You may have noticed when looking at the homepage that the hours for the job fair have change to 2:00PM - 6:00PM.  Over the past year I cannot tell you how many times both employers and job seekers have asked that we have the job fair end later in the day.  That time has now come and I'm so excited that the new hours of 2:00PM - 6:00PM will be so helpful to job seekers and employers.  The Career Expo will bring in so many wonderful candidates in the early evening hours after their current job or when they can get a caretaker for their children.

The next Broward County Career Expo will be on Tuesday, August 5th followed by Palm Beach on Tuesday, September 16th and Miami on Tuesday, October 7th.

I have received such great feedback so far on these great new hours.  Please let me know what you think. 

Ultimate Software of Weston has the honor of being named the #1 Best Medium-Sized Company to Work For in America.  The Great Place to Work® Institute produces this list for Fortune magazine each year.  Ultimate Software is a leading provider of end-to-end strategic human resources, payroll, and talent management solutions. 

The announcement was made at the Society for Human Resource Management’s (SHRM) 60th Annual Conference & Exposition in Chicago on June 23rd.  Ultimate Software was ranked #3 on the same list in both 2007 and 2006.

Ultimate Software Perks & Benefits  

 

50% of new hires came through employee referrals

100% of Health Insurance premium for employees and dependents is paid by company.

Average of 80 hours per year of training is provided to support professional development

Approximately 20% of employees telecommute

Provides up to $10,000 in financial support for adoption

The atrium, behind the receptionist’s desk, converts to a full-size basketball court for games after work.

 

A South Florida Premiere

BocaRaton.com Introduces ‘The Insight,’ First ‘Webisode’

Featuring Guest Hosts, Live Call-ins, Interactive Blogs on Topics From

Holistic Health to Dealing With Change

 

BOCA RATON , FL. --- BocaRaton.com and The Bites! Network will debut South Florida’s first weekly webisode--- a transformational show called “The Insight” featuring three hosts who will discuss various topics dealing with effective change, positive thinking, holistic health, balanced relationships, self care, spiritual growth and more. In addition, there will be guest hosts, live call-ins and interactive blogs.

Executive Producer Russell Spadaccini is the brainchild behind this project. Once again, he is on the cutting edge of the next big idea in multimedia content. More and more people are turning to the Internet for their news and entertainment, a concept he has capitalized on with his video-laden on-line news format intrinsic to BocaRaton.com. With this show, he takes that notion a step further. He says, “’The Insight’ offers a positive approach to the world around us by focusing on the solutions rather than the problems that effect us. BocaRaton.com has always sought to promote the best of our community. ‘The Insight’ is just the next step.”

To help germinate the idea further, he brought on board three hosts with expertise on the matters at hand; each will take a different approach based on their own experiences and career path. Barry Gottlieb is a successful businessman, coach and public speaker; Kelley Koskow is not only a successful attorney and Certified Master Integrated Coach™, but works with revolutionary thinker Debbie Ford and has created the “Go Goddess Girl! Which Goddess are you?” book, seminars and games; Lynn Rosen Lampert, Ph.D., has an Integrative Psychotherapy and Wellness Coaching Practice and offers a Holistic Approach to Mind, Body and Spirit.

Spadaccini also brought on board Rachel Galvin as producer. With ten years of writing, editorial experience and 12 years in the acting, production field, her creativity will help the project blossom.

New Age philosophies have spread worldwide as people seek new approaches to living, including Oprah Winfrey’s popular webisode with Eckhart Tolle and the mega-hit “The Secret.” BocaRaton.com hopes that “The Insight” will be one more avenue for people to find meaning and solutions in their life.

“The Insight” will be aired in July exclusively on BocaRaton.com & The Bites! Network.

