The state of the economy is taking its toll of everyone in the workforce. With layoff rumors, corporate downsizing, acquisitions and, well, good old gas prices - it may not be the best time to leave your current job and find a new position.

However, some companies are growing and when the financial mess comes back around full circle, some will be in an even better position to see your talents and skill sets. So Tampa, what are some reasons that you may make you consider jumping ship?

• Lack of involvement - You come to work everyday, do your job and head home. Your bosses offer you no escape or even an opportunity to make your job more effective or to help grow the company. If your ideas are being shot down, and they happen to be good ideas, it may be time to take your ideas to a company who listens more effectively.
• You and your boss do not get along - It's hard making the trek to work, only to dread speaking to your boss everyday. It adds extra stress and pressure that generates less productivity.
• It's a long drive - Is your commute becoming a problem? With gas over the $4 mark, are you filling up too often and not getting a great return? Looking for work closer to your home may be a great option, or even an employer who entices employees with gas savings and incentives, or even reimbursement!
• No meaning in your work - Some people do not mind coasting through their work and wait patiently for the weekend. Others like to know that the work they are doing has a positive impact on "something" or "someone." If you need meaning in your work and are tired of pushing buttons and mouse clicks for no conceivable reason, a career change may be in order.
• Workplace culture - This is personal preference, but if you are not a suit and tie guy/gal, there are firms that have opened up the dress code. Don't like mandatory 12 - 1 lunches or strict 8-5 workdays. There are companies that offer flex hours, great benefits and other incentives to keep you happy and productive at work. If you don't like the culture, know that with a little research, you can find a local company that can help you in your lifestyle.

What else Tampa? What are some reasons for you to pack up your cubicle and move on? What can your employer do to keep you on the job? Employers, what are you doing to ensure that you keep the best people in their desks and moving up in the company?

Please join the conversation in the comments or send an email to greg.rollett@employmentguide.com.

For those looking to make a change, there is a Driver Job Fair in Winter Haven on August 2nd from 10am - 2pm. For everyone else, Orlando is having a job fair on July 29th and the Tampa / St. Pete area's next event will be September 24th. For those that can't wait, try searching for opportunities on the EmploymentGuide.com.

Since the launch of HealthCareerWeb a few months back, I have been digging and searching to find the gap that exists between Social Media and health care recruiting. In my quest I ran across Phil Bauman, a Social Media advocate who is also a Registered Nurse. This is 1 piece of a 3-part discussion we had about Social Media and the Healthcare industry. The other 2 parts can be found at the Orlando JobSpot and the Employment Guide Spot Blog.

In this session we are looking at ways that the Health Care industry has embraced open communication via Social Media and some hindrances that are stopping Health Care HR professionals from using these tools.

Being a registered nurse, Phil Bauman has the opportunity to offer hands on information as to what is available to him on his job. (Disclaimer: Phil works at just one health care company and may not necessarily have the access to tools that others do.) We are looking at on the job tools and not personal profiles on Social Networking sites. His thoughts on the technology available on the job as well as tips that can be implemented on the job are as follows;

• Most online tools that I have seen seem to be based on the employment and recruiting models of the 20th century. I think we need to move away from the resume-interview-cog model to a personal/professional branding model. A well-crafted and interesting blog can improve a person's awareness of their own skills and provide a deeper understanding of a candidate's background.
• Likewise, a hospital blog that allows its employees to blog is a great way to show prospective candidates "Hey, this hospital is WAY ahead of the game. I should check them out."
• Word of mouth is the marketing (and recruiting) of the future. It always was the best way to go, but in light of the Long Tail advanced by online social media, it's important that facilities intelligently investigate, invest and maintain the right kinds of social media. Again, a LinkedIn version for healthcare could make sense.
• Hospitals could even use social media for their staffing, their staff scheduling and job promotion.

