Archives 2006

China-made Christmas gifts sold to 200 countries

Chinanews, Hangzhou, Nov. 28 ¨C Zhejiang’s Yiwu has begun to see an increasing export of Christmas gifts this month when Christmas is no longer than a month away and many super markets in Western Countries are busy collecting Christmas products.

From last May to October, actually, there had been 10-million-US-dollar worth of Christmas gifts made in Yiwu exported to more than 200 countries and regions worldwide every month.

These 200 countries and regions, such as the US, Germany, Holland, and Brazil, have made Yiwu as their key channel importing Christmas commodities by this year, according to a chief of the Yiwu office of the Jinhua Customs.

The exported Christmas goods cover not only traditional colorful lamps and wrapping paper, but also many other categories including costumes, toys, and even household appliances, indicating a climbing added value of export.

Yiwu Festival Gifts Co., Ltd. is now running up a set of Christmas products for South Korea. Salesman of the company said it was a temporary order, and the products ordered by many European and American countries have all been turned out and shipped there already.

Why IT Recruiting as a profession?

Sometimes people in our industry can get a bad repetition or make someone mad. But, is that because what the industry is or what they did?

Remember the movie, Dave. It¡¯s about an average Joe that poses as president. At one point, he¡¯s talking to the real president¡¯s wife and she asks him what he does in real life. He answers he runs a very small staffing company. She answers ¡°Oh, you find people jobs¡±, and is very impressed. That¡¯s it in a nutshell. Over a lifetime career in this business, think about how many, houses, cars and college educations you have contributed to the economy by doing your job well?

You are a:

– Talent Agent ¨C No agent in sports or the entertainment industry has anything over you.

– Psychologist ¨C You have to get into the head of the candidate and figure what makes them tick and what their ¡°real¡± job interests are.

– Computer Scientist ¨C Few IT recruiters have a technical degree but we¡¯re expected to be able to wade through thousands of acronyms, know what they do and be able to screen candidates.

– Career Coach ¨C Be able to convince the candidate it¡¯s not in their best interest to wear that 2 pound nose ring to the interview.

– Travel Agent ¨C Figure out how to get that candidate in Fairbanks to Miami by 2 pm tomorrow to meet the CIO.

– Marriage Counselor ¨C Remember, it¡¯s the whole family that is affected by a job change.

– Friend – **the most important** No explanation other then ¡°treat others and you want to be treated¡±.

How To Reach Your Goal When Your Job Is To Find A Job

If you’ve been laid off or have somehow lost your job, you might find your self in the uncomfortable position of having your job be to find yourself another job. Unless you have gobs of money saved up, you’ll have to hit the streets looking for a replacement that’ll give you the weekly paycheck.

Many people are unprepared for looking for a full-time job under this type of pressure. Here’s some tips that help you land a better job in no time.

Pen A Perfect Resume

Your resume is the first impression that prospective employers will have of you. Therefore, you want to really stand out from the crowd. The best way to do this, is to cater your resume to the job you are applying for. You want to highlight the skill you have that match the skills they need and remember to always be truthful.

Keep your resume short, with bullet items that highlight the important parts. You don’t need to elaborate with a huge novel about what you’ve accomplished – that’s what the interview is for, however, you do need to pique their interest enough for them to call you in for an interview.

Always include a cover letter with a short paragraph on why you are interested in their particular company or industry and how you think your skills will fit the job.

Submit Your Resume

Now that you have your resume written, you need to find places to submit it to. You could always go through a recruiter who has a list of jobs in your field open and can match you to them. You could also try using contacts you have in the business – call all your old friends and coworkers to try to ferret out any openings and companies who might be interested in working for. Finally you can check the papers and online job search websites.

Impress Them In The Interview

When you do get an Interview, you want to be sure to impress them with your skills and knowledge of the job. Don’t go overboard and be both full, and always be truthful. do some research on the companyy so that you can ask pertinent questions. If there Is some skills they you might be rusty and that the job calls for, do some homework so that you can talk about them intelligently.

Always show up for interviews on time, take traffic into consideration and make sure you get there to check in about five minutes ahead of time. Don’t forget to dress appropriately, while this may seem silly it actually does go a long way to making a big impression. Don’t be nervous! This is your chance to shine, remember that a lot of times the interviewer can be just as nervous or even more as an interviewee. Many people who are interviewing are just simply workers who lack interviewing skills, you can go a long way towards gaining their trust by being confident and easy to interview.

