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As part of the recent Monster security breach, the alleged hackers apparently were able to infiltrate approximately 146,000 names and other private information from federal jobs website USAJOBS.gov.

Monster.com, the technology provider for USAJOBS.gov, informed the Office of Personnel Management that 146,000 subscribers to USAJOBS.gov — out of two million subscribers — were affected in this incident.

Although Monster says this accounts for less than 8% of job seekers, the federal office posted a notice on USAJOBS.gov and is sending warning letters to all subscribers to alert them of counterfeit “phishing” emails. (The agency is also asking anyone who receives suspicious emails to report it immediately to Mayday@fedjobs.gov.)

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Judging by the calls he gets, recruitment consultant and publisher Peter Weddle says there’s every reason to believe that job boards are becoming the latest target for investors and buyers.

“Increasingly the view out there [is job boards are] one of the most successful areas of e-commerce,” says Weddle, who is also founder and executive director of the International Association of Employment Web Sites.

“Buyers are out there and they are asking questions,” Weddle says. Besides wanting to know what’s for sale, the buyers are looking for help figuring out formulas for valuing a job board, the nature of the deals that are being made, how to price goodwill, and more.

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You’ve heard about the stepped-up recruiting practices trucking companies use to address the shortage of truck drivers. Well, some of their gains are coming at the expense of another industry — the large school bus industry, involving perhaps a half-million busses and 625,000 bus professionals.

Below, transportation officials and transportation staffing companies discuss the challenge and some solutions.

Florida: Doing “Everything We Possibly Can”

Arby Creach handles driver recruiting and training for Orange County Public Schools in Florida, a state where school busses transport 162,000 kids each day and burn about 14,000 gallons of diesel. Creach says “A lot of folks who drive commercially just aren’t the type who want to be with students. You do have to have a passion. You do have to love kids.”

Many people, he says, still think the jobs are part-time, like in days gone by when working mothers drove busses for “butter and egg money.” It’s now often a full-time job, and Creach’s district is running about 1,000 busses a day. It’s adding new busses daily, though still 40 to 50 drivers short.

Creach’s team is advertising in Spanish newspapers; shopper leaflets that arrive in people’s mailboxes along with coupons and other ads; in person at Home Depot and Wal-Mart; online at ocps.net; and at job fairs. Creach would like to advertise in the print newspaper the Orlando Sentinel, but his boss isn’t as hot on the idea. “Short of going out and leaving flyers on windshields, we try everything we possibly can.”

The selling points of a bus-driving job, according to Creach, include “longevity,” competitive pay, and “all the hours you want to work.” Drivers get student holidays off, but the district can help them find driving jobs at Disney and elsewhere if they want to work during the summer.

“I’d say 99.9% off our people love the work and love the kids,” Creach says. “It gets in the blood.”

100 Signs in Arkansas

Rhonda Harris, who coordinates transportation for the Sheridan School District in Arkansas, says student behavior, low pay, relatively low unemployment in the area, and unusual hours make it difficult to attract drivers.

Sheridan has people work two hours in the morning and two in the afternoon, so it’s difficult to find work that people can do during the remaining hours of the day to supplement the $6,866 annual driver pay.

“You have to work somewhere that allows you the flexibility,” Harris says. “There aren’t many places here in town that will let you do that. You have six hours during the day that you don’t do anything.”

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You’ve just placed a top performer in a new job. It’s a great fit right off the bat. The job is as advertised, job expectations were clear, the person is making an impact, doing work she enjoys, working with a great team, and working for a top-notch manager who is a true mentor.

While the compensation is competitive, it wasn’t the best offer she received, but she does not regret her decision. Making it even better, the company culture is supportive and people-centric, with its future growth prospects very promising.

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Following a very public security breach, Monster Worldwide said Wednesday it will institute a comprehensive set of new systems and processes designed to enhance existing security and minimize such threats in the future.

