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Fun Infographic to show what happens during a typical day at Beyond.com

Beyond.com Hires Director of Agency Relations

Leading career network brings on recruitment veteran in response
to steady growth of Fortune 1000 business

Beyond.com, The Career Network focused on helping people grow and succeed professionally, today announced that Cindy Songne has joined the company as Director of Agency Relations. With more than 25 years of experience in human capital management, recruiting, sales and marketing, Songne will be responsible for helping Beyond.com cultivate deeper relationships with agencies and expand its relationships with Fortune 1000 companies around the world.

“Cindy’s successful track record and proficiency in establishing and maintaining agency relationships will help us fortify and grow our already strong agency partnerships,” said Jim John, COO of Beyond.com.  “As agencies strive to find innovative talent acquisition solutions with maximum cost efficiency and candidate quality, we are committed to providing them – and their clients – with the most valuable recruitment experience. Cindy’s addition to our seasoned team will allow us to continue aligning agency needs with our own strengths in a changing recruitment environment.”

Prior to joining Beyond.com, Songne served as Vice President of Agency Relations at JIBE and JobTarget, where she implemented SaaS and mobile technologies to improve recruiting efficiency. Previously, Songne spent more than 10 years at Monster.com, where she rose to become Director of Global Agency Relations and built strong, mutually-beneficial global agency relationships.

Songne was the President of the SHRM Staffing Management Association for four years and won SHRM's first ‘Host Award’ for outstanding leadership. She has served on the Newspaper Association of America’s Recruitment Board and holds a degree in Marketing from Brooks College.

Another One Bites the Dust: Flu Season is Here

If you haven’t noticed, the flu is being passed around faster than…I don’t know something that gets passed quickly?—A hot potato!  In fact, it’s now at levels that are so high that it is considered an epidemic. So if you get sick follow these guidelines. 

• Stay Home. If you have symptoms of fever, nausea, vomiting, coughing, congestion, stay home! Not only because you’ll be keeping your germs out of the workplace, but you’ll also be less productive than you’d be if you were feeling 100%.

• Know How Long You’ll Be Contagious For. If you feel like you’re ready to come back to work because you’re feeling better, you may still be contagious so keep these guidelines in mind for coming back to work:

• Stay home for 24 hours after your last episode of vomiting.
• Stay home for 24 hours after the last elevated temperature.
• Stay home for 24 hours after the last dose of anti-fever medication AND normal temperature for that 24-hour period.
• Stay home for 24 hours after antibiotics are begun for strep infections.

• Get a flu shot! There are a lot of people that are against getting it because “you can still get the flu” but the likelihood of you getting the flu after getting the shot is less than what it’d be if you didn’t get one.  Plus, if you’ve ever had the flu, you know how terrible it is and there are more pros than cons to getting the shot.  If you have excuses as to why you don’t want to get it, read this post on flu shot myths.

• Don’t Feel Guilty. If you need to use a sick day, don’t worry about it, they’re there for a reason. Your boss and your colleagues want you to stay home. If you’re in the office with a fever, nausea, coughing, etc…you’re interfering with the objectives of the organization and you risk infecting others. 

• Wash Your Hands. In general this is something you should ALWAYS be doing but when there are a lot of germs going around take it to the next level—I’m talking Jack Nicholson in As Good As It Gets compulsion. For a how to on hand washing, go to 0:31 seconds of this video. 

The Top 10 US Cities to Find a Job & The Top 10 US Cities to Make a Hire [Infographic]

Beyond.com's Q4 2012 Career Trends Report

The best places to find a job may not be as obvious as you think - and the same goes for candidates. See where the jobs and job seekers really are.

This Beyond.com employment data report analyzes where the jobs are and where the candidates are compared with Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Civilian Labor Numbers for the same time period.  We've also examined job posting data in relation to the where the candidates are to show what types of jobs employers are recruiting for and what types of jobs candidates are searching for. Download the PDF.