“The Insight”

Transformation is an insight away

Martha I. Finney helps companies improve their performance by attracting, keeping and inspiring high-passion, high-performing talent. This posting is based on the principles from her new book, The Truth About Getting the Best From People . For the full collection of her extended blogs, including, "Why I Love HR,” visit www.hrjourneys.blogspot.com. Contact her at martha@marthafinney.com 

Unless you’re one of those people who enjoy beating their heads against a wall, it’s rarely any fun to be in the job market. But if you’re looking for a job in the leadership levels, it’s even worse. Reason: Chances are almost 50/50 that you’ll be looking for another job before the year is out.  For some reason, new hires in leadership roles have an abysmal success record. And, even though the cost of recruiting, hiring, losing people of your level  – and starting the cycle all over again – is the most expensive of all the open positions, employers seem to take this hard knock as a cost of doing business. 

What a terrible waste of money, resources, precious time for all concerned.  Especially you, if you’re the one out on the street in a few months’ time.  The good news is that the power is in your hands. You can say, “This cycle of frustration stops with me.”  But that means that you have to take control of the interview (hey! Your first leadership assignment in this organization) and be willing to be the one to decide whether you might not be the best culture match (hey! Your second leadership assignment in this organization).

Here’s the problem: Even though companies are becoming increasingly aware of the real importance and impact their culture and values have on engaging the discretionary effort of all their employees, for most companies that awareness isn’t showing up in the kind of leaders they hire from the outside. When it comes to hiring people leaders, employers can be like fish. They’ll leap out of the water for anything bright and shiny, without first taking into very serious consideration what lurks between the feathers and twirly, swirly, glittering things. For fish, of course, the bad news is that there’s usually a sharp hook buried inside all that attraction. But for employers, they don’t discover that buried inside that bright and shiny resume is a set of behaviors that could destroy their carefully cultivated culture. 

I’m not implying, of course, that you’ve got a sharp hook imbedded in your resume or personality, but let’s face it, we’ve all got hooks – a branded story of who we are, what we can offer the employer, our set of leadership beliefs, the market performance of our previous employer while we were at the helm.  The problem is that if you are luring the wrong employers, there’s going to be a lot of pain, and actually you’re going to be among the 40%+ of new management candidates who lose their jobs before they’ve really had the chance to prove themselves.

I’m torturing this metaphor; I guess it’s time to get on with my point.

The more successful you were at your previous company or the greater the cachet of your company (especially as regards its reputation for an engaged culture), the greater the likelihood that you’re going to land in a new job that could make you miserable.  Like it or not, your new employer isn’t just hiring you, they’re hiring where you’ve been.  If you’ve been with a successful company that performed supremely in your marketplace and enjoyed a cadre of over-the-top dedicated employees, your new employer is going to want to have some of that mojo. And, because you’ve seen it first-hand and from within, they reason, you’re just the one to give it to them.  They’re so invested in asking the questions that will result in a job offer and acceptance that they tend to avoid those questions that could reveal you to be a bad culture fit.  Or, more to the point, the company is a bad culture fit for you.

You’ve got to do that piece of the dirty work. Sorry to have to break it to you, but that’s just the way it is. The truth will come out eventually, and believe me, you’re being back out on the street is going to be a lot more painful for you than it will be for them.

During the job interview itself, go deep into questions about the company culture. This is the first place where a big mismatch can be revealed. For instance, it’s not enough to simply know what the company’s values are. (You can find them on their website and after a while they all look the same…integrity; service; servant leadership, performance; collegial; collaborative; people-first…they very quickly appear to be the workplace versions of personal ads. Replace them with “candlelight dinners,” “puppies,” “walks on the beach,” and you’ll see what I mean.)

The trick is to ask your interviewers how those values have been demonstrated by decisions and choices in recent years. If the company really takes its values seriously, your interviewers will have plenty of stories at their fingertips. A few good questions to ask, for instance, are:

1.       Can you tell me of a time when you hired a star candidate who turned out to be a culture mismatch (if you’re really brave, say, “toxic manager”)?  How did you handle that situation?

2.       Can you think of a time when you were able to save a new hire who got off on the wrong foot culturally? What happened with that person?  Can I talk with him or her?

3.       Do you have any mentorship or culturalization onboarding programs in place, so I can be sure to hit the ground running?

4.       What exactly does servant leadership look like here in terms of behaviors and expectations? Could you introduce me to someone who is known to represent the best leadership qualities that work in this culture?

