Whos Firing – Layoffs week ended 10-30-09

Who's Firing is a weekly survey of organizations announcing (or rumoring) layoffs for the week ended 10-30-09. Not only is this valuable for job seekers, but for business analysts, corporate strategists, marketers, salespeople, investment analysts, financial advisers, and others who are interested in companies that are contracting.

Layoffs announced and rumored this week were in the Transportation, Government, Publishing, Health care, Manufacturing, Financial/Banking, and Education sectors.

Inclusion on this listing doesn’t mean the entire industry is down, as many from the same sector appeared on the “Who’s Hiring” article published 10/26/09. It is interesting to note that while Federal hiring is on the rise, a number of State and Local governments have continued to see cutbacks for over the past month.

Transportation, especially airline related companies announced significant layoffs this week, including Boeing, US Airlines, and American Airlines.

Publishers continued to shed jobs as Associated Press, Forbes, Southern Progress, and Arkansas Democrat-Gazette announced layoffs, while rumors continued at Conde-Nast about which units would face job cuts.

While many Healthcare organizations made the top hiring company lists, a number of Healthcare companies were laying off such as Quest Diagnostics (they are also on the top hiring company list), Dorothea Dix Hospital, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida, LCA-Vision, and TomoTherapy. Education organizations including Michigan State, University of Maine, and State of Arizona teachers. Princeton & Dartmouth also announced layoffs, but the numbers were too small to make this lists’ cutoff (50).

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

Organizations announcing or rumored layoffs week ended 10/30/09:

Southern Progress (Time, Inc), Birmingham AL (90) – Click to view
Boeing Corp, Kennedy Space Center FL (330) - click to view
Boeing Corp, National (500) - click to view
US Airways, National (1,000) – Click to view
American Airlines, Kansas City MO (700) – Click to view
Quest Diagnostics, Wallingford CT (60) – Click to view
Milwaukee County, Milwaukee WI (200) – Click to view
Diversco, Winston-Salem NC (55) – Click to view
Tracy CA (69) – Click to view
State of Massachusetts (1,000) – Click to view
ComScore, San Fransisco CA (50) – Click to view
Target, Minneapolis MN (85) – Click to view
Royal Dutch Shell, International (5,000) – Click to view
Michigan State University, East Lansing MI (600) - click to view
Bath Iron Works, Bath ME (191) - click to view
YRC Worldwide Inc, Overland Park KS (900) - click to view
John D. Hollingsworth on Wheels Inc, Greenville SC (190) - click to view
General Electric, Bloomington IL (96) - click to view
Microsemi Corp, Scottsdale AZ (200-300) - click to view
Dorothea Dix Hospital, Raleigh NC (300) - click to view
Shaw Industries, Tifton GA (200) - click to view
Associated Press, International (400?) - click to view
Site, Huntington WV (112) - click to view
Aramark/Broward County Jail, Pompano Beach FL (96) - click to view
Hendrickson International Trailer Suspension Systems, Canton OH (189) - click to view
State of Missouri (700) - click to view
Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Florida, Jacksonville FL (150) - click to view
Forbes, National (100) - click to view
Intermet/Archer Creek Foundry, Campbell County VA (192) - click to view
University of Maine School System, Augusta ME (100) - click to view
Arthur J. Gallagher, Itasca IL (400) - click to view
Harley-Davidson Inc, Talladega GA (100) - click to view
Thomas & Betts Corporation, Cleveland OH (117) - click to view
Honeywell, Springfield IL (120) - click to view
HanesBrands, Forsyth NC (240) - click to view
Solano County, CA (161?) - click to view
Georgia-Pacific Corp, Fordyce AR (300) - click to view
Caterpillar, National (2500) - click to view
Arrow Electronics, Melville NY (100) - Click to view
Supreme Foam, Archdale NC (50) - Click to view
Perot Systems Corp, Lincoln NE (54) - Click for view
Capital One Bank, Melville NY (99) - Click to view
Gianni Versace, International (350) - Click to view
LCA-Vision Inc., Cincinnati OH (70) - Click to view
Wood-Mode, Kraemer PA (95) - Click to view
Direct Energy, Richardson TX (85) - Click to view
New United Motor Manufacturing, Fremont CA (3,764) – Click to view
USS-Posco, Pittsburg CA (50) – Click to view
Bank of America, Pasadena CA (174) – Click to view
Assurant Specialty Property Tustin, Orange, Santa Ana CA (256) – Click to view
Lennox Hearth Products, Inc, Orange CA (71) – Click to view
Rockwell Collins, San Jose CA (192) – Click to view
Standard Chartered Bank, Miami FL (72) – Click to view
Mohawk Flush Doors, subsidiary of Masonite Corp, South Bend IN (73) – Click to view
GECOM Corp, Frankfort KY (160) – Click to view
Miller Bros. Coal, LLC, Prestonburg, KY (225) – Click to view
New River Foundry, Radford, VA (76) – Click to view
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Little Rock AR (Unknown) – Click to view
TomoTherapy, Madison WI (10%) – Click to view
City of Cuyahoga Falls OH (53) – Click to view
US Steel, Granite City IL (Unknown) – Click to view
Citigroup, Las Vegas NV (75) – Click to view
City of Grand Rapids MI (Unknown) – Click to view
Dutchess County NY (70) – Click to view
Seattle WA Department of Planning & Development (Unknown) – Click to view
Fairpoint Communication, National (Unknown) – Click to view
State of Arizona Teachers (described as “Massive”) – Click to view
Guardian Auto Glass, Auburn IN (64) – Click to view
City of Birmingham AL (800) – Click to view
State of Pennsylvania (Estimated in hundreds) – Click to view

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

Executives exploring Career Change: For a free 30 minute resume consultation, or career advice for executives, email your resume confidentially to reCareered (phil.reCareered@gmail.com), and we'll schedule a time to talk.

Staff, Managers, Entrepreneurs, and career changers outside the US: Send your resume to phil.reCareered@gmail.com to enroll in a free group teleseminar "Accelerate Your Job Search - tools you can use".

Job Search Trick or Treat

How often do candidates treat their job search like it’s Halloween?

Do you dress up your resume to appear like you are someone other than you?

Not only is it unethical, it’s impractical. It wastes the employers’ time, but even worse…IT WASTES YOUR TIME as a candidate. Take your kids Trick or Treating, there’s a more effective way for you to stand out.

I can’t begin to count the number of times a candidate has asked me if they should hide their age, change their experience, or try to adopt a different personality, so they can appear to be someone other than themselves. To make it worse, many recruiters either turn a blind eye, or actually encourage this.

It wastes your time because hiring managers aren’t stupid. They read many resumes after they are pre-screened by HR staff & recruiters that read thousands of resumes. So whatever trick you’re trying to pull to mask the truth…they’ve seen it.