Follow Up

After the interview, don’t forget to follow up with a brief thank you letter. in a letter thank them for their time and also state how your skills are a perfect match for the job and in your particular interests in that area. People want to hire someone who is a good match for the job and will stay and enjoy it, and not just someone who needs a paycheck.

Sending a thank you letter may seem a bit old-fashioned, but this will help to get your name in front of the hiring managers again. You wouldn’t believe how many people don’t do this and it really makes an impression when someone does.

Stick To A Schedule

Obviously, the more places you interview the better your chances of landing a job. You can’t just interview one place and then sit back for two weeks waiting to hear from them. Therefore, you need to set up some sort of schedule or goal for yourself. Perhaps you want to make sure you get In five interviews a week, then set this goal and make sure you work towards it.

While finding a new job can be a bit scary and often tedious you need to treat it as if it is your job and work at it full-time. If you make a great effort to find another job you’ll be back in the workforce in no time.

Questions for Hiring Managers

1. Could you explain the company’s organizational structure?
2. What is the organization’s plan for the next five years,
and how does this department or division fit in?
3. What specific skills from the person you hire would make
your life easier?
4. Will we be expanding or bringing on new products or new
services that I should be aware of?
5. What are some of the problems that keep you up at night?
6. What are some of the skills and abilities you see as
necessary for someone to succeed in this job?
7. What would be a surprising but positive thing the new person
could do in first 90 days?
8. What challenges might I encounter if I take on this position?
9. How does upper management perceive this part of the
organization?
10. What are your major concerns that need to be immediately
addressed in this job?
11. What do you see as the most important opportunities for
improvement in the area I hope to join?
12. What are the attributes of the job that you’d like to see
improved?
13. What are the organization’s three most important goals?
14. What is your company’s policy on attending seminars,
workshops, and other training opportunities?
15. How do you see this position impacting the achievement of
those goals?
16. What is the budget this department operates with?
17. What attracted you to working for this organization?
18. What committees and task forces will I be expected to
participate in?
19. What have you liked most about working here?
20. How will my leadership responsibilities and performance be
measured? By whom?
21. What are the day-to-day responsibilities I’ll be assigned?
22. Are there any weaknesses in the department that you are
particularly looking to improve?
23. What are the department’s goals, and how do they align with
the company’s mission?
24. What are the company’s strengths and weaknesses compared with
the competition? (name one or two companies)
25. How does the reporting structure work here? What are the
preferred means of communication?
26. What goals or objectives need to be achieved in the next six
months?
27. Can you give me an ideal of the typical day and workload and
the special demands the job has?
28. This a new position. What are the forces that suggested the
need for this position?
29. What areas of the job would you like to see improvement in
with regard to the person who was most recently performing these
duties?
30. From all I can see, I’d really like to work here, and I
believe I can add considerable value to the company. What’s the next
step in the selection process?
31. How does this position contribute to the company’s goals,
productivity, or profits?
32. What is currently the most pressing business issue or problem
for the company or department?
33. Would you describe for me the actions of a person who
previously achieved success in this position?
34. Would you describe for me the action of a person who
previously performed poorly in this position?
35. How would you describe your own management style?
36. What are the most important traits you look for in a
subordinate?
37. How do you like your subordinates to communicate with you?
38. What personal qualities or characteristics do you most value?
39. Could you describe to me your typical management style and
the type of employee who works well with you?
40. Corporate culture is very important, but it’s usually hard to
define until one violates it. What is one thing an employee might do
here that would be perceived as a violation of the company’s culture?
41. How would you characterize the organization? What are its
principal values? What are its greatest challenges?
42. How would you describe the experience of working here?
43. If I were to be employed here, what one piece of wisdom would
you want me to incorporate into my work life?
44. What are a couple of misconceptions people have about the
company?
45. Work-life balance is an issue of retention as well as
productivity. Can you talk about your own view of how to navigate the
tensions between getting work done and encouraging healthy lives
outside the office?
46. How does the company support and promote personal and
professional growth?
47. What types of people seem to excel here?
48. Every company contends with office politics. It’s a fact of
