America's Job Exchange 123

Posted by AJE Recruiting Specialist

While the jobless rate remains high, some employers may feel that they can take on a lax attitude in terms of creating a great corporate culture – they have their pick of the employee litter, so why try? In fact, regardless of the employment situation, this is never an attitude for any employer to take. The goal – regardless of how many resumes per job posting you receive – is to promote an environment and corporate culture that positions your company at its very best all the time – a great place to work. This is the surest way to attract top candidates; those that will propel you toward success. Read more…

Posted by OFCCP Specialist

Throughout 2011 via several NPRNs, the OFCCP has continued to communicate the idea of companies creating linkage agreements.  But what does this mean?  The official definition states:

 “Linkage is the connection between contractors and appropriate recruitment and/or training sources. When an underutilization of minorities or women in a job group is found and there are recruitment/training resources available that are able to refer qualified applicants to the contractor for consideration, the EOS will attempt in a Letter of Commitment or Conciliation Agreement to execute a linkage agreement with the contractor.” Read more…

Posted by OFCCP Specialist

As integral cogs of the recruitment efforts in the U.S., the states themselves are working to ensure they are actively putting as many of their citizens as they can back to work.  With unemployment rates still hovering in the 9% range nationally, and some states still seeing double-digit unemployment, states need to prove they are making an impact.

For recruiters working with federal contractors this means states want to know the jobs listed on their career sites are fresh and actively being worked. Read more…

Posted by OFCCP Specialist

2012 will be a year of significant change in the federal contractor community.  Gone will be the notion of “good faith effort” as it applies to affirmative action planning and record keeping.  The OFCCP’s new mantra of “What gets measured gets done” will have far reaching implications moving forward.  The NPRM recommending changes to VEVRAA caused a flurry of commentary and are still not fully resolved at this point, but industry experts predict these rules will be finalized in spring of 2012 with enforcement beginning in 2013.  Read more…

Posted by AJE Recruiting Specialist

You’ve been busy conducting business during the holidays and this has left you no time to coordinate a company-wide holiday event – and everyone is talking about it.  Now, you are reconsidering. While you have very little time to coordinate an event, there are still some activities you can pull together, even at the last minute, to celebrate the holidays with your employees. Here are some you may wish to consider. Read more…

Posted by OFCCP Specialist

The states of Idaho, Minnesota, Mississippi, New York and Oregon were granted more than $7.6 million dollars to create and implement new re-employment strategies.  These initiatives designed to re-employ thousands of displaced workers represent a significant investment in reducing the number of unemployed U.S. workers.  Hilda Solis, Secretary of Labor said that “Getting America back to work is a top priority of the DOL.” The DOL recognizes that getting this done will require more creative thinking and innovative solutions than those tried in the past.  The hope that is these grants will help drive the next steps needed to improve services to unemployed workers.  Read more…

Posted by AJE Recruiting Specialist

With the final weeks of the holiday and New Year upon us, it may be hard for many to focus on business. Holiday shopping, family gatherings or even some much needed time off may have you distracted from day-to-day business. But even if you don’t work in the retail sector – where the holidays can make upwards of 40% of yearly sales, business does still occur during the holiday timeframe. And if you do not capitalize on the last few weeks of the year you may be missing out. Read more…

Posted by OFCCP Specialist

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) pledged to open up career-paths beyond nursing and expand opportunities for veterans to become physician assistants.  Colleges and universities with programs to train physician’s assistants will be given priority in grant awarding to expand opportunities for veterans to advance beyond their basic training to fill these roles.  The Affordable Care Recovery act in 2010 and 2011 over $45 million has been awarded and there are currently 57 active physician’s assistants training grants. “To expand the number of training programs that accommodate veterans, the Administration also will identify model programs that offer expedited curricula for veterans and that offer enhanced veteran recruiting, retention, and mentoring services,” according to the Obama Administration.  These actions will put vets with medical expertise back to work sooner allowing them to move forward with their civilian careers.  Read more…

Posted by OFCCP Specialist

The Obama administration has issued a challenge to Community Health Centers – hire 8,000 veterans in the next 3 years.  “The health reform law provides funding for community health centers to serve more Americans and hire more workers. Additionally, HHS will ask centers to start reporting on the number of veterans that they employ. The Departments of Health and Human Services, Defense, Labor, and Veterans Affairs will work together to connect veterans to the health clinics’ job openings. The National Association of Community Health Centers will also contribute to this effort and joined the Administration in announcing this Community Health Center Veterans Hiring Challenge,” according to White House Press Secretary. Read more…

Posted by AJE Recruiting Specialist

For the first time in months, the news on the unemployment front has left many with, at the very least, a temporary sense of hope for the coming year.  November saw the unemployment rate reach the lowest since March 2009, falling to 8.6% from an October high of 9%, and employers added 120,000 jobs, while the government reduced jobs by 20,000. Read more…