The easiest example is age. So many candidates blame a poorly thought out job strategy on age – complaining “I’m too old” or “Hiring managers want someone with more experience”. Guess what…it’s not your age. It’s how you’ve branded yourself, the perception you give, the skills you choose to highlight, and how you describe your skills.

It’s so easy to play the age game, pass the blame to your grey hair, and devise ways to mask your experience. I see it in over half the resumes I look at, and the easiest giveaways are missing dates. Does it take a rocket scientist to realize that if you leave your college graduation dates off your resume, you’re probably hiding your age? Duh!

But what if you get lucky, trick the reader to think you’re interview-worthy, and land the interview? If you’ve given the impression that you’re a hip 30 year old gel-head, what impression will you make when you meet in person, with your thinning grey hair? At best, you’ll make a first impression of disappointment…at worst one of deceit. Either way, at that point, your skills and talents won’t matter - you’ve wasted your time and set yourself up for disappointment.

Why play that game when there’s a better way?

Instead of trying to play Trick or Treat with your resume, why not look for companies that WANT someone like you? There are plenty of companies that want grey hair, and plenty of firms that want younger talent. There are companies that want someone who’s extroverted and others that want a quieter, serious employee. Instead of dressing yourself up for Halloween, look for companies that value someone like you!

OK, How can I find which companies want someone like me?

Information Rules! Talk to your friends who work at target companies…they are your best resource to understand what type of person and what type of personality succeeds within a particular corporate style. Every company has its own unwritten rules, or culture. When employers look at culture, they look for someone who can easily communicate and fit in with 80% of the workforce who have a similar style.

So if everyone at a target company is 40+, been there 20 years, and wears pocket protectors, it might not be a such a good fit for a 26 year old tattooed and pierced woman. If it’s a jeans and t-shirt environment, this company might not be such a good fit for someone who’s experience has been working at a large bank. Or maybe a video game development company with a game room, music room, and weekly happy hours, might not be such a good fit for a guy who looks like Kevin Malone (from The Office). Maybe a guy like Kevin would be happier in a pocket protector environment. (Picture courtesy http://www.flickr.com/photos/mattmatlock/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

But what if you don’t know anyone at your target company? This is where Linkedin and Facebook can provide such a huge edge. Use your social network to gain introductions to employees at your target companies. But don’t waste the introduction to ask for a job or to pass a resume – there’s a much more valuable use.

Instead, do some espionage. Gain critical information about a company’s culture and style. Ask what type of person succeeds, and what type of person fails within a target company and department. Ask what the hiring manager is like…is she a team player, or a maverick? Ask how does he dresses…casually or formally? Ask about the hiring manager’s communication style…is it open door, or do you have to wait a week to get an appointment?

If you really want some great insight into a company’s style, use guerrilla tactics. Find a nearby bar, and head there at 5:00pm on a Friday. That’s right, use Happy Hour. Talk to a few people, including the bartender, you’ll find people who work for your target company. At a bar, information is so inexpensive...just a round or two of drinks. But think of the wealth of information you can pick up. Plus, you might even get a referral for your offer of drinks. You’ll see how they dress and act, and probably pick up some great scoop.

Armed with all this information, could you figure out if your personality is a likely fit, or if your time is better spent somewhere else? There are so many uses for this information, such as insight as to a company’s challenges and opportunities…so you can show how you’ve already solved these problems and leveraged these same opportunities in your past firm.

When you can clearly demonstrate you’ve already solved an employers’ problems, or maximized the same opportunities…limiters like age, dress, or personality stop being such relevant factors. These are the “20 percent-ers”…the employees whose skills and experiences are so important that fit, culture, and style take a back seat. Now the ball’s in your court to decide if you really want to work at a company where everyone wears pocket protectors, and looks like Kevin.

Instead of trying to trick your prospective employer, doesn’t it seem like a better tactic to treat some employees to a drink – and pick their brains?

Executives exploring Career Change: For a free 30 minute resume consultation, or career advice for executives, email your resume confidentially to reCareered (phil.reCareered@gmail.com), and we'll schedule a time to talk.

Staff, Managers, Entrepreneurs, and career changers outside the US: Send your resume to phil.reCareered@gmail.com to enroll in a free group teleseminar "Accelerate Your Job Search - tools you can use".

Whos Hiring - Week of 10-26-09

Who's Hiring is a weekly survey of companies showing the highest hiring activity for the week of 10/26/09. Not only is this valuable for job seekers, but for business analysts, corporate strategists, marketers, salespeople, investment analysts, financial advisers, and others who are interested in companies experiencing growth. Despite the recession, these companies are all expanding.

Total Job Openings:
The Shipping, Retail, Telecommunications, Consulting, Defense and federal Government verticals are the top industries currently hiring based on a survey of active job advertisements from the nations’ top job boards.

Retail hiring continued strong, in preparation for the holiday season, with Macy’s, Sears, Kmart, and Radio Shack leading, with Blockbuster and Target also added to top hiring companies. Consulting firms Deloitte, IBM, Booz Allen, and SAIC – Booz & SAIC are largely supporting federal government and DOD contracts. Northrop, Raytheon, US Army, & General Dynamics led Defense hiring. Top hiring financial institutions included JPMorgan Chase, Ameriprise, Aflac, and Combined Insurance made this week’s list.

Other interesting top hiring companies included the CIA, and Snap-on Tools.

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

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

1. UPS
2. Macy's
3. Sears Roebuck and Co.
4. Blockbuster
5. McDonald's Corporation
6. Kmart
7. AT&T
8. Deloitte
9. Northrop Grumman
10. JPMorgan Chase
11. Verizon Wireless
12. Advantage Sales and Marketing
13. IBM
14. Raytheon
15. General Dynamics - IT
16. RadioShack
17. Marriott
18. Federal Government
19. U.S. Army
20. Booz Allen Hamilton
21. Siemens
22. CIA
23. SAIC
24. Ameriprise
25. Target
26. St. John's Regional Hospital
27. Snap-on Tools
28. Aflac
29. Combined Insurance
30. Quest Diagnostics

Job Openings Added This Week:

The Shipping, Retail, Telecommunication, Consulting, Financial, Defense, Shipping, and Hospitality verticals are the top industries currently hiring based on a survey of active job advertisements from the nations’ top job boards.

Consulting firms companies continue to expand with Deloitte and IBM continuing to hire, joined by Booz Allen, Accenture, SAIC, and EDS. UPS, Macy’s Kmart, Radio Shack, Sears, and Target continue to prepare for the holiday rush.

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

1. UPS
2. Macy's
3. AT&T
4. Kmart
5. Sears
6. Deloitte
7. Booz Allen Hamilton
8. IBM
9. Verizon Wireless
10. JPMorgan Chase
11. Advantage Sales and Marketing, LLC
12. RadioShack
13. Northrop Grumman
14. Boston Market
15. Federal Government
16. Target
17. Raytheon
18. Accenture
19. Marriott
20. St. John's Regional Hospital
21. Sears
22. Target
23. SAIC
24. EDS
25. Kaiser Permanente
26. Flextronics
27. Alliedbarton Security Services
28. Combined Insurance
29. AT&T

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.

