Friday, December 16, 2011

How networking helped my business (video)

5 minutes. Yes, just five minutes.

Good overview with practical examples of networking tips!



How many of these do you use?

What will you use next?



Thanks to Jason Jacobson for sharing this video

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Report: Boston’s job outlook 5th best in nation

 
 

Sent to you by Steve Sherlock via Google Reader:

 
 


Boston's employment outlook for the first quarter of 2012 has been ranked the fifth best in the country, according to a new report from staffing company Manpower. Between January and March, 17 percent of the employers interviewed in the Boston-area plan to hire more employees, while 6 percent said they will reduce head count, according to Manpower's Q1 Outlook. About 68 percent of firms said they will maintain current workforce levels and 9 percent were not sure about their hiring plans. Overall, per Manpower's report, Boston's employment outlook for Q1 is stronger than Massachusetts as whole...

 
 

Things you can do from here:

 
 

Job-seekers ratio remains above 4-to-1 for 34th straight month

 
 

Sent to you by Steve Sherlock via Google Reader:

 
 

via Economic Policy Institute - Feed by Heidi Shierholz on 12/13/11

Today's Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the number of job openings decreased by 110,000 in October to 3.3 million. The total number of unemployed workers in October was 13.9 million (unemployment is from the Current Population Survey). Therefore the ratio of unemployed workers to job openings was 4.3-to-1 in October, a deterioration from the revised September ratio of 4.1-to-1.

To put this figure in context, it's useful to note that the highest this ratio ever got in the early 2000s downturn was 2.8-to-1, and in December 2000, the month the JOLTS survey began, the ratio was 1.1-to-1. While the job-seekers ratio has been generally slowly improving since its peak of 6.9-to-1 in the summer of 2009, today's data release marks two years and 10 months—147 weeks—that the ratio has been above 4-to-1. A job-seekers ratio of more than 4-to-1 means that for more than three out of four unemployed workers, there simply are no jobs. In October, there were 10.6 million more unemployed workers than job openings. Furthermore, the lack of job openings relative to unemployed workers is in no way limited to particular industries such as construction—unemployed workers dramatically outnumber job openings across the board, in every major industry.

The fact that we have had a job-seekers ratio above 4-to-1 for 147 weeks underscores the crucial need for extended unemployment insurance benefits, which last a maximum of 99 weeks. There are 5.7 million people in this country who have been unemployed for more than half a year, up from 1.2 million in 2007. Of course, the reason for this is not that these millions of workers have become lazy, unskilled, or unproductive; it is that there are not enough jobs available. This is no time to cut the number of weeks of benefits, as the House of Representatives appears ready to do. With the Congressional Budget Office projecting an unemployment rate of 8.5 percent at the end of next year, continuing federally funded unemployment insurance benefit extensions through 2012 would extend a lifeline to the families of millions of long-term unemployed workers, and generate spending that would support well over half a million jobs.

—with research assistance from Nicholas Finio


 
 

Things you can do from here:

 
 

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Old dogs and new tricks



The teaser video:



Two teachers partnered with 4th through 8th grade students to learn new technology. Learning and collaboration followed.

There might be something here to apply to the job search. How can you use technology to collaborate and find your next real great opportunity?

The full video:




Additional presentation on the use of social media tools in the classroom can be found on the K12 Online website. There are lots of good ideas being put to use that you can re-use for your job search and personal development!



Monday, December 5, 2011

Feds: Boston ranked No. 2 in job growth in October

Sent to you by Steve Sherlock via Google Reader:


Boston's jobs numbers grew by 1.9 percent, year over year, by the end of this October - more than any other major U.S. metropolitan area save Houston, according to a report released Monday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Total nonfarm payroll in Boston, Cambridge and Quincy, Mass., was up 47,000, or 1.9 percent, from one year ago, as of the end of October, according to the BLS. The report surveyed 12 major metros, finding only two – Philadelphia and Atlanta – where jobs had actually dropped as of Oct...

Things you can do from here:

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Hopkinton Networking Group: Fri, Dec 2 - Lydia Magill

Hello Everyone,

The agenda for this Friday's Hopkinton Networkers Group (HNG) meeting will be featured by our speaker, Lydia Magill. The facilitator for this week will be Ralph Sabatino. We will devote the first hour, from 10 to 11 AM to the following agenda: Welcome, Landings, Announcements, New Member Intros, and Needs & Leads. Please arrive early, so we can make every effort to start on time. In the second hour, starting at 11AM, Lydiawill speak about "The Motivational Ups and Downs of Career Searching” and have dialog and answer our questions.

Motivational Ups and Downs of Career Searching...and How to Regain Your Balance
Lydia Magill brings nearly 3 decades of wisdom and expertise to her career in Recruiting and Talent Acquisition, as well as the experience of speaking to over 500 career centered groups on a variety of buisness and career transition subjects. An adept Human Resources practitioner, Lydia enjoys working with adults in career transition and exploration, and has deep regard for individuals dealing with the uncharted course of a career search.

LydiaB. Magill
Talent Acquisition and Management
lbmhr@hotmail.com
617-515-1125
http://www.linkedin.com/in/lydiamagill214


Schedule for HNG Meetings:

December 16, 2011: Charlie Anderson - "Your Job Search from an HR Perspective"
*** HAPPY NEW YEAR ****
January 06, 2012: *
January 20, 2012: Clare Harlow "People Reading with DiSC"


General Information:
The networking group meets in Hopkinton, at St. John the Evangelist Church parish hall. The meeting occurs, from 10 to 12 noon, and will meet the first and third Friday of the month. The parish hall has a capacity for 250 people and there are plenty of parking spaces in the parking lot and on the street. Around the perimeter of the parish hall are rooms to allow us to have focused network groups or for any other purpose we need. We chose the first and third Friday to allow everyone to attend the Acton Networking Group or any other networking group, if they wanted, on the Friday we do not meet.

We will maintain our close affiliation with Acton Networkers by using the same list-server to share information between the groups. Any e-mails specific to the Hopkinton Networking Group (HNG) will be indicated in the subject line either by "Hopkinton Networking Group" or "HNG"; this way anyone attending these meetings will know the e-mail is intended for them.

We will follow the following Agenda items:
· Welcome
· Landings (with doughnuts)
· Announcements
· New member introductions
· Needs and Leads
· Speaker(s), Workshop, or Focus Group
· Cleanup

For those new members who give their introductions, this is what we would like to know:
· Name
· Skills and Value Statement
· Where have you been?
· Where are you going?
· Your title
· Your target companies
· Geography of search
· Name and e-mail address

If anyone wants to join our team, please let one of us know; we could always use the extra help and input for ideas.

Directions: St. John the Evangelist, 20 Church Street , Hopkinton , MA 01748

Take Rt. 495 North/South and get off Exit 21A. Go through three traffic lights. Colella's Supermarket is on the right at the third traffic light. The first street after the third traffic light is Church Street , take a right turn. The church is on the right. Go around to the left of the parking lot and go into the side entrance of the parish hall.

Depending upon where you live, perhaps you may want to use Mapquest for a more direct route.