Beyond.com Announces Acquisition of Career Site JobCircle.com

Expands Its Social/Employment Platform in Mid-Atlantic Region with well-known brand

Beyond.com Inc., The Career Network, today announced the acquisition of strategic assets of Human Capital Solutions, LLC (d/b/a JobCircle.com), through its subsidiary Career Management Solutions, LLC. JobCircle.com is a leading online job portal for employers and job seekers in the Mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. The acquisition enables Beyond.com the opportunity to expand The Career Network online with virtual career fairs and offline with live career events in several markets, including the Tri-State area (PA, NJ, and DE) and the IT vertical market.

JobCircle.com provides its 1.3 million registered members with an array of tools to simplify job posting and candidate search processes. Founded in 1998, it’s best known for developing and producing targeted career fairs and events tailored to more than 18 industry categories.

“While employers and job seekers are increasingly interacting through our online channels, we recognize that a large part of the hiring process takes place face-to-face,” said Rich Milgram, CEO of Beyond.com. “Today’s acquisition demonstrates our ongoing commitment to streamlining the hiring cycle for our employers while providing our more than 25 million members with comprehensive products and services that help them create smart and valuable connections.”

As a result of this acquisition, Joe Stubblebine, CEO and co-founder of Human Capital Solutions LLC, will be joining Beyond.com as Vice President of Corporate Outreach.

“Partnering with Beyond.com gives us the opportunity to bring our proven track record of developing engaging recruitment and enrichment events to a much larger audience,” said Stubblebine. “We’re excited to join one of the true leaders in the HR and career development industry.”

Top 5 Worst Corporate Holiday Gifts

It’s that time a year again. It’s time for corporate gift giving and the gifts have started to roll in. We’ve received the usual gift baskets full of yummy treats like candy, cookies, and fruit. Some clients send alcohol or personalized items like tote bags, fleece blankets, coffee mugs, and t-shirts and then there are the booby prizes which typically consist of items that were left over from tradeshow giveaways that the company couldn’t unload at the show—so they use them as gifts.

We received the latter and it got us thinking about bad holiday offerings, so we thought we’d put together a list of the five worst corporate holiday gifts. In reverse order, they are:

5.     A Charitable Donation (this is only really on the list because we couldn't think of a 5th and lists sound better with 5 things): I’m all about giving back, especially around the holidays and I think it is noble that organizations make donations on behalf of those they work with throughout the year, however what if the charity is one that you don’t support?  It could be because you have declared that you only support charities that help children or you only give to charities that fight cancer, or help puppies—I don’t know. What I do know is that people are sensitive when it comes to charities, so if you do make a donation ask the person that you’re honoring what cause they’d like to contribute to.

4.     Amateur Gift Baskets: It’s nice to send something homemade; however those on the receiving end need to have peace of mind that the gift they’re receiving is safe to consume.  If you go the homemade route remember presentation is IMPORTANT—I can’t stress that enough!

3.     Fruitcake: Forever renowned as a bad gift, it’s probably not worth the cost to ship it.

2.     Tradeshow Swag: While it’s a memorable gift, it’s memorable for the wrong reason.

1.     An Invite to a Company Party: Most people don’t want to go to their own company’s party according to a recent Glassdoor survey, let alone feel obligated to go to a partner company’s party. By extending an invite to clients you’re guilting them into coming and nothing says, “Happy Holidays” like the gift that keeps on giving—guilt.

So that’s our list of the worst corporate gifts, do you agree?  Let us know if you have any horror stories of awful gifts that other companies have sent you.

The Top 50 Places to Find a Job & The Top 50 Places to Make a Hire [Infographic]

The best places to find a job may not be as obvious as you think - and the same goes for candidates. See where the jobs and job seekers really are.

This Beyond.com employment data report analyzes where the jobs are and where the candidates are compared with Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Civilian Labor Numbers for the same time period.  We've also examined job posting data in relation to the where the candidates are to show what types of jobs employers are recruiting for and what types of jobs candidates are searching for. Download the PDF.

