Job Growth News Good for April

Economic Policy Institute: Jobs Picture, May 6, 2005:

"Strong, broad-based job growth surpasses expectations... In contrast to the recent spate of disappointing reports on the economy, last month's job market performance was surprisingly upbeat. According to the report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment grew by 274,000, easily beating forecasters' expectations of gains of around 170,000. Furthermore, job gains for February and March were revised up by a combined amount of 93,000. "

Laurie's Comments:

Positive signs outlined in the above report include:

* Widespread job growth across all industries, excepting factories.

* Information Services had its best month since the tech bubble burst back in 2000, with 12,000 new jobs added.

* Construction sector growth continued to outpace other sectors.

* The labor force has grown at an annual rate of 1.1%, compared to 0.4% over the comparable period last year.

Unfortunately, long-term unemployment remains an ongoing problem, with the number of jobseekers looking for work for at least 6 months at above 20% since October of 2002. The article cites a possible reason for this is "that the long-term unemployed are older and more highly educated than in the past, and it takes longer for these more experienced job seekers to find acceptable employment opportunities."

With average monthly payroll growth of 181,000 over the past year that could hardly be called robust, growth has at least been strong enough to sustain economic expansion. Experts conclude that while the recovery has not proceeded at or near the pace desired, it does appear to be solid and continuing. This is good news for executives in career transition and indicates that it may be worthwhile to circulate your executive resume, actively keep up with your network, and monitor all resources for opportunities.

Career Marketing Firms: Buyer Beware

Career Journal Q&A: Should I Pay $6,000 Upfront for Career Aid?

"People often are at their most vulnerable when they are unemployed and scared they won't find new work. They are particularly susceptible to the pitches of some career-services or career-marketing firms that promise to help connect them with the 'hidden' job market or opportunities that haven't yet been advertised. The catch is that job seekers must pay large sums of money up front and sign multi-page agreements before they receive any assistance.

Margaret Riley, who has run The Riley Guide, a site providing free career and employment information, since 1994, notes the four telltale signs that you may be dealing with a disreputable career-marketing firm:

* It claims to have access to the hidden job market.
* It offers only one package of services and charges only one price.
* It needs your decision -- and your payment -- right now.
* The career-marketing company contacted you after finding your resume online."

Laurie's Comments:

I feel I would be remiss if I did not pass along this caveat regarding career marketing firms. If anyone promises you that they have special access to "the hidden job market" and to "hiring decision-makers" that will allow you to bypass normal executive search and employment interviewing processes, do not do business with them. It is well known that any legitimate executive recruiter will be paid by the company, not the candidate.

A very satisfied executive client of mine recently passed along this web address to me, saying that it had saved him a great deal of potential grief and money:
http://www.execcareer.com

Unfortunately this site no longer exists, as Margaret Riley notes on her site, because it "has been taken down under threat of multi-million dollar lawsuits from the same executive career firms who are constantly cited by job seekers as fraudulent and/or unethical."

However, there still remain some sites that can provide valuable information to aid executives in evaluating solicitations from career marketing firms. Ms. Riley provides a good list of resources:

http://www.rileyguide.com/scams.html

I have sadly encountered many executive candidates over the years who felt they had been ripped off by an unscrupulous firm. Fees paid ranged from $5,000 or $6,000 to $40,000 or more.

I remember especially vividly an executive who contacted me several years ago who sounded as if he were about to break down in tears. This clearly broken man had paid $25,000 to a firm that created a one-page, cookie cutter resume filled with boilerplate, and blasted it indiscriminately to companies nationwide. In 6 months he had received a total of 3 replies, of which 2 were nothing more than automated responses and 1 was for a position far below his salary level and totally unsuited to his qualifications.
After a bit of hand holding and major reality checking, I worked with him to put together an executive resume that did him justice and restored his shattered confidence. I then helped him to select and implement a targeted and cost effective search campaign that resulted in a great position, in the near-term, at reasonable cost.

