A crop of smart firms are starting to employ older workers who wantand needto labor longer.

Davina Lloyd knows the perils of ageism. At 50, her career as a successful British magazine editor had abruptly stalled. “Like other skilled professionals, I found that mysteriously I just wasn’t being called to the interviews.” Solution: she launched her own recruitment agency, dedicated to finding employment for older workers. Six years on, Agewise Recruitment lists more than 3,000 names on its books and has helped a slew of frustrated job seekers, from diplomats to accountants, back into work in the face of continuing prejudice.

A number of companies across the Atlanticboth old and neware doing the same. Across the developed world, the first group of baby boomers are still healthy and eager to work (and many have to, thanks to pension cutbacks). Yet age-discrimination suits across much of America and Europe are running at near-record highs, as companies push older workers out in favor of younger, cheaper staff, willing and able to work round the clock. A 25-nation survey by the international recruitment agency Manpower earlier this year found that fewer than a quarter of businesses had strategies in place to recruit or retain older workers. Yet there are skill shortages in key industries that boomers can fill. Why the disconnect? Put simply: “Employers prefer workers that are young, attractive, intelligent and single,” says Ken Dychtwald, founder of Age Wave, a U.S.-based research and consulting firm that specializes in aging populations.

That’s an attitude that corporate strategists may come to regret. While OECD figures show that less than 60 percent of 50- to 65-year-olds in mature economies work, those numbers will shift as demographics push up the age of the employment pool. The boomers are certainly ready: only 12 percent of people now in their 40s and 50s expect to quit the workplace early, according to a global survey published earlier this year by the British bank HSBC.

Need is a huge factor, as retirement benefits and pensions dwindle on either side of the Atlantic, but many professional boomers are also bored by the prospect of endless golf and want to keep a hand in work. More than 10 percent of Americans ages 55 to 59 are collecting retirement benefits from one employer and working for another.

The impetus to employ older workers is especially strong in skills-scarce industries like technology and health care. Companies such as Hoffman-La Roche, Cigna, Mitre and Aerospace have established retiree temp pools with formal legal and compensation arrangements. In 2003, P&G and Eli Lilly founded YourEncore, a kind of employment agency for retired scientists and engineers that matches its 4,000 global “experts” to temporary needs at 23 member companies.

The Internet is also changing the game. Niche Web sites such as RetireeWorkforce.com and Dinosaurexchange.com hope to compete with Monster.com and the like by targeting seniors and the employers who need them. Dow Chemical will soon launch a social-networking site for its employees, including a special area for retirees, where current employees can tap their expertise.

In Europe, there’s a new vogue for “interim management”employing former bosses on short-term projects. “These people can just move in for three or six months, use their expertise and thenbangmove on to somewhere else, if that’s what they want,” says Tom Hadley of the Britain-based Recruitment and Employment Confederation. In recent years, scores of recruitment agencies have adapted to meet the changing demands while enterprising newcomers such as Agewise have entered the field to cater specifically to older workers. Trends are working in their favor as European employers turn increasingly to flexible short-termers. In Spain, one in three workers now appears on the payroll as a temp. U.S. firms are also keen on contract workers, as the lack of health-care costs results in higher profits for firms. At Scripps’s hospitals throughout San Diego, California, for example, 40 percent of the staff is 50 or older, with customized schedules that include a choice between higher pay or benefits.

The mix of options will increase only as boomer spending power does. The 50-plus population “controls most of the world’s wealth,” notes Dychtwald. As boomers shell out more in areas like financial services, tourism and retail, experts say those industries will begin hiring more older workers. We may see more boomers selling each other everything from annuities to package holidays. “We grew up being told you can have it allhave babies and a major career,” says Beth Gulas, whose U.S.-based consultancy, WorkPlace Management, makes a point of employing older staffers on easy schedules appropriate to their ages. Consultants average just 30 percent of their time on the road, compared with 90 percent in their youth. “We wore ourselves out,” she says. “Now, as older workers, we really can have it all. If we’re not accommodated, we’ll teach, become a consultant or go to a nonprofit.” Spoken with the optimism of a true boomer.