Q&A With Beyond.com CEO: Retailers Opening on Thanksgiving for "Black Thursday"

With Black Friday approaching, the talk of big box retailers opening on Thanksgiving Day has been a hot topic.  The team at Employment Metrix chatted with Rich Milgram, CEO of Beyond.com, The Career Network to understand his thoughts on the topic, besides his concern that the concept of Thanksgiving dinner could disappaer with shoppers feeling the need to lineup even earlier.  Here’s what he had to say:

EM: Is it fair to make employees work on Thanksgiving? Why or why not?

RM: No, it’s not fair to demand that employees work on Thanksgiving. If working on Thanksgiving is tied to an employee’s year-end compensation or tenure then that is morally wrong. However, these large retailers understand that the success of their business is based on the relationships they have with their employees and with that being said they should make decisions with their employees in mind.

Overtime pay shouldn’t be in question when it comes to employees working on Thanksgiving.  Companies that do not pay overtime should be in question.

EM:  What does this say about the changing mindset of big box retailers? 

RM: This says less about the retailer and more about society as a whole. Target, Sears, Kmart, and others are all doing what they need to do maximize sales and profits. Our democratic society yields opportunity for large corporations to take unique actions that will help grow businesses, however there are times when those actions will challenge societal morals…it’s a fine line.

EM: What's the psychological impact on employees?

RM: There will be pressure, whether it’s inflicted by the corporation or self-inflicted by the employees to work when they wouldn’t normally.  It is important to remember that downtime away from work is necessary for everyone.  The holiday season is stressful enough and retailers need to understand that they can cause undue stress to their employees and if that does happen, that can backfire.

EM: Does this spell the end of holiday days off as we know it for retail employees?

RM: I seem to recall Labor Day specials and Memorial Day sales. Overtime this change has been more and more accepted and expected. Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day have always been considered sacred, but that doesn’t appear to be the case anymore.

EM: Which retail positions are in the highest demand and where?

RM: The top job titles that were posted to Beyond.com, The Career Network in third quarter of 2012 in the retail industry were for Assistant Store Managers, Shift Supervisors, and Sales Associates.

The most retail jobs are located in large metros like New York, DC, LA, Dallas, Miami, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Houston, Minneapolis, San Francisco, and Detroit.

Thanks Rich for the insightful chat!

Poor Communication Stands Between Veterans and Jobs

For too long veterans have been struggling to find work and it’s not because they lack the skills required to get the job done. There’s a disconnect between civilian skills and military training. The unemployment rate for veterans remains at 10 percent, despite the numerous advertisements that highlight the value military training will bring to a service member when it’s time to enter the civilian workforce.

The national unemployment rate is at 7.9 percent, so why is it so much higher for our veterans? Members of the U.S. Armed Forces and their families make great sacrifices in order to serve our Nation and we owe it to them to help them successfully transition into the civilian labor market when their service comes to an end. A common issue many veterans face when they come home is that they are forced to go through redundant training to do jobs they were already doing in the military. But, if someone can perform a job in the stressful environment of a warzone, can they not do it in a safe one? And why does the civilian labor market not recognize the training that our veterans bring to the table?

The other night, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart highlighted this issue. Jon Stewart conducted mock job interviews with two army medics to see if they’d qualify for positions as a nursing assistant and a school nurse. When the first medic revealed that she didn’t have a BS in nursing and did not take the national counsel licensing exam, Stewart asked her to share an example of why she’d qualify for such a position despite not having these two requirements. Staff Sergeant Meg Mitcham then went on to share a heroic story, “We were driving down the road and a bomb went off, and a bunch of people got injured. So I used the resources I had at time to stabilize three different patients at the same time, stop bleeding, call in a medevac request, and ensure that they were kept alive until they reached a higher echelon of care in country."

Now, Mitcham has left the army and is looking for a job, but is having a hard time finding a position she’s trained for, although she is more than qualified. Despite her performance on the battlefield, her resume probably won’t even be considered. How is this even possible?