Executives exploring Career Change: For a free 30 minute resume consultation, or career advice for executives, email your resume confidentially to reCareered (phil.reCareered@gmail.com), and we'll schedule a time to talk.

Staff, Managers, Entrepreneurs, and career changers outside the US: Send your resume to phil.reCareered@gmail.com to enroll in a free group teleseminar "Accelerate Your Job Search - tools you can use".

Whos Firing? Layoffs for week ended 10-23-09

Who's Firing is a weekly survey of organizations announcing (or rumoring) layoffs for the week ended 10-23-09. Not only is this valuable for job seekers, but for business analysts, corporate strategists, marketers, salespeople, investment analysts, financial advisers, and others who are interested in companies that are contracting.

Layoffs announced and rumored this week were in the Government, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Pharmaceutical, Financial/Banking, and Publishing sectors.

Inclusion on this listing doesn’t mean the entire industry is down, as many from the same sector appeared on the “Who’s Hiring” article published 10/19/09. It is interesting to note that while Federal hiring is on the rise, a number of State and Local governments have continued to see cutbacks for over the past month.

Health care organizations were laying off such as Valley Mental Health, Bristol-Meyers Squibb, Cook County Health System, Oak Forest Hospital, Pfizer, Carestream Health, Navilyst Medical, Eli Lilly, Smith Medical.

Publishers continued to shed jobs as Time, The New York Times, The Charlotte Observer, and McGraw-Hill announced layoffs, while rumors swirled all around Conde-Nast about which units would face job cuts.

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

Organizations announcing or rumored layoffs week ended 10/23/09:

Alstom Transport, Hornell NY (500) – Click to follow
Electrolux, Webster City IA (850) – Click to follow
Valley Mental Health, Salt Lake City UT (up to 125) – Click to follow
Time Inc, NYC (approx 600) – Click to follow
Sun Microsystems, National (3,000) – Click to follow
International Paper, National (1,600) – Click to follow
Bristol-Meyers Squibb, Evansville & Mt Vernon IN (115) – Click to follow
Cook County Health and Hospitals System, Chicago IL (335) – Click to follow
State of Iowa (793) – Click to follow
Oak Forest Hospital, Oak Forest IL (200) - Click to view
Emerson/Schneider National, Bridgeton MO (330) - Click to view
NCR Corporation, National (2200) - Click to view
Modine Manufacturing Company, Harrodsburg KY (110) - Click to view
Nautilus, Independence VA (173) - Click to view
Expedia, Tacoma WA (200?) - Click to view
New Page Corp, Whiting WI (100?) - Click to view
Pilkington Automotive Glass Plant (NSG Group), Clinton MI (130) - Click to view
Sallie Mae, National (1-2K?) - Click to view
State of Massachusetts (726) - Click to view
Varian Medical Systems, Palo Alto CA (150) - Click to view
Pfizer, Overland Park KS (200) - Click to view
Regions Financial Corp, Birmingham AL (1700 YTD) - Click to view
Sullivan County, NY (100) - Click to view
Lexmark International Inc, Lexington KY (825) - Click to view
Mohawk Industries, Waynesboro VA (120) - Click to view
Jakks Pacific Inc, Malibu CA (100+) - Click to view
Chicago Transit Authority, Chicago IL (1000+) - Click to view
Missouri Department of Natural Resources (Division of State Parks) (100+) - Click to view
BAE Systems, West Manchester PA (130) - Click to view
City of Chicago, IL (220 positions eliminated) - Click to view
New York Times, NYC (100) - Click to view
Workforce Solutions, East Texas (50) - Click to view
Standard Chartered Bank, Miami FL (72) - Click to view
Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, National (57) - Click to view
Forum Health Inc, Youngstown OH (52) - Click to view
Carestream Health Inc, Windsor CO (70) - Click to view
State of Iowa (791) - Click to view
Kronos Inc. (Stromburg), Lake Mary FL (70) - Click to view
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach FL (21) - Click to view
General Shale, Spring City TN (19) - Click to view
Navilyst Medical, Glens Falls NY (51) - Click to view
Sacramento County, CA (76) - Click to view
Pilkington Automotive, Clinton MI (130) Click to view
LHI Enterprises Inc, Hartland WI (80) - Click to view
Georgia Pacific, Fordyce AR (300) – Click to view
Extreme Networks, Santa Clara CA (70) – Click to view
Lockheed Martin, Archbald PA (50) – Click to view
Goss International, Dover NH (unknown) – Click to follow
Eli Lilly, National (unknown) – Click to follow
Freescale Semiconductiors, Austin TX and National (unknown) – Click to follow
Shuttle America, Honolulu HI (74) – Click to follow
CNH Global, International (10-12%) – Click to follow
Child Protective Services, Sacramento CA (76) – Click to follow
St. Joseph County, IN (54) – Click to view
Estes Express Lines, Knoxville TN (unknown) – Click to view
21^st Century Insurance, Vestal NY (54) – Click to view
State of Pennsylvania (unknown) – Click to view
Mothers Against Drunk Driving MADD, National (unknown) – Click to view
The Charlotte Observer, Charlotte NC (unknown) – Click to view
Arizona Department of Public Safety (unknown) – Click to view
Smith Medical, Waukesha WI (104) – Click to view
Wausau Paper, Appleton WI (55) – Click to view
Tree Top Inc, Rialto CA (75) – Click to view
Assurant Specialty Property, Santa Ana & Tustin CA (74) – Click to view
The McGraw-Hill Cos, Woodland Hills CA (85) – Click to view
West Marine Products, Watsonville CA (325) – Click to view
Curtiss-Wright Controls, Integrated Sensing, Long Beach CA (81) – Click to view
Kavlico, Moorpark CA (169) – Click to view
Baker Hughes Incorporated, Houston TX (62) – Click to view
Fluor Enterprises, Inc, Sugar Land TX (617) – Click to view
Redcats USA, Universal City TX (490) – Click to view
Big Stick Media, National Sports Services, Las Vegas NV (unknown) – Click to view
FormTech Industries, Minerva, OH (68) – Click to view
Coca-Cola Enterprises, Havre de Grace MD (50) – Click to view
Faurecia Automotive Seating Inc, Walton KY (68) – Click to view
Farmers Group Inc, Vestal NY (54) – Click to view
The Really Cool Food Company LLC, Syosset NY (78) – Click to view
Matrx (Midmark Corporation), Orchard Park NY (87) – Click to view

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

Executives exploring Career Change: For a free 30 minute resume consultation, or career advice for executives, email your resume confidentially to reCareered (phil.reCareered@gmail.com), and we'll schedule a time to talk.

