HIRE POWER: The ER Associates Blog

News/Events Quick Links

Dec

The holidays are approaching…start networking!!

Mark Kenny

With the holidays fast approaching, many job seekers may be thinking about “taking a break” and putting their job search on hold until after the first of the year, since “no one is hiring right now anyways”. Wrong! Don’t be one of those people! The holiday season offers a great opportunity to expand your network and make valuable contacts that can assist in securing your next position. There are numerous social events that offer an excellent and informal opportunity to meet people that may be in a position to help you in your search. Your spouse’s employer, your professional organization, community and volunteer groups, your church or place of worship, your vendors, your customers, your college, fraternity and alumni groups are just a few examples of organizations that often have year end holiday parties or get togethers. Take advantage of these opportunities to meet new people, share ideas and leads, and make contacts. Experts agree that 75-80% of jobs are unadvertised and located through networking.

Networking: A path to the hidden job market.

Pools of unadvertised jobs are referred to as the "hidden job market" and are filled by people who know and inform other people, in other words, by those involved in the networking process.

It is sometimes said the best jobs don't make it to the "open market"; they are filled by word of mouth quickly or exclusively. Networking is your vehicle directly into the hidden market.

The Hidden Job Market is vast, as it contains:

Positions that soon will result from impending reorganizations
Planned openings as a result of new and unannounced corporate plans
Anticipated openings from emerging organizational or procedural problems
Jobs due open from impending retirements, resignations or from staff expansions
Jobs that will be advertised next week
Last month's jobs that weren't filled
Jobs released to only one placement agency

Remember, you are “not working” if you are “not networking!.”

Excerpts from Career Partners International - Bringing Great people and Great companies Together

Dec

Self-Employed to Employee: Making the Switch

erassociates

Be ready to explain your motives and your unique value to a boss.

November 30, 2009

By Patty Orsini

There are plenty of benefits to working for yourself. The flexibility, the autonomy, the ability to build something: All are great lures for those who like the challenge of an entrepreneurial business.

However, the same factors that attract people to self-employment can also become a burden. Autonomy can mean having no one to bounce ideas off. Flexibility means you can take time off during the week, but you may also find yourself working through the weekend. And when you need to spend as much time marketing your business as you do working with existing clients, you might wonder if the grass is greener on the other side of the cubicle.

In addition, the economic downturn has stalled business growth, prompting business owners to trade autonomy for a steady paycheck.

Those who make the transition from entrepreneur to employee join the pool of wage-earners already on the job search, but they face different challenges, said recruiters, human-resources managers and those who have made the transition.

Many of these job seekers question what line of work to choose after years wearing multiple hats; most struggle to match the standards of a corporate hierarchy against which they've never been measured; and all must come to terms with handing control to someone else, starting with the job interview. They must also battle the perception that they are abandoning a failed business or could prove unmanageable within a corporate structure.

The employer is concerned about the entrepreneur's experience as well as his intentions, said Caroline Ceniza-Levine, a partner at SixFigureStart, a career-coaching firm based in New York.

Nov

Consider Contract or Temporary Work to Open Doors

erassociates

Not finding your job search moving along at the pace you would like? Are you having a hard time finding that next direct hire position? Consider working on a contract or a Temp-to-Hire basis.

Given the recent economic hardships we have seen, some employers have begun to take a cautious approach to hiring. Still not completely confident in their financial grounding, they turn to bringing on new talent in a “flexible way”. Contract/Temporary employment is a good way for both the job seeker and the company to test the waters. While earning a paycheck you will be able to gain new skills, assess if the culture is a good fit, and perhaps even be able to secure much needed benefits. For employers, this form of employment may allow them staff for special projects or bridge the gap until budgets can be approved for additional head count.

Temporary agencies today are much, much more than one’s of yester-years. Today many specialize in technical and professional placement, often working with the top sought -after companies in your community. Is there an opportunity out there waiting for you in this arena?

www.forbes.com/2008/12/09/job-temporary-agency-leadership-careers-cx_tw_1209businessbasics.html

Nov

The Project Manager’s Quick Guide to Getting Things Done

erassociates

We are all project managers. If you are a recruiter, a sales rep, an administrative assistant, or a purchasing agent, all of our productivity relies on our being expert time and project managers.

How we plan for, manage and organize our resources will determine if we actually meet the goals and objectives.

There are a number of tools and rules that can help you get the most out of your day and closer to your goals. My favorite is the 80/20 Rule or Pareto’s Principle. You can take the meaning to be that in anything, a few (20 percent) are vital and many (80 percent) are trivial. In Pareto's case it meant 20 percent of the people owned 80 percent of the wealth. Project Managers know that 20 percent of the work (the first 10 percent and the last 10 percent) consume 80 percent of your time and resources. You can apply the 80/20 Rule to almost anything, from the science of management to the physical world.

Pareto's Principle, the 80/20 Rule, should serve as a daily reminder to focus 80 percent of your time and energy on the 20 percent of you work that is really important. Don't just "work smart", work smart on the right things.

www.bnet.com/2436-13056_23-357103.html

Nov

Said All The Right Things But Didn’t Get The Interview?

Abby Parnell

Interview cartoon

Said All The Right Things But Didn’t Get The Interview?

You just came out of an interview and you’re positive you aced it. You spend the next few days waiting for the call to let you know the company wants you to join the team but it doesn’t come. How could that be? You said all the right things and gave all the right answers.

But there is one thing you didn’t consider…your body language.

With the downturn in the job market, there is an increased number of people competing for the same job. That being said, it is even more crucial to impress potential employers in the interview. As an Executive Recruiter, I spend a large majority of my time working with candidates in preparation for their interviews. I always advise candidates to do the due diligence necessary to be successful in the interview including doing ample research on the company and being prepared to discuss their experience and accomplishments in detail. Just doing the prep work sometimes isn’t enough.

As Joe Turner, Career Coach, says in the attached article: “It's not always based on what you actually say, but on something we term "body language.” For instance, 85 percent of what you communicate is not with words.”