Recruiting Hard-to-Find Transportation Workers

Recruiting Hard-to-Find Transportation WorkersRecruiting Hard-to-Find Transportation WorkersRecruiting Hard-to-Find Transportation Workers ConlanThe transportation industry is generally known for stability and good wages, but that doesnt mean its easy for companies to fill jobs. Qualified candidates can afford to be picky, which means employers need to work hard to attract them and keep them happy.Demographic changes and long-standing assumptions about the transport industry can make it difficult for transportation companies to recruit the employees they need.Heres an overview of the situation and how employers are meeting those challenges.Hit by the Retirement TsunamiAccording to research published by the American Trucking Association(ATA), the industry will need to hire almost a million new drivers before 2024. Retirements are the main reason More than 13 million people work in transportation, and the Department of Transportation says almost half will be eligible for retirement wit hin the next 10 years.CDL class A over-the-road drivers are probably the hardest drivers to find right now, says Scott McNiel, marketing manager at E.L. Hollingsworth Co. With the large number of open positions available, its easy for skilled drivers to hop from job to job in search of better pay and conditions.And its not just trucking that faces challenges. A GAO report found that pilot supply, wages and benefits may be hurting hiring efforts for air transportation. Hiring trends in railroading continue to grow as well, according to the Association of American Railroads.One of the main ways transportation companies can recruit the employees they need is through strong compensation packages, McNiel says. Offering pay increases, comprehensive benefits and signing bonuses are key.Coping with an Image ProblemA Department of Labor report found that the transportation industry faces several other challenges, including a fairly low public leumund. Long hours and lots of time spent away from home are required in many transportation jobs, and that can pose a challenge to hiring.McNiel agrees, saying the industrys image needs a makeover and that corporate culture needs to shift to better source truck drivers. The ATA offers a program that is meant to boost truckings image in particular, for example.The DOL found that inadequate access to non-traditional labor pools such as women, veterans and people with disabilities were also problems. Providing a strong work-life balance for employees can be a good way to start changing the culture, McNiel says.Connecting with MillennialsMillennials tend to not consider skilled trades as career opportunities, which can make it harder for employers to recruit for those positions. McNiel says transportation companies are having a difficult time reaching Millennials, and that members of Generation X are finding work in other industries.Its vital that companies get the word out about the opportunities they can offer to young employees. Todd Berger, president and CEO of Redwood Logistics, says his company recruits college graduates heavily on college campuses and attends college job fairs, looking for top talent among college graduates.According to PricewaterhouseCoopers Next Gen study, Millennial employees expect to work as part of a team, and enjoy doing so. Berger says his company stresses this when recruiting. The most successful transportation and logistics companies make maximum use of teams and there is no room for ego or self-serving behavior. Employees have to be enlisted in teams they want to join and where they can be effective, Berger says.Berger says his company looks carefully at soft skills such as attitude and personality, as well as hard skills. The company screens for work ethic as well, trying to assess if the candidate will go above and beyond for customers.

