CharlotteRecruiting

Non traditional Staffing firm opens in Charlotte!

Gretchen Rost, Stacy Keefer and Bonnie Ceran  3 of Charlotte long time Staffing experts open a unique firm for Charlotte!! Non Traditional candidates now have a non traditional firm to help in their job seeking in the Carolinas!

Mom Corps is a premier staffing solution. Corporations come to Mom Corps for direct access to top-tier, experienced professional talent not available through traditional employment channels. Experienced professionals look to Mom Corps for tools and information to evaluate their career choices as they seek non traditional employment. Through our staffing services, online job board, annual conference, and career resources, Mom Corps connects the 35,000+ highly-qualified candidates in our database with hundreds of the nation's most prestigious employers.

http://www.linkedin.com/in/gretchenrost

Bank of America video host

Bank of America introduces Video host!

An Electronic recruiter using Web 2.0

The electronic Recruiter is never late for the candidate phone screen but she may that recorded voice you have in the phone tree in toll free lines.

The video auto plays the first time you log into the career site.

http://www.linkedin.com/in/tommyanthony

 

College Students: Don't Lie on Your Resume

The story is not new, but it seems to appear in the papers every now and then with a headline that goes looks like this "Student lied on resume, faces punishment from the University." I recently came across an article in the Daily Illini (the student paper for the University of Illinois) of a student who was essentially kicked off campus for misstating information on his resume. The student was allowed back to the University after going through some bureaucracy and he issued an apology letter to the school. In the letter, he stated he

"provided false and misleading information regarding my GPA and major in my Symplicity** profile."

The risk of being removed from your campus or having a future employer take back a job offer because of false information is not something you want to deal with. It is a serious offense in the business world and it will likely follow you throughout your career. In a time where information is spread rapidly and by various means, it should not be a surprise if people find out your lies or dig up your dirt later on. Be honest with your personal information. If you do not think your resume can land you that dream job, then compensate your weak areas by preparing for interviews, researching the company so you know how your strengths can mesh with the company, and getting involved in the experiences that will make your GPA of secondary concern.

**Symplicity is the database that students use to submit resumes and search employer information

The Dreaded "Weakness" Question in Job Interviews

"What's your biggest weakness?" It's one of those questions that never feels like it ends well. I always feel like I either sounded too weak or too vain. Even if you answer it well, I cannot see too many people bragging that they "really nailed the weakness question." I bet if a "Get Out of One Question" existed, this question would be skipped quite a bit. However, in a recent blog on The Career Encouragement Blog, some good advice was given on how to handle this question. The best pointer given, in my opinion, was the following:

"Progressive. Demonstrate that you already have a plan in place to manage your weakness as it relates to the job. "

A few minutes extra of preparation for this one question could make a big difference in the outcome of the interview. It's one thing to know what your weakness is, but being able to apply it to the job you are interviewing for makes a recruiter realize you know where you would be vulnerable in that job. If it is something that could easily be solved by having a mentor or some extra training, then it might ease any uncertainty about hiring you. It's better to get it in the open before the fact than after it.

"On-boarding": Starting Your New Executive Job

Smooth transitions. Great authors, reporters, and some athletes all know how to do them. Authors use them to make stories flow in a coherent manner, reporters must switch between stories, and athletes must adapt to new teams when they are traded or initially signed.  One other type of person that needs to be good at transitioning into a new setting is the new employee.

Here is where the concept of "on-boarding" comes into play. "On-boarding" is the first few months at your new job. Some people describe it as the first 90 days and others give it a longer time frame, such as the first year. In reality, the length is dependent on how long it takes for you to become fully integrated into your new job setting. Executive career coach, Michael Simon gives some tips for how to make a smooth transition into your job, specifically an executive level job. He summarizes it nicely with this quote.

"A new position gives you a golden opportunity to shine. Observe what’s going on around you, assess the situation, adjust your objectives, determine your needs and draft a plan to meet them … before taking any actions."

It is hard to change someone's mind once he or she has made an initial judgment about you. That is the reason why the first few days on the job are crucial to your future success. Take some time to prepare yourself before the first day and evaluate your actions once you actually start. It may help even keep a small journal detailing your observations during those first weeks. Be agile in your new environment, but maintain consistency and honesty otherwise your credibility is ruined.

