The Changing Financial Jobs Market

The economic downturn of recent years has had a massive negative impact across all industries worldwide. The finance industry has been hit particularly hard and has seen the shedding of large numbers of staff by major players in the industry. This has meant that existing staff are reluctant to change jobs and that there is

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Just Management

Stray Comments Don’t Always Prove Age Bias Ms. Martin was a long-term, highly-valued employee of Lockheed Missiles & Space Company. In 1991, she was laid off as result of a stack ranking based on performance and seniority. She sued for age discrimination.

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Do Technology Experts Make Good Managers?

Even in the current uncertain environment, the U.S. economy is driven by nerds — a term that recently morphed from an insult into a quasi-compliment. Nerds specialize in computer science, mathematics, electrical engineering, physics, biophysics, molecular biology, nanotechnology, bio-nano and who knows what. They are smart, sometimes arrogant, and not necessarily the most sociable folks

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How Staffing Technology Changes Hiring Practices

Today, new technology and process improvements can sharply truncate the length of time it takes for employers to hire employees. Through their online hiring systems, leading employers are compiling databases organized by candidates’ skills. This allows for automated matching of talent supply and demand. Once an employer identifies the skills and competencies it needs, it

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Win Over HR Screeners With the Right Resume

In the current job market, many senior-level candidates are learning that great backgrounds, terrific interviewing ability and stellar references don’t guarantee success. So how can you break through the iron curtain that screens most job candidates from managers who can hire you? Instead of trying to circumvent the human-resources department, you must accommodate it in

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A Job-Hunter’s Guide To Executive Recruiters

Confusion about how recruiters operate has put many a career at a disadvantage. Executives in transition can’t afford to let faulty assumptions foul up their prospects. Knowing how the search industry operates will make you a better, more successful candidate. To help you get the facts straight, here’s a guide to working with recruiters based

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Cultivate a New Appreciation For Online-Screening Tools

It isn’t uncommon for employers to receive more than 500 applications for a single job. Many companies have databases containing more than 1 million resumes. To manage these huge volumes, companies increasingly are using online staffing-assessment tools to screen and select candidates. These questionnaires and tests allow companies to sort through hundreds of applications rapidly

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Groups for Gay Employees Are Gaining Traction

For years, companies have created employee-resource groups for women and racial and ethnic minorities, aimed at boosting recruitment and retention. Now, employers increasingly are creating similar groups for gay and lesbian employees. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Morgan Stanley and Intuit Inc., among others, created groups for gay employees in the past year. The Human Rights Campaign,

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A Cheaper Alternative To Outsourcing

When calls to the reservation line at Choice Hotels International Inc. surged after an ad campaign earlier this year, Don Brockway, Choice’s vice president of world-wide reservations, found his call centers short-staffed. So he quickly arranged to add as many as 20 agents per shift.

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Focus Heightens On Retaliation Complaints

The Supreme Court hears arguments today in a case testing how managers may react after an employee complains about harassment or discrimination. But legal specialists say employers can take steps to minimize retaliation complaints through beefed-up training, investigations and follow-up efforts. The touchy issue confronts many companies. Complaints to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that

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