Who’s Firing - Layoffs week ended 7-30-10 - Page 3

Top Layoffs week ended 7-30-10 - Continued

• Transcom Worldwide Inc, San Antonio TX (737)
• PricewaterhouseCoopers, Tampa FL (500)
• Navistar, West Point MS (500)
• Rochester City School District, Rochester NY (420)
• First Data Corp, Various US and International (350)
• Chicago City Colleges, Chicago IL (311)
• City of Vineland NJ (300+)
• Quality Aircraft Services, Miami FL (227)
• Finkle Distributors, Johnstown NY (240)
• King’s Daughters Hospital, Ashland KY (235)
• Trenton School District, Trenton NJ (218)
• Metropolitan Transportation Authority, NYC NY (202)
• Washington DC Public Schools (200)
• St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center, Hartford CT (200)
• Northrop Grumman, Newport News VA (173)
• International Automotive Components Group, Sheboygan WI (167)
• Automated Health Systems, Milwaukee WI and Madison WI (160)
• Astellas Pharma, Ardsley NY and Melville NY (150)
• El Dorado County, Placerville CA (150)
• Insurance.com, Solon OH (144)
• Winn Dixie Supermarkets, Various FL (120)
• Rochester City School District, Rochester NY (116)
• City of Deerfield Beach, FL (106)
• Lenape Regional High School District, Shamong NJ (100)
• Hutchinson Technologies Inc, Hutchinson MN (100)
• Georgia-Pacific, Mount Hope WV (100)
• Gladstone Honda and Gladstone Nissan, Gladstone OR (94)
• Multi-Fineline Electronix Inc. Anaheim CA (85)
• Sensis Corp, DeWitt NY (84)
• The Bering Straits AKI Company, Fort McCoy (70+)
• Louisiana-Pacific, Tomahawk WI (60)
• Whole Foods Markets Inc, Austin TX (59)
• Fire Department, San Jose CA (50)
• City of Hillside NJ (50)
• The Communities at Oakwood, Somerset KY (<50)
• Northern Rhode Island Collaborative, Lincoln RI (48)
• SafeAuto Insurance Co, Columbus OH (47)
• The Queens Library NY (46)
• GameTech International, Reno NV (40)
• The Hawaii Department of Education, Honoluu HI (40)
• City of East St Louis IL (37)

Source: Google, Twitter, AllPinkSlips.com, Telonu.com, TechCrunch.com, CoStar.com, Gawker, Screwedd.com, Recessionwire.com

Readers – If you know of employers announcing significant layoff plans, or employers reducing large numbers of employees, please comment below to add to this list.

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Related Articles:
Who’s Hiring – Top employers week of 7-26-10
Who's Firing – Layoffs week ended 7-23-10

Career Changers: Email phil.reCareered@gmail.com to enroll in a free group teleseminar "Accelerate Your Job Search - tools you can use".

Source: http://recareered.blogspot.com/

Who’s Firing - Layoffs week ended 7-30-10 - Page 2

Top Layoffs week ended 7-30:

Government topped the list as the US Census Bureau cut 2,000 Indiana processing workers, NASA announced layoffs of 550 workers at Kennedy Space Center, and New York State eliminated 1,000+ positions, and The Rochester City School District cut 420 jobs. Manufacturing was next, as United Technologies announced 1,500 layoffs.

Automotive was near the top of the list as Delphi Automotive in Kokomo IN will cut 1,300 workers due to its loss of a GM contract. Business Serice Firms Transcom is cutting 737 San Antonio workers as it lost a Comcast customer support contract and PWC slashed 500 Tampa-based technology positions.

Transportation rounded out the top of the list as Navistar announced 500 layoffs at its West Point MS facility.

Inclusion on this listing doesn’t mean the entire industry is down, as some from the same sectors appeared on the “Who’s Hiring” article published 7/26/10.

Job seekers: You might want to look in greener pastures than these companies.

Organizations announcing or rumored layoffs for the week ended 7/30/10:

• U.S. Census Bureau, Jeffersonville IN (2,000)
• United Technologies Corp, Hartford CT (1,500)
• NASA, Kennedy Space Center FL (1,394)
• Delphi Automotive Systems LLC, Kokomo IN (1,300)
• New York State, Albany NY (1,000+)

( Continued ... See the rest of this week's top layoffs )

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Related Articles:
Who’s Hiring – Top employers week of 7-26-10
Who's Firing – Layoffs week ended 7-23-10

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Source: http://recareered.blogspot.com/

How To Get Your Dog A Job (You Too!) - Page 2

Fortunately, I met with SimplyHired’s team at a recent trade show, because they have just the tools to help you get your dog a job. They have some great tools for you also, reviewed at http://recareered.blogspot.com/2008/05/secret-to-getting-simply-hired.html.

But this article is about putting the dog to work..

SimplyHired has a special search for dog friendly companies. For instance, if I wanted to get Tuanis a job as (let’s say) a recruiter within walking distance (she doesn’t drive), I’d search under recruit, enter my zip code, and check the box for “Choose only dog friendly companies”.

There were two listed in my zip code. Tuanis could recruit for an animal hospital chain, or be an inside sales manager for a national recruiting firm.

Now if she gave me lots of kisses, and brought me my slippers to convince me to drive her and not be so controlling about her career choice, there are 89 new jobs in the Chicago area at dog friendly companies. Of course, many of those career choices would require me to transport her, and help her with the day to day duties, since I’m the one with opposable thumbs.

If I was willing to move, so my dog could be at a company with many other dogs, I could look for the top dog-friendly companies hiring now:

1. Google
2. Amazon
3. Nestle Purina Petcare
4. Banfield, The Pet Hospital
5. Petsmart

SimplyHired has other special search tools also:

• Mom-friendly jobs (I’m putting the dog to work ... you're next Mom, so enjoy retirement while you still can)
• Age 50+ friendly jobs
• Diversity Friendly
• Eco-Friendly jobs (Wear your green tie!)
• Socially Responsible jobs
• GLBT jobs
• Veteran Friendly

I got so much detail about SimplyHired’s site and search tools, that I’ll have to cover in other articles, but you can check them out yourself at SimplyHired Special Searches.

Mom, that nursing home is getting expensive….there’s 6 Mom friendly jobs, and 556 age 50+ jobs in your little home town.

Maybe you can commute with Tuanis!

How can you find your dog a job?

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Related Articles:
3 Ways To Leverage Job Boards And Discover The Hidden Job Market
The Top 30 Job Boards For 2010

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Source: http://reCareered.blogspot.com

Tweet Your Way to a Job - reCareered quoted at FINS.com - Page 3

Be Exclusive and Natural
Mark Matson, a career coach and CEO of Matson Money Inc., a Cincinnati-based investment advisor firm, sees Twitter as part of "an overall social media strategy."
Matson has been an avid Twitter user for over a year. He uses his account to tweet commentary about current finance news and to keep his followers abreast of his latest Fox News appearances.

Part of his career coaching involves teaching financial advisors to how to use Twitter.

