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Beyond.com Joins The Network, Replacing Yahoo! HotJobs

Beyond.com, Inc., the world's largest network of niche career communities, today announced it has been selected by The Network, the largest online recruitment solution in the world, to be their exclusive provider of recruitment services in the U.S. market for their multinational clients, replacing Yahoo! HotJobs. The Network is used by more than 1,000 customers with access to a pool of 100 million jobseekers across 121 countries. The relationship represents a natural partnership for Beyond.com, particularly on the heels of the Yahoo! HotJobs (NasdaqGS: YHOO) acquisition by Monster.com (MWW 11.03, -0.03, -0.27%), and The Network's need for U.S. representation by a leader in the career space.

The relationship allows numerous multinational organizations, many already leveraging The Network for their hiring needs, to fully utilize the Beyond.com Network of thousands of niche industry and geographic career communities to obtain even more relevant candidates for their positions. In addition, Beyond.com will be in a position to expand its portfolio worldwide through the extended reach of The Network.
 
The Network's addition of Beyond.com adds another market leader to its growing community within the online recruitment market including representatives in over 100 countries such as StepStone, a division of Axel Springer AG, Germany's largest newspaper and third-largest magazine publisher, TotalJobs.com, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Reed Elsevier Group plc, a FTSE 100 company and one of the world's largest publishing and information companies, Jobs.ch (Switzerland), Workopolis (Canada) and Jobstreet (Asia Pacific), among other dominant market players.

"We are honored to join a global organization whose members include the leading job boards around the world that have demonstrated success to thousands of employers and millions of candidates," said Rich Milgram, CEO, Beyond.com. "As the need for global recruiting becomes more and more critical, we are proud to be positioned as the natural Network partner for the U.S., and we look forward to working in tandem with our fellow partners in the member countries to provide unsurpassed global recruitment solutions."
 
Steven Lewis, International Director, Totaljobs Group and Managing Director, The Network says: "We are delighted to welcome Beyond.com to our global alliance and look forward to leveraging its relationships and reach to provide a more integrated service to recruiters looking for international jobseekers. Their proven experience in the U.S. and depth of network will be extremely valuable to our international clientele."

Pros and Cons When it Comes to Being Friends With Your Boss on Facebook

I recently watched an episode of Say Yes to the Dress (give me a break, it’s my guilty pleasure show, we all have one), and when one of the brides listed the members of her entourage that were there to help her pick out her gown, in addition to the usual mom, sister, and grandmother, she said her boss.  I had to rewind to confirm that I heard right and I did, her boss was there.

Let me tell you, I like my boss and in fact I think I like her more than most people like their direct supervisors, but I don’t think we will ever be at the point in our relationship where I would bring her with me to shop for my wedding dress.

We have a great working relationship and we enjoy catching up about the newest restaurants we’ve tried, movie we’ve seen, or jeans we’ve bought on sale, but there comes a point where you have to draw the line between personal and business.  But thanks to the world of social networking, it’s even harder for employees to escape their employer on their personal time. 

While Facebook started out as a site for college students to make connections, it is no longer opened only to an exclusive group, but rather it has been expanded to everyone and their mother (literally).  But mom’s aren’t the only late adopters of the addicting time suck known as Facebook—so are our bosses, and who can blame them, they should be able to play FarmVille too! 

When you first create your account it starts out as harmless fun of sharing pictures and cyber stalking your old college roommate, but the day will inevitable arrive when you receive that automated email that informs you that your boss wants to be friends with you on Facebook.  Now your mouse will linger over that Confirm Friend button while you weigh the pros and cons of taking your relationship with your boss to that next level, but you should be happy to know that you’re not alone.

Recently, more than 4,100 business professionals across the Beyond.com Network of thousands of niche career sites were asked, “Would you be friends with your boss on Facebook?” and more than 51 percent said “No way!”  So if you end up rejecting your boss, don’t sweat it, you’re not the only one.

But should we be so quick to reject them?  Here are the pros and cons when it comes to being friends with your boss on facebook.

Pros:

• It can bring you and your boss closer together knowing that you have things in common outside of the work place. 
  
  

• Show your boss you have a life outside of work.  This can help score you some extra time to cultivate your work/life balance. 
  
  
• You can get the best of both worlds.  Show your boss a little love by accepting the friend request, but use the privacy controls and friend lists to make sure they don’t see anything that could be used against you.
  
  
• Clean up your account—after all nothing online is truly private so this could be just the thing you need to clean up your “digital dirt”.
  
  

Cons:

• Even if your Facebook account is “clean” does your boss really need to know what you did on your “sick days?” 
  
  
• If your account isn’t “clean”, it could cost you your job, even if you’re not the one to post something incriminating. 
  
  
• By friending your boss you’re likely to be more reserved in your posts.  And by more reserved we mean less fun.
  
  
• Several bosses have admitted to friending their employees to keep tabs on them during the work day to ensure they’re on task. 
  
  
• Does your boss really need to know the real reason why you’re dragging today?  It’s not just because it’s a Monday, but rather that you decided to continue the “Sunday Fun Day” celebration into the wee hours of the morning.
  
  
• The closer a boss gets to subordinates, the more problems can crop up. Think about how Michael Scott from The Office runs the show, he’s famous for saying, “I guess the atmosphere that I've tried  to create here is that I'm a friend first and a boss second,” and we all know how well that’s goes. 
  