Through a virus known as “Infostealer.Monstres,” spammers infiltrated the company’s resume database and allegedly spammed upwards of 1.6 million users. The purported goal was to obtain the personal financial data and bank account numbers from job seekers.

Indeed, Monster now admits this was not an isolated incident.

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Are job boards still the most popular recruiting tool?

The findings discussed in this webinar are part of the first comprehensive study of recruitment advertising effectiveness to be conducted on a broad national scale. ERE Media and Classified Intelligence collaborated in developing the survey and analyzing the results.

We wanted to provide guidance to recruiters looking to get the best results from their advertising budgets and to advertising publishers, whether print or online, seeking to understand the changing recruitment marketplace. We studied online job sites, print media, employee referral programs, the budding social networks, and career fairs. We asked recruiters to rank each and, for online job sites, certain sub-sets on a scale of 1-to-5 for effectiveness. We compared the effectiveness ratings to dollars spent, hires made, and spending intention for the balance of 2007.

View the webinar here.

I am still amazed at how many organizations do not allow their current employees to apply for internal positions until they meet a whole bunch of conditions. Typically, they have to have been in a position for a certain amount of time, may have to meet performance requirements, may have to fill out an application, and then go through the same interview process as an external candidate.

Most HR people think this is fine, and in fact, often put these rules in place. Their thinking is understandable from one perspective. After all, shouldn’t a boss be aware that an employee is looking? And if a person has only been in a job for a few months, isn’t it only fair they give their boss their services for a few months?

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Taleo has new plans to join Facebook as a way to give small- and medium-sized business customers the ability to network and source passive candidates.

Taleo says it decided to integrate with the social networking site’s recently launched “Facebook Platform” to help recruiters tap into the 70-million strong Gen Y market to find good talent.

The new development platform, in essence, allows companies to gain access to these millions of loyal Facebook fans.

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In part one of this article we learned that selecting the right people for the right job is the most important talent-management decision you have to make.

We also asked why the internal-hire rate leads to successful placement about 90% of the time, while external hires barely reach the 50% success rate. It was concluded that the high internal-hire success rate can be partly attributed to the fact that internal hires and promotions are mainly based on performance and not experience.

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Interstate Bakeries Corp. said Tuesday it will lay off 1,300 workers and quit the bread market in Southern California.

This decision will see the closure of four bakeries, 17 distribution centers, and 19 outlets, as well as the elimination of 325 routes, effective October 29.

The Kansas City-based maker of Twinkies and Wonder Bread will lay off about 1,300 employees, or about 5% of the workforce, in the process.

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Strategic talent management is about making one decision and making it right. Today I am going to show you how this key decision can be improved by incorporating a new way of thinking and some new techniques into the decision-making process.

Having the right people in the right job can make or break your organization. While it may sound simple and clich?, it is and remains the key strategic talent management decision any manager will make.

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The top five industries for entry-level workers, according to MonsterTRAK, will be filled by graduating students with diverse interests and unconventional majors.

Based on the number of entry-level job opportunities posted to MonsterTRAK, the top occupations include the following:

1. Business operations, HR, and financial services. This category accounts for almost 25% of all entry-level opportunities and includes accounting, financial analysis and research, management and administration, and human resource and labor relations.
2. Sales and marketing. This was the most rapidly growing segment, with a growth of more than 300%, year-over-year.
3. Architecture/Engineering. Naval architects and marine engineers are the most highly sought specialists by employers hiring in this category, followed closely by electrical, civil, and mechanical engineers.
4. Computer/Mathematical. Entry-level opportunities include programming, computer maintenance and support, geographic information systems, and Web design. This category jumped 18% year-over-year.
5. Office/Admin. This category represents administrative assistants, customer service representatives, receptionists, and data entry clerks.

“Employers’ demand for workers in the white-color industries have been consistently growing and will presumably continue to do so, as evidenced by entry-level hiring trends witnessed last year and supported by the Monster Employment Index findings,” said Mark Charnock, vice president and general manager of MonsterTRAK.