Top Tips:

• Don't follow everyone: "The point is to have people in your community that know you and you know them -- there's so much garbage out there. I'd rather have 200 people that are important to what you're trying to create vs. 10,000 that don't care."
• Be yourself: "A lot of finance professionals are kind of stodgy, old-school, but you only have a 140 characters, so you gotta find a way to get people's attention."

Sample tweet: Real companies don't hire people based on unsustainable government deficit spending? Who knew?
Twitter handle: @markmatson
Followers: 588

Original article at: Fins: Tweet Your Way To A Job by Sindhu Sundar

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Job Seekers - 20 Ways To Brand Yourself On Twitter
Use Twitter To Prepare For Your Job Interview

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Source: http://reCareered.blogspot.com

Tweet Your Way to a Job - reCareered quoted at FINS.com - Page 2

What Are The Benefits And Pitfalls Of Tweeting For A Job?

At a time when personal branding is more crucial than ever in getting noticed during a job search, there are few better ways to promote yourself than to tap into a site designed for just that.

But beware of the possible pitfalls: Putting too much of yourself out there and compromising your professional reputation.

Below, three career coaches tell you how to get much of the benefit out of Twitter while minimizing your risk.

Keep it Professional
Jeanine Tanner "J.T." O'Donnell, founder of Careerealism.com, Boston-based career-advice website, says, "I'm not gonna tell people I'm having a tuna fish sandwich. That's not who I am."
O'Donnell, a career coach and syndicated columnist, cautions against revealing too much of your personal life when tweeting for your career.

In a year of tweeting, O'Donnell gathered more than 22,000 followers and uses her following to promote her site and to network. More than a fifth of the Careerealism club members are financial professionals seeking jobs.

Top Tips:

• Tweet at a reasonable rate: "You don't have to be tweeting 10 times a day, but you have to post content that shows you're on top of trends in your field," O'Donnell said.
• Know whom to follow: "Follow 30 people in your field -- the movers and shakers -- list them, read them every day like a newspaper column, retweet them, and that person will see it and if they do, your twitter handle will stick with them, and this will get them following you back."

Sample tweet: 13 Reasons You Will Never Get a Job (Or, 13 Ways You Could): http://bit.ly/cUJHqK (by @colindaymude)
Handle: @careerealism
Followers: 22,569

Market Yourself
Phil Rosenberg, a Chicago-based Career Coach at http://reCareered.blogspot.com, a career coaching web site, says of finance pros, "I describe them as left-brained baby boomers. They're better with logical and numerical skills than marketing skills. They don't understand how tools in social media can help them find other positions, network, promote and brand themselves."

Rosenberg, a former division director at international recruiter Robert Half, guides job seekers primarily in banking, operational finance and accounting through the maze of hashtags and retweets that would otherwise intimidate the uninitiated.

(FYI: Hashtags create search queries on Twitter around certain terms, like #Goldman. Retweets are simply Tweeting a second time what has already been Tweeted, virally spreading the word; Twitter users mark their retweets with the letters "RT" preceding the Tweet.)

Top Tip:

• Use hashtags to refine your search within your specific industry: If you're a "passive" job seeker, this can be an especially useful way to furtively look for recruiters without blowing your cover with your current employer.
• "Direct message [recruiters] -- connect with them privately. Social media can still be valuable to passive job seekers."

Sample tweet: 30 Things You Can Control In Your Job Search http://bit.ly/ah11v1 #career #job #jobseeker #jobsearch #pk
Handle: @philreCareered
Followers: 5,920

( Continued ... )

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Job Seekers - 20 Ways To Brand Yourself On Twitter
Use Twitter To Prepare For Your Job Interview

Email your request to phil.reCareered@gmail.com to enroll in a free group teleseminar "Accelerate Your Job Search - tools you can use".

Source: http://reCareered.blogspot.com

Interviewing For A Mentor - Page 3

What Questions Should You Ask To Find About Mentorship During Interviews?

While your primary goal during the interview process should be to sell yourself to the company, savvy candidates also use the process to learn if the opportunity and company are a good fit. One of the key items to look for should be mentorship opportunities.

Since you probably realize it’s not wise just to blurt out during an interview “Will you be my mentor?”, you’ll want to look for clues and ask a few pointed questions during the process.

Some direct questions to help discover mentors:

1. Does your company have a mentorship program?” - Some companies have a formalized program to match senior managers with employees for a formalized mentorship program.
2. One thing I’m looking for in my next employer is a great mentor. Do you have a mentor at the company? How were you able to find a great mentor here?
3. Ask your network: Ask your contacts who work at the company, or contact others in your Linkedin network who work at the company. It’s ok to be direct here by asking contacts that you’re considering a position at their company, and you wanted to learn how your contact found a mentor at the company.” If you’re going through Linkedin, and you get a high percentage of non-responses, that may tell you something about mentorship opportunities at your target company.

More likely, you’ll find your answers more indirectly:

1. Ask HR: What resources does the company provide to help employees succeed and increase company contribution?
2. Ask the hiring manager: I’m interested to learn how you rose through your career at this company. What were some of the key factors of your success here?
3. Ask the hiring manager’s boss (or boss’ boss): How do you develop employees for advancement?
4. Ask Team members, your network, and your Linkedin contacts at the company: How do people stand out here? How have you navigated the internal politics here? How does management develop and choose employees for promotion?

The goal of mentorship questions isn’t to find a VP who’s willing to sponsor you after 5 minutes - That’s not very realistic. Instead, look to see if the managers you’ll be working for view mentorship as valuable in their organizations. Seek out peers to see how difficult the organization made it to find mentors, and if the company supports and promotes these types of professional relationships.

The New York Times Article quoted Joe Watson, chief executive of Without Excuses (a diversity consulting firm) who added: "Too many workers are waiting for the equivalent of the 'Career Fairy' to come down and appoint them a divine mentor who can look out for their interests. These types of relationships take chemistry, synergy and trust, none of which happen overnight."

Readers - Please share in the comments below how you’ve found clues about companies views towards mentoring, or how you’ve discovered a mentoring interest during your job search.

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Source: http://reCareered.blogspot.com

Interviewing For A Mentor - Page 2

Why Is Interviewing For A Mentor Important?

If you are looking for success in your next job and seek more than a paycheck, you’ll need to decide if you’ll find a good mentor at the company you are considering. According to Amy Barrett of Business Week “Mentors aren't your parents, friends, or even your more generous investors. They are business veterans whose only role is to tell you what you really need to hear about your company. Mentors do plenty of cheerleading, of course, but their real value is in the objective, unvarnished advice they can provide.”

Forbes Magazine quoted research by Gerard Roche, senior chairman at the recruiting firm Heidrick & Struggles who found "Executives who have had mentors have earned more money at a younger age." Roche’s research also demonstrated that "those who have had mentors are happier with their career progress and derive greater pleasure from their work."

While it should be clear that a mentor relationship at your next job should be an important criteria, few candidates put this high on their wish lists. It’s a huge mistake.