I can attest to the recruiting end that Social Media is starting to make an impact on the way professionals are brought into organizations. With the rise in job boards and the ease of use in mass applying, HR professionals need to find ways to better position themselves apart from their competitors as well as passive job seekers. Using Social Media as a tool to filter through candidates, proactively search through great employees and showcase their institute is only the beginning.

Like Phil said, blogging can lead to an increase in brand awareness and recognition. This goes a lot further than recruiting great talent. If your great talent can increase the visibility of your company through blogging and Social Media you can increase business and your ROI starts to increase. Both are win-wins in today’s economic state.

So, why aren’t HR professional in the Health Care industry using these tools such as blogging, video, Social Networking and the like? Phil goes on to state:

• There are nurses who use social media. But in my experience, many nurses are unaware of the tools out there. Perhaps because Main Stream Media paints a caricature of blogs and social media. Also nurses get so busy with providing healthcare and don't sit at desks with internet access at work all day that it's easy for the world to pass them by. Facilities should encourage, not discourage social media.
• HR professionals in health care might also feel that healh care professionals aren't online. A solution would be for HR professionals to develop educational materials to their employees and prospective employees. A web page devoted to Social Media Education could go a long way for adoption. The process has to be active, not passive.
• HR professionals need to understand the value to empolyees, patients and the facility itself in using social media. Education is the key.

The second point is a strong one. If there are no other health care professionals networking online then essentially you will have no one to talk with. That’s the theory at least. Well, it’s a good thing theories are meant to be tested and changed.

Why not be the first to market? Why not be the innovative leader? Putting yourself and these organizations out to the web will start a conversation, whether you know it or not. People will find you via the network, word-of-mouth or through search engines. Web 2.0 is all about conversations. Allowing your peers, clients and other professionals to converse with you is a great thing to have.

On HealthCareerWeb we have made this an easy option for health care companies to say YES to. When you have an account with HCW, you have the ability to connect with other professionals, job seekers and industry players as well as post events and forums. The tools have been built, now we need you to join the conversation!

So, where is your institution? Are they talking online or still trying to figure this Social Media thing out? Please leave your comments, answers and questions in the comments. If you have other needs or questions, please send an email to greg.rollett@employmentguide.com and we can set you up with a consultation on Social Media and HealthCareerWeb.

The other 2 articles in the series can be found here:

Orlando JobSpot

Employment Guide Spot Blog

-Greg Rollett

Disconnection. The feeling of not being in the know. Not sitting at the "cool" table at lunch and knowing what the "big shots" know.

These are problems that those looking for jobs often feel. There is a shallow feeling that you do not know what is going on behind closed doors.

HealthCareerWeb has opened that communication up. It is the attempt to connect a person to a posting and life into an empty position. With Social Networking, you get an open, 2-way communication stream. You are free to poke around. You are free to message and ask questions.

The best part, is that the people on Social Networks want to connect with you. They are on these sites to find like-minded individuals who share the same profession, passions, interests and friends/associates. Being a part of this community puts you in the know. It gives you a front row seat to watch the lunch tables, hear their thoughts and comment back.

Phil Bauman, a Registered Nurse enthralled with Social Media defines the term as:

"an ever-evolving interactive connection among people"

With HealthCareerWeb, the tools have been built for you to suceed and get involved in the inside of the job seeking process. Talk to other employees at the local hospital. Ask questions to recruiters. Look at pictures and events. All these things lead us back to improving the quality of our careers and occupation.

So, if you are a healthcare professional, take 5-10 minutes out of your day and create a profile. Browse the site for other like minded health care professionals in the greater Tampa area. See what the hospitals are saying. Liten to what other job seekers are saying. Take advantage of what is already built for you.

Happy hunting Tampa and have a great weekend!

-Greg Rollett

With the ease of submitting your resume through email and filling out applications electronically, it has become even easier for Tampa area employers to just hit the ignore button. Listening to readers, I am seeing that more and more job seekers are getting no reply, rather than a "no."

