Minnesota Headhunter

Minnesota Morning

I found myself doing some work today and am without my college football update I was looking forward to giving. But since tomorrow is a day of games I will save it for then.

My Minnesota Golden Gophers play the Kansas Jayhawks today in the Insight Bowl starting at 5 PM CST. I will skip the ongoing online debate about why a bowl would have a tie in with the NFL Network and one that unless you have premium sports tier cannot see.

I take that back, Comcast is doing a one day preview for free but only if you have digital cable.

I do not have the premium sports tier which may shock many but by choice I do not. The last thing I need is any more access to sports options.

And being a non gadget guy do not have digital cable either so I am getting together with a couple of friends one of whom has digital and a big TV. Very nice.

Here are a few local bloggers writing about the game. I would point you to Gopher The Roses (my Gopher football blog) but since it has not been posted on since September you can skip it (you might need to scroll on these sites as the men’s basketball team play Michigan State this morning):

• Golden Gopher Football
• The Daily Gopher
• Buck Bravo’s Gopher Football Blog

And some other links:

• GopherSports.com (Official home of Gopher athletics)
• Minneapolis Star Tribune Gopher Coverage
• St. Paul Pioneer Press Gopher Coverage

Last I heard the folks in Vegas have Kansas favored by 9. That may not be current.

I am picking the Gophers by 4. Not a homer pick. I think with the extra practice, new OL coach, a healthy Eric Decker, and some time for the rest of the guys to heal up from late season the Gophers will win this game.

So more college football tomorrow.

Go Gophers!!!

Recruiter Links:

• HR Search Marketing: Guaranteed Rankings - There's No Such Thing I hope Nicole start writing more. She has a lot of insightful information
• Cheezhead: 2009 hiring predictions Consistent with everything else I have seen
• HR Wench: Breaking news: companies don't walk their talk Not breaking news really as this is unfortunately very common
• FunnyBusiness: Note to HR Folks: Hiring Over-Qualified People Is A Smart Strategy

Career Links:

• Career Upshift: Expert Reveals How Facial Expressions Influence a Job Interview Yes, the little things do matter
• CareerAlley: Job Search New Year’s Resolutions - What’s yours?

Economy Links:

• The Conference Board: December numbers released. All lower as expected but not in a steep decline
• Seen on CNBC: Couple in Maryland doing a raffle for their $1.2M home. Tickets $50 www.fiftydollarhouse.com 

Local blog posts from TwinCitiesBlogs.com:

• RickMahn.com: Interesting how people plan for the new year
• FunnyBusiness: Are Furloughs Becoming The Strategy Du Jour To Cut Costs?
• B2B Lead Generation Blog: How to use social media for lead generation
• Online Marketing Blog: How Community Building Boosts SEO
• Garrick Van Buren .com: 2009: A Year of Clarity

Click Minnesota Morning for previous editions or MN Headhunter for the main page.

Who’s Hiring?

Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap

From: CareerAlley

Who’s hiring? Let’s go right to the source, Company Career sites. Taking a look at some Company Career sites yields a surprising number of job postings. While Job Boards and Recruiters sometimes list stale jobs (jobs that have been filled or “put on hold”) through no fault of their own, Company Career sites tend to list only actively recruited positions.

UPS:

Shipping giant UPS’ career site is jam packed with information. The tabs at top link to job search, careers and general information about UPS. The left hand side of the page has featured jobs, employee videos, and an entire section for managing your career search on their site. You can register and complete an application online. There are several hundred jobs posted across the US and you can narrow your search by state.

Best Buy:

Number 66 on the 2008 Fortune 500 list, this electronics retailer has over 8,000 jobs listed on their site across the US. There are sections on Students and Entry level jobs, New Store opportunities, a search by key word and differentiation by retail versus corporate careers. You can join their Candidate Community, which will put you on their radar for jobs that match your background (or apply for one of the 8,000 positions listed on their site).

Apple:

Apple’s Job Opportunities site is segregated by Apple Pro, Student and Apple Store opportunities. Apple has 770 jobs listed on their site. You can sign-in and register on their site or search for jobs based on various criteria. Their Student site provides information on the company as well as information on Campus Events. There is even a specialized search just for College Grads. “How to Apply” gives a full overview on how to apply for specific positions.

International Paper:

International Paper is known for paper and packaging. There main career page has sections on Featured Positions, Company overview, International Positions as well as a Student section. You can submit your resume, do a general job search or search by featured positions.

Good luck in your search.

Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.

Minnesota Morning

Finally, the day before the day before New Year’s Day.

I am not real big on News Year’s resolutions. Not that folks should not make changes they would like to make but why wait until January 1? I mean, why not July 16^th or April 7^th? Or whatever day you think of it?

What stops people from making the changes they want to make now?

