By Gerry Crispin, SPHR and Mark Mehler
mmc@careerxroads.com
Since 1996 our CareerXroads Update has been a monthly public commentary on the staffing industry. As we kick off our 12th year, we’ve added a second members-only publication: “CareerXroads Colloquium Bellwether” to highlight short news items that we find of interest. If you’d like to learn more about the Bellwether and our Colloquium click here. We welcome hearing from you at 732-821-6652 or mmc@careerXroads.com with ideas and queries.
Baby Boomers Retire
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Friday was the last day for all Baby Boomers. Nearly the entire US population born between the years 1946 and 1961 just gave notice and went home./p>
Dr. Peter Capelli, a prominent Wharton professor heard the news just as he finished speaking to a Human Resource audience on the subject of his recent Fortune article The Baby Boomers are Retiring! So What? Dr. Capelli’s main contention - that the loss of baby boomers was minimal was based in part on the notion that they (the boomers) have all been changing jobs too frequently during the last few years and have no wisdom left to impart to the next generation.
Of course, Dr. Capelli did indicate that there would be an orderly and perhaps even a slowed exit from the workforce over the next two decades. He was obviously wrong. Perhaps for the first time.
When asked for a comment about the mass exodus of Boomers from the workforce, Dr. Capelli was at first speechless and merely uttered the exclamation “wow”. Two Harvard Review journalists noting his utterance began arguing whether it warranted prominent display in the forthcoming Journal. Subsequently however, Dr. Capelli’s speech did return. But then the lights went out.
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JobCentral’s National Labor Exchange Takes Over the US Government Employment Services. Bill
Warren Promises Everyone a Job.
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In a move reminiscent of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal and his promise of a “chicken in every pot”, Bill Warren accepted the keys from (an anonymous worker of) the US government to the doors of all 2000 employment services offices distributed throughout the US.
The JobCentral National Labor Exchange, a service of DirectEmployers Association, is “a nonprofit consortium of leading U.S. corporations” (and a few not so leading for a small financial consideration) according to its well-written web site. Bill Warren, the executive Director, envisions the NLE as a “single place on the Internet where job seekers can find employment opportunities in all industries.”
As Bill morphed Direct Employers into JobCentral and JobCentral into the National Labor Exchange, his vision continued to broaden and become bolder stating, for example, that “the JobCentral National Labor Exchange site will play a leading role in helping employers meet their individual affirmative action goals and, as a group, better manage our nation’s workforce.”
Whether operating as a “primary focal point for recruiting diversity candidates , returning members of the U.S. Armed Forces and specialty groups such as the physically challenged and senior members of the workforce” the NLE was going to be there. National disasters like Katrina? No problem, the NLE was in place.
After reading the services described by this site, members of the US government realized that closing Americas Job Bank was too little and not too soon. Clearly there were commercial services whose hyperbole was on a level comparable to the administration’s best effort of “no child left behind”. Bill and his writers willingly stepped up to the plate and the rest will be history.
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Monster Buys the New York Times
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In an unexpected and stunning move the New York Times Company which includes both the NY Times and the Boston Globe newspapers was sold to Monster.com Tuesday, ending weeks of speculation about declining classified ad revenue in its print products and raising a spate of new rumors about potential mergers and acquisitions between job boards and print publications.
A joint statement of the Times and Monster praised the move as signaling a new focus on the local communities of New York and Boston. The statement appeared to continue that the timing was especially valuable for the options but that sentence was crossed out and replaced with some mention of “forward thinking.”
One (anonymous) analyst opined that natural synergies between online and print media would be significantly improved now that conservative owners with “cash cow” mentalities and an aversion to investments in hybrid models would no longer be making the decisions. Another (also anonymous) blogger offered a specific proposal that customer service could take an immediate leap in productivity by eliminating Mr. and Ms. Simon in Boston.
Rumors have Craig’s List issuing a tender offer for the San Francisco Chronicle very soon. Jobing.com apparently already owns the Arizona Republic as well as the newspaper by the same name. Hotjobs is rumored to be in negotiation to buy several newspapers, at least that is what the “What shall we buy” Yahoo group seems to be saying and CareerBuilder may be the only site left owned by a newspaper although, when the Tribune finally sells everything off, CareerBuilder may be its most valuable property.
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Coaching the Networked Challenged
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Networking is overrated according to a growing number of self-taught early retired professionals working as Career Coaches to supplement their poorly designed retirement plans. A survey of these highly-experienced individuals with computers resulted in compiling these three tips (out of ten*) for how to improve your chances of getting a job without networking. (* The Additional 7 can be obtained for a small price.)
1. Crank it up an order of magnitude. Getting a job is just a game of numbers. Finding and responding to 100 leads a month should generate 5- 10 interviews and 1 job offer. This assumes you are networking to find someone in the firm to refer you. Knowing someone in the company makes it 70 times more likely you will get up to bat. So just use technology (and money) to apply to 70 times more openings. For $15-$49.95, there are plenty of services willing to take your resume and apply on your behalf to every company in a 100 mile radius, every week. Stuff the box. Get your resume on every job board and every company imaginable. Most recruiters won’t notice. At least not for awhile.
2. Be Everything You Can Be. Use the maximum allowable variations of your resume on every job board and make them all as different as you can. No sense being focused when few firms know what they want anyway. Apply for as many jobs as you can at a company website. Submit separate resumes to match the job’s skills to your variation wherever possible. If necessary, submit different resumes under slightly different variations of your name (first initial, middle name spelled out, use hyphens, etc.) and addresses (especially different email addresses and use local box numbers).
3. Refresh. Do whatever you can to have your resume tagged as having been submitted in the previous week. Recruiters love to default their search to all the resumes that came in during the last week. Sometimes you will have to overwrite a previous resume and other times you can go in with a password and make a small change. Do it. Where possible build “macros” that do it for you. If you don’t know how, your 11 year old will.
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New Americans Support Old Americans: Immigration Reform Is At Hand
In a stunning reversal, Republicans and Democrats suddenly recognized this month that if all the immigrants working in the US (both illegal and legal) were to leave, the ratio of workers paying into the social security system would slip from three workers for every retired person to one.
Apparently two factors convinced our Representatives and Senators to act. The first is that the Boomers and AARP are threatening to support a national referendum to have government workers’ pensions tied to the Social Security system. The second reason is that the children of our Representatives and Senators don’t seem to have much work, aren’t interested in degrees that are relevant to business and have never been interested in leaving home.
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Full details of CareerXroads' schedule can be found here.
Good Hunting! Gerry and Mark
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Links to CareerXroads are much appreciated but we provide no reciprocal agreements with any site. We want to maintain a level of objectivity free from even perceived conflict of interest regarding our opinions. We have no direct relationship with any job board or career site.
Gerry and Mark work full time consulting, educating and discovering how talent and opportunity connect through emerging technology. If we can be of help, you know how to reach us.
CareerXroads
The Staffing Strategy Connection
By Gerry Crispin and Mark Mehler
mmc@careerxroads.com - 732-821-6652