Friday, November 30, 2007

Uh, Oh!

I have been writing for years about how our current H-1b immigration policy is choking the ability of businesses to hire sufficient skilled labor.

CIO Magazine says that 51% of CIO's worry about their ability to hire adequate talent for their needs. Any firm looking to hire accounting, engineering or other skilled staff is struggling to find people with adequate skills for their needs.

Here are two things, courtesy of the December 10, 2007 issue of Fortune that:

1. According to HCL Technologies, their best young workers now want domestic assignments, instead of overseas (read that as US) work. This is the opposite of what was demanded two to three years ago.

2. The European Union has drafted new rules to remove restrictions that kept skilled foreign workers out of the EU, offering them two year renewable permits to live there.

3. King Abdullah of Saudia Arabia is building a new graduate research center for $12 billionand will endow it with $10 billion. That endowment is as large as MIT has built in 142 years of operation and they will have it on their first day.

I remember a time when every foreign worker wanted to come to the US because we had great work and financial opportunity. Years of treating H-1b workers worse than the dirt in your toe nails, paying them less and restricting their ability to change jobs until recently, years of not so subtle racism in the labor force against foreign workers (Indian, Chinese, Russian, Pakistani and others) in hiring practices and wage scales using the excuse of the cost of the visa transfer (ridiculously cheap), coupled with our currency devaluation this year and the persistent threat of terrorism, has made working in the US far less desirable, even if they can get in.

The talent you want to hire does not need to work for you any more. They have other choices in the US and certainly abroad. A few months ago, I wrote about the number of workers on H-1b visas starting to return home, frustrated by slow INS processing and other reasons.

What can you do to make your firm an employer of choice in a competitive playing field?


Jeff Altman

The Big Game Hunter
 Concepts in Staffing
thebiggamehunter@cisny.com

© 2007 all rights reserved.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in many disciplines since 1971. He is a retired certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues, and a practicing psychotherapist.

To receive a daily digest of positions emailed to you, search for openings that The Big Game Hunter is working on, to use Jeff’s free job lead search engine, Job Search Universe, to subscribe to Jeff’s free job hunting ezine, “Head Hunt Your Next Job, or his staffing ezine, “Natural Selection”, or to learn about his VIP program, go to www.jeffaltman.com.

Explore some of The Big Game Hunter's products in "The Universe" series

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Thursday, November 29, 2007

A Simple Inexpensive Way to Retain Your Staff

You may not be able to give someone a huge bonus or give them a spot bonus.

You may not be able to financially reward a group of people who stepped up and did something important.

You can look them in the eye and say, "Thank you," slowly and sincerely.

You can put a note in their personnel file about their heroism.

You can even do this and buy them a pizza or two (depending upon thje size of the group) to thank them for doing something terrific.

Let's see. In New York City, a pizza with a bunch of stuff on it easily costs under $20. That's a lot less than a bonus.

And even less expensive is a simple sincere thank you.

Do them both; encourage management to do them both, too.


Jeff Altman
The Big Game Hunter
Concepts in Staffing
jeffaltman@cisny.com

© 2007 all rights reserved.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in technology, accounting, finance, sales, marketing and other disciplines since 1971. He is a practicing psychotherapist and is a retired certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues.

To receive a daily digest of positions emailed to you, search job openings, use his free job lead search engine, Job Search Universe. to subscribe Jeff’s free job search ezines, Head Hunt Your Next Job and/or Natural Selection (his free recruiting ezine), or to find out about his VIP Personal Search Agent service, go to http://www.jeffaltman.com.

If you would like Jeff and his firm to assist you with hiring staff or locating consultants, or if you would like help with a strategic job change, send an email to him at thebiggamehunter@cisny.com

(If you’re looking for a new position, include your resume).

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Sunday, November 18, 2007

The Major Complaints from Job Hunters

Having been in the search business for more than 35 years (gasp), I have heard a lot of extremely funny things from job hunters. Like the one from the person who wanted to change jobs so that he could get home earlier to take his dogs for a run (take resume; place in garbage). Or the one who wanted to change firms to end an affair.

