The organizations Houston Chapter surveyed Houston companies with at least $1 million in annual revenue. The typical business surveyed had an average annual revenue of $18.4 million and had an average of 191 employees.

The results showed that 57 percent of Houston-area entrepreneurs expect to hire more full-time workers and 59 percent plan to hire more part-time workers in the next six months. Forty-one percent of entrepreneurs surveyed also said they expected to start a new business in the next six months.

Entrepreneurs across the world that were surveyed had similar results. Fifty-nine percent said they would hire more full-time workers and 56 percent said they would hire more part-time workers.

Falling in line with nationwide trends, these are definitely signs that the local economy is improving.

The economic recession has been a challenge for business owners and individuals throughout the country. However, this is a great opportunity for entrepreneurs to get back in the game and contribute to the economic comeback.

Reaching its highest level since October 2007, U.S. employees painted an overall rosy picture in regards to the economy, job market, and their personal employment situation in March 2012. According to the latest Randstad Employment Report, overall U.S. worker confidence reached 55.5 in March versus 53.9 in February. This also marks the third month of consecutive increases.

"Despite gas prices being one of the biggest concerns on the minds of workers, we remain pleasantly surprised with the steady increases seen in overall worker confidence," says Joanie Ruge, senior vice president and chief employment analyst for Randstad US Holding. "In fact, the Index confirms, from a frontline perspective, an optimistic and hopeful outlook around the number of job openings, job stability and the future strength of companies. Although the latest Index still remains five points below the historical high, it also stands 15.4 points higher than our Index's all-time low of 40.1 in January 2007. We remain hopeful that this trend will continue."

The online survey was conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of Randstad. It surveyed 1,399 employed U.S. adults, aged 18 and over between March 13-15, 2012. Other key findings from the report include:

Employee Confidence Index Hits Highest Level Since October 2007:
• The Employee Confidence Index reached its highest level in four years, registering at 55.5 in March, signifying a hopeful and positive outlook from Americans on the economy, job market and the future of their current employers

Economic Confidence Rises for Seventh Consecutive Month; Highest Number of Consecutive Increases on Record:
• More than a third (32 percent) of employees feel the economy is getting stronger
• Twenty-two percent of U.S. workers believe more jobs are available versus 19 percent in February

Workers Confident Around New Job Prospects:
• Almost half of U.S. workers (45 percent) feel confident in their ability to find a new job, indicating a more optimistic outlook in career opportunities

A Majority of Workers Feel Their Positions Are Stable:
• Seventy-three percent of workers believe it is unlikely they will lose their jobs in the next 12 months, suggesting that employees are increasingly confident in their company's financial situation, and unconcerned around their individual expendability

Employees Look to Future Career Prospects:
• While over half (55 percent) of U.S. workers are not likely to leave their current positions, 34 percent are likely to look for a new job, indicating a possible readiness to seek out other potential career paths

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The report, created by Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (ADP®), in partnership with Macroeconomic Advisers, LLC, is derived from actual payroll data and measures the change in total nonfarm private employment each month. Estimated gains for previous months were revised higher; the gain from December to January was revised up by 9,000 to 182,000, and the gain from January to February was revised up by 14,000 to 230,000.

According to the report, notable employment gains were seen in the following areas:

• Total employment: +209,000
• Small businesses:* +100,000
• Medium businesses:** +87,000
• Large businesses:*** +22,000
• Goods-producing sector: + 45,000
• Service-providing sector: +164,000

Employment in the private, goods-producing sector rose 45,000 in March. Manufacturing employment increased 23,000, while construction employment advanced 13,000 and the financial services sector added 8,000 jobs during that period.

"During the first quarter of this year, monthly gains in employment shown in The ADP National Employment Report averaged 207,000 jobs, compared to 156,000 per month over all of 2011," explains Carlos Rodriguez, president and CEO of ADP. "This is a positive development, and I would hope that job growth will be even more robust for the remainder of the year."

According to Joel Prakken, chairman of Macroeconomic Advisers, LLC, "Labor market conditions continue to improve at a moderate pace. Employment grew in all the major sectors of the economy tracked in the report, and across payrolls of all sizes. Today's data marks the twenty-sixth consecutive monthly gain in private employment as measured in the report.

* Small businesses represent payrolls with 1-49 employees
** Medium businesses represent payrolls with 50-499 employees
*** Large businesses represent payrolls with more than 499 employees

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If you answered yes to that question then you are among the thousands of recruiters and HR staff that are often tasked with finding the perfect employee for a company with less details than they would have if they were taking a lunch order for the whole office!

So how do you create a great job description? By answering these 5 questions:

1. What is the job's primary purpose or contribution to the department or organization?

2. What are the essential duties and responsibilities? You should include all important aspects of the job - whether performed daily, weekly, monthly or annually; and any that occur at irregular intervals.

3. Does the job have supervisory responsibilities? Are there subordinate supervisors reporting to this job? If yes, how many?

4. What education and/or experience is needed to successfully accomplish the essential duties of the job?

5. What licenses, certificates or registrations are required?

Just for the fun of it, let’s tack on another question: Why would the job seeker want to work there?

Do you provide any educational or personal development courses? What about on-site day care?

In today’s competitive market, you have to tell them what’s in it for them!

Don’t you think that writing your job description in this manner would increase your chances of finding THE perfect employee?

Do you have any questions you include in your job descriptions that we’ve missed? Post them in our comments section!

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When it comes to focusing on job searching, most people use the following reasons for not conducting it successfully:

Excuse No. 1: I don't have time.
In a job search, carving out just 45 minutes each day to draft and execute a plan can make all the difference.
Do you somehow find time to watch your favorite morning TV program while enjoying a cup of coffee and Danish? Then try turning that program off for a few months. Focus on plotting a course, writing a proper resume, crafting a unique LinkedIn profile, researching companies, and getting your networking efforts in order.

Excuse No. 2: I can't do this on my own.
You don’t have to! Whether tapping into a myriad of complimentary Web resources, or investing in modestly priced careers books, an abundance of job-search resources exist at your fingertips. Career blogs and articles with advice on how to build your resume, best prepare for an interview, and network can all be found at your local library or bookstore. And don't forget about the many job recruiters that are available. You never need to feel alone in your job search.

Excuse No. 3: Job searching is boring.
Doing the same old thing over and over will get boring and net the same old stagnant results (or lack thereof). Stop aimlessly wandering the Internet, posting resumes to job boards, and Tweeting and Facebook-ing your job-search woes.

Instead, un-suction yourself from your computer keyboard and start flexing your muscles—literally.

Find offline activities that get your juices flowing. Join a local LinkedIn group and attend their next get-together. Join the area chapter of an industry association and volunteer to help. Meeting new peoplein your areas of professional interest will not only spark your creative and intellectual juices, but it will also increase the odds of meeting that one contact who can link you to your next job opportunity.

Excuse No. 4: I don't believe in second chances.
You've failed so many times in your career that you can't envision it being any different this time, so you just stay where you are, sucking it up and grinding it out at a job you hate. Everyone deserves a second chance and sometimes even a third and fourth. Don't let your past get in the way of your future.

Start with a clean slate. If this means surrounding yourself only with healthy encouraging people who see your positive attributes and want the best for you, then spend time exclusively with them; at least for the short-term while you regain some self-confidence.

Excuse No. 5: I lack self-control.
We all lack self-control when we fail to meet our own expectations. Be in charge of yourself, time, and energy. Only you can establish boundaries as to where you invest your conversations, intellectual efforts, and physical activities.

Only you can accept or decline that next job offer, filtering your decision through your wants and needs. Using a no-excuses approach in your job search will ensure that time spent in your career transition will be focused, meaningful, and positive. By retraining the way you think, your job-search momentum will increase. And more favorable results will follow.