© %FIRST Vick - visit the resume help area for more great content.

With rising gas prices and a shrinking economy, both employers and employees are looking for creative work arrangements that will save valuable resources. Some companies have adopted four-day workweeks, while others are encouraging employees to work from home.

If you have ever cherished the desire to work in your pajamas, now may be the time to pitch for it. Fortunately, technology has made it easy. With video conferencing tools, multi-party phone conferencing systems, webinars, online meeting and presentation technologies, and other cutting-edge tools, every business task that once required a physical presence can now be done virtually.

While some companies have fairly structured telecommuting policies, others are still unaware of such a possibility. If your company is a late adopter, you may have to do some work to convince your boss. We have outlined a few strategies:

Provide concrete proof

You may have to prove to your superiors that not only is telecommuting a possibility, it can actually produce comparable results in terms of quality and effectiveness. As a pilot, you may have to volunteer on extra projects and complete them from home. Once your boss starts seeing tangible results on these projects, he may become more open to telecommuting.

Don’t be unfair to your employer

Work-life balance, shorter commute time, gas savings — whatever may be your motivation for a telecommute lifestyle, don’t forget the employer’s needs. Evaluate your company’s requirements and propose a deal that would be fair to your employer. Offer to work an extra hour everyday (which could be less than your commute time), volunteer to work half days on Saturdays, offer to come half-day every day, or propose a late evening work schedule if that is what your company needs from you — give them some incentive.

Highlight benefits

Senior executives base their decision-making on numbers, models, and analyses. Perform cost-benefit analysis, provide ROI numbers, demonstrate cost savings — highlight benefits to the employer.

Provide a workable solution and an accountability mechanism

Your proposal should have details about how you will make this arrangement work. Describe a detailed system for feedback and accountability. If done correctly, this should alleviate most concerns about telecommuting.

Defend the disadvantages

Despite the numerous benefits, there are some downsides to telecommuting that your boss may be concerned about. Prepare compelling reasons describing how you will minimize the impact of these disadvantages.

Nimish Thakkar is a sought-after certified career management coach and professional resume writer. Through his resume writing service, ResumeCorner.com, and free career information site, SaiCareers.com, he has helped thousands of clients. SaiCareers.com features hundreds of free articles and thousands of resources.

© %FIRST Vick - visit the resume help area for more great content.

Not to spoil your Monday, but how prepared are you to lose your job?

There’s little excuse these days for not being ready to kick a job search into high gear at a moment’s notice. Better yet, aim to become the type of perennial passive job seeker who stays in touch with former colleagues and industry peers and gets a call every now and again from a recruiter looking for candidates.

There’s little mystery about how it’s done. The hard part is remembering that it’s necessary. The threat of recession is a good reminder.

“In survival mode, people hunker down as opposed to taking risk,” said Sharon Noha, senior vice president at Bannockburn-based executive development firm Robertson Lowstuter Inc. “There’s tremendous opportunities for people during mergers and restructurings to step out into areas where they don’t have a lot of experience. Yet, in the times when there are the most possibilities, a lot of people lose out.

Barbara Rose Barbara Rose Bio E-mail Recent columns

“If you’ve got your head down and you’re tucked in a little corner someplace, your boss leaves and then who knows you? If you’ve done your work by creating some visibility, you have a much better chance of somebody carving out a new responsibility. It’s not really that different from networking externally, and you need to be doing both.”

Here are some other suggestions from experts:

Be visible. Neil Schermitzler, a regional human resources manager in Rosemont for Fujitsu Computer Systems, recommends, “Be visible in a very positive way. Volunteer for projects. Volunteer for overtime.”

Network online. If you haven’t created or updated your profile on a professional networking site such as LinkedIn, you are missing out on an easy way to raise your external visibility, said Diana Smith, managing director in Chicago at The Novo Group, a professional-services recruiting firm.

“It’s like your Internet business card,” Smith said. “Treat it just like you would a good resume, only you’re not limited to two pages the way you are on a resume. Show concrete accomplishments and information about what you could bring an employer. It’s a way of getting that information out there without the awkwardness of your employer seeing your resume posted on job boards.”

