Social Media Now Critical Part of Recruiting

Last month, Jobvite released its Social Recruiting Survey 2011 results, and according to the survey the number of organizations that have hired a candidate through social networking recruiting has increased from 58% in 2010 to 64% and the number planning to hire via social networking has increased to 89% – indicating social networking is now a critical aspect within the recruiting landscape. As reported in the Jobvite Index, 55% of respondents have indicated they will increase their budgets for social recruitment efforts, 30% will increase budgets for referrals, and 16% will put money towards job boards. With a substantial decrease in the number of individuals increasing funds towards job boards, where do you see job boards going in the next couple of years?

The New Front Porch

(Chicago IL– August 31, 2011) Rayanne Thorn, the Marketing Director at Broadbean Technology, will be heading the panel of industry leaders titled: The New Front Porch, at THE RECRUITING CONFERENCE 2011. Rayanne will be joining, Melyssa Bernstein – the Director of Client Strategy at TMP Worldwide, Gail Houston – the Social Media Program Manager for Intuit, and others, November 1st from 11:30 am until 12:30 pm as they discuss the new media, social networking and where it’s taking us.

Trading Places: More Employed Americans Proactively Changing Jobs

RICHMOND, Va. –(BUSINESS WIRE)– With the national unemployment rate holding steady at better than 9 percent, it can be hard to believe anyone is finding a new job.

“One message to workers and employers is that the paycheck isn’t everything”

But, according to a new labor study, there are signs that an increasing number of workers have changed positions proactively and found new opportunities within the last year.

The 5th-annual Labor Happiness Index commissioned by Snagajob – hourly job specialists with the world’s largest community of hourly workers – finds that 22 percent of employed Americans have changed jobs in the last year, up 4 points from 2010.

Venturocket Launches, Announces Death Of the Resume

SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The résumé, an archaic long-time staple of the job-hunting process, was declared obsolete today, along with its counterparts, the cover letter and the classified ad. Venturocket, a new job connection service based out of San Francisco, is launching a simplified system that matches individuals to employers based on their skill sets and levels of expertise. The service does not require a listing or membership fee for job seekers or providers, charging both parties only when an actual connection is made.

Venturocket does away with the résumé and application process entirely, merely requiring job seekers to list their skills, and their proficiencies in those skills. Skills are easily selected from a cloud of common choices, removing the annoyances of similar duplications and picky search filters. Levels of expertise in different skills are converted into “bids,” letting job seekers back up their promises by a slightly higher cost-per-connection, eliminating dishonest résumés and letting employers find the perfect fit. In addition, both job providers and seekers are charged the same nominal fee upon connection, ensuring each party is genuinely interested in the other.

After Three Consecutive Increases, Layoffs Plunge

CHICAGO, August 31, 2011 – United States-based employers announced plans to trim 51,114 workers from the payrolls in August, a 23-percent decline from July, when the number of job cuts hit a 16-month high of 66,414, according to the report released Wednesday by global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.

The August decline follows three consecutive increases in the monthly job-cut total that saw job cuts rise from 36,490 in April to the July peak. The August total, however, was up 47 percent from a year ago, when employers announced just 34,768 job cuts during the month.

Stop the Development Planning Madness

Whatever you call it: career latticing, development planning, career management or career planning, it’s pretty much all madness. The very foundation of the idea doesn’t work in today’s reality.

Think about it: the foundation of all these programs rests on the managers’ shoulders. Managers are responsible for coaching their people, ensuring they have goal-based development plans, helping them identify their next steps, figuring out ways to improve their weaknesses, and giving them ongoing, honest feedback.

Accountemps Survey: Four in 10 CFOs Say Employee Morale Has Improved at Their Firms

MENLO PARK, CA, Aug. 24, 2011 — The still uncertain economy hasn’t kept some workers from smiling a little more at the office. Four in 10 (42 percent) chief financial officers (CFOs) interviewed for an Accountemps survey said employee morale has improved at least somewhat in the last 12 months. Fifty-three percent of respondents said the mood among their teams is unchanged from a year ago.

YourCause Releases Significant Enhancement to CSRconnect Platform

Dallas, TX, August 29, 2011 –(PR.com)– YourCause announces their new dual top and side navigation, which will affect YourCause.com and all corporate communities currently under the CSRconnect platform. The redesign has been a major priority and an important element to establishing an easier, effective and more appealing user experience. With the new enhancement, YourCause users and employees will be able to track their social services seamlessly, e.g. log volunteer hours, find a service opportunity, fundraise for an event, enroll in payroll deduct and more.

Intuit Small Business Employment Index Shows Weak Employment Growth for August

August 29, 2011 05:33 AM Eastern Daylight Time — MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — (EON: Enhanced Online News) — Small businesses created 35,000 new jobs in August, but employees worked fewer hours and received less money.

These are among the results of this month’s update of the Intuit Inc. (Nasdaq:INTU) Small Business Employment Index, covering the period between July 24 and Aug. 23. The monthly report found that small business employment grew by 0.18 percent in August, equating to an annual growth rate of 2.2 percent. Hours worked and compensation decreased by 0.3 percent and 0.08 percent respectively.

HireRight 2011 Benchmarking Report Supports Employer Claims of Difficulties in Finding Qualified Workers

August 29, 2011 10:24 AM Eastern Daylight Time — IRVINE, Calif. — (EON: Enhanced Online News) — HireRight, a leading provider of employment screening solutions, today announced that the often discussed “mismatch” in the employment sector between available jobs and people qualified to fill them is supported by the HireRight 2011 Employment Screening Benchmarking Report. Forty-nine percent of the report’s nearly 1,800 surveyed professionals, from organizations of all sizes, reported that finding and retaining quality talent was one of their top business challenges, virtually matching “cost-cutting” as their top response. Within the field of talent management, attracting and retaining experienced workers was reported as the number one issue.