life because politics is about people working together. Can you give
me some exams of how politics plays out in this company?
49. What have I yet to learn about this company and opportunity
that I still need to know?
50. I’m delighted to know that teamwork is highly regarded. But
evaluating performance of teams can be difficult. How does the
company evaluate team performance? For example, does it employ 360-
degree feedback programs?
51. What are the organization’s primary financial objectives and
performance measures?
52. What operating guidelines or metrics are used to monitor the
planning process and the results?
53. To what extent are those objectives uniform across all
product lines?
54. How does the company balance short-term performance versus
long-term success?
55. What kinds of formal strategic planning systems, if any, are
in place?
56. Can you describe the nature of the planning process and how
decisions concerning the budgeting process are made?
57. Can you identify the key corporate participants in the
planning process?
58. How often and in what form does the company report its
results internally to its employees?
59. In the recent past, how has the company acknowledged and
rewarded outstanding performance?
60. What are the repercussions of having a significant variance
to the operating plan?
61. Are budgeting decisions typically made at corporate
headquarters, or are the decisions made in a more decentralized
fashion?
62. I’m glad to hear that I will be part of a team. Let me ask
about reward structures for teams. Does the company have a formal
team-based compensation process?
63. Is the company more of an early adapter of technology, a
first mover, or is it content to first let other companies work the
bugs out and then implement a more mature version of the technology?
64. How does the company contribute to thought leadership in its
market?
65. How advanced is the company’s commitment to knowledge
management?
66. I was pleased to hear you describe the company’s branding
strategy. How does branding fit into the overall marketing mix?
67. How does this position contribute to the company’s goals,
productivity, or profits?
68. According to (name source), your principal competitor, Brand
X, is the best-selling product in the space. What does Brand X do
better than your product?
69. Business Week magazine ranks the company second (or whatever)
in its industry. Does this position represent a change from where it
was a few years ago?
70. How accessible is the CEO (name him or her) to people at my
level of the organization?
71. Does the CEO (name him or her) publish his or her email
address?
72. I understand that the CEO is really approachable. Are there
ground rules for approaching him or her?
73. Staff development is mentioned in your annual report as a
measure on which executives are evaluated. What kinds of training
experiences might I expect?
74. Is the department a profit center?
75. Can you please tell me about the people who will look to me
for supervision?
76. Would I encounter any coworker or staff person who’s proved
to be a problem in the past?
77. What happened to the person who previously held this job?
78. The incumbent was dismissed? How could the problems have been
avoided?
79. The incumbent was promoted? I’m delighted to hear it. Would
it be possible for me to talk to him or her?
80. What is the company customer-service philosophy?
81. Could you tell me about a time when the team/company went out
of its way to provide knock-your-socks-off service?
82. The best companies rely on rich customer data to fuel
personalized content and services. How is the company doing in
personalizing its offerings?
83. Customers are expecting companies to protect their data. Does
the company have a privacy policy for its Web initiatives, and how
does the company balance the momentum for ever-increasing
personalization with rising concerns for privacy?
84. How empowered are employees? How much of the company’s money
can your people (including the ones with single-digit pay grades)
spend on their own recognizance to satisfy a customer or address a
work-process issue?
85. How often would I come into direct contact with real, living,
breathing, paying customers?
86. What are the success factors that will tell you if the
decision to bring me on board was the right one?
87. To make our working relationship successful — something we
both want — we’ll need to be sure we have good chemistry together.
How might we determine this, and then what action would you see us
engage in to build that relationship?
88. If you and I were developing some sort of philosophical
difference, how would you want to go about resolving it?

Salary Negotiation

Prepare for the Negotiations

It is foolhardy to negotiate on assumptions, so make sure you have some specific facts in hand. Some of these information can only be learnt during the interview process; elicit them from the interviewer when an offer is made, before starting the negotiation.

What is your worth in the market? Changes in the job market is constant due to a globally competitive economy. So the first thing you should find out is the current salary trend for your job profile.

There are many free and fee based online resources on salary surveys like payscale.com, jobstar.org and salary.com that can give you a ballpark range.

Research salaries at similar firms in the same job function and the same industry. Call similar companies directly and ask their salary ranges for the type of job you seek.

