<![CDATA[Employment Guide Blog Spot]]> http://blog.employmentguide.com The latest employment guide news through out the country. en-us Mon, 03 Nov 2008 15:26:37 EST Mon, 03 Nov 2008 15:26:37 EST <![CDATA[Portland Employment Guide November 3rd - November 10th]]> The Employment Guide in Portland.

]]> Mon, 03 Nov 2008 12:20:00 EST <![CDATA[Get Ready to Vote Orlando]]> Early voting in Orlandophoto by Digital Papercuts
The time has come. Election day is about 4 days away and things are heating up here in Central Florida. Not only is November 4th the most important day in recent history for the Federal Government, but it is also a big day for Local Officials as we will be selecting a new Orange County Clerk of the Court, Sheriff, Property Appraiser and more. Job seekers and Orlando citizens have a voice in how our future will look and this is your chance to be heard.

Early voting will continue through today and tomorrow (Saturday) and the polls will be ready for the masses on Tuesday morning.
Here is a list of places to get your early vote on!
Orlando Public Library (Downtown)
101 E. Central Blvd.
Orlando, FL 32801

Alafaya Branch Library
12000 East Colonial Drive
Orlando, FL 32826

North Orange Branch Library
1211 E. Semoran Blvd.
Apopka, FL 32703

South Creek Branch Library
1702 Deerfield Blvd.
Orlando, FL 32837

Southeast Branch Library
5575 S. Semoran Blvd.
Orlando, FL 32822 C

Southwest Branch Library
7255 Della Drive
Orlando, FL 32819

Washington Park Branch Library
5151 Raleigh Street, Suite A
Orlando, FL 32811

West Oaks Branch Library
1821 E. Silver Star Road
Ocoee, FL 34761 East of Clarke Road

Winter Park Library
460 East New England Ave.
Winter Park, FL 32789

Supervisor of Elections Office
119 W. Kaley Street
Orlando, FL 32806

This election is bringing out people in record numbers, but that also means spending a few extra minutes in line. I have tapped into Twitter to hear what some people in Orlando are saying about their early voting adventures:


@rubymaverick

@loganlenz


@hyku


@tedmurphy


@EricSchechter


@liberatr


@jdowdle


Orlando, sign-off below and let us know about your voting adventures and how you think this election will change our community.

-Greg Rollett]]> Fri, 31 Oct 2008 10:04:00 EDT <![CDATA[Employment Guide October Job Fair]]>

]]> Thu, 30 Oct 2008 18:15:00 EDT <![CDATA[Portland October Job Fair Photos]]> ]]> Thu, 30 Oct 2008 14:10:00 EDT <![CDATA[5 Tips for Recruiting in a Recession]]> Recruiting in a recession can be difficult. We understand that and empathize with all of our customers whose budgets have been cut. There still remains a problem. If you stop advertising your open positions, the longer they'll be open. So we've come up with a few options that will help you recruit during a time when your budgets are tight, save you a little company cash and not to mention a headache for you.

1. Getting Most Value Out of Current Advertising.
Oddly enough the first place to start is to look at what you're currently doing. Writing a good job description and being clear about what the job offers and what you expect will help immensely as well. Learning how to recruit candidates in tough economic times will also help you overcome objections from great candidates that maybe seem less interested. If you're currently utilizing EmploymentGuide.com or any one of our products you can call one of our advertising consultants on how to optimize what you currently are using. We have job posting templates and can assist in wording and information that will help you attract the candidates that you are looking for. You can also check out ERE for the latest tips on advertising and recruiting to help you as well.

2. Job Fairs.
Try a community college career fair or participate in an Employment Guide Career Fair. This is a great way to piggyback off of the host's advertising and attract hundreds (and sometimes thousands) of candidates all at once. Not only that but you can pre-qualify candidates right at the event. We've experienced several times where a company hires a job seeker on the spot at our job fairs.

3. Diversity and Niche Publications.
For example: The Veterans Transition Guide. This is a quarterly publication that we send out to ex-military personnel who are finished with their duty and want to move into civilian life. This publication has a shelf life of about 4 months and can help fulfill your diversity requirements. We've gotten some great feedback on the quality of candidates - after all our troops are trained to a high standard and it's also a great way to give back to the soldiers who serve our country. Not only that but advertising starts as low as about $150 a month. It includes print and online advertising too. Not too bad.

4. Advertising Showcases or Packages.
For example: right now in the Carolinas we're doing a healthcare showcase. We do these occasionally to get a group of industry specific jobs in one place and attract qualified candidates for that industry. Because there is such a draw for recruiters we're able to lower your cost and bundle products together. This particular showcase is going to go on for 5 weeks and feature your company. We'll utilize not only The Employment Guide Print publication but also EmploymentGuide.com and HealthCareerWeb.com as well. You can take advantage of a showcase like this one, bundle products together and save yourself some money in the budget. Right now our Healthcare Showcase can help attract medical professionals for you at up to a 70% discount.

