Survey results published today from NACE indicate that employers are planning to hire 7% more interns in 2010-2011 vs. last year at this time. Report was based on 266 employer responses out of 864 surveys sent out. The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) is a leading source of information on the employment of the college educated.

Source: NACE, 3/17/11

Some job postings state “unemployed candidates will not be considered,” says Richard Thompson, VP of Adecco, the world’s largest staffing firm. It’s not illegal to do this. Even when employers aren’t admittedly restrictive, they often still prefer candidates who already have a job. The fact is that many unemployed candidates are not interviewed in favor of employed candidates.

Here’s a video of a recent grad who can’t secure adequate work to live on his own:

If you’re unemployed, what can you do to overcome this potential obstacle? Obviously many people are unemployed for legitimate reasons and are qualified to do the work they are applying for. Therefore, what tactics have you’ve tried while unemployed that have led to a successful hire? Your ideas could help others.

For more on this topic see: Unemployed Need Not Apply, Dilemma of Hiring the Unemployed

Recommendation Requests

Properly used, these are great. But unfortunately I sometimes get recommendation requests from people I’ve never worked with, or may not know very well. They ask me to write a recommendation to help land a job. I typically decline these requests, sometimes to the surprise of requesters. Why decline? Reputation–theirs and mine. How could I recommend someone I’ve never worked with? What could I write of substance about the person? This kind of recommendation is worse than no recommendation.

Bottom line: Request LinkedIn recommendations only from people that know you, and preferably, who have worked with you and have something glowing to say. For more on this topic, read: “Career Advice–Avoid Spontaneous Combustion Linkedin Introduction Requests written by Phil Rosenberg, Feb 8, 2011.

Tattoo-Friendly Employers

• Whole Foods
• Hot Topic/Torrid
• Border’s Books
• Claire’s Boutique
• Burlington Coat Factory
• Big Lots
• IKEA
• Journeys
• Sam Ash
• Blockbuster
• Hard Rock Cafe/Hotel
• Kohl’s
• Home Depot
• Petco
• Fed Ex (Delivery)
• MAC Cosmetics
• Tokyo Joe’s
• Half Price Books
• Amazon.com
• Sally’s Beauty Supply
• Trader Joe’s
• Target
• Albertson’s
• Barnes & Noble
• Forever 21
• Spencer’s Gifts
• Staples
• Ticketmaster
• Best Buy
• Anthropologie
• Lowe’s
• Google
• UPS
• LUSH Cosmetics
• Dunkin Donuts
• Applebee’s
• Zappos.com

Source: Karen L. Hudson, About.com, Finding a Job When You Have Tattoos, Piercings, and/or Body Modifications

Creativity expert Ken Robinson challenges the way we’re educating children. He champions a radical rethink of school systems to cultivate creativity and acknowledge multiple types of intelligence.

Why don’t we get the best out of people? Robinson argues it’s because we’ve been educated to become good workers, rather than creative thinkers. Students with restless minds and bodies — far from being cultivated for their energy and curiosity — are ignored or even stigmatized, with terrible consequences. “We are educating people out of their creativity,” Robinson says.

Source: www.glassdoor.com

1. “Claim” your name on major social networks so that no else claims to be you and posts undesirable content. This can be done with http://namechk.com.

2. Untag yourself from all content that could be damaging to your reputation. If that doesn’t work, try to post as much positive content as possible to push down negative content in searches for your name.

3. Set up Google alerts to receive an email whenever your name is mentioned on the Web, including news sites, video, and social media.

For more information, read source article: Forbes.com 11/9/10

Susan de la Vergne, founder of “The Liberal Arts Advantage,” published a blog response to this type of question. Essentially, Susan suggests that liberal arts majors (non-business or non-technical majors) refrain from mentioning that they are, say, an English major, until after mentioning some other things that captivate an employer’s attention. In other words, if your target employment is unrelated to your area of study, you could say something like, “Hi, my name is __________, a junior looking into [field of work]. My training in communication and analysis by studying English have given me a solid foundation to contribute in [field of work].”

On the other hand, if you’re pursuing work related to your degree, it may be to your advantage to boldly include your degree in your intro by saying, “Hi, my name is __________ and I’m a junior __________ major looking into [field of work].”

To learn more about introduction strategies for liberal arts majors, read Susan’s blog.

Sarah also includes some helpful Twitter search tools & resources to assist with a proactive job search. She lists resources by field, by job type, and by region. Her article is a good starting point, especially if you are new to Twitter job search. Read the full article here.

“How My Internship/Work Experience has Influenced My Career Choice.”

Deadline for submittal is November 15, 2010. You must include a cover page with the essay title, your name, Biola University, and the total number of words in the essay. Without this information your essay will be disqualified. Your essay will be evaluated by 6-person panel using the following criteria: (1) clear and well written, (2) level of analysis/reflection, (3) writing topic, (4) creativity, and (5) career impact. The scholarship is sponsored by the California Internship & Work Experience Association (CIWEA), which Biola is a member of, and you will be competing against essays submitted by students from Biola and other universities in California. Click here to read past winning essays.