June 10, 2013
Recruiting, Staffing & Employment News – June 2013
Gathering Steam
Redfish’s main recruiting in May involved Quality Assurance, Systems and other Software Engineers, as well as Delivery Managers. The main tech sectors where we were busiest include Cloud/Grid Computing, Performance Management Software, Network Intelligence, and 3D Mapping Software.
Tech sectors are steaming along, and the competition to hire talent is on-going. There is also a shortage of qualified talent in sectors like health care, biotech and cleantech.
The wider economy appears to be gathering steam as well. Indications of the recovery include the U.S. economy growth at a 2.4%, brisk vehicle sales, and very important real estate gains. The jobs report Friday showed that payrolls rose 175,000 last month after a revised 149,000 increase in April that was smaller than first estimated (private payrolls rose 178,000 after gaining 157,000 in April); the unemployment rate rose to 7.6 percent from 7.5 percent. (more…)
May 6, 2013
Recruiting, Staffing & Employment News – May 2013
Numbers are okay
Employment growth was up over last month, the economy grew 2.5%, unemployment numbers are down to 7.5%, so far so good, the big numbers are looking okay.
Dialing down, job growth was mostly driven in the professional and business services (+73,000), food services and drinking places (+38,000), retail trade (+29,000), and health care (+19,000) sectors.
In April, Redfish Technology’s main placement growth was in mobile video advertising, mobile financial services, mobile application tools, and enterprise content management.
In tech hot spots, such as Silicon Valley, there’s intense competition for tech talent; at the same time there is reluctance to change jobs by many in the sector. “Staffing firms in the technology space are definitely very active today,” said Scot Melland, chairman, CEO and president of Dice Holdings, “and they’re seeing their businesses do pretty well.”
CareerXroads did a source of hire survey recently that shows that as we pull out of the recession, the largest U.S employers report growing usage of retained and contingent recruiters, especially with the harder to fill roles. In 2005, reportedly 5.2% of jobs were filled by external recruiters, compared to 2.3% in 2009 and now at 3.1% in 2012.
The survey further reports that at 24.5% the biggest percentage of external hires comes from referrals; that is the lowest percentage since 2001. In 2011, the companies in the survey said 28% of their external hires were the result of referrals.
April 15, 2013
 Top Ten Best Places to Work Redfish Technology Inc. Honored on 2013 ‘Best Places to Work’ List
Redfish Technology was named among the “Best Places to Work” in Idaho. Winners are companies that reflect exceptional performance in the areas of Compensation and Benefits, Employee Growth and Development, Work-Life Balance, Workplace Environment, and Company Management.
(more…)
April 8, 2013
Recruiting, Staffing & Employment News – April 2013
Slow Spring It Would Seem
In March, Redfish Technology hit its 20,000th job order and reported high tech has been especially hot in the e-learning, software-as-a-service, cloud, disruptive software and gamification sectors.
The development side of hiring has been predominantly for product managers, quality assurance and delivery managers, and on the sales and sales support side for managed services, account executives, and client services engineers. (more…)
March 12, 2013
Recruiting, Staffing & Employment News
While sequester is dampening employment, the technology sector sizzles on!
It’s not a great moment to be working for the government, but the private technology sector is sizzling. The coals are hot in disruptive software, digital media, mobile content distribution, HD internet and satellite technologies. Product Management, Development Operations, and Quality Assurance were the hottest hires recruited by Redfish Technology last month.
Mirroring Redfish’s pipeline, employers in the Silicon Valley area plan to increase hiring through the second quarter of the year, according to the latest economic survey by the West Valley Staffing Group. The survey includes hiring managers from industries such as tech, manufacturing, electronics, finance, semiconductor, medical, aerospace and alternative energy. (more…)
January 14, 2013
Discover the Best Graduate Degrees for Emerging Careers
Are you looking for a way to qualify for “hot jobs” in a poor economy?
