Posts Tagged ‘jobs’
Wednesday, February 8th, 2012
 More good news on the hiring front: The YPO Global Pulse Index for the United States rebounded sharply in the fourth quarter of 2011, climbing 4.5 points to 62.2, improvihg to the highest level in the history of the survey.
The latest survey results also suggest that a faster pace of hiring may be forthcoming: the YPO Employment Confidence Index for the United States rose 1.5 points to 59.8, the highest reading since YPO began measuring CEO sentiment in July 2009.
After lagging the YPO Global Index in every quarter since the survey began, the United States weighed in above the global reading for the first time.
Sales expectations, headcounts, spending all climb
Expectations about sales, headcounts and capital spending all climbed higher in the fourth quarter, suggesting that U.S. CEOs seem to anticipate a moderate pace of economic expansion during the coming 12 months.
The survey results were announced today by YPO (Young Presidents’ Organization), a not-for-profit global network of 19,000 chief executive officers. The YPO Global Pulse is the only CEO economic sentiment survey to span the globe on a quarterly basis, capturing answers from more than 2,000 CEOs representing companies of all sizes around the world.
Key findings
Economy strengthened in the second half of 2011. When asked about their assessment of the economy today versus six months ago, 43% of reporting CEOs said the overall conditions affecting their businesses had improved in the past six months, compared with 27% who held that view in the previous quarter. The reported improvement in economic conditions was widespread, with firms of all sizes in all sectors – production, construction and services – experiencing the upswing.
More than half expect economy to improve. When asked about their assessment of economic conditions six months from now compared with today, respondents’ outlook was even brighter.
In this case, 51% expected the economy to improve over the next six months, compared with 30% who thought so last quarter. Moreover, only 8% thought economic conditions would deteriorate during that period of time, whereas in the prior quarter, 25% thought that would be the case. Once again, firms across all industries and of all sizes had a roughly similar economic outlook.
Sales outlook grows more favorable. Looking ahead 12 months, CEOs anticipated a robust sales pace. The YPO Sales Confidence Index climbed 3 points to the relatively lofty level of 67.8, just short of the 68.9 peak recorded in the first quarter of last year.
Outlook for capital spending improves. The YPO Fixed Investment Confidence Index for the United States followed the same positive pattern, rising 2.3 points to 60.5. This series had declined in each of the two previous quarters but then recovered much of what it lost by the January 2012 survey.
Commentary
“The Index declined in both the third and fourth quarters of 2011, but in recent months, it has become clear that GDP growth accelerated toward the end of the year, softening fears of a double dip and fanning optimism among business leaders,” said Alan Zafran, managing partner of California-based investment adviser Luminous Capital and a member of YPO’s Global One Chapter.
Stephen Slifer, YPO Global Pulse economic adviser and chief economist at NumberNomics, said, “The rising optimism seen in the latest YPO survey is consistent with recent economic reports indicating that the U.S. economy has finally begun to crank out a respectable number of new jobs. In addition, the upswing in optimism was almost certainly bolstered by indicators that the housing sector has finally begun to emerge from the doldrums.”
Tags: faster pace of hiring expected, jobs, US CEO confidence soars, YPO Global Pulse Index
Posted in Studies, surveys, reports, TechJobs | No Comments »
Thursday, February 2nd, 2012
 Good news for tech specialists: increases in demand for certain skill-sets and not enough candidates to fill them will make a competitive landscape for those with the right stuff, says Bluewolf in its its annual IT Salary Guide for 2012.
While the report shows the biggest increases in demand for mobile, data, cloud and user engagement technologists, it also reveals a decline in job candidates with the skill-sets required to meet those needs.
“Organizations aren’t just competing against each other for qualified tech professionals—they’re contending with an ever widening talent gap and the mass exodus of baby boomer retirees,” warns Bluewolf co-founder and principal Michael Kirven.
“This poses a huge challenge for business as they scramble to adopt new flexible technologies that support the Agile Enterprise, but for those with the right skill-sets, this should come as good news.”