Source: US News/Money

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1. Decode your boss's management style-I've yet to see a situation where a boss molds his style to that of his employees. You can be certain you will be the one doing the adjusting. Begin by observing how your manager uses authority, the way he relates to others, and his communication style as a leader. Most bosses typically fall into one of the following categories: Dictatorial, Laissez-faire, Bureaucratic, or Consultative. Once you determine the type of manager you've been handed, you can then study ways to work most effectively with this type of leader. 

2. Prepare to play the game of politics-Politics is played in every organization; so the sooner you learn how to play this game, the better off you'll be. Politics is the informal way that things get done in an organization. Pay close attention to how work really gets done in the organization. People who master this game follow unwritten rules that allow them to maneuver swiftly through the organization to obtain scarce resources, approval of prized projects and promotions. Can you see now why it's important to master this game? 

3. Shine the light on others-Compliment staff in front of others, and whenever possible, shine the light on those around you. The light from their reflection will make you shine brightly. 

4. Presume good intent-It's easy to jump to conclusions when you are asked to do something that at first doesn't feel right. Presume good intent. Provide your boss with options on how to achieve the same results in a way that feels right. 

5. Master the art of influencing-Influencing is communicating effectively with a goal in mind. Be specific in your request while highlighting why it's in your boss' best interest to comply with your request, and you will be on your way to mastering the art of influence. 

6. Toot your own horn-For years we've been taught that it's not polite to brag. But if we don't, how will others know about our contributions? When companies put together lay-off lists, they exclude those whose contributions are well known throughout the organization. You may be the best singer in the room, but no one will know this if you never open your mouth. 

7. Manage your own performance-Bosses are busy people and most would rather walk on hot coals than write a performance review. Prepare your own review, which should include ways you've added value to the organization as well as areas needing further development. Present this to your boss a week prior to your review, and don't be surprised if what you get back closely resembles what you've submitted. 

8. Continually maintain-Like any connection worth having, you will need to apply care and attention in order for the relationship to flourish. Continual maintenance is the key to sustaining relationships for years to come. 

9. Hire a mentor or a coach-Every star player uses a mentor or a coach to help them improve their game. Find someone who is willing to hold up the mirror for you so that you can clearly see what your boss is seeing. Then adjust your style accordingly. 

10. Attach your star carefully-You never want to be so closely associated with your boss that you find yourself on the outskirts the moment she is no longer in favor. Be your own person so others know you are more than someone's sidekick.

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Source: 

Roberta Chinsky Matuson is the President of Human Resource Solutions (www.yourhrexperts.com) and has been helping companies align their people assets with their business goals. She is considered an expert in generational workforce issues. Roberta publishes a monthly newsletter "HR Matters" http://www.yourhrexperts.com/hrjoin.cgi which is jammed with resources, articles and tips to help companies navigate through sticky and complicated HR workforce issues. For information

Copyright (Reprint Terms)
Copyright© 2011, Roberta Chinsky Matuson. All right reserved. For information contact FrogPond at emailsusie@FrogPond.com.

The new headquarters of refining and marketing spin-off company Phillips 66 will be near Interstate 10 and Beltway 8, within 10 miles of ConocoPhillips' current headquarters at 600 N. Dairy Ashford Road, according to an email sent to employees Tuesday and quoted in the Swamplot blog.

Morningstar Inc. energy analyst Allen Good said the decision to locate the refinery business’s headquarters in Houston makes sense because the company’s oil and gas infrastructure is already present.

The company has a wide geographic footprint, so leaders probably decided against trying to establish a new, central location, Good said. It would create an expense and no clear benefit, given the current proximity of the Gulf Coast and midcontinent facilities, he said.

During the two- to three-year construction period on the new facility, Phillips 66 employees will be located in temporary locations in the company’s current space in Westlake Park office buildings on Memorial Drive and an unidentified building in the Westchase area. ConocoPhillips employees in those locations will relocate back to the 2.3 million-square-foot Dairy Ashford complex.

As of Dec. 31, 2011, ConocoPhillips has 29,800 employees worldwide, nearly 4,000 of which are in Houston.

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Below are 7 tips to keep in mind when applying for a job through a recruiter!

• Don’t fulfill the application requirements.
  About 30% of applicants that apply for a job do not bother reading the application requirements and thus submit incomplete applications. Yes, your resume and your portfolio are required. Not whichever one you happen to have handy.
  Lesson: Read the requirements carefully and make sure you provide everything that is necessary. Unless, that is, you get a kick out of filling up the Deleted Items folder of the recruiter.
• Don’t meet the job requirements.
  Naturally, applicants can be ambitious. You should always be encouraged to take leaps and tackle challenges, but no amount of ambition in the world will make you a considerable candidate for a job that requires someone local to Toronto when you’re situated in Neverland.
  Lesson: Be honest and realistic. If you don’t meet the requirements of the position posted, don’t waste your time applying, and don’t waste the space in the recruiter’s inbox.
• Spell the company’s name wrong.
  Okay, granted, there might be some confusion around the spelling of certain company names. But if you’re serious about working for them, show them that you’ve taken the time to read at least one line from their website and picked up on the correct spelling of their name. This one will call for an auto-delete.
  Lesson: If you don’t take the time to find out how to spell the company name, then why should the company spend the time to consider you? Do your homework and know who you’re applying to.
• Use an unprofessional email address.
  sexXxy_aZn_babie_ang3l_69@hotmail.com won't get the job. And neither will anyone else with an unprofessional email address. Most recruiters are even on the fence between considering emails coming from a Hotmail or Gmail domain, but you can almost be guaranteed that your forum screenname won’t get you very far in the working world.
  Lesson: Get yourself a professional firstname.lastname email alias, or even better, get yourself your own domain. Hosting providers today make it very easy and affordable for anyone to have their own domain these days. Invest in yourself and give the recruiter one more reason to consider investing in you as well.
• Host your portfolio on geocities.
  This one needs no explanation. If you’re applying to a web designer position, you can bet that your geocities portfolio won’t even gain a click-through.
  Lesson: Get yourself a professionally hosted website to give your work some credibility.
• Ask if the job is still open without sending your application material.
  While recruiters appreciate your consideration for not wanting to send in an application if the job isn’t still open, in reality, even if the position is still open, they would likely not have the time to respond with a “Yes, submit your application”, especially if there’s no indication that you’re worth that extra work. Harsh? You betcha.
  Lesson: Unless your application is contingent on the answer, if you’re going to take the time to submit a question regarding the position, submit your application with it. You’re up against hundreds of other applicants, don’t make it more difficult for the recruiter to see your work.
• “I’m intrested.”
  Yes, recruiters actually receive applications with just these two words (spelled exactly as shown, too).
  Lesson: Don’t do this. The body of your email application should at least contain a quick introduction of who you are and what your qualifications are. And make sure to make use of spellcheck. 

And there you have it! Some things to keep in mind. Some things to definitely avoid.

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1. "Do you know of 'anything'?" Are you really asking if people know of "anything"? If so, that may be your first mistake. "The trouble is that, if you ask for 'anything,' you just might get it," says Darrell Gurney, a longtime career coach and author of Never Apply for a Job Again: Break the Rules, Cut the Line, Beat the Rest.

2. Leading with your need. "Of course you need a job," says Gurney. "But in this way, networking is a bit like dating. If you seem desperate, people will run the other way." Instead, he recommends taking stock of exactly what kind of work would fascinate and engage you most, and then launching an information-gathering campaign.

3. Relying exclusively on online social networks. There's no question that LinkedIn (LNKD), Facebook, and their ilk can be tremendously useful in a job hunt, but "they're a tool that is only a good first step," Gurney says. "You need to get away from the computer screen and connect with people. Different things happen when you meet with someone in person." They're often very helpful things.

4. Overlooking the people you come across every day. In his job search workshops, Gurney sends people out to lunch with an assignment: "Don't come back until you've engaged in at least three conversations with strangers." Perhaps not surprisingly, this doesn't go over well at first. "Nevertheless, people get job interviews this way," Gurney says. "The guy standing in line next to you at Starbucks could be your next employer's brother-in-law."

