So, there you are, innocently researching a potentially awesome new candidate when you stumble upon her personal blog that goes beyond mere TMI and causes your cheeks to turn crimson. Or, perhaps your eyes are still bug-eyed after reading about some “interesting” history in a candidate’s criminal background check. Or you receive a video resume... [full article »]

Another dismal forecast, and this one has nothing to do with the heavy, wet weather blanketing much of the country. The forecast is from Manpower, which announced Monday it might be hitting the unemployment line soon. Well, not quite, but the Milwaukee-based staffing company did announce it is withdrawing its revenue and earnings guidance for the... [full article »]

The locker room is not the boardroom, and the basketball court is not the corporate talent acquisition department. So as ERE Expo keynote speaker and ESPN analyst Steve Lavin warmed up the crowd at Expo on Thursday morning, it was unclear how his theories on people management — on really building a solid team — were... [full article »]

Gerry Crispin of CareerXRoads claims that about 55% of corporate careers websites cannot answer the question, “Why come here?” That means most candidates are lost as soon as they stumble on one of these sites, Crispin told a pre-conference workshop at ERE Expo on Tuesday. [full article »]

Disaboom has teamed up with the Military Order of the Purple Heart Service Foundation to help combat-wounded and disabled veterans. Disaboom says it’ll hire virtual agent graduates of the Purple Heart Service Foundation’s job training program, “Veterans Business Training Center.” All training grads are home-bound, combat-wounded, or disabled veterans, fully skilled in call center and contact... [full article »]

Cutting payroll is the wrong way to compete in the global economy, according to a researcher with the United States Business & Industry Council, a Washington-based advocacy group. Alan Tonelson, who represents small- and medium-sized manufacturers, called this “ultimately a losing proposition” and feels that no amount of labor-saving technology can offset the low wages, huge... [full article »]

Some news from various sources on employment eligibility, background checks, screening, and more: New I-9 Form Released… U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services just released its new version of the I-9 employment verification form, so make sure to update your records. (You can download it here; note that the new expiration date in the right-hand corner reflects 6/30/09.)... [full article »]

While historically devoid of much diversity, the tax profession is starting to change. Tony Santiago, who recently launched the niche site TaxDiversity.com, says he started this site to change the perception of an industry dominated by white males. “As a recruiting firm and industry resource, we saw a lack of diversity particularly among minorities in the tax... [full article »]

American companies are reluctant to hire, and the proof is in the Bureau of Labor Statistics new report, released early Friday morning. Here are some glimpses from the economic report, broken down into digestible nuggets: Recession is real. Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com, says there is “no debate that the economy is in a... [full article »]

The Employment Guide has launched www.WiserWorker.com, an employment website dedicated to job seekers age 40 and older. It says its mission is to connect older workers with appropriate jobs, but since when did 40 become old? If by old they mean “experienced,” or perhaps simply, “wiser,” then time will tell whether baby boomers and fringe Gen Xers... [full article »]

The Money Niche… Some shoot for 100K+ jobs, other shoot for just half of that. And it’s this market, those seeking a starting salary between $50,000 to $100,000, being tapped on the new 50kandup.com niche board. The company says this job board can help you filter out individuals who are under-qualified or over-qualified. The site is... [full article »]

Dice.com (profile; site) has signed on as “brand integration partner” with the National Lampoon, Inc. comedy franchise. Why would a niche IT job board partner with a company best known for Animal House? Dice.com, which is sponsoring maniaTV’s new sketch comedy show, National Lampoon’s The Lemmings, gets some pretty unique branding out of the deal and... [full article »]

You probably know of Working Mother magazine for its annual list of “100 best companies” that actively recruit and retain those multitasking wonder women known as working moms. But the magazine for career-committed mothers, which reaches two million readers, also has an annual award to honor companies committed to diversity. The magazine’s new list honors 20 companies... [full article »]

This is a new take on old-fashioned summer jobs. Hundreds of teens from across the five boroughs in New York City, who are part of the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship, are looking to “make a job, not take a job.” These students certainly have the entrepreneurial spirit. [full article »]

If you need parallels between our softening economic conditions and the job market as a whole, consider this depressing fact: after hitting all-time highs in 2007, hourly wages for highly skilled technology professionals dropped year-over-year during the first quarter of 2008. Yep, tech professionals. There is no denying the market’s sluggishness after you skim the Yoh... [full article »]

Fries with My Software… Kronos has launched Kronos for Dining, a software platform designed to help restaurants recruit and retain the best people, forecast and schedule to meet customer demand, track time and attendance, and manage absences. Beyond the recruitment and scheduling features, it offers a way to automate compliance tasks, which can help to reduce liability... [full article »]

Most recruiters know that a developer who is amazing is worth 10 times as much as an average developer. But do you know how to get great developers excited to work at your firm? Don’t be naive and think that you can just find someone by asking all the people you know. One of the participants... [full article »]

Got stress? Just before we head out for the long Memorial Day weekend, let’s review how stress can be the silent killer of retention in your recruiting department. Think “silent killer” is being a bit dramatic? [full article »]

Just when it seems that recruiters are shunning the power of Web 2.0, along comes perennial hot employer Southwest Airlines. The company is chatting with you, your neighbor, and your potential next star candidate about lots of Southwest-related things in a new blog, aptly titled “Nuts About Southwest.” On the blog, the company notes that “we want... [full article »]

You can only hope that the best A-level candidates in Sarasota, Florida, are two-pack-a-day smokers and get turned down for employment with the county and ultimately end up working at your company. While everyone can agree that smoking is unhealthy, should it be the primary reason to close the door on prospective new applicants? Especially prospective... [full article »]