According to Accenture's CFO Pamela Craig, the firm’s study found that just 13% of those surveyed said they use a mentor at work for career advice. This is interesting because, these same respondents also stated that they clearly saw the value of a workplace mentor: “mentors helped them think differently about certain situations, helped them with their current roles, helped them see more opportunities and possibilities, and helped identify their skills and capabilities.”

While workers routinely turn to friends, family, peers, these sources while still valuable, probably don’t know the inner workings, culture , and politics of your company - only an insider can really provide that.

Why would so few use mentors, when so many see the value? Why do few make this a key point in their job search wish list, when recruiting experts tie a monetary and happiness value to working with a mentor?

Finding a good mentor is difficult - it takes time. Finding a mentor requires building a relationship with someone who you can trust, who you can communicate with, who you can take constructive criticism from, and who is willing to invest the time into helping you.

No matter your level of experience, a good mentor can help you:

* Learn from their past successes (and failures)
* Gain valuable feedback, long before you get an official employee review
* Understand factors for success in your company and industry
* Understand your knowledge/experience gaps and how to close them
* Gain introductions to your mentor’s network
* By playing “devil’s advocate” for you
* By being an independent sounding board to discuss problem resolution
* Navigate the politics of your organization

The New York Times article contained a great quote about the value of mentors: "Mentors allow you the benefit of their experience to see around corners and anticipate what is coming at you so you can make better decisions."

What To Look For In A Mentor?

A checklist of what to look for in a mentor include:

• The best mentors are within your company - or if your company is small, within your industry or profession
• Choose a mentor who’s a few rungs above your immediate boss, who can see your organization (or industry) from a broader level than your boss.
• Find a mentor that you admire ... ideally someone who commands respect throughout your organization or industry.
• Find a mentor who’s not afraid to get tough with you. Finding a cream puff won’t help you grow - find someone who will kindly push you to greater success.
• Choose a mentor who enjoys mentoring. There’s a big difference in the value a mentor brings if they want to be in the game.
• Availability and selflessness - Barbara Wankoff national director of workplace solutions at the auditing firm KPMG, was quoted by The New York Times advising "It all comes down to time and availability ... You want a mentor who is going to make your needs a priority, no matter what might get in the way."

( Continued ... What Questions Should You Ask To Find About Mentorship During Interviews?)

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How Employee Referral Bonus Programs Can Work For You ... Or Against You

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Source: http://reCareered.blogspot.com

3 Ways For Job Seekers To Gain Inside Company Information - Page 3

Source #2 - Job Boards and #3 - Linkedin Company Follow

Source #2 - Job Boards

Most job seekers use job boards to learn what job openings exist at the moment. But job boards can provide information about jobs that will be listed in the future. In a sense, job boards can be predictive, a crystal ball.

How can you predict the future with a job board?

Consider the impact that hiring a new person in an advertised role will have on the company. If a company hires a new VP of Marketing and the job ad looks for someone with extensive new product experience, is it so surprising that the company is planning to launch new products?

What types of help does a company that is launching new products need? Sales, marketing, promotion, advertising, manufacturing, inventory, accounting, and possibly customer service help. Technology companies that are launching new products likely need software developers. If you have experience with a company that released numerous new products and you were involved or the results of those launches affected your job, you could be a good fit.

Consider the impact of a company that is hiring a new VP of Manufacturing and is searching for an expert in lowering manufacturing costs. What other needs would a company have that is cutting costs? Perhaps engineering, inventory, shipping, accounting, finance, IT, purchasing - positions that help companies cut costs.

How about a company that is hiring additional sales people? Take AT&T, T-Mobile & Version for instance - These companies have been heavily hiring all year and many of the open positions are in sales. Companies that are making a huge push to beef up sales teams will likely have future needs in servicing customers, technical support to help more customers, accounting, warehousing/shipping, marketing, and advertising.

For more details on using job boards to see the hidden job market read http://recareered.blogspot.com/2010/05/3-ways-to-leverage-job-boards-and.html .


Source #3 - Linkedin Company Follow

Linkedin Company Follow gives great information about the organization structure of companies. For starters, Linkedin Company Follow lists the members of Linkedin who are current employees of a specific company. You can use this information to search for people in specific departments, or who have specific titles. For instance, if you’re looking for a programming job with a specific company, you probably want to talk to a Director of Application Development, or IT Project Managers at your target company. Linkedin Company Follow makes these hiring mangers easy to find and contact - if they are on Linkedin.

Maybe the strongest feature of Linkedin Company Follow is a listing of new employees at a company. If a company has a great number of new people in customer service, doesn’t it follow that they are building (or rebuilding) their customer service teams, and that the company may have even more needs for good customer service workers (or managers)? If a company shows that it has a new VP Finance, is it likely that that person might want to beef up finance/accounting staff? New executives often are brought in to revamp or expand teams and want to choose their own staff (call it “The New Sheriff In Town” syndrome).

Linkedin Company Follow also lists former employees. Watching this list closely for your target companies can reveal great contacts - Managers/Executives who have just left the company. These contacts may be in the same boat as you - looking for a new job, needing help, information, and contacts. These are excellent opportunities to pay-it-forward, as former employees can reveal great information about your target companies and may be able to arrange introductions with the right hiring managers to help you.

Linkedin Company Follow also lists job advertisements - See Source #2 above for details on how to use job advertisements to predict future needs.

Finally, Linkedin Company follow lists news articles posted about your target company, making it another source of publicly available information.

For more detail on how to use Linkedin Company Follow as an information source, see http://recareered.blogspot.com/2010/04/linkedin-company-follow-helps-job.html .

( Continued ... What Inside Information Can Help Job Seekers Most? )

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3 Ways For Job Seekers To Gain Inside Company Information - Page 4

What Inside Information Can Help Job Seekers Most?

As a job seeker, there are a number of types of inside information that can provide value to your search:

1. Goals: While public companies disclose their overall goals annually, they often don’t disclose how they plan to achieve them. Companies that have increased revenue goals might be planning to achieve them via an increased sales force, revamped marketing, new products, new advertising campaigns, lower prices (and therefore, lower costs), or even increased prices are some of the many ways that companies might reach higher sales goals. Gaining an understanding of the methods a company plans to use to reach these goals, helps a candidate anticipate the types of unadvertised jobs that a company might need to help them reach goals. Even better, this information can help a job seeker customize their resume to highlight how they have already helped a prior employer in a similar situation (Companies that are seeking to increase sales are likely less interested in how you helped cut costs at a prior employer).


2. Problems: By approaching your job search as finding problems that you are an expert at solving allows you to search beyond job advertisements. Inside information can give you insight as to the core problems a company/department/manager is facing, and how they are trying to solve these problems. This not only gives the savvy candidate insight into company needs, it also provides opportunities for resume customization that can really make your work history matter to the hiring manager.


