A recent Bloomberg article cites a number of reasons to expect that the U.S. will add more jobs in 2012 than it has in any of the past six years. The article sites a growth in jobs in the manufacturing sector, an increase over the past six months in engineering and technology jobs, and optimism that more hiring will expand the country’s economy.
Author Archives: psgstaffing
2011: Year in Review
As 2011 winds down and we prepare to welcome 2012, here is a look at how the HR practices at Boston area employers evolved over the past year and what their expectations are for hiring, recruiting and HR expenditures in the year ahead.
The data on Boston employment trends and issues was taken from a quarterly survey of Boston-area employers conducted by my company, Professional Staffing Group. For the past two years we have surveyed our clients each quarter about their plans for staffing and hiring, salary and compensation, concern over retention and recruiting talent and budgets for HR spending.
When we surveyed our clients at this time last year, results revealed the most positive outlook on hiring and compensation since the recession began. At that time,
- Many more employers expected to add staff is 2011. The number of employers planning to add staff spiked in the fourth quarter of 2010. 54 percent of employers said they planned to add staff over the next 12 months.
- Uncertainty about employment was decreasing. In the third quarter of 2010 25 percent of respondents answered “unknown” when asked about headcount levels for the year ahead, but in the fourth quarter only 10 percent answered “unknown” when asked to predict headcount levels in the next 12 months.
- Compensation was increasing. More employers said they had increased compensation for their staff by the end of 2010 and 82 percent said they expected to increase compensation in the year ahead.
- Employers were holding the line on expenditures. The majority of respondents answered that they planned to keep budgets at the same level when it comes to tradeshows/conferences, seminar attendance, travel in general, internal training and development, professional certification, and reimbursement for continuing education.
- The number of respondents who said employee engagement is a significant problem doubled from those who were asked the same question the previous quarter (18% in Q4 vs 9% in Q3)
- Employers were starting to feel the strain when it comes to recruiting: The number of respondents who answered “not a problem” (29%) or “significant problem” (18%) remained essentially the same, but the number who said recruiting top talent is a minor problem jumped to 50% from 37% in the previous quarter.
Three months later, things were still looking good. Respondents to our Q1 2011 survey indicated that:
- Compensation increases were continuing and more employers were giving higher increases
- Employers were positive about hiring, but cautious
- HR budgets largely remained flat
- Although concern over retention hadn’t changed much, employers expressed more concern about recruiting and employee engagement
However, by the mid-point of 2011 many employers and HR managers were putting the brakes on. In our Q2 survey we found that:
- Planned employee headcounts had leveled off
- Compensation increases had also leveled off
- Employers continued to hold the line on expenditures
- Employee training and development was the one budget that employers said they planned to increase
- Recruiting continued to become more of a concern
Three months ago we posted the results from our Q3 survey, which found:
- Staffing level expectations had continued to moderate
- While less robust, hiring expectations were still positive
- Compensation increases slipped slightly
- Spending on HR-related items was expected to level off
It’s clear that 2011 didn’t produce the growth that employers were optimistically seeking back in Q4 2010. However, by most indications the worst we can say about the past year is that employers proceeded cautiously by tempering compensation increases and hiring and holding steady on HR expenditures.
A look at the November report from the state’s Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development is encouraging. According to the report, Massachusetts’ unemployment rate in November fell to its lowest level in nearly three years as employers added jobs for the second consecutive month. Other signs that the state’s hiring levels may be picking up: more employers, both large and small sized, say they plan to hire; online job advertisements have increased; and fewer people are applying for unemployment benefits.
Aaron Green is founder and president of Boston-based Professional Staffing Group and PSG Global Solutions. He is also the chairman of the American Staffing Association’s Board of Directors. He can be reached at Aaron.Green@psgstaffing.com or (617) 250-1000.
Ask A Recruiter: How to Tailor A Resume
Q: I keep hearing that it’s important to tailor your resume to each job you apply for, but I’m not sure I’m doing this correctly. What is your advice?
