Archive for the ‘Employers’ Category

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GIS Career Night at the Tivoli Center, Denver CO

Tuesday, December 1st, 2009

Yesterday, the associations of GIS professionals Rocky Mountain Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA), Rocky Mountain Region of American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) and Rocky Mountain Geographic Information Technology Association (GITA) held a GIS CAREER NIGHT at the the Tivoli Student Union which serves as a hub of student activity for the Community College of Denver, Metropolitan State College of Denver and University of Colorado Denver.

The GITA Rocky Mountain Chapter Board of Directors representative Natalie Cutsforth kicked things off with a presentation overview of the Geospatial Information and Technology Association.   GITA is an information resource and community for anyone who has a vested interest in the use of geospatial information.  The organization provides excellent networking opportunities for geospatial job seekers.

That presentation was followed with an overview of ASPRS by  Ms. Linda E. Meyer, the ASPRS Rocky Mountain Region Treasurer.  She highlighted their mission to promote the responsible applications of photogrammetry, remote sensing, GIS, and supporting geotechnologies and explained the advantages of membership.  She also mentioned that her company GeoEye is growing and that hiring activity is up.

Tony Palizzi, the current URISA Rocky Mountain Chapter president, presented the URISA briefing and moderated the distinguished panel, which included Linda Meyer of GeoEye, Pamela Fromhertz of NOAA, and Richard Serby of GeoSearch.

Those in attendance included employees of the Census Bureau, DOT, Metro State, DU, and Inergraph.  There were professional land surveyors, oil and gas technicians, land use GIS, Regional Council of Government members, LiDAR professionals, and dozens of former, current, and future students.  The crowd numbered about 50.  Last year totaled over 150.

Lengthy discussions ensued on numerous topics.  The first discussion revolved around the geospatial career outlook.  Richard Serby went over the national unemployment numbers from last year, this year, and the best of years.  Colorado unemployment numbers have been better than the national numbers but that isn’t to say that the local economy hasn’t suffered.  “Let’s talk about the good news.” he said, “I’m done talking about the bad news.”  The good news is that companies, agencies, and the federal government have started to add staff.  “It will be a long road to reach the optimal unemployment number of 5%.” he said.  But now that demand for geospatial applications  is on the rise, more jobs need to be filled and that is chipping away at the 10% unemployment number where we currently sit.

Several questions on internships followed.  Most of the panel agreed that for students that need to gain experience, an internship can be invaluable.  Tips to negotiate a paid internship were discussed and the value of an unpaid internship is not to be overlooked for getting your foot in the door.  Many colleges are helping students make this happen.  To see more on this topic read:The First Rung of the Ladder… Many on the panel started their geospatial career with a paid internship.

Before the networking session the topics included citizenship, clearances, overqualified objections, the new energy economy, and networking your way into the seat that you want.  We hope to network with you at this event next year!  If you attended, we would love your feedback.

Posted in candidates, Employers, Employment Situation, Energy, GIS, Uncategorized | No Comments »

When It Rains…

Friday, October 9th, 2009

US stocks have been pushing higher and words like optimism, confidence, and even growth have been used to describe our current economy. This week at the Location Intelligence Conference in Westminster Colorado, several companies repeated the same story to the question “How’s business?”. The story included how difficult the first quarter of 2009 was and how the second quarter was equally bad. Then, sometime near the end of the third quarter orders started being generated and then business started to develop. For many, the third quarter matched the revenue for their 1st and 2nd quarters combined. One exebitor said that “With all this water in the atmosphere, it means its going to rain!” (Joe Francica, Conference Chairman pictured above)

GeoSearch provided the conference employment workshop where industry executives and employment specialist provided job seekers strategies to find employment in this tough job market. During this workshop, weekly initial jobless claims fell to the lowest level since the start of the year, signaling an improvement in economic activity.

One breakout session discussed location tracking and the mobile workforce. The three presenters included Robert Laudati from Trimble, David Hemphill from ObjectFX, and Ziv Baum from Zipano. The discussion detailed workforce tracking systems technically comprised with a combination of global positioning systems (GPS) and mobile phone technology using the internet and digital mapping to display data in real time. Each presenter discussed the topic from different perspectives. Trimble highlighted the hardware involved and some feature/benefit capabilities for workers in the field. ObjectFX discussed the 3D location abilities and the public safety vertical market that is interested in expanding this technology. Zipano focused on the social network applications of tracking friends, coworkers, and family and the privacy issues involved. The interest in this topic is hot. Interest in all of this technology is hot and these companies are adding staff. The CEO of Zipano – Zip Baum put it bluntly when he said “We need people”.