3. Contacts: Of course contacts can be valuable inside information. Instead of asking who’s hiring, or who should you send your resume to, instead ask who is responsible for reaching goals, fixing problems, removing roadblocks. Who has pain that you can solve? What are these contact’s hot buttons? What are they like as managers, as people, what is their personal style? All of this information can be valuable in helping you reach hiring managers before they post jobs, getting ahead of the curve. In addition, by understanding who they are and how they act, you’re better able to position yourself as making a first impression that “fits” their personality style as well as fitting with the department and company.

Inside information can be extremely valuable, but is often found beyond your close network. Knowing where to find inside company information and what to look for is a skill candidates can develop, allowing them to gain an advantage over other competitors, getting their resume seen more often, increasing interview numbers, and helping them create a stronger first impression.

Readers - please add your thoughts in the comments below. What inside information do you find most valuable in your job search?

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3 Ways For Job Seekers To Gain Inside Company Information - Page 2

Source #1 - Your Network

The most obvious source of inside information in your own network. While that’s no shocker to most candidates, many candidates can use help in understanding what inside information is valuable, and how to uncover it.

For this discussion, let’s define network fairly broadly. In defining your network broadly, it’s important to understand what type of contact each person in your database represents. Your best ways to gain information from each group is different from the others.

Your network for this exercise includes:

• Your Close Network: Your close network are the people you know personally. These are people you’ve worked with, your neighbors, your friends, classmates, relatives, and people who have been to your home. These are people who will “fall on swords” for you, or at least break their company rules and go the extra mile to help you. Most people have a maximum 50-75 people in their close network.
• Your Distant Network: Your distant network comprises people that you know personally, but are more distant than your close network. This includes co-workers, vendors, ex-clients, ex-prospects, alumni, and classmates who you haven’t kept in touch with. Your distant network are people who know your name or have your business card, you’re in their contact list somewhere, they know they met you, but aren’t likely to go the extra mile for you.
• Your “Networking” Network: Your “Networking” network are contacts that you’ve met at networking events, trade shows, or conferences, but haven’t deepened the relationship beyond this. Maybe you’ve exchanged an email, maybe you’ve had a phone conversation, but you haven’t taken the step to meet with these contacts after the event, or it’s been years since you’ve seen them. Ex-clients and ex-prospects that you haven’t seen in years fall into your “Networking” network also. Your “Networking” network will probably open a non-promotional email that’s relevant to them, but they may not return your first call.
• Your Virtual Network: This is your online network, that you haven’t contacted in person, haven’t spoken over the phone recently. These are people who may or may not open an email that you’ve addressed, and who are unlikely to return your call until you first demonstrate what value you are bringing them.

How To Gain Help From Each Type Of Network

The approach with each type of network is different, based on the depth of your relationship:

• Your Close network is easy - these are people who will fall on swords for you. Since you’ve already built social capital with them, these are people who should be glad to help you. If not, then classify them as something other than close contacts.
• Your distant network is a little more challenging. While they are likely to take your call, in order to gain information and help, give value first before you ask for help. Do enough research to understand their hot buttons so you can first build social capital. Calling your distant network and asking for help before providing value may result in a polite conversation, but it’s unlikely to result in valuable information, additional contacts, or action. Why? Your distant network doesn’t feel they owe you, you haven’t paid them forward (or it’s been a very long time ago), and the people you want to reach are likely busy. Building social capital first gives you a better chance in getting the information or contacts that you want from your distant network.
• Your “Networking” Network typically wants similar things as you - contacts and information. If they aren’t looking for a job, they are likely looking to find clients or potential employees. By giving information and contacts first, you’ll find that your “Networking” network is much more likely to help you.
• Your virtual network doesn’t know what they want from you and may not recognize your name. In order to gain time and help from this segment of your network, provide value first. Once your virtual network contacts see that you can help them, they will be highly likely to return your calls and to provide help in return.

Notice that the strategy for all groups other than your close network is similar - pay it forward.

( Continued ... Source #2 & #3 Of Inside Information For Job Seekers )

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Related Articles:
30 Things You Can Control In Your Job Search
How Employee Referral Bonus Programs Can Work For You ... Or Against You

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Who’s Hiring - Top employers week of 7-26-10

Job Openings Added This Week:

The banking, telecommunications, business service, retail and health care verticals are the top industries with new job postings this week based on a survey of the nation’s leading job advertisements added during the past seven days.

Banking led new hiring advertisements this week as Wells Fargo rose to the top spot. Telecommunications companies were next as AT&T and Verizon were both in the top ten firms adding advertisements for new hires this week, joined further down the list by T-Mobile.

Business service was also hiring as IBM, Deloitte, Booz Allen and Accenture were included in the top job advertisers this week. Retail continued staffing this week as Macy's, Toys ‘R Us, Lowe’s, Sears, Pilot, Kmart, Officemax and Bloomingdale’s were staffing.

Health care rounded out the list of top companies adding new hiring advertisements as Golden Living Centers, HCR ManorCare, UnitedHealth, Gentiva, Amedisys, Genesis Healthcare, Bayada Nurses, Genzyme, Kaiser Permanente, Integris Health, Kindred Healthcare and Quest Diagnostics advertised for staff this week.

Job Openings added this week by direct advertisers (Recruiters & Staffing Companies not included):

1. Wells Fargo
2. AT&T
3. IBM
4. Macy's
5. Deloitte
6. Golden Living Centers
7. HCR ManorCare
8. Verizon Wireless
9. Booz Allen Hamilton
10. Toys"R"Us
11. Lowe's
12. Sears
13. T-Mobile
14. Pilot Travel Centers
15. UnitedHealth Group
16. Marriott
17. General Dynamics
18. Accenture
19. Gentiva Health
20. Kmart
21. Amedisys
22. Applebee's
23. Genesis Rehabilitation
24. Bayada Nurses
25. TruGreen
26. Officemax
27. Terminix
28. Genzyme
29. Hilton Hotels
30. Bloomingdale's
31. Columbia University
32. Raytheon
33. Kaiser Permanente
34. Merck
35. Integris Health
36. Chrysler - Mopar
37. Kindred Healthcare
38. Snap-on Tools
39. Sodexo
40. Quest Diagnostics

Sources: CareerBuilder, Monster, Indeed, SimplyHired, HotJobs, Google. Excluded: Recruiters, Staffing firms, Training, Franchise, and Work-from-home opportunities.

Readers – If you know of employers announcing significant hiring plans, or employers actively adding large numbers of employees, please comment below to add to this list.

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Related Articles:
Who's Hiring - Top employers week of 7-19-10
Who's Firing - Layoffs week ended 7-23-10

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Source: http://reCareered.blogspot.com

Who’s Hiring - Top employers week of 7-26-10 - Page 2

Total Job Openings:

Business Service firms led hiring companies as IBM, Deloitte and Booz Allen were actively staffing. Hospitality was next as Pizza Hut, Marriott, Applebee’s, Cracker Barrel, Boston Market and Hilton continued heavy job advertisements.

Telecommunications firms remain top hiring companies with AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon still staffing actively. Banking moved higher in the top employer list as Wells Fargo, and JPMorganChase were heavily hiring.