Staff, Managers, Entrepreneurs, and career changers outside the US: Send your resume to phil.reCareered@gmail.com to enroll in a free group teleseminar "Accelerate Your Job Search - tools you can use".

Who’s Hiring in Finance – October 2009

Banks, Consulting firms, and Financial advisors top Finance hiring during October 2009, based on job advertisements open for 30 days from the top job boards.

Led by banks that are repaying TARP funds, banks including Chase, Wachovia, PNC, Citi, HSBC, Fifth Third, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and National City are the top Finance hiring firms in October. Many of these banks are expanding regionally, such as JPMorgan Chase.

Consulting firms including Deloitte, IBM, CSC, and KPMG are staffing to support financial institution and process improvement practices, as they are landing significant projects to help clients build profitability improving technology. Some of these positions are straight finance, while others are profitability consulting (supply chain, for example), and others are finance/technology hybrid roles.

Financial advisors including Edward Jones, Morgan Stanley, Scotttrade, Merrill Lynch, New York Life, AXA, and VALIC are building. While Wall Street may still be hurting from last year’s financial meltdown, Financial advisory firms on Main Street still have an increasing needs for client facing employees as Baby Boomers continue retirement. In addition, as layoffs occur, workers need to roll over employer-managed 401-Ks into IRAs.

Top Finance Hiring Organizations – October 2009

1. JPMorgan Chase
2. Deloitte
3. Edward Jones
4. Wachovia Corporation
5. PNC Financial
6. IBM
7. Citi
8. HSBC
9. Fifth Third Bank
10. Wells Fargo
11. Morgan Stanley Smith Barney
12. Bank of America
13. Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC)
14. UnitedHealth Group
15. National City
16. Scottrade
17. Merrill Lynch
18. New York Life
19. Security Finance Corporation
20. AXA Advisors
21. Farmers Insurance
22. VALIC
23. Country Financial
24. KPMG LLP

Sources: CareerBuilder, Monster, Indeed, SimplyHired. Excluded: Recruiters & Staffing firms.

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.

Executives exploring Career Change: For a free 30 minute resume consultation, or career advice for executives, email your resume confidentially to reCareered (phil.reCareered@gmail.com), and we'll schedule a time to talk.

Staff, Managers, Entrepreneurs, and career changers outside the US: Send your resume to phil.reCareered@gmail.com to enroll in a free group teleseminar "Accelerate Your Job Search - tools you can use".

Are You Buying the Mac & Cheese of Job Search?

So much of today’s job search advice is like Mac & Cheese. It’s comfort food. It’s not very good for you, but it’s comfortable…it makes you feel good.

Like Mac & Cheese, this advice is very popular – you see it everywhere. Just as Mac & Cheese isn’t an efficient food source, this advice won’t make your job search efficient. But it WILL make you feel good, like you’re doing the right thing, because you see this advice everywhere.

So how can you tell what advice is Mac & Cheese? Examples of job search comfort food are cover letters. Think of how many articles you see, and how much advice a candidate receives about how to write a perfect cover letter. It’s comfortable advice that we’ve heard since we were originally taught to type them…on typewriters.

But cover letters just don’t work today. At best, cover letters are an obsolete tradition. But cover letters can work against a candidate, providing much more of a disadvantage over any potential advantage.

Here’s why cover letters are like Mac & Cheese:

1. Hiring Managers usually don’t get cover letters. I talk to 60 executives per month, and each one tells me how they hire candidates. About 66% of the time, hiring managers tell me they don’t even get cover letters from HR departments or recruiters. Recruiters and HR departments often don’t see cover letters, even though they are asked for within the ads they place.


2. Hiring Managers only see about a dozen resumes per position, out of thousands of applicants. HR departments and recruiters use databases to pre-screen resumes. These systems, called Applicant Tracking Systems, search resumes by keywords, allowing the HR screener or recruiter to pick the resumes that best match the keywords being searched…just like we do every day on Google. Most Applicant Tracking Systems don’t keyword search cover letters, only resumes.
   
   Most candidates sent the same static resume to the jobs they apply to, hoping that the words in their resume happen to magically match the words being searched for. The odds are lousy.


3. It’s a published statistic that most hiring managers make an interview/non interview decision in an average 15 seconds. In 15 seconds you can’t read both a resume and cover letter. Which do you think most hiring managers read first?
   
   I’m running a poll currently on Linkedin, asking hiring managers which they read first…80% read the resume first. Anecdotal evidence I hear each month puts that percentage at 90% who read the resume first.
   
   I’m currently running another poll on Linkedin, asking candidates if they send a cover letter, or include a customized resume…over 92% send a cover letter, most customize the cover letter, and 4% just send a static resume with no cover. Just 4% send a customized resume.
   
   Isn’t that gap eye opening? 92% put their customization into a document that’s rarely seen.


4. I hear anecdotal evidence from hiring managers about the impact of cover letters if they get them and if they read them. I’ve rarely heard of an instance that a cover letter will talk a hiring manager into an interview, if the resume doesn’t first clearly demonstrate they meet the key hiring criteria. On the other hand, I hear stories all the time from hiring managers who recall times that a cover letter that gave additional information talked the candidate out of an interview…because they revealed information that was inconsistent with the hiring manager’s needs, or made mistakes on the cover letter.

As digital resumes exploded the competition that candidates face, and flooded HR departments/recruiters, these groups developed process improvements that reward candidates who heavily customize their resumes…and penalize candidates who don’t or who customize a different document.

Other Mac & Cheese examples are generalist resumes, broad opening summaries, lack of clarity of what a candidate is looking for and why they’re the best choice.

So what are you buying in your job search? Mac & Cheese? Or Smart Food?

Executives exploring Career Change: For a free 30 minute resume consultation, or career advice for executives, email your resume confidentially to reCareered (phil.reCareered@gmail.com), and we'll schedule a time to talk.

Staff, Managers, Entrepreneurs, and career changers outside the US: Send your resume to phil.reCareered@gmail.com to enroll in a free group teleseminar "Accelerate Your Job Search - tools you can use".

Who's Hiring? Week of 10/19/09

Who's Hiring is a weekly survey of companies showing the highest hiring activity. Not only is this valuable for job seekers, but for business analysts, corporate strategists, marketers, salespeople, investment analysts, financial advisers, and others who are interested in companies experiencing growth. Despite the recession, these companies are all expanding.

Total Job Openings:
The Restaurant, Retail, Telecommunications, Defense, Health Care, and Banking verticals continue as the top industries currently hiring based on a survey of active job advertisements from the nations’ top job boards.

Retail hiring kicked it into high gear, in preparation for the holiday season, with Sears, Kmart, Macy’s and Radio Shack leading the list. Northrop, Raytheon, & General Dynamics led Defense hiring. Top hiring financial institutions included JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, and Citi made this week’s list. No surprise that Healthcare hiring remained strong.

