Live from Chicago, It's SHRM!!

The SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management) Conference in Chicago, Illinois is the country's largest HR conference, with over 700 exhibitors, 15,000 attendees, and hundreds of classes for HR professionals.

So why should job seekers care about a room full of headhunters?

I’m attending Sunday – Tuesday to get the inside scoop on candidate job boards strategies and new tools for candidates.

I'm finding some incredible information that I'll be passing to you over the coming days that will give great inside tips on your career search. I've got some overall demographic information, new tools for job seekers, and interviews with representatives from all the major job boards about how to use their boards more effectively.

Yesterday was the kickoff, led by a talk by SHRM's management. SHRM has some great research for job seekers, and is doing some interesting things in the HR marketplace.

Sue Meisinger, outgoing CEO of SHRM talked about SHRM's lobbying efforts to make discrimination against sexual orientation illegal, researching the state of diversity, and the best small companies to work for in America.

Steve Williams, Director of Research of SHRM, discussed that people are leaving jobs due to long commutes and gas prices. SHRM finds that companies are reacting by offering 4 day work weeks (40%), flexible schedules (25%), and telecommuting options (20%). 1/3 of the companies surveyed offered part time telecommuting options. Steve also shared that relocation fees & benefits were among the most popular job benefits offered today, as the mortgage crisis has made relocating more difficult for families.

Stay tuned for live updates as I interview USIS about prevalence of lying on resumes, Payscale.com about their new tools to compare salaries to the marketplace, Careerbuilder about how cover letters are not included in search databases, Monster & Yahoo Hotjobs about inside tips on getting your resume noticed, Dice about their new format and new ways to use their service, all the cool new tools from SimplyHired, and many other vendors from SHRM this week.

Stay tuned!

If you’d like more information, a free 30 minute resume consultation, or some advice about your career transition, just email your resume to reCareered at phil.recareered@gmail.com, and we'll schedule a time to talk.