  

Overall, it is probably healthiest to keep your relationship with your boss professional and instead of friending them on Facebook connect with them on LinkedIn.  But if you are in fact real-life friends with your boss go for it, just be aware that what you post and what your friends post will be seen by the person that ensures you receive a paycheck (that is of course if you don’t limit their access to your profile).

So should you be friends with your boss on Facebook?  We want to hear from you!

Beyond.com Reports More Than 48% of Industries Experienced a Quarterly Gain in Jobs in Second Quarter 2010

Beyond.com, Inc., the world’s largest network of niche career communities, today released its Second Quarter 2010 Career Trend Analysis Report, which revealed more than 48 percent of industries experienced a quarterly percentage gain in online jobs posted, signifying a healthier economy leading into the second half of the year.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the unemployment rate was unchanged in the month of July, holding at 9.5 percent. However, Beyond.com’s data indicates the job market is showing slow and steady signs of a recovery and hard-hitting sectors such as retail and travel are beginning to expand once again. 

According to the Beyond.com quarterly report, which gathers information across thousands of top-tier industry and local career sites, more than 73 percent of employers were looking for full-time employees, an increase of 12 percent from the previous quarter.  Healthcare and Medical represented the largest percentage gain in overall jobs posted (5.57 percent), followed by Sales and Sales Management with 2.24 percent.   

Jobs continued to grow into July, increasing by 1.17 percent over June.  In July, entry level positions showed the largest increase of 39 percent and Merchandising, Purchasing and Retail jobs representing the largest jump among industries with an increase of 137 percent.  Customer Service had the next largest increase (77 percent) and Travel, Hospitality and Restaurant following behind (41 percent).  This is a positive sign to see, especially since some of these industries had dropped during the previous quarter. 
 

 “We are excited to see job numbers continuing to grow and hard-hitting sectors beginning to rebound,” said Rich Milgram, CEO of Beyond.com, Inc. “In June, we spoke to hundreds of HR managers during an industry conference and were excited to hear about their plans to hire in the months to come.  We expect to report slow and steady job growth into next quarter.”

To view the complete Career Trend Analysis Report and Industry Outlook Reports for second quarter 2010, please visit http://www.Beyond.com/Media/QuarterlyReports.asp.

Hear more highlights from Beyond.com CEO, Rich Milgram on the Q2 2010 Career Trend Analysis Report…

The Do’s & Don’ts When it Comes to Quitting Your Job

If you’ve seen the news recently, you know about the JetBlue flight attendant who, after arguing with a passenger, quit over the plane intercom and slid down the emergency slide with beers in hand. 

 

It makes me wonder if I’d ever have the guts to just quit like that (not that I ever would).  While it must be empowering to take control, being impulsive isn’t always a good thing, especially when it comes to leaving your job.   

While those that are hot-headed may seem courageous when they leave their job on the spot, there are some do’s and don’ts when it comes to leaving to ensure you don’t burn any bridges (you never know when you’ll need a reference or who you’ll run into later in your career).

 

Don’t:

1. Send pictures of yourself quitting on a dry erase board to co-workers in an email.
   
   
2. Stop going to work altogether like Peter Gibbons from Office Space.
    
3. Pull a George Costanza and sleep at your desk or in George’s case under it.
   
   
4. Get naked at work.  While it was funny when we would see Will Ferrell do it on SNL, it'd just be plain awkward in real life. 
   
   
5. Make a move on your boss. Really? Get real and get to work!
   
   
6. Blackmail your boss like Kevin Spacey did in American Beauty.
   
   
7. Take a page out of Jerry Maguire’s Mission Statement—make a scene, steal a fish and storm out of the office.
   
   
8. Leave a cheese pita in the toaster oven like Ryan on The Office and set the building on fire.
   
   
9. Harm your boss. While most daydream of doing it, it’s certainly not worth it—that is unless your boss is as evil as Mr. Burns.
   
   
10.  Use the intercom to announce you’re leaving.

 

Do:

1. Do the classy thing and give two weeks notice like Sandra Bullock.
   
   
2. Write a resignation letter. But hold back on the profanity, you never know who you’ll meet/need in the future.
   
   
3. Ask for a reference. If you’re leaving on good terms, before you say your goodbyes, ask your now former boss and colleagues if you can use them as a reference in the future.
   
   
4. Thank your employer/co-workers for opportunities. Hearing that you’re grateful for the opportunities you’ve had with the organization is sometimes just the ticket for you and your boss to part on good terms.
   
   
5. Have a positive attitude—we can all learn something from The Truman Show.  When Truman quit, he kindly told his boss “In case I don’t see you—good afternoon, good evening and good night.”
   
   
6. Tell your immediate supervisor first. You owe it to your supervisor (even if you disliked him/her) to let them know you’re leaving before you shout it from the roof tops or in some cases over the PA system.
   
   
7. Be apologetic. Even if you’re not sorry for leaving, tell your employer that you are sorry to go, but you just can’t pass up on the opportunities that lie ahead.
   
   
8. Finish the projects you are working on. Wrap up what you can and clean up your work space just like they’re asked to do when they get booted from Project Runway.
   
   
9. Offer to stay until they find a replacement. Besides, don’t you want to check out the fresh meat that they’ve brought in to replace you?
   
   
10.  Offer to help train your replacement. You want to leave your job in good hands and if you’re really lucky you’ll have a great training video to use like this 1980s Wendy’s Hamburger Rap.   

July 2010 Employment Numbers to Remain Steady and Stable

Beyond.com CEO, Rich Milgram says that we shouldn’t expect much of a change when Friday’s July Job Report comes out.  Check out what else Rich had to say about jobs in July.