs before finalizing job descriptions.
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Show Me the Money!!

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With today’s economic climate, you may feel intimidated asking for a comfortable salary when it’s clear some are accepting jobs well below their pay scale.

However, if you ask the right questions and present your qualifications effectively during your interview, you could land a decent-paying job.

According to Jonnelle Marte of the Wall Street Journal, the first step is to find out the salary range for the position you’re considering. She recommends two web sites (Payscale.com and Salary.com) as well as consulting people you know in the industry.

During the interview, show how you meet the job criteria after finding out exactly what skills the potential employer is looking for. Demonstrate how you deserve to get paid the higher end of the salary range.

While getting the most money possible is important, you shouldn’t allow salary alone to dictate whether or not you accept the role. Try negotiating for other perks (i.e., the ability to work from home or an extra week’s vacation).

If the amount is still shy of what you were hoping for, ask if your salary can be re-evaluated in six months or a year. Emphasize your learning abilities and desire to improve your on-the-job skills so that a review becomes part of the hiring agreement.

Detailed interview strategies covering salary and more can be found at StartNowCareers.com
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Playing the Body Language Game

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Whether you realize it or not, everyone uses body language in our daily encounters with people. When interviewing for a job, body language becomes the nonverbal cues that we give to the interviewer while communicating. They can, essentially, make or break the interview.

Your resume and cover letter told of your accomplishments, but your body will reveal even more. Following is a short list to help you recognize and avoid the negatives while accentuating the positives:

Nervousness — Whistling, pinching skin, fidgeting, jiggling pocket change, running tongue along front of teeth, clearing throat, hands touching the face or covering part of the face, pulling at skin or ear, running fingers through hair, wringing hands, biting on pens or other objects, twiddling thumbs, biting fingernails

Openness and warmth — Open-lipped smiling, open hands with palms visible, unbuttoning coat upon being seated.

Untrustworthy/Defensive — Frowning, squinting eyes, tight-lipped grin, arms crossed in front of chest, pulling away, chin down, touching nose or face, darting eyes, looking down when speaking, clenched hands, gestures with fist, pointing with fingers, rubbing back of neck, clasping hands behind head while leaning back in the chair.

Confidence — Leaning forward in chair, chin up, putting fingertips of one hand against fingertips of the other hand in “praying,” or “steepling” position, hands joined behind back when standing.

As you can see, there are far more negatives than positives—possibly more than we are consciously aware. This list is given not so that you can artificially adopt the positive body language techniques, but more. If you have a habit of doing any of the above negatives, remove that action from your pattern of behavior before it sends the wrong signal. Concentrate on removing it now so you will not have to think about it during the interview.

And keep in mind the person on the other side of the desk. As you talk with an interviewer, be aware of (although not preoccupied with) their body language and nonverbal cues. Do not try to read more than is actually being communicated, but try to develop a sense of the interviewer’s reception of you.

The most obvious example is the smile connection—when your smile brings about a smile from the interviewer. Do your best to stay connected with your interviewer—both verbally and nonverbally.
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How Vital is Networking?

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Networking is the key to success - not only when searching for a job - but for business in general.

Dale Carnegie literally wrote the book on networking in 1936. How to Win Friends and Influence People demystified the process of making friends out of strangers and inspired legions of business coaches to carry on Carnegie's message. Peter Handal, the chairman, CEO and president of Dale Carnegie & Associates, shared some of Carnegie's rules for meeting new people with Meridith Levinson of CIO Magazine and CIO.com.

The Wisdom of Dale Carnegie in Five Bullet Points

• Smile: "This is such a simple, basic rule, yet people just don't think about it," says Handal. They're so focused on needing to network at a conference that they don't realize they're walking around with a scowl on their face. Scowling, serious, expressions are forbidding, says Handal. People are more likely to warm up to someone who says good morning with a broad smile than they are to someone with a dour countenance.
  


• Ask a question: Joining a group engaged in conversation can be awkward. The best way to do so is to pose a question to the group after getting the gist of the conversation, says Handal. "You build your credibility by asking a question, and for a shy person, that's a much easier way to engage than by barging in with an opinion," he says.
  


• Listen: One of the most profound points Carnegie made in How to Win Friends was that people love to talk about themselves. If you can get people to discuss their experiences and opinions—and listen with sincere interest—you can have a great conversation with someone without having to say much at all.
  


• Business cards: Always have them handy, says Handal. "They're an effective way for you to leave your name behind so that people remember who you are."
  


• Say the person's name: "People like to hear their own name," says Handal, pointing to another one of Carnegie's basic principles—that a person's name is the sweetest sound to that person. So when you meet someone, use his name in conversation. Doing so makes the other person feel more comfortable, like you really know him and he knows you.

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