Instead of aiming for a graduate or professional degree which personally interests you (folklore or film, anyone?) or impresses friends and family (M.D, MBA, J.D.), let’s consider more objective criteria:
- New and emerging occupations
- Positive job market outlook
- Good return on investment
- Breadth and depth; interdisciplinary with focus
- Experiential (internship, co-op, or capstone component)
The Occupational Information Network (U.S. Department of Labor/Employment and Training Administration), has prepared a list of emerging occupations by industry. Some of the career fields generally requiring a master’s degree are listed here: (more…)
January 7, 2013
Recruiting, Staffing & Employment News
Stable but Slow,
Employees Optimistic
Despite ADP’s optimistic report of 215,000 new private sector jobs, the U.S. Department of Labor reported gains of 168,000 in private payrolls, which was slightly higher than analysts’ forecasts. The overall growth in employment including government cutbacks netted an increase of 155,000. November payrolls were revised upward.
The goods-producing sector rebounded by 59,000 in December after a loss of 1,000 in November. Construction jobs also showed gains of 30,000 following a November dip of 10,000. Manufacturing increased 25,000 over a small increase of 5,000 the month before. (more…)
December 10, 2012
 Staffing & Employment News
Jobs Up, Unemployment Rate Down, Bullhorn Up, Monster Down
The jobs report showed 176,000 jobs created in November, outdoing analysts’ forecasts of only 80,000. Private payrolls accounted for 147,000 of these new jobs. The unemployment rate dropped to 7.7%, a 4-year low. (more…)
September 10, 2012
Staffing & Employment News
Mixed Signals
While ADP projected a gain of 201,000 private payrolls last Thursday, the very next day the BLS employment data reported that only 103,000 private sector jobs were created. The anemic jobs report begs the question of whether the Fed will start another round of easing. (more…)
June 29, 2012
The Best-Kept Secrets of Successful Job Seekers
 Jessica Holbrook Hernandez By Jessica Hernandez
Do you ever wonder why other candidates are bombarded with calls for interviews and are fielding offers for jobs left and right … while you’re struggling to garner any attention at all from hiring managers? It could be as simple as the resources these candidates have available to them and how they utilize them. (more…)
March 26, 2012
Plate Spinning, the Art of Successful Recruiting
 Leah O’Flynn By Leah O’Flynn
Plate spinning is an intense physical and psychological feat; it is both an art form and a methodology. Professionals focus on spinning numerous plates, simultaneously, while performing any number of acrobatic maneuvers, balancing goals, and bringing moving parts to a graceful crescendo. Sounds like recruiting, doesn’t it? (more…)
January 16, 2012
6 Ways to Engage Passive Candidates
As a small business owner, engaging passive candidates for positions you’re looking to fill can be an important strategy. There are many reasons for this, the main one being that passive candidates – those who are happy with their current jobs and aren’t actively looking for a new job – often possess more skills and experience than those who are actively looking for jobs.
This may be especially true when it comes to your small business. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, small businesses have more employees (based on percentage) with a high school education or less, and larger firms have more employees with bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Get in on that talent when they aren’t necessarily looking for a job with a small business like yours by learning how to engage passive candidates. Here are six options for doing so:
1. Use Social Media
It’s no surprise that social media like Twitter and Facebook is one of the top ways to engage passive candidates in today’s job environment. Everybody’s got an account, so why not use that to your advantage? This recruitment strategy has worked out particularly well for companies like Starbucks, which uses Facebook and Twitter to turn fans into partners (employees).
Social media can help you in several ways. Use social networks like LinkedIn to get information on potential employees, and use other social networks to brand not just your business but your employment. You can use social media to talk about the various challenges your employees are meeting, and you can even throw out job opportunities on your social media network to reach a larger pool of potential candidates for free.
2. Create a Company Blog
Have your employees write blog articles on what they’re currently working on. This can showcase your business and the benefits and challenges you bring to your employees. It can also help brand your business for potential employees as well as for customers. Showing your business as a great place to work can be one of the best ways to bring in passive candidates who are already relatively happy with their current jobs.
You may also want to provide industry news on your company’s blog. This can keep potential employees coming back for more information every day. Help them stay on top of the latest standards and news, and once you become their favorite source of information, they’ll view you more favorably and will be more likely to read any job postings you put on your company’s blog.
3. Write Enticing Job Descriptions
If you don’t know exactly what a potential job is going to entail, passive candidates are going to pick up on that. Remember, these aren’t people who are actively searching for jobs. That means they’re not going to jump on – or even consider! – a job with a poorly thought-out and poorly written job description.