The report, which covers major industries including media, telecom, healthcare, retail, manufacturing, and financial services, provides the following key findings:
- Senior Software Developer salaries will rise 6%+ with an average high of $99,000 per year
- Starting salary ranges are predicted to jump to $98,000 per year for Android, iPhone and iPad developers
- Average salaries for Android, iPhone and iPad Developer will jump to $98,000 per year
- Top tier ERP, BI, and CRM Developer salaries will rise from $84,000-$105,000 to $88,000-$110,000
- Front-end and User Experience technologists are seeing spikes in demand with predicted salary ranges for HTML5 at$89,000-$127,000
- Security Analysts will experience a significant increase in salaries ranging from $94,000-$125,000 per year
- Data Analysts & BI Professional salaries will creep past pre-recession levels, rising between 5-6% annually
On the executive level, CIOs and CSOs are seeing the most gains. In database administration, business intelligence analysts and data architects are enjoying the largest salary hikes while software and web development salaries are experiencing jumps all across the board. In information security, analysts are seeing the highest demand.
Tech skills: What’s hot and not:
- Mobile:
- Hot: HTML5, iPhone/iPad and Android up 200+%
- Not: Blackberry and Windows Mobile down 50+%
- Big data:
- Hot: MySQL, HBase, Cognos and Informatica up 100+%
- Not: DB2 down 50+%
- Cloud computing:
- Hot: Eloqua, Marketo, Salesforce and Google Apps up 100%
- Emerging: AWS-EC2 up 50+%
- User engagement:
- Hot: UI Design up 100+%
- Not: Flash, Flex and ActionScript down 50+%
“The growing demand we’re seeing for tech professionals is driven by a need to bring greater agility into the enterprise,” continued Mr. Kirven. “This in turn is fueled by a volatile global economy combining with changes in customer expectations, workforce dynamics, and technology itself. But businesses and workers alike must invest in training to ensure the skills are there to meet emerging challenges and opportunities.”
Bluewolf’s IT Salary Guide is available at: http://success.bluewolf.com/forms/AssetRequestForm?docid=555
Tags: 2012 IT salary guide, BI, big data, cloud computing, CRM, ERJP, iPad, iPhone developers, jobs, mobile, retiring baby boomers, senior software developers, starting IT salaries, tech specialists in demand, User engagement
Posted in Internet/New Media, IT, Mobile, TechJobs, Telecommunications | No Comments »
Thursday, February 2nd, 2012
 Online advertised vacancies rose 61,300 in January to 4,383,400, according toThe Conference Board Help Wanted OnLine® (HWOL) Data Series.
Nationally, there are 8.8 million more unemployed than advertised vacancies and the Supply/Demand rate stands at 3 unemployed for every vacancy.
“The monthly increase for the last 2 months (December and January) averaged 93,000/month, giving hope that labor demand will continue to improve,” said June Shelp, Vice President at The Conference Board. Overall labor demand has grown by over 1.6 million since the recession’s low point in April 2009.
The current monthly level of labor demand of about 4.4 million is in line with the pre-recession high in 2007 and reflects a healthy level of turnover/churning in the U.S. labor market, which is good news for the unemployed and job changers.
However, while the gap between the number of unemployed and advertised vacancies has also narrowed to three unemployed for every ad, down from a high of 5.02 (Supply/Demand rate) at the depth of the recession in April 2009, it still remains well above the November 2007 rate of 1.73, prior to the onset of the recession.
REGIONAL AND STATE HIGHLIGHTS
In January:
- Among the 20 largest States, California and Illinois have largest gains
- Recent trend in labor demand for three-fourths of the largest States is either flat or positive
The trend in labor demand for the U.S. as a whole is flat; however, the trends among the largest States differ significantly. In 5 of the 20 largest States the trend for labor demand is up (Georgia and Texas in the South, Illinois in the Midwest, and Arizonaand Colorado in the West).
In another 10 out of the 20 largest States, the trend in online labor demand is flat. On the other hand, the trend continues to be down in five other States (Massachusetts in the Northeast, Maryland and Virginia in the South,Missouri in the Midwest, and Washington in the West).
In January, the West rose 8,700, reflecting gains in all 4 of its largest States. California had the largest increase, 26,800. Over the past 2 months California gained 38,500. Washington was next with a gain of 2,400. Colorado rose 2,100.
Arizona showed little change with a slight gain of 100. Over the past 5 months, Arizona has gained 5,200 and now stands at 79,600. Among the less populous States in the region, Utah lost 2,600, Nevada declined by 2,100, and Oregon fell by 1,000.
Labor demand in the Northeast dipped 14,300 in January. New Jersey experienced the largest decline, 5,900, and is now at 136,800.