Boosting your Talent Acquisition in a Challenging Economy

Boosting your Talent Acquisition in a Challenging EconomyBoosting your Talent Acquisition in a Challenging EconomyBoosting your Talent Acquisition in a Challenging Economy Chinsky MatusonTalent acquisition is critical for business success, especially in a down economy when plenty of candidates may be available, but few to none with the skills you need. This is particularly true for small businesses, where making new hires countcan impactthe entireorganization.Small business owners can recruit great hires in a down economy with the right hiring process in place. Here are some tips to guide your talent acquisition process.Clarify your hiring needs before you begin Ask any business owner what they want in their next new hire and most will respond by telling you what they dont want. To successfully recruit new hires, you must define what a great hire looks like for your organization.For example, an employee who is extremely detail-oriented may be the perfect fit for an accounting jobwher e clients expect a high level of accuracy from their service firms.However, will this trait actually be a detriment to your hiring process if the goal of your talent acquisition is to hire top sale people? fruchtwein likely yes, as most successful sales professionals are onto the next sale before the details of the last deal are ironed out.Analyze the behaviors of your top performerswho are most successful in your organization and then describe the traits they possess. Do you see a pattern? Are your most successful people self-motivated, strong team players, customer-focused? Look for similar traits in your next hire.Seek talent where no one else is looking Even though we are still experiencing a high rate of unemployment, there are still many jobs going unfilled because of worker shortages in those fields. Many firms have made a conscious decision to hire only people who are employed. Thats good news for the small business owner who can leverage this short-sighted approach and hire the best talent available, regardless of their current employment status.Many great hires may be back in the job market due to circumstances out of their control. They may have been victims of a merger or a plant closing, or their retirement nest eggs may have cracked with the stress of the volatile stock market. These people are willing and able to begin work tomorrow.Some have successfully navigated their companies through previous recessions people who can help your organization steer clear of land minds that may be in front of you. They are also quite happy to have a job and provide employee loyalty to those who give them a fair chance.Seek value Evaluate candidates in terms of the value they can bring to your organization. Someone with a few years of experience, who has implemented systems that have resulted in business growth, is much valuable than a candidate with more longevity on the job.Ask interview questionsthat dig for specific examples of how they have helped previou s employers reduce costs and grow revenues. Then dig beneath the surface with interview questionsto ascertain if they can do the same for your business.Be decisive Thinking that a better candidate will come along when you have a terrific hire in front of you will result in loss of an excellent prospect. The order in which candidates come in to interview has nothing to do with whether or not they are the right hire for you. Go back to the list of traits you are seeking and when the right candidate comes along, be prepared to close the deal,and do so quickly.Do your homework upfront Research compensation information beforehand. This way youll know up front what you can and cannot afford to pay. For example, ideally you may want an experienced candidate with ten years of experience.However, your research shows that you will have to pay 40 percent more than what you have budgeted. It makes no sense to waste your time or the candidates time recruiting overqualified candidates who are out of your league.Involve your team Its easy to fall in love with a candidate, especially if hiring someone this week means you can join your family on vacation. Remember love is blind. Select a few people in the organization whose judgment you value and do a post-game reviewof candidates. Be open to their feedback and use this information when making the final hiring decision.Stay the course Hiring doesnt usually the top of the list of fun things to do for small businesses, unless of course they are in the business of recruitment. Most will do whatever it takes to make sure this process ends quickly, including hiring friends or family.This approach often results in hiring decisions that have long-term negative consequences. Be patient. Consider hiring temporary help until such time as you can find the right person for the job. Your patience will pay off and in the end, you will be thankful that you found a great hire who could turn out to be the best employee youve ever had.2011 Hum an Resource Solutions. All rights reserved.Author BioRoberta Chinsky Matuson is the President of Human Resource Solutions and author of the highly-acclaimed book Suddenly in Charge Managing Up, Managing Down, Succeeding All Around, a Washington Post Top-5 Leadership pick. 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Data Storage Salesman Follows Two Tracks Across the Pacific

