GSETA

Friday Link Round-Up

2012-01-27T04:35:27-08:00

It's a rainy Friday, the last in January 2012. The video above is an example of how one PA One Stop (CareerLink) is using YouTube to provide an orientation to its services. And here are the rest of your links for the week:

Social Media for One Stop Career Center Front-Line Staff--the newest Brief in a series on social media from the Heldrich Center at Rutgers University. There's also a 10-minute podcast to go with it.

What Can Workforce Development Boards Do for Me?--The Employer Services Director at a Wisconsin WIB is writing a series for a local newspaper to "demystify WIBs." Might be something for NJ WIBs to try.

Microenterprise for People with Disabilities--A microenterprise is a business that employs 5 or fewer people and requires $35,000 or less in start-up costs. This webinar explores why microenterprise is a trend that workforce professionals should leverage and the many different types of microenterprise available to people, with or without disabilities.

How the US Lost Out on iPhone Work--from the NY Times, this piece explores the challenges of creating and maintaining US middle class jobs in a global economy.

Thoughts on Workforce Development--from a CC administrator.

Beyond the Resume

2012-01-25T05:05:51-08:00

According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, some companies are beginning to forego the traditional resume, particularly for positions that require higher skill levels and thinking:

Companies are increasingly relying on social networks such as LinkedIn, video profiles and online quizzes to gauge candidates' suitability for a job. While most still request a résumé as part of the application package, some are bypassing the staid requirement altogether.

A résumé doesn't provide much depth about a candidate, says Christina Cacioppo, an associate at Union Square Ventures who blogs about the hiring process on the company's website and was herself hired after she compiled a profile comprising her personal blog, Twitter feed, LinkedIn profile, and links to social-media sites Delicious and Dopplr, which showed places where she had traveled.

Some other application techniques recruiters are using include:

Requiring candidates to complete an online questionnaire that asks about things like "your ideal job" and "the best job you ever had."

Posting a series of challenges on the company website that job seekers must respond to. This gives the company insight into their thought processes.

Asking candidates to submit videos describing their love of the company's products.

Having candidates complete sample work products for evaluation.

While some companies are using these technique in conjunction with asking for a resume, a number are getting rid of the resume requirement altogether as they feel it doesn't give sufficient information about the candidate's skills and knowledge.

In some cases, this can work to the candidate's advantage. One gaming company put 30 people through a 6-week program that required them to demonstrate their programming chops. Six candidates were hired, several of whom would not have made it past a resume screen.

For One Stop Career Centers, it's important to know this information in advising job seekers. But it can also be helpful to advise local businesses of these new techniques, which many companies report nets them much higher quality applicants than more traditional strategies.

Friday Link Round-Up

2012-01-20T04:36:00-08:00

Keep Yourself Motivated

View more presentations from Abhishek Shah

Here's this week's link collection:

13 Ways the Recession Has Changed How Millenials View Work--Interesting observations. Could be worth discussing with staff.

Generation Jobless: For Those Under 24, a Portrait in Crisis-The Wall Street Journal examines the joblessness crisis among young people.

Telecommuting is Coming of Age--Looks at how more companies are using telecommuting.

"No" is the New "Yes"--From the Harvard Business Review, four practices to help you reprioritize your life.

How to Avoid Getting Fired for Facebook--Four tips to keep Facebook from being your professional downfall.

Four Easy Ways to Spot Awful Company Culture--Good advice for people to have prior to interviews.

The Rise of the New Groupthink--Evidence shows that time for individual reflection and creativity is at the heart of innovation.

Managing Your Career in 2012

2012-01-17T06:15:37-08:00

Penelope Trunk has an interesting article this week on Managing Your Career in 2012. She argues that you have about 15 years (until about age 35) to put together a plan and have a "young person job." After that, you need to be prepared to transition into something different.

She points to a few articles that show the changing landscape we're working in in terms of the kinds of work that are available to people. Sara Horowitz says that more work will be short-term and freelance. Anya Kemenetz says we'll be seeing more back-to-back career changes and more lateral skill-building.

What we know is that careers are more chaotic and difficult to predict, which makes "planning" harder to do. But there are strategies that people can use, including retro-fitting, blending and problem-solving their way to new work.

Teaching people the right career management skills is becoming more important than ever. And educating them about the changing job market is becoming more challenging.

Friday Link Round-Up

2012-01-13T04:20:00-08:00

2012: 12 Themes - What to expect in the year ahead

View more presentations from Ross Dawsn

Here's your round-up of links for the week. Enjoy!

Making it in America--a long, but fascinating read that gets at the heart of what's happening on the two ends of manufacturing with "skilled" and "unskilled" workers.

The Four-Year Career--"According to recent statistics, the median number of years a U.S. worker has been in his or her current job is just 4.4, down sharply since the 1970s. This decline in average job tenure is bigger than any economic cycle, bigger than any particular industry, bigger than differences in education levels, and bigger than differences in gender." So what does this mean for "career planning"?

6 Email Cover Letter Tips to Make a Good First Impression--Includes a link to a free cover letter template to make it more visually appealing.

How Leaders Kill Meaning at Work--from the McKinsey Quarterly. You have to sign up for a free account to access the full article, but there's lots of other great info there as well, so it's worth it.

Tips for Dealing with Employment Gaps--some decent advice here.

Plan Your Free Online Education for Spring 2012--a great list of FREE courses available through some of the best universities in the US.

Friday Link Round-Up

2012-01-13T04:20:00-08:00

2012: 12 Themes - What to expect in the year ahead

View more presentations from Ross Dawsn

Here's your round-up of links for the week. Enjoy!

