Counter-Offers Are a Sucker’s Play

By Kris Dunn · 03.15.2013

Retention is important for organizations.

Paying substantially more for the talent that’s currently sitting in your office is a total sucker’s play. Don’t confuse the two.

Let’s break this down a little bit. You found that diamond in the rough. You hired them, nurtured them and grew them to the point where they’re relevant in your industry, their profession, etc. Or maybe you just bought them from someone else at a price you considered at the time to be fair, right?

Either way, after a couple of years with you, they have more value on the open market. That means people are going to ping them and see if they can strip them away to another company. At which point many managers and companies start freaking out, even in reaction to the potential of a slightly above-average talent leaving the company to go to work for a competitor.

It all comes down to replacement cost. Can you find another cog to fill the gap with? If you can, you don’t freak out and you don’t counter with a raise that gets into the 20% range to save the referenced employee with another offer in hand.

In the Talent game, there are really two types of employees that warrant a counter-offer when they’ve told you they’re getting ready to accept an offer from another company:

Great Creators = the people who create what you sell, and I mean truly create. In a lot of companies, those are software developers. Good creators in any type of company that produces products and services are worth ten of their peers.

True Rainmakers = not salespeople in general, but people who have the ability to bring in business in a way that an average salesperson can’t. Generally, these people have networks that have been formulated in a way that’s different from the average sales pro. Normal sales pros bitch about the quality of the leads. True Rainmakers never seem to give a flip about the leads marketing is producing. Hmm.

Not everyone who creates or sells for a living is special. In fact, most are average. BUT – when you find a top tier creator or rainmaker, they are different. They can drive results for your company in ways that others can’t.

That’s why they’re the only people you should counter when they appear to be seriously considering another job. Everyone else’s replacement cost is too low to freak out about.  Accounting, Marketing, HR, Operations, Customer Service – you only save people in these areas if they qualify somehow as a creator or a rainmaker. Few will qualify.

Four final thoughts about retention and counter-offers:

1. You should pay people aggressively/fairly and provide career paths so talent can grow and get theirs at your company in at time frame that’s fair. I’m not talking about playing hardball when you pay people at the 17th percentile.

2.  You create a culture over time related to how you handle resignations and counters. If you always go into save mode, there are a lot of people who play games. If it’s crickets when even a solid player brings their notice, you’re going to stop “I’m taking another offer” games.

3.  Your tendency to freak out over average people resigning means you haven’t institutionalized knowledge transfer and operational soundness. The knowledge is in the average person’s head and nowhere else, thus your freakoutedness (that’ a word, I just made it up).

4.  For a great primer on who Creators and Rainmakers are and who is replaceable, look to the New England Patriots. Their creators are Tom Brady and Bill Belichcik, and everyone else (and they mean everyone) is replaceable. The goal should be to have our stuff together as organizations to the point where we can replicate great results with different talent – while protecting the creators/rainmakers.

Retention and counter-offers.  Don’t confuse the two.  Counters are a sucker’s play in most cases. If they’re not, we’ve got to look at our organization to find the answers why.

http://fistfuloftalent.com/2013/03/counter-offers-are-a-suckers-play.html

In a nationwide survey of hiring managers across all industries conducted by Harris Interactive, 23 percent planned to hire full-time, permanent employees in 2012. These survey results are supported by a recent Businessweek article, in which economists predict that 2012 will bring the creation of the most new jobs since 2006, shortly before the economy began to decline. The outlook for the hospitality industry is particularly favorable.

By RACHEL EMMA SILVERMAN

Companies are moving beyond the suggestion box.

In an effort to cut costs and create new products and services, firms are seeking ideas from their own employees on everything from money-saving strategies to product design. To encourage participation, some are holding contests, voting and setting up “ideas kiosks.”

It’s often the employees—rather than outside consultants—who know a company’s products and processes best. According to management experts, many of the most innovative companies tend to solicit ideas from staff throughout the organization, not just the executive ranks.