Data Storage Salesman Follows Two Tracks Across the PacificData Storage Salesman Follows Two Tracks Across the PacificTo pursue opportunities in the United States and Japan, Mark Suzuki needed two sets of tools.Mark Suzuki welches working for a data-storage management company in Japan, looking for a job with the U.S. based company. Whether hed end up working in the United States or in Japan was up in the air. So he created two different versions of his resume one for potential employers in Japan, and one for U.S. employers.The resume styles are different between the U.S. and Japan, Suzuki said. In Japan, you show a picture on your resume, and its OK to ask your age. Age is a big thing in Japan, people are respectful of elders, so people will put their age on a resume. Not in the U.S.Those were just some of the things Suzuki had learned while working in Japan for the past four years. He had also had a option to travel around the Asia-Pacific horizont, and knew where he would and would not like to work. So, when EMC, the company he had been working for, decided to make some changes in management that would have meant a move to Singapore, he decided to look for another job.Id already lived in Singapore, and I wasnt keen on moving back, he said. It became clear I needed to make a move outside the company. At that point, I had been with EMC for six years, and I was looking for a new challenge.So, he left the company at the end of December 2008, unsure of where he would end up, but knowing two things I wanted to work for a West Coast company again, and I wanted to get back into software sales.His former company, EMC, was based in Boston. Suzuki, who is originally from San Francisco, had worked for West Coast companies such as Netscape and Sun Microsystems, and missed software sales.In January, he said, he went back to the United States for about a month, looking around the San Francisco Bay area for possible sales opportunities. The recession really hit the Bay area hard, he said. Its really rough going there right now. Compared to the U.S. 9 percent unemployment rate, the unemployment rate in Japan is at 5 percent or 6 percent, he said.While he was in California he realized he would need some extra help finding a job, so he signed up for SalesLadder. I was a little concerned, he recalled. At the time, every front page article in the newspaper was about recession and jobless rates. I knew my timing wasnt good, but I did have some confidence, he said, based on the fact that in his past experience, it hadnt taken him any more than three or four months to find a new job.Suzuki was familiar with the Ladders from an earlier job search. I was introduced to SalesLadder at least five years ago. Someone sent me a link, and I tried it out then.He signed up for Ladders in January and noticed there were a lot more sales positions in the Asia-Pacific region than there were on the West Coast. He was pretty certain at that point hed be heading back to Japan. And once he posted his resume, things started to go pretty quickly. He saw a notice for a sales position for Guidance Software, a company headquartered in los Angeles. The position, a sales role in Asia Pacific that was based in Japan, fit all of his requirements, so he contacted them. He was still in the U.S. and could travel to Los Angeles to meet with them.In fact, Suzuki had heard from four companies over the month of January while he was in the U.S. Guidance appealed to him in part because of its size, he said. With about 400 employees (compared to EMCs workforce of 30,000), Guidance is a smaller company than he had worked at before. We have a lot of work we need to do to grow, he said. I have a lot of experience with building up a sales team, and thats what they are looking to have me do.Suzuki said he would encourage others to look for jobs in the Asia-Pacific region. He said he saw a lot of American companies posting Asia-Pacific roles on Ladders, and he says that U.S. job s eekers have a leg up on those living in Asia. I dont know if may of the expat community here are tapping into Ladders, he said from his office in Tokyo. People here seem to tap only into the local resources. He said while he does speak Japanese, its not always a requirement for a job in Asia, India or China. And the zwischenstaatlich experience is great to have, even if your ultimate goal is to get back to the U.S.In the end, it worked out for both Suzuki and Guidance, his new employer. They didnt have to pay for my moving costs. I think that was a win-win for myself and them. For Americans living in the U.S. and looking to take a role outside the U.S., I would recommend it. You get great experience, learn business cultures from so many different countries China, India, Japan, Singapore, Korea. Its been a rewarding experience.