I caught an article from an HR rep who also writes for Brazen Careerist who stated 3 things that applicants do to warrant a "no response" or "no job." Rachel Robbins list is as follows.

1. Don’t Have the Basic Qualifications - If you know I’m looking for someone with a clean driving record don’t bother to apply if your license is currently suspended. If you know I’m requiring knowledge of a specific skill, system, etc. you’re probably not going to get the job if you don’t have it.
2. Being too Aggressive before the Interview - I’ve discussed this before on my blog. A perfect example from just this week: Candidate calls to return my call. I’m unavailable so he leaves a voice mail. Candidate continues to call twice more in the next hour. At this point I was purposely not taking his calls. PS. I love my receptionist.
3. Want too much money - If you’re applying for an entry level job don’t expect to make +$35,000. If you’ve been applying for a while and you’re certain that your interviewing skills and resume are great then salary is what is keeping you unemployed. Remember, at some point less money is better than no money.

I think these are great things to consider when applying for a position. You do not need to waste any time when paychecks are not coming in, and recruiters could spend more time looking at qualified candidates (which could be you) and less time weeding through "bad applicants."

Other things to note are:

Non specific objective. Simply stating, I want to use my experience to work for an organization," simply won't cut it anymore. Get into the job and let the recruiter know that you would be a great fit for them and why in 1-2 sentences.

General cover letter. If you are going to take the time to send it, at least make it worthwhile for a recruiter to read it. With the amount of cover letters they see everyday, all with the same body, you need to grab their attention and say how you can help "them."

So keep applying, but apply smart. And now you have a little knowledge into what the other end of the application sees and thinks, and knowing is half the battle!

Happy hunting Tampa!

-Greg Rollett

With the heat of the summer in Tampa and West Florida, comes graduation season. Thousands of college students are walking the aisle, getting their diplomas and heading into the workforce.

Top organizations know that marketing to Generation-Y, the Millennials, is important and necessary to acquire and retain top talent from this group. Gen-Y is patient. Gen-Y moves back home and waits for the perfect opportunity.

As an employer, how can you show these individuals that you are the perfect fit for them?

You need to be where the action is! Millennials are looking for jobs in the usual places, Employment Guide newspapers and on job boards, both large and specific to a niche and they are also doing research on Social Networks and corporate websites.

What are you doing to stand out from the pack? Is a bland print ad going to get the attention of a 20-something who is accustomed to watching YouTube videos, chatting on IM and reading blogs?

Is your HR department prepared to deal with the demands of better work-life balance, 401(k) demands and other benefits?

Are you ready to sell your company to Gen-Y, or are you still insistent on having them sell themselves to you? If you are nodding to the second, you may be behind the game. Your recruitment campaign needs to sell this generation more than ever. Does your campaign make someone want to get off the computer, off the couch and into your office?

If you are looking for help, the Employment Guide has solutions for you. We are tapping into the Gen-Y market and placing premium recruiting videos on YouTube, Myspace TV, Google and Yahoo to get your message where your recruits are hanging out. We pass your job posting along to partner sites and community leaders that are talking to Gen-Y and have their attention.

In the economy today, can you afford to have your competition get the candidates that are going to out pace and outsell you from the market? Start reaching them today.

For more information on reaching Gen-Y through Social Media and Employment Recruiting, please contact Greg, at greg.rollett@employmentguide.com to find a solution that will work for you and your organization.

The Tampa Employment Guide's Summer Job Fair is here! Join us at Raymond James Stadium from 10-3 and meet with employers that are looking to talk to and hire individuals just like you!

Job Fair Checklist:

• Updated, proofread and professional resumes (20 copies)
• Application information (References, past employment, education, etc)
• Business attire (It's going to be hot out, wear comfy shoes for walking)
• Organizer (keep your papers and applications in order, shows organizational skills and motivation)
• Smile and firm hand shake (First impressions are lasting)
• Pens
• Research on companies (know who is hiring and if you would be a fit before and to maximize time and effectiveness)

Tampa, we'll see you tomorrow!