Ask your boss to write a few sentences about you for your profile, she recommends, or “write one for them first and ask them to return the favor. I’ve had a lot of my staff ask me to do this for them over the years. As a manager, I would expect them to put themselves out there and stay in touch with colleagues.”

Set benchmarks. Financial planner Michael Haubrich of Milwaukee-based Financial Service Group Inc. recommends benchmarking yourself every few years against the job market to find out how relevant and transferable your skills and experience are and what others in comparable positions make.

“It’s a good tactic for everyone periodically but especially now,” he said.

He recalls a client who initially resisted the notion that her biggest financial risk was job loss because she was overpaid, based on a career adviser’s assessment of what her job was worth and her transferable skills.

“When the company was sold, her job was on the chopping block,” he said. “They kept her long enough to do the knowledge transfer. She ended up working in a different industry, but her income is considerably lower.”

Start a career fund. Haubrich also recommends preparing for the inevitable job changes and career transitions by starting a “career asset working-capital fund,” in addition to your emergency reserves of three to six months of fixed expenses.

The fund has three functions: to continue lifelong education, to finance job changes and to fund sabbaticals during career makeovers or when you step out of the workforce for family or personal reasons.

One option is putting money aside in a Section 529 college tuition savings plan, where it can grow tax free. Most people think of using 529 plans to save for their children and grandchildren, but you can make yourself the beneficiary.

The main lesson from Haubrich’s suggestion is that you will need to invest in maintaining your most important asset, often without help from an employer. The amount depends on your salary, your career’s volatility and how many changes you make.

Young workers face the prospect of changing jobs nearly nine times before they reach age 32, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In March, the average length of unemployment for all ages was nearly 17 weeks. Workers over 50 face longer job searches.

“It’s obvious that a fund for job-change costs is a necessary part of a personal financial plan,” Haubrich said. “Figure out how much are we talking about and where can you get access to it so it’s available when you need it.”

© %FIRST Vick - visit the resume help area for more great content.

“It is a special kind of employee who steps forward and takes responsibility to get the job done,” says Col. Allen Weh, retired US Marine Corps reserve officer, and president and CEO of CSI Aviation Services Inc.

Weh, who founded CSI in 1979, employs former military personnel and is often asked for advice from veterans seeking to transfer their military skills to the business world. Here’s how he thinks vets can best present their skills in resumes and job interviews.

Employers Appreciate Veterans

“My manager of special operations, Vincent Nulk, a former Air Force Captain and helicopter pilot, oversees one of CSI’s sensitive contracts,” says Weh, who goes on to describe the type of workers veterans typically exemplify.

Nulk’s mission is to provide the client with large aircraft that fly all hours of the night. “My man will work a 60-hour week, including weekends, and does not have any problem getting up at 2 a.m. to bird-dog a maintenance issue. He’s a hard worker and a valuable asset to the company.” Nulk shows leadership, stamina and willingness to go the extra mile — traits that are valued and rewarded in the workplace.

Interview Tip: Describe a military operation where you pushed yourself to do more than was required and show how that project was successfully completed due to your efforts or the combined efforts of your team. Teamwork is often encouraged in the workplace and can be an easily translatable job skill.

Proudly Display Your Military Experience

Weh has received some of the best resumes from veterans who include their billet title and military rank. “People who don’t acknowledge their military careers are not helping themselves,” Weh says. “I saw a retired lieutenant colonel’s resume that simply listed vague managerial skills, and the only reference to his military career was that he served in the US Air Force. An employer could have mistaken his military career for one at IBM.”

Employers cannot glean a complete understanding of your work potential if you disguise your past. Given that a typical HR manager won’t comprehend the significance of title and rank, veterans should also include an equivalent civilian title. For example, a commanding general can list the equivalent civilian title as chief executive officer.

Resume Tip: Don’t disguise your rank to civilianize your resume — that discounts your military faculties. As a veteran, you can help the civilian sector understand more about the military. And if companies understand, they might feel less intimidated.

