I was a guest on WGN Radio this past Sunday, November 22nd. In case you missed it, please go to http://www.strategicsearch.com/media_audio/wgn_11-22-09.mp3 to hear it in its entirety.
We discussed various topics related to the current employment picture and how SEO (Search Engine Optimization) can be applied to help you better recruit talent.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Internet speeds in more than four-fifths of Minnesota are too slow to support technologies that could draw new jobs, take cars off the roads and bring new services to people in their homes, a new report said Friday.
The Minnesota Ultra High-Speed Broadband Task Force is calling for minimum Internet speeds of 10 megabits per second for the entire state by 2015, setting a standard 15 times faster than the current federal definition of broadband.
By that measure, 83 percent of the state needs an upgrade.
The group’s report describes broadband as “an economic and social necessity for all citizens of the state no matter where they are located.” It says faster Internet could enable everything from more telecommuting for workers to telemedicine linking patients and doctors through two-way high-definition video.
“It’s an important economic tool as we try to attract and retain the best companies here so we can have good jobs,” said Rick King, chief technology officer at Thomson Reuters Legal and the task force’s chairman.
King presented the report during a hearing before two legislative panels, where lawmakers said slow Internet service is a drag on the state’s economy. They hope Minnesota will compete successfully for federal stimulus grants to expand broadband in rural areas.
“It’s time to start thinking of broadband as a baseline utility accessible to every Minnesota home and business,” said Sen. John Doll, a Democrat from Burnsville.
It’s unclear exactly how much the widespread upgrade would cost. King said the price could reach $10 billion if fiber-optic cables were laid to every part of the state, but much cheaper wireless technology is coming that could connect homes at high speeds for about $1,200 per home.
The task force expects private Internet providers and the federal government to bear most of the cost of the improvements. King said the state dollars might eventually come into play to create incentives to hook up remote areas not otherwise served.
The 23-member task force was established by a 2008 state law. The group is asking the Legislature to approve its recommendations and create a new broadband access council to monitor progress.
I recommend applying state-of-the-art SEO and SEM techniques to better harness the Internet and search engines for talent acquisition. On Monday, December 7th through Friday, December 11th, I will be covering the SES (Search Engine Strategies) Show for my two blogs. This show provides the most advanced expert information on SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and SEM (Search Engine Marketing). Please go to http://www.searchenginestrategies.com/chicago/ for more details. I covered last year’s show for WGN Radio (Please go to http://www.strategicsearch.com/media.php and click on my January 10, 2009 radio appearance for more details). The keys are: a) search engines are the new yellow pages b) the SES show provides the most revolutionary strategies for ranking high on search engines c) because of my press credentials, I will have access to the best and brightest minds from this show and d) your talent acquisition efforts can be significantly enhanced by applying these SEO and SEM principles.
ECONOMY STILL AN ISSUE AS RECOVERY LOOMS
CHICAGO, November 11, 2009 – October saw 89 chief executive
officers leave their posts, 15 percent fewer than September’s 105 and 29
percent lower than the 125 CEO departures recorded in October 2008,
according to the latest report on CEO turnover released Wednesday by global
outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.
October marked the eighth time this year that CEO turnover was lower
than the same month a year ago.
So far this year, 1,028 CEO changes have been announced, 18 percent
fewer than the 1,257 departures tracked by this point a year ago. This year’s
10-month total is the lowest since 2004, when CEO changes numbered 561
through the end of October.
The financial industry experienced the heaviest CEO turnover last
month with 19 top executives leaving their posts. While job cuts in this sector
have declined steadily since the beginning of the year, volatility continues at
the top of the corporate ladder. Financial firms have had 106 CEO departures
this year, or about 1 in every 10 exits.
CHICAGO (Reuters) – American Airlines parent AMR Corp (AMR.N) will eliminate up to 700 jobs as it downsizes its maintenance and engineering operations, the company said Wednesday Oct 28, 2009 in a letter to employees.
The second-largest U.S. airline, which has slashed capacity amid economic woes, said it would “resize and reshape” its M&E operation to better meet the needs of its smaller fleet.
AMR said it would wind down all operations at its Kansas City Maintenance Base next year after it closes the location in September. The changes will affect operations in other locations throughout its system, including the St. Louis line operations, which will be downsized.
“Unfortunately, these changes will cause a reduction of up to 700 positions, both management and union, in the M&E and supporting departments’ workforce,” Carmine Romano, AMR’s senior vice president of maintenance and engineering, said in the letter.
The 700 job cuts represent about 5 percent of AMR’s 12,700 M&E employees systemwide. The company said it would offer voluntary exit options for its unionized workforce.
The airline industry has been battered in the last year as the recession has eroded travel demand. Industry leaders have reported tentative signs of a rebound in demand for business travel.
Shares of AMR were down 1.2 percent at $5.83 in early New York Stock Exchange trading.
Our encore 20th anniversary-in-business party was held on November 3rd at the Hotel Sofitel. Among my guests were: venture capitalist Tom Parkinson (and his wife Anne), Bruno Padovani, Director of Manufacturing at Wrigley Company, Pam Oliver (and her husband Kelvin) of NBC 5 Chicago and Bill Moller of WLS (ABC) Radio (who’s show I appeared on many times when he was the hosted WGN Radio’s Money Show). All are featured several times including the first five event photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/the_combine/sets/72157622631814475/show/
To commemorate this historic event, we launched a new recruiting consulting service called human resource planning to assist our clients. Though we still offer thorough executive search focused on technical recruiting (e.g. Director of Engineering), this practice started informally 18 months ago when several of our clients requested our assistance. Since then, many more clients have contacted us for this support. As a result, we have now formalized this practice to include:
Please go to http://www.strategicsearch.com/technical-recruiting-tips/ and click on #5 to view this month’s technical recruiting tip, which is the 5th magical interview question, “Why did you leave?” You want to ask and restate this question throughout the interview. This will help you to gain more insight into this job candidate’s mindset.
For example, if you are interviewing someone who repeatedly left their last jobs due to overtime and your job requires a lot of overtime, then this candidate is probably not a good fit for your staffing requirements. Therefore, remember to ask, “Why did you leave?” throughout your interview process.
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