But it’s often hard for rank and file workers to be heard: Research has found that the average U.S. employee’s ideas, big or small, are implemented only once every six years, says Alan G. Robinson, a professor at the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Now though, more companies are realizing the value of their workers’ input. Spurring the process are so-called innovation-management programs such as BrainBank Inc., InnoCentive Inc. and Spigit Inc., which help companies set up online idea-submissions systems in which employees can enter, comment and vote on ideas.

Accounting and consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers launched an idea-management website called iPlace two years ago as a way to gather employee ideas that could help cut costs, improve customer service and increase revenues, says Mitra Best, the firm’s U.S. innovation leader.

Employees post ideas, sometimes in response to company-wide “ideas challenges,” and vote and comment on their colleagues’ submissions. The firm promises that a team of senior managers will review an idea within 30 days of its submission and notify the employee of its status.

About 60% of the firm’s 32,000 U.S. employees have either submitted, commented or voted on ideas, says Ms. Best. Of the more than 3,300 new ideas submitted—which range from mobile apps for expense reports to changing printer defaults to print double-sided—140 have been implemented.

Ms. Best says the firm doesn’t directly measure cost-savings from the ideas program, but that some suggestions, such as one that changed the way the firm collects employee expense receipts, have saved “hundreds of thousands” of dollars.

IdeasAmerica, an association for “suggestion administrators,” who manage suggestion submissions, surveyed 31 of its 125 members last year. The study found that submitted ideas saved respondents more than $110 million dollars in time, materials, labor or energy, an average of $1,256 per suggestion.

At Bruce Power LP, a nuclear energy company in Ontario, Canada, employees can submit ideas through 10 special-purpose kiosks throughout the plant dedicated to collecting employee ideas.

They look like ATMs, says Chief Executive Duncan Hawthorne. The company implemented the kiosks several years ago so that the plant’s workers, many of whom aren’t deskbound, could have an accessible way to submit proposals.

Employees vote on submissions. “It’s like the American Idol of ideas,” says Mr. Hawthorne.

Ideas submitted have ranged widely from improving efficiency by increasing stocks of tools to creating a dedicated facility for forklift maintenance.

Some 11,000 ideas have been submitted in three years among the firm’s roughly 7,500 employees and contractors, generating “millions” of dollars in cost-savings, says Mr. Hawthorne.

Some companies pay financial rewards for ideas (typically as a percentage of cost savings, which can be tough to measure) but Dr. Robinson says that isn’t usually an effective tactic for drawing submissions on a continuing basis. What drives most people to submit ideas is a real desire to make their work easier and cut through hassles, rather than monetary rewards, he says.

At Troyer Foods Inc., a Goshen, Ind., wholesale food distributor with about 280 employees, workers who submit ideas to an online system launched last spring receive points they can redeem for merchandise and other perks, such as designated parking spaces.

Becky Ball-Miller, Troyer’s CEO, says the company wants submitting ideas to be so ingrained that it becomes “part of the job expectation and part of the performance review.”

Ideas that have been implemented include adding another refrigerator to the break room and designating a section of the parking lot as “cars only” so large pickup trucks don’t block spaces; there have also been cost-saving suggestions encouraging the company to reexamine some pricey vendor contracts.

Great ideas can also come from unexpected places. When insurer Allstate Corp. held an online idea challenge to design a mobile app for its insurance products, one winning idea came from one of the firm’s Buffalo-based trial attorneys.

“I can guarantee you his boss didn’t ask him, ‘got any mobile ideas?’ ” says Matt Manzella, Allstate’s director of technology innovation.

“Who does she think she is?”

I’m sure that ran across your mind as you read my headline.

“We pay good money to agency recruiters! THEY should be asking the question…How to provide a great service to US!”
Believe me, we think about that all the time. Most of us are consumed by that question! We have attended dozens of motivational seminars, logged multiple webinars, and read countless books on how to provide a great value to our clients.

In spite of our earnest endeavors, however, frustration can develop in the Recruiter/Client relationship. Maybe you consider us over-enthusiastic. Or not enough. Maybe you hear from us every day. Then we disappear. Maybe it seems we aren’t acting with urgency. Maybe we ask “Why?” a little more than you’d like. You don’t want to completely sever the relationship with us, because the next candidate we provide could be your next hire! But we are doing things you consider perplexing.