Health care continues in a a strong recruiting mode as HCR ManorCare, Golden Living Centers, UnitedHealth, Gentiva Healthcare, Genesis Healthcare, Amedisys, DaVita, Kaiser Permanente, Quest Diagnostic and Kindred Healthcare were top job advertisers. Retail continues hiring growth as Lowe’s, Kmart, Sears, Macy’s, JCPenney and Pilot were in the top hiring firms.

Based on surveys of US job advertisements in the top job board aggregators, the following companies searched for the most job openings:

Total Job Openings by direct advertisers (Recruiters & Staffing Companies not included):

1. IBM
2. Pizza Hut
3. AT&T
4. Wells Fargo
5. HCR ManorCare
6. T-Mobile
7. Deloitte
8. Lowe's
9. Kmart
10. Golden Living Centers
11. Sears
12. UnitedHealth Group
13. General Dynamics
14. Booz Allen Hamilton
15. JPMorgan Chase
16. Verizon Wireless
17. Gentiva
18. Macy's
19. Chiquita Brands
20. Marriott International
21. Genesis Healthcare
22. JCPenney
23. Applebee's
24. Cracker Barrel Old Country Store
25. Amedisys
26. DaVita
27. Pilot Travel Centers
28. Kaiser Permanente
29. Boston Market
30. Hilton Hotels
31. Raytheon
32. La Petite Academy
33. PDS Technical Services
34. Columbia University
35. U.S. Army
36. Quest Diagnostics
37. Snap-on Tools
38. Kindred Healthcare
39. Aflac
40. Combined Insurance

( Continued ... Top job openings added this week )

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Related Articles:
Who's Hiring - Top employers week of 7-19-10
Who's Firing - Layoffs week ended 7-23-10

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Source: http://reCareered.blogspot.com

Who’s Firing - Layoffs week ended 7-23-10 - Page 2

Top Layoffs week ended 7-23:

Transportation topped the list as the Port Authority of Allegheny County announced layoffs of 550 transit workers, Skookum Fleet Management eliminated 176 positions, and MTA cut 163 additional NYC transit jobs. Technology was next, as Applied Materials announced 500 layoffs in its solar manufacturing business.

Government remained near the top of the list as 15 state/local governmental units and school districts announced layoffs this week affecting thousands of workers, led by the Chicago Public Schools laying off between 400-600 employees and the City of Trenton shedding 377 jobs. In manufacturing, American Steamship cut 305 positions in Williamsville NY and Acme Architectural Products laid off 270 Brooklyn workers.

Defense rounded out the top of the list as Lockheed Martin announced 335 layoffs at its MacDill AFB and Orlando FL locations.

Inclusion on this listing doesn’t mean the entire industry is down, as some from the same sectors appeared on the “Who’s Hiring” article published 7/19/10.

Job seekers: You might want to look in greener pastures than these companies.

Organizations announcing or rumored layoffs for the week ended 7/23/10:

• Port Authority of Allegheny County, Pittsburgh PA (550)
• Applied Materials Inc, Santa Clara CA (500)
• Chicago Public Schools, Chicago IL (400-600)
• City of Trenton NJ (377)
• American Steamship Co, Williamsville NY (305)

( Continued ... See the rest of this week's top layoffs )

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Related Articles:
Who’s Hiring – Top employers week of 7-19-10
Who's Firing – Layoffs week ended 7-16-10

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Source: http://recareered.blogspot.com/

Who’s Firing - Layoffs week ended 7-23-10 - Page 3

Top Layoffs week ended 7-23-10 - Continued

• The First Occupational Center of New Jersey, Orange NJ (300)
• Acme Architectural Products, Brooklyn NY (270)
• Lockheed Martin, MacDill AFB FL and Orlando FL (335)
• Ceridian, Morrisville NC (190)
• Kehe Distributors, Elkton FL (183)
• Skookum Fleet Management, Fort Lewis WA (176)
• MTA, NYC NY (163)
• Haldex Brake, Iola KS (160)
• Herff Jones, Scott Township PA (160)
• Courtland Gardens Health Center, Stamford CT (157)
• ITT, Rochester NY (< 150)
• Comdata Networks Corp., Irving TX (144)
• Portland Oregon Schools (120)
• Highland Forest Resources, Marienville PA (107)
• Consolidated Biscuit Co, Chattanooga TN (104)
• Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Rhode Island, Providence RI (103)
• BankAtlantic, Ft. Lauderdale FL (100)
• The Texas Agrilife Extension, Amarillo TX (94)
• City of Sacramento CA (90)
• Wood Group, East Windsor CT (90)
• Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System, Salinas CA (74)
• Cox Communications, Macon GA (70)
• Kirk and Blum, Cincinnati OH (68)
• Pennsylvania School System, Easton PA (60)
• New Britain Schools, New Britan CT (50+)
• Bank of America, Tampa FL (50)
• York City Schools, York PA (50)
• Grand Street Settlement, Brooklyn NY (44)
• Flextronics Americas, Milpitas FL (42)
• E-One, Ocala FL (40)
• Aquatic, South Boston VA (40)
• BAE Systems, Sterling Heights MI (40)
• St. James Healthcare, Butte MT (40)
• The Dayton Metro Library, Dayton OH (38)
• City of Hoboken NJ (36)
• Papa John's Corporate, Louisville KY (30)

Source: Google, Twitter, AllPinkSlips.com, Telonu.com, TechCrunch.com, CoStar.com, Gawker, Screwedd.com, Recessionwire.com

Readers – If you know of employers announcing significant layoff plans, or employers reducing large numbers of employees, please comment below to add to this list.

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Related Articles:
Who’s Hiring – Top employers week of 7-19-10
Who's Firing – Layoffs week ended 7-16-10

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Source: http://recareered.blogspot.com/

Make Your Network Links Strong Like Bull: Best of reCareered - Page 2

How To Make Stronger Networking Links:

So often, when we meet someone at a networking event, we collect a business card, and maybe follow up with a WWD email – What We Do. We email back, in an attempt to strengthen a connection, but end up just talking about ourselves. Compare that to dating…ever been on a first date when the other person spends the whole night talking about themselves? Did you enjoy yourself?

Most do the same online…just take a look at your inbox and you’ll see lots people who send WWD. I refer to the resume version of What We Do as WIFM (What’s In it For Me http://recareered.blogspot.com/2010/03/job-seekers-tell-your-readers-wift.html

How often do you follow up from a networking event, or a Social Networking connection by asking someone what you can do … for them? How often do you offer to give first, without asking for anything in return? We’re not used to it, because it feels like giving money to a sales clerk, without taking our merchandise…and who does THAT?

Is there a different analogy when you pay money, but get no hard goods in return? Could you think of networking as making a deposit in a bank - only it’s not money that’s building up in your account, it’s goodwill or Business Karma.

The more Business Karma you build with someone, the more of a fan they become. If you’ve offered to give help to your in person network, as well as your online social network, just think of how big of a fan base you’ve built!