Other interesting top hiring companies included consulting firm Booz Allen, and hotels Hilton & Marriott. Century 21 hiring increased, and remained on the top hiring company list. UPS is staffing up for the holidays, making its first appearance on the list.

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

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

1. McDonald's Corporation
2. AT&T
3. Sears, Roebuck and Co.
4. Kmart Corporation
5. Northrop Grumman
6. Verizon Wireless
7. Raytheon
8. Advantage Sales and Marketing, LLC
9. General Dynamics - IT
10. JPMorgan Chase
11. Macy's
12. Booz Allen Hamilton
13. UnitedHealth Group
14. RadioShack
15. UPS Packaging
16. Cracker Barrel Old Country Store
17. Quest Diagnostics
18. Kindred Healthcare
19. Hilton Hotels
20. Terminix
21. Amedisys Home Health
22. Century 21 Real Estate
23. Morgan Stanley Smith
24. Marriott
25. George S. May
26. ACS
27. PSA Healthcare
28. Aegis Therapies
29. University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey
30. Citi

Job Openings Added This Week:

The Telecommunication, Restaurant, Defense, Shipping, and Hospitality verticals are the top industries currently hiring based on a survey of active job advertisements from the nations’ top job boards.

Financial services companies continue to expand with Scottrade continuing heavy hiring, joined by TD Bank. Real Estate company Century 21 also joined the top companies hiring this week. Of course, Sears, Toys”R”Us, Macy’s, UPS, and RadioShack are preparing for the holiday rush. Take Care Health (Walgreens in-store clinics) are adding staff, getting ready to give all those flu shots.

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

1. AT&T
2. McDonald's
3. Sears, Roebuck and Co
4. Northrop Grumman
5. Toys"R"Us
6. Macy's
7. UPS
8. Verizon Wireless
9. General Dynamics Information Technology
10. RadioShack
11. Raytheon
12. Hilton Hotels Corporation
13. Deloitte
14. Flextronics
15. Apex Systems
16. Genesis Healthcare
17. UnitedHealth Group
18. Quest Diagnostics
19. Century 21 Real Estate
20. Kindred Healthcare
21. Scottrade
22. George S. May
23. HEALTHSOUTH
24. TD Bank
25. TruGreen
26. Affiliated Computer Services
27. Medassurant
28. Take Care Health Systems
29. ACS

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.

Executives exploring Career Change: For a free 30 minute resume consultation, or career advice for executives, email your resume confidentially to reCareered (phil.reCareered@gmail.com), and we'll schedule a time to talk.

Staff, Managers, Entrepreneurs, and career changers outside the US: Send your resume to phil.reCareered@gmail.com to enroll in a free group teleseminar "Accelerate Your Job Search - tools you can use".

Who's Firing? Layoffs week ending 10-16-09

Who's Firing is a weekly survey of organizations announcing (or rumoring) layoffs. Not only is this valuable for job seekers, but for business analysts, corporate strategists, marketers, salespeople, investment analysts, financial advisers, and others who are interested in companies that are contracting.

Inclusion on this listing doesn’t mean the entire industry is down, as many from the same sector appeared on the “Who’s Hiring” article published 10/12/09. It is interesting to note that while Federal hiring is on the rise, a number of State and Local governments face continued cutbacks. Also, Verizon has led the top hiring lists, but is also announcing a number of layoffs. Boeing made the layoff list, while competing aerospace manufacturers top the Who’s Hiring lists.

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

Layoffs announced and rumored this week were in the Government, Manufacturing, Automotive, Technology, Publishing and Energy sectors.

Organizations announcing or rumored layoffs week ended 10/16/09:

