STReBlog » Job Market

Hiring Outlook Is Strong

Sun, 08 May 2011 04:27:38 +0000

The job market is looking up…so don’t miss out. This weekend we are publishing the largest hotlist of open job opportunities we’ve ever seen at STRe. To get a copy send an email to hotlist@stresolutions.com.

It’s important to evaluate your career goals to determine if you are on the right track. Many careers were put on hold, or even detoured during the recession. Now is the time to assess your current career track to determine if your career needs an adjustment. Here’s an article from Kathy Ullrich, another executive recruiter, with some career tips to refresh your job search.

11 Smart Career Tips for 2011
By Kathy Ullrich
Andy Warhol said, “Being good in business is the most fascinating kind of art.”
As a passionate executive recruiter, I couldn’t agree more, particularly when it comes to professionals being good in managing their careers. Here are 11 smart, specific career tips:

1. Look out for #1. Take responsibility for your own career development. Many large organizations have scaled back on training and development—a common outcome of the economic downturn—and small companies can rarely provide significant support. Simply put, your career rests in one set of hands: yours.

2. Be strategic. Have a long-term career strategy or, at the very least, a sense for where you’re headed. Ask yourself, “What do I really want to do?” or “Where do I see myself in five to ten years?” Seek people in similar roles and ask for their advice.

3. Work in step with your company’s goals. Connect the dots from your role to your company’s vision and key objectives. How does your work align with the organization’s goals? What can you do to maximize your contributions?

4. Be customer-centric. Whether your customers are internal or external, know their wants and needs, and be fervent about meeting them. Bring the voice of the customer into your day-to-day work and let it enhance your decisions and deliverables.

5. Collaborate. Working with and through others is requisite to innovating, creating, and producing business results. Adopt a mindset for teaming and collaborating, and put it into daily practice.

6. Hone your communication skills. Communication skills can make or break careers. Pick one area that needs your attention—considering skills such as listening, presenting, influencing, persuading, or distilling messages—and commit to improvement. Take a class, practice with a trusted friend or colleague, or join a group such as Toastmasters.

7. Cross over functionally. Many successful executives have risen through the ranks by taking cross-functional roles, such as moving from finance to sales or from marketing to IT. Follow their lead and you can grow your skills, your network, and your political capital.

8. Expand your experience. Volunteer for special projects or assignments that are outside your everyday role. Discuss your goals with your boss, an HR representative, or a senior leader, and ask for help in finding opportunities to broaden your experience base.

9. Find a guide. Mentors can serve as influential role models and provide important guidance for your career. Reach out to a potential mentor within your company or industry and see if he or she would be open to mentoring you for a specific purpose and timeframe.

10. Network—now. The best time to increase your network is today. Starting now, get involved in groups such as professional associations, charitable organizations, or even sports leagues. Step into leadership roles and make your expertise known.

11. Specialize. Today, companies look for specialists, not generalists. Develop a personal brand, distinguish your skills and strengths, and determine how to best market yourself.

The Google effect–pay to stay

Tue, 16 Nov 2010 00:29:33 +0000

Winners and Losers: Wow, I’m sure it was a great day for Google employees when they heard about their 10% raises and the holiday bonus (and a great day for consumer spending!). And a great day for recruiters, because it confirmed that there still is a war for talent going on. I’m guessing it wasn’t such a good day for start-up CEO’s, with limited budgets, or CFO’s who were trying to hold their budgeted pay raises to 2-3% (still above the rate of inflation!).
It will be interesting to measure the longer term impact of Google’s pay to stay policy. When I googled “reasons for employee turnover”, the first result is an article entitled “Seven Reasons Why People Quit Their Jobs”. None of them are pay related (ok, the article was written in 2005 when we had equity in our homes…maybe it’s not relevant? How did it come up as #1 in the search then?). The second Google search result “Reference for Business” discusses higher pay as one of the most obvious contributors to turnover, but then it quotes a survey where more than half of the respondents didn’t even list pay in the top 3 reasons they believed people quit their jobs. And the third result from Business Owners TookKit, “Understanding and Remedying Employee Turnover” lists Unequal or substandard wage structures. When 2 or more employees perform similar work and have similar responsibilities, differences in pay rate can drive employees to quit for higher pay. Maybe Google should have done a search before they made an across the board increase in pay.
While it’s great to have more money in your paycheck—no complaints here—it’s important that people feel useful, can contribute to the company’s success, and work for a manager where there is mutual respect. So if you’re looking to make a job change, focus on the people, the market opportunity and career path. And if the new position offers all of those benefits, negotiate a fair compensation package and you’ll be well positioned for a rewarding and satisfying new role! Good luck!

