Freaky Friday: Happy Halloween from Jobfox

By BM Some folks at Jobfox sent me photos to wish everyone a Happy Halloween.

"Clothes make a statement. Costumes tell a story."

— Mason Cooley

Please send you favorite Halloween photos to barry(at)jobfox(dot)com. Also, don't forget to vote next week!                               �

BM Survey: The Recession and Hiring Trends

BM needs your help. If you are a recruiter, hiring manager, HR professional or a C-level business leader, please take a few minutes to complete our poll to learn more about the slumping economy's impact on hiring trends and the job market. Complete the survey and leave your e-mail. We'll be sure to send you a copy of the final results.

Transitioning from Classroom to Workplace

By Rob McGovern, CEO of Jobfox

In recent weeks, we've been talking about the virtues of Gen Y and the need for companies to do better jobs at embracing Millennials as professionals. But what can Gen Yers do to become more workforce ready? Here are some tips:

Visit the Campus Career Oracle

Campus career centers provide a number of benefits and most universities have invested a lot of time and money in these departments. In addition to helping students find jobs, career centers also provide guidance on things like goal setting, sharpening critical thinking skills and improving interpersonal communications.

Millennials should get as many tips and as much practice as possible to develop "softer" professional skills. These skills will be put to the test — much more than expertise — in the real job world.

Get Extracurricular Experience

Professional internship programs are the best way for soon-to-graduate students to gain hands-on work experiences. In addition, enhance your professional acumen with other activities such as honor societies, pre-professional associations, volunteer organizations, student government programs, etc.

The lessons learned in these activities will serve you well and they make great additions to the resume.

Do the Easy Stuff Right

Chances are, Millennials are more likely to get promoted just by doing the easy things well rather than for random exhibitions of brilliance. Of course you're brilliant. You're Gen Y, the most educated and technologically savvy generation ever. But workers are often judged on the basics since these are the behaviors that bosses and peers see day-to-day.

Show up for meetings on time, every time. Promptly return e-mails and phone calls. Let managers know about "surprises" in advance. Say "thank you." Dress appropriately, especially when you are meeting customers.

These are little things, but they carry a lot of weight in the office environment.

Ignite Your Own Projects

Growing up, Millennials are treated as the center of the universe. Helicopter parents hovering over every decision. Every day filled with a predetermined schedule of activities. Suddenly, Gen Yers graduate and are thrown into a sea of look-alike cubicles. Perhaps, for the first time in their lives, they are expected to swim on their own. Most don't know what to do. So they wait, and wait and wait . . .

As a Millennial, fight the urge to do only what you are told and nothing more. Instead, use down time to put together your action plans for weekly contributions. Share your plans with the boss. Ask for feedback. A simple e-mail will do the trick.

Even if your plan of action is not wholeheartedly embraced, it shows your manager that you are thinking ahead and seizing the initiative. It also helps remind your manager to incorporate you more fully into important team goals.

Back up Your Expectations

Throughout childhood, Gen Y was showered with positive reinforcement. Parents are instructed to constantly applaud effort on the sidelines of soccer games. Trophies are handed out to everyone, win or lose.

Welcome to work, where there are few pats on the back for putting forth a good effort. Millennials come with high expectations for recognition, but the trophies stop coming.

Gen Y has the right idea. People should be recognized for their contributions. But few organizations have fully embraced recognition programs, much less which awards are best suited for different generations of workers. Only 12 percent of organizations see this as a priority, according to a 2008 WorldatWork survey of multigenerational recognition programs.

Gen Y workers must learn that being deserving isn't enough. Boomer-dominated work environments — right or wrong — are built upon relevant and measurable results. If you just walk up to your boss and demand a raise, extra vacation time or a more flexible schedule, you're likely to get a lot of static. If, on the other hand, you provide a well-documented case that demonstrates your work and how your achievements led to relevant company results, you'll get much further.

Engage Your Team Spirit

Managers, especially Baby Boomers, don't mean to ignore you. They're just a little self-absorbed. While Gen Y is the "We Connect" generation, Baby Boomers are the "I am" or "Me" generation. There's a lot Baby Boomers can learn from our youngest workers. As a Millennial, use your "need for engagement" to create a new competitive advantage for your company. Be the spark that helps ignite greater collaboration and teamwork in your new place of work.

Rob McGovern, CEO of Jobfox, is a regular BetterMondays contributor.  He is also the author of "Bring Your 'A' Game: The 10 Career Secrets of a High Achiever." 

The Recession: A Silver Lining for Corporate Recruiters

By Rob McGovern, CEO of Jobfox

If you're like most recruiters I know, you're undoubtedly nervous and concerned about the financial crisis and what it means for our profession. I thought you might enjoy hearing a different perspective. It is one that predicts there will be more, not less corporate recruiting in 2009.

I touched on this topic in an earlier BM blog post, OMG: Is it a Recession? I've since received many comments about that post. So, I've decided to create a white paper on this topic: The Recession: A Silver Lining for Corporate Recruiters.

This white paper is based on my 15 years of experience in the online recruiting business and the wisdom I've gained in prior recessions. I look forward to your comments and I hope you will share your experiences about how recessions impact hiring, jobs and talent management.