AM General (250) - click to view
State of Massachusetts (up to 2K) - click to view
State of Iowa (1000) - click to view
Standish Max Prison (Michigan) (100) - click to view
Smiths Medical PM Inc. (100) - click to view
The Amherst H. Wilder Foundation (260) - click to view
Boeing Corp. (200-300) - click to view
City of Spokane, WA (200) - click to view
SunTrust Bank (YTD 100) - click to view
Wilsonart International (120) - click to view
Moog Aircraft Group (220) - click to view
Onondaga County, NY (133) - click to view
State of New Hampshire (300) - click to view
Country Financial (400) - click to view
Kohl's Corporation (250) - click to view
Team Broadcast Services (96) - click to view
HNI Corporation (150) - click to view
State of Vermont (160 total jobs lost) - click to view
Verizon Communications (200) - click to view
City of Moraine, OH (187) - click to view
Solvay Pharmaceuticals (450) - click to view
Steifel Laboratories (200) - click to view
Pilgrim's Pride (GA) (100) - click to view
Hamilton County Public Library (250) - click to view
Oral Roberts University (124) - click to view
NYC Dept. of Education (714) - click to view
Albany County, NY (109) - click to view
Bestop (140) - click to view
Flour Energy Corp. (500) - click to view
Valero Energy Corp. (250) - click to view
Boeing Corp. (130) - click to view
D&E Communications (280-290) - click to view
United States Postal Service (650) - click to view
Lafayette Caterpillar (106) - click to view
American Cancer Society (140) - click to view
Canron Western Constructors Inc. (106) - click to view
Fluor Corporation (100-150) - click to view
Redcats USA (490) - click to view
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida (150) - click to view
Kent County, MI (145) - click to view
Boise Cascade (130) - click to view
Dell (905) - click to view
L.L. Bean Call Center (700) - click to view
Sunoco Inc. (400) - click to view
ATK Space Systems (550) - click to view
Hilton Reservations and Customer Care (176) - click to view
Thermo Fisher Scientific (130) - click to view
Conde Nast Publications (180) - click to view
Atlantic City Casinos (1067) - click to view
Metavation (120) - click to view
Prairie Correctional Facility (120) - click to view
University of California Riverside (425) - click to view
Pilgrim’s Pride (640) - click to view
Emerson Network Power Connectivity Solutions (135) - click to view
United Space Alliance (258) - click to view
Dow Roofing (100) - click to view
Tomasco Mulciber Inc. (213) - click to view
Delta, Eagan, MN (unknown) – Click to view
Aramark Health Support Services, Huntsville, AL (163) – Click to view
Chevron Mining, Gallup NM (80) - Click to view
Electric Boat, Groton, CT (96) - Click to view
Sylvania Yarn Systems (145) - Click to view
Trojan Battery Co., Sandersville, GA (50) - Click to view
HON Co., Owensboro, KY (144) - Click to view
Aramark Sports & Entertainment, Deer Creek Resort, Mt. Sterling, OH (112) - Click to view
Phoenix Health Systems, Pittsburgh, PA (50) - Click to view
GE Oil & Gas Operations, Bethelehem, PA (81) - Click to view
Parsons, Pittsburgh, PA (90) - Click to view
Alliance One Inc., Trevose, PA (63) - Click to view
Richfield Hospitality, Charlottesville, VA (146) - Click to view
FreightCar America Inc., Roanoke, VA (33) - Click to view
Lockheed Martin, Fairfax, VA (65) - Click to view
Educational Credit Management Corp., Richmond, VA (60) - Click to view
Wells Fargo Mortgage, Kirkland, WA (60) - Click to view
Brandrud, Auburn, WA (104) - Click to view
Corhart Refractories, Buckhannon, WV (26) - Click to view
Care Wisconsin First, Madison, WI (77) - Click to view
Eppendorf Inc., Westbury, NY (44) - Click to view
Avant-Garde Optics LLC, Washington, NY (137) - Click to view
Matthews International Corp., Seneca Falls, NY (33) - Click to view
Tavern on the Green LP, NYC (405) - Click to view
Dominion Enterprises DBA Interco Print, Ontario, CA (31) - Click to view
Telecare Corp, Lemon Grove, CA (102) - Click to view
Duane Morris LLC, Carpinteria, CA (126) - Click to view
USS-Posco Industries, Pittsburg, CA (827) - Click to view
Bassett Furniture Industries Inc, Bassett, VA (45) – Click to view
Summit Holdings, Lakeland, FL (70) – Click to view
Frontier Oil Corp., Cheyenne, WY (28) – Click to view
NCH Healthcare, Naples, FL System (66) – Click to view
Freudenberg-NOK, Spencer, IA (65) - Click to view
Franciscan Skemp Healthcare, Lacrosse, WI (25) – Click to view
McCann Erickson, San Francisco, CA (40) – Click to view
Jeld-Wen, Bend, OR (31) – Click to view
Foley & Lardner LLC, Milwaukee, WI (39) – Click to view
Crothall Services Group, Valhalla, NY (235) – Click to view
Aramark, Huntsville, AL (163) – Click to view
Mueller Industries, Fulton, MS (37) – Click to view
Miller Brothers Mining, KY (85) – Click to view
Baker Hughes Inc., Houston, TX, (62) – Click to view
Hamilton Sundstrand, Hartford, CN (30) Click to view
City of Loveland, CO (5.9%) – Click to view
Comcast, Wellesley, MA (64) – Click to view
Rensselaer County, NY (24) – Click to view
Midcoast Aviation, Cahokia, MO (150) – Click to view
TomoTherapy, Madison, WI (10%) – Click to view
Boston Globe, Boston, MA (unknown) – Click to view
Police Department Kansas City, MO (16) – Click to view
Clear One Health Plans, Bend, OR (25) – Click to view
Save – A – Pet, Greyslake, IL (40%) – Click to view
Microtune, Plano, TX (10%) – Click to view
Viking Range Corporation, Greenwood, MS (30) – Click to view
Current Media, San Francisco, CA (unknown) – Click to view
NH Department of Corrections (37) – Click to view
Bossier City, LA (88) – Click to view
Calumet City IL Schools (57) – Click to view
Lackawanna County, PA (30) – Click to view
Verizon, Newark, DE (66) – Click to view
Bistol Meyers Squibb, National (355 of Abilify sales force) – Click to view
MetLife, Lackawanna County PA (34) – Click to view
Stanley Furniture, Stanleytown, VA (unknown) – Click to view
North Providence, RI (35) – Click to view
Louisiana State Department of Education, Baton Rouge, LA (50) – Click to view
Yuba Community College, Clearlake, CA (56) – Click to view
Chelan County, WA (50) – Click to view
City of Kingston, NY (28) – Click to view
AOL, NY, NY (2,000) – Click to view
EBay, San Francisco, CA (several dozen) – Click to view
LCN Closers, Princeton, IL (47) – Click to view
NC Department of Health and Human Services, Raleigh, NC (thousands) - Click to view
City of Aurora, CO (50) – Click to view
Ohio State Prisons, Ohio (41) – Click to view
Osceola County, FL (40) – Click to view
University of Toledo Medical Center, Toledo, OH (50) – Click to view
Volvo Trucks North America, Dublin VA (50) – Click to view
Zillion TV, Sunnyvale, CA (1/3) – Click to view
Victor Valley College, Victorville, CA (28) – Click to view
DaySpring Inc, Siloam Springs, AR (53) – Click to view
CNN, Atlanta, GA (unknown) – Click to view

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

Executives exploring Career Change: For a free 30 minute resume consultation, or career advice for executives, email your resume confidentially to reCareered (phil.reCareered@gmail.com), and we'll schedule a time to talk.

Staff, Managers, Entrepreneurs, and career changers outside the US: Send your resume to phil.reCareered@gmail.com to enroll in a free group teleseminar "Accelerate Your Job Search - tools you can use".

Who's Hiring? Week of 10/12/09

Who's Hiring is a weekly survey of companies showing the highest hiring activity. Not only is this valuable for job seekers, but for business analysts, corporate strategists, marketers, salespeople, investment analysts, financial advisers, and others who are interested in companies experiencing growth. Despite the recession, these companies are all expanding.

Total Job Openings:
The Restaurant, Retail, Telecommunications, Health Care, Defense and Banking verticals are the top industries currently hiring based on a survey of active job advertisements from the nations’ top job boards.

Restaurants including McDonald's, Cracker Barrel, and Arby’s were heavy job advertisers for the past month. Retailers continued hiring for the holiday season, with Blockbuster, Sears, Kmart, Macy’s, RadioShack actively searching for employees. Top Telcom hiring companies included AT&T, Verizon, and Cingular making this week’s list.

Other interesting top hiring companies included an expanded number of Banking and Financial Services companies, expanding beyond traditional banks. Banking and Financial Service companies included JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Citizens’ Financial, and Citi. Some surprises included Century 21 and the hospitality industry (Marriott & Hilton).

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

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

1. McDonald's Corporation
2. Blockbuster
3. Sears, Roebuck and Co.
4. AT&T
5. Kmart Corporation
6. Gentiva Health Services
7. Raytheon
8. Northrop Grumman
9. JPMorgan Chase
10. Verizon Wireless
11. Advantage Sales and Marketing, LLC
12. General Dynamics - IT
13. Macy's
14. RadioShack Corporation
15. UnitedHealth Group
16. Cracker Barrel Old Country Store
17. Quest Diagnostics
18. Kindred Healthcare
19. Terminix
20. Century 21 Real Estate
21. Marriott
22. Morgan Stanley Smith
23. Arby's
24. Deloitte
25. ACS
26. University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey
27. George S. May
28. Citizens Financial Group
29. Hilton Hotels
30. Flextronics
31. Citi
32. Cingular Wireless

Job Openings Added This Week:

The Restaurant, Retail, Telecommunications, Contracting, Education, Banking/Financial Services, Defense, and Health Care verticals are the top industries currently hiring based on a survey of active job advertisements from the nations’ top job boards.