Yet, in the midst of the applicant stupidity I often hear, there are a few useful things that as an employer you can offer.

1. A sense of your timetable for making a decision. It is useful to a job hunter that you are interested in to know that first round interviews will take three weeks; you might discover at that point that the person is midway through second rounds at a competitor with a comparable role and adjust your plans or manage your departments expectations (I am not suggesting that you must change your plans; I believe that all information is useful and this helps you get useful information).

2. Let them know if your timetable changes. Make a quick call of email to a candidate you are interested in to let them know if there is a change in the timetable.

"I just wanted you to know that we will be back to you in one more week with our plans for moving forward. The delay was caused by a (vacation, a desire to meet with an internal candidate, an introduction that was made that your manager wanted to assess)."

3. Give Constructive Feedback for Why You've Chosen Someone Else. The feedback "too light" has no meaning. Deficiency in a particular skill required, concern about "fit," except in cases where you are rejecting an individual from a diverse population, divergent leadership style are valid reasons.

Observing these three courtesies (and many others) will help your organization foster an environment of being a fair and courteous employer and desirable in the marketplace.

Jeff Altman
The Big Game Hunter
 Concepts in Staffing
thebiggamehunter@cisny.com

© 2007 all rights reserved.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in many disciplines since 1971. He is a retired certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues, and a practicing psychotherapist.

To receive a daily digest of positions emailed to you, search for openings that The Big Game Hunter is working on, to use Jeff’s free job lead search engine, Job Search Universe, to subscribe to Jeff’s free job hunting ezine, “Head Hunt Your Next Job, or his staffing ezine, “Natural Selection”, or to learn about his VIP program, go to www.jeffaltman.com.

Explore some of The Big Game Hunter's products in "The Universe" series

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Saturday, November 17, 2007

4 Steps to Improved Hiring

Some HR professionals are refreshingly candid when they tell me that their hiring managers are not skilled interviewers. Oh, there may be a job specification developed in order to approve the job and target the hire, however many times I have heard that the person hired just doesn't seem to fit the target nor are the questions asked in the interview designed to ascertain whether the person fits the job requirements.

So what can you as an HR professional or you as a hiring manager or business owner do to keep your interview in line with your pre-determined needs?

1. Ask open ended questions designed to encourage the job applicant to talk. It doesn't take a genius to determine the right answer to a closed ended questions. Asking open ended questions allows you to find out about the job applicant's oral communications, logic skills and experience that is relevant to you.

2. Double team the applicant. Let one person ask questions and the other observe your questioning to see what you've missed. Or have one person ask tons of questions and the other person fill in some of the gaps. Or do the "strong arm tag team" approach--alternate questions that are extremely difficult and that determine required skills.

3. Jot down your questions in advance and don't "wing it." Too many people are completely unprepared to administer an interview. By writing down your questions in advance and then by writing down the applicant's answers, you prevent making mistakes by operating from memory or whim.

4. Remember to evaluate the person for personality match. When you hire a sales person, do you look for a "nice person" who agrees and goes along with everyone or do you want to hire a "killer."

Interviewing applicants is the most common way companies decide whom to hire yet research shows that interviewers do a poor job at predicting if an applicant will succeed - or flop - if hired.

Jeff Altman
The Big Game Hunter
 Concepts in Staffing
thebiggamehunter@cisny.com

© 2007 all rights reserved.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in many disciplines since 1971. He is a retired certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues, and a practicing psychotherapist.

To receive a daily digest of positions emailed to you, search for openings that The Big Game Hunter is working on, to use Jeff’s free job lead search engine, Job Search Universe, to subscribe to Jeff’s free job hunting ezine, “Head Hunt Your Next Job, or his staffing ezine, “Natural Selection”, or to learn about his VIP program, go to www.jeffaltman.com.

Explore some of The Big Game Hunter's products in "The Universe" series

Plus

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Saturday, November 03, 2007

Do What Third Party Recruiters Do Well . . .