A: The three components of the resume that are most likely to catch a recruiter’s eye are a skills/qualifications section, the resume’s overall formatting and the bullet points that describe your past job experiences. Each of these components can, and should, be tailored for specific job opportunities.
Here’s how to tailor each one:
Skills/qualification paragraph – This paragraph should appear at the top of your resume (under your name) and is where you highlight your strong skills and qualifications for the job. Instead of using general language in this paragraph to appeal to the common requirements of multiple jobs, think about the qualities and skills that make you uniquely qualified for the position you’re applying for and tailor this paragraph accordingly. Pay specific attention to certain words and action verbs that describe you and what you do.
Resume formatting – Presentation and appearances are important and that’s why a cleanly formatted resume is essential. Recruiters and hiring managers are turned off by margins or type that are too small or the overuse of bold and italic type. Sometimes candidates are pursuing a job that is in a new industry or one in which they don’t have a lot of experience. In that case, it may make more sense to change the format so that you highlight the skills gained, your work ethic, strengths and interests. Each experience that you share will help tell the recruiter and hiring manager more about you and your character so include all full-time, part-time, co-ops, internships, fieldwork or special projects on your resume if they are applicable to the job.
Bullet points to highlight your accomplishments – Instead of using paragraph form, I recommend having 4-5 bullet points for each of your past 3-4 jobs. These bullet points should highlight your responsibilities and accomplishments in each of those roles. I like to use strategic action words in the bullet points rather than describing your work in the past tense. Tailoring the bullet points is a great way to demonstrate how each of your past jobs makes you uniquely qualified for the job you’re applying to now. Use the bullet points to really highlight the parts of your previous employment that will be attractive to the recruiter and hiring manager. This is effective if you held a job that didn’t come with a formal title (like many early-career positions) or if your past job title isn’t a clear match for the position you want now.
About the Recruiter
Jessica Salerno Incerto has 10+ years of experience in the staffing and recruiting industry. As a director and member of the management team at Professional Staffing Group (PSG), she oversees career placement, client consultation and management and training. Jessica is also a member of NEHRA’s Diversity Committee.
Massachusetts Jobless Rate Falls to 7%; Lowest level in almost Three Years
The Massachusetts unemployment rate last month fell to 7%, its lowest rate in nearly three years, as employers added jobs for the second consecutive month, the state Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development reported last Friday.
In Massachusetts, unemployment fell to 7 percent in November, down from 7.3 percent in October and well below the national rate of 8.6 percent. Massachusetts employers added 5,000 jobs in November, while nationally 120,000 jobs were added last month. The largest increase in new jobs in Massachusetts last month was in the leisure and hospitality industries.
Other indicators that the economy is improving, include: more employers say they plan to hire; online job advertisements have increased and fewer people are applying for unemployment benefits.
PSG Awards $2,500 Scholarship to ALPFA Boston Student Member
PSG is proud to sponsor the award of a $2,500 scholarship to Moraima “Mory” Hernandez, an MBA candidate at Northeastern University, through a partnership with ALPFA Boston.
The 2011 Education Excellence Scholarship Award from PSG and ALPFA Boston was presented to Ms. Hernandez at the ALPFA Boston Executive Leadership Summit, held November 17 in Boston.
Ms. Hernandez moved to the U.S. five years ago from Puerto Rico and is pursuing an MBA in non-profit management at Northeastern University. She is a single mother of two children and works full-time as a secretary/bookkeeper.
In her essay for the scholarship application, Ms. Hernandez wrote, “It is very important for me to obtain this increase in my education. I think there’s no boundary to obtain any accomplishment. This scholarship would give me great economic relief to cover my educational expenses, which are part of the real process when you want to increase your educational levels. It would be a way to finish my studies and my goals with a bit of peace. Honestly, it would be a great motivation for someone like me who has come to this country, trying to achieve many goals as learn a new language and complete a Master degree among others.”
She also feels good knowing “there are organizations which support Hispanic people who struggle achieving a better level of education, yet having to go to work and taking care of children. If I get this opportunity I know that it will be unforgettable, not only for the economic support, but also for the fact of being able to achieve my aspirations and serve as an example to my children.”