Personally, I try to build Business Karma daily, to a large extent through this blog and my Linkedin group Career Change Central, by letting “people crawl around inside my brain for awhile” as one very nice email response described. Before I wrote this blog, many of my readers who met me in person or through social networking heard me ask “How can I help you?”, or describing my job as “helping people, but my hobby is helping people find jobs”. But this blog isn’t about me…it’s about helping you.

I can tell you from personal experience that this kind of follow up isn’t easy. It takes time and effort to keep track of what others in your network need and can offer others, so that you can easily offer to help people. It takes patience not to talk about yourself and what you do, but to ask how you can help others. It takes a very broad view to be willing to give without expectation of return. I’ve found, however that this networking method provides returns many times greater than asking for business.

There are a number of tools that can make Business Karma easier. Check out the articles I’ve written on organizing your contacts (http://recareered.blogspot.com/2010/03/networking-for-job-search-organize-your.html) and the review I wrote on Gist (http://recareered.blogspot.com/2010/06/power-your-job-search-with-email.html) for some ways that technology can help you strengthen your networking contacts.

How can you strengthen your network in your job search? It goes against the common advice (seems like lots of things I say go against common advice, doesn’t it? :) ) of telling everyone you’re looking for a job. Instead of telling the world about yourself, why not try asking about what’s important to the person you’re talking to? I answered a reader’s question “How should I let my network know that I’m looking for work” at http://recareered.blogspot.com/2010/04/question-of-week-how-should-i-let-my.html.

Learning what’s important to others might just make a more interesting and memorable conversation, and should serve to build Business Karma. It demonstrates to the other person how well you listen and that you care (http://recareered.blogspot.com/2010/04/does-your-job-search-strategy-include.html). Then after you’ve found a way to help someone and have offered help – then answer the other person’s return question ... how they can help you. You’re much more likely to get valuable assistance this way.

Offer help first before you divulge that you’re looking for a job. Do you think this will make you more likely or less likely to find help and build a network that’s “Strong Like Bull”?

Readers - please offer your suggestions of you you make your networks “Strong Like Bull”? Please share in the comments below.

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Best Job Search Tools On Linkedin 2010
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When Do I Bring Up Salary? Job search question of the week - Page 3

How Do I Address Salary When ...:

There are a number of situations where employers tend to bring up salary expectation/history questions, and there are some great responses for each of these situations:

1. In the application (written): Some employers with written applications will ask for a salary history or expectations. The candidate isn’t benefited from answering this question so early in the game, as it’s used as both a disqualifier and a later ceiling for a salary negotiation that typically goes downward.
   
   Suggested answers:
   
   • For history, mark TBD or To Be Discussed.
   • For expectaions, write in Market Value


2. In the application (online): Some online applications force an answer, by not allowing an applicant to submit the page without a numerical answer here.
   Suggested answer: $1. This answer allows the candidate to force salary into a discussion, and delay the discussion until value has been built.


3. During a phone screen: Some employers and recruiters will ask for expected or historical salary information during a phone screen. This is also used as a disqualifyer, and can later come back to haunt a job seekers as the initial ceiling for a salary negotiation. During a phone screen, you haven’t built your value, and you know little about the job (what experience you’ll pick up, benefits, vacation, retirement plans, etc.) that could have a big influence on what salary you’d be happy with.
   
   Suggested answers:
   
   • Salary History: “I’m not comfortable disclosing personal information at this time. I’m happy to discuss salary when I know more about the position and company.”
   • Salary Expectation: “I’d like to learn more about the position before discussing salary. I’m sure you offer a competitive salary with the market.” Make sure you know what competitive market salaries are in your location.


4. During a first interview (either HR or hiring manager): “I’m happy to discuss details when we are ready to consider a job offer.” or “Isn’t it a little premature to discuss salaries?” Make sure you know what competitive market salaries are in your location.


5. During a second or later interview: Now you’ve presented your value proposition - the employer is either making decisions between finalists or starting a negotiation. It’s important to determine if the employer truely sees you as the #1 candidate and is starting a negotiation, or one of the finalists and is doing a price comparison. If you are unsure, ask “are we starting a salary negotiation, or are you still considering other candidates?”
   
   Suggested answers:
   
   • Considering other candidates: This means they aren’t ready to negotiate, and are still using salary as a disqualifyer - don’t get sucked in. Replying “Do you offer competitive compensation packages? ( ... wait for answer ) then continue “Great, if you decide to offer me the job, then we’ll be able to figure out a salary that makes both of us happy!”
   
   
   • You’re #1: Now the employer is ready to negotiate. By asking what your expectations are they are asking you to make the first move, which is not in your best interest. What if your expectations are 10% less than the bottom of their salary range? What if you had a below market salary in your last job, but had benefits that made the entire package above market (6 weeks vacation, no cost medical, 401K match to 20% of your salary, 20% profit sharing, 100% reimbursement for degree, free child care at work, being able to walk to work)? In a negotiation, the person who moves first is at a disadvantage - don’t fall into this trap.
     
     Instead, answer “I’m sure your compensation package will be competitive - What is the salary range for this position?” Again, make sure you have researched comparable salaries for the position, industry and geography. Cost of living can make a huge difference in some cities, potentially making a higher salary package less desirable than an offer in a location with lower expenses.
     
     This answer puts the question back to the employer, politely asking them to make the first move. Do your research first, and expect that a typical salary range is plus or minus 10%. The high end of the range is typically used for employees who have done well on the job for a few years at that company. If you’re making a lateral move to a smaller company, have hard to find skills, or unique industry information, aim for midpoint plus 5% - a new employee isn’t likely to get much higher.

Avoid asking for the highest point on the salary range - hiring mangers rarely move that far as it limits the raise they can afford to give in year #2 (who wants a wildly successful employee who they can’t afford to keep happy - that employee is likely to feel under appreciated and look elsewhere).

Attempting to go above the range? This may not be your best choice - hiring mangers typically need executive (or owner) level approval to go offer above a salary range, and typically need to have future raises specially approved if they contunue above a salary range. Do you want a job where it’s easy for your boss to give you future raises ... or a job where that’s difficult?

Where To Find Competitive Salary Information:

• Salary.com
• Payscale.com
• Glassdoor.com
• BLS.gov
• For more information about researching competitive salary information, see my earlier article “What Salary Should You Expect For Your Next Job?” at http://recareered.blogspot.com/2010/06/what-salary-should-you-expect-for-your.html

Just remember - it’s not in your best interest to bring up or answer salary questions early on. The employer who wants you to work for them will be willing to wait for salary answers, and you’ll probably earn some early respect. Delaying the salary discussion allows a candidate to build more value and to create the impression of candidate scarcity (humans really want what we aren’t sure we can have) so the candidate appears to be a more desirable employee - worth a higher salary.

Readers - what tips do you have about when to bring up salary, and salary negotiations? Please share your stories in comments below.

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When Do I Bring Up Salary? Job search question of the week - Page 2

Even if a company were to offer you a job during a first interview, don’t ask about salary. Some hiring managers and HR reps will try to bait you with the salary expectation question - don’t take the bait. Others will try to bait you in the application process, asking on an official looking form or required answer on a web application about salary - don’t take the bait.