Majors Spanning Art History to Zoology

Although business operations, HR, and financial services are the most popular fields for hiring, many of the new graduates who seek employment at your company may lack business- or math-related majors.

It is the applicants with “unconventional majors” who will be filling the critical roles at your company this year. This isn’t a bad thing, necessarily, as it could give your organization the chance to build a unique, well-rounded staff.

“Our focus is on our clients and advisors and recruiting people who will have a passion to serve and to help our clients achieve their dreams,” said Shelly Forkrud, director of advisor recruiting and selection for Ameriprise Financial.

“In addition to attracting those with financial backgrounds, we look for talented people who are early in their careers or are making a career change. Everyone’s background is unique, but each individual must have a strong sense of providing the best client experience possible,” said Forkrud.

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I am an unabashed follower of the HR philosophy of Jack Welch, former CEO of GE. He is a proponent of a “business-like” approach to HR that emphasizes its critical role in impacting organizational results. Welch is certainly controversial in HR circles because he advocates many things that “softies” in HR regale against, including differentiation in treatment, honest and direct performance appraisals, stretch assignments, and yes, routine firing of individuals who don’t produce or fit the system.

His latest foray into HR deals with measuring your “hiring batting average.” By advocating the direct measurement of hiring quality, he adds even more credibility to counter the “silly” list of arguments that many in recruiting make against measuring quality of hire.

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Money was the motive in the Monster data mash, analysts say.

Patrick Martin, a senior product manager with Symantec, the company that first discovered the breach, says spammers sent out fake emails designed to create an illusion of trust among the victims.

Through the guise of recruiters contacting job seekers sourced on Monster.com, the spammers hoped to snag personal financial data and bank account numbers.

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Like a tether that binds current and past employees, The Dow Chemical Co. is hoping its soon-to-launch in-house social networking plan will build real relationships among Dow alumni, women, retirees, and current employees.

That’s the concept behind the program known internally as Dow Connect, set to go live in December 2007.

As the battle for talent became more competitive, Dow says it recognized the importance of maintaining relationships with all employees, so it began reviewing different options. Specifically, the company had a strong desire to stay in contact with those who had left and try to draw them back to Dow.

The Dow Connect social networks — think MySpace or LinkedIn layouts, modified through company-centric material — will be tailored for all employees. Current and former employees can create a “profile” and skim through Dow-focused information to stay connected. For example, retired employees may be looking to return for short-term projects or simply reconnect with former colleagues.

The company is working with SelectMinds, which has already built corporate social networks for JP Morgan Chase, Ernst & Young, and Lockheed Martin, among other companies.

“SelectMinds looked like a perfect platform. We signed a contract at the end of June, and we will launch in the beginning of December,” says Kevin Small, leader of Dow’s Global Resource Management Center within Dow human resources.

Small says two teams are helping to oversee this project: Workforce Planning and Diversity/Inclusion. He says the initial intent was to augment hiring activities by using an alumni network, while the diversity group was looking at ways for employees to stay connected after a maternity leave or other leave of absence.

“One key is to be able to use the directory of participants to locate individuals in the past who are current or former employees. We’re hoping our 19,000-strong U.S. arm will become a recruiting tool for us. Within the company environment, it’s more controlled than a MySpace, and the topics are focused on the company,” he says.

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The best companies are having trouble attracting employees. Not only are companies in different industries vying for the same candidates as the current crop of college graduates emerge, but these candidates themselves present different challenges from only a couple years ago.

The 80-million strong Millennials (also known as Generation Y/Echo Boom) are acutely discerning job seekers, understanding the value of their unique tech-savvy skills and the power in their networking achievements. Demanding, and receiving, more competitive pay and benefits, faster advancement, and more responsibility, this entry-level generation alone presents a vastly different set of challenges than any before.

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Dear Hiring Manager,

Now that summer is almost over and vacations are ending, the challenges you face at work are beginning again, and in earnest. Although you probably only hire a handful of people each year, it seems that it takes longer and longer to find the right person. And many of the people you see are not really who you wanted. You have to ask to see more resumes and, frankly, hiring people has become a bit of a pain!