Sure. You’ll take your interviewers by surprise with these questions (unless they’ve read this blog as well…in which case they’ll recognize immediately how brilliant you are!).  Most interviewers are accustomed to asking behavioral interview questions, not having to answer them.  If they draw a blank on these questions, and can’t tell you stories to support their cultural ideals, that’s your first big sign that there could be a culture mismatch here. And that you would get zero support while trying to integrate yourself into your new team.

But others will be so relieved to discover that you recognize the importance of a culture fit for managers, that – assuming everything else is in place – they’ll be falling all over themselves to hand you the keys to the 60% Club. That’s the club you’ll want to join. There’s staying power there.

A special note from Martha:  If you’re a manager, your company is counting on you to be an engaging leader. But what exactly does that mean? And how do you do engagement? Just because you’re brilliant at your technical skills, that doesn’t mean that you’re a natural at people skills. New managers need a book that can help them figure it out in simple, straightforward ideas.

That’s why I wrote The Truth About Getting the Best From People. It’s a book made up of 49 short, simple truths designed to help new managers understand how their beliefs and behaviors directly impact their employees’ passion factor on the job.

Click on the title and check it out! I hope you’ll enjoy it!

Are you among the best places to work in South Florida? Does your company embraces inclusion practices and diversity? Diversity is about celebrating and embracing differences, learning from each other, and challenging ourselves to bring the best in us and in others. And in October, the Greater Miami Society for Human Resource Management (GMSHRM) will host the 2008 Diversity Award - a celebration of the diversity practices and initiatives in South Florida. Our association wants to continue motivating local professionals – especially local businesses, to embrace diversity in the workplace. These awards were created to recognize those organizations that foster an inclusive work environment in which all employees are inspired to contribute their best, strengthened by their different perspectives, backgrounds and life experiences. Past awardees included PBS&J, Miami Dade College , Akerman Senterfitt, VITAS, Miami Dade County and JetStream Federal Credit Union.

 

Is your workplace an example of inclusion and diversity? Send your nomination today. There are so many phenomenal examples in our local community of how businesses thrive when they incorporate diversity in the workplace. We want to know. Feel free to visit our event website for more information on the event and of course, to complete your nomination – www.gmshrmdiversityawards.com.

This year, the event will be held at Jungle Island on October 21. The GMSHRM Diversity Awards nomination is an online process. All nominations and applications must be received by September 26th at 5:00 PM (EST) to be considered. Finalists will be notified the first week of October. Please note, companies who operate in multiple locations are eligible for participation, however they can only be judged based upon their South Florida practices.

On behalf of the 2008 GMSHRM Board of Directors, I thank you for your consideration and do look forward to having you as part of our event.

Join Jobing.com and tons of great local employers on Tuesday, August 5th at the Broward County Convention Center.  From 2pm - 6pm some of the areas best companies are going to be looking for great employees like you!!  Check out jobing.com to see who is attending.  Keep an eye out because new companies sign up every day.

What makes Jobing.com's Career Expo the best job fair in Broward?  Jobing.com provides the largest amount of local companies under one roof for an amazing recruiting event!  There will also be a resume review area and informative workshops to help you with your job search and interview skills.

Not sure what to bring, what to wear or how to act?  That's easy!  Check out jobing.com for some helpful tips when attending a job fair.  Be sure to dress professionally.  You only have one chance to make a first impression.  Dress appropriately for the career you want.  Bring plenty of resumes.  Not sure if your resume is working for you?  Jobing.com provides a resume review area staffed by the county's leading HR professionals.  These professionals are there to help and to offer advice about your resume and what you can do to make it better.

This is an event you won't want to miss!  Click here to pre-register - print out your Quick Pass and bring it to the Career Expo to breeze through registration line.  Jobing.com is also partnered with Tri-Rail so you can ride the train to the event for free.  Click here to download your ticket.   

Mark your calendars!  Tuesday, August 5th, 2PM - 6PM at the Broward County Convention Center.  Find the career you've been waiting for! 

 

By Rick Broida

July 1st, 2008 @ 9:49 am

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Categories: Business

Tags: Network, Benefit, Networking, Rick Broida