What Would Dad Say
Frequently wrong, never in doubt
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All Planes Landed Safely This Morning at MSP, Everyone Safe
The above headline would never make it except in THE ONION. True journalists don’t write about the good news, of course, preferring bad news and scandals. I understand that. I thought of this the other day when I watching one of the business channels and someone put the foreclosure crisis in perspective, saying “it affected only one in 452 mortgages.” And I was beginning to think that the crisis was hitting nearly everyone on my street. Keep that in mind when you read the... |
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Those Pesky Employed People
Reader Joseph Pflanz got his letter to the editor published today in the Tallahassee Democrat. Although we obviously commiserate with Joe and wish him well, his idea is a bit, well, how to say this? Out there. Unemployment is about to go through the roof, just when we need people to be productive and increase consumer spending to aid the economy. My suggestion is for all employers to put a moratorium on hiring already employed people. Only hire the unemployed. Rather than moving a “hole”... |
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Thinking Big
This automobile bailout, er, loan has me thinking that I am not thinking big enough. The CEO’s of the Big Three auto companies think big and I am jealous. The combined market cap of GM, Chrysler and Ford is about $7 billion. Quick review: market cap is the value of the business, or the number of shares times the share price. If I had $7 billion, I could buy all three by writing a check to my broker. ( I KNOW, it is not quite that easy, but even with some kind of premium, commissions... |
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There Are Three Rules For Handling Tough Economic News
To paraphrase W. Somerset Maugham, unfortunately, no one knows what they are. Here are three suggestions: 1. Play defense. This means conserve effort, resources and cash until you get more visibility into the near term future. This is true whether you are running a big company or your household budget. 2. Play offense. Depending on your risk tolerance, there are companies and individuals who are making market share gains even when times are tough. Some have the luxury of having the cash... |
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Best and Worst Career Advice from Dads
Note: I thought it would be interesting to hear what others’ dads have advised their own kids about jobs and careers. Here are a few I have obtained and you will see more soon in an upcoming book titled “DIG YOUR JOB.” Lesley Rackowski remembers bad advice from her father: “Don’t be a teacher,” he told her, “they don’t get paid much.” According to Lesley now,years later, “Now that is true. But I’m in my 50s and I have regretted not being a teacher.I think... |
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Contrary to What You Read, Most Jobs Are Still Being Created by Smaller Companies
These companies get zero help except from JOBDIG. Our recruitment solutions are the best out there for medium to smaller companies who want to hire hard workers from local sources. Our applicant tracking system is the best value for money, priced at $179 per company, not seat. (We are holding a free webinar on it on Wednesday afternoon, contact us for details.) In the meantime, I thought this was funny, in a sad sort of way. |
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The Last 5% Might Get You 100%
Every company is trimming extra costs out of their business. But what one manager or CEO thinks is an “extra,” another thinks is crucial during tough times. Making cuts wherever possible are tough decisions and many times the choices are bad, either way. For example, all too often, it is the people closest to the customer who are cut first, customer service folks, eg. Bad plan, my two cents. Next to go are those little “extra” things, born of goodwill which... |
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Should I settle at my job that I think might be making me miserable?
Hat Tip: Lyss. If there ever was a unifying question in today’s workforce, it is this one. Here is my take on it. First, everyone is different. If you have six months’ of cash saved up, you have more options available to you than someone who is living paycheck to paycheck, with ramen being the sole nutrient for the day or two before payday. I get that. We all live nowadays in a time of instant gratification. Some say the current crisis is caused by the housing problems, but... |
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Our LinkUp Report Was Incorrect But It’s Still the Best Site
Note: A few days ago, I wrote how we had over a million jobs on our LINKUP.COM site, which at the time was true, or so we thought. Since then, we dug into how this could be, given the lousy job numbers being reported. This number was calculated incorrectly, as Toby’s post below explains. Sorry about that, but I wanted to correct what I had said earlier. Wishing something to be true is not the same as being true. Notwithstanding the above, LINKUP.COM remains the best job board on the... |
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LINKUP.COM on ABCNEWS.COM Today.