Ask recruiters, employment agents, other professionals and your own network of friends and associates.

Other places to research are professional trade journals and business magazines and newspaper and online job listings.

Remember to consider factors like location and experience that play a huge role too.

What is the offer package? In case an offer has been made to you, get specific details on the following facets of the offer –

Job Responsibilities: The specific job responsibilities and the first assignment you’ll be working on is one of the most important aspects of the offer. If the assignment is to your liking, you might be more willing to be flexible.

The Signing Bonus: Some companies also offer an initial one-time bonus for start-up expenses like a new wardrobe or as an incentive to accept an offer over another. But keep in mind that since future raises are computed as a percentage of your base, it can be to the employer¡¯s advantage to entice you with a signing bonus rather than a higher base salary.

Base Salary: It is best to present a neutral appearance and not tip your hand by any involuntary response like “Wow!”. Some firms offer a higher signing bonus if you accept the offer immediately. Unless you’ve made up your mind, it is always better to ask for a reasonable amount of time to consider their offer.

Relocation Package: If you are offered a relocation allowance, make sure you understand what is included – moving household goods, house hunting trips, and brokers’ fees are examples.

Benefits Package: These are generally non-negotiable and are often standard for all employees. But they vary from company to company and so can be used to compare various offers before reaching a final decision.

Promotional Opportunities: Find out the promotional opportunities of this position, and the kind of salary progression to be expected in the first three to five years?

Tuition reimbursement: Organizations that want to encourage their employees to gain further education and training offer some form of partial or complete tuition reimbursement.

Future raises: Find out the methodology of the reviews and how future raises are computed and awarded. Are there performance-based raises and bonuses?

Profit sharing: If you are working for a growing and profitable organization, profit-sharing programs can offer you great year-end bonuses based on the success of the organization or your division.

Starting date: Some companies might want you to start immediately, and some might be more flexible.

Deadline: When an offer is made, the company also provides a time frame to respond. This is often negotiable; don’t hesitate to ask for more time if you need it.

What does the interviewer earn? This information can give you an extra edge if the interviewer is also the one under whom you’ll be working. After all, you wouldn’t like your subordinates to make more money than you, right? So keep that sensitive issue in mind when you start negotiating. Generally ten percent less than what he/she earns may be an appropriate figure to negotiate on, but proceed carefully to make sure that the interviewer doesn’t feel personally threatened by your salary request. (If you can’t find the exact figure, even an estimate can help – use step 1 to figure it out.)

Who’s the boss? As early as possible, find out who the final decision maker is with regard to hiring, determining your job title, and authorizing your compensation agreement.

Who’s the competition? If possible, determine how desperate is the employer to fill in the position, how many other candidates are being considered and how you measure up to them.

Be Realistic, This is How the Market Works

According to Jeanne Sahadi, CNNMoney.com senior writer, employers seem to have the better hand in pay negotiations. Some insights from her:

Your pay doesn’t necessarily reflect performance and seniority. Demand and supply in action – Managers will pay what the market demands to get the right candidate. So in a tight job market the starting salary of a new hire at your level may come close to or even match yours, despite your seniority and experience. And companies generally won’t correct this discrepancy unless you raise the issue.
Keep abreast of the going rate for people with your experience and education, especially if you were hired in a down market.

Campaign for pay raises months before the review. Smart companies “always have a little something in their back pocket … to use when they need it – say to keep an employee they can’t afford to lose,” said Dallas-based compensation consultant Rebecca Elkins. Say you fit that category, and you request an 8 percent raise when the company typically has offered you 4.5 percent. Smart managers would ask themselves, “Am I willing to lose this person for $500 a month?”
The day of your review is not the time to negotiate a higher raise since your manager has already gotten approval for the increase he’s budgeted. Your campaigning should start months before.

When you’re told they can’t pay you more now, budget may not be the issue. If you ask for more money and your boss says the budget is too tight now, it might mean – your boss doesn’t think you’re that much, he doesn’t have the authority to make that decision, he doesn’t want you competing with him or that you are already paid at the top of the company’s scale for your position.
Ask around what it will take for you to reach your desired pay level or consider whether you want to continue working in that position at that company

Bosses pay more if they like you. Bosses do have favorites. So it’s easy to assume your manager sweetens the pot for his faves. But more realistically, chances are the employees he likes the most are also the ones who make his job easy and who make him look good to his managers.

