Research Blog : jobs, hiring

Would you like to work for the federal government?

SuDocQueen@evpl — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 17:04:00 GMT

If so, take a look at www.usajobs.gov.

This is a great resource for people interested in working for our federal government. On their main page this morning they showed 33,530 jobs available worldwide with the United States government. Now before your jaw hits the floor and you start drooling on your keyboard, let's do a reality check and remember that none of us are qualified for all 33,000 jobs. They're sure not going to hire me as a NASA engineer. And, I don't think I want to fill a librarian position in Timbuktu - okay, when I did a search for librarian positions, I didn't see any in Timbuktu, but you get the picture. :-)

The search was easy as pie. I just typed librarian into the search box right under "Search Jobs" on the main page and hit "Run Search." 14 positions popped up. With the exception of a couple all were positions looking for actual librarians, and even the two that weren't were for positions with the Library of Congress. For example, one was for a General Engineer working out of the Office of the Librarian; maybe a position similar to EVPL's building manager?

That was the simplest search. You can customize your search by clicking on the "Search Jobs" tab on the main page. From there, you can narrow your search by choices like agency, occupation, and location, to name a few.

Say you'd like a job with the government, but you don't know what job you'd enjoy. They have an area to help you with that as well. I couldn't find a direct link from the main page, but I saw links to it from the Search page and the Information Center page. Once you're on either page, look for the Career Interest Center and click on the "learn more." From there you'll find a list of subjects that lead to interactive questionnaires that will help you figure out what job would be right for you.

What else? Too much to go over everything in what's supposed to be a "short" blog. :-) But, two last things I've got to mention before I go. Be sure to check out the "My USAJOBS" tab. You'll be able to create your own account which will allow you to post your resume (I thought I read somewhere on the site you could post even more than one), apply for the jobs online, and receive email updates tailored to jobs that you're interested in.

And the other "thing," be sure to play around with the "Information Center" page. Among the many services it offers, it provides help in understanding the convoluted federal hiring process. You can get help creating your resume. There's also an area where you can find out about the top agencies hiring, the most popular jobs, the areas in the country looking for the most jobs, etc.

Census Bureau is hiring in preparation for the 2010 Census!

SuDocQueen@evpl — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 19:13:00 GMT

These are tough times for everyone. Some people have lost jobs; others just need a little extra income to help make ends meet. For those people even a temporary job can be better than no job at all. If you're in that situation, you should checkout http://www.census.gov/rochi/www/2010Jobs.html. From there you can access all the 2010 Census job opportunities the Bureau has available. You'll have to click on each link and read through the different PDFs. It looks like most of their current hiring is for office work, but Evansville is one of the geographic areas they're hiring for... And, as we get closer to the Census kick-off date of April 1, 2010, they'll no doubt start hiring part-time temporary help as well so if you don't see a job that fits you right now, keep checking back.

Upcoming Workshops for Employers and HR People

Bufkinite@evpl — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 22:27:00 GMT

A series of three workshops taking place in April will address issues all employers must address when looking to hire new employees. The workshops are co-sponsored by Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library’s Business Central and the Evansville Branch of Manpower. Beth Delano, Branch Manager of Manpower, and Steve Cochran, Reference Services Supervisor at EVPL’s Central Library, will lead all of the workshops. All three workshops begin at 9:00 a.m., and take place in the Large Group Room on the second floor of Central Library.

Registration is required for all workshops, and is limited to 20 participants. You can register online now!

April 15^th: Writing Successful Position Descriptions

The best way to attract the most highly qualified applicants to your business is to have well written job descriptions that spell out in detail the qualifications sought and responsibilities entailed. This one hour workshop will cover how to format position descriptions, why formal job descriptions are something you should have, and address issues with ADA compliance.

You’ll also learn about library resources available for developing formal job descriptions, including online resources available through the library's web site.

April 22^nd: Hiring Right the First Time

It’s estimated that the hiring and training of an employee costs the employer the equivalent of one and a half times the employee’s annual earnings, so hiring an employee to doesn’t stick around can be a very expensive proposition. The first workshop in this series looked at how to develop position descriptions that target the talent you’re looking for.

This one hour workshop will take the next step, outlining how to market those position descriptions so that you get the best applicants available in the pool, how to look at review resumes to match qualifications with expectations, and give you tips for interviewing that will reveal the candidate best suited to your position.

You’ll also learn about library resources and tools that address recruiting, interviewing, and hiring.

April 29^th: Retaining Employees

The first two sessions of this series showed participants how to write position descriptions to attract the best candidates, and how to then recruit, vet, and interview those candidates to hire the very best person for each position.

The final workshop in this series will examine strategies employers can use to retain high-performing employees, including developing retention-focused managers, being aware of generational differences in work style, engaging employees in challenging responsibilities, and developing a recognition program.

You’ll also be shown library resources and tools that address motivating, challenging, retaining, and recognizing employees.