Employer Connection

Career Opportunities to host Cape Cod’s First Virtual Job Fair: March 22-March 28, 2012.

Unlike Career Opportunities’ previous job fairs, which required setting up a booth at a facility, this job fair does not require a business representative to leave their office. Nor do they have to worry about staffing their booth or carrying in materials needed to set up their booth. Best of all, they will not have to worry about the effect of stormy weather on the job fair’s attendance.

Because it is virtual, job seekers can attend regardless of the weather. For seven days, they can send out resumes anytime night or day! This is especially valuable to those who have a job and may be looking for a change; or are graduating from college or a technical school and have little time to travel around to look for a job. The business representative can arrange to connect with candidates that interest them at a time mutually convenient. This makes it easier for everyone involved.

To participate, all a business has to do is register and create an account. An exhibit booth consists of the company’s logo, the company’s profile, which can be targeted to the talent they want to attract, and unlimited job listings.

During the job fair, businesses will be able to review resumes at their convenience, because this job fair is open 24 hours a day for seven consecutive days. Businesses will also be able to invite contact with candidates of interest.

For a minimal investment of time and money ($99) for a business to exhibit their booth, businesses will be able to reach hundreds of jobs seekers.

The Business Services staff at Career Opportunities is available to help businesses who need assistance creating their account, reviewing resumes or writing their company’s profile. For assistance contact Norinne at nczekanski@jteccorp.com or Charlie at cmarceline@jteccorp.com.

To sign up now visit Cape Cod Virtual Job Fairs.

If you hate the thought of having to use Social Media to market your company, get over it!

In his article, “Cultivating Visibility,” published in the January, 2012 issue of Entrepreneur, Chris Brogan, President of Human Business Works and co-author of Trust Agents and Social Media 101 encourages businesses to make an editorial calendar part of their campaign to cultivate visibility. We are not talking about your traditional copy that was designed to blatantly promote your business in print ads or the electronic media; on the contrary, we are talking about a more subtle approach, that gives rise to your expertise in your industry, rather than the services or products you sell. The theory appears to be, if people respect your knowledge, they could very well become or remain your customers.

So once you have determined your goal, i.e. know what you want to achieve, and have prepared your editorial calendar—the wisdom you wish to impart—the next step is selecting the vehicles for delivering this information. This is the most challenging of all.

Surprisingly, Brogan still considers e-mail as a valuable tool for achieving visibility; that’s good news for those who have only recently become comfortable using e-mail to communicate with customers or prospects; but his remaining recommendations are, you guessed it, all part of the social media family. So like it or not, if you want to successfully market your business in 2012, you can’t avoid social media; it’s a must do. So dive in and start liking, tweeting, producing a video, podcasting, blogging, etc.; and by the way, have a Happy New Year!

Read the complete article.

Advice On Finding The Right Salesperson

One of the most challenging tasks for a company is finding the right salesperson. Geoffrey James of Sales Source suggests the problem might be with the questions asked by the interviewer.

In his article “3 Dumbest Sales Job Interview Questions and What to Ask Instead,” published in this week’s issue at Inc.com, James not only lists the three dumbest questions, but he also explains why they fail to deliver the results you might expect. He then goes on to offer three alternate questions that focus more on the qualities/achievements that can help identify a potentially successful salesperson.

For anyone who has ever struggled to find the right salesperson, this is certainly worth taking the time to read.

Read the full article.

Commentary: Employers deserve some blame for workforce talent shortage
Companies say the education system is failing to produce enough skilled workers, but the reality is that employers are at fault for not focusing enough resources on training and development, writes Peter Cappelli, professor of management at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. He offers three solutions to improving hiring, including reviving apprenticeships and promoting from within.
The Wall Street Journal (tiered subscription model) (10/24/11)

We welcome comments from local employees on this commentary.