A Handy-Dandy Guide to Email Etiquette

A Handy-Dandy Guide to Email EtiquetteA Handy-Dandy Guide to Email EtiquetteEver hit reply all on an schmelzglas you shouldnt have? Or vice versa? How do you write a formal email without sounding like you have no rolleality, or altogetzu sich too much personality? And what the heck are you supposed to put in the subject line? Well, Im not Emily Post- but in this guide to email etiquette, you can call me E-Post. (Get it?) Were going to take a deep dive on the multitudinous aspects of shooting off a quick email, which is rarely as simple as it sounds.Re Subject LinesHELLOThat is a super-weird subject line, and will essentially guarantee that no one will open a cold email from you. Even if they do know you, its still weird. Do you greet people that way in real life? I sure hope not.The subject line of an email should be clear and concise. If youre applying for a job, for example, Associate Law Editor Position is a perfectly acceptable subject line. If youre forwarding preliminary resear ch for a project, put Site Design Research- Photos and Notes so your recipient knows what theyre getting. Capitalize the subject line as you would a title- first, last, and important words. People receive lots of emails every day, and being able to scroll through their inbox and know approximately what each email contains is much more convenient than an oddly placed salutation or icebreaker.Salutations, Good Sir and/or MadamThat sub-header right there is quite possibly the worst way to start an email. I sincerely hope that, when youre reaching out to someone via email, you know the recipients name. If youve honigwein them in person, address them how you normally do. I once met someone at a networking function and, when he emailed to follow up, he referred to me as Dear Ms. Kaitlin McManus- which was weird, since he had been calling me just Kaitlin at the event.If you havent met your contact, things can get trickier. I stick with either Mr./Ms. Last Name (Mrs. only if I know for cert ain that shes married) or simply First Name Last Name. Then, when they respond, I check what they signed off as. If I call someone Mr. Smith, but he signs off as simply, John, Ill call him John in my next email. Erring on the side of formality when you dont know what to call someone is okay simply adjust if you need to as your correspondence continues.Also, personally, I dont put dear at the start of any email because this isnt the 18th century. While admittedly most people dont even register the address, to me, that invisibility makes it superfluous.Punctuation- the Building Blocks of Sounding IntelligentPunctuation affects the way in which we read a sentence- sentences with the saatkorn words but different punctuation can have vastly different meanings. (A classic example being the crucial distinction between Lets eat, Grandma, and Lets eat Grandma.) So its important to use punctuation correctly to strike your desired tone.F. Scott Fitzgerald said, An exclamation point is like lau ghing at your own joke. Hes not wrong. If I dont know someone well, I tend to use a lot of exclamation points. In the moment, I think they make me sound friendlier. In retrospect, they make me sound slightly manic. Not the professional image Im trying to cultivate. You should use exclamation points as often as you would laugh at your own jokes Hardly ever. If youre really trying to lay it on thick with the friendliness, Id give you a max of two per email- and not on the same sentence (See? Its too much.)Another thing to avoid are ellipses. (Otherwise known as a dot-dot-dot) Ellipses give the impression that you dont know how to finish your own thought- but this is an email. You have all the time in the world to finish your thought. This is professional correspondence, not a passive-aggressive Post-it left for your roommate Stick to one period at a time.If youre struggling with punctuating your emails on a nuts-and-bolts level, try downloading a grammar tool like Grammarly or ProWrit ingAid- they can catch some of the little nit-picky mistakes.This Is Me, Signing OffThe way you end an email is as important as the way you start it. You want to leave your reader with a good impression appreciative of their time and effort, but not overbearing or, on the flip-side, curt. When it comes to professional emails, I try to keep my sign-off semi-personal. Sincerely has the same effect on me as dear at the start- its a little old-fashioned, and a little invisible. Itll do the job, but the job can be done better.I tend to go with All the best, or Best- perhaps Thanks again, if Im asking for a favor (although usually I put that at the end of the email text itself). Ive received and appreciated comments like, Warmly, Many thanks, and Cheers, if Ive met the person before. Basically, your goal is to sound thermisch, kind, and professional rather than stiff.To Reply or To Reply AllOh, the drama that has been caused by using the reply-all function incorrectly. Not using it when y ou should causes almost as much trouble as using it when you shouldnt- almost. If you find yourself on a group email chain, heres my advice decide whether youre replying to just the sender or to everyone first. Before you even type the email. Configure your recipients before typing anything at all, because once youve made your point, its too easy to hit a button that says reply without looking for the all.One rather innocuous example of incorrect usage is the email introduction If someone has introduced you to another person via email, reply all- its the only way to get the new person on the email chain. But if the other person reaches out first and theyre the latest sender, then simply reply- dropping the introducer off the chain as you and your new pal correspond. The introducer doesnt need to see your entire email chain. Put yourself in the shoes of the other receivers. Would you want to receive your email? If not, just reply.CC vs. BCC vs. BC vs. BBC...CCing and/or BCCing someon e on an email is the B-side to reply vs. reply all. When youve CCed someone on an email (short for carbon copy), the email goes to that person- and everyone else on the email chain knows it. This is a function youd use if, say, you wanted to send an email to a client as well as her assistant, so they both have it. BCC (blind carbon copy) is when you add someone to an email, but the recipient doesnt see them on the email chain. For example, if you emailed a tough client and BCCed your boss to loop her in, then your boss would receive the email but the recipient would simply see themselves and you on the email chain. Feeling paranoid yet? BCCing has its uses, but mostly you should be using CC in a work setting.For something thats been around for essentially as long as Ive been alive, email can be a sticky trap to fall into. Really, the rules of email etiquette are the same as most rules of etiquette write the email youd like to receive Correctly addressed and spelled, warm but profess ional, and ideally brief. So long as you keep these rules in mind, you should be able to avoid most of the pitfalls email can present.