Sleeping During the Workday

I grew up convinced that one of the quickest ways to get fired or reprimanded by a manager was to fall asleep on the job. I think part of it had to do with the angry teachers that my friends and I had to deal with during all of middle school and high school whenever one of us fell asleep during class. Now that I have joined the workforce, I realize that staying awake during the day is just as hard now as it was in high school. There are just some days that seem to crawl by. I've been tempted to spend part of my lunch break in my car taking a quick nap. A recent article in Newsweek brought this issue to light. It was surprising to see that 37% of Americans nap during the day. I guess they counted my roommate's response a couple of thousand times because that number seems awfully high. Sara Mednick said this about what an ideal nap looks like:
The ideal nap length fits well within a lunch break. Mednick recommends 20 minutes to boost alertness and motor performance. Getting between 30 minutes and an hour of sleep will put a napper into slow-wave sleep, leaving them groggy, she says.

One Way to Keep Talent

Today the investment bank, Lehman Brothers, announced a unique plan designed to keep its employees from leaving the firm amidst the current credit crisis that has plagued financial companies over the past year.

Lehman will be issuing 20% of the amount of stock that employees received in 2007 as a mid-year bonus of sorts. The shares will be issued at market price as of July 1 and will have a shorter vesting period which means employees can sell the shares in 3 years and not the usual five. Not only will this hopefully convince its 26,000 employees to stick around, but it boosts confidence in a company that has seen extremely negative press lately. Time will tell if this was a good move or not. I think CEO Dick Fuld has the right idea.

Following Your Gut When Job Searching

At one point or another, I'm sure we have all found ourselves chasing something for the wrong reason. Whatever it was, after a while we usually wise up and realize our mistake. There is a reason the phrase "follow your gut" exists. For some, this situation revolves around searching for a new job.

"As I traveled through the murky waters of internships in various occupational fields, nothing felt right in my gut. And my head was getting in the way of everything. Variables such as pay scale, employee benefits, and job location were throwing me for a loop. But when I came upon the spot at CollegeRecruiter.com, I immediately "knew" that it was the right fit."

Getting caught up in the various aspects of a job can create confusion and lead to either a poor decision being made or no decision being made at all. The acronym K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid) comes to mind right now. The simplest way to make a decision: follow your gut, it knows what you want.

High Gas Prices Spell Three-Day Weekends and Telecommuting For Some Employees

Ever wanted to go to work in your pajamas? Well, don't be too jealous, but some employees are being allowed to do just that. QuintCareers explores some of the options employers are investigating to help their employees combat the prices at the pump.

"The Telework Coalition estimates that about one in five workers now telecommute at least some days of the work week -- about 26 million workers."

Telecommuting and shorter work weeks may be just a temporary fix to the rising costs that are putting a crunch on the economy, but the prospects of always having a 3-day weekend sounds like something I could get used to.

Is It The Shoes or The Suit?

Preparation for an interview can be rough enough even if you're not a fashionista.  Business Dress Codes are diverse, ranging from business casual to, well, is anyone but lawyers and bankers wearing suits anymore?

One tip to remember is to ask what you are supposed to wear.  Recruiters usually prefer their candidates wear suits to an interview, even if the office is dressed down, because we know that a candidate in a suit is on their best behavior.

If you're not wearing a suit, you ought to consider at least springing for the nice shoes.  Our dress code for recruiting used to be, if you're not in a suit, at least wear "shiny shoes."  Shiny shoes was our code word for dress shoes with a solid sole.

I've thought about it for years, and finally realized it wasn't the clothes that made the difference, it was the shoes.  It is my contention that the kind of shoes we wear has a direct effect on the manner in which we compose ourselves in an interview, or in business in general.

Try this experiment:

Put on a suit, and instead of the wingtips, wear sneakers.

Now try on a pair of slacks and a polo short, but wear hard-soled shoes with a shine.

How does each make you feel.  Wearing the polo shirt and dress shoes, don't  you just feel like you're at work, or at least dressed up?  The suit and sneakers may make you look silly, so take off the shoes and go barefoot.  Aren't you missing something?

The difference is more obvious like this, but the truth is a good pair of shoes, laced up and shiny, puts you in a "business" frame of mind, while a pair of loafers, slip-ons, or,  really anything else encourages you to act casual.  I don't know the rules for women - but for a man, the right pair of shoes makes a difference in the way we carry ourselves.