Everyone’s taxes are done, right? Well then, it’s time to blog! This morning I found a link with a very short video from the SHRM Staffing Management Conference this week on the importance of driving candidate traffic to your web site.  If you think candidates may not have the greatest experience on your site, create a leading edge career site - for FREE!

Another story for the SMA Conference this week, is Gen Y really stating "newspapers are for losers"?

Check out our re-designed Credit Union Jobs site, and join the Credit Union LinkedIn group if you haven’t had a chance.
 

Happy Friday.  I found the following free webinar for building effective referral programs.  The program is being put on by Kennedy Information, and is sponsored by LinkedIn.  The best part – it is FREE!

From the Kennedy site:

• What are the common denominators of the best employee referral programs?


• Learn referral tools for your business like how people get referred to hiring managers or recruiters, how to forward a job posting to your networks, and how employees can add a link from their LinkedIn profile that says “We’re hiring.”


• How to plan referral programs and who should be in charge


• Recognition and motivation tips for effective employee referral programs


• How to train in house employees on up to date referral programs


• See how LinkedIn allows people to refer their connections for positions.

Here is another post on low cost or no cost employee referral program tips that also provides several great ideas within the recognition component of a referral program.

Enjoy the weekend!

I came across a great tool for researching jobs per capita in the U.S.  It’s interactive, so you can take a closer look at a specific area.

It also lists the 50 most populous areas which are ranked by the number of current job postings per capita.  For a sneak peak, here are the top 10:

1. San Jose, CA


2. Washington, DC


3. Hartford, CT


4. Milwaukee, WI


5. Boston, MA


6. Phoenix, AZ


7. Austin, TX


8. Richmond, VA


9. Denver, CO


10. Baltimore, MD

Enjoy!

It’s been another busy week, from hiring projections to layoffs, the news of a recession and a weakened economy continues.  Bloomberg recently ran a story showing U.S. employers cut the highest number of workers since 2003 bringing the unemployment to 5.1%.

If you have ever considered – or have implemented a pay-per-click campaign for your jobs, here are some things to consider.

And great news for progressive organizations using Facebook communities for branding or recruiting – instant messaging is on the way.

Diversity, inclusion, and your workforce impact your success and business.  The press about the workforce, aging demographics, and talent shortages is everywhere.  Consider the following:

• Gen X and Gen Y make up the core demographic of social networking sites [i.e. Facebook and MySpace].  Generating an estimated 90 million viewers every month, between business, industry, professional, and internet groups.
• According to the bureau of labor statistics the United States will face an overall labor shortage, continuing for decades.  In 2 years, the shortage of skilled workers is expected to hit 10 million.  By 2030, the estimated shortage is projected to hit 35 million.
• By 2015:  Hispanics will make up an estimated 15.9% of the labor force, up from 13.7% in 2006.  African Americans will make up 12% of the labor force, up from 11.4% in 2006.  Asians will make up 5.1% of the labor force, up from 4.4% in 2006. 
• By 2012 people of color will make up 35% of the workforce, and by 2015 students of color will make up 47% of college enrollment.
• An estimated 3.3 million white collar jobs and $136 billion in wages will shift from the United States to low-cost countries by 2015.
• People with disabilities aggregate income tops $1 trillion; they are the largest minority population in the United States that spans all other minority groups.

Integrating an overall workforce and diversity plan - as well as aligning it to your business strategy is critical.  While "planning" alone is not enough, questions you should integrate include:

• How will we successfully compete for our unfair share of future talent?
• What is our value proposition?
• Are we prepared and equipped to attract, hire, develop, and retain the talent needed to meet our business and member objectives?
• What sets us apart?
• What are the implications for our business?

Remember the buzz years ago about "the war for talent"? The best days are in the past as competition for critical talent will only intensify.  Are you prepared?

That’s right! In celebration of our blog launch, we’re giving away 5 Free Job postings on our Credit Union job site, and Monster.com! 

It’s simple, here is the fine print:

• The first 5 blog readers to e-mail us through our contact us form win
• Submissions only accepted from Credit Union employers
• Winners will be highlighted on our blog
• Winners will be sent instructions on submitting their job posting
• One winner per Credit Union only
• No purchase necessary, void where prohibited

That’s it - easy, simple, and FREE.

Happy Friday - Cheers!