In a front page, above-the-fold, highlighted story on the news site ABCNEWS.COM, LinkUp.Com is featured. Finally, a positive jobs oriented story in the national media. It is about time, isn’t it? There are two companies featured in the third paragraph of today’s key story, written by Michelle Goodman, Mon&^$ and LinkUp. Their headline: Finally Found That Job? Start It Off Right Despite the Slump, Millions Are Finding Work — Learn How to Start Your New Job Off the Right Way Not... |
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Gotcha Questions At the Interview: How Not to Handle Them
Most of us don’t have much experience in interviewing for jobs. We just don’t do it very often. Contrast that with the hiring managers who interview dozens of candidates. No wonder it’s a tense situation at best, and leads to some ‘gotcha’ type questions that can torpedo any chances by the candidate to get the job. Here are some ‘gotcha’ questions I have heard: What accomplishment are you most proud of at your last job? Candidate answer: “I... |
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Sales Literature, Exposed
Graphic artists and printers can stop reading now, this post is not for you. Most sales literature sucks. Ask any good sales person and they understand that the sales rep who spouts off features to prospects seldom wins the business. It’s called feature dumping and most sales managers recognize it immediately, and move to correct it. It’s like walking up to the prettiest girl at a party, and without asking her one question, start in by telling her, “I went to Harvard, drive... |
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LinkUp, the One Job Board That Showcases Jobs From Company Websites, Shows Job Openings
From Toby Dayton’s Diggings, November 6, 2008– The October jobs report is scheduled to be released sometime this morning, but if the data generated from LinkUp.com is any indicator, the numbers may not be as bad as economists predict. LinkUp aggregates and publishes job listings directly from company web sites themselves. The September and October jobs data includes job listings from 9,753 companies in the U.S. For those 9,753 companies in the data set, total jobs listed for the month... |
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My Candidate Lost. No, Not THAT One.
My high school buddy and sometime WWDS contributor Conrad Hake lost in his hard fought campaign for the school board in the Hayward Unfied School District of Hayward, California. He’s perfectly qualified, understood all the issues, works well with all different kinds of people and offered solutions for this local school district which is facing severe budget constraints. And he clobbered his opponents in the local debate forums. He got creamed in the election. “It wasn’t even... |
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Vote Today, November 4, 2008: Finally.
Yes, you may use the above artwork on your website today or on your blog, no problem. |
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Confused About Social Media or Worse, Ignoring It?
It’s late in 2008, and I am not saying that you have to use the social media tools. Many don’t, preferring instead to use the traditional media–like the telex machine and rotary phones. Me? I have been a slow adopter myself…it was my grandfather, remember, who said ’sliced bread would never catch on because it would dry out too fast’…we Hoffmans, in other words, have seldom crossed the chasm first. But if you are alive today, you just have to know about... |
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A Halloween Event and a Real Good Mess
Yesterday afternoon we kicked off our United Way campaign. Our company won’t donate much, mostly because we are a group between the ages of 22-27. School loans, car payments and credit cards consume most of what our folks earn. Still. Most charitable organizations think of us folks at the upper end of seniority and paygrades to fill up their buckets. They shouldn’t. I’d go after the Gen x’ers and y’s. They have a lifetime of giving ahead of them. Even... |
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A Message to HR Departments Everywhere
My friend Dick Bolles suggests that hiring managers get out of the office and become a jobseeker for a day. If you do, you will most likely find just how different your company looks from their side of the desk. It is a target-rich environment for HR and hiring departments today. You should expect some un-solicited yet awesome resumes from people who are very unfamiliar with the job hunting process. Even though you are busy, even overwhelmed with current tasks, I’d like to encourage you... |
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Fact or Crap?
It’s not enough that it’s political season but with the turible-turible (Norwegian accent here) financial mess dominating the news on top of it all, it is getting harder and harder to sort out fact from crap. Just to help, here are few facts from my viewpoint: 1. For every internet idea that catches fire and gets traction, there are ten thousand that don’t. 2. Maybe some people buy off a well-crafted email or a killer website. But most business is not developed that way.... |