5. Defining your talents and interests too narrowly. Just because you've always been, say, a human resources manager doesn't mean your next job will necessarily be in human resources management. "It's a mistake to be out there talking with people without authentic passion about what you'd really like to do next," Gurney notes. "Too often, job hunters don't give themselves permission to go after what they really want."

6. Hesitating to get in touch with people you haven't seen or spoken with in a while. You're far from alone in this. Jayne Mattson, a senior vice president at executive coaching firm Keystone Associates gets her clients past this hurdle by asking them, "If someone you know called to ask for information or guidance related to their job hunt, would you give it to them?" Says Mattson, "Of course the answer is yes. So why would you assume someone you know would not want to help you? Think about it."

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Meetings matter
Recruiters review many CVs and they are more likely to remember faces than names on paper. A meeting allows for a more in-depth discussion and for gathering more accurate information, which candidates may not be able to write in their CVs. It also provides the opportunity to express a positive attitude and enthusiasm more effectively through body language, facial expression and tone of voice.

Most recruiters keep abreast with market development and they provide a good source of information for candidates. Moreover, face-to-face interaction means you get real-time responses from recruiters. New ideas can be explored during the discussions and you have a greater chance of moving ahead successfully. Candidates can read non-verbal cues to determine whether there is real commitment that the recruiter will assist in the job search.

Convincing a consultant to see you: here’s what to do

Make your CV error free
Don’t forget to spell check your resume before sending it to a recruiter. It is the first impression your recruiter will have of you, so take the time to get it right. If possible, get someone to check for any spelling, layout or typing errors. Despite this being stated time and time again it is too regularly ignored and will affect your chances of receiving a call back. If you don’t pay attention to details, it’s too easy for your recruiter to assume that this reflects your overall work ability.

Be a tease
With recruiters getting inundated with CVs, a “teaser” email or phone call indicating your interest in the role adds a human touch. If you have the relevant experience and skill sets for the position, getting in contact before even sending your CV could potentially pique their interest.

An example of a teaser email would be an indication of the role at hand and your years of experience and what you can offer – but only a sneak preview. The same goes for a phone call. If the recruiter is interested, you can follow up by sending the actual CV.

Be patient
Most recruiters work on multiple positions at any one time. They have back-to-back meetings with clients to take job briefs and interviews with candidates for on-going assignments. Recruiters do not ignore candidates; candidates are important to them. Please be patient with recruiters about getting back with the time and date to meet you. Don’t call too often, but enough for the recruiter to keep you in view.

Be polite
There is no need to leave 12 messages about arranging a meeting. A brief voicemail with your name, the position you applied for and a simple statement that you would love to talk to them further about the role is all that’s required. You will be surprised how far being polite to your recruiter will go. Recruiters will often get overwhelmed with calls and resumes, but they will respond to a relevant and considerate message.

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Mentioning a name (referral cover letters) of someone who works at the company, for example, can get your cover letter and resume a closer look.

Noting what you know about the company helps, too. Taking the time to write a custom cover letter for each job you apply for probably is the best value you can add to your candidacy for a job.

On the flip side of course are the mistakes you shouldn't be making like spelling the company name wrong or even transposing your own phone number; how embarrassing it would be to apply to a ton of jobs and not realize it until after the fact! That's why it's important to check, double-check, and triple-check your job application materials before you send them out or upload them to apply for a job.

Review these cover letter tips and techniques for writing top notch cover letters to send with your resume, including cover letter format and presentation, choosing a type of cover letter, writing custom cover letters, and cover letter examples and templates.

Select a Cover Letter Type
There are several types of cover letters that can be sent to employers and contacts. Be sure to choose a type of cover letter that reflects how you are applying for the job or the type of job search assistance you are requesting. Your cover letter should be designed specifically for the purpose you are writing and customized for each position you seek.

Format Your Cover Letter
How you format your cover letter, both from a content (the information you include) and a presentation (what your cover letter looks like) perspective is important. Even when applying online or via email, your cover letter needs to be properly formatted, readable, and without any mistakes.

Review Cover Letter Examples
Take the time to review cover letter examples, then make sure that your letter explains how your skills relate to the criteria listed in the job posting.

Start From a Cover Letter Template
A cover letter template can be a good way to get started writing cover letters to send with resumes when you apply for jobs. Use a cover letter template as a starting point for creating your own personalized cover letter.

Write a Custom Cover Letter
It can be time consuming to write a custom cover letter for each job you apply for, but it's important to take the time and effort to show the company why you are a good match.

Write a Personalized Cover Letter
When it comes to cover letters, taking the time to get personal is really important. Find out as much as you can about the company and the hiring manager. Personalize your cover letter and, if you can, address it to the individual responsible for hiring. If need be, research online or make a phone call to find out whom the hiring manager is.

Send an Email Cover Letter
The most important part of sending an email cover letter is to follow the employer's instructions. If the job posting says to include your cover letter and resume as an attachment, attach Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF files to your email message.

Address Your Cover Letter
How to address a cover letter can be tricky if you are responding to a blind ad and don't have a contact person's name to include or you don't know the hiring manager's gender.

If you don’t have a contact person at the company you can either leave off the saluation from your cover letter and start with the first paragraph of your letter or use a general salutation.

Send Your Cover Letter as an Attachment
When you apply for jobs via email, you may need to send your resume and cover letter as an attachment. It's important to send your cover letter and resume attachments correctly, to include all the information you need so your email message is read, and to let the receiver know how they can contact you to schedule an interview. 

Explain an Employment Gap
When you have recent gaps in your resume, whether from being laid-off and out of work, taking time out from the workplace to spend with your family, traveling, going back to school, or for any reason, your cover letter gives you an opportunity to explain an employment gap.

Do you have any tips for writing a cover letter? We’d love to hear them!

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Weddles.com

The article talks about how if you try to manage your career as you always have, if you use old fashioned techniques to look for a new or better job, you are likely to suffer career cardiac arrest or what most of us call unemployment.

As the article states in the following excerpts, historically, such an out of shape career didn’t matter much. You could be laid off and, with little or no change in your credentials, hit the job search trail and in relatively short order, find another, similar (or even better) position. Basically, we had a come-as-you-are job market.

Unfortunately, those happy days are gone and gone forever. Why is that? Remember the jobless recovery of the 2001 recession? Well, this recession built on that development to create the “less jobs” recovery. When things start to get better, there will still be fewer jobs—not more or even the same number—as there are right now, during the recession. Jobs aren’t being left open until things get better. They are being destroyed.

What does that mean for senior professionals and executives in transition? Now, you have to enter the job market in a very different way. If you want to find employment in the new world of work, you have to fix your career first. Or, at a minimum, you must be fixing it while you’re searching for a job. But, the point is that Step 1 in a job search today—not step 2 or 3 or 4—is to upgrade your capabilities and your credentials. From now on, you have to have a strong career if you want to conduct a strong job search.

What’s the best way to do that? Think of yourself as a career athlete, even better as a career Olympian. As I describe in my new book, Work Strong: Your Personal Career Fitness System, Olympians have four attributes that will serve you well in the challenging workplace of the 21st century.

Career Olympians are:

• Independent. They decide where and when they will work and under what conditions. It might be for one organization rather than another or as an independent contractor, but they determine the content and duration of their activity, not their employer.
• Passionate about what they’re doing. They love what it entails and are energized and fulfilled by its execution. The accomplishment of their work actually strengthens and conditions their self-expression, exhilarates and rewards their personal growth, and leaves them with a pervasive sense of well-being. Indeed, the doing of it creates a pleasurable physiological response—what is sometimes called “flow”—that replenishes their spirit as well as their body.
• Committed to achieving their personal best. A successful career athlete continuously strives to excel and then to extend the limits of their performance. There is no end to their effort because they believe there is no limit to what they can achieve.
• Sure of themselves. Career development is a democratic activity. All of us have a mind, so all of us have the inherent ability to engage in and enjoy the work we do with it. Sure, some of us will perform better than others, but all of us can be career athletes, and all of us can reach for and attain the peaks of our own personal excellence.