I believe I can help you with that. I recently surveyed Third Party Contingency Recruiters with multiple agencies, in several markets, and across various disciplines…and I captured their thoughts on relationships with clients. It’s a glimpse into the world of the Agency Recruiter. It is my hope that reading a sampling of their answers below could only strengthen the bond between you and those you choose to work with.

It’s no secret that we Recruiters are handling multiple positions with multiple companies in a given time period. And it’s also no secret that some of our clients get the red carpet treatment, while others don’t. So I asked my Survey Group…”What motivates you to give certain clients 110%?” Surprisingly enough, the answer was *not* “the client who pays the best fee.” Instead…

-A client who views, and treats me as a partner, not a vendor or commodity.
-A client who works with me exclusively or as part of a very limited number of recruiting firms.
-A client who takes the time to get to know my background and qualifications.
-A client who listens to me when I say to them: “Just trust me. Even though this resume is not your ideal profile, I believe you need to interview this person.”
-A client who gives me repeat business…of course when I’ve earned it.
-A client with a consistent message…rather than changing their position regularly.
-A client who continues to communicate as they move our candidates through the interview stages, and provides honest feedback.

So I followed up with this question: How does a client fall into disfavor with you?

-When the client sends out mass emails to a dozen different recruiting firms with their needs list. It signals that I’m just a vendor to these companies, and not a partner in talent acquisition.
-When they only want to communicate via email, and never by phone. This doesn’t permit me to ask relevant questions about their projects and get a ready answer.
-When they take a pass on my candidates and will not explain why. I need this information so that I may redirect my search or narrow my focus.
-When they give me “urgent” job orders. Then they take several weeks to schedule interviews with my candidates. I worked extra hours to respond to this “urgent” need. What changed?
-When they give us a job order, interview our candidates, and decide to fill the position internally. We are willing to accept that our candidates may not have been as good as their internal. However, we also suspect we are being used to “comparison shop.” That’s not fair.
-When the client changes the criteria of the job order so many times, it feels like a moving target.

So then I became even bolder, and asked my Survey Group: “What one thing do you want a client to know…but are a little scared to tell them?”

-Don’t ask us for a discount without a reason. If you want a certain amount, or percentage off my going rate, be willing to agree to an exclusive. Or volume orders.
-We are inclined to give priority to clients who use us frequently and take our work seriously.
-If you ask for a dramatically reduced fee arrangement, and if I agree to it, you will not get the best talent in the market from me. The best candidates will be directed to clients who honor the work I do with a fair rate.
-There’s no reason not to return my messages. I am working for free out here, until I find the right candidate for you. The least you can do is return my calls.

I turned the tables on my Survey Group, by asking them to take some responsibility for client relationships that have gone awry. So I posed this question: “What one thing did you do to a client that you regret?

-Didn’t return their calls/messages quickly enough. They found another recruiter who did.
-Didn’t cover the search adequately, and the client found their candidate on their own.
-Didn’t respond with urgency. I thought I had the exclusive and all the time in the world.
-Didn’t replace candidates who had been eliminated from the search with more candidates. I thought I had my superstars the first time.
-Didn’t check in on my client after submitting four candidates. Just thought he/she could take it from there.
-Tried to read the client’s mind. I should have just called or emailed and asked the question.
-Wasn’t sensitive to the hiring authority’s schedule and demands. I kept calling him in the middle of the day when he was busiest and couldn’t concentrate. I should have asked which time of the day worked best, or set up a standing appointment.

People get fired every day. It’s not often when a Recruiter fires their Client, but it does happen! So I asked my Survey Group, “Have you ever fired a client, and why?”