Congratulations Mory!
ALPFA is the nation’s largest professional organization promoting Latino leadership. ALPFA Boston’s annual membership costs only $20 for undergraduate students, $30 for graduate students and $120 for professionals and provides access to over 20 professional development and networking events per year, as well as other great benefits. For more information about ALPFA Boston, visit www.alpfaboston.org.
Photo courtesy of Zylla DesiGn Photography.
Evaluating the Annual Performance Review
In recent years the annual performance review has undergone a makeover. For instance, now we no longer assume reviews only occur annually and most are no longer delivered “top-down” but incorporate input from multiple sources, including the employee being reviewed. Some companies have experimented with the frequency of performance reviews and some have tried eliminating them altogether. But, in some form or another, performance reviews play a necessary role in company culture.
Performance reviews are an essential part of our workplaces, they just might look different these days. Here’s what’s new:
Performance is reviewed more frequently –whether it’s because a new generation of employees has expectations of instantaneous feedback or whether the work we are doing is more project based and easier to review upon project completion, managers are increasing the frequency of their feedback as this Wall Street Journal article asserts.
Reviews are moving online – paper-based files are indeed a thing of the past, but it’s not just online accessibility and file sharing that companies are taking advantage of. Now, some firms are using social media conventions to highlight performance and share feedback. Social media enables organizations to be more transparent and share goals, expectations and status updates. Social media can also make it easy to recognize and reward good work, e.g. through endorsements, recommendations or ‘badges’ for excellence. In a few years we may be used to a whole new form of online reputation management.
Workers aren’t always visible – as the number of remote workers increases, managers face challenges in communicating, making accurate evaluations and ‘connecting’ with their staff. Reviewing the performance of a telecommuter or remote worker is similar to the review of a traditional office worker, but along with the benefit(s) of working remotely comes additional responsibilities and remote workers should also be evaluated on their ability to participate in group or department meetings and events and their ability to communicate and report on progress.
Self-evaluation – while 360 degree reviews seem to have seen the last of their 15 minutes’ of fame, self-evaluations are in vogue and perhaps here to stay. From having employees take a “first cut” at their evaluation, to implementing a back-and-forth comment-response approach, performance reviews aim to be more interactive.
Probably the only thing that hasn’t changed over the years is the dread that some employees and managers have for them. I’d like to say that the changes we’ve seen have resulted in a more positive experience for everyone involved but getting to that point that appears to be a tough balancing act.
On the one hand, employers use performance reviews to benchmark career advancements and distribute merit rewards. On the other, they use performance reviews to give constructive feedback and motivate performance. Too much of one and not enough of the other can result in miscommunication, misperception and unhappy workers. Another reason performance reviews get a bad rap is because they involve people – and people bring their own biases, personalities and politics to the process.
As employers and HR representatives, there are several steps we can take to aim to improve the performance review process.
First, ensure the frequency of the review fits the circumstances. Not all work is suited to a formal review just once a year. Take a look at the various types of work performed in your organization and shape the review process to that schedule. For instance, it may make more sense to evaluate your product developers after the launch of the latest product release.
It’s also important to avoid surprises at the time of the evaluation. Layering your feedback throughout the review period helps to “set the stage” for a formal discussion and also helps the employee prepare for a more interactive and constructive discussion.
In recent years there’s been talk of doing away with formal performance reviews, but personally I can’t imagine running an effective HR function without them. Performance reviews are necessary contributors to company goal-setting, feedback and coaching and useful for setting performance expectations and establishing parameters for reward. Perhaps the most important step we can take to make them more effective is to explain their role in our organization and how they are linked with other important business metrics.
Please share your thoughts on making performance reviews more effective in the comment section below.
Aaron Green is founder and president of Boston-based Professional Staffing Group and PSG Global Solutions. He is also the chairman of the American Staffing Association. He can be reached at Aaron.Green@psgstaffing.com or (617) 250-1000.