-Greg Rollett

As the weather turns warmer in West Central Florida, so does the job hunt campaign for high school and college students who are looking for part-time work this summer. This increase in the job seeking population increases the competition for all job seekers, though this demographic generally finds themselves working in the retail and hospitality industry.

The motives for teens and their summer jobs is different than the general job seeking community. Teenagers and students are looking for entertainment and spending cash to supplement their days off. Some are looking to save for the upcoming college semester, and some are just looking for a way to pass the time.

In a recent CNN report, entitled 'Teens Face Tough Economic Summer,' Jim Taylor, vice chairman of the Harrison Group says,

"Go out and get a real, grown-up set of shoes. Get rid of the rings -- nose rings and other stuff. March up and down the mall with a really good resume. Walk into every story -- every store -- and say, 'I'm looking for summer work.' And you'll get a job."

The earlier teens start looking, the better, he added, because "if you wait too long, the jobs will be gone."

This is great advice for teens looking to break into the workforce this summer. With the slowing of the economy, retailers and other employers are looking for the best of the best to create additional sales and not just someone that folds clothes. Persistence will be the key along with a great outlook and attitude.

For non-student job seekers, the time is now to lock down a new position before the market once again becomes over-crowded.

Lucky for you, while the students are in school next week, you have a great opportunity to meet with some great employers at the Tampa Employment Guide's Summer Job Fair at Raymond James Stadium, Wednesday, May 7th.

For students who cannot attend, send in your resume to greg.rollett@employmentguide.com and we will add it to our 'Resume CD' that goes out to all the employers that are participating in the event.

Good luck to all the students and teens looking for employment this summer and be sure to sign-up for Job Alerts (can be found on the right side of this page) to get e-mail notifications of great new job opportunities that become available in your industry!

Happy hunting Tampa!

-Greg Rollett

The Tampa Employment Guide is fiercely working around the clock to find the best hiring managers and open positions in West Florida. And to celebrate, we are showcasing them at the Summer Job Fair on Wednesday, May 7th at the home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

*Send your resume to greg.rollett@employmentguide.com to pre-register or if you cannot attend*

They say the economy is slowing, but by the looks of the companies attending, its business as usual!

Showcasing employers for this career fair include:
ABC Fine Wine and Spirits
Aflac
Amazinflates
Argosy University
Asset Acceptance
Avon
Brink's Home Security
Brink's, Inc
CBS Radio
Creditor's Interchange
DeVry University
EcoQuest International
Gulf Coast College
Keiser University - Tampa Campus
Lee County Sheriff's Office
Macy's Credit and Customer Service
Mental Health Care
Metro PCS
Norwegian Cruise Lines
NovaPro
OR and L Facility Services
Plastipak Packaging
Quest, Inc.
RaceTrac Petroleum
Seminole HardRock Hotel and Casino
United States Army Recruiting
USAA
Verizon Wireless
Volt Workforce Solutions
Walgreens
Waste Management

Tampa Job Fair Tips and Strategies:
1. Research the companies - They are listed above. Look for their open positions on EmploymentGuide.com and even perform a Google search to see what it's like to work there.
2. Polish your resume and print multiple copies. - Make sure your friends and/or family proofreads it. Print at least 10 copies, you don't want to run out when you finally find a great opportunity!
3. Dress for success. - No shorts, tank tops or flip flops. Look like a professional and get treated like one. It may be hot out, so prepare with some good attire and comfortable shoes.
4. Be able to fill out a complete application. You want to be sure that you hand them in at the job fair and not get lost in the shuffle a week later.
5. Practice your handshake and opening approach. Your first impression needs to be great and create a lasting impression on the hiring employer.
6. Have fun. Your demeanor tells an employer a lot. Keep your spirits high as you never know what opportunity will knock around the corner.

