One Area of Opportunity in Current Job Market

According to an article in the 31 October on-line San Francisco Business Journal, "J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. won’t put any more homes into foreclosure for the next 90 days while it implements a plan to help borrowers stay in their homes.

The plan will include proactive offers to refinance mortgages on more affordable terms and a network of 24 regional counseling centers that will help homeowners.

Chase will hire 300 loan counselors and 150 people to review mortgages before they are placed into foreclosure to ensure homeowners were offered modifications first."

Hot off the presses!

The October Issue of The Bottom Line has just gone out. This month's issue talks about 10 Tips for Finding Work in a Tough Job Market.

To read the lastest issue, click here.

Gen Y Professionals Demand More Feedback!

According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, "increased demand for feedback from younger workers is forcing some employers to rethink how they discuss employee performance."

Recent studies have indicated that, much more than their Baby Boomer and Gen X predecessors, Gen Y professionals (defined as those born after 1980), want frequent feedback and are not afraid to ask for it.

For more information, see the entire article.

Where the Jobs Are

According to a quote in a recent issue of the New York Times:

"John Challenger, chief executive of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, said that even as investment banking suffered, opportunities remained in health care, energy, international business and consulting."

Silicon Valley's 50 Fastest Growing Companies

The Silicon Valley Business Journal has just released its list of the 50 fastest growing companies in Silicon valley based on revenue growth from 2005 to 2007. For more information, click here.

Are You a Loan Professional?

According to an article in today's San Francisco Business Journal, "Wachovia has chosen BWC Mortgage Services of San Ramon as one of 10 lenders for a 60-day pilot program aiming to restructure about 135,000 Wachovia Pick-a-Pay mortgage loans in California."

According to the article, BWC is hiring loan professionals for the Wachovia initiative.

As pressure grows on banks to restructure mortgages to enable more people to remain in their homes, there is is likely to be continued growth in job opportunities for loan professionals.

Manufacturers' Response to the Economic Downturn

According to a recent study by software giant Epicor, manufacturers are responding to the economic downturn by looking to streamline business, manufacturing and supply chain operations.

According to a post on ThomasNet's IndustrialNewsRoom, "to handle the downward spiraling economy and to increase business efficiency, 63 percent of respondents have already adopted, or are examining, lean manufacturing, Six Sigma, Total Quality Management (TQM) and other methodologies for improving supply chain management."

"Other solutions implemented included promoting business and management philosophies (54 percent), adding enterprise manufacturing applications (33 percent), offering software services (23 percent), installing eco-friendly policies (23 percent) and offshore outsourcing (23 percent)."

This suggests that people with experience and/or skills to undertake any of the activities mentioned above will continue to find demand for their services in the job market.

Private Equity Raising Funds at Record Pace

According to an article in the Silicon Valley Business Journal, "while public financial markets are in crisis, U.S. private equity firms not only continue to stockpile capital but have picked up the pace of their fund-raising, according to a report Tuesday from Dow Jones Private Equity Analyst."

"According to the report, U.S. private equity firms raised $222.6 billion in 264 funds during the first three quarters of 2008, 11 percent ahead of the $200.4 billion raised by 298 funds in the same time last year."

Meanwhile, venture capital fund-raising is holding relatively steady.

Also, I recently read that IPO activity has slowed to a crawl - not surprising given what is going on in the financial markets.

New York Times Article: "Job Hunting Is, and Isn’t, What It Used to Be"

The article referenced in the title to this post appeared in the New York Times on 26 September 2008.

It made a number of very good points with which I happen to agree, including:

• “The key for most people to realize is that you can’t conduct your search from your computer. You have to get in front of prospective bosses to get an offer.”


• The trouble with many job sites, especially the bigger ones such as Monster.com, CareerBuilder, Yahoo-HotJobs, etc., is that they have become an indiscriminate morass.


• When you apply for a job through a job board, your competition may number in the 100's or even the 1000's - all things being equal, the odds are not good!


• "Many job hunters are abandoning the job sites, or using them much less frequently, in favor of what are called social networking sites like LinkedIn, Plaxo and Facebook."


• An increasing number of employers and recruiters are looking for candidates on networking sites, such as LinkedIn.


• Get anything that looks bad off your social networking pages (and this applies to more purely social sites, such as Facebook or MySpace, as well as to sites more angled to professional networking, such as LinkedIn). A recent survey by the Society for Human Resource Management showed that "negative information on an applicant’s profile, like 'personal views or values contradictory to the hiring organization or excessive alcohol abuse,' have a greater impact on hiring decisions than positive information.


• Incorporate key words and phrases into the text of your accomplishment-driven resume; look at the job description for ideas.


• When push comes to shove in the job search, the name of the game is dressing up nicely, going out and meeting people.