New York fell by 1,200 while Pennsylvania (+100) and Massachusetts (no change) remained steady in January. Among the smaller States in the Northeast, the number of advertised vacancies in Connecticut rose by 400. Over the past two months, Connecticut has added 5,900. Rhode Island lost 1,000 while Maine and New Hampshire fell by 600 each.
The South declined by 7,000 in January, reflecting losses in a number of its large States. Florida experienced the largest loss, down 13,100, while Maryland declined 5,200.
States with gains included Texas, up a modest 4,800, bringing its gain over the last 5 months to 24,200. Virginia rose by 3,900 while North Carolina fell by 2,100. Georgia had a modest gain of 1,300.
Among the less populous States in the South, Arkansas gained 2,300, Tennessee fell by 3,100, and Louisiana and South Carolina were down 1,800 and 600, respectively.
The Midwest remained basically flat, with a slight loss of 1,600. Illinois rose by 10,800. Over the past 4 months, Illinois has risen 17,900 to a total of 169,000. These increases were offset in part by weak labor demand in several of the other large states. Among the largest States, Michigan declined by 6,100. Missouri and Minnesota both fell by 2,600. Ohio and Wisconsinexperienced smaller losses at 800 and 200, respectively. Among the less populous States in the Midwest, Indiana fell by 1,800 while Kansas rose by 1,700. North Dakota and South Dakota fell 1,500 and 400, respectively.
The Supply/Demand rate for the U.S. in December (the latest month for which unemployment numbers are available) stood at 3.03, indicating that there are 3 unemployed workers for every online advertised vacancy. Nationally, there are 8.8 million more unemployed workers than advertised vacancies.
The number of advertised vacancies exceeded the number of unemployed only in North Dakota, where the Supply/Demand rate was 0.74. States with the next lowest rates included South Dakota (1.20), Nebraska (1.36), Vermont (1.39), Minnesota (1.54),Alaska (1.59), and New Hampshire (1.63). The State with the highest Supply/Demand rate is Mississippi (6.44), where there are over 6 unemployed workers for every online advertised vacancy. Other States where there were more than 4 unemployed workers for every advertised vacancy included Kentucky (4.51), California (4.36), Nevada (4.11), and Illinois (4.09).
It should be noted that the Supply/Demand rate only provides a measure of relative tightness of the individual State labor markets and does not suggest that the occupations of the unemployed directly align with the occupations of the advertised vacancies (see Occupational Highlights section).
- Washington, D.C., has the lowest Supply/Demand rate (1.10)
In January, 45 of the 52 metropolitan areas for which data are reported separately posted over-the-year increases in the number of online advertised vacancies. Among the three metro areas with the largest numbers of advertised vacancies, theNew York metro area was basically unchanged since January 2011 (down 100). The Washington, DC metro area was down 7,400, or 5.5 percent, from January 2011. The Los Angeles metro area was up 5,000, or 3.7 percent, from last year’s level.
The number of unemployed exceeded the number of advertised vacancies in all of the 52 metro areas for which information is reported separately. Washington, DC continues to have the most favorable Supply/Demand rate (1.10) with about one advertised vacancy for every unemployed worker.
Minneapolis-St. Paul, Boston, Salt Lake City, and Oklahoma City were metropolitan locations with the next lowest Supply/Demand rates. On the other hand, metro areas where the number of unemployed is substantially above the number of online advertised vacancies include Riverside, CA — where there are about 8 unemployed workers for every advertised vacancy (8.10) —Sacramento (4.90), Miami (4.48), Los Angeles (4.28), Las Vegas(4.12), and Chicago (3.88).
Supply/Demand rate data are for November 2011, the latest month for which unemployment data for local areas are available.
Tags: Conference Board, jobs, labor demand, Midwest, Northeast, online job vacancies, South, unemployment, West
Posted in Studies, surveys, reports, TechJobs | No Comments »
Monday, October 17th, 2011
 The “National Solar Jobs Census 2011: A Review of the U.S. Solar Workforce” found that hiring in the solar workforce is on the rise. More than 100,000 Americans are now employed in the solar industry.
“The solar industry has grown into a major economic force with more than 100,000 employees in the United States,” saidAndrea Luecke, executive director of The Solar Foundation.
“We expect even greater growth in the foreseeable future. But policymakers, workforce training providers, and the industry must work together to continue creating good jobs for skilled workers.”