What Does and Doesn’t Belong on a Resume?

Everyone in the military works in an occupational field, and according to Weh, “you have to translate how you’ve evolved in your military career.” However, some of your daily duties are not applicable to the civilian workplace. For example, if you were an infantry or artillery officer, shooting cannons does not apply. But if you’re an air traffic controller, there’s an actual counterpart civilian job, and you should list the skill set that relates to the position.

Resume Tip: Some job seekers will have an easier time adapting their skills to civilian jobs, but for those whose qualifications aren’t directly transferable, you’ll need to start thinking about how you’ve used your skills to achieve tangible and measurable results.

Don’t Embellish Your Military Skills

“There’s nothing wrong with giving credit where credit’s due, but embellishing is wrong,” says Weh. Some career coaches encourage veterans to decorate their resumes in civilianese. For example, a veteran might claim that managing millions of dollars for the military is similar to someone doing the same in the private sector. “Money management in the military is totally different than money management in civilian life,” Weh says. “People in the military have a budget, but they didn’t earn it, and it’s often spent by consensus.”

Resume Tip: Acknowledge skills like the ability to organize, analyze or lead. Emphasize time management, communication skills and conflict-resolution capabilities. Match your skills with those required in the job you’re applying for.

Search for hundreds of thousands of jobs now at www.military.com/careers

© %FIRST Vick - visit the resume help area for more great content.

The latter means you need to consider taking a class or attending a seminar that could jump-start your rise on the corporate ladder. Also, update your resume, make sure you have interview attire and schedule interviews to evaluate your job situation, even if you’re not looking.

“You never know when an opportunity may come up,” said Mike Boffo, an account executive at PrincetonOne, a national recruiting company.

Do you wonder if the grass is really greener on the other side? You may want to test the waters at another company.

“You should be ready to respond quickly,” Boffo said.

Update your resume

Treat your resume like a fire alarm. Make sure it’s ready at all times, even if you aren’t looking for a job. It should be fresh and current.

Update it with accomplishments, promotions, seminar and conference attendance (with dates), software proficiencies, etc.

“If you wait until you are forced or decide to move on, you’ll struggle to remember or take the chance of inserting incorrect information,” Boffo said.

Update your closet

Does your suit fit? Is it clean? It may be a good time to hit the mall or visit the cleaners.

Your wardrobe should be conservative, but that doesn’t mean a black suit.

advertising

“Certainly no colorful plaids or stripes,” Boffo said.

And for women, open-toed shoes are a no-no.

They should be conservative, not sexy.

Your briefcase should include a copy of your updated resume and references, a notebook with at least five prepared questions and any letters of recommendation.

Evaluate your situation

Revisit your yearly goals. Make a list of new ones and be realistic. Think about what drives you and where you want to be a year, two, five and 10 years from now.

“Compare where you are in your career against your goals,” said Boffo.

Compare your job to another position you may interview for. Visit the other employer’s Web site, talk with others about the company and enlist other resources to better understand the company and its products, services and history.

Sometimes, a lateral move in income is acceptable if your situation improves in other ways.

See if the grass really is greener on the other side. Find what your shade of green is.

“In other words, why are you not happy where you are?” said Boffo.

Be cautious and selective about whom you talk to. Try not to let your employer know you are interviewing elsewhere. Instead, talk to someone who works at the other company or someone who knows its culture.

Schedule some interviews

Be an attentive listener and be concise with answers. But you don’t want to appear rushed at an interview.

Don’t try to use a job offer as leverage at your current job.

“Your employer will always feel that you betrayed him and he will never look at you the same again,” Boffo said.

Educate yourself

Technology changes rapidly. Staying up-to-date on industry trends can help prove you take your current position seriously.

See if your current employer offers classes on industry trends, attend seminars, take classes at a local university or sign up for continuing-education classes.

If your industry requires yearly continuing-education classes, spring is a good time to sign up for classes, even if they are months away.

© %FIRST Vick - visit the resume help area for more great content.