Yes, there is a blacklist. Some companies push select employees out of their jobs or layoff an entire department just to get rid of one or two people without incurring liability. One easy way to get on a blacklist is to insult the boss or be overly negative about the company on email, in a meeting, or at the water cooler. Then there are some employees who can do no wrong, or if they do, they’re far more likely to be given some slack. They’re the employees who are perceived as trustworthy, even if they’re not the top performers.

Negotiating Tips

While every interview will be different here are some common pitfalls you should avoid while negotiating your salary package:

Initiating Negotiations Too Soon
Timing is very important. The best and appropriate time to negotiate is when a formal offer has been made.

Only Negotiating Salary
While the base salary or the money is the most negotiated piece of the salary package, don’t ignore the other parts. These include signing bonuses, unpaid leave, relocation expenses, flextime, severance and predetermined timeframes for salary reviews. Be flexible.

Mistrusting the System
Many job seekers operate under the assumption that employers will, without exception, try to lowball and take advantage of them, no matter how well-qualified they are for a position. While some employers might pay employees below industry standard, you should never enter a negotiation with a them-versus-me mentality. Many companies have a predetermined budget for every position and an offer may boil down to a take-it-or-leave-it proposition, only because that’s all the budget allows for the position, not because the employer is trying to take advantage of you.

Assuming Your Degree Entitles You to a Higher Starting Salary
Having an advanced education is nothing more than a threshold requirement that enables prospective employers to narrow down the pool of applicants to a manageable size. If you have relatively little real-world work experience, your degree may keep you in the running, but it won’t entitle you to a higher salary.

Believing Every Negotiation Should End in Your Favor
It’s naive to assume you’ll always get what you want. Negotiating isn’t a win-lose proposition; it’s a compromise, and you should be prepared for that. That doesn’t mean you should settle for any offer that comes your way, but sometimes an agreeable settlement just might not be possible.

Questions Job Candidates May Ask Your Company–part 1

Here are some questions that applicants may ask recruiters, managers,
HR pros, and others. Some of them you may start hearing more often as
the balance of power continues to tilt toward employees.

Do you know the answers to these questions? Some of them you may
start hearing more often as the balance of power continues to tilt
toward employees. Others, you’ll never hear from a candidate’s mouth.
Still, asking yourself these questions — and finding out or
exploring the answers — can give you a deeper understanding of your
company.

? Questions for Headhunters and Recruiters
? Questions for HR
? Questions for Hiring Managers
? High-level Probing Questions
? Questions That Are Defensive
? Questions Designed to Get Feedback
? Questions Designed to Close the Deal
? Questions Stars May Ask

Questions for Headhunters and Recruiters

1. How did you find me?
2. Is this a retainer or contingency assignment?
3. Are you dealing with the client’s HR people, or do you
have direct contact with the hiring manager?
4. How long has the client been with you?
5. How many candidates have you placed with this client?
6. When will I find out the name of the principal or client
company?
7. May I have a written job description?
8. Where is the position located?
9. Where is the company headquartered?
10. To whom does the position report?
11. Can you tell me about this executive’s management style?
12. Why is the position open?
13. What happened to the person who previously held this position?
14. Is this a new position?
15. How long has the position been open?
16. How long have you been working on the assignment?
17. What does the position pay?
18. Are here any pay or compensation constraints that I
should take into consideration?
19. What can you tell me about the person who will
be interviewing me?
20. What is his or her position, title, management style?
21. Who will make the final hiring decision?
22. After you present my resume, when can I expect to hear
from you regarding the status of this position?
23. Can you describe, specifically, how the
company navigates/balances work? and personal-life issues?
24. What might I do that would violate the culture of the
company during my interview?

Are You the Best One for the Job?

Welcome back. We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday.

We know it can be a struggle to get back into the swing of things after the long weekend, piles of turkey, and various slices of pie, but there¡¯s a topic we think is worth talking about today that doesn¡¯t have anything to do with food or football: Candidate Comparison.