California leads in solar employment
As of August 2011, the Census identified more than 17,198 solar employment sites and 100,237 solar jobs in all 50 states. The solar industry’s job growth rate of 6.8 percent is significantly higher than the 2 percent net job loss in fossil fuel power generation and the economy-wide expectation of 0.7 percent growth over the same period.
California continued to be the national leader in solar employment, with 25,575 workers. Rounding out the top 10 states areColorado, Arizona, Pennsylvania, New York, Florida, Texas, Oregon, New Jersey and Massachusetts. Colorado, Arizona,Florida, Oregon, New Jersey and Massachusetts showed the strongest growth rates from August 2010.
The Census also found that solar employers expect to increase the number of solar workers by 24 percent, representing nearly 24,000 net new jobs by August 2012. Over the next 12 months, nearly half of solar firms expect to add jobs.
“These survey responses merely reflect employers’ best estimates at expected new hiring, but it demonstrates a clear growth pattern for the industry and tremendous optimism by employers in the industry,” said Luecke. “Employers expressed similar optimism last year, but failed to meet their hiring expectations because of stalled legislative initiatives and continued policy uncertainty.”
The survey examined employment along the solar value chain and included data from more than 2,100 solar company survey respondents. The National Solar Jobs Census 2011 was conducted by The Solar Foundation and BW Research Partnership’s Green LMI Consulting division with technical assistance from Cornell University.
The full report and case studies are available at thesolarfoundation.org/research/national-solar-jobs-census-2011
Tags: California leads in solar employment, jobs, Solar Foundation, solar industry employment growth expected, solar industry employment on the rise
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Wednesday, October 12th, 2011
 As caution continues to dictate the economic climate, many companies are recruiting top talent to navigate uncertainty and maintain a competitive advantage. Nearly a quarter of companies in a new survey say they plan to hire an executive in the next six months. That may not make a serious dent in the unemployment problem, but any intent to hire is good these days.
Twenty-three percent of employers expect to hire for executive-level positions over the next six months, according to CareerBuilder’s new nationwide survey of more than 2600 hiring managers and human resources professionals conducted from August 15 to September 8, 2011.
The survey is in conjunction with CareerBuilder’s launch of HeadHunter.com – a job search and recruitment site for management and executive-level candidates.
Consistent with hiring expectations for all workers, information technology companies are leading the way in executive hiring, with 35 percent reporting they’ll fill top positions over the next six months. Other areas expecting to recruit executives include healthcare (25 percent), sales (24 percent), professional and business services (23 percent), financial services (23 percent) and leisure/hospitality (23 percent).
“Companies have a perpetual need to attain competent, agile senior leadership. At no time is this more important than during an uncertain economic recovery,” said Brent Rasmussen, president of CareerBuilder North America. “HeadHunter.com is designed to highlight opportunities for talented professionals looking for jobs on multiple levels of an organization – from senior managers and department directors to vice presidents and C-level officers.”
Profile of Executive-Level Candidates
The survey found that recruiting for executive-level positions is not necessarily an internal task. While a third of employers prefer to look for executive level candidates internally, 18 percent prefer to look externally and half place equal emphasis on internal and external candidates.
One-in-five employers look for a candidate with an MBA, comparable degree, or higher level degree when recruiting executive-level positions. While prior industry experience is an important asset for many employers, 47 percent would still be willing to hire a candidate without it, suggesting that past accomplishments and leadership style are paramount in the executive recruitment process.
The forecast confirms that, for the most part, the right experience comes with age. According to employers, the average executive is age 41 or older. Forty-five percent of executives are between 41 and 50-years-old and 29 percent are older than 50. Twenty-six percent of executives are age 40 or younger.
The following are other qualities employers look for most in executive-level candidates:
- Proven ability in addressing problems with effective solutions (74 percent)
- Adept at motivating others (63 percent)
- Can act with speed and agility in a changing market (55 percent)
- Creativity (52 percent)
- Emotional Intelligence (46 percent)
- Experience in different areas (44 percent)
Survey Methodology
This survey was conducted online within the U.S. by Harris Interactive© on behalf of CareerBuilder among 2,696 hiring managers and human resource professionals (employed full-time, not self-employed, non-government) between August 16 and September 8, 2011 (percentages for some questions are based on a subset, based on their responses to certain questions). With a pure probability sample of 2,696, one could say with a 95 percent probability that the overall results have a sampling error of +/- 1.89 percentage points. Sampling error for data from sub-samples is higher and varies.
