These are the type of responses that we receive for our open jobs.........

Here is an actual response to an ad that we placed for a job that we are working on:

Your advertisement in USATODAY interested me very much.

I am good at mathematics and biology.And I am proud of my physical ability because I have taken a proper amount of exercise for 30 years.The friends of mine say,"you look like a wrestler."

While I was in Uconn,the classmates used to say,"you are the boss of the class."I was very proud.In HLS,I chiefly studied at the library of the school.

I knew some prominent attornies at law both in Boston and NYC.One of them was Francis Sogi who worked for Kelly Dry & Warren in NYC.He is one of the most famous American lawyers in Japan.And I was familiar with the professor of Harvard Medical School.He runs a chemical corporation in China. Moreover,I knew a director of Sumo Airline which is a subsidiary company of Japan Airline.He said,"I will fully support you in New York City." But over ten years has passed since I left the United States.I do not keep in touch with them.I can not ask for their help now.

Now,I ask a favor of you. I will do my best in order to complete your work.Thank you for your consideration.

P.S. Chuo University is traditionally the best law school in Japan.Thank you again.

Sincerely,

Ten Recession Proof Jobs

When every day we see more gloom and doom news, I read something that I thought was worth sharing. Salary.com just came out with a survey that listed Accountants and Financial Analysts as one of the top 10 recesssion proof jobs. Here is what they had to say about these positions.

Accountant: Now more than ever, companies are paying attention to the bottom line. They need good “bean counters”, whether they are fresh out of school or are armed with years of experience to get the job done.
Accountants and auditors help to ensure that an organization is running properly and its funds are managed efficiently and effectively. They make sure the company’s public records are accurate and its taxes are paid properly and on time. As accounting rules become more complex and stringent, it is vital to have mangers that can run their bookkeeping operations.

Financial Analyst: As businesses struggle to meet financial goals, it is important to have skilled financial experts on staff to guide business decisions and help improve managerial effectiveness. In light of the current economic situation, a closer eye will be focused on the bottom line and financial analysts will be needed to keep struggling business in the black.

Also on the list were Administrative Assistants, Customer Service Reps, Mechanical Engineers, Network Administrators, Police Patrol Officer, Public School Teacher, Software Engineer and Staff Nurse.

We're in for at least 9 - 18 months of difficult times but it is good to know that accounting and finance should still show demand.

Careful Who Your Friends Are!!!

More and more of our clients are no longer resting with the 3 references that we conduct on our candidates behalf. We are getting word that many of our clients are actually searching online for potential employee's Myspace home page to learn more about their interests and the friends that they associate with. Some have even gone as far as informing us that they may call names from their Myspace page to obtain informal references.

With that being said, how is a candidate to respond to this new method of background checking.

One possible solution is to delete friends that you are concerned with. While it may not sit well to weed through friends that you deem "undesirable", when it comes to finding employment in a tough, competitive marketplace, you may need to make some hard decisions.

As this is a new techique, I would love to hear from you as to your thoughts and recommendations to deal with this new reality.

3 Mistakes To Avoid If Working With a Recruiter

Over the last 14 years, we’ve been fortunate enough to work with a wide variety of clients in not only the Phoenix area but also in California and Washington. In that time, we’ve been a resource for our clients permanent searches, contract needs and contract-to-hire needs.

Through this experience, we have run into several mistakes that we have observed and thought would be worth pointing out


• The first mistake we have seen some clients make, has to do with contract-to hire positions. If at all possible, we suggest opening up your contract-to-hire searches to a direct hire search as well. While contract-to-hire searches have plenty of positive attributes, most notably being able to observe a candidates work product and efforts before making a full time hiring decision, it does limit the audience of job seekers to those that are unemployed or currently contracting. It typically excludes those candidates that are working full time and happy in their jobs, unaware of other opportunities and unwilling to leave their position for a contract to hire position even if they are interested in the opportunity. Opening up the search is a sure-fire way to increase the number of quality candidates to choose from.

• Secondly, if you do hire a position on a contract to hire basis, make sure to discuss with your recruiter, what the full time salary will be once they convert over to your payroll. Don’t make the mistake of ending up having your new employee making less money once they convert to your payroll. This can be a de-motivator and not the ideal way to have them begin full time employment.

• Lastly, don’t make the mistake of overpaying for a new hire. A good recruiter should know the minimal salary that a candidate will accept for an offer even before the offer is extended. Work with your recruiter so that if you do extend an offer, it is one that works for everyone. You shouldn’t have to overpay for a candidate, but also don’t want to underpay. Utilize your recruiter to find out what the right number is to accomplish this goal. Salary negotiation is an emotional issue for both sides; use your recruiter to take the emotion out of the equation and to increase the odds of a successful hire.

No Jerks Allowed

Here is a great piece about a company called Successfactors and the type of people that they have working for them.

http://www.successfactors.com/media/video/cnbc-no-jerks/

Hiring Managers Continue to Hire

According to a recent Q2 survey released by USA Today and CareerBuilder.com, hiring manager's plans continue to be positive.

• 87% of employers plan to increase or remain the same for their full-time employee levels.
• 70% of employers report they will increase salaries for existing staff
• 46% of employers plan to add IT staff, 36% plan to add full-time sales employees and
• 32% plan to increase professional and business positions

Salary Guide Accounting Silicon Valley

Real Time Salary Survey. We are in the process of compiling a salary survey . One of the ways that we thought we could be different was by taking several of our recent placements and providing compensation information. Our thought is that it would be invaluable to our clients and prospects as well as to candidates, to see real-time salary information rather than data that is sometimes a year or more old. Let me know your thoughts. See below for the last five placeement we completed in May in Silicon Valley.


Salary $180,000.00
Bonus 8-15%
Stock 70,000 shares
Size of Firm 50M
Job title Controller
Years of experience required 10-15 years

Salary $ 78,000.00
Bonus discretionary
Stock 2,500 shares
Size of Firm 1B
Job title IT Auditor
Years of experience required 2-4 years

Salary $ 150,000.00
Bonus 20%
Stock 90,000
Size of Firm 20M
Job title Corporate Controller
Years of experience required 8-10 years


Salary $ 90,000.00
Bonus 10%
Stock 2500
Size of Firm 900M
Job title Sr. Financial Analyst
Years of experience required 5-7 years

Salary $ 55,000.00
Bonus 5-7%
Stock 0
Size of Firm 25M
Job title Staff Accountant
Years of experience required 3-7 years