If you’re not much of a writer, consider hiring a freelancer to write job descriptions for you. Just make sure that you spend plenty of time nailing down exactly what the job will entail and then talk over the details with your writer to make sure you get a job description that is both accurate and enticing.
4. Contact them Personally
When you find some passive candidates in whom you are interested, try contacting them personally, either through email or on the phone. Often times, they’ll be willing to speak with you, even if they aren’t currently looking for a new job. The key here is to be personal and to be genuinely interested in the person you’re speaking with. You may not get them to come to your company right way, but you could end up having a good conversation that will lead to a hire-on later down the road.
5. Targeted Email or Mobile Updates
Provide potential candidates with job updates through email or on their mobile devices. The key here is not to annoy every passive candidate by showering them with updates about jobs that aren’t relevant to their skill set or interests. Instead, target job updates so that they only go to individuals who may be truly interested in the jobs that have come up at your company.
6. Offer Presentations
Finally, you can continue to make yourself valuable to employees in your industry by offering free certification, training, or presentations on industry-related topics. This can be a good way to get passive candidates in your door, where you can have face-to-face conversations with them about the benefits your company has to offer them in exchange for their work. Your business can seek to run federal or state certification courses, or you can just host experts to present on industry topics in an informal environment.
7. Use a Recruiter
Does this sound like too much to do and run your business? Recruiting is a specialized field and the talent management experts specializing in your business sector can take the weight off of your shoulders. From actively recruiting talent to maintaining an ongoing relationship with thousands of passive candidates, recruiters can find and bring on-board the valuable human assets that your business needs, when you need them.
About the Author
Daniela Baker is a small business blogger and social media advocate at CreditDonkey, a credit card comparison website.
January 9, 2012
Staffing & Employment News
Growth Stronger than Expected
from Redfish Technology
December’s employment report showed progress in job creation with a stronger showing than expects. The unemployment rate fell to 8.5 percent, December payroll jobs hit a fairly healthy 200,000, private payrolls hitting 212,000. (more…)
December 19, 2011
Happy Holidays from our team to yours!
Whether you will get merry at Christmas, illuminated at Hanukkah, or dec’d out for Kwanzaa, we hope you have a great yearend!
Redfish is celebrating a great 2011.
 Rob Reeves, President, CEO – Redfish Technology “Amid the Noise and Haste of 2011, we’ve managed to stay the course we set and solidify our partnerships in both the Tech Sector and the Clean Tech Sector. (more…)
August 29, 2011
Winning the Tech Talent War
 Andy Nacsin by Andy Nacsin, Executive Recruiter
In today’s economic situation, companies are facing multiple new challenges when it comes to staffing. According to Forrester Research, today’s recruiting growth rate prediction is at 8%. Many theorists believe that this is because of the looming talent shortage and disconnect between positions open and skills of candidates applying. Another factor is that companies, while emerging from recession, are still remaining cautious on spending and are very selective when acquiring talent, regardless of their growing need to add headcount. Our nationwide overall unemployment rate has been hovering around 10%, and yet when we take a closer look within technology these numbers are closer to 4%. Other considerations that are affecting this climate are employee turnover, Baby Boomers retiring, more restrictive policies on foreign workers, companies resistant to relocation costs, and overall reluctance from employees to change jobs. So our challenge is how to cope with a growing talent shortage within the high tech and green tech industries.
The battle for top sales people and engineers is extraordinary in Silicon Valley and New York – These are our Talent War battle zones. The majority of technology growth occurs in these two large geographic regions and they also typically house the greatest number of top tier talent. (more…)
August 22, 2011
Prioritizing Human Capital
By James Kim
Despite the importance of the small business employee in a company and the American economy in general, the study and a strategic awareness of human capital has been neglected in many business services. However human capital management (HCM) should be a priority for companies.
Recruitment
- Build a presence: Create a website that communicates company goals and ideals and always update your website’s content. The first place a prospective employee is going to look when applying is your website. (more…)
July 11, 2011
Staffing & Employment News
Gloom and confidence, contradictory predictions on hiring and profits
Gloomy employment report numbers a surprise
The Employment Report for June has been called “moribund” and “abysmal”. On the eve of the report however, ADP predicted month-to-month strength in private payroll data, estimating a 157,000 gain. Other analysts also predicted better gains, projecting 125,000 in June. Instead, the BLS reported private payrolls at 75,000 and overall nonfarm payrolls at 18,000 due to declines in government sector employment (39,000 in June, 48,000 in May).
