Mind the Gap: Appel on the coming labor shortage

In Chief Executive magazine, Andrew Appel notes three bullets to Filling the Talent Gap. Appel is CEO of Aon Consulting Worldwide, and he points out the impacts of the coming demographic train wreck:

In both developed and developing countries, the evolving workforce is creating a talent shortage. In developed nations, retiring baby boomers will drain the talent pool. Meanwhile, developing countries are growing rapidly but lack experienced managers. What’s more, 60 percent of new jobs in the 21st century will require skills currently possessed by only 22 percent of U.S. workers, according to the Commerce Department. Clearly, it’s time for talent to be viewed as a significant issue in boardrooms worldwide.

This could mean the end of the churn-and-burn job shops.

Hat tip to Execupundit.

Tip: Job Search Book by Brad Karsh

A while back, Mary Ellen Slayter at the WaPo reviewed a book by Brad Karsh. Brad’s book, “Confessions of a Recruiting Director: The Insider’s Guide to Landing Your First Job” [Amazon link], exposes some of the reality of the recruiter’s side of the desk:

Here are a few of his “confessions”:

· Most résumés are never read. By anyone. This, of course, is the opposite of students’ experience in applying to colleges, he writes, where most admissions departments consider applications individually. If you had a vision in your mind of a group of recruiters poring over ever single piece of paper, think again. Recruiters don’t have time to do this. “In fact, recruiters typically spend less than 10 percent of their time reading résumés,” he writes. And if yours happens to be read? You’ll get 15 seconds, tops, to catch the recruiter’s eye.

· Most cover letters are never read, either. But you still have to write them, for two reasons. One, companies want to see if you will put in the extra effort. “Some companies will use it as a screen against people who apply to every job opening they ever see,” Karsh writes. Second, it is a chance to show something extra that isn’t on your résumé. Assuming, of course, that they read that, too.

Check out the entire review, then check out the book.

Youth Spotting – Video Resumes

In his Youth Spotting segment on last night’s Daily Show, Demetri Martin gave Jon Stewart some how-to tips on video resumes. He did come up with the world’s longest acronym to help. Check it out.

Warning: Cable TV Language

http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=86620&title=youth-spotting-video-resume

Video expires 10 June. If you don’t see it here, check Demetri’s Comedy Central page.

The Carnival of Human Resources Is Up

Topics include:

• Interviewing 101 – Part II
• A War for Talent Mindset May Be Hazardous to Your Results
• Truth in Advertising (or How to Succeed in Recruiting Without Really Lying).
• How to Negotiate a Pay Raise with Game Theory.
• Quantifying Good/Bad Turnover
• Recruiting Stars: Top Ten Ideas for Recruiting Great Candidates.

Check it out:
http://humanresources.about.com/b/a/257938.htm

How Not to Get a Job: Don’t Get Hired

In How Not to Get Hired, The Admiral tells what happens when Mr. Candidate confuses politeness and “business protocol”.

Picture it… a job interview. In some ways, this guy isn’t well-suited for the job. It’s a position for someone right out of college. This guy is 40. The company passes on another candidate that profusely sweated during the portion of the interview where he was asked to write.

So, the interview was a week ago. They call him up to see if he was interested in working.

“Hi. We’re calling to see if you’re interested in working here?”

Hilarity ensues. See the full post for the results.

Great Job Preview at the UP

Realistic job previews are key to helping candidates understand the job for which they are applying. A business analyst at company X might have a completely different job than the same title at company Y. Some companies are clueless about previews, and some companies do great.

One company that does a great job of previewing how jobs fit into their business line is the Union Pacific Railroad. The UP is 145 years old, but railroading now uses high-tech tools to get the job done. That Great Big Rolling Railroad has a nice feature to explain how the different jobs for which they are recruiting fit into their business model. See it here:

(if you have problems – go here and click “Working on the Railroad”)

Also – check out their corporate employment branding. The UP should be in the running for an REA or CEA award.

How Not to Get a Job or a Contract

Greg Bulmash on the BrainHandles blog has a great post on “How NOT To Get Hired“. He explains his frustrations with the people who responded to his need for help on a project. He’s looking for a contractor, but his experience applies to those seeking direct hires too.

… most of the resumes are from people who didn’t read the job description, didn’t read the application instructions, and just shot off a generic resume and cover letter that didn’t address the most important question… why are you the best person for this job?

Every good recruiter asks this same question with each new resume. Unfortunately, so few candidates answer.

Greg continues:

But I don’t believe this scattershot, quantity-over-quality approach is good. There are possibly a lot of opportunities you might have been considered for that you were eliminated from immediately, simply because you didn’t follow instructions or hit the right selling points.

Sometimes it feels like I’ve gone into a big box retailer, looking for a specific product, and found the ADD Employee of the Month.

Me: Hi, I’m planning to make up a big batch of chili for a party this weekend and I need a 12 quart stock pot.

Salesperson: We’ve got vacuum cleaners on sale today. Let me show you the latest from Dyson.

Me: I don’t need a vacuum cleaner. What I really need is a good stock pot.

Salesperson: Did you know we have the largest selection of scented candles in town?

Me: Really? That’s very interesting. Now, about that stock pot…

Please – do yourself a favor. Go read the whole How NOT To Get Hired post. His final points are Wisdom. Don’t miss this one.

I’m Back!

The fishing was pretty good, even if the seas were a bit rough. We landed blackfin tuna, red snapper, vermilion snapper, mangrove snapper, chub, trigger fish and black grouper. I had the distinction of being the only one to land a sea perch. Some distinction.

Recruiting is a lot like fishing – the fisherman needs the right bait (branding/job/comp plan), the skill to know where to cast (market knowledge) and the skills to set the hook when the fish bites (communication skills). And the fisherman can’t expect to get a bite on every catch.

It says so in the Scriptures

John, Chapter 21, 2-3:

Together were Simon Peter, Thomas called Didymus,
Nathanael from Cana in Galilee,
Zebedee’s sons, and two others of his disciples.
Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.”
They said to him, “We also will come with you.”
So they went out and got into the boat,
but that night they caught nothing.

I’m off on a fishing trip with my father, my brothers and some friends. Blogging will be impossible. I’ll be back to the keyboard on Thursday, 10 May. Hopefully our party will have better luck than Pete, Tom, Nate, Big Jim, Johnny and the other guys.

How Not to Get a Job in Software

On Bill’s Blog: the Business of Software, hiring manager William McCann talks about his recent recruiting headaches.

When a candidate struggles with my OOP discussion, I try to give him some relief by asking him to define inheritance. Inheritance, after all, is fundamental to all modern programming and is easy to describe; simply define the word. But I was shocked when the candidate admitted that he did not know of inheritance.

I’ve also run into candidates who didn’t know what they were talking about. Would you hire an electrical engineer who did not know Ohm’s Law? I’ve encountered at least one new EE grad who couldn’t identify this basic precept of electrical engineering. (For us non-engineers, the formula is I=V/R.)

The point is that in every interview, the candidate must reinforce that s/he has the standard knowledge and skills needed to succeed in the position.

HERE’S THE WISDOM:
Candidates: Check out the mind of a hiring manager (especially you techie types).
Hiring Managers: Bill’s use of a consistant set of questions and a specific methodology is fair, objective, and helps him compare candidates. This helps him hire better people.