Professional Outlook, Inc. Recruiting Specialists

There is an attitudinal shift happening in today’s labor marketplace, and it is not good news for employers. As we have said in previous Herman Trend Alerts, increases in consumer confidence result in churning in the labor marketplace. More people are able to find jobs; others feel confident enough to quit them without firm offers. They are seeing more hiring and a strengthening economy.

It is interesting to note that in the United States more people quit their jobs in the last three months than those who lost their jobs. After 15 straight months of time in which layoffs exceeded voluntary departures, it appears that the job market is finally shifting. My guess is that the same phenomenon is being seen in some other countries, notably Brazil, India, Malaysia, and Singapore, whose economies are well into recovery already. Read the rest of this entry »

By Bill Radin
www.billradin.com

Would you dump your life savings—every single dollar—into a single NASDAQ stock? Probably not. It’s far too risky to put all your eggs in one investment basket.

And yet, you’d be surprised how many people manage their careers with a single-stock mindset. They toil away, year after year, investing their talents in a narrow field of interest. Until recently, this approach made a lot of sense. Conventional wisdom dictates that if you do one thing really well, you’ll never be out of a job.

A New and Versatile Breed

But times have changed, and so have strategies. While it’s still true that a solid career is built on a foundation of position-specific expertise, it’s become increasingly important to maintain a balanced portfolio. Read the rest of this entry »

The results of your reference checks can determine if you obtain a job offer or if you are screened out. Reference checks are often conducted by third party companies who specialize in obtaining thorough reference checks. Whether your prospective employer or a third party vendor is utilized, it is very important who you choose to list as your references.

Here are some steps to follow:
1. Include both work and cell phone numbers for all of your references.
2. Inform your references that you are listing them as a reference and describe the type of opportunity you are targeting. This helps your references know which talents to stress during their conversation with your potential employer
3. Make sure you have the correct spelling of their name and title. Titles are easy to verify and you could be eliminated from consideration for listing an inaccurate title.
4. Only list supervisors if possible

If you know your reference has left the company, take time to track them down and list their new work or home telephone numbers. You want to make it as easy as possible for your prospective employer to contact your references.

Interviews are often designed to be the second part of the interviewing process.

The first step is typically looking at and screening your resume. They usually choose anywhere from five to ten and then narrow down to two or three resumes to actively pursue. The interviewing process is different for every corporation. Some companies have one or two interviews; others may have as many as five. Typically larger companies may require interviews with several different individuals. For example, HR may be the initial interview, followed by interviews with various department heads or senior executive officers. In all situations, the goal of any interview is the same. An interview is designed to determine whether or not an individual will be a good fit for the company. Read the rest of this entry »

When applying for a position, it is important to note the transferable skills you may possess. The following are five of those skills valued by employers:

Coping with deadline pressures – Prove to your prospective employer that you can function effectively and meet deadlines even when the timeframe is notably hurried.

Negotiating – Discuss where you have been able to resolve differences between individuals or groups.

Speaking - You will be perceived as a leader if you can talk publicly, prepare remarks, and effectively present ideas. If this is not a comfort zone for you think about joining Toastmasters.

Writing – Writing effectively is a skill most employers desire. Write letters to the editor of every publication you read. Write a newsletter and have samples you could share during an interview.

Organizing/Coordinating – If you have organized an event or managed projects it is assumed you know how to delegate tasks and achieve goals. Begin with organizing your own life, files, records and important documents. Prosperity is never attracted to disorganization and neither are job opportunities.

It is a whole new world in resume writing. Gone are the days where you could grab a template, plug in your employment information and write a quick summary. Granted you can still use a good template but the summary is now critical and can either get you that all important interview or have your resume lining the trashcan in the hiring managers office.

With many qualified applicants vying for the same job having a resume that stands out is paramount. One of the first steps in achieving a stand out resume is to remove the old cliché phrases that EVERYONE puts in their resume. One hiring manager of a Fortune 500 company recently explained what criteria they use as a first run through of any resume they receive. If a resume contains any boiler plate, cliché, or “business speak” phrases it is discarded. This was done regardless of the qualifications of the applicant. Surprised? Read the rest of this entry »

Students Worldwide Looking for Job Security

A recent study reveals that three-quarters of university students value job security to be more important than pay and benefits, when choosing an employer. Conducted by KPMG, the global network of professional services firms, the survey polled university students at a Berlin meeting of Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE), a global non-profit group active on college campuses.

Given the current economic environment, this shift away from career thinking is not surprising. In addition, over 50% of respondents would be interested in working internationally immediately after graduation; they obviously recognize that overseas opportunities are valuable for success in today’s global marketplace. Read the rest of this entry »

Professional Outlook, Inc. would like to announce the successful completion of the following searches in the last 30 days:

• Plant Engineer, Lanxess Corp.
• Project Engineer, Georgia Pacific
• Operations Leader, Stryker Medical
• Reliability Engineer, PCS Nitrogen
• Sr. Process Engineer, Nisseki Chemical
• Process Control Engineer, ERCO Worldwide

The completion of these searches once again solidifies Professional Outlook, Inc. as the premier search firm in the United States specializing in the placement of Engineers for the Refining, Chemical, Pharmaceutical, Medical Device, Food, Beverage and related industries, as well as Environmental, Health, Safety, and Human Resource Professionals in the Manufacturing and Chemical Industries.

Our firm’s mission statement is to be exceptionally competitive and to achieve retainer-style results on a contingency fee basis by making a thorough evaluation of our clients’ corporate culture and maintaining long-term relationships with a deep and highly qualified candidate pool.  If we can add value to you or your firm in any way, simply respond to this e-mail and I will schedule a conference call within 48 hours to discuss your needs.

After a year of searching for a Senior Process Engineer for our refinery, we decided to turn to Professional Outlook as another source of candidates. Professional Outlook provided several strong candidates immediately and continued to refine the candidates they were presenting for our review to better match the unique skill sets we felt were important. They ended up providing the right candidate and assisted with closing the deal. We are very pleased with their service and effort to tailor to our needs and will continue to utilize their services.

~ Ronald Colwell
PE, Montana Refining Company, Inc.

Many of you have asked us about the hottest careers for the future. We found a study that was included in the Labor Department “Occupational Outlook Handbook” that actually studied which jobs would have the greatest increase from now until 2018. The following are some of the occupations in our areas of specialization with the largest percentage growth expected through 2018

OCCUPATION PERCENTAGE OF GROWTH

• Biomedical Engineers 72%
• Medical Scientists 40%
• Biochemists and Biophysicists 37%