Professional Outlook, Inc. Recruiting Specialists

The following summary was released by PwC (Price Waterhouse Cooper), which conducts quarterly surveys of  60 senior executives of large, multinational U.S. industrial manufacturing companies about their current business performance, the state of the economy and their expectations for growth over the next 12 months. This survey summarizes the results for Q4 2011 and was conducted from October 26 through January 11, 2012.

U.S. industrial manufacturers expect continued domestic and international growth in 2012, although forecasts have fallen below 2011 actual growth rates, according to the findings of the Q4 2011 Manufacturing Barometer released today by PwC US.  While uncertainty still prevails and own-company revenue expectations have moderated, optimism about the worldwide economy rose in the fourth quarter of 2011, including a notable improvement in sentiment regarding prospects for the U.S., as compared to an all-time low in domestic sentiment in the third quarter of 2011.  In addition, U.S. industrial manufacturers continue to forecast increased investment spending in the year ahead, including major outlays in operational spending.  Plans for merger and acquisition (M&A)activity also increased, and there was significant emphasis on expansion into new markets.  (more…)

Lest We Forget…

11.11.11 Please be sure to take a moment on November 11, at 11 a.m. to remember and honor our veterans who have and continue to defend our freedom.

History of Veterans’ Day:

On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, an armistice, or temporary cessation of hostilities, was declared between the Allied nations and Germany in the First World War, then known as “the Great War.” Commemorated as Armistice Day beginning the following year, November 11th became a legal federal holiday in the United States in 1938. In the aftermath of World War II and the Korean War, Armistice Day became Veterans Day, a holiday dedicated to American veterans of all wars.

Allrecipes.com Community Leads Movement to Protect Thanksgiving; Home Cooks Pledge to Savor Day of Food, Family and Thankfulness

Is Thanksgiving as we know it an endangered species?  With Halloween’s ghosts barely banished, each year retailers push the Christmas season upon consumers earlier and earlier – and all at the expense of the Thanksgiving holiday.  But the Allrecipes.com community is out to turn that around.  Inspired by community member Doug Matthews’ November 2010 blog post lamenting the commercialization of the holiday season, Allrecipes, a Reader’s Digest Association (RDA) company and the world’s #1 digital food brand, today announced its “Respect the Bird!” campaign: a grassroots movement to savor the true meaning of Thanksgiving and tune out the distractions of Black Friday that have intruded upon Thanksgiving week.

A national survey from Allrecipes found 82 percent of home cooks think Christmas is marketed too early and that the Thanksgiving holiday gets too little attention as a result. Moreover, 42 percent admit being frustrated by Christmas shopping sales that begin before Thanksgiving while 39 percent just try to ignore them.

Allrecipes has created a dedicated site, www.RespectTheBird.com, where Thanksgiving enthusiasts can rally support for the movement. Here, consumers can take the Respect the Bird Pledge, a promise to fully enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday and not begin shopping for the December holidays until after November 24, and get recipes and tips for their Thanksgiving festivities. The site and complementary social media channels (Respect the Bird Facebook community and Respect the Bird on Twitter – @RespectTheBird) will make it easy to spread the movement among friends and family. (more…)

Another great testimonial we’ve received:

On working with Jason Brevard:
I have been coming from a rather unusual scenario, having been off work for 15 months due to medical issues. Jason worked with me on how to properly address my time away from work and turn the focus on my extensive work experiences, past work successes, and strong motivations to contribute to a team environment’s continued success. I found that his network of contacts and available resources opened a door for me where doors had been closed. I went knocking on the doors Jason showed me and today I have what appears to be the best job I’ve had in the last thirty years!

Employers everywhere want to engage workers. When you can build business at the same time that you drive employee engagement, then you have a win-win.

Facebook boasts some 640 million users worldwide; Twitter receives over 95 million Tweets every day, and Yelp, a website featuring feedback on service providers, has surpassed 50 million unique monthly users. Social media, in one form or another, is undoubtedly here to stay. In fact, 90 percent of consumers online trust recommendations from people they know and 70 percent trust opinions of unknown users. (more…)

If any country is to achieve long-term success, it must be able to compete on the global stage. This requires a young, talented population. We’ve reported our frustration with our nation’s lack of support for education, a situation which leaves us dangerously vulnerable in an expanding global economy.

The results of a recent study add another concern: many of the top math and science students in the United States are increasingly the children of immigrants. Even though only 12 percent of the US population is foreign-born, the study found that 70 percent of the finalists in the 2011 Intel Science Talent Search competition were the children of immigrants. Also, according to the report, 60 percent of the top science students and 65 percent of the top math students were born to immigrant families. (more…)

Your main focus as a job seeker is to schedule interviews. If you want to land more interviews, it’s important that you differentiate yourself from other job seekers.

The following are THREE critical steps to help you differentiate yourself from your competition:

Step One: CUSTOMIZE

This applies to both your resume as well as job applications either online or printed copy. It is important that your resume and the answers you provide on their application form highlight your experience and skills to match their job requirements. (more…)

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index®, which had increased in January, improved further in February. The Index now stands at 70.4 (1985=100), up from 64.8 in January. The Present Situation Index improved to 33.4 from 31.1. The Expectations Index increased to 95.1 from 87.3 last month.

The monthly Consumer Confidence Survey®, based on a probability-design random sample, is conducted for The Conference Board by The Nielsen Company. The cutoff date for February’s preliminary results was February 10, 2011. (more…)

Top ten characteristics of strong leaders and values-driven corporations:

1. HIGH VALUES AWARENESS
Values are communicated often and discussed to ensure awareness and understanding throughout a corporation.

2. HIGH VALUES ACCOUNTABILITY
People are evaluated on values-driven practices and results with zero tolerance for values violations.

3. LEADERSHIP BY EXAMPLE
Leaders earn the right to expect others to do things by doing those things themselves. (more…)

The most commonly expressed criticisms by resume readers are listed below.  There is no correct way to write a resume, therefore, you will observe many of the criticisms are exact oppositions.  What will appeal to one employer may not appeal to the other.  You should always attempt to write your resume geared toward the individual who will be receiving your resume. The following are 16 criticisms of resumes: (more…)