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Older workers — many self-employed and working part time — are not anxious to leave the labor market.

That’s why think-tanks like The Urban Institute recommend that employers create similar work situations to capitalize on the increasing amount of older workers who, the Institute notes, tend to enjoy work more and worry about it less.

The AARP agrees that older workers staying in the labor force longer is good news for employers. In a new report, The Business Case for Workers Age 50+, it says older workers are more motivated to exceed expectations on the job than their younger counterparts.

And the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that workers 55+ is currently at 17%, and by 2020, will be nearly 24%. Among workers 75 or older, close to 6.5% (over 1 million) were working last year, up from 4.7% in the previous decade. Among American workers 80 or older, the rate increased to 3.4% from 2.7% the previous decade.

To help companies find these older workers, the AARP is helping to organize the “Employ the Older Workers Job Fair Series,” a national effort in more than 40 cities to connect older workers and 50+-friendly employers.

The job fair series will run from August 22 to October 19. It is being held in conjunction with the Labor Department’s National Employ Older Workers Week (September 23 to 29).

Mature workers have a lower rate of attrition and a strong work ethic, according to Evelyn Issa, staffing manager over National Hiring Partnerships for Home Depot.

“Many of our older workers are enjoying retirement but want a part-time job where they can interact with people and use the skills they’ve developed. To attract and retain them, Home Depot offers part-time, flexible schedules with health benefits and a 401(k) plan. We believe this gives us a significant competitive advantage,” says Issa.

Even bookstore-giant Borders is getting in on the act, teaming up with RetirementJobs.com to present workshops to help Massachusetts residents over 50 find work.

The pilot program started earlier this month at Borders stores across Massachusetts. (Upcoming locations include the Braintree store on August 23 and the Hyannis store on August 30.)

The 90-minute, interactive sessions led by career coaching experts will cover topics such as “What Job Are You Looking For?,” “What Jobs Are Available?,” “Obstacles — Can’t Land a Job?,” “Who’s Hiring for Which Jobs?,” and “Sources for Jobs and Leads.”

Andrea Smith, senior manager of talent acquisition, says Borders is “an attractive option for older workers. We offer the flexibility, environment, benefits, and programs that many mature employees find appealing.”

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A brand is a promise. An employment brand, then, is a promise about what job seekers can expect from your company when they apply and if they become employees.

As recently as five years ago, many of the companies I worked with (primarily small- to mid-size privately held businesses) assumed that employment branding was only for large, publicly held companies with high-volume staffing needs and an even larger budget.

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Kelly Services announced that its executive vice president and chief financial officer of nearly 10 years, William Gerber, will retire at the end of the year. The company announced that it has entered into a retirement agreement with Gerber, who has plans to launch a private investment fund.

Following Gerber’s retirement, Michael Debs, currently the company’s senior vice president, will serve as interim CFO while the company looks internally and externally to fill the open position.

In addition, Resources Connection announced that its CFO, Stephen J. Giusto, who also served as executive vice president and secretary of the board, resigned from the company.

Anthony Cherbak, currently the company’s chief operating officer, will serve as interim CFO while the company searches for a permanent replacement.

The Irvine, California-based professional services firm has over 4,100 employees in more than 80 practice offices.

Robert W. Baird analyst Mark Marcon noted that the departure of the company’s CFO does not indicate problems. However, following the announcement, company shares fell 4%, the lowest level of the year.

Over at Salesforce.com, the company’s CFO is moving on but not out. Steve Cakebread will transition to the role of president and chief strategy officer. The San Francisco-based customer-relationship management company says Graham Smith, a 20-year finance veteran of the software industry, will become executive vice president and CFO in the company’s first quarter of fiscal 2009.

Finally, in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Monster Worldwide disclosed that CFO of global operations Chris Power has resigned.

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