Read more here

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During a recent real estate event called “The Future of The Woodlands,” a crowd of nearly 900 suited corporate types meandered past the chocolate fountain and munchie smorgasboard at The Woodlands Waterway Marriott’s main ballroom and schmoozed near their tables until loud Rolling Stones and Adele drowned out conversation.

The word on the current state of real estate development in The Woodlands, which brought out such a packed house, turns out to be: “Fine.”

The Woodlands boasts just 2 percent Class A vacancy, with nearly two million square feet of upcoming office space to fill demand. Among projects underway, Anadarko Petroleum, the area’s largest employer, is building a second office tower, 21-stories (550,000 square feet) of office space on top of 10 stories of parking.

Demand seems to always outpace supply up here,” said Bob Parsley, co-chairman and principal for Colliers International.

Research Forest Lakeside is a planned 10-building development on 77 acres along Lake Woodlands, with 1.9 million square feet of office space;Talisman Energy Inc. will occupy half of the first building under construction. 3 Waterway Square, a 240,000 square foot Class A multi-tenant building, will be at the corner of Lake Robbins Drive and Woodloch Forest Drive, with planned completion next year.

“This is such a dynamic market. The Woodlands represents 20 percent of absorption in the Houston suburban market but just over 4 percent of the office inventory. Demand seems to always outpace supply up here,” said Bob Parsley, co-chairman and principal for Colliers International.

Mentioning Talisman, Newfield Exploration Co.’s relocation, Anadarko’s expansion, and Exxon Mobil Corp.’s new 385-acre corporate campus, he added, “In my opinion Woodlands is becoming the next energy corridor.”

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Here are a few of these business changing apps for you to peruse and enjoy!

Apps for doing the job right!

Sales Force Mobile. This application empowers your iPhone with cloud computing, which juggles a multitude of services and programs for you, in order to bring about the best information that will lead to your highest sales yet.

Intelligent Investing by Forbes. The business whizzes and aficionados in the know at Forbes magazine compile and streamline their knowledge and tips for you, at your fingertips, in this exceptional and exciting application.

Business Building Secrets. 100 such secret tips and more are ready and available for you on the spot with this app. It boasts that “you’ll never run out of ideas to make money online or off” when you use BBS.

Apps for Effortless Social Networking

Box.Collaborate on projects, and stay on top of your content while you share it,with Box. Almost anything can fit inside this application’s cozy and convenient structure.

Nimbuzz.When you’re out of coins to call your friends, let Nimbuzz ring up your closest for you. This application harnesses the Internet to dial internationally at no cost to you. It’s one of the most fun social networking applications around.

Beam Me. It’s not always easy to meet new people – especially folks that could broaden your career’s network. Beam Me simplifies and improves that process by putting you in touch with those who are local, and potentially beneficial, to you.

Yammer. Ah, if only Facebook or Twitter could be adapted to businesses, or professionals. Wish officially granted, thanks to Yammer. Updates to your company’s profile are made simple and up-to-date with this neat application.

Apps for Organizing Your Life

Pageonce.This application makes for an easy, exciting way to keep track your finances both big and small. It keeps track of all of your transactions and accounts,and can even let you “view your NetFlix queue.”

Bump. Argh. It can really be a peeve to link one new phone’s contacts and information to another one. Bump makes it so simple and fun for you. Literally bump two phones together, and voila – all done. Now you can bump – and grind – with ease, and on the go.

Evernote.This app is, to put it simply, like a Post-It made electronic and Internet- savvy. It allows users to “capture everything” via typed note of text,a pic, or a screenshot. Very nifty, and very recommended.

Smart To Do. Pick up the kids. Iron the laundry. Walk the dog. Find a sweet organizational iPhone app. Smart To Do is your answer to the last demand, and helps you manage the other three – and as many chores as you can make – with ease and simplicity.

Organizer Lite. “Create diagrams, use emoji and pictures” with this organization application of the highest order. It was designed to be as easy to use and manipulate “as a piece of paper.”

Documents To Go. Access all of your documents from the Microsoft Office series and e-mail through this extremely easy-to-use and functional application.

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It talks about five action items to help job seekers land an opportunity:

Seek speaking opportunities. Even if you’re unemployed, you’re likely an expert in some subject, so you should be able to identify organizations interested in hearing you speak. Start locally by finding the Kiwanis and Chamber of Commerce in your area. Identify local chapters of your profession’s organizations. Join, attend regular meetings, and volunteer to share what you know about topics that interest the membership.

If you don’t feel confident in your public speaking skills, Toastmasters groups are terrific places to practice. In addition to improving your communication skills, participating in Toastmasters will naturally expand your professional reach and potentially result in some great contacts.
Benefit: Speaking in front of a group automatically gives you credibility. When you deliver useful information or new ideas, you solidify your position as the subject expert. The combination of these could help you find the perfect audience for your job search.

Use the Events application on LinkedIn. It’s easy to activate this application, and using it may give you some ideas to help find those speaking opportunities we talked about. Edit your LinkedIn profile and select “Add Application.” Choose “Events” from the list and add it to your profile. This tool allows you to browse events highlighted by professionals in your network and to share information about conferences, speaking gigs, and programs you plan to attend.

Benefit: How often do you find out about a conference or speaker only when it’s too late to attend? Instead of hearing about a great event afterwards, this application creates an entire network of information scouts so you have a chance to learn about and attend professional programs where you’re likely to meet new contacts. If a member of your network you’ve been wanting to see or meet is planning to go to a particular event, you may choose to join him or her, creating a chance to talk and learn new information. This app provides a great way to extend your network—and it’s a helpful reminder to get out of your home or office.

Use Quora.com to demonstrate your expertise. Quora is a social media website where you can ask and answer questions. The site is not as established as LinkedIn, but it’s gotten a lot of buzz, especially in the tech community. For example, a recent question asked how to get in touch with someone at a popular blog site, and the founding editor of the site replied to the inquiry.
Benefit: If you have a career-related question or are seeking potential networking contacts, it’s possible to attract attention from significant players in your targeted field by participating on Quora. Alternatively, if you have expertise to share, you can answer questions and establish yourself as a go-to expert in your industry.

Create a website. Use it to showcase your accomplishments and tie together your relevant social networking profiles. Consider blogging on the site to further enhance your reach and opportunities to demonstrate your expertise.

Benefit: Registering and building a site at yourname.com helps you rank for your name on search engines and gives you some control over what people learn when they Google your name.

Join a new group. Use social media tools or your local resources to find a group or activity that’s unrelated to your job-hunting goals. This could be a weekend hiking group, a book club, an industry meet-up, or whatever interests you. Participate actively and enjoy it!

Benefit: Job hunting is a full-time job, and it’s difficult to know when to take a break. Getting out and doing something different can stimulate new ideas and creativity that constant job hunting often stifles. If you don’t have any go-to hobbies, think about expanding your horizons. Is there anything you have always wanted to learn?

Use social media tools, including Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, to search for groups of people interested in the same topics as you. You may be surprised to learn, for example, that LinkedIn hosts close to 1,400 soccer groups. Some are professional, while others are opportunities to share personal interests. Either way, those group offer opportunities to meet a lot of different types of people.

View the article here

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Resumes likely receive only 10-15 seconds of attention during the initial review. Consider, then, if your resume is viewed on a Blackberry, iPhone, or other Smartphone. Or maybe a Netbook or iPad. Is it optimized for this aspect of your job search?

Here are some tips for making your resume more technology-friendly.

Resume Keywords & Content

It is likely that only the top-third of your resume featuring the resume title and some select content are visible to an employer if viewed on a mobile device.