In the early 1980's, I used to network with recruiters at other search firms in order to find talent for my clients. I had just purchased a PC and printer, a huge step at that time when I visited with one of the firms I would network with.

“Why did you buy a computer? It’s ridiculous,” he screamed (Kenny was like The Mad Dog of WFAN sports radio).

I walked over to his file cabinet and pulled out two folders at random and asked him to tell me one fact about either applicant. Of course, he couldn’t.

Before I make my point, I want to be clear, do not use information from third party recruiters in the recommendation I offer. It is stealing and your firm and, probably you personally, will be sued if you do.

With that said . . .

You are sitting with a ton of useful information that probably is going unused from the people you interview. Do you remember that woman you interviewed for the project manager job a year ago? Have you thought of dropping a casual (email) note to her to see what she is doing these days and asking for a referral or input on a search you are doing?

How about that internet ad sales guy you spoke to 8 months ago. Is his firm blowing up?

Have you created a nice generic marketing piece for your firm to re-contact desirable, but rejected candidates (or people who rejected you)?

You just need to help craft the emails and have a computer system that allows direct email campaigns.

It’s easy to do and yields great returns.

But make sure you exclude third party recruiter referrals OR be prepared to pay a fee years to them years later and create great will with them!

Jeff Altman
The Big Game Hunter
 Concepts in Staffing
thebiggamehunter@cisny.com

© 2007 all rights reserved.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in many disciplines since 1971. He is a retired certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues, and a practicing psychotherapist.

To receive a daily digest of positions emailed to you, search for openings that The Big Game Hunter is working on, to use Jeff’s free job lead search engine, Job Search Universe, to subscribe to Jeff’s free job hunting ezine, “Head Hunt Your Next Job, or his staffing ezine, “Natural Selection”, or to learn about his VIP program, go to www.jeffaltman.com.

Explore some of The Big Game Hunter's products in "The Universe" series

Plus

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Define Yourself or Have Others Define You

By the time a US President takes office, he or she will have spent more than two years campaigning, speaking to voters, answering questions (or avoiding answering questions), debated, advertised themselves in commercials and done a lot to create an image of who they are.

What is your firm and, by extension, you doing to create an image of your firm as an employer?

Is all your company doing running ads on job boards and telling people that yours is a growing company with a growth position that is visible and offering an incredibly dynamic and progressive work environment? That yours is one of the fastest growing companies in the world and has a high profile opportunity for career advancement requiring a candidate who is a high energy team player?

Have you discovered that the word progressive appears I more than 5000 job listings on Monster? Dynamic is also in more than 5000; Career advancement is, too, as is high energy. High profile is in more than 3000; visible in 3400+.

In contrast, the word "renegade" appears once. Maverick appears 95 times. Invisible appears 105 times including The Invisible Fence Company. Laid back appears 286 times.

Do you get my point?

Terms like this are ordinary and making you invisible and telling employees nothing.

It’s time to re-think your ad campaigns and really speak to people instead of copy and pasting job descriptions from requisitions and then adding these phrases to the ad and calling it marketing. Do you know how your firm is seen in the job market, both from a positive AND a negative standpoint? What is your employer brand and how can you improve it, especially as we enter what, I believe will be an extremely complicated part of the employment cycle.

It is tough enough that unemployment is so low, but the Baby Boomers will start retiring, the population cohort entering the job market is far smaller and will be less skilled (on average) and you will be asked to fill jobs only using trite words like these.

Jeff Altman
The Big Game Hunter
 Concepts in Staffing
thebiggamehunter@cisny.com

© 2007 all rights reserved.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in many disciplines since 1971. He is a retired certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues, and a practicing psychotherapist.

To receive a daily digest of positions emailed to you, search for openings that The Big Game Hunter is working on, to use Jeff’s free job lead search engine, Job Search Universe, to subscribe to Jeff’s free job hunting ezine, “Head Hunt Your Next Job, or his staffing ezine, “Natural Selection”, or to learn about his VIP program, go to www.jeffaltman.com.

Explore some of The Big Game Hunter's products in "The Universe" series

Plus

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