Entries Tagged with find

Monday April 6th, 2009
Trailer Parks are Practical

The Toronto Star called it the Saskaboom.

The Canadian paper recently profiled "one of many workers across the country, especially Ontario, looking to the good times in Saskatchewan, which counts natural resources among its blessings. Housing prices and wages are up and it has a budget surplus, while much of the world drowns in red ink."

Saskatchewan is one of Canada's prairie provinces. Until recently, it is has also been one of its least populated. Saskatchewan is responsible for much of the world's wheat production and also has large oil reserves that have, until now, been dwarfed by the development of Alberta's oil industry. With manufacturing suffering in the most populous province, Ontario, many professionals are pulling up sticks and heading out.

It's the newest frontier in the boom and bust cycle of prosperity. Canadian history is full of periods of success that end in one province and surface again in another province. Every area has its era and Saskatchewan's time has come.

Since the on-set of the industrial revolution, people have moved where there are jobs. Before the industrial revolution, they followed their food sources as the weather demanded. And yet, we crave stability. Gypsies and "tinkers" or travellers across Europe have always been looked down on. Closer to home, trailer park dwellers are referred to as "trailer trash."

If anything, new waves of migration in this economic climate, proves that those cultures and their flexibility were always on to something smart. If the economy is booming, housing prices are increasing and new arrivals might find out that an affordable place to live is difficult, if not impossible, to find. 

It also shows that there is always room for growth for recruiters and other HR professionals to expand their services. From searching for workers for boom towns in bust towns, to providing re-location services for companies whose employees are on the move, there is always a new frontier.

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Friday January 23rd, 2009
Youth, Imagination, Passion and Relating

Our friends at DECODE have just released a new paper on Building Valuable Relationships. The paper focuses on how these times of uncertainty shaping how youth look at the world and seek to define their place in it.

"As Young Adults enter the workforce they are bringing with them a unique set of priorities as well as their own models of success and leadership that are bound to shape our future," says the paper. "Tomorrowʼs competitive landscape will look drastically different and todayʼs youth will be driving that change by challenging the status quo."

At a time when most of the recruitment blogosphere is taking a more conservative view and pledging "back to basics", this tone of passion and imagination is a welcome change from the new status quo.

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Friday January 9th, 2009
Job Tips Group Writing Project

Our friend Jacob at Job Mob has been hosting a Group Writing Project in which bloggers submit their best post from 2008 that contains job search tips. Reading over the comments on the post, I was surprised that more recruitment bloggers didn't submit tips.

The public needs our advice. Let's give it to them. Our blogs are the perfect tool to help those facing the most difficult challenges in this changing economy.

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Monday December 29th, 2008
Job Search Tips: The Top Five From 2008

Job Mob recently asked for our best job search tips of 2008. While most of our complaints about job seekers have fallen under the heading of "what not to do" I think we can reverse engineer some tips from the heartbreak.

1. Build your brand, know your message.

2. Know what you want and express it. Remember the guy who offered a $1000 reward to the person who could find him the perfect job? Too bad he didn't mention what he does or what kind of job he was looking for.  

3. Make sure you're actually qualified and communicate your qualifications properly. If you haven't been getting any calls for interviews for jobs you are qualified to do, then you aren't expressing your qualifications clearly enough. The easiest way to do this is ensure that the language used in the job post is used in your cover letter and C/V.

4. Follow the directions. If a web site says that the recruiter only wants to be contacted via their on-line application tool, respect their processes. Don't make a bizarre phone call that will only cause confusion and make you look bad.

5. Don't underestimate the power of excellent social skills. Always searching for new opportunities. Start when you are in school and make as many friends as possible from as broad a spectrum of interests, generations, ethnicities, etc.

If you're older and you've missed out on the social opportunities of school, get involved in your community through volunteering, evening classes or interest-based groups. While you're there, ensure that you're listening skills and manners are in perfect working order. For example, for every five minutes you spend in conversation with someone, you should learn three things about them.

And, this shouldn't have to be said, but try to self-edit inappropriate comments. No one wants to work with ageist, sexist or racist job searchers.

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Thursday October 16th, 2008
Generation Y Needs Early Job Search Support

Between posts about Gen Y, their communication styles, their lack of job satisfaction, and this month's poll, I've been trying to get my head around how best to support this generation so that they can take on more responsibility earlier and fill shortages in the workforce.

What I'd forgotten, is that starting a career is one of the most stressful times in a young person's life.

Matthew Brink of Saint Joseph’s University’s Career Development Center reminded me. In his experience, most students avoid thinking about the real world until their third year of university and put off visiting the career center as long as possible.

Sometimes, Brink says, it’s the waiting itself makes the task overwhelming. An earlier start gives students the tools to start preparing for a career. Brink says that student should actually start their career planning in their first year of university.

“While adjusting to college life can often be enough for freshmen to handle, there are plenty of services offered at SJU to help them get grounded and thinking about the future,” Brink said. “For example, freshmen often haven’t declared a major and may need help figuring out what they’re best suited for.”

Employers look at more than grades and want to see a well-rounded person who has been involved in clubs, sports or student government. That involvement should be encouraged from the very first year.

In the second year, Brink says that the job search résumé should already be in the works.

“By junior year, students should be working to secure internships, researching graduate school options and networking with alumni,” he says. “Senior year can sometimes be too late to start gaining real work experience.”

It's obvious to me that recruiters can and already do play a pivotal role in helping university career centres. Many participate in résumé clinics and share networking tips. Brink's plan, though, offers more opportunitied to network with students and to help them learn how to network. What do you think a brief course in networking would look like for 18 year-old first-year students? 

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Friday September 26th, 2008
Generation Y: Full of Youth & Promise?

This week's recruitment industry news has been full of Generation Y. Let's here what you think about the issues raised and the generation behind the issues.

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About the Authors

Paul Dodd
Co-founder and President
Head2Head Canada

Paul has one simple goal: To help companies hire great people - and get the most out of every recruiting dollar they spend. That's why he's recognized as one of the best recruitment-industry thinkers in Canada.

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