For example, you think your boyfriend is cheating on you. So you start “looking” for proof. You search his pants pocket, you find a telephone number. You tap into his voicemail and you hear the other woman’s voice. The fact of the matter is the proof has been there the whole time. You didn’t actually “find” anything you didn’t already know.

The same applies with a job. Do a search for any type of position on any online job board. I guarantee your search will return one or more jobs. Go buy a Sunday newspaper this weekend. I assure you that the classified ad section will be full of job listings. In spite of the current state of our economy, many businesses continue to thrive and need employees.

I understand, you are out of work and you need a job. I want you to get one! But to accomplish that goal, you have to stop wasting your time “looking” for a job and invest your time on true results, getting the job.

Identify your strengths and opportunities. What type of work are you good at? Are you skilled enough to convince an employer to hire you? That is a talent in and of its self. What capabilities do you have to offer a company? What sets you apart from your competition? Do you know what the current unemployment rate is? If not, check it out by visiting the Bureau of Labor Statistics website. To call it competition is really an understatement.

Realistically if a company offers you a job at $50,000.00 a year, they really want to know if you can produce them $100,000.00 a year. What will be the true return on their investment in you? If you can not answer that question today, again I urge you to stop “looking” for a job, and spend your time and energy developing a marketing strategy for yourself that will put you in a position to convince your next employer to hire you. Employers need to know what you can do for them. The jobs are out there. Well prepared, qualified candidates with something to offer is what is hard to find.

Ricklyn Woods is the founder of Career Development Network, LLC, and is committed to helping others succeed in their careers through ongoing coaching and education. For information, career advice, and upcoming workshops please visit http://www.grow-your-career.com

© %FIRST Vick - visit the resume help area for more great content.

If you want to find the right career, firstyou must look inwardly and identify your personality traits. If the career you are thinking about matches your character analysis, you’ve hit the jackpot. The result? The best job in the world, right in your own back pocket.

Too many artists and musicians were steered into accounting jobs. Too many potential athletes are laying concrete. Are you in the right job for your personality?

If you’re living a spiritual lifestyle and you want practical career guidance in finding the career your Soul longs for, then let’s make sure you are on the right track.

I will show you how to find the job that best matches your personality.

Let me give you an example of a big mismatch and perhaps it will seem familiar to you. One of the worst jobs I ever had was when I desperately needed a job to help support my marriage and baby. My cousin encouraged me to apply at her manufacturing, assembly-line-type company in North Hollywood, California.

The pay wasn’t very good. I was standing for very long periods of time and the work never changed.

The reason this was not the best job for me was because my personality and the position were mismatched. They needed someone who wanted and enjoyed repetitive, quiet work and I thought it was akin to jail.

If I’d only known my own needs before I took that job, I would have chosen better. We do better when we know better. What I really needed from any job was an exciting career that would not add to my family problems.

This job was a total mismatch because:

I missed my baby and felt guilty for leaving her with a baby sitter. This job pulled me away from home for nine hours a day.

I love people and am quite a talker. Those I worked with were great, but we were encouraged to work quickly and quietly. I needed regular social interaction.

I am naturally curious and like to try new things. Assembly line work at this company only provided repetitive work. I thought I would go crazy!

After only working one month, I quit and began a job search for one that better matched my personality.

It’s imperative that if you are going to find work you love, that you define your own personality and look for the spiritual gifts (these would be skills, talents, values, interests and hobbies) you were born with. Once you know this information you can go out and get the career of your dreams.

Begin with these simple questions:

Which do I prefer, mental work or physical work?

Which do I prefer, working indoors or out?

Would I rather work alongside others in a group effort, or work alone?

When you answer these 3 simple questions, you will have begun the journey of Discovering Your Life’s Work. Why would a “social butterfly” work at night in a back room alone? Why would an insomniac work days? Why would an idea person pull weeds?

The journey of Discovering Your Life’s Work will be thrilling and life-fulfilling. Begin by asking yourself those 3 questions and start a good business plan. The career match for your personality is just around the corner.

