Knowledge Center
Gaps in Your Resume? Be Upfront About It!
This article appeared in The Boston Globe. Elaine Varelas is Chairman of the Board for Career Partners International and Managing Partner of Keystone Partners
Q. If a resume should be brief, how can I present myself to a prospective employer as someone who is employable? I have previous employers who have merged with out-of-state companies, or gone out of business. They cannot be contacted for references, so what do I put on my resume?
A. Resumes have evolved to help job seekers tell their stories as those stories have become more complicated.… Read More >
Volunteering - A Rewarding Way to Network
Sherry Knight is President of Dimension Eleven/Career Partners International - Regina, Saskatchewan
Do you volunteer? Sure you do - at home by helping out the family, the neighbours, etc. But do you volunteer in a business sense? There are many worthwhile organizations deserving of your time: Chilli for Children, The United Way, The Food Bank, The Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce, and many others.
It doesn't really matter where you volunteer, unless of course, you might be interested in moving to a new job, getting a job, or connecting with people to ga… Read More >
Keep seeking work during the holidays
By Barbara A.F. Greene, founder and CEO of Greene and Associates Inc., a Career Partners International Firm
Often, job seekers slow their search efforts during the holiday season. They assume that this time of year will not be productive because employers will be busy with end-of-the-year business activities or taking time off for the holidays.
However, this is not the time to take a holiday f… Read More >
As Leaders Retire, Who Will Step Forward?
The vanguard of the baby boom turned 60 in 2007, generating speculation about how such retirements will affect the U.S. economy. For corporate America, however, the most significant impact may be internal. As baby boomers vacate jobs in middle management and the executive suite, they will leave a leadership vacuum younger workers aren't ready to fill.
According to the Aging U.S. Workforce Survey, released by Ernst & Young in 2007, 68 percent of Fortune 1000 companies consider "maintaining intellectual capital" to be their greatest organizational risk, and 62 percent said… Read More >
Do Weird Questions in Job Interviews Really Bear Fruit?
If I were a fruit, I would be a banana; nice thick skin on the outside, but peel into me and there is a softer side. Or maybe I would be a grape, I work great in groups; or a lemon, tart and feisty.
Come to think of it, that question is pretty easy. But maybe not if it came during a job interview. You think I am kidding? Human resource guru Mark McNulty says you should think again.
As he sat at Starbucks last week, he says, he couldn't help but overhear a young man being interviewed for a job. Question: If you were a fruit, what kind would yo… Read More >
Five That Revive
Spring-cleaning isn't just for the house. Careers can use a good scrubbing down every now and then. They can be refreshed, spruced up and put back in order. It's not that you want to change careers. Or even find a new job. You like the job. You like the company. You're just burned out and need a little revitalization. But how?
"If you're not feeling fulfilled where you are, if you feel like you need to re-energize yourself, take time to reassess," says Elizabeth Stahl, with E.J. Stahl and Associates, an Indianapolis business-consulting firm that focuse… Read More >
Helping Hires Fit In Can Curb Job-Hopping
Finding the right person for a job requires a hefty investment of time and money. But once the new hire is on the clock, it's no time for an employer to relax. About one-third of companies reported losing up to 25 percent of new hires within the first 12 months, according to a survey released in 2007 by Novations Group, a global consulting firm.
Another study of 840,000 workers in multinational companies conducted in 2007 by Kenexa, a talent-management company, noticed a marked drop in satisfaction the longer an employee is on the job. Early on, nearly three-quarters of hire… Read More >
How Many Remaining Employees Will Jump Ship Following a RIF?
Career Partners International – Winston Salem / Williams, Roberts, Young, Inc.
The bad financial results in your organization have been indicating the need for downsizing for quite a while, and now you’ve gone ahead and done it. All of the weeks and months of planning and agonizing over executing a Reduction In Force (RIF) are over. You’ve taken a deep breath and started to relax only to learn that a number of very key employees and not so key employees have just handed in their resignations. Their reasons? “IR… Read More >
Open Communication Can Avoid Ugly Firings
The whispers spread like wildfire through an office. Once word gets out someone is about to lose a job, it seems as if everyone knows it. Except, perhaps, the employee who is moments away from being terminated.
That's a major misstep in firing protocol, say human-resources professionals and consultants. It's never an enviable or enjoyable task to hand out a pink slip, but for managers the task of firing is often just as important as hiring. When handled properly, both the employer and terminated employee should be able to walk away and continue with their professional lives.… Read More >
Revisit Your Corporate Retirement Strategy – NOW!
Have the bad economy and the associated belt-tightening, layoffs, and furloughs totally distracted you from the impending crisis you were thinking about a couple of years ago? How will your company fare if and when the economy recovers and an avalanche of baby boomer retirements occurs? Do you have any idea whether you can really count on them staying longer because of the damage done to retirement portfolios?
In Ernst & Young’s 2007 poll of the Fortune 1000, HR executives acknowledged the lack of preparedness for the “brain drain.” They als… Read More >