Making it in America--a long, but fascinating read that gets at the heart of what's happening on the two ends of manufacturing with "skilled" and "unskilled" workers.

The Four-Year Career--"According to recent statistics, the median number of years a U.S. worker has been in his or her current job is just 4.4, down sharply since the 1970s. This decline in average job tenure is bigger than any economic cycle, bigger than any particular industry, bigger than differences in education levels, and bigger than differences in gender." So what does this mean for "career planning"?

6 Email Cover Letter Tips to Make a Good First Impression--Includes a link to a free cover letter template to make it more visually appealing.

How Leaders Kill Meaning at Work--from the McKinsey Quarterly. You have to sign up for a free account to access the full article, but there's lots of other great info there as well, so it's worth it.

Tips for Dealing with Employment Gaps--some decent advice here.

Plan Your Free Online Education for Spring 2012--a great list of FREE courses available through some of the best universities in the US.

Friday Link Round-Up

2012-01-06T04:22:00-08:00

Here's your first round-up of links for 2012!

Wisconsin Workforce Development Association Online Workshop Initiative--The WWDA is broadcasting workshops to several locations at once using video-conferencing. Could be a good way to leverage staff.

R.I.P Personal Branding--a good reminder on what REALLY goes into creating your "personal brand."

Meeting the Demand for Workers with Social Media Skills--how community colleges are responding to increased employer demand for people who can work in social media.

E-Learning Outlook for 2012--good discussion of trends in e-learning.

Men Grabbing Most of the New Jobs--Men are recovering more than 2/3 of private sector jobs, even in retailing, which has traditionally employed more women. Although the reasons why are unclear, researchers suspect it's largely men's willingness to accept work they wouldn't accept before.

What Job Seekers Need to Know in Today's Digital Job Market--On the importance of using and leveraging social media.

Six Email Mistakes You Should Never Make--although we all know that we do.

USDOL Workforce Innovation Fund Grants Available

2012-01-03T04:46:52-08:00

USDOLETA announced the availability of Workforce Innovation Grant Funds late in December.

The Workforce Innovation Fund ("the Fund") is one of several new Federal grant programs in which grantor agencies support projects that seek to use evidence to design program strategies. The Fund will provide grants to states, local workforce areas, and entities eligible for Section 166 Indian and Native American Program grants to:

Re-tool service delivery strategies and/or policy and administrative systems and processes to improve outcomes for workforce system customers and;

Evaluate the effectiveness of such activities.

Why are we interested in both service delivery innovation and system reform? While employment and training outcomes rest on the effectiveness of service delivery strategies, the policy and administrative frameworks in which these strategies are developed and implemented also have an enormous effect. We believe that innovation at the systems level - where policies, organizational structures, planning processes, performance measurement, procurement, investment priorities, and information management systems reside - is necessary to support service delivery strategies that result in better outcomes and lower costs.

In support of such goals, the Administration is seeking new ways to remove administrative, statutory, and regulatory barriers to support greater coordination in the delivery of services, particularly among agencies and programs with overlapping missions and clients. Through the Workforce Innovation Fund, we seek to support changes in structures and policies that enable a closer alignment and integration of workforce development, education, human and social services, social insurance, and economic development programs.

Applications are due March 22 and all materials and information can be accessed here.

Friday Link Round-Up

2011-12-16T03:39:00-08:00

10 secrets of a super connector t.a. mccann

View more presentations from T.A. McCann

Here's this week's collections of links:

Aligning Community Colleges to Their Local Labor Markets--From Jobs for the Future, this report discusses new sophisticated “spidering” and artificial intelligence technologies that can aggregate and analyze these online job ads and provide a more comprehensive, “real-time” source of information about the hiring and skill needs of local employers.

Three LinkedIn Career Tips for Novice Networkers--basic, but important advice.

USDOL App Community--The USDOL is now sharing data that can be used by developers to create online and mobile apps.

15 Fascinating Studies Done on the Workplace--could be good info to share with job seekers and businesses.

Effective and Non-Creepy Ways to Stalk People on LinkedIn--emphasis on the "non-creepy" part.

5 Changes to Make to Your Resume Now!--from Glassdoor. "Start every sentence with a verb" is good advice.

Workforce Development Reports from the Hamilton Project

2011-12-14T03:34:45-08:00

The Brookings Institution has published a series of research reports that WIBs and One Stop Career Centers should read:

What Is Happening to America's Less Skilled Workers: The Importance of Education and Training in Todays Economy--explores the employment and earnings trends facing America’s less-educated workers over the last few decades, and highlights training and workforce development opportunities that could be part of the policy solution.

Building America's Job Skills with Effective Workforce Programs--recommends strategies for working with disadvantaged and dislocated workers, who tend to need to access different types of programs.

Grading Higher Education: GIving Consumers the Information They Need--looks at what information job seekers need to make better decisions about education and training programs.

Raising Job Quality and Skills for American Workers: Creating More Effective Education and Workforce Development Programs in the States--This paper proposes a new set of competitive grants from the federal government to states that would fund training partnerships between employers in key industries, education providers, workforce agencies, and intermediaries at the state level, plus a range of other supports and services. The grants would especially reward the expansion of programs that appear successful when evaluated with randomized controlled trial (RCT) techniques.

Unemployment and Earnings Losses: A Look at Long-term Impacts of the Great Recession on American Workers--explores the experiences of workers who lost their jobs during the height of the Great Recession, looking at the impacts of this economic shock on future earnings and reemployment prospects