The Number One Question You Must Ask for Online Resumes Builder Free

The Number One Question You Must Ask for Online Resumes Builder Free As its name suggests, Free Resume Creator is just one more completely free online resume or CV builder website. When applying for jobs on the website, you simply should click the saved resume you created on the website. The site will inform you exactly how many views yur resume has. Resume builder includes an immediate voransicht, and therefore you dont will need to save and refresh the page to see the way that it appears like. If you would like to become our VIP client, well gladly supply you with such a possibility. There are lots of professional resume vorlage that can be found on the internet from which you are able to make out some idea about how to construct a professional curriculum vitae using best resume builder websites. You also receive the choice to select a template from the bunch of beautiful resume templets out there. The 5-Minute Rule for Online Resumes Builder Free If youve already visited a number of the websites that provide similar services, you have probably already noticed that the practice of ordering is too complicated. ConnectCV is another exact efficient online resume building tool free of charge. The process of producing a resume is quite straightforward and straight-forward. Because so much of the work search method is online, you will need to be ready to design a resume which works for the internet, how to send resumes as emails and email attachments, and the way to upload your resume to several job search websites and company websites. Attempt now the free resume builder to update your work application and get started applying for your fantasy job immediately The completely free service makes locating a job easier, as the DIY resume tool works in combination with a beneficial blog and a work search engine. You may think that there are already dozens of free resume building services offered in the internet world. Heres What I Know About Online Resume s Builder Free Resumizer free resume creator allows you to preview your resume at any stage in the creation practice. When you make an account, youre asked to fill a questionnaire in order for the site can pick the ideal companies for you. If youre looking to create your CV online, why dont you choose CVSafe. Free Online resume builder is an exceptional resource who can supply you with ideas for your resume or steer you through the steps of writing. Our FREE online CV builder can help you write your CV utilizing skilled CV templates. A resume builder can provide you a document that looks generic. My documents look far better. The resume is a tool which youre able to utilize to obtain an interview. Custom writing means a significant company with high standards. If you would like to leave a section empty for practically any reason (for instance, if youve got zero level to register in the education section), you can get a huge gap in the layout if your CV builder doesnt ada pt automatically for that. You do remember that you have to stand out and it feels like nothing can assist you with achieving that when you use a template. Utilizing a resume template has turned into an acceptable and smart practice for several factors. The completed document might be downloaded in a PDF format making it feasible to swiftly and conveniently make an application for job offers. The mixture of our templates and your input is likely to make your resume fly to the peak of any pile. Separate resumes are obtainable for assorted disciplines. After you click on it, youve got a choice to add as many sections as you would like. Also, without a message connected to the email, the employer wont know why youre sending the resume to them. You can also check at a few of the samples of several kinds of resumes for various kinds of careers. The organization is online and thus you may communicate with them via emails. If so, dont fret about what it appears like, because it is going to be consistent with the other resumes in the database. There are a lot of resume builders readily available, which range from free resume builders to premium ones. So far as features are involved, it is significantly more versatile. The Online Resumes Builder Free Cover Up When you have prepared and submitted your resume to an employer the hope is you will be requested to attend work interview to talk about further whether youll be suitable. Our resume builder is the quickest approach to create a resume that can help you get your fantasy job. Utilizing CVSafes CV builder you can greatly improve your odds of employment and stick out from the a number of other applicants attempting to get that all important job. The only possiblity to succeed with a resume is the moment when its being read for the very first moment.