-I caught my client in a mistruth more than once. I couldn’t trust them after that.
-The client was passing on my candidates. I found out a year later that they were called directly and hired outright.
-The client was looking for ways to avoid paying my invoice. Gave me a lot of excuses.
-The client waited a whole year to pay the invoice. We had to call collections.
-The client didn’t disclose to me that they had already known about my candidate. But they watched me go through the process, scheduling interviews, checking references, negotiating the package, without this disclosure. And in the end, I was told I would not be paid for the placement.
-Never making the hire. The client gave us multiple positions to fill. Lots of talking and talking. But no traction. No results.

I acknowledge that I have shone a light on very real and very raw observations and experiences of a sample group of Third Party Contingency Recruiters. And after reading this, you might be tempted to wave the white flag, retreat to the corporate office, and just do this recruiting thing yourself.

That was not the intention. You just got a rare glimpse into the world of the Agency Recruiter. Now you know how we tick, and how your behavior can affect our results. Therefore, I encourage you to continue to use our services, and remind yourself why you originally engaged us in your recruiting efforts. Your reasons will likely match the answers to my Survey Group’s final question: “What value do we provide our clients?”

-We give our clients their jobs back! When they are not screening, scheduling, checking references, networking, and asking for referrals, they are attending to the rest of their responsibilities. Let us do the footwork!
-During the recession, Human Resource Departments were decimated. But Recruiting real talent cannot stop. View us an extension of your HR Division!
-We provide industry (or market) specialization, and a network to go with it! What may take the client months to place…we might be able to accomplish within weeks.
-Empty positions cost a company money and customer loyalty! Rather than settling for someone that you could find in a short time…use a Recruiter to produce a larger selection of qualified and interested candidates.
-If the client is uncomfortable calling desirable employees from their competitors, reach out to me! I’ll do the calling!
-If the client is at the end of his/her rope…and if they’ve looked everywhere for the perfect candidate…
I might be the solution! I might be aware of the person for which you have been combing the earth!

August 9, 2011 | By Ron Ruggless

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U.S. commercial restaurants closed at a faster rate than new openings, creating a two-year pattern of decline, according to the latest restaurant census released Tuesday by The NPD Group.

The Port Washington, N.Y.-based research firm found U.S. restaurant unit counts declined by 2 percent, or 9,450 restaurants, between April 1, 2010, and March 31, 2011, compared with the same time frame a year earlier.
Independent restaurants comprised most of the decline, with 8,650 closures, NPD said. Chain restaurant unit counts remained relatively stable.
“The decline in independent units is the steepest we’ve seen since NPD began conducting the ‘Spring ReCount’ census in 2001,” said Greg Starzynski, NPD’s director of product development-foodservice. The census is conducted each spring and fall.
“A volatile economy, frugal consumers and a lack of financial backing have made it a difficult business environment for independent restaurants,” Starzynski added.

In the most recent ReCount census, NPD found the total number of restaurants fell to 574,050 from 583,500 in the previous-year period.

However, the NPD CREST study, which tracks consumer usage of commercial and non-commercial foodservice outlets, found that for the year ended May 2011, visits to U.S. restaurants held stable compared with the previous year, when visits were down 3 percent.
The CREST study also found consumer spending at restaurants improved by 2 percent for the year ended May 2011, compared with the same period a year ago, when dollars were down by 1 percent.
According to NPD’s ReCount census, the number of quick-service restaurants declined by 1 percent, or 3,495 units. Full-service restaurant units, which include casual-dining, mid-scale and fine-dining restaurants, fell by 2 percent, or 5,965 units, from the Spring 2010 ReCount census.
By comparison, the total number of domestic restaurants fell about 1 percent, or by 5,551 outlets, to 579,102 locations in NPD’s Fall 2010 ReCount.
And in the Spring 2010 ReCount, the number of restaurants fell by 5,204 units, a 1-percent decline from the total number of eateries recorded a year prior, NPD said.

While unit counts were down through March of this year, NPD said restaurant traffic trends were improving.

By Ruchira Agrawal

The times we live in today are very different from just 10 years ago. Job security and staying in the same career for your entire life are almost a thing of the past. Most people will change careers between 5-7 times in their lifetime according to recent studies.