Just say no.

Why You Want To Avoid Bringing Up Salary At All Costs:

Simple answer ... you want to avoid bringing up salary at all costs, because it will probably cost you if you bring it up.

A salary discussion is a negotiation - a nice negotiation, hidden by flowery words about how much an employer wants you on their team. Most hiring managers have a range that they can offer candidates, and they typically offer the lower end of the range at the beginning. Information is power in most negotiations - this is no different.

Consider this as reCareered’s salary rule: A candidate is never benefited from bringing up salary first.

Corollary #1 to reCareered’s salary rule: The longer a candidate delays revealing salary history/expectations, the more valuable that candidate is to the employer.

Salary negotiations are a tricky dance that is an uncomfortable dance for many. On one hand, you want to maximize your pay and feel valued. On the other hand, you don’t want to start out a new job with a boss who feels that you’re just in it for the paycheck. Even if money is your primary motivation, you’ll likely have a tough time in your new job if your boss feels like you don’t care about the company, the product/service, your boss, or the quality of your work ... but only care about the benjamins.

Even in sales, where hiring managers often want staff that’s motivated by money, giving the perception that’s your only motivation bring strong odds of scaring away a potentially great employer.

While my friends question may sound comically pre-mature, you’d be surprised how many candidates want to know this information up front. And there’s a valid reason - the candidate doesn’t want to waste time with a job that won’t fit their salary needs. There are other places to gain this information, other than asking in a first interview and risking both scaring away the hiring manager and weakening your eventual salary negotiation.

Why is a candidate benefited for delaying the salary discussion (Corollary #1)?

If you want to earn more than the bottom of the salary range, you’ll want your employer to realize just how much extra value they will gain from you, compared to your completion. Demonstrating how much value you’ve provided to past employers (see Employer Value Statements at http://recareered.blogspot.com/2010/03/employer-value-statements-make-your.html) gives your potential employer an idea of how much money you can make their company. Even better, demonstrating that you’ve solved, or helped solve similar problems that the company is facing, makes your accomplishments relevant - so the hiring manager actually cares because you’ve described WIFT (see Tell Your Readers WIFT - What’s In it For Them http://recareered.blogspot.com/2010/03/job-seekers-tell-your-readers-wift.html).

If you discuss salary before the potential employer realizes your true return on investment, you appear to be a lower value. In addition, scarcity adds value also. Remember Beanie Babies? People paid hundreds of dollars for little stuffed animals because they had limited distribution - they were scarce. In the same way, the longer you wait before discussing salary, the more your potential employer has to wonder about what other job options you might have ... perhaps with their competition. Just like with collectibles, once you’ve decided that you really want something, you’re much more flexible on price. When an employer has decided that they really want you, they will also be much more flexible on salary.

But bring up salary before the employer has made that decision, and there’s no incentive for the employer to give anything more than the bottom of their range, or maybe even the minimum they think you’ll accept.

( Continued ... So How Do I Address Salary When ... ? )

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Branchout = Facebook Plus Linkedin Divided By Job Search - Page 3

The idea for Branchout started just a few months ago, when one of Rick’s friends asked to be introduced into someone at a specific company for a career discussion. Rick first checked his Linkedin network - but was unsuccessful in finding a contact he was closely connected to on Linkedin. However, Rick makes much greater use of Facebook, maybe because his business is aligned with Facebook. When Rick searched Facebook, he was only able to find the target company’s fan page. This formed the idea of utilizing Facebook to find (and leverage) friends for job search, similar to Linkedin - the central concept behind Branchout.

How To Use Branchout In Your Search:

1. Build your network: The typical user of Branchout will already have a number of friends on Facebook, so there shouldn’t be much to do here. If your network is still small, use Facebook’s tools to invite friends from your email contacts on Outlook, Gmail or other email providers. Those steps should give you a large enough network to start.
2. Install Branchout: Go to http://branchout.com and install the application to your Facebook page.
3. Invite your Facebook friends to Branchout: You can only see the 2nd degree connections (the friends of your friends) of your friends who have installed the application. Your friends who keep things pretty tight to the vest may have to adjust privacy settings to allow Branchout to display 2nd degree connections. Therefore, more of your friends who also install Branchout, the more companies you’ll see inside connections.
4. Search for company contacts: Go to the Branchout application, and enter your target company name. You’ll see a listing of your friends that work at that company, and your friends who know others who who work at your target company (and the number of people they know there). Finally, you can search your friend’s contacts to get specific names, research backgrounds and ask for introductions to insiders at your target companies. Facebook’s privacy concerns make directly sharing this information impossible.
5. Share jobs: Pay it forward - share jobs that you see with your network with the free job posting service.
6. What do you do after you’ve been introduced? I’ve written much about the right (and wrong) ways to contact company insiders for maximum effectiveness:
   
   • Clean up your Facebook profile: If you’re using Facebook for job search, create a more professional profile, take down the bra & abs pictures and photographic records of drunken college parties. Most job networking contacts really don’t need to see your table dancing skills. Learn how to make your profile more findable by skillset by managing your social brand on Facebook at http://recareered.blogspot.com/2010/02/job-seekers-20-ways-to-brand-yourself.html.
   • Don’t waste their time: Don’t waste your new contacts time by asking who to send resumes to, what jobs are open, or if they can pass a resume along (due to employee referral bonus programs, it goes straight to the HR database at most companies - see http://recareered.blogspot.com/2010/05/how-employee-referral-bonus-programs.html). You can do all this on the company’s website - wasting your new contact’s time with this under utilizes their effectiveness. You can do much better by having a conversation and picking their brains a bit.
   • Discover company goals and problems: Have a conversation with insiders to understand what are the pressing goals and issues the company is facing, who the department heads and managers are, who are the newly hired (and newly fired) managers and to get an idea of company culture. I did an extensive article about how to use Linkedin for the same purpose - you can apply these tactics to Branchout by reading http://recareered.blogspot.com/2010/04/linkedin-company-follow-helps-job.html.
   • Revise your resume and show how you’ve helped solve these problems: It’s not just an introduction that gets the job - your contacts can do you a much greater favor by allowing you to learn what the real “hot buttons” are. Customize your resume to hit those hot buttons and show the hiring manager why you’re way ahead of the minimum qualifications. Learn more about how to customize to show that you’ve already solved problems at http://recareered.blogspot.com/2010/03/job-seekers-tell-your-readers-wift.html.
   • Send your customized resume to the hiring manager: Better yet, send it to the hiring manager and to your inside contact. Let your inside contact also send your resume through the internal referral process, so they are eligible for an employee referral bonus. Not only is that a great thank you for their help, but your contact has an incentive to be your internal champion.

Branchout’s immediate plans include additional functionality coming soon, including the ability to purchase site-wide job ads, and a way to rank your connectivity compared to other Branchout users.