RapidSOS Named To The GovTech 100 List

RapidSOS Named To The GovTech 100 List Below is a post originally written by PowerToFly Partner RapidSOS, and published on January 9, 2019. Go to RapidSOS page on PowerToFly to see their open positions and learn more.Government Technology News named RapidSOS to the GovTech 100, a list of companies making a difference for agencies around the country Were honored to provide thousands of public safety agencies nationwide with life-saving emergency data. One of the biggest challenges in almost all industries today is achieving gender parity. Gender diversity provides huge benefits in the workplace. pWhile some industries have made significant advancements in gender diversity, some industries lag further behind... and the construction industry is well-known for being in the latter category. If someone says, construction workers, youll likely picture a group of men in yellow hard hats analyzing an architects plans or laying bricks on top of a s caffold. And men at work signs only help to reinforce this image.pThis stereotype is rooted in reality. When was the last time you actually spotted a woman on a construction site? Or hired a female plumber or carpenter? Your answer is most likely never. In fact, the Bureau of Labor Statisticsreports that only 3.4% of the total of 8.3 million construction employees are women.pBut the construction industry has a lot more to offer than steel-toed boots and hard hats, and it needs women to help advance the industry in this era of rapid change. Here are 5 reasons why women joining the workforce or looking to make a pivot should consider a career in construction.h21. Fuel Innovation/h2pNot only is diversity the socially and morally right thing to do, but it is also actually an excellent business strategy. pResearch presented in the Harvard geschftsleben Reviewshows that diverse teams develop more innovative ideas. This is further supported by a study conducted by Gallupon the performance of gender-diverse teams versus single-gender teams, which found that the difference in backgrounds and perspectives led to better business performance and problem-solving. h22. Capitalize on Demand/h2pThe construction industry is currently experiencing a labor shortage. The industry itself is booming and projected to be one of the fastest-growing industries, with total spending projected to exceed $1.45 trillion in 2023/a. However, most construction companies are unable to meet the rising demand. pAccording to the Associated General Contractors of America/a, more than 80% of contractors are experiencing difficulties filling hourly craft positions that represent the bulk of the construction workforce.pAnd demand isnt limited to individual contributor roles. Given the industry boom, there are a number of open stable and high-paying roles (any project managers out there?) waiting for the right candidateh23. Leadership Opportunities/h2pAccording to the Bureau of Labor Statistics/a, wome n compose only 7.7% of the total 1 million managerial positions in construction.br/pBut given the highly collaborative nature of construction work, more women in leadership roles would help drive innovation and enhance productivity.Furthermore, as a woman in construction in a leadership position, youd have the unique opportunity to drive change for the industry and make it a more attractive option for other women.h24. High-Income Potential/h2pSalaries for many skilled positions in construction are on the rise, making a construction career a prime choice for women looking for a high-paying job,pThe 2018 Construction Craft Salary Surveyconducted by the National Center for Construction Education and Research revealed that salaries for many skilled craft areas are increasing. Project managers and project supervisors topped the list at $92,523 and $88,355, respectively. The next set of highest-paying jobs include those of combo welders ($71,067), instrumentation technicians ($70,080), pi pe welders ($69,222), power line workers ($68,262) and industrial electricians ($67,269). Of the 32 categories of workers in the survey, 19 positions earned an average salary of $60,000 or higher.h25. Sense of accomplishment/h2p The construction industry can give employees a unique sense of achievement. Yes, the job is stressful and the work can be demanding, but nothing beats the feeling of being able to build something from the ground up. pHow many professionals in other industries can point at a school, a hospital, or a skyscraper and say I helped build that?pThe construction industry has a long way to go in combating gender bias and supporting women in the workforce, but given the current demand for workers, theres no better time to pick up a sledgehammer (figurative or literal) and smash the gender stereotypes plaguing the construction industry.