2008 and will go down for me personally and professionally as the best and worst year I have had. There have been many blessings, fortunate timing of events, good luck, old friends and new people with trusted relationships. I have learned that I truly have the best of friends. There has also been illness, death, client non payment issues, not been able to keep my word as I planned and misunderstandings through miscommunication.

This in just the past 60 days which really is a snapshot of the whole year.

I know life “happens” and while we do our best to make decisions and plans, think about tomorrow and next month sometimes shit just happens and you deal with it the best you can.

About ten days ago on Twitter and Facebook I posted something about remembering as a kid you could call a “Do Over”. Usually it was involved in some game or other activity. It gave you the ability to have another chance.

I decided that 2009 was going to be a bit of a “Do Over” year for me.

But then life happened (again) and I dealt (am dealing) with it and now see 2009 a bit different.

Screw the “Do Over” concept. I promise that I have been doing the best I can with what I have and will continue to do so. Rather than make 2009 a 2008 sequel I am going to make it it’s own year as it should be.

Not so much a resolution but I am going to go back to trusting my inner compass on what I should be doing on any given topic at a particular time.

The saying, “Lead, follow or get out of the way” is one I like.

For 2009 it will be, “Hop on, step aside and watch, or get your ass run over.” All I can promise is that I have the best of intentions, trying to do the right thing and am going to do the best I can with what I have.

Oh and if you hop on please fasten your lap belt and keep your arms within the vehicle because no doubt it will be a bumpy ride.

Happy New Year and Best Wishes to everyone.

Tomorrow, be prepared for some sports talk. It is my favorite season, college football bowl season and while watching much of it have some stuff to share. That and my Minnesota Golden Gophers play the Kansas Jayhawks in the Insight Bowl tomorrow (Wednesday, December 31st) at 5 pm CST in Tempe, Arizona.

Recruiter Link:

• Fistful of Talent: 5 Must-Use Social Media Tools For HR & Recruiting Professionals In 2009 I am a big fan of Jennifer McClure

Career Links:

• HR Morning: 4 ways to keep your job Not so obvious things to think about
• Networking Effectively: Are You Afraid To Ask For A Favor? After all these years I do still fall in this trap

Economy Links:

• CNBC: In Minn., more turn to cash-starved state for help
• BusinessWeek: Will Work for Praise: The Web's Free-Labor Economy Hat tip John Sumser
• StarTribune: Growing UP in a down economy There are companies doing well during this recession

What Makes A Smart Recruiter?

I know for a few of my non recruiter friends the immediate response will be, “There is such a thing as a smart recruiter?”

Yes friends with all sarcasm put aside there are. In fact most are smart and good at what they do but like most industries a small percentage can ruin it for the group at large.

Jason Davis is running a “contest” at RecruitingBlogs.com called “Are You a Smart Recruiter?” The site is nearing 15,000 members and at each milestone Jason does a contest of sort. You can find out more by clicking Are You a Smart Recruiter?

The contest is sponsored by the folks at SmartRecruiters, an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) provider.

So far 35+ recruiters have participated and you can read the entries by clicking What makes me a Smart Recruiter.

What follows is my entry:

I am not so convinced I am a smart recruiter because 75% of what I know has come from trial and error and 25% from listening to what others do and then make it work for me in the way I do things. Maybe the combined knowledge of messing things up and listening to smart folks makes me a smart recruiter.

Here are five reasons for my success:

- Short memory and avoiding the roller coaster. In football they say the best cornerback’s have a short memory. What they mean is whether you gave up a touchdown, got an interception or usually something in between you have to forget what just happened and think about the next play. The common analogy is riding the roller coaster. It is hard to see this business clearly when your emotions are all over the place. Keeping the highs and lows not so extreme has served me well.

- I ask a lot of questions but the most important part is to listen and take good notes. I do this with almost every conversation I have. I will ask a candidate five different ways what the salary requirements are, same with the client on what is most important to them. A recruiter needs to know what really motivates both parties in order for a placement to benefit both the candidate and client.

- Do right by the client and the candidate. We are asking clients to trust our evaluation of talent and the marketplace and based on our information will invest lots of time, energy, salary, benefits and our fees. We ask candidates to pursue opportunities with our clients that will have an impact on their career paths and financial security for their families. I know if I do right by them my business, financial security and family will be well.

- I use a variety of tools without which my career as a one man band of a search firm likely would have ended years ago. Among them: phone, email, blog, social media, newsletters, RSS feeds, sponsoring events, speaking before groups, referral networks, talent pipelines, SEO and creating interesting and optimized job ads. Not every tool is right for every search but because of the niche and location I am in the previous in some combination always works well.

- #1 reason: Most days I like most people and most days most people like me.

Congratulations to Jason Davis as RecruitingBlogs.com nears 15,000 members and many thanks to Jerome Ternynck and the team at SmartRecruiters for sponsoring this.

Best Wishes in ’09.