For updates on how to find your best career/personality match go to Life’s Work Career

For further information on the Spiritual application of this subject go to Applying Spiritual Principles

Certified Behavioral Therapist and Spiritual Career Counselor, Kathi Calahan, helps others find the work best suited to their personalities. Her background includes teaching at two different California community colleges, a business representative at the Camp Verde Chamber of Commerce and for many years developed her spiritual side by working as a Professional Psychic. Her work centers around helping others discover their life’s work.

© %FIRST Vick - visit the resume help area for more great content.

Across the globe, baby boomers are leaving their cubicles, putting together business plans and becoming entrepreneurs.

Whether these boomers get financial, social or emotional gains, or a combination of each, many are finding more joy in running their own business than jobs they held in the corporate world.

Giving back to the community is what Jim Newsom, co-owner of the Fort Worth Running Co. on Camp Bowie Boulevard, gets from his career shift.

Seven years ago, Newsom left a management position at RadioShack Corp., where he worked for eight years.

“Forty hours a week sitting at a computer screen, it just had gotten to the point where I couldn’t do it anymore,” Newsom said. “A sit-down desk job for a few years, it’s OK, but after a while you get to the point where this ain’t fun anymore.”

Newsom left RadioShack, bought out a partner at his son’s store, the Fort Worth Running Co., became co-owner and hasn’t looked back, he said.

In 2007, 4.7 million baby boomers between ages 45 to 64 were self-employed in non-agriculture industries, with 812,000 self-employed in the agriculture industry, said Teri Morisi, an economist with the United States Department of Labor.

The move toward entrepreneurship is growing across the world and two schools of thought exist as to why boomers leave their jobs: They are either pushed or pulled to leave, said Siri Terjesen, assistant professor at Texas Christian University’s Neeley School of Business. In 2006, Terjesen wrote her thesis on the trend.

Being pushed from a job comes from frustration with unhappiness, a bad work environment, the glass ceiling or feeling unchallenged to the point that a person leaves a company, Terjesen said. Being pulled toward entrepreneurship is when a person follows a long-standing desire to do something different, start a new venture and change their career.

“I think in most cases it’s a little bit of both,” Terjesen said. “People are frustrated with or would like to change their current situation, and not just change careers or jobs but would like to change it to start something new.”

Age may have something to do with the trend, she said.

“There’s this idea that there are certain ages when people suddenly feel like they’ve got a kick in the butt, and those are ages that end with 0 or 5; so 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 65, just hitting that milestone birthday can be something,” Terjesen said.

Becoming an entrepreneur after a corporate job often gives a person a sense of control and an outlet to use skills they learned in the course of their corporate job, but may not have been able to use before changing careers, Terjesen said.

“You’re suddenly in control of all of your value chain of activity, where as, say you worked in sales at RadioShack, so you were responsible for store sales and hiring, but you weren’t responsible for corporate strategy or store strategy, or even hiring, maybe that was somebody else, suddenly you’re responsible for all of those elements,” Terjesen said.

Sometimes, however, baby boomers leave their jobs and go into an unrelated field, such as a person in retail sales moving to open a restaurant. For people who move into an unrelated field, the risk of failure in their business increases, but that isn’t always the case, Terjesen said.

Newsom has a degree in management and experience in management from his corporate job, and feels like he’s using what he learned throughout his career more effectively now at the Fort Worth Running Co. than he has before, he said.

“The fact is with this business, it’s brought me closer to management principles than anything I’ve ever done in my life,” Newsom said.

For anyone jumping into the entrepreneurial world, having a solid business plan is the most important first step and is often challenging to put together, Terjesen said.

The Fort Worth Business Assistance Center, which is part of the city’s economic development department, offers a $450, 10-week training course called Project NEW where someone can begin the course with only a business idea and end with a completed business plan.

The course provides information on market research; how to organize a business legally, as in deciding whether to have a partnership or limited liability corporation; how to put a marketing plan together; how to use the Internet to research the business; business planning; record keeping and managing cash flow, said Dorothy Wing, manager of business development for Fort Worth.