Check out a clip from the local news about job opportunities in the Tampa area with the Employment Guide's own Jeff Derenthal:




We will continue to update the company list as they confirm. Happy hunting Tampa and we'll see you on the 7th!

I am not a gamer, but you can’t help but hear the footsteps of the gaming community as they prepare for the release of Grand Theft Auto IV. Pre-orders have been made, stores are staffed and prepared for the rush and living rooms and schedules have been cleared for hours of endless video game havoc.

With the economy slumping and un-employment hitting over 5% for the first time in a while, retail is sure feeling rocky right now. If there is no money to spend, there is no need to have staff standing around taking up clock space.

Retail Loves Hype

To get people into their stores, retailers and advertisers are trying their best to create hype around a product or product line. This gets the people in the stores. What happens when the customers get there is where the chain will either come out on top or sell a few gimmicks and repeat the process with similar results.

Retail Needs Great ( re: not just good) Employees

When these customers do decide to spend their hard earned money in your store you need to be prepared to give them a pleasurable and memorable experience. This happens with your sales team, check out process and other employees. For a product like GTA IV, consumers have choices in where they purchase the game. Give them a bad experience and they can walk on over to the next shop. Treat them to an amazing experience and they will be back for an extra controller, memory cards, the new system or the next “it” game.

Employees of these retail chains are usually replaceable. Managers, owners and franchisers need to treat the little guy like they are an important part of the team and not just a folder / greeter. This will allow them to care about their work and take care of your customers.

Turning Customer Experience into Repeat Business

A full house in your store means more opportunity for employment. Keeps your employees happy, they keep the customers happy and your business grows along with it.

When job seeking for companies in the retail area, look for companies that have happy employees and a great work environment vs. the one that has the “cooler” clothes or products. You will enjoy your work and more opportunities will present themselves with a business that is growing vs. one that is trendy!

*For a complete list of retail jobs in the Tampa, Clearwater and St Petersburg area, be sure to browse through the Employment Guide or visit us at our Tampa Summer Job Fair, May 7^th at Raymond James Stadium!*

And if you are going to be spending the next few days inside playing GTA IV, remember to get to work on time and get some sunshine. Its summer in Florida, remember?

Greg Rollett

1. For the writing and grammar skills it takes to write fresh content
2. To help with communication – through other bloggers and readers of your site
3. For research – You love your topic / industry so much that you research and write about it
4. To show your passion for an industry – You can always tell when what you are writing is passionate or a bunch of words on a page
5. For experience – Show off pictures of you on a job site, video of your latest presentation or on the job experience
6. To network with others in your industry
7. To build trust within your industry
8. To earn a few bucks before the new paycheck kicks in (Adsense)
   
9. To find opportunities that aren’t listed on job boards – like business opportunities, partnerships and start-up companies
10. To stay in the loop – the world is moving fast, blogging helps you keep up.
11. To create a schedule – blogging regularly shows employers your dedication to deadlines and how you manage your time
12. To showcase what you are good at – remember a blog is more than just words, its thoughts, videos, pictures, podcasts, reactions, links, controversy and more
13. Show your creative side – your blog is yours, so is your template, your thoughts and your posts. Be creative and showcase yourself outside of your resume!
14. For recognition – Let the deals come to you once you have branded yourself as a leader in a given industry.
15. Because it’s fun. Blogging creates a conversation based around a topic that interests you. When that happens, its fun, because you are passionate about the subject and love talking about it.
16. It’s the cool thing to do – over 100 million blogs and growing (sung in the Flinstones Vitamins voice)

Add your reasons for blogging while looking for a job in the comments. I look forward to coming up with an impressive list and publishing it as a downloadable file for everyone to print and tact up when you are starting out your blogging experience.

Happy hunting Tampa!

Greg Rollett