Paul

Minnesota Morning

Happy Holidays. I hope this post finds everyone doing well or at least as well as can be.

It has been many months almost a year since I fired up a Minnesota Morning post. For the most past my Daily Twitter Updates have taken its place. Twitter is a cool tool (click MN Headhunter for my Tweets as they are called) and I use it a lot but I am finding the 140 characters to be a bit restrictive.

I think I am going to come back and start using the Minnesota Morning posts and will carry over Twitter links to articles and economy news here.

Lots of things will be in these posts like recruiting and HR stuff, economy and business news tidbits, links to interesting (to me) local blog posts, politics and sports likely too.

Sometimes there will be items that have nothing to do with my being an IT Recruiter but important to me for one reason or another.

And the following item will be an example of this.

Both on Twitter and Facebook I have linked to a story about Emilie Lemmons a local blogger, wife, mother and friend to many who passed early in the morning Christmas Eve. I never had the honor of meeting Emilie who was married to a fraternity brother of mine, Stephen. While in college I was very close to the guys a couple of years older than I and Stephen was one of them. He is a great guy with a huge heart.

This is one of those examples where as years go by, people get busy, we get into our business careers and start families. We can lose track of one another. So the news of Emilie’s passing was a shock to me.

Over the past few days I have spent some time reading Emilie’s blog and because of her writing style and transparency feel as if I know her and Stephen as well as anyone. She was a freelance writer by trade so while an introvert in one sense sharing her stories through a blog came naturally. Emilie started writing before the birth of their first son and before she learned she had cancer.

When you have a moment take a look at the following links:

• lemmondrops sweet and sour stories of life, love and little ones (Emilie’s blog)
• St. Paul blogger Emilie Lemmons shared her story of living with and dying of cancer with readers worldwide (St. Paul Pioneer Press article in today’s paper)
• In Memory of Emilie Lemmons (Facebook group)
• Finding joy in the midst of darkness (Emilie’s last article at TheCatholicSpirit.com)

While this story does not end as many had hoped and prayed there are a lot of wonderful, special, touching and real moments shared in her writing. Say a prayer for Emilie, Stephen and their sons.

I have a lot of other stuff on my mind but for the moment will just go with the following links.

Recruiter and Career blogs:

• Staffing Technology: How to Start a Staffing Company
• INTERNET inc: Job board outlook 2009 - the hurricane
• My Global Career: Is Social Networking a Career Safety Net?
• MSNBC: Out of work? It's time to get connected
• Brazen Careerist: You Can’t Put This Workforce Back Together Again written by my buddy Maren Hogan
• CollegeRecruiter.com: College senior? At least the feds are hiring Steven Rothberg gets on MPR

Economy:

• Commerce Department final report on Q3 GDP remains at -.5% Good news that it was not revised down. Most analysts predict -5% for Q4
• U of Michigan Consumer Confidence: Rises to 60.1 from 55.3 Analysts expected 58.6 Rise most likely due to deep discounts at stores
• Wells Fargo Annual Economic Outlook – 2009 (PDF) Predicts recession ends in 2009 with Q3 and Q4 growth

Local blog posts from TwinCitiesBlogs.com:

• Pushing Envelope: HubSpot Releases State of the Twittersphere Q4 2008 Marketing Report
• Steve Bendt: BlueShirt Nation Evolution- Staying True to the Learning
• Funny Business: Consultants Being Asked To Take A Pay Cut
• Rick Mahn: Thoughts on Social Media Careers

MBA: Yes or No????

Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap

From: the medical sales recruiter

Many candidates ask me whether or not they should pursue an MBA. Will they make more money in their next position? Will they be promoted more rapidly?

Many will not like my answers here but they are just based on my experiences. I, myself, have an MBA. So I can, also, speak from my personal journey.

First, should I get an MBA? The answer is yes! More education is always best. If you use that education to excel at your job, if you truly learn something in those courses and apply that to your job for greater productivity or a better thought process.

But I would say that I met many MBA’s that just check the box. In either case, the MBA on the resume may get you in the interview process because it may be a gating factor. Also, some hiring managers buy into its value and give candidates with the degree more credence than candidates without the degree.

Will you make more money? In my area of expertise (sales and marketing), the answer is that you will not be compensated higher just because of the degree. However, again, if you use the education to be better at what you do then invariably you will make more money.

As a sales representative, the financial experience I got in my MBA courses gave me tools to position my company and products for greater success. It follows that if you are more successful at your job you will be promoted faster!

So, to summarize, yes you should get an MBA if you aspire to be more. If you will use it! Or if you want to avoid being passed over because you have a manager that uses education as a gating factor.

One exception – I do not see the value if you already have a business degree.

Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.

Daily Twitter Updates

Sometimes the day does not allow a blog post let alone write about things on my mind or I hear about like economic, political, local news (sports too).