Massachusetts Unemployment Rate Remains Steady; 10K Jobs Added in October
The Massachusetts unemployment rate remains at 7.3 percent and state employers added 10,800 jobs in October, according to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development.
The positive news surprised some local economic experts in light of economic uncertainty around the world and a higher (9 percent) national unemployment figure.
Ask A Recruiter: Handling Phone Interviews
Q: Phone interviews make me nervous. Do you have any advice for handling them?
A: The majority of phone interviews are used as screening sessions before a regular, sit-down interview takes place. The interviewer is trying to eliminate the candidates they don’t want to spend time meeting with. In this situation, your goal is to get through the screening process, i.e. you probably won’t be winning the job based on this interview, although it is important to prepare for it.
In a small number of cases, the “real” interview does occur by phone – for instance if the decision-maker is travelling or working remotely. In this case, much of the preparation is similar to preparing for an in-person interview. My colleague, Greg Menzone, recently blogged about preparing for an interview and I recommend you take a look at his tips for researching the company you’re interviewing with, practicing your responses and answering standard questions.
Although the questions that you are asked by the interviewer are likely to be the same, there are some key differences between phone and in-person interviews. First, consider that the majority of what is communicated in an interview is actually nonverbal (research shows that 55% of communication is visual, 38% is tonality and only 7% is your actual language). It’s also hard to know what’s happening on the other end of the phone. For instance, the interviewer could have their email open or could have you on ‘mute’ while they talk to people coming by their office. This is one of the reasons I don’t recommend doing phone interviews unless they are absolutely necessary.
If you find yourself facing a phone interview here are some tips for making it successful:
- Try to find an isolated environment where you can talk without being disturbed. I highly recommend using a land line and not a cell phone. If you have to use a cell phone, don’t be mobile, stay still so you won’t lose the signal.
- Be professional. Even though no one can see you, you should treat the phone interview the way you would treat a regular, in-person interview that takes place in a busy professional office. Have your resume in front of you and have questions that you’ve prepared on hand so you can refer to them if needed.
- Express excitement with your tone of voice. Since you won’t be able to use body language to convey your excitement about the job opening, do what you can to convey it with your voice. Try to mirror the person you’re speaking with. For example, you don’t want to strike a laid back, casual attitude with your tone if they person you are speaking with is extremely upbeat – it will result in an awkward, mismatched conversation. As a rule of thumb, your tone should be slightly more upbeat than the interviewer’s. Standing up when you’re talking will help your energy flow and smiling during your conversation (even when the other person can’t see you) will help convey a positive spirit.
- Ask about next steps. If your phone interview is a success, the next step is probably an in-person interview. A good way to end the phone conversation is to ask about the next step and to state your willingness to meet in person.
About the Recruiter
Frank Gentile is a 20+ year veteran of the staffing industry and an experienced recruiter. As a Director at Professional Staffing Group (PSG) Frank and his team place candidates in permanent positions in Corporate Accounting and Finance, Financial Services and Administrative roles.
PSG and ALPFA Announce Scholarship Opportunity
PSG is proud to sponsor a 2011 Education Excellence Scholarship Award in conjunction with ALPFA Boston. The award includes a $2,500 scholarship for a student of Hispanic descent who is currently enrolled in a graduate or undergraduate program and is a student member of ALPFA Boston. We encourage qualified students to apply for this scholarship. To read more about it and to download the application cover page, please visit the ALPFA Boston web site.
Employers Plan to Hire More College Grads in 2012
According to a survey by The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), employers plan to hire 9.5 percent more graduates from the Class of 2012 than they hired from the Class of 2011. More than half of employers surveyed said they’re focusing on hiring business, engineering and computer sciences graduates.
The survey also found that:
- Although they plan to hire more graduates this year, many say the openings are related to attrition
- Employers anticipate wrapping up the majority of their recruiting efforts in the fall semester
- Employers plan to monitor hiring needs on a quarterly, or more frequent, basis
Read more here.
Professional Staffing Group 