Another great way to contribute to this discussion is to complete the Jobfox-sponsored poll, Recruiting and the Economy. Complete this survey and we will be sure to send you the final results.

Rob McGovern, CEO of Jobfox, is a regular BetterMondays contributor.  He is also the author of "Bring Your 'A' Game: The 10 Career Secrets of a High Achiever." 

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If You Lose Your Job, Will You Land on Your Feet?

By Barry Lawrence

If you lose your job tomorrow, will you land on your feet?

In good times or bad, it’s always smart to be prepared.

 

Here are some tips:

 

Take Inventory. Are your skills still marketable? If not, consider getting additional training. Skills become obsolete quickly in today’s global business world. For example, Labor Secretary Riley recently noted that the Top 10 jobs of 2010 didn’t exist in 2004. Are you still in demand? Will you still be in demand five years from now?

 

Stay Connected. It’s difficult to make schmoozing a priority once you settle into a job role. It’s easy to blow off professional networking lunches when there’s so much to do. But nothing could be more important. As BM has said before, the best time to look for a job is when you already have one. Social networking sites like LinkedIn are certainly valuable, but nothing replaces camaraderie of face-to-face meetings.

 

Embrace New Tools. My company (Jobfox), for example, enables you to create a professional profile of skills, sit back, and wait for the best matches to come to you rather than having to spend endless hours searching job listings. This is a great alternative (if I say so myself) for already-employed professionals who want to peruse meaningful opportunities. If you are a 5-star match, you can even make introduction requests to employers. Even if you’re happy where you are, this is a great way to build a Rolodex of valuable employer contacts. They are also motivated to build longer-term pipelines of potential talent, so they won’t be disappointed that you are only “shopping around.”

 

Be Responsive. Always take calls from headhunters and others who are looking for people. Try your best to help them, even if the job they are pitching isn’t for you. You might need them down the road. Headhunters, especially, are good about reciprocating favors. Also, for the same reasons, be as responsive as you can to recruiter queries made in your online social networks.

 

Resume Ready. Take a hard look at your resume now. Is it updated? BM’s biggest pet peeve about most resumes is they only show responsibilities, but often lack results and achievements made as a result of those responsibilities. If you want to stand out in a crowd, showcase results and be prepared to talk about how you overcame challenges to get those results. It's a question that's asked in every job interview.

 

Collect Kudos. While you are still employed, create a portfolio of all your positive work contributions. The may include positive e-mails, awards, performance appraisals, work samples, etc. It’s much easier to collect professional kudos a bit at a time, while successes are fresh in your mind. It is also wise to get you reference contacts together.

 

Safety Net. Think through how you would survive a long stretch without full-time improvement. Most experts say that you should save to create an emergency slush fund – enough to replace your salary over a three-to-six month period. Otherwise, you’ll be forced to seek lines of credit, such as a home equity loan. As we all know, this is not a good time to extend debt.

 

Happy networking.

 

Barry Lawrence is the community advocate for BetterMondays. He is also a career and public relations evangelist at Jobfox.

 

OMG: Is it a Recession?

By Rob McGovern, CEO of Jobfox

As the talk of our economy takes center stage, you get the feeling that we're hanging on to the last branch before the abyss. However, it's important for us all to keep things in perspective. The fact is, the economy actually grew 2.8 percent last quarter.

A recession, for those who don't already know, is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative gross domestic product (GDP) growth. We appear to be a long way from that. Companies continue to hire.

Also keep in mind that GDP is a measure of whether the U.S. economy is expanding or contracting. A GDP of 0 percent means that the coffee shop down the road, which as making $25,000 per month, will continue to make $25,000 per month. Not so bad, right? And if the coffee shop loses its head barista, they still have to replace him or her.

The point I'm making is that employers continue to hire, even when they're not growing. This is due to something we call "workplace churn." People quit, get fired, retire, go back to school, etc. In fact, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average length of time a U.S. professional remains in the same job is about three years.

Bottom line: companies continue to look for talent and job seekers continue to have new career opportunities.

Churn may be even more aggressive during slow-growth times. During periods of high growth, for example, managers often overlook weak performers. They simply sweep problem workers under the rug. However, in times when headcount additions are kept flat, managers are under greater pressure to get rid of dead wood and upgrade teams with smarter new hires.

At the same time, highly talented people will often leave troubled companies during tough economic times to take advantage of opportunities at more promising organizations. Again, more churn.

For all the worried job seekers out there, don't get overly concerned when you hear employers talk about "hiring freezes." For most companies, this simply means that overall headcount must remain at a fixed number. However, companies still have to replace people lost through attrition, terminations and retirements. CFOs will typically talk tough about "no new hires," but companies are hard pressed not to backfill key personnel to keep businesses running.

If you've recently been uprooted from a job, you will certainly feel angst and anxiety about the current economic situation. I feel your pain. Just keep in mind that as one door closes, another will eventually open. Even in tough economic times.

Rob McGovern, CEO of Jobfox, is a regular BetterMondays contributor.  He is also the author of "Bring Your 'A' Game: The 10 Career Secrets of a High Achiever." �