With Twitter, you at least get some of the flavor, a flash moment during the day, of what I am thinking about. You can follow during the day or see the digest below.

Here are the highlights of my recent Twitter activity. If you want to see the full version click MN Headhunter on Twitter

MN Headhunter on Twitter | December 20, 2008 - December 15, 2008 (last one first, links added):

December 20, 2008

• I must be finally starting to feel better. 2 am I am wide awake, cleaning, doing laundry, and creating a presentation about 19 hours ago from web
• Grilling cheeseburgers made more sense a couple of hours age when it was +17. At -3, not so much
• RT: @StevenRothberg Was interviewed by MN Public Radio on the college job market http://tinyurl.com/89fn72
• 80's flashback: Anyone remember The Hooters? I was a big fan. Link to YouTube video of And We Danced
• Go Gophers!!! Men's hoops beats #9 Louisville
• Diggings: This Is What Happens After Decimating A Daily Newspaper Through Endless Rounds Of Layoffs
• Yeah. 4 college football games today. Will not Tweet each one. I promise. But will get a lot of work done today.
• I'm dreaming of a white Christmas... oh sorry, was just looking out the window as I was waking up. Not a dream.

December 19, 2008

• Great conversation RT: @Tavisd Just spent 2 hours on the phone with @MNheadhunter - solving the worlds problems one recruiter at a time
• CIO.com: The Dangers of Getting Contract IT Work Through Staffing Agencies
• I am celebrating my 3,000th Tweet by saying: Governor Blagojevich is a tool.
• Spoke with @NicoleBodem and I think we would both be good philanthropists
• Illinois Governor Blagojevich will soon give a statement. Will not take questions.
• Minnesota Senate race: The election that keeps on giving.

December 18, 2008

• Gopher Football: Live on St. Louis TV, Bryant Allen with offers from MN, KS, MO, IA and WI chooses the University ..... of.....MINNESOTA
• Something I never thought I would say: The Southern California and Las Vegas snow storm heading for Minneapolis.
• JibberJobber: Okay, I’m Sold On Twitter
• Business Pundit: The 50 Best Business Blogs of 2008
• U.S. News: 5 Ways to Fix Your Job Search
• ABC News: Job-Hunting: Are You Scaring Recruiters?
• Neighbor gave me a funny look. Was it because I started the grill in +12 degree weather or dropping a match in because ignitor was frozen?
• Minnesota jobs number: November -10,500 Unemployment rate to 6.4% from 5.9%
• RT: @TalentSynch Funny snow related news in WA "there's no way out of Redmond right now" - sortof like being stuck in a MSFT error loop ;-)

December 17, 2008

• How It's Made just taught me that it takes 30 minutes to make a box of candy canes
• Fistful of Talent: Why Your LinkedIn Prospects Are Laughing At You...
• CollegeRecruiter.com: Gen Y Has Highest Unemployment Rate
• JobMob: The 25-Point Layoff Success Checklist You Hope to Never Need
• OPEC cuts oil production again. Oil prices go down again to 4 year low $40.26
• RT: @ComicTwit How do you know when it's going to be a good day at work? When you see your boss' picture on the side of the milk carton.
• We're tarped. Thank you @jeremylattimore
• Tarp a new 4 letter word? Go tarp yourself. You're a tarper. You're a dirty little tarp. Not quite finding the correct context
• Twitterholic has folks in Mpls wondering who @jjbuss is. Jason Buss is much respected in the Recruiter/HR industry. The Talent Buzz
• MSNBC reporting a train derailment in SE MN. Some of the cars may have gone in the river

December 16, 2008

• Chicago Sun Times: Rahm's calls on tape Rahm Emanuel might be on 21 different taped conversations. So far a "rumor"
• My neighbor is from North Carolina. His first winter, not a big fan. Wally his 7 month old lab LOVES it. Conflict fun to watch
• GL Hoffman of JobDig is on Twitter @GLHoffman and has a new book out called Dig Your Job
• Biased referral for my Recruiter/HR friends. In need of marketing/PR related materials? contact @marenhogan A good person doing good stuff
• Weight loss program, calling it the "DeBettignies Head and Chest Cold" I am down 8.5 lbs in 10 days. Woo Hoo
• Best Buy buy out a bummer but from what I have seen so far it seems that they are doing a good job with the severance package
• Seems to me if one wants to portray themself as innocent, hiring a former O.J. or R. Kelly attorney is not the way to go
• Upgrading myself from crappy to sub human. First time I slept more than 4 hours at one time in a week. My head/chest cold may be breaking
• If you are seeking a senior .Net consultant in Minneapolis contact @AdamBodem

December 15, 2008

• Watching as people walk by with their dogs at a much faster pace than usual. -9 air temp and -23 wind chill a motivator
• Congrats to an old friend @davemn who was one of the ten Minnesota Obama/Biden electors. That must be a cool experience
• -7 air temperature and -30 wind chill in Minneapolis. Laughing at weather dude talking about Dallas 39 and wind chills. Whatever