Tags: CareerBuilder survey, companies plan to hire executives, hiring, jobs, the economy, unemployment
Posted in Economic Development, Studies, surveys, reports, TechJobs | Comments Off
Thursday, September 29th, 2011
 For employers, determining a job applicant’s skills fit is a skill in itself — and one that, research suggests, isn’t so easy to master. In a Robert Half Finance & Accounting survey, more than one-third (36 percent) of chief financial officers (CFOs) interviewed said the top factor leading to a failed hire, aside from performance issues, is a poor skills match.
“Companies can’t afford hiring mistakes, which are costly and can erode staff morale,” said Max Messmer, chairman and CEO of Robert Half International and author of Human Resources Kit For Dummies®, 2nd Edition (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.). ”Finding the right match requires time and attention, and it’s something even busy managers need to make time for.”
Robert Half Finance & Accounting offers five tips for better hires:
- Know what you want. Don’t just recycle the job description you used the last time you filled a position; chances are the role has changed. Take a fresh look at your needs and the skills you’d like to add to your team. A detailed job descriptionwill help reduce the number of resumes you receive from unqualified applicants.
- Look for the intangibles. A candidate’s skill set is not limited to functional abilities — it also includes how well he or she works in a collaborative environment. Employers that don’t take soft skills such as leadership and communication into account may set themselves up for a bad match.
- Make a personal connection. Hiring is more than just identifying a strong resume or profile — it involves having conversations with applicants to establish a rapport. Interviews, for example, allow you to delve deeper into an applicant’s qualifications while also assessing whether he or she is a fit for your corporate culture.
- Tap all your resources. Though you may have the final say, hiring should never be a solo effort. Take advantage of the tools available to you at your organization — for example, human resources can help with the job description, and your employees may be able to offer referrals.
- Woo your top choices. In any economy, people in high-demand specialties commonly have multiple job offers. You will need to show them why they should choose your organization. Sell the benefits of working with your firm, and offer a compensation package in line with — or ideally, above — market rates.
Added Messmer, “Working with a recruiter who specializes in a given field can help hiring managers identify job candidates with the appropriate skills. Most recruiting firms conduct skills testing, which provides added assurance a prospective employee’s skills are a match.”
Tags: better hires, jobs, Robert Half, survey
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Wednesday, September 28th, 2011
 Globoforce ,a provider of SaaS-based employee recognition solutions, says its latest Workforce Mood Tracker shows that more than a third of U.S. workers feel under appreciated and are looking for new jobs despite the state of the economy.
The semi-annual survey provides key insights into the current pulse of the U.S. worker. According to the September 2011 report, a startling percentage of employed Americans are considering leaving their jobs despite an uncertain economy with a lack of new job creation. The September 2011 study also reveals a direct correlation between employees’ intent to look for a new job and the level of recognition they receive at work.
Overall six-month trends reveal higher worker dissatisfaction
According to the September 2011 Workforce Mood Tracker, employees are less satisfied in their current job and feel less appreciated for the work they do. In fact, when compared to the February 2011 results, the latest survey shows alarming trends in the US workforce:
- Thirty-eight percent of employees are actively looking for a new job, up from 36 percent
- Thirty-nine percent of workers don’t feel appreciated at work, up from 32 percent
- Fifty-two percent are dissatisfied with the level of recognition they receive, up from 41 percent
Companies that recognize employees see lower turnover
According to the September 2011 survey, nearly half of all surveyed said they would leave their current job for a company that clearly recognized employees for their efforts and contributions. The survey also reveals the connection between a lack of recognition and potential turnover. Among respondents who stated they plan to search for a new job this year:
- Only 24 percent are satisfied with the level of recognition they receive at work. Conversely, 63 percent of employees who have no plans of leaving are satisfied with their level of recognition.
- Thirty-two percent have been recognized at work in the past three months. By contrast, 52 percent of those who have no intention of leaving had been recognized in the past three months.
Wake up call for businesses – appreciate employees and get more employee productivity
The September 2011 Mood Tracker survey reveals the majority of employees surveyed would perform better and have higher job satisfaction if their employer acknowledged their efforts and appreciated them for their work on a regular basis. Highlights from the study:
- Seventy-eight percent of U.S. workers said being recognized motivates them in their job
- Sixty-nine percent stated they would work harder if they felt their efforts were better recognized
“It’s been often stated that we’re in the midst of a jobless recovery. While that may be true, it’s critical for companies to avoid a ‘thankless recovery’ for their current employees, as that could have damaging consequences on employee productivity, company culture, and employee retention,” said Eric Mosley, CEO of Globoforce. “Our latest survey shows that if you recognize and appreciate your employees in relevant ways, they will want to continue to work for you.”