Now, most think of candidate comparison as a problem for hiring managers or recruiters. It¡¯s something that those groups have to go through in order to find the right person for a job. That¡¯s true. But we¡¯re talking about candidate comparison from the candidate point of view. We¡¯re taking the old ¡°what does that person have that I don¡¯t have?¡± approach to things today. This question shouldn¡¯t be one that¡¯s asked simply out of frustration. It should be asked to help you improve your chances of getting the next job you apply for.

After all, knowing what you¡¯re up against can give you an edge:

¡°Who¡¯s the competition? If possible, determine how desperate is the employer to fill in the position, how many other candidates are being considered and how you measure up to them.¡±

OK. So how do you get to know the competition? Well, some suggest that in this ¡°candidate friendly¡± job market, you can simply ask the interviewer:

¡°Here are some questions that applicants may ask recruiters, managers,
HR pros, and others. Some of them you may start hearing more often as
the balance of power continues to tilt toward employees¡­

¡°How do I compare with the other candidates you have
interviewed?¡±

Some would suggest that bringing up other candidates in an interview isn¡¯t a good idea, as it takes the focus off of you. Others would suggest that even if you do ask the question you¡¯re not going to get a thorough response.

No, there has to be a better way; one that allows you to see how you stack up against other folks out there. You should also be able to see a breakdown of what a company is looking for, and how you compare in each category. Even a simple breakdown would let you say ¡°hey, I¡¯m lacking in experience, but my skill set ranks at the top.¡± Of course, a system that allowed you to perform in depth comparisons would give you a better idea of what you can do to increase your chances of getting your dream job or to up your market value.

¡°Candidate Comparison¡± for the benefit of the candidate is crucial, and we¡¯ll make sure candidates can take advantage of it soon.

Halt to job cuts for two years

ALLIANZ SE, which earlier this year said it will cut about 5,700 jobs at its German insurance units, has prolonged a block on compulsory layoffs for employees there by two years following negotiations with its workers’ council.

Employees won’t face compulsory layoffs “at least” until the end of 2009, Allianz said on its Website. The Munich-based insurer confirmed plans to cut 2,479 jobs by the end of next year and to eliminate a further 2,170 jobs through the end of 2008, it said, adding that it had already cut 1,040 jobs by the end of October, Bloomberg News reported.

“Together with the workers’ council, we found a solution to better take our employees’ interests into account without lowering our sights on our business targets,” Gerhard Rupprecht, head of Allianz’s German holding Allianz Deutschland AG, said in the statement.

The job cuts will be reached through “mutual agreements with employees,” Allianz said. The company also abandoned plans to shut down its office in Cologne, it said.

Ericsson cuts jobs

WIRELESS equipment maker LM Ericsson AB said yesterday it will cut up to 400 administrative and sales jobs in Sweden, but many workers will be offered positions with staffing company Manpower Inc.

Ericsson said it expects between 300 and 400 workers will accept a voluntary redundancy offer that includes either a severance package or a job with Manpower as a consultant. The offer will be presented to about 4,600 workers in sales, marketing and administration, most of them in the Stockholm area. The restructuring program is expected to be completed by the end of January.

China’s rapid growth contained, NBS

Nov. 26 – China’s National Bureau of Statistics said government policies are restraining overly rapid economic growth, and no sharp adjustments are needed.

The assessment meshes with recent comments from China’s central bank officials and advisers, although they have left open the possibility of more belt-tightening measures if needed.

“Overheating economic growth is being put under control with the decline in the growth of major economic indicators,” said statistics bureau spokesman Li Xiaochao, according to Xinhua News Agency.

He cited improvements in data for urban fixed-asset investments, industrial production, money supply and corporate profits as reasons that no drastic policy changes are needed.

A week ago, central bank chief Zhou Xiaochuan said economic indicators suggested overheating was on the decline but added it was too early to declare victory.

“The People’s Bank of China can never rule out taking new measures,” he told Reuters at a global bankers’ meeting.

Fan Gang, an adviser to the bank, has said the central bank may need to raise interest rates again to keep investment in check even though it might face opposition in doing so.

Since late April, the central bank has raised interest rates twice and banks’ reserve requirements three times.

A survey of economists by Reuters this month shows most expect growth in China’s gross domestic product will tip into single digits in 2007 for the first time in five years, ebbing to 9.5 percent from a projected 10.6 percent this year.