Why would someone want to change or reinvent their career?
1.Losing enthusiasm for the work – After you spend a number of years working in one field, you begin to feel a loss of connection with your work. This sometimes happens with high-achievers
2.Need for personal fulfillment – Your work just doesn’t feed your soul; it doesn’t bring any fulfillment or satisfaction. You may be good at it but it doesn’t align with who you are. This mostly happens around mid-life for people.
3.Personal aspirations aren’t aligned with work anymore – People grow and change and so do their desires, goals and aspirations. Ten years ago, perhaps something else was important and now your needs have changed. Work can then starts to become a barrier rather than providing fulfillment.
4.Circumstances – Perhaps the industry you were involved is stagnating or even dying. Or you have crossed a certain age and jobs are tough to come by. Circumstances such as these may also put somebody in a position where they think about reinventing their career.

Reinventing your career is really about your personal journey of self-discovery. Whatever your reason for wanting to make a change, the desire to do it must come from within. The desire to take charge of your career and life should be there as well.

Here are 6 important steps to bear in mind that will give you a head start:

An open mind – An open mind–like a blank slate with no pre-conceived notion of what you can or cannot do–serves very well as you look for a career that’s new and different. Explore your options by reading about them and talking to people, try to just absorb everything instead of judging things right away. Don’t be afraid of the “New”. This will help you expand your mindset.

What will I be when I grow up – If you had a childhood dream, something that you always wanted to do and couldn’t, this is a time to connect with it.

Passion, abilities, needs and values – Often running our lives on auto-pilot, we forget what our interests are, and this is a great time to remember them. What really grabs your interest? The best way to reinvent your career is to first discover what you really want to do and then excel in it by becoming good at it. Pay attention to everyday things and events however miniscule they may seem–your answer may be hidden there. Do people come to you for advice automatically? Are you good at organizing things neatly and effectively and love working with people? There could be things you are already doing and enjoying, but you may not have paid attention.

Don’t forget to use your intuition – Your intuition is such a versatile tool and it can be easily used in both personal and professional situations. As you are trying to look for answers, let your instincts guide you.

Applying the same discipline as your corporate job – Once you’ve identified what you would like to do, start learning so you can move into it. Don’t be afraid to take courses or get help from experts in the industry. Speak to those who have already blazed the trail before you.

Fear is not your friend – Once you’ve identified your likely choices, then it’s time to take action. This can be frightening and often makes people freeze and stay in one place. You have to identify your fears – failure, the unknown, and so forth, and realize that they are not realistic. It’s true that there is no guarantee for the future but that shouldn’t stop you from taking forward steps.

Change and reinvention should be an exciting prospect as you are looking towards your bright future.

By Dee Adams

If you’ve ever dreamed about starting your own business, you are not alone. There were almost 9 million self-employed workers in 2010, according to statistics compiled by Challenger, Gray, & Christmas. Each year, a percentage of the workforce trades in their 9-5 jobs for the entrepreneurial life, but some workers start a sideline business to supplement their salaries.

Business startup cuts across all socio-economic groups; from managers, executives, and professionals to blue collar workers. Success stories include:
•A Harvard graduate with a degree in mathematics and economics who left management consulting to pursue her passion for desserts. She started a bakery and Café, and began writing cookbooks.
•A Ph.D. in political science from University of Chicago who opened a motorcycle repair shop. He wrote a book about the value of working with one’s hands.
• A web designer and consultant fired from her job because of her personal blogging. She built a lucrative home-based empire with her mommy blog.
•A firefighter who invented better fire safety equipment for the consumer and industrial marketplace, and created a multimillion-dollar venture.

But, for many other would-be entrepreneurs finding the right startup is challenging.

Many issues may cloud the process, and certain questions asked and answered in the pre-planning stage can pinpoint conflicts and problems, and their solutions.

Here are several important questions:

Do you know how many aptitudes you possess?
Aptitudes are inborn natural talents and should not be confused with acquired skills. Each person has an average of six innate skills, some unused and some hidden.