Minnesota Layoffs: Pentair | Colliers Turley Martin Tucker | Navarre | Select Comfort | Tennant | Graco

Here is a list of announced layoffs by Minnesota companies from December 15 - 18, 2008 . Not all layoffs are in Minneapolis, St. Paul or greater Minnesota:

Pentair | 1,600 | 10%

• Pentair cutting 1,600 jobs (Business Journal)
• Pentair cuts forecast; to shed 1,600 jobs – Update (RTTNEWS)
• Pentair cuts forecast, plans to cut workforce (MarketWatch)

Colliers Turley Martin Tucker | 11 | 10%

• Colliers cuts 10 percent of local workforce (Business Journal)
• Colliers cuts 10 percent of Twin Cities workforce (Finance and Commerce)

Navarre |10-20

• New Hope multimedia publisher to cut 10 to 20 jobs (Finance and Commerce)

Select Comfort | 120 | 22%

• Select Comfort cuts 22 percent of headquarters employees (Business Journal)
• Select Comfort employees won't be sleeping easy this month (MinnPost.com)
• Select Comfort Cuts 120 Jobs; Suspends SAP Implementation - Update (RTTNews)

Tennant | 240 | 8%

• Tennant cuts 8 percent of workforce (Business Journal)
• UPDATE 1-Tennant sees Q4 loss; to cut 8 pct jobs (Reuters UK)
• Tennant to cut 240 jobs, 8 percent of workers (CNNMoney.com)

Graco | 150 | 6%

• Graco to lay off 150 (Business Journal)
• Graco To Cut 6% Workforce – Update (RTTNews)

IT Services Sales Executive | Minnesota Job

 

Full Time IT Job

 

This position has been filled.

Click Minnesota IT Jobs  for more jobs & Minnesota Headhunter  for most recent blog posts. 

Paul DeBettignies
VP Recruiting
HireCast Consulting, LLC 
paul@hirecastconsulting.com   
 

Stay in touch with me by clicking:

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Study Shows 51,500 Minnesota Jobs Directly And Indirectly Tied To Auto Industry

A study called when When giants fall released by the Washington, D.C. based nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank Economic Policy Institute shows that as many as 3.3 million US jobs are tied to the auto industry and as many as 51,500 in Minnesota.

The Economic Policy Institute has a good reputation of putting out fair numbers so until I come across another survey I will be quoting from this one.

Top 5 states hit hardest by total shutdown: Michigan, California, Ohio, Texas and Illinois

Top 5 states in terms of employment: Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, Alabama, Tennessee

Minnesota ranks #21 if just GM were to close. An estimated 14,200 jobs would be lost and if a total shutdown 51,500 jobs.

As a percentage of the work force the .5% to 1.9% of state employment ranks Minnesota #28

Included in the survey are the recently announced sales figures for November:

• Domestics sales -40%
• GM -41%
• Ford -30%

Not widely carried are the equally bad sales figures from foreign auto makers:

• Asian sales in US -35%
• Nissan -42%
• Hyundai -40%
• Honda -32%

I am sure it would be hard to quantify but I am wondering if the auto makers closed, what would pop up in their place? I find it hard to believe that the US would produce no cars or that other industries would not evolve from the carnage. That 3.3 million jobs would be lost and nothing to take their place.

I am not suggesting we let the auto makers go quiet but just thinking about all the what if’s.

I am also wondering how current plants could be retooled to take on things like electric cars, batteries, green technologies, etc.

Lots of wondering and thinking on my part. The problem for me I am not seeing much more out of Capitol Hill or Michigan for answers. I would hope and expect they would be much further along in their thought process and have an answer or two.

So far I am disappointed.

As Usual.

Daily Twitter Notes

Sometimes the day does not allow a blog post let alone write about things on my mind or I hear about like economic, political, local news (sports too).

With Twitter, you at least get some of the flavor, a flash moment during the day, of what I am thinking about. You can follow during the day or see the digest below.

Here are the highlights of my recent Twitter activity. If you want to see the full version click MN Headhunter on Twitter

MN Headhunter on Twitter | December 14, 2008 - December 10, 2008 (last one first, links added):

December 14, 2008

• Gopher football receives 2 commitments from visitors this weekend. 3* DB and a 3* JUCO OL
• When attending future events I will put in my bag a pair of sneakers so I can show my contempt in real time rather than blog about it later
• Good news: Only rain in Mpls. Little snow to be had. Bad news: -30 windchills tonight to Tuesday morning. Brr, brr, brr
• Simply Hired: Job Searches Increase by Twenty-Seven Percent in November
• Spin Strategy: How looking for a job is like selling your house
• Manpower Employment Outlook Global Survey
• Politico: GOP resumes are piling up on Hill

December 13, 2008

• Best friends these days are lame but helping out: Mucinex D, Tylenol, bed, couch, chair. Upgrading myself from this sucks to mostly crappy
• Heisman Trophy: Sam Bradford of Oklahoma. I had him #3 but flip a coin between he, Tim Tebow of Florida and Colt McCoy of Texas
• Called a friend. Her daughter answers and says, "Uncle Paul you sound poopy" yes dear I do and am feeling poopy.

