Crank Up Your Career

Demand for Executive Talent Expected to Increase

Wendy Terwelp Leave a comment

Compliments of www.execunet.com

While data on the declining value of homes and soaring energy and food prices continues to fuel speculation that the US economy is on the brink of recession, executive search firms believe job growth at the top of the
employment market will remain resilient, according to ExecuNet’s Recruiter Confidence Index (RCI). The RCI, which increased steadily during the past four consecutive months, remained just off its highest levels in nearly a year in June.

(Blogger’s Note: In talking with recruiters and trendwatchers, many feel with boomers retiring from high-level roles – an anticipated couple million – it leaves room for exec placement growth…)

According to June’s survey of 138 executive recruiters, 64 percent are confident or very confident the executive employment market will improve during the next six months — down slightly from 66 percent in May, which arked a 10-month high for the Index. Nearly four-in-five recruiters (78 percent) are expecting at least a 10-percent increase in executive search assignment growth during the second half of 2008.

“After hitting a bottom in January, the outlook for the executive employment market has rebounded, as companies continue to actively recruit seasoned business leaders,” says Mark Anderson, president of ExecuNet. “If the pace of job growth at the top of the market maintains its current trajectory, C-suite executives with strong networks should see an increase in interview opportunities during the second half of this year.”

Introduced in May 2003, the Recruiter Confidence Index is based on a monthly survey of executive recruiters conducted by ExecuNet. Independent analysis of the RCI has confirmed it is a leading indicator of projected executive recruitment activity.

Facebook: Should you add your boss as a friend?

Wendy Terwelp Leave a comment

Two pals of mine are quoted in this excellent article on how to use Facebook the RIGHT way. See great tips from Paul Copcutt, Square Peg Solution, and Jason Alba, Jibberjobber. Way to go!

Now on to the story’s topic: to share or not to share your personal life with your boss….

Allison Dunfield, Special to The Globe and Mail

July 9, 2008 at 9:37 AM EDT

When his boss found him on Facebook, a 26-year old worker with a Toronto theatre company thought nothing of accepting her request to make him her “friend.”

Now, he deeply regrets it.

“I ‘friended’ her, not really thinking anything of it, but she went through and looked at all my stuff,” he says.

That stuff included several photographs of him dancing in his living room, others of him “just standing around, looking forlorn off into the distance.”

His boss freely commented on them. About his dancing, she wrote: “Nice moves. I didn’t know you had it in you.” About looking forlorn: “You have that far-off look in your eyes.”

It all made him very uncomfortable, he says, as though she were invading a part of his life where she just did not belong.

 

Read on!

Uncle Sam Wants YOU – hired!

Wendy Terwelp 1 Comment

In honor of the Fourth (and I know this to be true, one of my clients landed a government gig in DC in September – and was already promoted!):

Uncle Sam really wants to hire you! Abridged: NBC4.com

WASHINGTON, DC — The job market may be tight in some places, but Washington’s biggest employer, the federal government, is recruiting new employees. Two million people work for the federal government, and many are baby boomers. As baby boomers retire, federal jobs open up and are becoming available to new job seekers.

By the year 2013, the federal government expects that 40 percent of its workforce will retire, leaving 800,000 jobs to be filled. The federal government has a broad range of opportunities for job seekers of any discipline, from biology to engineering. The official website for federal employment is USAjobs.gov.

Resumes: When Hobbies Count

Wendy Terwelp Leave a comment

Hobbies on resumes? You have got to be kidding! I thought that went out in the ’70’s.

They did, when people put their hobbies like this:

Hobbies: Reading, Writing, Bicycling.

Who cares? No one, and that’s why they went out. But here’s a way to make them “in” again. If you list hobbies, make sure they are relevant to your targeted career (your audience) or differentiate you in the right way or are truly a part of your personal brand.

For example, I worked with an IT consultant who wanted to relocate. He was a young person with three years’ experience in IT. In his previous life though, and while working his way through college, our IT consultant had a side job – as a rock climbing instructor. How cool! Here’s a person who takes risks, who is athletic, and has a life outside a dimly lit screen. We added this job to his resume. Result? He sent out two resumes and got two offers. He called me while on the road – in his new company-paid car – and said, “Wendy, all they talked about was my rock climbing! Can you believe it?”

Here’s another. I worked with a nurse (RN) who had experience and wanted out of staff nursing. She wanted to transition into pharmaceutical sales, but she technically had no sales experience. In addition to her many transferable skills (like terminology, physician connections, etc.), we added her “hobby.” She was a competitive marathon runner. And she had placed in the top three for a variety of marathons more than once. She also competed worldwide – and had run a marathon in Prague. Again, GUTS. This hobby demonstrated that she was very competitive, had drive, endurance, and played to win. Good traits in sales.

And my own experience (albeit a while back), I was a newspaper reporter. I covered the HOG (Harley Owner’s Group) rally in Milwaukee. Yep, dressed like a biker and interviewed Harley owners from around the globe. Awesome! My story got nominated for a national award. I put this on my resume when job hunting. Got called by a recruiting firm. They had heard about me before, and now it was time to interview. Guess what? The guy interviewing me owned the Harley parked outside. We talked about the article and Harleys for about an hour. I then met the operations manager and the president and got the offer. Here I had my portfolio with my performance evals and records, and they wanted to talk about Harleys. Later, I asked about that. They said, “Wendy, we already knew all about you. We know that when so-and-so took over the old office, people were still asking about you for two years. We knew about the performance records. That’s why we kept calling. But, we needed to see if you’d be a fit for our team. Well, after you talked with so-and-so about Harleys, we knew you would fit right in.” Old “so and so” was my boss for a while. When he left, I got to be boss – for that department. 🙂

These stories are not just about hobbies, but rather a culture fit within the organization. In the employment biz, we call it “right fit.” Think about this, the average person spends 2080 to 2600 hours per year at work! Wouldn’t it be nice to enjoy being there?

Challenge: What are your hobbies? Are they relevant to your career goal? Would they be a differentiator for you? Do they demonstrate your brand? Your attributes that are hot selling points for the role? If so, take a risk. Add it to your resume.