The Recruiter

Companies adapt to compete in ‘war for talent’

CNET’s Dan Farber had a great blog post last week featuring JP Rangaswami. In this post, Rangaswami argues that the corporate world is experiencing a ‘war for talent.’ He explains that with companies out to attract the best talent, employers shouldn’t offer larger salaries or better fringe benefits, but rather, should be open to partnering with competitors to foster new ideas.

So what will this change mean for the workforce? It means there will be a different side to the corporate environment. Employers will need to be pro-active and build relationships and network themselves. Employers, customers, suppliers, and even, to some extent, competitors, will be able to play off of each other to recruit and retain the best talent.

So as the best and most talented prospects around, you should do the same thing. Connect with others in the industry and form networks that will open you to new avenues and contacts. It never hurts to know too many people in the business world.

Posted by Roseanne D.

Pictures from SAPPHIRE

Yoh's booth

CEO Bill Yoh giving his presentation

Dinner at Epcot

Lingering thoughts from SAPPHIRE

As I’m sure all of our loyal readers know, we returned from SAPPHIRE, SAP®’s annual international customer event a few weeks ago, and it was great! Not only did we get to meet and greet some awesome people, but it was a chance for us to really see what was going on in the SAP space.

Our commander-in-chief, Bill Yoh, participated in a panel called “Competing on Talent,” and discussed enterprise skills trends. Joining him on this panel was Jon Reed, who actually wrote up a nice blog post on the panel, and another on the overall conference that I recommend you check out.

So what did this panel discuss ERP skill sets? A bunch of different topics come to mind, including how the skill set is changing, and expectations must be modified as a result. Bill highlighted what he thought was key—that now, businesses don’t just need someone with technical skills, but rather, with a “trifold of needs.” Meaning that, sure, the tech skills are important, but so is a knowledge of the SAP space, and the functional skills associated with it.

Overall, it was a great discussion, and an interesting and informative conference to attend.

Posted by Amy D.

Tech Wages Drop After All-Time Highs in 2007

After hitting all-time highs in 2007, tech wages drop in the first quarter of 2008. So says the Q1 Yoh Index of Technology Wages, which we released just yesterday. First quarter wages for tech professionals dropped both year-over-year, and in comparison to those recorded in the final months of 2007, doing little, I’m sure, to boost your confidence in the economy.

And while this report does seem to paint a bleak picture, all hope is not lost. We’re still seeing pockets of strength in the tech sector, especially in SAP, Oracle, security and product development, and software and hardware engineering. Plus, the wage drop in March was not as severe as in earlier months, so hopefully that’s an indication that wages are once again on the rise.

Posted by Jim L.

Big Day for Yoh and SAP

Greetings from sunny Orlando, host city of SAPPHIRE, SAP®’s annual international customer event! It’s a fitting location from which to be writing this post since the purpose of today’s post is to share with you some exciting news related to our SAP partnership…

So here it is. This morning we officially announced that Yoh and SAP are developing the next generation of the Yoh Exchange. (For those of you unfamiliar with the Yoh Exchange, it’s Yoh’s recruiting and HR Management portal that’s designed to help companies cut costs and improve their hiring process.) The new version will incorporate web-based talent planning, administration, policy and profile management and on-site customer support with the end goal of speeding time-to-fill, minimizing technology requirements and human resources costs, and enhancing talent quality.

We’ve signed an agreement with SAP to jointly market the Yoh Exchange as the leading choice for customers to integrate solutions for supply chain and talent management, and are really excited about this opportunity to expand our relationship with the company.

Be sure to check back later for more updates from SAPPHIRE.

Posted by Amy D.

Movin' on up

On Friday, the Philadelphia Business Journal released its annual list of tech employers and, for the second consecutive year, Yoh secured the number five spot. Just a few years ago, in 2005, we were tied for the number 11 position – it’s great to see us moving up so quickly. The list is ranked by the number of local employees. In just three years we have more than doubled our number of local employees from 200 in 2005 to over 470 employees today. We look forward to continuing this growth in 2008 and beyond.

Posted by Jim L.

Body Language: The Unspoken Interview

Think you’re prepared for that upcoming interview? You may have thoroughly researched the company and industry, but there’s a lot more to an interview than dressing in your lucky suit and prepping for tough questions.

One of the most important things to consider while on an interview may be something you’re not even aware of—your body language. You’d be surprised to know what it says about you. Here are a few things to look out for:

1.  Handshake. Be firm, but don’t break the interviewer’s hand either. A strong handshake tells your interviewer that you are confident in yourself and your abilities.