What to do after the interview

Sun, 06 Jun 2010 19:32:03 +0000

We all learned Friday that job growth is not where we want it to be yet…at least not in the private sector. So there are still lots of people interviewing, trying to “get on the right bus”. I saw a blog called “Don’t Wait by the Phone” and it got me thinking, and commenting, so let’s go!
1. Write the thank you note. Write a note as soon as possible. What’s important is to write a note that stands out, and is engaging. I’ve seen (and received) too many notes that look like they came from a Microsoft word template. Make yours stand out by showing you understand what the priorities of the job are. Include a comment that integrates your skills and experience with what they’re looking for in the ideal candidate. [Hint: Always ask, what the key priorities of the job are, or what they are looking for in the ideal candidate.]
2. Self-assess the interview. While it’s fresh in your mind, evaluate your interview performance. No, I don’t mean “beat yourself up”, but I’ve found there’s always a thing or two that I think of and could have done differently. When I was interviewing for CFO jobs, my interview skills always improved as I interviewed more. I’d think of more examples of experiences that would highlight my skills, or questions I’d want to ask so I could evaluate the opportunity better.
3. Follow up with the person who scheduled the interview. Whether it’s a recruiter, a friend/networking contact, or HR, reach out and thank them for the opportunity to interview. Give them your assessment of how the interview went, your interest, and if appropriate, ask them about next steps.
4. Keep looking for/scheduling more interviews. No matter how well the interview went, keep looking for more opportunities. The goal is to have choices and options and not to put all your eggs in one basket. And I find candidates interview better when they fell confident about their “interview pipeline”. These are tough times, but don’t let the interviewers know it. Be cool and confident.

Remember, nobody bats 1,000. Set the right expectations for yourself. Do your best, learn from the interviews, and keep looking for that right opportunity. A positive attitude goes a long, long way.

What’s the job market really like right now?

Mon, 19 Apr 2010 04:16:57 +0000

I’ve gotten more questions recently from candidates wondering what the job market is like. Some say they’ve seen an increase in activity, others have been out of work for more than a year and are considering expanding their search to areas outside of Silicon Valley. As usual, there’s not a simple straightforward answer.

Let’s start with the good news. Intel, Google and AMD all had good earnings reports this week. And companies like Cisco, HP, and Intel have announced hiring plans. Most third party recruiters I’ve talked to are getting more job orders to work on, which means internal staffing teams need help finding talent. These are all signs of the hiring trend moving up and to the right.

The bad news is that the unemployment rate still remains high and there are a lot of very talented people who are still out of work. I read an article a couple of weeks ago that drilled down into the details behind the unemployment rate provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The unemployment rate includes all types of workers, at all levels with different levels of education and was 9.7% in March 2010. If we just focus on management, professional and related types of workers the unemployment rate in March was 4.7%. And the unemployment rate in March for people with college degrees was 4.9%. This data is for the entire U.S. and I don’t have it broken down for Silicon Valley, but I have to believe the trend is consistent. The unemployment rate for professionals and managers is probably significantly lower than the 12.6% that was just reported in California.

So if you’ve been out of work for a while and are feeling frustrated and hopeless, it’s not as bad as it seems. I will continue to give the same advice. If you’re not working, and haven’t been working for over six months, go out and contract, or volunteer, and update your resume and LinkedIn profile. It will make a difference. And keep your network informed of your activities. I know you may feel like your communications may not be getting results, but there is more activity, more jobs, so your network will be able to help with leads now more than ever!

Know your recruiter

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 03:34:41 +0000

I was just reading a blog for candidates entitled “Why finding a recruiter/headhunter should not be your first move”. I wondered what he was saying about my industry, so I read on. You can read the blog by clicking here.

While I agree that calling a recruiter probably shouldn’t be your first move, it should be near the top of the job hunting to do list. BUT, even before you consider placing a call, make sure you know who you’re calling and whether they will be helpful. How do you find that out? Call other candidates you know and ask for referrals.