While a percentage of the population may be able to determine their own aptitudes by self-assessment, most people are not aware of their full potential, according to writer Margaret Broadley. Over a 40 year period, Broadley documented the work of the Johnson O’Connor Research Foundation, a nonprofit organization specializing in the scientific research of human abilities.

What are your least favorite skills?
Create a checklist of work tasks that you dislike and have trouble executing.

What feels more comfortable, introverted or extroverted personality traits?
Make a checklist of your actual patterns of behavior in work and social interactions, not what you believe your traits are.

Note: Some people adapt their personalities in order to fit into social or working situations and may have an opposite personality from the traits that they often exhibit.

What is your motivation for choosing self-employment?
Using a single sentence, describe why you want to be your own boss.

What is your history with money?
Your money history includes your family’s relationship with financial issues, the messages you learned as a child, and your pattern of behavior and attitude toward money as an adult, which may be reflected in your current credit history.

Summarize your answer in two or three short sentences.

Socio-economic factors, like the state of the economy, the ability to borrow money, or to easily relocate have an impact on the number of people who pursue entrepreneurship each year, but many aspiring entrepreneurs ignore national economic trends in pursuit of their dreams. Those who succeed keep their risks low, and instinctively review their personal development homework beforehand.

What other issues are standing in your way?

By Michael Neece, Monster Contributing Writer

1. Confusing an Interview with an Interrogation
Most candidates expect to be interrogated. An interrogation occurs when one person asks all the questions and the other gives the answers. An interview is a business conversation in which both people ask and respond to questions. Candidates who expect to be interrogated avoid asking questions, leaving the interviewer in the role of reluctant interrogator.

2. Making a So-Called Weakness Seem Positive
Interviewers frequently ask candidates, “What are your weaknesses?” Conventional interview wisdom dictates that you highlight a weakness like “I’m a perfectionist,” and turn it into a positive. Interviewers are not impressed, because they’ve probably heard the same answer a hundred times. If you are asked this question, highlight a skill that you wish to improve upon and describe what you are doing to enhance your skill in this area. Interviewers don’t care what your weaknesses are. They want to see how you handle the question and what your answer indicates about you.

3. Failing to Ask Questions
Every interview concludes with the interviewer asking if you have any questions. The worst thing to say is that you have no questions. Having no questions prepared indicates you are not interested and not prepared. Interviewers are more impressed by the questions you ask than the selling points you try to make. Before each interview, make a list of five questions you will ask. “I think a good question is, ‘Can you tell me about your career?’” says Kent Kirch, director of global recruiting at Deloitte. “Everybody likes to talk about themselves, so you’re probably pretty safe asking that question.”

4. Researching the Company But Not Yourself
Candidates intellectually prepare by researching the company. Most job seekers do not research themselves by taking inventory of their experience, knowledge and skills. Formulating a list of accomplishments prepares you to immediately respond to any question about your experience. You must be prepared to discuss any part of your background. Creating your talent inventory refreshes your memory and helps you immediately remember experiences you would otherwise have forgotten during the interview.

5. Leaving Your Cellphone On
We may live in a wired, always-available society, but a ringing cellphone is not appropriate for an interview. Turn it off before you enter the company.

6. Waiting for a Call
Time is your enemy after the interview. After you send a thank-you letter to every interviewer, follow up a couple of days later with either a question or additional information. Try to contact the person who can hire you, and assume that everyone you met with has some say in the process. Additional information can be details about your talents, a recent competitor’s press release or industry trends. Your intention is to keep everyone’s memory of you fresh.