Confidence down despite projected rise in profits
The Conference Board measure of CEO Confidence dipped in the second quarter to 55, after rising in Q1 to 67. Lynn Franco, Director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center said: “CEO confidence cooled considerably in the second quarter, a reflection of a sluggish U.S. economy. Looking ahead, expectations are that this slow pace of economic growth will continue. Regarding the outlook for profits over the next 12 months, the news was a bit more favorable, with about 70 % of CEOs anticipating profit increases.” (more…)
July 7, 2011
 Shannon Tinker Hiring the Right Candidate:
Set Bait, Cut Bait
By Shannon Tinker
While staffing industry pros are acutely aware of the ins and outs of finding and closing candidates, I’d bet the rest of the world doesn’t spend much time contemplating the hiring process. In fact, during a candidate rich market, employers may land their dream candidate by skipping a bunch of hiring “steps,” including “the close.” But what happens when the market shifts?
An improving job market isn’t all roses and smiley faces. Simple supply and demand dictates, and unfortunately a flourishing job market also, lead to losing more candidates to competing opportunities. While tragic, some losses are unavoidable. Yet, other times a quick re-read of the “Closing Candidates 101” handbook may give you the upper hand.
Closing the right candidate really requires little or no sales ability whatsoever and is remarkably simple. Really. (more…)
May 9, 2011
Staffing & Employment News
Most Robust Growth in 5 Years, Yet Mixed Messages about the Employment Outlook
Friday’s employment situation report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics was stronger than anticipated with non-farm private payroll showing increased employment of 268,000 last month, surpassing March’s strong showing of 231,000. This growth is the most robust in five years, and marks the seventh straight month of employment increases. Nonetheless, jobless rate climbed and government jobs fell by 24,000.
The 43,000 surge in jobless claims is explained by various factors but nonetheless was higher than last month. The unemployment rate went from 8.8% to 9.0% month over month. The longer trend remains positive: “The economy has added 2.1 million private sector jobs over 14 consecutive months, including more than 800,000 jobs since the beginning of the year. The unemployment rate rose to 9.0 percent, but remains 0.8 percentage point below its November level”, according to Austan Goolsbee, Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors. (more…)
March 31, 2011
Staffing & Employment News
Good News on the Hiring Front
2011 continues to get busier. Following a great 2010 in which Redfish Technology Inc. more than doubled our revenue, we are enjoying a very strong first quarter. This rebound is being felt within the recruiting industry and American businesses in many industries.
The Association of Executive Search Consultants proclaimed 2010 to be the “Year of Resurgence” for Executive Search Industry. Their end of year report released in March indicates that Senior Executive Recruiting is at the third highest level ever as the demand for senior talent rebounds. While 2009 saw a contraction of 32.5%, in 2010 the industry is reported to have grown by 28.5%. According to AESC this only 13% below the industry climax of 2008.
Peter Felix, President of the AESC, stated that “Leadership today is at a premium since organizations cannot ignore the challenges of new competition, evolving technology, industry convergence and globalization. Finding and attracting the superior executive talent able to manage change of this magnitude is an investment process of the highest order and requires optimum professional help.”
The Business Roundtable’s first quarter 2011 CEO Economic Outlook Survey was released yesterday with an equally exciting prognosis. CEOs of America’s leading companies are reported to anticipate higher sales and plan to increase capital expenditures and employment over the next six months. These top executives collectively estimate real GDP growth at nearly 3% in 2011.
“With today’s survey results, the last three quarters have shown steady improvement in the CEO economic outlook. Our CEOs see momentum in the economy over the next six months, with increased demand fueling greater investment and job creation,” said Ivan G. Seidenberg, Chairman of Business Roundtable and Chairman and CEO of Verizon Communications. “This shift continues a trend as reflected in recent employment data, with the private sector leading the way in creating more jobs.”
ADP’s preliminary private payroll count for March indicates 201,000 jobs were added; actual February payrolls rose 222,000. Look for the Employment Report this Friday.
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