Posted in Employers, Employment Situation, Growth, jobless, market | No Comments »

Double Digit Growth…

Sunday, September 13th, 2009

According to the American Staffing Association, the recruiting business has realized double digit growth after each of the past three recessions. Like prior recessions, when this bear market hit, employers focused on cutting cost, workforce reduction, and hire freezes. Surviving companies in the current market have retained only their strongest people. Much of this attrition will prove positive for firms that have used or are using this opportunity to eliminate unproductive employees and trouble makers.

A recovery is imminent. Businesses will thrive again and consumers will consume. Economists have highlighted several indicators that show a slowing rate of decline and many sectors have shown some kind of uptick. This week, the head of the Federal Reserve proclaimed the end of the US recession. If the end of the recession is in sight, what should companies do, right now, to position themselves for a successful rebound?

If historical data is a road-map, we should consider the recession set off in 2001 after September 11th. In that recession, companies moved quick to shed their workforce. Layoffs and hire freezes became common place and organizations value fell in rapid succession. Employers delayed growth initiatives, hesitated to invest in anything, and new start ups were scarce. Some sectors like travel and hospitality thought they would never bounce back.

However, experienced and savvy companies that reviewed their history books, took advantage of the talent surplus before June of 2003, when a recruiting war began and companies were aggressively filling empty seats to compete in the bull market recovery. Similarly, inexperienced and fearful companies failed to act quickly. They overspent, and lost out on the best talent. This is how companies end up with unproductive employees and trouble makers.

Smart and savvy firms will prepare now for post recessionary growth by making an active decision to capture bright, insightful talent before demand returns. It would be wise to develop a large candidate pool in each of the functional areas or labor categories that drive the business of the company. Not just sales people but developers, analysts, technical, management, and marketing professionals. The wider the net cast, the greater the chance of catching the right fish. Professional recruiting firms can develop the pool so that companies only talk to interested and qualified talent. Smart companies won’t behave poorly while shopping for talent. (see my It’s an Employers’ Market blog)

Decisions are being made right now to be smart and savvy or frozen and fearful. Companies that choose to build a pipeline of talent and start shopping for a growing workforce will be miles ahead of the companies that wait and see. Choosing to wait for things to turn around will prove to be a costly mistake. The demand and fight for talent will be expensive. Don’t wait for double digit growth to call your trusted recruiting firm.

Posted in Employers, Employment Situation, Growth, hire, rcession, recruiting, talent | No Comments »

It’s an Employers’ Market. Ugh!

Wednesday, August 5th, 2009

The Bureau of Labor Statistics is scheduled to release The Employment Situation for July 2009 on August 7th and the weekly jobless claims data is expected to show further decline giving those few organizations that are adding staff more confidence than ever to throw professionalism out the window.

Remember how employers had to behave during the dot com bull market when employee’s were hard to find? Organizations across the country decided to develop an action plan for ethical practices in the hiring process when one was not already in place. This quick feedback and consistent communication made most transactions pleasant or at least polite.

Now that corporate America is flooded with resumes and operates in an environment of government audits and OFCCP compliance on their hiring practices, the trend of hiring one select candidate and treating the rest of the candidate pool with only the minimum amount of respect required by the federal government will continue.

One recent example includes a fortune 100 company that asked a select candidate pool to complete exhausting screening application where successful applicants were invited for an hour plus teleconference interview. So far, so good. The top two candidates were then invited for an on-sight interview with the hire manager and other staff. This too is in-line with a professional process. However, this was a four hour interview. After both of the four hour interviews, neither candidate was selected, the organization re-posted the position, and failed to return phone calls or emails from the original candidates! Five weeks later, the organization delivered an electronic notification that the position had been filled.

Forward looking organizations that recognize the long term value of professional business communication with respect to adding staff will be rewarded when the resume flood dries up. However, growing federal contractors don’t follow that type of thinking. They have secure contracts 5, 7, even 10 years down the road and they have them with option years too. Yet, hiring organizations that act with arrogance and blatant disrespect, just because they happen to be growing in this down marked, would benefit from some sole searching and a small dose of modesty.

On the other hand, I congratulate organizations that have implemented traditional practices of explaining their decisions to top candidates and leaving doors open for the future. After all, the candidates that aren’t a perfect fit today may very well be the perfect fit tomorrow.

I mean, I get it… It is an Employers’ Market. But companies that act like it’s a candidates market, will win when the tables turn. The tables always turn. They always have.

Posted in candidates, Employers, Employment Situation, fortune 100, interview, jobless | No Comments »

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