Tags: Globoforce Workforce Mood tracker, jobs, survey shows workers looking for new jobs, work recognition
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Wednesday, September 14th, 2011
 Workers in the private sector can expect to see a pickup in the overall rate of annual wage gains by early 2012, according to the revised third quarter Wage Trend Indicator (WTI) released today by BNA, a leading publisher of specialized news and information.
The WTI rose to 98.35 (second quarter 1976 = 100) from 98.21 in the second quarter. If confirmed by the final third quarter reading, this would mark the index’s fifth consecutive gain.
“The U.S. economy is being buffeted by more negative forces, which increases the risks, but we’re still seeing slow growth,” economist Kathryn Kobe, a consultant who maintains and helped develop BNA’s WTI database, said. “The latest WTI continues to point to wage increases inching up, as labor markets gradually improve,” Kobe said.
Rate of pay increases expected to improve
The rate of annual pay increases for wage and salary workers is expected to improve from the 1.7 percent gain posted in the second quarter of 2011, according to the Department of Labor’s latest employment cost index (ECI) but is unlikely to exceed 2.0 percent.
Reflecting recent labor market conditions, five of the WTI’s seven components made positive contributions to the revised third quarter reading, while one factor was negative and one was neutral.
Over its history, the WTI has predicted a turning point in wage trends six to nine months before the trends are apparent in the ECI. A sustained decline in the WTI is predictive of a deceleration in the rate of private sector wage increases, while a sustained increase forecasts greater pressure to raise wages.
Contributions of Components
Of the WTI’s seven components, the five positive contributors to the revised third quarter reading were the unemployment rate and average hourly earnings of production and nonsupervisory workers, both reported by DOL; the share of employers planning to hire production and service workers in the coming months and the proportion of employers reporting difficulty in filling professional and technical jobs, both tracked by BNA’s quarterly employment outlook survey; and economic forecasters’ expectations for the rate of inflation, compiled by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. The negative factor was industrial production, measured by the Federal Reserve Board. The final WTI component—job losers as a share of the labor force, from DOL—was neutral.
BNA’s Wage Trend Indicator™ is designed to serve as a yardstick for employers, analysts, and policymakers to identify turning points in private sector wage patterns. It also provides timely information for business and human resource analysts and executives as they plan for year-to-year changes in compensation costs.
The WTI is released in 12 monthly reports per year showing the preliminary, revised, and final readings for each quarter, based on newly emerging economic data.
More information on the Wage Trend Indicator is available on BNA’s WTI home page.
Tags: BNA, jobs, private sector wage gains expected in 2012, Wage Trend Indicator, when can workers expect wage gains?
Posted in Economic Development, Studies, surveys, reports, TechJobs | Comments Off
Tuesday, April 26th, 2011
 Jim Beqaj The typical job-seeking approach in these tough economic times: Passively send out dozens of resumes for any job remotely related to a person’s qualifications, and wait by the mailbox, stay glued to an e-mail inbox, or sit by the phone for an unlikely acceptance notification.
If you desperately need a job, or are woefully under-employed, you don’t have to – and you shouldn’t – take anything that comes your way. Jim Beqaj, (pronounced BAY-KEE-EYE) author of the new book: How to Hire the Perfect Employer: Finding the Job and Career That Fit You Through a Powerful Personal Infomercial, explains how to find and get the ideal job; a job you will enjoy. Turn the tables, according to Beqaj, and you can hire the right employer.
Beqaj should know. He’s hired over 800 people in his career, and helped hundreds of companies find and hire the right employees. Founder of a company that provides recruiting, consulting and coaching services to individuals and companies, he knows that which he preaches. Moreover, he reinvented himself after losing his own job in a corner office.
“If you ask a person ‘What are you good at?” many have a hard time answering,” says Beqaj. “You have to understand what you’re good at, what you love to do, and present yourself in a clear and persuasive manner.”
Beqaj lays out a powerful, systematic plan anyone can follow to find the right job, and get hired.
