At the Crossroads

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You need to fill an open position on your marketing team, and you've lined up interviews for the most promising candidates. But in this economy—with so many people competing for so few jobs—you wonder how truthful each will be about his or her working style.

Candidate A might say he loves team projects when he in fact loathes collaboration; Candidate B, meanwhile, may claim to thrive in formal settings when she's far more productive in relaxed environments.

So how do you make hiring decisions when slightly desperate applicants have little incentive to be honest about their strengths and preferences? According to Jonathan Littman and Marc Hershon, you should watch them cross the street.

Guy Kawaski reports on this amusing bit of advice in an Open Forum blog. "If you can't arrange for an interviewee to cross the street to get to your building," he writes, "arrange for the interview at a Starbucks, cafe or restaurant—preferably in Manhattan during rush hour, but any reasonably sized city will do. Watch carefully ... These few seconds will tell you more about [your prospect's] workplace capabilities than an hour of tough questions."

Why? Because Littman and Hershon have created categories like these to assess how walking style translates to working style:

• Matadors think of red lights as suggestions, and charge across the street, oncoming traffic be damned. Chances are good this person is an aggressive go-getter.
• CurbHuggers, at the other end of the spectrum, won't consider crossing until the green Walk sign illuminates. You can infer that this person follows the rules with meticulous attention to detail.

The Po!nt: Take them in stride. Strange but intriguing idea: Might making the right hire these days include watching Candidate A and Candidate B cross the street?

Employers to Hire Cautiously in 2010

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Encouraging news about the economy may be easing fears of employers, as 20% of companies plan to add full-time permanent employees in 2010, up from 14% last year, according to a recent study from CareerBuilder.

Only 9% of companies say they plan to decrease headcount in 2010, down sharply from 16% in 2009; and 61% of employers say hiring will remain flat, while 10% say they are unsure of their plans, the study finds.

In addition––and as part of an overall strategy to move forward in the New Year––37% of employers say there will be an increased emphasis on social media in their companies to strengthen brand image. A slight uptick in the hiring of freelance or contract workers is also expected.

Below, additional findings from Career Builder's 2010 US Job Forecast.

Hiring by Region

Employers in the US West are planning to increase their headcounts more in 2010 than are other regions of the country. Nearly one-quarter of employers (24%) in the West say they plan to add full-time workers in 2010, compared with 21% in the Northeast, 20% in the South, and 16% in the Midwest.

Although plans to decrease headcounts in 2010 are down sharply across all regions, employers in the Northeast still plan to trim headcounts 10%, followed by an 8% planned decrease in the South, Midwest, and West.

Hiring by Job Type

One-third of employers plan to add technology jobs in the coming year, followed by 28% in customer service. Nearly one-third plan to add salespeople, and 14% plan to add marketing jobs.

Hiring by Industry

Across selected industries, a minority of companies plan to add full-time permanent employees in the coming year:

• Information technology: 32% of companies
• Manufacturing: 27%
• Financial services: 23%
• Professional and business services: 22%
• Sales: 21%

Compensation

Even as companies continue to watch their spending, they plan slight increases to salaries in the coming year: 57% of employers say their companies will increase salaries for current employees in 2010, down from 65% who said so in 2009. Over one-third (36%) expect to raise salaries of current employees by 3% or more, while 11% anticipate increases of 5% or more.

Strategies for the New Year

Companies are looking to the future to make up for lost ground caused by the recession. The following are the top 10 trends for 2010:

1. Replacing lower-performing employees.
2. Emphasis on social media to strengthen brand. The economy required companies to make some difficult decisions about their businesses, which had a negative effect on their brands.
   
   Over one-third of employers (37%) plan to put a greater emphasis on social media in 2010 to create a more positive brand for their organization. One in five (20%) plan to add social media responsibilities to a current employee, while 8% plan to hire someone new to focus or partially focus on social media.
3. Rehiring laid-off workers.
4. Flexible work arrangements. Companies plan to continue providing employees with greater flexibility in hopes of maintaining a better work-life balance: 35% of employers say they plan to provide more flexible work arrangements in 2010, compared with 31% last year. These arrangements include alternate schedules (73%), telecommuting options (41%), and compressed workweeks (32%).
5. Cutting perks and benefits.
6. Rehiring retirees and postponing retirement.
7. Freelance or contract hiring. Though employers still plan to be cautious regarding the number of full-time employees they add in 2010, some will turn to freelance or contract employees.
   Nearly one-third (30%) of employers anticipate hiring freelancers or contractors in 2010, up slightly from 28% reported in 2009. Only 6% expect to employ more freelance workers or contractors than last year, while 15% expect to hire the same amount and 10% plan to hire fewer.
8. Green jobs.
9. Bilingual recruitment.
10. Business travel. Some 43% of employers say there will be less business travel in 2010 than in 2009.

About the data: The survey was conducted online within the US by Harris Interactive on behalf of CareerBuilder.com among 2,720 hiring managers and human resource professionals during November 2009.

Get Wired and Get Hired

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The news isn't good: Fidelity Investments this week announced its second round of job cuts, NEC is cutting 20,000 jobs and Motorola just shed 4,000 workers. But despite the doom and gloom, some companies are indeed hiring. As the optimists say, the sun is always shining somewhere.

Here are a few ways you can use online tools and social media to find a position that suits your needs, and puts a few bucks in your wallet.

Get networked. Take the time to build your online networks, both social and professional, using tools like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, suggests LinkedIn's own Mario Sundar.


Use social-media megaphones. There's no shame in looking for work. Let folks in your networks know that you are looking for a job, says Sundar. Write about your job search on your blog, if you have one, and Twitter about your search.


Research smarter. Check out specific companies to target via research tools like this one from LinkedIn, which allows you to network with specific people at the companies you might want to work for, Sundar says.

Solicit LinkedIn recommendations. "A strong recommendation from your manager highlights your strengths and shows that you were a valued employee," writes entrepreneur Guy Kawasaki, adding, "If you were a manager yourself, recommendations from your employees can also highlight leadership qualities."

Hit the boards. In addition to the typical job boards, try Rafe Needleman's Spreadsheet of Sunshine: Who's Hiring, PR News Online and Indeed.com, the latter of which sports a simple Google-like interface and handy RSS feed.

The Po!nt: Be sure you take full advantage of online tools and include a heavy dose of social media in your hunt for a new and promising gig.