C&A Voted Among Best Employment Agencies

C&A Industries, parent company of Aureus Group, has made news again, having been named among the best employment agencies in Omaha by B2B Magazine for the third consecutive year! The announcement is featured in the magazine’s April 2011 issue.

Professional Sector Staffing Shifts into High Gear

We have a “spring” in our step! The professional sector of the staffing industry is experiencing a significant uptick. On a whole, the economy gained 216,000 jobs in March, according to a recent CNNMoney.com article, and the unemployment rate continues to drop now at 8.8%, the lowest level since March 2009.

As a thermometer of the local economy, Aureus Group has good news to share as well. Year-to-date we have obtained 22% more search assignments and special project “temp” orders than in 2010. Our contingent workforce is up 42% and we have already placed 32% more people in full-time positions than in 2010.

Temporary Work on the Rise

One of my clients recently asked me for a helpdesk person for a 6-8 week contract. Since I place people in temporary as well as full-time positions all the time, I was confident I could fill this position for my client. Several of my helpdesk candidates are currently unemployed so I left a few voicemails and awaited some positive responses. To my surprise, of the five people I called I received not one, not two… but FOUR rejections from unemployed candidates. “Did you find a new position?” I asked them. “No, but I don’t want to lose my Unemployment.” Is that really the purpose of Unemployment? To discourage people from working?

Need to Know Resume Tips

Now that the economy is picking up (knock on wood), all indicators tell us that employees are more ready than ever to dip their toes in the proverbial job search waters and evaluate other opportunities for growth, which is good news for job seekers.

Why Conduct an Exit Interview on Every Departure?

It’s Friday afternoon and you are starting to wind down from a long and busy week. The call of a relaxing weekend is making the last few hours pass slowly by, but the loose ends you are tying up are keeping you busy. Without warning, one of your most important employees drops into your office and asks for a few minutes. This individual sits down and hands you a signed letter that states what they are about to tell you….they are resigning with notice for a different employer. This is clearly not the way you had imagined your week to end, or your weekend to begin. So, what to do next?

We’re Hiring!

C&A is hiring, big time! We have multiple in-house sales opportunities available with various divisions of our company, including Aureus Medical, Aureus Group, and Celebrity Staff. Visit the “Careers” section of the C&A Industries website and refer those you know!

New Year, New Job?

Have you ever thought about changing jobs? With all the economic doom and gloom the past couple years; it is easy to see why people might be afraid to make a move. Too many people lost their jobs due to the recession, leaving those who managed to stay in one of three categories:

New Year, New You

Statistics show that more than 40 percent of Americans make New Year’s resolutions. Some of the most popular resolutions are to lose weight, stop smoking, and better manage finances. Research also shows that people who set New Years resolutions are 10 times more likely to achieve their goals than those who don’t. What if we all made resolutions connected to the main areas of our lives? How would that impact our overall satisfaction? I read an article on LinkedIn recently that strongly suggested that we all should set resolutions aimed at improving our lives in six key areas:

Smart Job Searching

Thinking of applying for a job opening? Whether in between jobs or gainfully employed, people in all stages of their careers are responding to job postings. Hiring managers are pleased to see their inboxes filled with new resumes and eager to find the perfect candidate among them.

In a perfect world all of these resumes would come from highly qualified candidates who are genuinely interested in the position and 100% ready to accept an offer. Unfortunately, this is not usually the case. Many are either over or under qualified. Others look great on paper but turn out to have misrepresented themselves. Then there are those applicants who are emailing their resumes to every company and every job opening they can find just to see what happens. Instead of an inbox filled with strong candidates, hiring managers waste too much time sorting through a stack of resumes that ultimately will not result in a new hire.

Defining and Finding Talent

We talk about talent every day. Where to find it. What kind to find. Where to place it. More elusive; however, is how to spot it. What exactly is talent? Talent defined is “an unusual natural ability to do something well, especially in artistic areas that can be developed by training.” That makes sense. Think of Michael Jordan flying effortlessly through the air, Michael Vick sprinting from defenders toward the goal line, and Tiger Woods curving the ball next to the pin from 250 yards through the trees.

This kind of talent is unmistakable to the eye and easily linked to a sense of artistry. The rarity of skills possessed by these freaks of nature is what makes them “talented”. The eyes tell us that supremely talented athletes are doing things that we know few others can do.

In the business world, and more specifically the world of “talent” acquisition, we too are looking for rare skills that are absolutely essential to make our organizations elite. The type of talent we are looking for does not always tantalize the senses like an artist or an athlete though. We must be more cognizant of subtleties in an individual that makes them truly talented. Here are three traits I find consistently in talented people.