by Alexis Grant

The digital revolution may have changed the hiring game, but for most applicants, the resume is not dead.
Candidates can now expect to be Googled and scoped out on social media, but in most cases employers still want a resume to learn about your skills, experience, and career path. A resume also makes it easy for them to make the case for hiring you to colleagues or bosses.
Here are five common misconceptions about resumes and how you should approach them during your job search:
1. It has to fit on one page. We’ve all been told at one time or another to keep our resume to one page, but this old standard no longer holds true. If you have enough experience to highlight on two pages, go for it.
Of course, if you’re new to the workforce, one page should suffice. But now that resumes are often entered into an applicant-tracking system, it’s more important than ever to include keywords that help the system match you to appropriate positions — and you might need more space to do that. This is even more essential to workers in certain technical fields who need to list, for example, fluency in multiple technical languages.
So experienced applicants, if you need the room to show how you’re the best candidate for the position, don’t be afraid of that second page.
2. You need an objective statement. Objective are out, professional summaries are in. As our blogger Alison Green often points out, objectives often don’t help your case, and they have the potential to hurt it. Hiring managers want to know you’re passionate about working for their company, not any company that fits your vague description.
A professional summary, on the contrary, allows whoever’s recruiting you to understand what you have to offer in a quick skim. It’s also an opportunity to present your experience in a way that applies to your goals and the company’s goals. Don’t just summarize what you’ve done; take it a step further and show what you have to offer the company you want to work for.
“Companies who are interviewing you don’t care about your objective, they care about their objective,” says Tony Beshara, a recruiter and author of Unbeatable Resumes. He advises against both an objective and a summary on a resume and says job seekers should dive right into experience.
3. You have to include all of your past experience. A friend who’s looking for a new job after only a few months with her current company asked me recently whether she needs to include the last few months on her resume. Here’s what I told her: You don’t have to include anything on your resume. What you include is up to you.
Everything you write on your resume has to be true, of course, but omitting certain positions that won’t help you get your next job and replacing them with experience that will put you in a better light is not only acceptable, it’s smart. Your resume is your chance to tell your career story, so weave that story in a way that’s beneficial to you.
In this case, the friend would likely have to explain a gap in employment if she left off her most recent job, which might be a good reason to include it. But nothing has to be on your resume.
4. Once you send it in, you’re off the hook until you hear back. With a crowded job market, following up is more important than ever. Even if the company asks you not to follow up with a phone call or email, you have plenty of other options. Research the company on their website, LinkedIn, and Twitter, and look for ways to connect with employees. Figure out where those employees hang out online or in person. Contact them in a non-annoying way, establish what you have in common, and you might earn an “in” with the company.
You can also research the hiring manager specifically. And if the company has a Facebook page or Twitter feed, interact with them there. Your goal is to come across as interested and enthusiastic, but not desperate. Failing to follow up after submitting your resume is a sure-fire way to let it disappear into a black hole.
5. It has to look interesting to catch a hiring manager’s eye. Yes, you want your resume to be interesting, but more in content than appearance. Aside from the content you choose to include, the next most important aspect of your resume is that it’s easy to read. De-cluttering, or getting rid of experience that’s not relevant or necessary, is one way to do this. Another is to use bold type, bullets, and plenty of white space.
For the average position, your resume is in competition with 110 others, Beshara says. “If it doesn’t hit them in the mouth real fast by having what you’ve done and who you’ve done it for [front and center], it gets passed over,” he says. “They move onto the next one.”

By Liz Goodwin | The Lookout – 3 hrs ago

A study by the National Employment Law Project finds that middle-wage jobs–those that pay between $13 and $20 an hour–have been the biggest casualty of the recession. This year’s job market has 8.4 percent fewer jobs in that pay range than existed prior to the onset of the crash in 2008.

This is leading to an “hourglass economy,” the researchers write, with disproportionate numbers of Americans finding themselves at the top or bottom of the wage scale.

Most of the job growth since the recession has been in low-wage jobs, which shot up 3.2 percent in 2010, even as real wages for those workers have declined. The researchers say “retail salespersons, office clerks, cashiers, food preparation workers and stock clerks” have seen the fastest growth in available positions.

The economy has seen a 4 percent drop in higher wage jobs (those paying between $20 and $53 an hour) and a .3 percent decline in low-wage jobs since early 2008. But those wage sectors have still sustained a better recovery than mid-wage jobs have.

The lag actually pre-dates the ’08 collapse, researchers say, with mid-wage occupations such as machinists and pre-school teachers growing at a markedly slower pace than higher-wage and lower-wage jobs did. “Growing wage inequality in the United States is a phenomenon that’s three decades in the making, and which the recession