2.  Eye contact. This may seem like common sense, but many people don’t look their interviewer in the eye. By maintaining eye contact, you make it clear that you are engaged and interested in the conversation. Also, it makes your responses more believable.  Wandering eyes often signal discomfort, and interviewers may take them as a sign that you are being untruthful.

3.  Posture. It’s important to sit up straight in your chair without being too rigid. Similarly, you should appear comfortable, but not overly relaxed. Here’s a tip. Try leaning forward a bit—it will prevent you appearing too stiff or relaxed, and you’ll appear to be engaged in the conversation.

4.  Jitters. One of the biggest signs of nervousness is shaking--whether it’s bouncing your leg, wringing your hands, or tapping your pen. Pay extra attention to your body during interviews and try to avoid or minimize these distracting gestures as much as possible.

5.  Hands. Don’t fold your arms across your chest during your interview. This position implies that you’re disinterested in the conversation or trying to close yourself off from the interviewer. Instead, try speaking with your hands to add expression and excitement to your story, to keep your audience engaged. Be sure not to overuse them, though. Large, swooping motions can distract your interviewer and take the focus away from your actual responses.

Posted by Anna M.

The 411 on social networking

For better or worse, social networking sites have spread like wildfire. With more than 60 million people on Facebook alone, and most individuals maintaining profiles on multiple sites, employers and recruiters are beginning to capitalize and use these sites to scout talent and learn more about their potential or current employees.

But as Spiderman once said, “With great power, comes great responsibility.”  Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn can be great tools, but it’s up to you to use them responsibly. 

For job seekers, discretion in the posting of personal material to public online forums is essential.  For example, it’s probably not in your best interest to show your employers a minute-by-minute account of your bachelor or bachelorette party—especially if you are still fuzzy on the details yourself.  Either edit your security setting so only people you know and trust can view the album, or skip posting it altogether. 

However, when it comes to creating and promoting your online brand, you don’t always have to be on the defensive.  Instead, use the Web to your advantage, and make sure that when a potential employer or recruiter Googles your name, they’re going to be impressed by what they see. 

For example, if you haven’t already, start commenting on blogs that are relevant to your industry.  Posting intelligent and insightful comments and initiating quality discussions about relevant topics or trends will provide employers with a glimpse of your expertise and capabilities, and could interest them in learning more. Frequent commenting on blogs can help you spread your name and gain credibility.  Plus, it’s a great way to make contacts and connections that can help you along the way.

In addition, make sure you stay up-to-date on the new tools and features being added to the networks. In April, LinkedIn is launching a service to help members find experts in certain business fields.  You might want to add some key search terms related to your skills (SAP, Java, etc.) to your profile to ensure that employers looking for candidates with these skill sets will stumble upon you.

Posted by Amy D.

Why a recession won’t affect the job market

Penelope Trunk over at The Brazen Careerist put together a pretty interesting post the other day about how our currently unstable economy is affecting the job market—or not.

Penelope argues that the state of today’s job market is not so much a function of economic indicators as it is of demographic trends. This is nothing we haven’t discussed before.  Baby boomers’ mass exodus from the workforce is resulting in a major shortage of employees that Gen X and Y are incapable to fill. (Penelope attributes this to Gen X’s focus on family and Gen Y’s fascination with entrepreneurship that lead them to contribute fewer hours of work per person than the boomers.)

Whether the economy enters a recession or not, as long as boomers continue to retire, demand for younger workers will be high. This is true even for sectors such as finance, real estate and manufacturing that are often hit hardest by economic downturns.

We’d like to add another area in which we expect to see high demand: technology. As we recently reported, the Q4 Yoh Index of Technology Wages revealed all-time high wages in the tech sector before gradually slowing at the end of 2007, and showed a continuing trend of year-over-year growth. And opportunities in engineering, Java, SAP®, project management, security and customer-related projects continue to be plentiful.

So don’t let talk of a recession scare you (when it comes to jobs, at least) -   retiring baby boomers will guarantee demand. But it’s up to you to sharpen your skills, maintain your credentials and make yourself an ideal and indispensable candidate.

Posted by Christy H.

Tech wages drop after record-breaking high

The Q4 Yoh Index of Technology Wages, released just a few days ago, shows two very interesting things that happened toward the end of 2007.  Wages reached an all-time high in October ($32.39), but then quickly slowed in November and December, which could be a sign that the economy’s sluggishness is starting to affect wages and the job market.

Some of the jobs that stayed hot throughout the dip include biostatisticians, civil engineers, clinical research associates, Java developers and SAP® consultants.

Posted by Jim L.