Consider the top-third of your resume as prime real estate in the personal branding landscape. Use this precious space to highlight your key skills and the professional attributes using a Qualifications Summary or Profile that has supplanted the outdated career objective and takes advantage of more employer-centric strategies.

Make sure the title of your resume hones in on your main job target while the skills you wish to highlight are represented with core industry keywords. Here, it is critical to use resume keywords that align with the industry and type of position you are seeking.

Resume Format

Since the capabilities and technology differs among Smartphones and mobile devices, follow these guidelines so that your resume displays as you intended.

• Use standard font types: Times New Roman, Verdana, and Arial. Using different font sizes—10pt to 12pt—can help differentiate content.
• Avoid lines, images, designs, or colors. Basically, minimize the characters on your resume to what can be found on your keyboard.
• Remove page breaks, section breaks, tabs, and tables.

You may consider preparing multiple versions of your resume, specifically one for social networking and mobile devices that features minimal formatting.Remember, the goal is to get noticed and land an interview at which time you can share more of your skill set and professional work history, as well as provide a visually appealing format of your resume.

Taking advantage of emerging and convenient technologies can help to accelerate your job search. It is also important to use these strategies as part of a well-rounded job search that capitalizes on a full range of resources.

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The article on Forbes.com, is based on an interview with Mark Murphy, Author of Hiring for Attitude. In this interview, he answers questions as to why so many new hires fail so quickly.

Forbes.com: Why do so many fail within the first 18 months of taking a job? "When our research tracked 20,000 new hires, 46% of them failed within 18 months. But even more surprising than the failure rate, was that when new hires failed, 89% of the time it was for attitudinal reasons and only 11% of the time for a lack of skill. The attitudinal deficits that doomed these failed hires included a lack of coachability, low levels of emotional intelligence, motivation and temperament."

Forbes.com: Are technical and soft skills less important than attitude? Why? "It’s not that technical skills aren’t important, but they’re much easier to assess (that’s why attitude, not skills, is the top predictor of a new hire’s success or failure)."

"Virtually every job (from neurosurgeon to engineer to cashier) has tests that can assess technical proficiency. But what those tests don’t assess is attitude; whether a candidate is motivated to learn new skills, think innovatively, cope with failure, assimilate feedback and coaching, collaborate with teammates, and so forth. Soft skills are the capabilities that attitude can enhance or undermine. For example, a newly hired executive may have the intelligence, business experience and financial acumen to fit well in a new role. But if that same executive has an authoritarian, hard-driving style, and they’re being hired into a social culture where happiness and camaraderie are paramount, that combination is unlikely to work."

Forbes.com: How will the hiring landscape be different in 2012 and beyond? "Technical proficiency, once a guarantee of lifetime employment, is a commodity in today’s job market. Attitude is what today’s companies are hiring for. And not just any attitude; companies want attitudes that perfectly match their unique culture."

In a response article by Lou Adler on Ere.com, he states: "I absolutely agree that a bad attitude is an extremely common hiring problem, but the bad attitude was caused by a lack of job fit, not the other way around. Bad fit is a multi-headed monster, including a bad fit with the manager, the team, the job itself, the company’s culture, the company’s growth rate, and the underlying business environment. There are probably a few more “lack of …” factors that could have been cited, but these represent the 80/20 rule and the primary cause of a bad attitude."

"Consider this: even highly motivated people with a track record of success can develop bad attitudes and become disruptive workers when they don’t work well with their boss, when the job promised is different than the one taken, or the resources needed to do the job right are not provided. In most cases, the person got the bad attitude as a result of these underlying root cause issues. So to solve this problem make sure the person you hire fits the situation from top to bottom."

What are your thoughts - bad attitude or bad fit?

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The article states that there are only three true job interview questions. That's it. Those three.

1. Can you do the job?
2. Will you love the job?
3. Can we tolerate working with you?

Think back, every question you’ve ever posed to others or had asked of you in a job interview is a subset of a deeper in-depth follow-up to one of these three key questions. Each question potentially may be asked using different words, but every question, however it is phrased, is just a variation on one of these topics: Strengths, Motivation, and Fit.

Can You Do the Job? – Strengths

Executive Search firm Heidrick & Struggles CEO, Kevin Kelly explains in the article that it’s not just about the technical skills, but also about leadership and interpersonal strengths. Technical skills help you climb the ladder. As you get there, managing up, down and across become more important. 

Will You Love the Job? -Motivation

Cornerstone International Group CEO, Bill Guy emphasizes the changing nature of motivation, "…younger employees do not wish to get paid merely for working hard—just the reverse: they will work hard because they enjoy their environment and the challenges associated with their work…." Executives who embrace this new management style are attracting and retaining better employees.

Can We Tolerate Working With You? – Fit

Heidrick’s Kelly went on to explain the importance of cultural fit: A lot of it is cultural fit and whether they are going to fit well into the organization… The perception is that when (senior leaders) come into the firm, a totally new environment, they know everything. And they could do little things such as send emails in a voicemail culture that tend to negatively snowball over time. Feedback or onboarding is critical. If you don’t get that feedback, you will get turnover later on.

The article goes on by saying that if you’re the one doing the interviewing, get clear on what strengths, motivational and fit insights you’re looking for before you go into your interviews. If you’re the one being interviewed, prepare by thinking through examples that illustrate your strengths, what motivates you about the organization and role you’re interviewing for, and the fit between your own preferences and the organization’s Behaviors, Relationships, Attitudes, Values, and Environment (BRAVE). But remember that interviews are exercises in solution selling. They are not about you.

Read the entire article here

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What are they saying? Don’t bother sending a resume if you’re not bringing home a paycheck already.

The article goes on to state that the ads list current or recent employment as an eligibility requirement, a screen to narrow the pool of candidates in a rocky economy that often leads to dozens of applicants for a single job.

A random search of online job listings last year by the National Employment Law Project, a nonprofit advocacy group, found 150 ads nationwide that excluded applicants based on employment status. Most of them said “must be currently employed,” the group reported.

“It’s the same as excluding a particular religion or minority group — it’s wrong,” said California Assemblyman Michael Allen, a Democrat whose Assembly Bill 1450 hopes to end the practice.

College graduates, military personnel and women returning to the workforce are among groups of people affected by a blanket exclusion, Allen said.

Opponents say the bill is a one-size-fits-all solution, while an applicant’s recent employment can be critical in various high-tech jobs or other jobs requiring skill sets that change rapidly.

Read the entire article here

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Your resume was impressive, your research and networking activities have paid off, your recruiter has landed you an interview - NOW WHAT?

Perhaps the biggest mistake made by some interviewees is going to an interview unprepared. If you're looking for a job, then it is in your best interests to do everything possible to maximize your chances of being offered a job, and that includes preparing for a job interview.

Let's face it, the questions that you're asked during an interview, and the exchange of information that takes place, is not how we normally communicate with others. It is a structured and formal process because of the very compressed time period in which job interviews take place.

It's also a very important process to both the interviewer and the job applicant because a very important decision takes place following an interview: whether or not to make an offer of employment to an applicant. Overall, the entire process is suboptimal, but it's the best solution we have right now. In the end, however, we still come to the same conclusion. Properly preparing for an interview can maximize your chances of being offered a job.

But because of the "unnatural" way in which a job interview is conducted, interviewing is a skill that we need to develop. The more we practice this skill outside of an actual job interview, the better our chances of "nailing" our responses during an interview.