While boomers fall into an age group where individuals most often have the start-up capital and experience to open a business, Terjesen often hears her students say they want to enter the corporate world for three to five years to gain experience and learn business skills, then leave to start their own venture.

© %FIRST Vick - visit the resume help area for more great content.

Since senior and executive level candidates generally do not post their resumes on popular job boards, sourcing candidates with specific industry skills and proven leadership talent may take more time than projected. Even with on-going departmental budget cuts, outsourcing executive search can be a wise decision.

Did you know that an executive recruiter works for the corporation not the job seeker? As a result a professional executive recruiting firm will align with your goals and objectives to fill senior leadership roles. The number one purpose for hiring an executive search firm is to have an experienced and professional resource to search, screen and interview highly qualified candidates for your organization.

Since the executive recruiting industry is fragmented, you may come across a number of small firms that offer the services you are seeking. While you may find a greater degree of comfort by working with a large company, hiring a small retained search firm can have its advantages. In fact, both large and small executive recruiting firms will assign a consultant to work with your account. Therefore, as long as the consultant has experience, you can safely choose a small and possibly even more personable executive search firm to manage your recruiting needs.

When evaluating an executive recruiting firm for your next high-level management opening, ask these questions.

* Have you ever worked with companies in our industry?
* Ask for references; were your previous clients satisfied?
* What are the industry standard rates?
* What is the average time to fulfill an assignment?
* Aside from the candidates’ credentials, will you learn what really drives a candidate?
* If we choose not to hire your candidate, what are the next steps?

In today’s economy, business decisions must be evaluated. While an unexpected expense can be difficult to justify, some unforeseen expenses can save time as well as frustration. If your recruiting efforts bring in unqualified candidates, then the cost to hire an experienced executive search firm will definitely outweigh its expense.

For critical or major positions why not evaluate retained executive recruiters in your area? Their services can be used to supplement in-house recruiting efforts and to attract the right candidates for your leading management positions.

Written by Carlos Aguilera. This article is brought to you by BlueBridge Group, an Atlanta based executive recruiting firm that provides boutique level executive search services nationwide. Visit us at http://www.bluebridgegroup.com for more information.

© %FIRST Vick - visit the resume help area for more great content.

First, So your RESEARCH and learn about potential companies and employers. The more you learn about the company you are interviewing for, the more interactive the interview will be and the more likely you are to stand out and rise above the competition.

Tap Network Resources

Start by seeing if there is anyone you know that works at the company you are interviewing with and ask them for key insights. Tap into the social and professional networking tools and get connected or re-connected. Next, do your job search and career planning research.

Top Websites for Company and Industry Research

Hoovers Online

A quick one-stop reference for business information: industry overviews, company directories, Fortune 500 lists and more.

BusinessWeek Online - Company Research

Search and research over 42,000 public and 322,000 private companies worldwide. Find stock quotes, news and press releases, financial data and key competitors. Research compensation, biographies, and board relationships of key company executives.

Forbes -Lists

Lists of everything imaginable - best small companies, best big companies, fastest growing, top private, world’s biggest and more.

The Inc. 5000

Quickly get information on the top 5,000 fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. With a quick click on Top 100 Lists you can drill-down and get all sorts of statistics on the top 100 fastest growing private companies.

Newslink

Easily search for news articles on the web on any given company, industry or topic. The site also has state and market links to every major media outlet: magazine, newspaper, TV and radio for easy access and on news with the U.S. and beyond .

Find Articles.com - Now Super-Powered by BNET

Another great news and article search tool that allows you to search by most popular topics, publications or by key categories and industries.

In summary, maximize your career planning time with these best career websites for research and learn all that you can about potential employers. Remember … you can never be too prepared.

Lisa Duncan is the Owner and Publisher of http://www.HotCareerSites.com With the underlying premise: Life is short. Love what you do! … the site is designed as a job search and career planning gateway developed to help people find the perfect job that is right for them.

Be remarkable, be amazing, be brilliant, be the very best at what you do!

Life is short. Love what you do!

© %FIRST Vick - visit the resume help area for more great content.