While Lavie is correct in saying recruiters are paid by the employer and we are not in business to help candidates find jobs, a good recruiter will spend time with candidates who are referred to them by candidates/clients in their network. These are the recruiting partners you need to find. At STRe, we know we can’t place all the candidates who come through our doors, even if they are qualified for an open job order we’re working on. But we do know we can usually provide some bit of advice or guidance to most candidates–and that’s what we strive to do. Not only does it feel good to help out, especially in this market, frankly it makes good business sense. Candidates often become clients and if they have a good experience with STRe they will often tell others. We frequently have new clients tell us they heard about us from a candidate who had a good experience with us. And clients want their potential candidates for a job to be treated well by the recruiter that represents them and their company.

The article goes on to say that if a recruiter is not working in your field, it’s probably not a good person to work with. I agree. You need someone who can understand your qualifications and even highlight the skills and experience you have, but may have inadvertently omitted on your resume.

And lastly, unfortunately I have to disagree with the advice to apply for a position directly and Lavie says “because when you use a recruiter you add an extra layer to the screening process.” That’s the whole point! If you work with a recruiter who knows your field, interviews you in person, checks your references, this adds value to the hiring manager and you. At STRe, we use a presentation spreadsheet in addition to the resume for our Select Contingent Searches. This highlights the candidate’s skills and experiences as compared to the hiring manager’s key criteria. It improves the likelihood of the candidate getting hired and reduces the amount of time that hiring managers spend assessing and evaluating the candidates we present.

As a former CFO I understand the need for companies to lower their cost of hire. Unfortunately I have seen firsthand too many examples where well qualified candidates have submitted their resume for a position, never hear anything back from the company, and then can’t be represented by a recruiter because they’re already in the database. And sadly, even in this high tech age, it happens all too often. Candidates need to learn which companies have a good screening process of resumes from their website and which don’t. Because the reality is, you’re a finance professional, not a marketing guru. And sometimes your resume isn’t going to be an obvious fit through the “key word” parsing and you could get left behind.

Bottom Line: Take charge of your job search, work all angles, find trusted partners and you’ll be successful in any environment.

What the numbers say….

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 20:30:35 +0000

Everyone is interested in understanding the state of the job market, including me. With unemployment in the double digits, we all want to know when employment will turn around. So I thought I’d check the numbers and see what I could find. Here is some data on the temporary employment market:
• U.S. temporary help payrolls rose by 33,700 jobs in October, according to seasonally adjusted preliminary numbers released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
• The temporary employment category actually started adding jobs in August when employment increased by 3,200, according to revised numbers from the BLS. September also posted an increase in temporary employment of 7,200.
• In total, temporary employment added 44,100 jobs since July. However, temporary employment had fallen by an average of 44,000 jobs per month between January 2008 and July 2009.
• The temporary help penetration rate rose to 1.4% in October from 1.3% in September.
• The employment services industry as a whole added 36,000 jobs in October after adding 10,100 in September and 6,100 in August.
This data is consistent with what we’ve seen at STRe. We’ve seen an increase in orders for temporary talent, but there are still a lot of people still looking for assignments, but the cutbacks seem to have abated.
Here’s some numbers provided by public companies in the staffing industry:
• Kforce Inc., a Tampa FL-based professional staffing firm, reported third-quarter revenue fell 9.0% to $228.3 million from $250.9 million in the third quarter of 2008. However, third-quarter revenue rose 1.0% from the second quarter.
• Kforce’s finance & accounting division fell 19.3% to $41.3 million. Third-quarter finance and accounting revenue rose sequentially, from the second quarter, by 0.5%.
• Randstad Holding NV, the world’s second largest staffing firm reported third-quarter revenue fell 28.2% on a pro forma basis. However, the company cited positive signs in several markets. “It is encouraging that the revenue trend has become a little better through the quarter on average, a trend which has continued in October,” CEO Ben Noteboom said. The company’s professional business is stabilizing while other staffing is gradually picking up, he said.
• Spherion reported revenue per day in the first three weeks of October was up about 5% higher than in the third quarter.
As we enter the traditionally slower time between the holidays it’s encouraging to see improvement in the numbers. There are still a lot of people out of work, and the job market is adding jobs much slowly than we need. But at least the charts are moving up and to the right!