Below we have listed some of the most common questions you will be asked during an interview:

1.What are your strengths?
2.What are your weaknesses?
3.Why are you interested in working for [insert company name here]?
4.Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 10 years?
5.Why do you want to leave your current company?
6.Why was there a gap in your employment between [insert date] and [insert date]?
7.What can you offer us that someone else can not?
8.What are three things your former manager would like you to improve on?
9.Are you willing to relocate?
10.Are you willing to travel?
11.Tell me about an accomplishment you are most proud of.
12.Tell me about a time you made a mistake.
13.What is your dream job?
14.How did you hear about this position?
15.What would you look to accomplish in the first 30 days/60 days/90 days on the job?
16.Discuss your resume.
17.Discuss your educational background.
18.Describe yourself.
19.Tell me how you handled a difficult situation.
20.Why should we hire you?
21.Why are you looking for a new job?
22.Would you work holidays/weekends?
23.How would you deal with an angry or irate customer?
24.What are your salary requirements? (Hint: if you’re not sure what’s a fair salary range and compensation package, research the job title and/or company on Google)
25. Give a time when you went above and beyond the requirements for a project.
26.Who are our competitors?
27.What was your biggest failure?
28.What motivates you?
29.What’s your availability?
30.Who’s your mentor?
31.Tell me about a time when you disagreed with your boss.
32.How do you handle pressure?
33.What is the name of our CEO?
34.What are your career goals?
35.What gets you up in the morning?
36.What would your direct reports say about you?
37.What were your bosses’ strengths/weaknesses?
38.If I called your boss right now and asked him what is an area that you could improve on, what would he say?

What other questions have you been asked during an interview?

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The article goes on to state however, that online ads don’t appear in the format of a print classified and aren’t restricted to the tight space constraints imposed by newspapers and journals. As a result, you’ll need a new set of rules for reading and evaluating job postings if you’re to avoid wasting time on mediocre employers and focus your attention and efforts where they can best advance your career. Weddles.com devised the following five rules to help you do just that

Rule 1: Look at the level of effort the employer has devoted to writing the job posting. Most commercial sites allow employers to use up to 1,400 words (the equivalent of two typed pages of text) to present their opening. That’s plenty of space to describe both the key characteristics of the position as well as the organization’s mission and culture.

Rule 2: Evaluate what the posting says the position can do for you. Employers that focus exclusively on a position’s “requirements” and “responsibilities”—what the job will do for them—fail to understand that employment is an agreement between two equal parties. Both have to get something out of the deal, or it’s unlikely to last.

Rule 3: Check the “candidate friendliness” of the posting. Employers that write helpful postings are implicitly saying something about their culture. If an organization goes the extra distance to help virtual strangers (i.e., online job seekers), it’s likely to go even further to support and advance its employees.

Rule 4: Look carefully at the details. The best job postings are rich in data. They include specific information about the organization, the opening and the way you will be treated should you choose to apply.

Rule 5: Return the favor. Don’t become a “graffiti candidate,” one who sprays their resume out to every job posting they read. It takes time and effort for an organization to write a good job posting (which is informative, detailed and helpful to you), and that investment deserves a quality return. So, don’t respond to ads when you’re clearly not qualified for the opening or don’t live in the area where it’s located.

Read the entire article here

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2011 was the year employees and human resources departments went mobile, recruiters embraced social networks, managers coped with increasingly virtual workforces and a hot market for HR tech mergers and acquisitions culminated in SAP's plan to swallow SuccessFactors.

In 2012, expect technology innovations to continue sending shock waves through the HR department.

2012 will bring more Web-based or "cloud" HR apps and more employees bringing their own iPhones and iPads to work. As a result, workplace policies governing HR tech and social media use will continue to evolve, according to Bersin, Lister and other HR industry analysts, consultants, technology vendors and experts who shared predictions for the new year with Workforce Management.

Industry watchers foresee an uptick in merger-and-acquisition activity as major human-capital management, or HCM, software vendors play catch up with competitors such as Workday—and now SAP—who've been quicker to offer a cloud-based, software-as-a-service, or SaaS, delivery model. In many instances, the pay-as-you-go cloud approach is seen as better, faster and cheaper than the traditional on-premises approach of installing software on company computers, buying a permanent license for programs and paying annual maintenance fees.

Workforce.com provided a roundup of HR tech predictions for 2012:

• Mobile devices gain ground. IPads, iPhones and their rivals will continue an aggressive march into the workplace and the HR department.
• Cloud-based and mobile apps gain ground. Cloud-based software and mobile apps are starting to be available for almost every aspect of HR, including finding job candidates, keeping tabs on field-service crews, running payroll and managing the entire department.
• Social recruiting gets serious. 2011 brought so much buzz about using Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter to source candidates, some companies seemed to forget there was any other way of finding prospective hires.
• Companies get real about mobile and social media policies. Companies that haven't already adopted a "bring your own device" policy will need to decide where they stand.
• The virtual workplace edges closer to mainstream. More companies will embrace mobile workers, whether they're telecommuting or part of virtual work groups housed at shared co-working facilities.
• Online tools connect far-flung workers. As the workplace goes virtual, look for increased use of video job interviews and videoconferencing, which is dropping in price.
• HR technology spending increases. After a recession-induced spending diet, companies will once again start budgeting for HR software upgrades. But don't expect across-the-board increases.
• SAP's SuccessFactors purchase sets the stage for more high-profile deals. In the aftermath of SAP's $3.4 billion bid for SuccessFactors, HR industry analysts talk about similar deals not in terms of "if" but "when.
• HR departments dig deeper into analytics. Using analytics to measure workforce productivity, social-recruiting success rates or other HR initiatives isn't widespread, but that's changing.
• Online rewards and recognition systems gain clout. Current performance management practices are broken—hence the almost constant cry from HR bloggers for an end to traditional performance reviews. 

Read the entire article and a more in-depth review of tech predictions 

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While doing research for this article, I came across some very important information based on what are called Boolean Rules, rules devised by a 19th century British mathematician named George Boole.  This is a list of rules created to help us "non-Boolean's" present criteria into a computer so that the computer understands exactly what we're looking for.

It's not like it was "back in the day" when you opened the classified ads in a newspaper or professional journal, all of the openings appearing right in front of you, on the printed page. Jobs that are posted on the Internet, in contrast, are stored in computerized databases. Nothing is visible until you tell the computer what kind of jobs you'd like to see.

George Boole established the logic by which factors are presented so that their relationship to one another can be clearly and accurately understood. In job databases, these factors are the characteristics you seek in your dream job.

For example, if you're looking for a facility manager position in the Energy and Refining Industries that pays a salary of $50,000 and is located in Houston, Texas, Boolean rules will enable you to present those criteria so that the computer understands exactly what you want. Thanks to that clarity of expression, you can be sure that you won't waste a lot of time uncovering positions in which you are not interested or, even worse, overlook one or more positions in which you are.

The following list summarizes the most important Boolean rules. To get the best results from any specific job database, however, study its Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and use its online tutorial, if one is provided.

Rule #1. The characteristics (i.e., the individual words, terms or phrases) that you use to describe your dream job are called “key words” on the Internet. They are normally entered in all lower case letters because capitalization makes them case sensitive. In other words, if you capitalize a key word, the computer will identify only those jobs where that word is capitalized. If you use all lower case letters, the computer will identify every job that contains the word, whether it is capitalized or not.

Rule #2. To link two characteristics together, both of which are required in your dream job, use the Boolean operator AND. Boolean operators are normally expressed in all capital letters. In the example above, you might use the following expression to tell the computer what kind of job you want: $50,000 AND hospitality. This expression tells the computer that you want it to identify any job in its database that offers both characteristics. It must pay $50,000, and it must be in the hospitality industry. If either one of those factors is missing, you do not want to see the job.

Rule #3. To tell the computer that the characteristic for which you are looking is a phrase rather than a single word, use quotation marks. For example: "facility manager" AND $50,000 AND hospitality.

Rule #4. To link two characteristics together, either one of which is acceptable in your dream job, use the Boolean operator OR. For example, Milwaukee OR "Green Bay". Note that using capital letters with city or state names is acceptable as they are seldom expressed any other way.

Rule #5. To link two characteristics together when they are part of a longer set of characteristics, use parentheses. For example, "facility manager" AND $50,000 AND hospitality AND (Milwaukee OR "Green Bay").

