I was privileged to be invited as a panelist addressing issues of education and employability skills and wanted to share what I articulated to the group as the key competency areas required to be successful in our increasingly global economy.  Briefly these include:

Job Content Competencies– specific to each position e.g. engineer needs to understand math and physics; an accountant, finance; a doctor, biology; a craftsperson, manual dexterity, etc.  Clearly technology plays a critical role in this area.

Career Success Competencies – communication - verbal and writen; team work –especially across diverse groups; analytical/problem-solving/critical thinking abilities; creativity/innovation; flexibility; empathy/sensitivity to clients/customers; commitment to life-long learning; focus and intensity as applied to tasks; resourcefulness.

Global Competencies – based on three key dimensions:

• Knowledge of other cultural histories, people, countries, economies, and political systems
• Ability to speak/think in other languages
• Positive attitude/interest in engaging with people, experiences, settings, ways of thinking/living different from our own

What do you think? Let us know what you think!

Here are a few tips:

- Dust off the resume and make improvements that include "key words" relevant to your job interests.

- Draft a "pitch" letter for yourself and think about how you can "sell" yourself effectively.

- Do on-line research about employers that you think would be a great match for your talents, experience and  interests and try to find contact information that includes someone's name at the organization that you can  follow-up with.

- Network, Network, Network.  If you are stuck in the house, make phone calls to friends and colleagues  and     use on-lin social networking sites such as "Linked In".

 -Promise yourself that you will stay motivated and follow-up on all current and future leads.

- Give yourself permission to also enjoy being stuck inside and be sure to find some time to unwind, so when       the weather clears you will be ready to step outside and be ready for your next move.

To hear the full interview go to:  http://www.blogtalkradio.com/mypath-lindseypollak/2010/02/03/ask-the-experts-an-interview-with-two-college-career-services-professionals

We've spoken with many of our employer colleagues recently and we're excited by the cautious optimism many have expressed concerning the job market for entry level grads and the prospect of more energetic recruiting and hiring activity.  There is a general sense and expectation that there will be a burst of recruiting and hiring sometime this spring.

This will be welcome news to the Class of 2010 as well as to many beleaguered career services professionals using the holiday break to ponder their student support and service options for the remainder of the year.  The sense of hope and enthusiasm is critical - to us and to the student and alumni clients we serve - and we must find it and nurture it.   
We wish all of you a happy and productive New Year with much success in all your endeavors and with all our thanks for your support and encouragement of our efforts with TruMann Consulting!

It's a must read for anyone concerned about career development and job creation.  Quite frankly, it's important for all Americans who want to see more attention paid to the unemployment crisis and seek a viable solution to the current situation.

Later this week there is going to be a high profile summit at the White House that deals with with the high unemployment rate and how to achieve job creation.  However, the invitees are mainly CEO's of successful U.S. companies and although having them involved is useful, there are other voices that understand job creation and related factors that also need to be represented.  One very important step that Krugman mentions, is that if we really want to have a shot at putting people back to work quickly and helping new graduates find employment in a reasonable amount of time, we need a jobs program similar to some of projects that were launched during The New Deal.  We believe that a comprehensive job creation program for Americans at various levels of experience and background is a must.

Another important step would be a real effort to loosen the credit markets and encourage institutions to lend monies to small and mid-size businesses, so that they can add head count and payroll.  These employers  have traditionally been the engine of job development for the U.S. economy. Right now many of these businesses want to expand, but don't have the resources or credit to do so, and the net result is very little job creation.

The Career Services Online Interactive Conference Returns This January!

Join Career Services Professionals From Across The Nation For In-Depth and Interactive Professional Development.

www.InternBridgeCSC.com

January 6th through 8th 2010

The Career Services Online Conference provides an opportunity for career services practitioners to engage in a nationwide program of best practices and proven methods for working with today's college students. From diverse populations to graduating seniors to the recession and recovery, the online conference compliments professional development goals without impacting travel budgets.

Join us for two keynote addresses including Dr. Manny Contomanolis, Associate Vice President and Director of Cooperative Education and Career Services, Rochester Institute of Technology and Past President of the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) and Dave Cofer, President of Cofer Consulting Solutions, in addition to fourteen peer presentations.

The column that appeared in the Sunday New York Times, by Bob Herbert (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/14/opinion/14herbert.html), highlighted the plight of the working class, especially minorities, young people and single mothers who are unemployed at a frightengly high rate. Herbert cites some pretty compelling statistics that give these workers little reason to hope, since many of the jobs they held prior to the recession don't seem to be coming back anytime soon or at all.

Another group that has been hit particularly hard are experienced workers representing many different industries, who have been laid off because they are considered too expensive or their skills outdated.

So what can be done? Will additional stimulus money infused into the economy help?  Is a large scale project, similar to some of the programs introduced during the Great Depression in order?  Would new legislation that gives incentives to various size businesses to keep people on the payroll also make a huge difference?  How about forcing lending organizations to open up the credit markets, allowing all types of businesses and non-profits to expand and hire new staff, and also allowing new small businesses to obtain start up monies? 

What else do you think would work?  We need solutions, so let's hear from you.

Through this blog, we plan to share insights and tips on a variety of topics that are relevant to career development and recruiting work. Periodically, we will weigh in with our opinions on trends, issues, and economic developments that impact job creation, hiring trends and job search stategies. 

We’re interested in hearing from you as well.  Please feel free to comment on our posts and let us know what career related topics you are most interested in hearing about.