December 12, 2008

• Mother Nature to Minnesota: "I am giving you 2 days of warm weather. Then a big snow storm and below 0 highs. You chose to live here."
• RT @glarocque Hiring! CONSULTATIVE SALES Understands Tech, Media, Services & Web 2.0 - Recruiting/Sourcing | Referrals? glarocque@arbita.net
• The Hiring Site (CareerBuilder): Who Would You Follow?
• Was hoping for some good late night TV and found Judge Dredd. Sucked then sucks now. The only good part is any part with Diane Lane.

December 11, 2008

• ABC News, Houston: Holiday gifts for the unemployed @jasonalba and JibberJobber.com mentioned
• Richard Schulze, Best Buy founder, & family foundation donate $40M to the University of Minnesota for diabetes research http://cli.gs/V34UXJ
• AP: Bank of America to cut 30K - 35K over 3 years. Final numbers in early '09. Redundancy (mergers) and economy cited as reasons
• A stop, read, ponder article: The Value of Being Utterly, Gloriously Wrong Thanks @medxcentral for the link
• #RothbergWebinar: Facebook says average age of a user is 25
• #RothbergWebinar: MySpace says average age of a user is 35
• 800 Recruiters signed up for @StevenRothberg on using Facebook.
• Want to learn/want to better use Facebook as recruiting tool? @stevenRothberg doing a free webinar today 1 pm CT
• Weekly jobless claims +58K to 573K. 4 week avg to 540K from 526K. Continuing claims to 4.09M All stats are year highs

December 10, 2008

• Found Twitturly by accident, http://twitturly.com It tracks your Twitter linking history. http://www.recruitingblogs.com/group/followmeontwitter
• Was asked: Is the grass greener on the the side? My reply: If you like to mow, water, weed, rake, fertilize on your own, then yes
• Digital Daily: Take This Yahoo Job and Shove It http://cli.gs/31gQQM 2:53 PM Dec 10th from web
• 9 Recruiter/HR Twitter users added to Follow Me On Twitter group @recrutiingblogs.com
• YourHRGuy.com: The One Thing You Should Do Today

Minnesota Layoffs: 3M | Hutchinson Technology | North Memorial | Park Nicollet

Here is a list of November and December 2008 layoffs, job cuts, whatever you want to call them announced by Minnesota employers. Not all layoffs are in Minnesota:

• 3M | 1,800 2% worldwide
• Hutchinson Technology | 900 - 1,100 | 20% -25% | Remaining to take 5% pay cut
• North Memorial | 380 | 7%
• Park Nicollet | 230 | 3%

Here are previous announced layoffs going back about 45 days. I know I am missing some so if you see a company to add, leave a comment.

December 2008

• U.S. Steel KeeTac | 400 | Could be temporary shutdown or all of 2009
• Hubbard Broadcasting | 18
• StarTribune | 25
• EnteroMedics | 13

American Red Cross Twin Cities | 15

November 2008

• Cirrus | 500
• Denny Hecker Automotive Group | Unknown number | Multiple dealerships closed
• Ryan Companies | Unknown number | 5%
• Taylor Corporation | Unknown number | 4% this year
• Ballistic Recovery Systems | Unknown number | 25% | Temporary
• IBM | 12
• Lawson Software | 200
• LifeTime Fitness | 100 | 12%

Daily Twitter Notes

Sometimes the day does not allow a blog post let alone write about things on my mind or I hear about like economic, political, local news (sports too).

With Twitter, you at least get some of the flavor, a flash moment during the day, of what I am thinking about. You can follow during the day or see the digest below.

Here are the highlights of my recent Twitter activity. If you want to see the full version click MN Headhunter on Twitter

MN Headhunter on Twitter | December 9, 2008 - December 8, 2008 (last one first, links added):

December 9, 2009

• Things changing too fast for me. Recent additions: Pluto no longer a planet and businesses not allowed to fail. What's next?
• Congrats @marenhogan for recieving a Key Contributor award today from the SHRM chapter in Omaha for doing their newsletter and collateral
• RT @ashleymonseth Corporate PR specialist w/ Social Media exp. needed at Hudson. Job Description now online http://bit.ly/13XyO
• Memo to Illinois Governor: If you are basically selling the Senate seat and you think you might be wiretapped, might just as well use eBay
• RT @TwisterMc The Big Bang Theory cast is on Twitter!!!