5. Get Online & Network.
Surprisingly enough just your company's presence online can help you recruit. Utlize social media outlets like Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter to recruit and get people interested in what you're hiring for. There are also industry sites like HealthCareerWeb.com where you can post community events or connect with candidates through the profiles or forums. Jim Stroud's "The Recruiter's Lounge" has some great tips for sourcing resumes online.





Any other low-cost or free tips on how you can better your recruitment during a tough economic situation? Got a question about what you've read or want more information? Leave it in the comments or email us at scjobs@employmentguide.com




- Rosie Reilman, original photo by unk's dump truck
]]> Thu, 30 Oct 2008 10:14:00 EDT <![CDATA[Portland Employment Guide Featured On KGW]]> KGW channel 8 in Portland, you might have notice the piece on the Employment Guide. If you missed it here it is. Joe Smith and channel 8 were out at the job fair yesterday doing a story on job fairs and the unemployment rate. KGW was nice enough to even provide a newslink to our website.



The job fair was a success with great attendance from both job seekers and employers. Thanks for all those who attended and especially a big thanks to KGW on a job well done. Portland let us know if saw the piece and tell us what you thought.]]> Wed, 29 Oct 2008 13:11:00 EDT <![CDATA[Portland Job Fair Video]]>



Portland let us know what you thought of the job fair and if you have any pictures or video, please share them in the comments below.]]> Wed, 29 Oct 2008 12:18:00 EDT <![CDATA[What do High School Seniors and Job Seekers Have in Common?]]> Colleges Searching Social Networks for Enrollmentphoto by Jonathan Pobre

The answer may be surprising. Or it may not. Social Networking is at an all time high and leading the pack are high school students are teenagers across the country. Popular sites like Myspace and Facebook allow anyone on their networks to post text, videos and photos to their pages, walls and on their friends pages. This has resulted in some less than spectacular backlash for these students when looking into colleges.

According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, 10% of college admissions reps are looking at social networking profiles when making an enrollment decision. Of those colleges making use of the online information, 38% said that what they saw "negatively affected" their views of the applicant.

Job seekers have recently been in the same boat. Local media have named the trend "digital dirt," however I think it goes beyond the bad.

Everyone is quick to point fingers and join the blame game when incriminating evidence is found online. The fact of the matter is that for something to make it online, it had to be put there by a person. If you are controlling what is put online, you have nothing to worry about.

The great thing is that there are many things that you can begin to do today to create a positive personal brand today to make it easier to get a job tomorrow.
  • Smart Social Networking - Use these networks to meet people at organizations that you cannot contact normally. Cultivate relationships with these people through asking questions, complimenting their work and engaging in their conversations.
  • Blogging - Become a thought leader for a niche that you specialize in. If you are a painter, load up photos and tell stories of some great houses, layout or fences that you have worked on. Upload how-to videos or tips to more effective painting.
  • Media in your resume - Robert Scoble recently noted that out of 200 applicants for a job with a tech company that only one had a link to their site included within their resume. If you need to get a point across, link to it!

Whether you are a student or a job seeker, companies and universities are looking you up. What are they going to find? The answer is what you put there.

-Greg Rollett]]> Tue, 28 Oct 2008 14:09:00 EDT <![CDATA[September 2008 Sees Improved Job Count For Pittsburgh Region]]> Although the data was taken just prior to the burgeoning financial crises, the Pittsburgh Metro in September saw an increase of over 7,000 jobs from September of 2007. How the job picture will look over the next two months in our area is anybody’s guess, but multiple points of interest have been expressed by area economists. Articles in the Post Gazette and the Tribune-Review show different levels of optimism. We at the Employment Guide saw a relatively strong September but experienced a softening in October compared to a year ago. Remember, we are solely dependent on the placement of help-wanted ads or help-wanted Internet text postings. Our prediction, based on our direct business experience, is that we will see a moderate drop on total jobs in the Pittsburgh Metro when the October numbers are released in another month. As noted in all of the area economist quotes, our strength in healthcare will be the main mitigating factor of how many jobs are lost. Retail is one area being negatively affected in Pittsburgh, although with the opening of Nordstrom and LL Bean the amount of weakness will be diminished at least in the near term.]]> Tue, 28 Oct 2008 13:08:00 EDT <![CDATA[Portland Employment Guide October 27th - November 3rd]]> The Employment Guide in Portland.

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