His book explains three essential steps:
1) Conduct an in-depth personal assessment of what you’re good at, what you love to do, how you are ‘wired,’ and your personality
2) Find companies in your ‘Target Rich Environment,’ those with a philosophy similar to yours, including vision, culture, conflict resolutions techniques, and size, growth and opportunity
3) Create your own personal ‘infomercial,’ presenting yourself with clarity, persuasiveness and strength, rather as just the person whose name is on a resume
“If you find the right employer for you, one that has a need for what you love to do, a Personal Infomercial enables employers to see the real you,” adds Beqaj. “The Personal Infomercial defines you, as opposed to letting words on a resume and others people do it.”
While many career advice books explain ways and offer resources for getting the names of companies in a person’s area of expertise, few emphasize Beqaj’s pillars of success: Introspection, identification of companies matching your personality, and powerful personal presentation.
“When I hired people, resumes were simply something that gave basic facts,” notes Beqaj. “I wanted people who inspired me by honestly revealing themselves.
“For an employer, nothing is better than having people who love what they do and love the culture of their company. From an employee’s perspective, loving what you do and where you are, and truly fitting in dramatically increases your opportunity for advancement. Equally important, it provides stability and job security because your passion for your work will make you indispensable to a company.”
Jim Beqaj began his career in investment banking in 1977 with the investment banking firm Wood Gundy and at age 37, ended up president of CIBC Wood Gundy after WG was purchased by CIBC. He subsequently worked as vice-chairman of the Bank of Montreal and co-founded an Internet-based IPO company, Baystreetdirect.com. In 2002 he founded Beqaj International, Inc, providing recruiting, coaching, and business consulting services.
How to Hire the Right Employer is available for purchase at all major online bookselling outlets. Beqaj’s website: http://www.beqajinternational.com. Blog: http://jimbeqaj.blogspot.com/
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Tags: best practices, book, Jim Begaj, job seeking advice, jobs, Three steps to the perfect employer, Viewpoint
Posted in Business advice, TechJobs, Viewpoint | Comments Off
Friday, April 22nd, 2011
 Startup companies are where the jobs are. Nationwide 83 % of startups plan to hire this year, according to Silicon Valley Bank’s (SVB) Startup Outlook 2011, up significantly from the already high percentage (73%) of startups that reported plans to hire in last year’s report.
SVB’s survey of 375 U.S.-based, private, venture capital-backed software, hardware, life science and cleantech companies revealed that startups are optimistic about current business opportunities, generally believe business conditions have improved and are improving further, and that they will continue to hire to support their growth.
“Because we work with amazing companies everyday that are creating new services and even industries, we have always known intuitively that the innovation sector will lead the U.S. in economic recovery,” said Greg Becker, CEO of SVB Financial Group and Silicon Valley Bank.
“This new data, however, clearly shows that technology companies met or beat their 2010 revenue targets, are still experiencing improved business conditions and are creating U.S. jobs. There is no question that the innovation sector is making a tangible impact on the U.S. economy and our ability to compete globally.”
Respondents by and large identify access to equity capital and the regulatory and political environment as their largest impediments to growth. Across startups, the regulatory issues of greatest concern were uncertainty about new regulations, the impact the overall regulatory environment has on risk taking, and health care reform.
Life science companies are particularly concerned about the impact the regulatory environment is having on their ability to thrive: 64% of these companies say the regulatory environment is a challenge and 83% say the government could help them grow by improving the FDA approval process.
“Our policymakers want to help startups succeed, but the policymaking process is not designed to give entrepreneurs a real voice,” said Mary Dent, General Counsel and head of government relations for SVB Financial Group.
“We launched Startup Outlook last year to help bring entrepreneurs’ issues and ideas to policymakers so they can help create an environment in which American innovators can build thriving businesses in the U.S.”
Since 1983, SVB Financial Group has worked with venture capitalists to help thousands of technology and life science startup companies grow into large, productive businesses, creating jobs and innovative products and services that are used and sold worldwide.
Today, Silicon Valley Bank banks more than 500 venture capital funds and 50 percent of all venture-capital backed companies in the U.S., servicing them as they grow into mature, multi-national corporations. SVB also works with companies in several overseas markets and has $1.5 billion in investment funds under management.
Independent market research firm Koski Research conducted the online Startup Outlook survey for SVB Financial Group in February 2011.
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Digital Summit: www.digitalsummit.com
Tags: 83 percent of startups plan to hire in 2011, jobs, Silicon Valley Bank, Startup Outlook survey
Posted in Studies, surveys, reports, TechJobs | Comments Off
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