We at Beyond.com surveyed more than 1,700 professionals earlier in the year and we learned that poor communication often stands between a candidate and a job. Professionals say that HR managers and candidates communicate differently and that’s what’s happening to our veterans too.

There’s a communications gap that both veterans and hiring managers are experiencing. Hiring managers need to do a better job of recognizing and understanding military training and veterans need to do a better job of translating the skills they acquired in the military into everyday civilian tasks.

Now yes, this is easier said than done, but here are some tips to help hiring managers and veterans bridge the gap.

For Veterans:

1. Market Your Military Training for the Civilian Workplace. While you may have had a very specific job in the military, you need to inventory the skills you gained to understand what skills are marketable in the civilian workplace.
   
   
2. Ditch the Military Jargon. Military resumes tend to run on the long side, they’re also sometimes too broad in focus and full of military jargon. The acronyms used in the military are completely lost on civilian hiring managers. While your resume may sound fancy, your resume probably won’t be read because few people understand it, so abandon the military lingo.
   
   
3. Find the Civilian Equivalent. While you may have had a fancy title in the military, like Supply Sergeant do some research to find out what that translates to in the civilian world. Spoiler alert: it’s Supply Manager or Logistics Manager.
   
   
4. Highlight Your Military Skills in your Career Summary. Start your resume with a career summary that shows what you can offer to an employer by explaining how you can transfer your military training into the position you’re applying for. When you craft this statement, remember not to use military jargon.
   
   
5. Don’t Pack Your Resume With Unrelated Information. If there are items on your resume that have to do with your military service that don’t relate to the job you’re applying for, don’t include them, this may include awards. It’s okay to include awards where appropriate, but there’s no need to list all of the awards you received.

With Veterans Day coming up, companies will have vets in mind as they evaluate candidates. So now’s the time to update your resumes (and portfolios).

For Hiring Managers:

1. Don’t Discount Military Experience. While a former serviceman might not have all the requirements for the position you’re trying to fill. Many veterans are trained to do the job you’re hiring for, they might just lack the formal certifications a civilian may have. Hopefully in the future things will get easier for both civilian hiring managers and veterans thanks to an initiative for service members to earn civilian-equivalent occupational credentials and licenses. This way vets won’t have to go through hours of duplicate training efforts.
   
   
2. Hire an Employee with A Global Outlook. Many veterans are quite knowledgeable when it comes to international trends that impact the economy. If your organization would benefit from someone that has a knack for understanding global trends, consider hiring a veteran. This might not be a skill they list on their resume or portfolio, but it’s usually an added bonus that comes with the hiring of a former service member.
   
   
3. Invite Vets On Your Team to Participate in the Hiring Process. If you already have veterans on your team, get them involved in the hiring process. A former serviceperson applying for a position with your organization may have a stronger connection with a fellow veteran. Plus, the vet on your team can act as an interpreter, to help the hiring manger better understand the candidate’s military training and experiences.
   
   
4. Make an Effort to Understand Where Veterans Are Coming From. Transitioning from military life to civilian life isn’t something that happens overnight. Hiring managers should keep this in mind. When interviewing or reviewing a veteran’s resume do a little research to understand what this person did while they were serving our country. Doing a little legwork will go a long way.
   
   
5. Consider All Candidate Qualifications. In some cases where a vet might not have all the requirements to do the job, consider the other qualities that they bring to the table like the ability to work well on a team, the ability to lead, respect for procedures, and of course integrity, valor, and pride.

This is something to keep in mind, not just around Veterans Day—when someone lists military service on their resume, know that you have the opportunity to hire a hero. To search veteran resumes visit Beyond.com, The Career Network at www.Beyond.com.

Hire or Fire: Who Would Job Seekers Pick for the Country’s Top Job? [INFOGRAPHIC]

With the Presidential Election just weeks away, job seekers (both active and passive) are feeling a wide array of emotions as a new or old President will take command.  With the largest job interview (full of debates and campaigning) continues on until November 6th who do job seekers plan to hire for the country's top job, President of the United States?