While layoffs were at a half-century low last year, suddenly, the demand for the specific skill set of “layoff specialists” is surging in some arenas. Honestly - I'm well aware of outplacement professionals, but layoff specialists? These hyper-focused professionals are experts in the local laws, can help a company define its specific layoff list, and craft communication plans to make things go as [...]
You see them every year: The Best Places to Work 2022! You scroll through the list, daydreaming about working at one of these Best Places. But for one reason or another, it’s not realistic to land a job there. The next best thing? Look for a place to work that’s LIKE those best places to work. And the best way to do that? [...]
The questions you ask a potential job seeker may seem designed to ferret out truths. But in reality, they’re designed to test job applicants on their preparedness and poise. Consider the prompt “Tell me about a time you failed in your job, and how you handled it.” While on the surface, this prompt gets at a candidate’s capabilities when it comes to “thinking [...]
A year ago, we were seeing older workers flee from the workforce. Today, it’s the opposite. Pretty sure this phenomenon was tagged "The Great Return". Inflation and a struggling stock market have driven some retirees back to the workforce. According to a recent survey by Joblist, 27% of retirees returned to the workforce because they needed the money. Another 21% feared that inflation [...]
Ask the average Millennial, and they’ll say they hope to retire by 56. The average Baby Boomer hopes to retire around 60. What time does the average person actually retire? Currently, that number is 63. One of the main reasons for this discrepancy is that most people don’t know how much money they’ll actually need to retire. The current rates of inflation certainly [...]
Just because it’s a candidate’s market doesn’t mean you’re having an easy time finding a job. It can be easy to wonder or feel inferior when you’re hearing how desperate companies are for talent, yet not finding a good fit. To make an energetic shift in your search, start with your resume. How are you telling your story? Is it explicit and obvious [...]
Want to grow a garden? Press print and just add water. That’s the latest concept from a team of designers in Jerusalem. To Grow a Building, presented at Jerusalem Design Week, uses a custom 3D-printing robot that prints dirt walls with seeded soil. In six weeks, with just a bit of water, those walls will have grown a root system, lush greens and [...]
It takes 5 job rejections for a job seeker to start losing confidence. But most job seekers apply for an average of 15 jobs and receive 6 to 10 rejections. Yikes! That means most job seekers start to get discouraged, at least according to the data from Joblist, a recruiting platform. The survey further showed that one in ten job seekers feel their [...]
With virtual interviews now common, the ground rules need to be staked out. One question on the minds of a lot of my clients at Norstrem Associates: Should I record job interviews? While it might make sense to take advantage of the technology Zoom and other video-conferencing platforms offer, which tend to make recording any conversation easy, think twice. When you record a [...]
As a recruiter, my expertise is in hiring. But the flip side of that is also in my wheelhouse: when employees leave your company. Over the years, I’ve come to respect the importance of exit interviews as a practice. But for it to be a BEST practice, the way you handle the exit interview makes all the difference in the data you collect [...]