Rule #6. To account for the fact that different people use different terms to express the same idea, always include any synonyms of your characteristics and, wherever possible, use a Boolean operator called a wildcard.

• To identify other terms that employers might use to describe the characteristics you seek in a job, review the vocabulary in their print employment ads. For example, you may find that some employers use the term Property Manager synonymously with Facility Manager. Hence, you should instruct the computer as follows: ("facility manager" OR "property manager") AND $50,000 AND hospitality AND (Milwaukee OR "Green Bay").
• Sometimes the variability in expression is simply a derivative of the same word. For example, an employer might use the term "facility management" to describe the "facility manager" job for which you're looking. The wildcard enables you to tell the computer to look for any and all terms that are based on the same root word. Hence, the term "facility manage*" (the asterisk is the wildcard) would tell the computer to find any job with a characteristic that is expressed as a derivative of the root word, manage.

Using Boolean expressions is a little like learning to speak pig Latin. It’s not an elegant way to communicate, but it can convey information so that is accurate and comprehensible. Equally as important, anyone can do it, and with even a little practice, become expert enough to find their dream job and make it visible on the Web.

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The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength or knowledge, but rather a lack of will.

Grow to your level of self-satisfaction.  Let the experts at Kane & Associates help you realize your career goals.

The Role of Finance:

Number Crunchers or Change Agents?

In general, financial and strategic planning professionals are slow to adopt new financial technology tools, especially in the area of strategic or investment planning applications. Why would this be the case, considering the importance of this subject? Whether by choice, lack of knowledge of the alternatives, or because their organizations won’t allocate the funds needed for the modern, purpose-built tools to support these critical initiatives adequately, these professionals are operating at a disadvantage, and aren’t doing their companies any favors, either. They are allowing themselves to be shut out of many vital business decisions; instead of being valued decision makers, they are simply considered “numbers people.” As a financial professional who has worked with CIOs and technologists for the past 20 years, I consider this a travesty – one which the finance community can overcome.

A Disparity in Expectations

It’s interesting that we have such differing standards when it comes to technology. On one hand, we embrace innovations such as smart phones, tablets, automated general ledgers, and information warehouses; all have improved our productivity and provided value-added services to our internal clients and external shareholders. However, when it comes to planning processes and related technologies, we still predominately use manual spreadsheets or, in some cases, older, internally-developed solutions. On a recent CFO.com Webcast more than 75 percent of participants said they used spreadsheets as their primary tool for planning (we’ll get into why that’s not ideal in a minute). Less than 5 percent said they used purpose-built planning platforms. Why haven’t we demanded the same of our financial tools as we do personal and general business productivity solutions?

Four Reasons Why the Spreadsheet Still Rules – and Why it Shouldn’t:

1. By training, experience, and maybe even nature, we finance professionals tend to be conservative when it comes to embracing change. The old saying, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” certainly applies. The thought of making changes and taking any type of risk without a complete, detailed analysis raises the hackles of most of us. We tend to believe it’s simply safer to stick with what we know. But when what we know is costing us time, accuracy, and potential, is it really worth it?

2. We love our spreadsheets. It’s software we can control at the desktop, it requires no IT support, and we are comfortable using it because it’s what we’ve always used (see reason 1). But there are just as many reasons not to be enamored of spreadsheets. For instance, they are difficult to consolidate, and once one leaves your desktop, you have little control over how the data is manipulated and by whom. They can only provide static numbers with no real-time business information or real analytics. With no version control built in, it’s easy to duplicate and save over versions, creating multiple versions in multiple states and places with no easy answers. Further, the risk of human error is elevated – and we finance people don’t like risk, remember?

3. Yes, implementation of new software and processes is time-consuming and it can be challenging. You have limited resources struggling to complete the day-to-day tasks, leaving little time to introduce and master new tools. Yet to invest a few hours now to learn a modern system that can save you countless hours later seems a small sacrifice for the obvious long-term benefits.Only about 30% to 40% of companies actually finalize the plan prior to the new fiscal year – a number borne out by leading analyst studies and my 30 years of experience. While this is frustrating and demoralizing for those laboring on the plan, imagine the difference for two organizations, one starting out a new fiscal year with a plan for strategic goals and how to achieve them, and one without. Clearly, the latter is starting from a strong competitive disadvantage.

4. When Finance competes for technology investment dollars, we generally come out at the bottom of the priority list compared to new product development, cost reduction efforts, and internal controls. The ROI on financial technology investments is more difficult to quantify and thus little capital is allocated to new financial systems investments. But if you know how to calculate productivity, risk, and benefit, and present them effectively, you may see your requests move up that priority list.

Three Steps to Overcoming Resistance to Change (Plus: do YOU let this Business Case Mistake get in Your Way?)

Change may be inevitable, but no one said it would be easy. You can either settle for the status quo and hope to earn a few trickle-down dollars, or you can lead your company to better strategic investment planning results and be a catalyst for change in your organization.

1. Best-in-class finance leaders drive operations and entire companies to embrace change as a continuous occurrence. They understand that to be successful as it relates to customers, market share, profitability, and share price, they must stay steps ahead of their competitors – which means continuous change. If you look at the companies at the top of any industry, you will likely find their leaders are viewed as creative and change agents. Companies like Amazon, IBM, UnitedHealthcare, and Ford all have leaders who are drivers of continuous change. Why not take the same approach if you are a CFO, FP&A manager, or someone responsible for your company’s investment planning process? If you step out of the role you think you have and start directing change in your strategic planning process and technology investments, you will soon be considered a valued leader.

2. To introduce change, learn what your technology options are and what they can do for you. Find out what they offer, how it compares to the spreadsheets or other internal programs you use, and everything involved in implementing a new technology platform for your investment planning. New tools and applications are constantly being introduced into the marketplace, and many are customizable to your specific industry and needs. There is plenty of information on the Web to educate yourself, and many technology companies are willing to share their expertise. Two outstanding resources of independent information are analyst firms Gartner (www.gartner.com) and Forrester Research (www.forrester.com). Take the leap of faith to move beyond spreadsheets. The rewards for you and your company will be worth the time and expense invested.

3. Don’t fall into the #1 business case trap: create a complete, compelling business case that illustrates the benefit of making strategic planning technology investments. I can’t stress this enough. Most business cases I see completely miss the mark; they are hardly compelling, even for someone rooting for them. Their authors make the mistake of comparing the cost of the investment with the reduction of finance personnel man hours required to complete strategic investment planning. This results in a modest ROI that no one will support. Don’t make this classic mistake. Instead, I suggest you use this three-pronged model:

a) Consider the investment in stages. First, identify the most critical requirements needed from a new application or process. Next, to hold down costs, select a solution that meets only those requirements. Many software companies sell application modules individually with various levels of solutions that are less expensive than the complete application with modules you may not use. Finally, once you have success with these modules, you can build on the foundation as needed.

b) Quantify the value lost by the lack of information to make quality decisions. Every organization is guilty of bad decisions. Most of these decisions were poor because the decision-makers lacked complete or accurate information. This is the primary reason why you need modern tools to evaluate strategic investment decisions. If you are considering $1 million, $10 million or $100 million of possible investments, doesn’t it make sense to invest thousands to increase your odds of making better decisions? This is how you sell the ROI.

c) Calculate the true cost savings across the company, not just in Finance. In most companies, finance departments partner with Operations for the investment planning process. Yet using old processes and obsolete technology results in wasteful man-hours by both teams. With enhanced technology and automated processes, you can illustrate how the entire company could generate savings, share information, and become more productive.

Research (www.forrester.com). Take the leap of faith to move beyond spreadsheets. The rewards for you and your company will be worth the time and expense invested.

Now What: Starting Change

So…how do you start? First, embrace the reality that Finance can be a powerful change agent.

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1. The Energy Belt. Demand from developing countries and China will be beneficial for energy-rich regions, particularly Texas, Oklahoma, the Dakotas, Montana, Louisiana and Wyoming, according to New Geography. Goldman Sachs recently predicted that the United States will become the world’s largest oil producer by 2017.