Branchout has emerged as an essential job networking tool for the non-Linkedin set, as well as an additional tool to be used in parallel with Linkedin. Easier to use than Linkedin, Branchout allows job seekers to draw on the connections of personal networks ... not just the business networks of Linkedin. It’s easy to set up, and users likely already have a strong Facebook network to draw upon, so there’s less need to build a network from scratch.

I’m excited to see how Branchout can help job seekers. Readers - do you see uses and benefits that I haven’t mentioned? Please share in comments below.

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Related Articles:
Best Job Search Tools On Linkedin 2010
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Branchout = Facebook Plus Linkedin Divided By Job Search - Page 2

How Branchout Can Help Your Job Search:

I’m not suggesting that Branchout replace your Linkedin network. It’s still in it’s infancy (it was just launched this week) and it grows more powerful as it gets added to more users Facebook networks. But even in it’s infancy, you can gain a surprising amount of job search information from your Facebook friends that can be very useful in your search.

I had the opportunity to interview founder Rick Marini, founder of Branchout. Rick is also the CEO of SuperFan, and former CEO of Tickle.com an early social media quiz website (before selling it to Monster.com). Having worked for Monster for 4 years after selling Tickle, Rick’s been at the intersection of job search and social media for a while.

Branchout allows Facebook users to identify friends that work at a specific company and ask them for job or networking help. While this is similar to one of Linkedin’s main uses, there are some important differences.

Rick was kind enough to explain some of the advantages of Branchout. “Some people prefer communicating through Facebook, and use it as their major networking tool. For example, Branchout is useful for people just graduating from of college with large Facebook networks - but who would have to starting building a network from scratch on Linkedin.” Rick makes an interesting point here, as Facebook is 7 times larger than Linkedin - making it easy to see that there are many people who don’t use Linkedin, but who might still need help finding their next job.

While Branchout isn’t a fully featured Linkedin (let’s call it Linkedin-lite), the app hits the central values of Linkedin - the ability to search for companies, discover which of your contacts work there, and then communicate with them.

Rick added “While Linkedin is strictly a professional network, for many users personal and professional networks have merged on Facebook.” For instance, Rick personally uses Facebook as his contact list.

“If you’re really looking for a job, you’ll probably want to use more options than just your professional network, including your personal and family connections - more likely found on Facebook.” Rick mentioned some additional advantages as “ ... some users have a bigger network on Facebook than on Linkedin and can use Branchout immediately to discover Facebook friends who work at a specific company - rather than investing significant time building a Linkedin network. In addition, with Facebook there are better communication tools than on Linkedin.”

While Branchout is still in its early stages there are some significant differences between Branchout and Linkedin that may make using Linkedin advantageous for some users, or make using both an advantage:

• Some users keep business contacts on Linkedin and personal contacts on Facebook. Using both services allows a job seeker to leverage both business and personal networks.
• Linkedin allows 3 degrees of separation, while Branchout only offers 2. While this limits network size using Branchout, your odds of communication with someone 3 degrees away are less than if directly introduced by your contact.
• You can see what companies are represented by the friends of your friends (2nd degree) on Branchout if your friends also install the Branchout application. On Linkedin, you automatically can see 3 degrees of separation without installing additional apps.
• Linkedin includes Q&A capabilities, large active industry groups, recommendations, an active job board, and the ability to overlay inside company contacts over job advertisements.
• While Linkedin allows for larger networks (Facebook limits friends to 5K per user), this isn’t an issue for the majority of users, who limit networks to those they know personally, or might expand to others in their industry.
• Linkedin still offers superior search tools, allowing users (and employers) to search by title, geography, company, industry, and name. It will be interesting to see if Branchout expands its ability to search beyond company name.

Branchout is also launching a job board to go along with the service. Initially it’s free to post a job that can be seen by your friends (and friends of friends who install Branchout). Rick mentioned that soon Branchout will allow paid ads to be seen by its entire user base (they are planning on $30 for 30 days per ad), but they plan on keeping ads to just your network to remain free. This could be an advantage to small companies looking to add staff without paying big bucks for a Monster ad.

( Continued ... How To Use Branchout In Your Search: )

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Related Articles:
Best Job Search Tools On Linkedin 2010
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30 Things You Can Control In Your Job Search - Page 2

There are also many things you can’t possibly control in your job search. Since you can’t control them, why spend any time trying to manage, or even complain about what you can’t control?

We’re not in a job market where the old, random, low-hanging fruit job search techniques work well - it’s just too competitive out there. Successful job seekers today learn they have to search smarter and spend their time controlling what they can control.

Instead, why not focus your energies on what you can control? Isn't that enough to keep you productive?

Uncontrollable Factors In Job Search:

• Number of other applicants: Expect the number to be large, perhaps in the thousands. With those kinds of numbers, you can bet you’re not the only qualified candidate. Even if you are the best qualified candidate, will you get through the pre-screening process, or will many less-qualified candidates be seen first?
• Qualification of competition: You can’t control how others present their qualifications. Recruiters will tell you, that it’s not the best candidates who get interviews - it’s the best candidate resumes they see (out of hundreds ... or thousands).
• Personalities and mood of decision makers/influencers: You can’t control whether someone is having a bad day. Odds are, your audience may have a bad day occasionally when it’s inconvenient for you.
• Agenda of hiring manager: The hiring manager likely has many things on their plate, which often conflict. You can’t control the hiring manager’s priorities of time and budget - all you can do is gain a clear understanding of them.
• Urgency of hiring manager: Even if you’re told that a hiring manager is planning to make a decision soon ... your idea of soon may be different than theirs. To them, soon may be next year. The word “immediate” means different things to different people.
• Agenda of recruiter: If you are reaching the company through a recruiter, they probably have their own agenda ... and it’s not likely the same as yours. You can’t control the recruiter’s agenda. The best you can do is to gain a clear understanding of what really is driving the recruiter.
• Changes in budget: Especially in tight times, budgets are fluid and can change quickly. The job that a hiring manager is rushing to fill may get pushed off by slower than forecast sales - and it’s out of your control.
• Business doesn’t wait for you: While an employer is searching for candidates, the world hasn’t ground to a halt - business still goes on and things change. Old problems get solved, new problems arise, priorities change. Any of these non-controllable issues can change the game.
• Changing skills gaps = changing needs: As business continues during the search process, personnel may change. Other employees may quit, get transferred, and new employees may be hired. Any of these issues can change a hiring manager’s requirements as they seek to fill gaps in needed skills. These skill changes rarely show up on a job description or ad.
• Communication between hiring manager and HR or recruiter: Candidates routinely get angry when HR or a recruiter doesn’t know what the hiring manager wants - because things change. The communication between hiring manager and HR or recruiter is typically poor, and gets worse the more time a search takes (leaving more time for needs to change).

( Continued ... Focus On What You Can Control - Controllable Job Search Items #1 - #10: )

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Related Articles:
Best Job Search Tools On Linkedin 2010
Top 50 Web 2.0 Sites For Job Search In 2010

Email your request to phil.reCareered@gmail.com to enroll in a free group teleseminar "Accelerate Your Job Search - tools you can use".

Source: http://reCareered.blogspot.com