A Day of Good News

Thu, 06 Aug 2009 02:38:56 +0000

With the release of the 2 American journalists held in North Korea, it’s a day for good news, so let’s continue. In case you missed one of today’s top articles, there is certainly some good news on the job front. Almost half of workers who got laid off in the last 3 months have found jobs. And more good news, According to Careerbuilder, “Looking at workers who were laid off in the last 12 months and found new jobs, more than half (56 percent) reported they were able to negotiate comparable or higher pay for their new positions. Forty-four percent of workers took a pay cut, down from 49 percent in March.”

At STRe, we have seen a definite pickup in jobs that clients need help on, and pay has stayed fairly constant. This isn’t the time to look for a 10-15% increase when changing companies, but most companies aren’t expecting candidates to take pay cuts. The only area we’ve seen reductions in salaries has been in contracting. Both candidates and clients are putting pressure on rates for consulting positions. If you’ve been out of work for a while, hang in there, help is on the way.

Only the Laid Off Need Apply

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 04:31:35 +0000

I was on vacation last week and was catching up on email last night when I came across an interesting article that is a great follow up to the WSJ article “Only the Employed Need Apply.” Paul Boutin in Wired writes, if you’ve been laid off in Silicon Valley, don’t fret – it just might be a good thing. “[T]o start the next wave of opportunities, we need to revive the kind of wanton cross-pollination that got us this far,” Boutin writes. “That’s why being pushed out the door could be just what you—and the Valley—need.” Boutin says he’s been fired five times since moving to Northern California in 1990 and has bounced back every time.

While being fired five times might be a bit hard to explain on the resume, it certainly proves that resiliency and hard work can get you employed! Here’s a link to the whole article.

How to ensure you’ll get comments on your blog

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 05:11:40 +0000

Bet you can’t guess what the topic of this article is from the title…..No, I’m not going to write about how you can log on and submit comments to my blog. But talk about creating a story that creates water cooler conversation (i.e. comments in today’s Web 2.0 world), the Wall Street Journal article entitled “Only the Employed Need Apply” was a lightning rod for comments!
If you didn’t see the article in the June 30th “Getting Ahead” section of the careers journal, you can check it out here. There are 144 comments and as I write this blog, the most recent comment was posted only 12 hours ago. And check out the “corrections & amplifications” note. Guess one of the companies featured in the story was getting overhelmed with calls from recruiters!

As I read the article I had mixed feelings. Sure, everyone wants to hire superstars, A players, best of breed employees. And of course they must all be working, not consulting, not out of work, because when would anyone ever let them go? Of course that’s just not reality. I don’t know the statistics, but particularly in Silicon Valley I have to believe there are a large percentage of A players that have been unemployed. If you’re taking a risk on start ups, there’s a risk the company won’t make it. And it’s not always well communicated to the team that the company is about to run out of money, or that they can’t raise their next round of funding because the market has tanked, or their niche has gone out of favor, or the VCs latest powerpoint slide presentation caused a tsunami of deep cuts at your company. And what about the fact that “success comes from being able to accept the risk of failure.” (1)

So, if you are in the unfortunate position of being unemployed in today’s market, here are a few suggestions:
• Focus your energies on your existing network of colleagues and co-workers. People who have worked with you before, seen you in action, will be your best referrals and references for your next position, even if you are out of work.
• Ask for recommendations on your LinkedIn profile. They do make a difference to recruiters who are sourcing candidates.
• If you take a consulting job to bridge the gap, UPDATE YOUR RESUME. We always recommend this to candidates in transition and I can’t tell you what a difference that makes. Same candidate, same skills, but all of a sudden they start getting calls when their resume says they are working.

And hiring managers, don’t always assume an unemployed candidate is a poor performer. Sure, a fair percentage of them are. We all know companies use economic downturns to cut out the bottom 10%. But a resume alone generally won’t indicate whose job was outsourced, which company cut a whole product line out and everyone with it, or which companies couldn’t get funding. Do your homework, do back door references, work with recruiters who thoroughly interview and assess candidates to understand if the candidate is the top or bottom 10%. If you do this, you can find great employees who will be totally committed, motivated and energized. It is well worth the time invested.
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(1) Daily Motivator email edition. June 19, 2009
Copyright (C) 2009 Ralph S. Marston, Jr. All rights reserved.