December 8, 2008

• Mixed emotions about the #snow. Looks pretty. Have been working from home and not impacted but 2 friends involved in accidents. No one hurt
• RT: @kalisurfer Minnesota - i love this place - 6 months of winter + 2 months of prep +2 months of recouping +2 months of heaven on earth
• RT @mnrecruiters: Check out www.minnesotarecruiters.com and make a donation to Second Harvest Heartland
• Thought I posted this: From CNBC, Tribune Company files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. $13B in debt.
• Minnesota friends, check this out http://minn.citytweets.net/ Saw @researchgoddess talking about the Seattle site
• Business Week: The Best Cities for Riding Out a Recession
• Career Hub: Jobless in December? Advice from Recruiting Pros
• Death By Email: 10 Things Never To Put In Email
• RT: @steffenson Ecolab is looking for a Corporate Development / M&A Director. Know anyone like this looking for a job in the Twin Cities?

Daily Twitter Notes

Sometimes the day does not allow a blog post let alone write about things on my mind or I hear about like economic, political, local news (sports too).

With Twitter, you at least get some of the flavor, a flash moment during the day, of what I am thinking about. You can follow during the day or see the digest below.

Here are the highlights of my recent Twitter activity. If you want to see the full version click MN Headhunter on Twitter

MN Headhunter on Twitter | December 7, 2008 - December 2, 2008 (last one first, links added):

December 7, 2008

• Hello Minneapolis. Snow on the ground. Area drivers appear to be learning how to drive on it. Left Kansas CIty 37 degrees. Minneapolis 15
• A few MN friends called me a whiner for talking about the weather in Kansas City last night. Now I see why. It's f'ing cold here.
• Now looking up gas prices to maximize our purchasing power. Looks like Owatonna winds with upper $1.50's KC was $1.39. Most of Iowa $1.69
• Between Mason City and the border. No, knowing we are "almost" to the border does not help.
• My buddy keeps on showing where we are on his Blackberry and GPS. Is this the digital version of, "Are we there yet? Are we there yet?"
• Heading back to Minneapolis. Had a good time except of the cold weather last night and not close game between Oklahoma and Missouri

December 5, 2008

• Hello Kansas City, road construction and rush hour traffic
• Missouri short on highway funds? I ask because right lane on this part of I 35 has a 3 ft wide repave strip. But not the whole lane.
• CNBC: Huge Job Losses Could Be Signal That Worst Is Over
• Minnesota Recruiters supporting Second Harvest Heartland. To learn more and link to donation page go to www.minnesotarecruiters.com
• Not being over adventerous we chose the modern rest stop.
• Another Iowa observation. Sign says Rest Area ahead. Another sign says Modern Rest Area 19 more miles. What amenities does this one have?
• Just passed a sign: Huge Safe Sale. And I am wondering. Are only the big ones on sale or is it a big sale?
• Hello Des Moines
• Next to rest stop is a sign that says Prairie Area. WTF, why a designated place for a prairie area? The whole damn state is a prairie area
• Who in the Twin Ctities wants to be in a good news TV piece about hiring? Are you hiring FT staff? Send an email ASAP paul@mnheadhunter.com
• On the road to Kansas City for the Big XII Championship game. Just crossed into Iowa feeling a little out of place. Iowa has a funk about it
• Jobs report: College degree stays at 3.1%
• Jobs report: Under/unemployed is 12.5% from 11.8%
• Jobs Report: CRAP -535,000. Unemployment rate at 6.7% October revised from -240,000 to -320,000
• Jobs report: Seeing estimates between 275K to 350K. Even a couple near 500K

December 4, 2008

• YEAH!!!! A company that gets it. CNBC with a story that Creed, fragrance company, hiring while sales slow to hire good talent for upswing
• CNBC live in part from the Mall of America. Welcome home Rebecca Jarvis
• Minnesota budget deficit estimated at $5.2B from now to June 2011 not including inflation spending increases. Balance Budget law in place.
• Diggings: November Jobs Data By State From LinkUp.com
• CNNMoney.com: How long will the recession last?
• CollegeRecruiter.com: More Employers Admit to Using Facebook, MySpace to Background Check Candidates
• Standout Jobs: Is Hiring Easier in a Downturn Economy?