Some interesting companies expanding with new ads this week are Perini Plumbing, hiring plumbing and mechanical contractors nationwide – including inexperienced hires. Financial services companies continue to expand with JPMorgan Chase continuing heavy hiring, joined by Edward Jones, Ameriprise Financial, Scottrade, and Freddie Mac. Real Estate company CB Richard Ellis also joined the top companies hiring this week.

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

1. McDonald's
2. Sears, Roebuck and Co.
3. Kmart
4. AT&T
5. Perini Plumbing and Mechanical Contractors
6. Macy's
7. Murphy USA
8. KinderCare Learning Centers
9. JPMorgan Chase
10. RadioShack Corporation
11. Northrop Grumman
12. General Dynamics Information Technology
13. Edward Jones
14. Verizon Wireless
15. UnitedHealth Group
16. Raytheon
17. University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey
18. Verizon Wireless
19. Apex Systems
20. Quest Diagnostics
21. Sava Senior Care
22. Ameriprise Financial
23. Scottrade
24. Siemens
25. Yellow Pages
26. McGraw-Hill
27. Kindred Healthcare
28. Cingular Wireless
29. Freddie Mac
30. ACS
31. Accenture (corp.)
32. Bojangles'
33. CB Richard Ellis

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.

Executives exploring Career Change: For a free 30 minute resume consultation, or career advice for executives, email your resume confidentially to reCareered (phil.reCareered@gmail.com), and we'll schedule a time to talk.

Staff, Managers, Entrepreneurs, and career changers outside the US: Send your resume to phil.reCareered@gmail.com to enroll in a free group teleseminar "Accelerate Your Job Search - tools you can use".

How About a Bigger, Badder Monster?

I spoke to Eric Winegardner, Monster's VP of Client Adoption and Kathy O'Reilly, Monster's Director of Social Media Relations at the HR Technology conference last week. Eric was excited about Monster’s new candidate and employer platforms, recently released and still in Beta. I wanted to know what changed, and what made it “new and improved”.

It turns out there’s more than just a new skin on Monster. The job board has made some interesting advances towards contextual search…what most of us mistakenly call artificial intelligence. For us non-geeks out there, contextual search is defined as “A search for documents or records based upon the data they contain, rather than their file names or key fields”, according to Answers.com. Or in other words, Monster is now a more intuitive search that delivers close matches.

Why is this important to job seekers?

Contextual search allows you to have related jobs included in your search, rather than multiple searches or complicated Boolean formulas with nested AND and OR statements. Instead, contextual search allows the candidate to search for “RN” and pull up jobs for nurses, or search for “attorney” and find jobs for lawyers. The “Old Monster” (it’s still available if you prefer) suggests additional close searches, but would not include exact and close matches within in the same search. So a candidate only has to perform a single search.

In addition, contextual search knows the difference between a Java developer vs a Real Estate developer. A search for “Financial Executive” won’t return Executive Assistant jobs in the new Monster.

Contextual search has even further reaching implications when you consider how it affects how employers can now search. For instance, an employer searching for a Manufacturing Supervisor, might also like to see Operations Supervisors, or Manufacturing Managers at smaller companies. Contextual search allows close matches of experience to criteria. In addition, employers can search for required criteria, as well as nice-to-have criteria.

Monster’s new capabilities also allow employers to search for number of years of certain experience, plus place additional weight on recency. If a hiring manager has 3 years of events marketing experience as a criteria, the employer can direct Monster to rank candidates with 3 years of recent experience higher than candidates with that experience further in their background. This is critical for candidates to understand, as more experienced candidates tend to focus on how many people they manage, but leave out the details of their current roles. This underscores the importance of heavy resume customization for each position you apply for.

One of the Monster’s big selling points to employers is to make it easier for hiring managers to pull candidates out of the database that the employer wouldn’t otherwise find. When hiring starts to increase again, employers will start to find shortages of certain skill sets, increasing as the Baby Boom continues to retire. Even today, certain pockets of job skills are in short supply – nursing, for instance.

I was able to test drive the site, and I’ve got to admit it was pretty cool. I can see how it can save candidates time and frustration, and provide employers a closer match.

In addition to the technical changes, Monster has added a ton of new features for candidates:

1) Career Mapping: Monster now allows a janitor the tools to figure how to become an astronaut, and what steps he needs to take. For instance, Monster might suggest that our janitor friend first enroll in some flight classes, earn a pilots’ license, and log thousands of hours of flight time, because a high percentage of astronauts have already reached their career goal via that path. Next, Monster might suggest that either working as a commercial pilot, flying an Air Force jet, or getting an engineering degree might help by showing the percentage of astronauts who gained these experiences along the way.

In the same way, Monster can show a reCareering manufacturing worker what she needs to do to start a career in health care. What options does she have and what’s the best way to get there?

2) Career Snapshots: Monster publishes career snapshots so that candidates can read real, unabridged commentary about what a job is like…pros and cons. Sure it sounds cool to be an astronaut, but what if you can’t leave Piscataway, NJ? A corporate President role might sound great, but will the travel, overtime, and stress fit well with your personality? Better to get an idea first, before committing to a career track.

3) Virtual Mentoring: Monster has a huge audience of staff as well as managers. By identifying managers who are looking to “give back” and find mentoring opportunities, earlier stage employees can get career guidance from someone who’s already been there.

Finally, Monster is rolling out some social media tools, like blogs, Facebook groups, and Twitter job postings that make it easier for candidates to find job postings and job search information.

I recommend you check out some of these tools…you’ll see me there also, as my articles are often republished on Monster’s blogs.

Executives exploring Career Change: For a free 30 minute resume consultation, or career advice for executives, email your resume confidentially to reCareered (phil.reCareered@gmail.com), and we'll schedule a time to talk.

Staff, Managers, Entrepreneurs, and career changers outside the US: Send your resume to phil.reCareered@gmail.com to enroll in a free group teleseminar "Accelerate Your Job Search - tools you can use".

Who’s Hiring – Week of 10-5-09

Who's Hiring is a weekly survey of companies showing the highest hiring activity. Not only is this valuable for job seekers, but for business analysts, corporate strategists, marketers, salespeople, investment analysts, financial advisers, and others who are interested in companies experiencing growth. Despite the recession, these companies are all expanding.

Total Job Openings:
The Restaurant, Telecommunications, Health Care, Defense and Banking verticals are the top industries currently hiring based on a survey of active job advertisements from the nations’ top job boards.