There are certainly reputable firms out there that provide value and do not lure in executives by appealing to vanity ("You must be specially selected to work with our firm") or offering inflated and impossible-to-fulfill promises. However, the truth is that no one ever lands a new position without putting some personal effort into it. Success requires your personal involvement in development of your executive resume and the identification and use of savvy SELF-marketing strategies. A reputable executive resume service or career coach can help you in these areas.

The basic message here is: If it sounds too easy - "Just give us your credit card number and we will do all of the work and leverage our 'exclusive' contacts in the hidden job market to get you a job" - run, do not walk away.

Annual Sources of Hire Survey

Where Corporations Find & Hire Their Employees

"CareerXroads’ (CXR) fourth annual "Sources of Hire" whitepaper attempts to open a window on how some of America’s most competitive corporations fill their positions."

Laurie's Comments:

Want to know where to invest your time and energy in your employment search? This annual survey reveals interesting statistics regarding where companies actually find candidates who are hired. Notice that we are not referring to the locations from which the bulk of the resumes received originate, but rather to how contact was initially made with those who ultimately landed a position with the company.

Important findings of the 2004 study include:

- 38% of all open positions were filled by Internal Transfers and Promotion.

- 61% of all External Hires originated from just two ‘Channels’- Employee Referrals & the Internet. (31.7% Employee Referrals; 29.6% Internet)

- Traditional forms of recruiting are under pressure from the Internet and expanding use of referral networks.

- 3 online job boards (Monster.com, CareerBuilder and HotJobs) accounted for 22.8% of all hires attributed to the Internet, 53.3% were from the company's website, and 16.9% were from niche sites.

These data confirm that networking remains a key component of successful employment search. This fact is corroborated specifically for the executive candidate by an ExecuNet survey of 952 executives conducted at approximately the same time as the above survey. ExecuNet's survey found that "networking is the largest single source of their interviews, with 31 percent of interviews in their job searches attributed to networking."

The data in CareerXRoads' study also confirm that the Internet's role as an employment resource is growing. Clearly, posting your executive resume online and monitoring job postings (particularly corporate websites) are valuable tools in your employment search arsenal.

Note, however, from the ExecuNet survey mentioned above, that "twenty percent of their interviews came from responding to Internet job postings, although only 9 percent of their jobs came from Internet postings." (This bears further analysis.) Note also that for the executive, niche boards and membership sites such as ExecuNet seem to account for a larger proportion of good leads than do the mega job boards.

I will be watching for 2005 study statistics as soon as they are available and will keep my readers informed on emerging trends. Meanwhile, work that network aggressively, post your executive resume judiciously, and mine those job boards and corporate sites!

Executive Employment Market Trends - 2005

ExecuNet's 2005 Executive Job Market Intelligence Report

"Our 13th annual intelligence report captures the latest trends and developments in the senior level job market, and in the practices of candidate search. It gives you the detailed intelligence executives need to make informed career decisions."

Laurie's Comments:

If you are an executive considering making a career move in the near future, you'll find some interesting intelligence in this report. (There is a good chance that you are. A recent ExecuNet survey revealed that of 505 currently employed executives surveyed, an astounding 77% plan to change jobs in the next 6 months!)

Among the numerous statistics and trends covered in the report are:

1) Healthcare and pharmaceutical/medical/biotech are expected to see growing demand for executives, even stronger than the healthy (no pun intended) demand maintained throughout the recession.

2) Financial services, business services, and high-tech are also expected to see growing demand.

3) Medium-sized companies ($51M to $200M in sales) are expected to see the greatest growth in hiring.

4) Business development and sales/marketing positions are expected to lead the way.

5) Frequent job and company changes have become the norm for today's executive: Executives surveyed indicated that they on average change jobs every 2.8 years, companies every 3.6 years, and industries every 5 years.

The information cited above represents the tip of the iceberg of information to be gleaned from this report. You can download an executive summary of the report at no cost via the link at the top of this post. A full copy of the report is available to those who join ExecuNet's CareerSmart network. I have consistently received good feedback from my executive resume writing clients who joined this network.