December 3, 2008

• WCCO lead in stories: Vikings players and suspension. Recount in Senate race. Porn at work. Suddenly #Victoria's Secret looks smart
• Is Channel 4 "accidentally" doing the 1 in 4 surf porn at work story on the same night as #Victoria's Secret? Hmm... Paging @DeRushaJ
• Oh and I am watching #Victoria’s Secret for the music :)
• It looks like this year #Victoria’s Secret prefers brunettes to blondes. I have no preference, am an equal opportunity kind of guy.
• RecruitingBlogs.com: 52 Social Media Ideas For HR and Recruiting
• Good news for Minneapolis 2 years in a row: Who climbed, fell in MarketWatch city rankings? (Hint Minneapolis #1 again)
• Neutral news (I take this as good news) for Finance: Robert Half International Financial Hiring Index
• MinnPost.com: How should Minnesota's congressional and legislative districts be redrawn?
• Good News for IT: Robert Half Technology IT Hiring Index and Skills Report And scroll down to see regional numbers
• Wall Street Journal: How to Handle the Job Offer You Can't Afford
• Good news you ask? Maybe one more. I am not an economist but this may be the bottom. How long we stay and until things go up is the question
• Good news you ask? Bill Gross of PIMCO on CNBC, 30 year fixed mortgages may go down to 4.5%. Umm, that and oil at $50. That's all I have
• Institute for Supply Management (ISM): Nonmanufacturing index fell to 37.3% from 44.4% in October. Worse than expected, 42.7% was estimate
• Labor Department unemployment numbers out Friday. Estimates are 350,000
• Challenger Gray & Christmas: 181,000 announced layoffs in November. 7 year high. 91,000 in financial services with 50,000 from Citigroup.
• ADP Employment Report: 250,000 jobs lost. Estimate was 205,000. October revised to 179,000 from 157,000
• The beginning of three days of horrible economic news has started....

December 2, 2008

• Personal Branding Blog: 5 Tips for Networking With People Who Are More Successful Than You Are
• Forbes.com: A Wall Streeter's Guide To Finding A Job

Daily Twitter Notes

Sometimes the day does not allow a blog post let alone write about things on my mind or I hear about like economic, political, local news (sports too).

With Twitter, you at least get some of the flavor, a flash moment during the day, of what I am thinking about. You can follow during the day or see the digest below.

Here are the highlights of my recent Twitter activity. If you want to see the full version click MN Headhunter on Twitter

MN Headhunter on Twitter | December 1, 2008 - November 22, 2008 (last one first, links added):

December 1, 2008

• Spent last 4 days isolated from the world (laptop & college football not included) allowed me to rest, think, clear my head. Very energized
• National Bureau of Economic Research: Recession started in December 2007. Had been 73-months of economic expansion. Previous was 120 months
• The only good thing about the BCS for college football is the buzz it causes when it continues to fail. U of Texas got screwed.

November 29, 2008

• Big XII has another phenomenal game with Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. Game on ABC. Bedlam indeed. 44-41 8:00 Q4
• Gopher fans: Oregon vs Oregon St on Versus. If Ducks beat the Beavers knocking them from BCS 2 from Big Ten likely. Gophers then to Phoenix
• Coleman/Franken recount: StarTribune has PDF's of some of ballots being contested http://cli.gs/2P5NLz I think 95% are easy to decide intent
• Unbelievable game between Kansas and Missouri. And hey, for anyone in Kansas City next weekend I will be there for Big XII Championship
• Next set of games: Florida/Florida State, Alabama/Auburn and right now best halftime show with Grambling and Southern bands. A good day.
• Rivalry games: Oldest Lafayette/Lehigh (144). Oldest D1A Minnesota/Wisconsin (118). Oldest trophy, Little Brown Jug Minnesota/Michigan.
• Enjoying Rivalry Weekend. Georgia vs Ga Tech, Virginia vs Va Tech, Clemson vs South Carolina. Expecting a sore thumb by end of day
• Time: The $100,000 Job Search: How the High-End Unemployed Cope

Minnesota Business, Technology, Politics, Sports, Recruiter and HR Blogs Updated

What follows is a major update (33 blogs) to my blog roll. These blogs will also be added to my TwinCitiesBlogs.com project.

Minnesota Business Blogs:

• craigsanatomy
• Above the Buzz
• Barry Judge
• DoApp Blog
• Greater Than Media
• Mediapirate’s Weblog
• Social Studies
• Steve Bendt
• Five Technology Blog
• Small Business Mavericks
• The ATS Guy
• Lawyerist
• Daily Axioms
• find+attract
• HR Minion
• Knowledge Infuser
• Mykl Roventine
• Quirky Questions
• The Talent Buzz
• Social Media University, Global
• Robert Stanke’s Blog
• fahrenHeight360
• OnePlace Blog
• The Contract Recruiter

Minnesota Technology Blogs:

• Wide Awake Developers

Minnesota Politics Blogs:

• Minnesota Independent Blog
• mnblue
• Politics in Minnesota
• caveat emptor
• MNpublius.com
• The Twin Cities Daily Liberal
• Citizen Elector

Minnesota Sports Blogs:

• Hockey Wilderness
• The Daily Gopher

Minnesota Recruiter and HR Blogs:

• The ATS Guy
• find+attract
• HR Minion
• Knowledge Infuser
• Quirky Questions
• The Talent Buzz
• Robert Stanke’s Blog
• fahrenHeight360
• The Contract Recruiter