The article goes on to state that even if Europe falls into recession, demand from China and other developing countries, as well as threats from Iran to cut off the Persian Gulf, will keep energy prices high. While this is bad news for millions of consumers, it could be a great boon to a host of energy-rich regions, particularly in Texas, Oklahoma, the Dakotas, Montana, Louisiana and Wyoming. New technologies that allow for greater production require higher prices than more conventional methods — roughly $70 a barrel — and most experts expect prices to stay above $100 for the next year. Goldman Sachs recently predicted that the U.S. will become the world’s largest oil producer by 2017. The bounty is so great that the key energy-producing states have consistently out-performed the national average in terms of job and income growth. Houston, the nation’s energy capital, has enjoyed the fastest growth in per-capita income in the past decade. No reason to expect this to slow down much this year.

Energy growth, notes Bill Gilmer, senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, also sparks “upstream” expansion in a host of other industries, such as chemicals and plastics. Massive new expansions to serve the industry are being planned not only in Texas and Louisiana but in former rust belt states, including now gas-rich Ohio. The big exception is oil-rich California, which seems determined to keep its fossil fuels — and the growth they could drive — out of mind and underground.

Read the entire article here

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Unfortunately for older job seekers, the older you are, the longer it can take to get a job and the harder it can be to get hired.

What can you do to address age discrimination and promote your candidacy for employment? There are strategies older job seekers can implement to help expedite a job search and to find gainful, and meaningful, employment.

Job Search Tips for Older Workers

Age Proof and Edit Your Resume
One way to overcome the perception that your age is an issue, is to age proof and edit your resume. Limiting what you include on your resume, from a chronological perspective, can help job seekers avoid the stigma of being considered "too old" by a prospective employer.

Your Cover Letter is Critical
Your cover letter is critical, as well. Learn what to include in your cover letter, how to showcase your skills, and how to effectively market your candidacy to employers.

Target Your Cover Letter (We’ll cover each of these in our next post)

• Don't Include Years of Experience.
• Don't Promote Your Age.
• Do Emphasize Your Related Experience.
• Focus on Flexibility.
• Be Careful About Salary Requirements.
• Polish Up Your Cover Letter.
• Be Prepared to Email Your Cover Letter.

Emphasize Your Relevant Experience
When writing your resume and your cover letters, there's no need to mention every job you've ever had. Include only the most recent positions and, if you attended college, don't list your graduation dates.

Update Your Job Search Image
You can strategically write your resume and cover letter, but you can't change the basic facts - your actual age and your employment history are etched in stone. However, there are ways you can work on your appearance when you are job searching. And that can make a big difference when you're interviewing.

Use Your Network
Networking is still one of the best ways to find a job. Regardless of when you graduated, if your alma mater has a career network use it to contact alumni in your field of interest. Use online and offline networking resources to make connections to help with your job search.

Consider a Career Change
It can be easier than you might think to change careers. It's not easy to walk away from a stable paycheck and job security. Sometimes it takes a push, like a layoff, to move you in the right direction. It can though, give you a shot at a new career and new life, further along in life than for most people who are choosing career options.

If you're brave enough to consider giving up your day job to start a new career or new business, there are ways you can make extra money to supplement your perhaps smaller paycheck. You could work a second job, do freelance or temp work, and cut your expenses. The savings from skipping that cup of coffee you buy every morning or going out to dinner on a regular basis can add up fast. Create a budget that seems feasible and see if you can manage to get by without a paycheck or with a smaller one.

Remember, we spend a good portion of our life working and it's important to make sure that what we do is meaningful and fufilling. Regardless of your current job, take time to mull over whether what you're doing is what you want to be doing. If not, consider how to take another career path. You never know where you might end up!

Get Job Search Help
If you're struggling with your job search, consider seeking assistance. There are no-cost programs provided by OneStop Career Centers, non-profit groups, and local libraries, for example, that can assist.

Contact Us to help you with your job search. Kane & Associates, Inc. has been recruiting qualified professionals for over 20 years. We believe in building long-term business relationships based on integrity and trust.

Our mission is to be first in customer service in responding to our client's needs.

We collaborate closely with hiring managers to determine exactly what your needs are, then work efficiently to satisfy those needs.

If you are a candidate, please view The Job Menu and contact your Kane & Associates recruiting partner to discuss new opportunities in the marketplace.

Keep Your Skills Current
Everyone applying for employment, regardless of age, needs to be computer literate. If you can't send an email, or don't know what Instant Message is, take a computer class. There are classes offered, free or low-cost, by continuing education centers, churches, libraries, and school. The more current your skills, the better your prospects for finding employment.

Don't Give Up
Job searching typically isn't easy, regardless of how old you are. So, don't give up. It might take a while to find a job, but, there are employers who understand the value of an older worker with maturity, life experience, and skills.

Share Your Job Search Story
Share your job search success story and what you learned during your job search. What job search tools did you use, what job sites worked for you, how did you conduct your job search?

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Whether you want to run a Fortune 500 company or take in sewing from home, here is some basic advice for job hunting:

You are responsible for your own career advancement, no excuses.

What do you want? You have to know what you're searching for before you can find it. Maybe, for example, you need a certain (higher) salary. Or perhaps, you want more control over your time. Or more variety. Or more opportunities to learn. Whatever your priorities, identify them clearly.

Many people think that if they do a good job, their bosses will reward, promote or recognize them in some way.

Wrong. You have to make your achievements known. It's all about tooting your own horn.
In the search for career advancement, some steps will be particularly onerous. For example, perhaps you don't like to make cold calls.

Live with the discomfort. It may not be pleasant and you may not want to do it, but the alternative is mailing your keys to the bank and saying 'Come take my home.'

The same is true for the small-business owner. You have to hunt your kill every day. And if you don't, you may not eat.

Those who are extraordinarily successful know how to organize their time.

We all have the same number of hours in the day, but how we choose to spend them directly impacts our success. Don't say you're busy - everybody is busy. Maybe you have to wake up two hours early. Before you do anything for anybody else, get up and focus on some very specific steps toward your goals.

And take 10 minutes each night, before you go to sleep, and decide on the one thing you must accomplish tomorrow.

We have young clients who say no one will hire them because they don't have experience, and we also have older clients who say nobody will hire them because they're 50 or 60 or older.

Everybody thinks they have it the hardest. Here's what we tell them: You only need one job, it definitely exists, and you have to believe it exists. Now let’s get busy and find it for you!

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Companies are increasingly shunning union-shop states. Boeing is currently battling the National Labor Relations Board over its right to operate a $750 million aircraft assembly line in South Carolina instead of Washington State. The NLRB claims Boeing located the plant in South Carolina in retaliation for Boeing union workers in Washington going on strike. Boeing cites lower business costs in its choice of South Carolina for the plant.

And that’s why, when it comes to which states will add the highest percentage of jobs over the next few years, Texas will lead the way!

Texas added 1.2 million net jobs since Perry took office as Texas Governor in December 2000, while the U.S. as a whole lost 1.1 million jobs during the same time.

The gains have been fueled by a 40 percent rise in education and health services jobs the past decade, as well as a 67 percent jump in mining jobs, which includes the thriving oil industry.
Texas leads the way when it comes to states that will add the most jobs over the next five years on a percentage basis. Total employment in Texas is forecasted to expand 2.9 percent annually through 2015 according to research firm Moody’s Analytics. That represents 1.6 million new net jobs for the state over five years.

Texas offers a low tax, business friendly climate with a surging population that offers a nearly unlimited supply of young labor. Texas ranks sixth in Forbes look at the Best States for Business and Careers. The state has aggressively courted companies to come to Texas to take advantage of these attributes.

Forbes.com slideshow: See where the jobs are

Read the entire article here on Forbes.com/MSNBC.com

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