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

Total Job Openings by direct advertisers (Recruiters & Staffing Companies Not Included):

1. McDonald's
2. AT&T
3. Sears, Roebuck and Co.
4. Gentiva Health Services
5. Northrop Grumman
6. Raytheon
7. Verizon Wireless
8. JPMorgan Chase & Co
9. General Dynamics - IT
10. Kmart Corporation
11. Bae Systems
12. Deloitte
13. UnitedHealth Group
14. Kindred Healthcare
15. Raytheon
16. UnitedHealth Group
17. Verizon Wireless
18. Quest Diagnostics
19. Arby's
20. Kindred Healthcare
21. Macy's
22. Sears

Job Openings Added This Week:
The Restaurant, Telecommunications, Defense, Retail, Banking, Shipping, and Engineering verticals are the top industries currently hiring based on a survey of active job advertisements from the nations’ top job boards.

Job Openings Added this week by direct advertisers (Recruiters & Staffing Companies Not Included):

1. McDonald's Corporation
2. AT&T
3. Northrop Grumman
4. Sears, Roebuck and Co.
5. RadioShack Corporation
6. JPMorgan Chase
7. Verizon Wireless
8. Bae Systems
9. Raytheon
10. General Dynamics Information Technology
11. Kmart Corporation
12. R-Solutions, a subsidiary of RadioShack Corp
13. UPS
14. Siemens
15. Apex Systems
16. Macy's
17. Cingular Wireless
18. Morgan Stanley SmithBarney
19. Quest Diagnostics
20. UnitedHealth Group
21. Flextronics
22. Scottrade

Sources: CareerBuilder, Indeed, SimplyHired, HotJobs, Google. Monster does not list ads by company or city. 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.

Executives exploring Career Change: For a free 30 minute resume consultation, or career advice for executives, email your resume confidentially to reCareered (phil.reCareered@gmail.com), and we'll schedule a time to talk.

Staff, Managers, Entrepreneurs, and career changers outside the US: Send your resume to phil.reCareered@gmail.com to enroll in a free group teleseminar "Accelerate Your Job Search - tools you can use".

Who's Firing - Layoffs Week Ended 10-2-09

Who's Firing is a weekly survey of organizations announcing (or rumoring) layoffs. Not only is this valuable for job seekers, but for business analysts, corporate strategists, marketers, salespeople, investment analysts, financial advisers, and others who are interested in companies that are contracting.

Inclusion on this listing doesn’t mean the entire industry is down, as many from the same sector appeared on the “Who’s Hiring” article published 9/25/09. It is interesting to note that while Federal hiring is on the rise, a number of State and Local governments face additional cutbacks. Also, IBM, Deloitte, and Accenture were some of the top hiring companies last week, while KPMG and PWC are on the layoff list.

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

Layoffs announced and rumored this week were in the Government, Manufacturing, Automotive, Technology, Publishing and Business Services sectors.

Organizations announcing or rumored layoffs week ended 10/2/09:

• Miramax (55) – click to view
• City of Rockford (7) – click to view
• District of Columbia Public Schools (388) – click to view
• Cooley Godward Kronish (58) – click to view
• Hallmark Cards Inc. (225-250) - click to view
• US Space Program (337) - click to view
• Granite Construction (150) - click to view
• Baxter Healthcare, Florida (26) – click to view
• Hillsborough County, FL (100) - click to view
• Mental Health Association in North Carolina (175) - click to view
• ABB Inc. (200) - click to view
• Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Minnesota (100) - click to view
• Inkstop (550) - click to view
• Areva (150) - click to view
• Chrysler Financial (360) - click to view
• North Carolina Department of Corrections (1,000) - click to view
• Vail-Ballou Press (270) - click to view
• Skokomish Tribe's Lucky Dog Casino (120) - click to view
• Armstrong World Industries (171) - click to view
• The Missouri Department of Conservation (173) - click to view
• Alliant Techsystems (ATK) (450-500) - click to view
• Trompeter Electronics Inc. (135) - click to view
• Windstream Corporation (350) - click to view
• The Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. (110) - click to view
• Force Protection Inc. (120) - click to view
• Washington DC School District (100's+) - click to view
• Verizon Wireless (134??) - click to view
• Beatrice Community Hospital and Health Center (100) - click to view
• West Corporation (341) - click to view
• Columbus Lumber (100) - click to view
• American Centrifuge Project (update 1,000) - click to view
• Jabil Circuit (update 4,500 from 3,000) - click to view
• General Motors (1,000) - click to view
• Peterbilt Corp. (390) - click to view
• Peabody Indiana Services LLC (133) - click to view
• California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Update (1443) - click to view
• Diebold (100) - click to view
• King County, WA (367) - click to view
• Hawker Beechcraft (240) - click to view
• City of Troy, Michigan (170?) - click to view
• City of Seattle (310) - click to view
• Beaumont Hospitals (425) - click to view
• US Customs Border Control (384) - click to view
• Waukegan, IL (48) – click to view
• Hawker Beechcraft (240) – click to view
• Dassault Falcon (72) – click to view
• Dexia (602) – click to view
• Amazon (25) – click to view
• Gnip (7) – click to view
• GE Transportation, Erie, PA (1,450) – click to view
• JELD-WEN Inc.(84) – click to view
• kgb Operator Services Co (78) – click to view
• Kalyn Siebert Trailers (35) – click to view
• Unilever Food Solutions, Milwaukee WI (38) – click to view
• Northern Engraving Corp. - Luxco Division (26) – click to view
• Wiza (132) – click to view
• JTEKT Automotive Virginia Inc (250) – click to view
• Colgan Air Inc (29) – click to view
• Riley Power (181) – click to view
• Sunshine Market Inc, Plains PA (148) – click to view
• Wiremold/Legrand (67) – click to view
• Red Bird West Mine (115) – click to view
• Schneider National Carriers Inc., Piketon OH (57) – click to view
• Neff Manufacturing (88) – click to view
• Sonoco, Orrville OH (81) – click to view
• The Andersons Inc., Lima OH (134) – click to view
• Pyramid Management Group, Inc. - Security Division (40) – click to view
• Penske Logistics Inc., Albany, NY (81) – click to view
• Ramada JFK Hotel (187) – click to view
• Bombardier Transportation, Plattsburgh NY (200) – click to view
• World of Disney NYC (148) – click to view
• Philips Remote Cardiac Services (48) – click to view
• ARAMARK Management, Suffern NY (77) – click to view
• Alan Ritchey Inc. (80) – click to view
• Tana Seybert LLC (132) – click to view
• Eastman Kodak, Rochester (72) – click to view
• 11 Penn TV (16) – click to view
• Pfeiffer Foods Division (154) – click to view
• Henkel (16) – click to view
• Conde’ Nast (est 25%) – click to view
• City of Detroit (1,000) – click to view
• Saturn Automobile (unknown) – click to view
• American Apparel (1,600) – click to view
• KPMG (unknown) – click to view
• PWC (140) – click to view
• First Industrial Realty Trust (46) – click to view
• Bosch (10,000 international) – click to view

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

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